Ah, The Wacky World of the NFL

[AROS]

Cardinals, fighting for their very playoff lives, tank it to the 9ers. A team more decimated by far than any other team in 2020. I may not like them as they are a rival, but as an NFL fan I admire the hell out of them for putting up so much of a fight when they really have little left to play for than pride. They are well coached.

The Lions? Holy hell. Talk about not showing up. Brady had his best statistical first half in all his years. Unlike the 9ers, the Lions were a no show and it was pretty disgusting to watch.

And how about those Raiders that had the game against the Dolphins in the bag. Down 2, they opted to go for a field goal on like the 2 yard line with nearly 30 seconds left with no time remaining for the Phins.

I shouted, "GO FOR IT!!! BEST CASE YOU SCORE A TD, WORST CASE THEY HAVE IT ON THEIR 2 WITH 30 SECONDS TO GO!!!"

Nope. Instead, they took the safe route, going up 1 point...A Dolphins FG with 30 seconds wins it. And then Fitzmagic happens. Pass interference, a face mask penalty for another 15 and they are in FG range to win the game, which of course they did.

Imagine if that was us. I am not sure my TV or remote would have survived the night. Imagine if the Seahawks did that. OMG. Especially for the division title!

Pete Carroll has had his share of stupidity. WE have had our share of stupidity with play calls, time management, lack of adjustments, etc. But a finish like I saw tonight? I would be catatonic.

I reiterate: Seahawks win tomorrow. NFC West Champions. Now if that is the best play as far as seeding is definitely up for debate.

 

[kf3339]

Cardinals, fighting for their very playoff lives, tank it to the 9ers. A team more decimated by far than any other team in 2020. I may not like them as they are a rival, but as an NFL fan I admire the hell out of them for putting up so much of a fight when they really have little left to play for than pride. They are well coached.

The Lions? Holy hell. Talk about not showing up. Brady had his best statistical first half in all his years. Unlike the 9ers, the Lions were a no show and it was pretty disgusting to watch.

And how about those Raiders that had the game against the Dolphins in the bag. Down 2, they opted to go for a field goal on like the 2 yard line with nearly 30 seconds left with no time remaining for the Phins.

I shouted, "GO FOR IT!!! BEST CASE YOU SCORE A TD, WORST CASE THEY HAVE IT ON THEIR 2 WITH 30 SECONDS TO GO!!!"

Nope. Instead, they took the safe route, going up 1 point...A Dolphins FG with 30 seconds wins it. And then Fitzmagic happens. Pass interference, a face mask penalty for another 15 and they are in FG range to win the game, which of course they did.

Imagine if that was us. I am not sure my TV or remote would have survived the night. Imagine if the Seahawks did that. OMG. Especially for the division title!

Pete Carroll has had his share of stupidity. WE have had our share of stupidity with play calls, time management, lack of adjustments, etc. But a finish like I saw tonight? I would be catatonic.

I reiterate: Seahawks win tomorrow. NFC West Champions. Now if that is the best play as far as seeding is definitely up for debate.

Yep, I couldn't believe what the Raiders did by not getting the TD. So what if you gave them a minute or so on the clock. They had no timeouts and would've need a TD to win. That was just stupid.

 

[AROS]

Yep, I couldn't believe what the Raiders did by not getting the TD. So what if you gave them a minute or so on the clock. They had no timeouts and would've need a TD to win. That was just stupid.

Really bad coaching there. Jon, ya blew it. Go for it there. So what if you don't get it? You pin them on the 1 or 2 yard line with 29 seconds or whatever it was with no timeouts. Ugh. Thank GOD that wasn't us.

 

[XxXdragonXxX]

Yep, I couldn't believe what the Raiders did by not getting the TD. So what if you gave them a minute or so on the clock. They had no timeouts and would've need a TD to win. That was just stupid.

Really bad coaching there. Jon, ya blew it. Go for it there. So what if you don't get it? You pin them on the 1 or 2 yard line with 29 seconds or whatever it was with no timeouts. Ugh. Thank GOD that wasn't us.

I'm confused by your scenario...if they went for it on 4th and failed, they would be down by 2 points.

The proper scenario is not sliding at the 1 on 2nd down. Take the TD and make them drive for a TD to win it instead of a FG.

 

[onepicknick1]

Cardinals, fighting for their very playoff lives, tank it to the 9ers. A team more decimated by far than any other team in 2020. I may not like them as they are a rival, but as an NFL fan I admire the hell out of them for putting up so much of a fight when they really have little left to play for than pride. They are well coached.

The Lions? Holy hell. Talk about not showing up. Brady had his best statistical first half in all his years. Unlike the 9ers, the Lions were a no show and it was pretty disgusting to watch.

And how about those Raiders that had the game against the Dolphins in the bag. Down 2, they opted to go for a field goal on like the 2 yard line with nearly 30 seconds left with no time remaining for the Phins.

I shouted, "GO FOR IT!!! BEST CASE YOU SCORE A TD, WORST CASE THEY HAVE IT ON THEIR 2 WITH 30 SECONDS TO GO!!!"

Nope. Instead, they took the safe route, going up 1 point...A Dolphins FG with 30 seconds wins it. And then Fitzmagic happens. Pass interference, a face mask penalty for another 15 and they are in FG range to win the game, which of course they did.

Imagine if that was us. I am not sure my TV or remote would have survived the night. Imagine if the Seahawks did that. OMG. Especially for the division title!

Pete Carroll has had his share of stupidity. WE have had our share of stupidity with play calls, time management, lack of adjustments, etc. But a finish like I saw tonight? I would be catatonic.

I reiterate: Seahawks win tomorrow. NFC West Champions. Now if that is the best play as far as seeding is definitely up for debate.

Defense blew it for the silver and black there for a brief minute I thought maybe Norton called the last defensive play.

 

[kf3339]

Yep, I couldn't believe what the Raiders did by not getting the TD. So what if you gave them a minute or so on the clock. They had no timeouts and would've need a TD to win. That was just stupid.

Really bad coaching there. Jon, ya blew it. Go for it there. So what if you don't get it? You pin them on the 1 or 2 yard line with 29 seconds or whatever it was with no timeouts. Ugh. Thank GOD that wasn't us.

I'm confused by your scenario...if they went for it on 4th and failed, they would be down by 2 points.

The proper scenario is not sliding at the 1 on 2nd down. Take the TD and make them drive for a TD to win it instead of a FG.

It would have been an easy rushig TD right then. No D player would there to really stop him. I'm not sure the time left, but could have only been about a minute. So Stupid.

 

[themunn]

I didn't watch the Fins game so was confused by the scenario. But reading the play by play recap I understand.

1 minute to go and 3rd down they took a knee and then with 18 seconds to go kicked a field goal.

Had there been 50 seconds to go it would have been a no brainer to do that, leaving 10 seconds on the clock would be fine, but I think you still have to go for the TD on 3rd down there if you're going to leave 20 seconds on the clock - will never forget us getting hit by the Falcons in 2012 in that exact scenario with 20 seconds left and the defense losing it after our huge comeback

 

[Ramfan128]

Speaking of whacky - the Bears now control their own destiny: win out and they're in. If they make it, I wonder how many teams have had a six game losing streak and still made the playoffs?

 

[Grahamhawker]

Yep, I couldn't believe what the Raiders did by not getting the TD. So what if you gave them a minute or so on the clock. They had no timeouts and would've need a TD to win. That was just stupid.

Really bad coaching there. Jon, ya blew it. Go for it there. So what if you don't get it? You pin them on the 1 or 2 yard line with 29 seconds or whatever it was with no timeouts. Ugh. Thank GOD that wasn't us.

I'm confused by your scenario...if they went for it on 4th and failed, they would be down by 2 points.

The proper scenario is not sliding at the 1 on 2nd down. Take the TD and make them drive for a TD to win it instead of a FG.

It would have been an easy rushig TD right then. No D player would there to really stop him. I'm not sure the time left, but could have only been about a minute. So Stupid.

Defensive players were actually trying to push Jacobs into the endzone.

I dunno, maybe Gruden was right to fear the Fitzmagic. Look what happened with just 19 seconds left.

 

[RiverDog]

Really bad coaching there. Jon, ya blew it. Go for it there. So what if you don't get it? You pin them on the 1 or 2 yard line with 29 seconds or whatever it was with no timeouts. Ugh. Thank GOD that wasn't us.

Yes, the call to take the FG and kick off, especially considering the venue was a dome where conditions for long distance place kicking are perfect, was one of the biggest head scratchers I've seen in a long time. Plus it was possible to miss that short range kick, with the possibilities of a bad snap or getting it blocked entering into the equation. Stranger things have happened. It sure seems to me that there were more things that could go wrong with that decision vs. the alternative of going for it.

But I'm wondering if Gruden was following what seems to be accepted as the NFL's decision making bible, analytics. Is that what "the bible" recommended in that situation?

I missed not getting a chance to see "Chucky", the faces that Gruden makes on the sidelines, that were obscured by his mask. I would have loved to seen his expression as that FG sailed through the uprights.

 

[gowazzu02]

You guys didn't even mention the craziest part of the fin game.

First they benched tua again and fitz lead another come back. But with like 30bseconds left fitz made the throw of the year, he hit his guy 45ish yards down field between the corner and safety all while getting his head nearly ripped off by a vicious face mask. Incredible play . No idea why the corner let the wr blow by him. I mean give up the underneath stuff....but incredible throw none the less

 

[Hockey Guy]

I said when the Raiders missed that PAT that it was going to cost them.

I didn't foresee the craziness that ensued but I did say, as they were lining up for the game winning FG, that the whackiness of the last 4+ minutes was almost comparable to a normal Seahawks game.

 

[RiverDog]

You guys didn't even mention the craziest part of the fin game.

First they benched tua again and fitz lead another come back. But with like 30bseconds left fitz made the throw of the year, he hit his guy 45ish yards down field between the corner and safety all while getting his head nearly ripped off by a vicious face mask. Incredible play . No idea why the corner let the wr blow by him. I mean give up the underneath stuff....but incredible throw none the less

I was completely underwhelmed by Tua. He reminds me of Matt Leinart, nothing but a bunch of short throws and not all that athletic. Fitz is head and shoulders the better quarterback, so no, I'm not calling that decision 'crazy', certainly not in the same light as Gruden's game management. What's crazy is that Flores has announced that he's going back to Tua as his starter.

The face mask was more instinctive than it was stupid so I can't throw the offender under the bus, but the coverage was inexcusable, especially considering it was a sideline throw.

 

[XxXdragonXxX]

Also the Raiders shouldn't have been in position to win that game at all. The Aghalor TD was an obvious push off, and then the DPI that got them down there for the go ahead FG was ticky tack at best.