kearly wrote:I'm guessing that with average luck they've probably played at a 3-2 level, but for whatever reason they always find a way to lose in the 4th quarter. I don't think that's coaching. I think it's just shitty luck and nothing more.
Agreed.
The reason the NFL is "Any Given Sunday" is because many games hinge on literally a handful of critical plays. In a close game, those debatable penalties, and those astounding catches, and those unlikely plays make all the difference. If ET hadn't gotten that PF on that interception, does anyone think that wouldn't have made a difference? The Dolphins scored a TD one play later, instead of the Seahawks having the ball.
If RW had escaped in that last play of the Seahawks' last possession, and hit a guy downfield, taking us in FG range ... does anything think that might have made a difference in the outcome? RW did exactly that for much of the game ... just not that last time.
Does anyone really remember 2005? I remember a lot of nail-biters, many of which were won by 50+-yard FGs by Josh Brown. I remember the Giants coming in and improbably missing not one, not two, but THREE FGs which would have won it for them.
And of course, I remember a very improbable Super Bowl that year, where the better team lost.* It happens.
The goal, in the NFL, is to be IN the games, and to hope that you can be the beneficiary of a few improbable plays. Talent helps -- no doubt. But sometimes the ball bounces your way, and sometimes it doesn't. Undefeated teams lose to cellar dwellers. Referees decide games they shouldn't.
We're IN the games, folks. We just aren't quite getting it done.
* This is the Asterisk that Requires No Explanation.