Flawed Media Narratives from the NFCCG

[purpleneer]

Fantastic points, Kip. Moving this into the main forum because it's absolutely Seahawks-related.

The one thing I noticed very distinctly on my re-watch was how the announcers stated immediately that most of those second-guessed plays were the correct ones to make. They applauded Clinton-Dix's decision to go down immediately. And given the situation, I think it was the correct call too. No way you want to give it right back to us and put us right back in line for the comeback. You put Aaron Rodgers and the league's #1 offense on the field and try to pound it down the field for the remaining four minutes, or at least long enough that two touchdown drives weren't going to happen.

Not sure I'd be using announcer's comments to support a decision, especially on something where the phrase "playing it safe" might be used. Many times that gets said, all it does it changes how you might lose while actually making it more likely. Burnett could have made the most conservative return possible, covering the ball and being ready to go down quickly, and picked up an easy 15-20 yards. Throw in a block from Peppers and a return would have had a great chance of going to the house, absolutely icing the contest, and chip-shot range is a given. Even 15-20 would have really increased the chances of getting points. That offense is only #1 if the defense has to worry about the pass; no chance of grinding much clock without at least being willing to throw. I was seriously shocked somebody would go down like that with 5 minutes left and less than a 3-score lead.

 

[purpleneer]

How pissed would people in GB be right now had he gone for it on 4th down, and been stopped twice. 6 is a lot better than 0.

Exactly! The pundits keep talking as tho getting a TD was a given which of course it is NOT!

I'd say more who argue that he made the right call are assuming that tries would have failed, which is more of a stretch.

 

[Hawks46]

I look at the FG's that GB took this way: sure, the call would be to go for it on the 2nd try. BUT.....If they failed on just one of those attempts, and the game goes the exact same way, GB needs a TD to win the game instead of a FG to tie.

That's a much worse situation to be in. Plus, if GB needed a TD, the Hawks would've tightened up the pass defense and let them run on the ground as much as they wanted. The Hawks basically played a soft, deep zone to keep the Packers out of the end zone.

 

[bigskydoc]

I think an edit is needed here. Seattle stats had to have been before the drive that ended at 2:09, not after.

Arrgh. Thanks for catching that. I have several cumulative break points in my Xcel spreadsheet and when I transferred the data to something that would layout correctly here, I transferred the wrong title.

Corrected data below



I chose this breakpoint because folks are saying that the Hawks only came alive with 2 min left, so I wanted to show what they did before that drive that occurred after the onside at 2:09

- bsd

 

[bigskydoc]

Something interesting I figured out. In their stats, ESPN and NFL films credit a team for a first down if there is a penalty on first down that results in a replay of the down.

For instance, if there is an offensive false start or holding penalty that gives a team 1st and 15 or 1st and 20, those first downs will be credited to the team even though it is just a replay of 1st down. Same for encroachment etc. I looked at several Seahawks games from this year and it held true.

That seems odd to me. Can anyone explain?

- bsd RPA

 

[bigskydoc]

Incidentally, as you might expect, that makes our 1st down stats look a lot better than they really are.

- bsd

 

[purpleneer]

Something interesting I figured out. In their stats, ESPN and NFL films credit a team for a first down if there is a penalty on first down that results in a replay of the down.

For instance, if there is an offensive false start or holding penalty that gives a team 1st and 15 or 1st and 20, those first downs will be credited to the team even though it is just a replay of 1st down. Same for encroachment etc. I looked at several Seahawks games from this year and it held true.

That seems odd to me. Can anyone explain?

- bsd RPA

There is literally no reason that makes sense to do that.

 

[Seahawkfan80]

Thanks BSD. Great panoramic.