It is finally over.
It is now time to clean house.
It is finally over.
It is now time to clean house.
You did your best Cleveland, and that's all that really matters. I'm still proud of you.
Cowboys ended the season strong. They played really damn good this season regardless of what happens during the playoffs. Awesome stuff.
Cowboys ended the season strong. They played really damn good this season regardless of what happens during the playoffs.
Someone hasn't had their enthusiasm choked out of them, unlike the Cowboys Playoff dreams the last few seasons.
Chargers didn't deserve playoffs. Frank Reich is a terrible OC. He needs to be gone. And they need to figure out this injury bug. 8 center injuries on the season, and we went through 6 in total. Half of our D was injured in the first half of the season, The O line is a mess.
I still like McCoy as a coach, but I'm starting to worry he is just another conservative playcaller.
I realize the division setup prevents the NFL from requiring a team have a winning record to be in the playoffs, but could they at least switch to "best record hosts" instead of "divisional winner hosts"?
Because it's pretty sad that the Panthers have four less wins than the Cardinals but still get to be the home team.
Laughing at Johnny Manziel right now
Hard to see anyone other than the patriots winning the AFC, NFC could end up being anyone, though I'd be shocked if the Panthers or Cardinals made it.
Hard to see anyone other than the patriots winning the AFC, NFC could end up being anyone, though I'd be shocked if the Panthers or Cardinals made it.
I'd say the Steelers are the best team in the AFC, just solid in every phase. But if Bell's going to be out they're going to have some problems.
That said, the NFC definitely takes it (again) this year. My money's on the Seahawks to repeat.
Pick time!
Cardinals @ Panthers
Panthers have actually been playing well lately and the cardinals are down to their third string QB, panthers may be second team in 5 years to make the playoffs with a losing record but just like the last one they should win their first game.
Ravens @ Steelers
I am a homer, I have no other reasonable explanation for this pick.
Lions @ Cowboys
Neither team has had a playoff win in a long long time, but one of them has to win this time. Cowboys are the greatest threat to the Seahawks. Would make for a great championship game.
Bengals @ Colts
Dalton just isn't good enough to get a playoff win, so unless he pulls off what Flacco did a couple years ago he's not going anywhere. Of course the team could get carried by the RBs.
And the Panthers make it to .500 on the season.
Ok I'm really not accustomed to having flags go in favor of the Ravens for a whole game. Feels nice. Now I know what it's like to be a Patriots fan. Either way Big Ben was off and not playing like the guy I've known him to be.
I can't believe I'm saying this but, the man I've seen give such lighthearted color commentary and genuinely seemed to thrive off the game, has passed away today: Stuart scott.
I remember watching every now and then and seeing him give his own flavor of commentary and felt good when he spoke. Took the edge off the stress and tension when a team you liked was getting hammered. I didn't know he had cancer and this took me by surprise by a mile. I'm not 100% dedicated fan of football but I sure as hell liked seeing him work.
What the hell happened in the Cowboys vs Lions game? That was the worst officiating job I've seen since the fail mary, and I have no horse in this race. Lions got jobbed bad, but I guess that's karma for them thugging it up all season? Who knows.
A lot of disappointing games this weekend in the NFL. Cardinals and Bengals were so beat up they nearly put me to sleep, and the Steelers weren't much better off. College football was far more entertaining. Alabama losing to a 3rd string QB and Michigan State coming back from 20 down in the 4th quarter to win over Baylor were both better than all 4 NFL games combined.
That was a blatantly horrible call. And I have to give props to the Lions coach for running out the play clock at the resulting 4th and 1. It would've been great if they got an offsides 1st down right after that.
He never even looked back at the ball.
According to the referee, the reason for overturning the call was that the head linesman determined it was face-guarding. Of course, face-guarding requires no contact between the receiver and defensive player.
What the hell happened in the Cowboys vs Lions game? That was the worst officiating job I've seen since the fail mary, and I have no horse in this race. Lions got jobbed bad, but I guess that's karma for them thugging it up all season? Who knows.
A lot of disappointing games this weekend in the NFL. Cardinals and Bengals were so beat up they nearly put me to sleep, and the Steelers weren't much better off. College football was far more entertaining. Alabama losing to a 3rd string QB and Michigan State coming back from 20 down in the 4th quarter to win over Baylor were both better than all 4 NFL games combined.
Did you see TCU vs Ol Miss?
For some stupid reason, this one never stops being funny to me:
As a side note, a lot of Bears fans seem to want the team to draft this in the first round. Somehow I can actually see him wearing a Bears jersey while doing that.
Did you see TCU vs Ol Miss?
Lol yeah, but that game was over by halftime. TCU was really impressive but the game itself wasn't exactly a nail biter. I also enjoyed Georgia Tech putting up over 400 rushing yards against Miss St and completely humiliating them after the media spent the entire season claiming the Big Ten and ACC didn't even deserve to play on the same field with the SEC. 3 separate SEC West teams gave up major bowl game rushing records this season in losses, Alabama, Miss St, and Auburn, and they all did better than Ol Miss. And here I was told all season that the SEC West was the greatest college football division OF ALL TIME and should have 2-3 teams in the playoff.
Thank God the BCS beauty pageant era is dead, because there's never been a very good way to determine conference strength before the bowl season. Just let the winners duke it out and let the results speak for themselves. Even this year TCU has a bit of a legitimate beef, although Baylor was really the winner of the Big 12 and they lost to MSU in their bowl game, so the leg they have to stand on in that debate is pretty wounded as is. But it doesn't change the fact that they look like one of the best 4 teams in the country. Having 4 spots for 5 conferences will always be a problem. The ideal number will probably wind up being 8 a decade from now, accommodating all 5 conference champions and some potential wild cards like Notre Dame or Boise State, with possibly 1 FCS game getting chopped off of everyone's schedule.
TCU will get a lot of respect next year. Preseason top 5 I bet, along with OSU and a bunch of overrated SEC teams. Dunno about Oregon without Mariota, but the Pac 12 is always underrated thanks to the Eastern media bias. It's really hard to predict how the Big Ten will be viewed next year. With all the success this year, all the great coaches they have now with Harbaugh and Chryst coming in to join Meyer, Dantonio, Franklin, and Kill, and the huge media presence the conference has, it wouldn't be surprising to see the media world trip over themselves to overhype the conference for the first time in a long time. On the other hand, ESPN is still contractually bound to the SEC and their success.
The SEC West basically tore itself apart down the stretch with injuries and a rough schedule; the teams that played in the bowl games were definitely not the same as they were a few months ago and that Ole Miss team is light-years away from the one I saw play Vanderbilt way back at the start of the season.
Far as the Jameis Winston fumble goes, it's not often that you see one so bad that the shockwave from it takes out a ref.
Spare me. That "rough schedule" means playing nothing but conference opponents and FCS schools (a second bye week) in week NINE. Every team is beat up at the end of the year. Ohio State was down to their 3rd string QB and STILL beat Alabama. Wisconsin beat Auburn without their head coach, and Auburn used the excuse of having to play with a new defensive coordinator.
Let's ponder for a minute how we think Alabama would fare with their 3rd string QB. Depth matters. Development matters. The truly great teams will get better as the year goes on, even if they lose players. Ohio State and Oregon proved this amidst just as many injuries as the mighty SEC West teams endured, and to a lot of their most important players.
The SEC West basically tore itself apart down the stretch with injuries and a rough schedule; the teams that played in the bowl games were definitely not the same as they were a few months ago and that Ole Miss team is light-years away from the one I saw play Vanderbilt way back at the start of the season.
.
injuries? did someone break all their legs? The score was 42 - 3
injuries? did someone break all their legs? The score was 42 - 3
That's pretty much exactly what happened to Ole Miss; one of their best defensive players broke a leg against LSU, their top offensive playmaker broke a leg on the last play against Auburn, one of the best linemen blew out an ACL against Mississippi State, and they lost another all-star offensive lineman (who was already playing with a bad shoulder) early to TCU because of, yes, a broken leg. Plus they had a quarterback suffer an ankle injury against Arkansas.
I still think TCU beats Ole Miss (TCU definitely got screwed by the playoff committee and had a lot more to play for) but I don't think it's a blow-out with all of those players there.
For years the SEC drove this claim that everyone was so good, the winner was bred to be great. So great they didn't even need to prove it on the field against the other conferences. But now that they're losing it's because they're so good that they made each other bad lol.
ESPN's take on the national championship game? Oregon is lucky and just a reminder that the Big Ten has been terrible forever. The arrogance of the SEC is absurd.
It's kinda hilarious how ESPN has did a 180 on things because of shifting network affiliations; they used to boost the Big Ten and Pac 10 constantly because the SEC and CBS were in bed together.
Don't know why pats fans are so worried about the game.
The Pats blew the Ravens out 41-7 last year, and the Pat's defense has improved drastically since then.
So somehow I managed to go 4-0 with picks last week so I figured I'd go for it again.
Ravens @ Patriots
Cause Joe Flacco actually seems to play up to his salary in the playoffs. Oh, and I'm a homer.
Panthers @ Seahawks
Now lets see how the Panthers do against a team not completely riddled with injuries. Won't be pretty.
Cowboys @ Packers
Will be tough for Green Bay to win without Rodgers at full strength, also it's hard to bet against a team that get calls like the Boys did.
Colts @ Broncos
Should be a good game, but I'm betting on Luck's youth winning out over Manning's experience.
The Justice Deoartment is going to defend the law that struck down the Washington Redskins trademark.
Chancellor, stop being so damn amazing
Just for the record, if it's against Dallas and the ball is catchable, it's face-guarding. If it's for Dallas and the ball isn't catchable, it's pass interference.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
It couldn't be any more blatant that the referees are in the tank for the Cowboys after that unnecessary roughness call.
KARMA!
I think it's an NFC North thing, lol. That Calvin Johnson play, the crap from last week, and now next week the Packers return to the site of the Fail Mary.
So the Bears hire Ryan Pace as GM. We'll see if this was a good hire or not, one decision at a time.
You have to give it up the Colts defense, they rose up to the challenge today. Besides the opening drive, they pretty much shut down the Broncos offense. Their secondary especially impressed me. It's gonna be a good game in Foxboro next sunday.
I was pretty impressed with the Colts, but I was equally unimpressed with Peyton Manning. His accuracy was all over the place, and his inability to hit a deep ball to save his life put the Broncos in a very difficult position for most of the game, allowing the Colts to load the box and squat on routes. Most of his deep shots weren't even close, so the Colts rarely got out of playing a single high safety. He looked… dare I say it... old.
But supposedly his legs didn't really last the season, and the deep ball accuracy will tend to disappear with the legs.
I think Peyton's probably a lot more hurt than they've let on and has been for a while now.
He was definitely banged up ever since that Rams game. As a Colts fan it was a little sad to watch and a bit of a bittersweet victory.
Before the game if you told me that we were going to play the Pats in the AFC title game I would have said we were a layup for them and would get crushed–and in my heart of hearts I kinda expect that. After advancing, though, it's hard not to be roped into being a fan again and hoping for a chance.
That was defiantly a catch by dez Bryant. That rule should have been changed back when Calvin Johnson made the same catch. Bad call.
Plenty of upset people in the office this morning. :happy:
@Steven:
He was definitely banged up ever since that Rams game. As a Colts fan it was a little sad to watch and a bit of a bittersweet victory.
Before the game if you told me that we were going to play the Pats in the AFC title game I would have said we were a layup for them and would get crushed–and in my heart of hearts I kinda expect that. After advancing, though, it's hard not to be roped into being a fan again and hoping for a chance.
The Colts played a defense yesterday that reminded me of the recent Michigan State defenses the last couple years. Lots of tight man coverage across the board, which they've spent a while trying to find DB's to be able to do. Manning probably saw more blitzes during that one game than he's seen during multiple entire seasons combined. He just couldn't punish them for it like he always does.
The Colts got whipped by the Pats earlier this year, but that game had all kinds of crazy stuff happen like Jonas Gray go for almost 200 yards. They definitely have a chance.
And reports are surfacing now that Manning has been playing with a torn right quad. Ouch.
That was defiantly a catch by dez Bryant. That rule should have been changed back when Calvin Johnson made the same catch. Bad call.
Good call. Bad rule. Hate on the rule if you want, and you're justified in doing so, but they've called it that way consistently for 5 years. Dez should've known better.
And in other news, the CFP national championship game is on tonight, and ESPN is going all out again with like 15 different viewing options or something. I give ESPN a lot of grief for the way they report a lot of things, but I give them major props for the things they do with this game. And these are the best two IMO:
Film Room: The popular option from last year – which included coaches and ESPN analysts predicting a fake punt the play before it occurred – will be available on ESPN2. The coverage will feature ESPN analysts Chris Spielman and Tom Luginbill with Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen, who was formerly Urban Meyer's assistant, new Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi, who was defensive coordinator of this season’s Michigan State squad that played both Ohio State and Oregon, and new Nebraska coach Mike Riley, the former coach of Oregon rival Oregon State, providing in-depth X and O analysis of the game as it happens from a film room equipped with multiple camera angles, coaches clicker technology and telestration at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn. headquarters.
Sounds of the Game: ESPN Classic’s coverage will couple ESPN’s video with the natural sounds of the game that will be captured by the 100 microphones positioned throughout the stadium. The telecast will include the pregame and halftime performances of the Oregon and Ohio State marching bands.
Yup turns out Peyton had a badly torn right quad. Really sucks for him to have to go out like this if that was his last game. Colts were able to completely ignore deep coverage and just play tight on short routes.
That was defiantly a catch by dez Bryant. That rule should have been changed back when Calvin Johnson made the same catch. Bad call.
Wrong. Bryant was the definition of a falling receiver (his momentum was clearly forcing him to the ground even as he made that first step) and the number one thing you need to do is keep complete control over the ball as you hit the ground. Ball hit the ground as Bryant hit the ground and popped out, therefore a incomplete pass. This type of play happens all the time in the NFL and is always called a incomplete pass. Had Bryant fell out of bounds and made the same catch it would be incomplete, just as if he caught it in the end zone it would be a incomplete pass. Also, had Bryant caught that in a running stride instead of jumping for it it would have been a catch down at the one since when he hit the ground, which caused the ball to pop out.
People need to take their rose colored glasses off and see that. And for people who said that costed them the game they still had more than four minutes to get the ball back, which they didn't.
Dez caught the ball. Two feet landed on the ground. (Three steps actually) he became a runner at that moment. He made a football move when he switched hands with the ball and lunged for the goal line. I understand the rule is to complete the process of the catch and he did. The official made a judgmental call on rather the lunge was a football move or not. Bad rule, bad call.
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It's weird, I was rooting for both teams tonight but I still feel sad that Oregon lost. I hoped for a close game and I felt Ohio would win but I still feel kind of unsatisfied
I guess I wanted Oregon to make a surprise comeback and win since they hadn't gotten the championship before and because of that amazing game last week
I didn't really have a dog in the fight. I remember Cardale Jones had a really awful tweet a few years ago complaining about the fact that athletes had to attend classes, but I think I read an article about him maturing and thought he was pretty incredible in this run. Anyway, I never really understood the "cheer for your conference" aspect so Oregon losing didn't matter to me much–thought they would have a much better showing, though.
Lol yeah I remember that. He was also not much of a QB back then. He hadn't hit the weight room and had no size at all, and couldn't last 10 minutes in conditioning drills. He had his body into shape by the beginning of this season, but he still didn't look comfortable when he got snaps in garbage time. He'd look at his first option and just take off if it wasn't there, and not particularly quickly. But when he came in for the Big Ten championship game against Wisconsin, he was like completely different person, and he never reverted back.
Well, maybe not COMPLETELY. He still has no vision really. Ohio State ran a lot of option looks, but in reality the plays were all predetermined because Jones hasn't really figured out how to actually run the option. And the only time he's really going through his progressions on pass plays are when the offensive line is giving him 37 seconds to do so. They may be a lot of predetermined plays with a guy who has shown very little ability to read the defense, but it doesn't really matter when he has the physical ability to do this when he guesses wrong:
Ezekiel Elliot though, omg. Something like 700 yards combined against Wisconsin, Alabama, and Oregon. Faster version of Carlos Hyde. He's starting to draw comparisons to Adrian Peterson now.
Dez caught the ball. Two feet landed on the ground. (Three steps actually) he became a runner at that moment. He made a football move when he switched hands with the ball and lunged for the goal line. I understand the rule is to complete the process of the catch and he did. The official made a judgmental call on rather the lunge was a football move or not. Bad rule, bad call.
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All of Bryant's momentum was making him fall to the ground, hence falling receiver. It has had its own section in the NFL rules book since 1999, so people thinking it is a bad rule now just because it was Bryant catching the ball. Had it been some no-name receiver no one would be complaining
When you have guys like Dean Blandino, Mike Pereria and Mike Casey all agree on a call then you know it was not a catch.
In fact, here is the rule word for word from the NFL under rule 8 (the catch rule) section 1 Article 3 (covering falling receivers) item 1;
''If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete."
-Bryant's jumped for the ball, which was tipped by Shields
-as Bryant makes the first step and gets a hold of the ball, his momentum is forcing him to the ground, not the defender
-Bryant between the second and third step gets control of the ball and is still falling to the ground
Had it been some no-name receiver no one would be complaining
If it'd been Randall Cobb trying to make that catch, about 99.5% of the people currently complaining wouldn't be.
If it'd been Randall Cobb trying to make that catch, about 99.5% of the people currently complaining wouldn't be.
The same thing happened to Cobb earlier in the game but he maintained possession of the ball when he hit the ground and it was ruled a catch.
It's funny that a lot of people blamed the Cowboys losing the game to that one call when Dan Bailey missed two field goals, Demarco Murray fumbled the ball on the drive before the Packers took the lead, Aaron Rodgers was absolutely perfect the last quarter and a half of the game and that with five minutes (hell, really the second half but definitely the last five minutes) left the Dallas defense was unable to get to a quarterback who was one one leg.
As for the National title game, if I was Cardale Jones, especially at his age and the fact he has a wife and kid (he's 23 and is a redshirt sophmore) I would bolt to the NFL unless I 100% knew I was going to be the starter, and even that might not help. And I find it hilarious that people are hyped about Ezekiel Elliot (which is well deserved) when he was probably the third or fourth best runner in the Big 10, especially with the likes of Melvin Gordon and Ameer Abdullah just running out o their mind this year. Good thing Elliot has another year to build up on this three game tear
Next year's BIG 10 conference is going to be ridiculous
- As per the rule mentioned above, Bryant lost possession of the ball as he hit the ground, therefore it is a incomplete pass and will always be called that.
Well, until they change the rule, at least.
Aaron Rodgers was absolutely perfect the last quarter and a half of the game and that with five minutes (hell, really the second half but definitely the last five minutes) left the Dallas defense was unable to get to a quarterback who was one one leg.
The part about that game that seems to get missed the most is that Rodgers used the last 4 minutes of the game to effortlessly drive the length of the field and run out the clock. If Dallas had scored, then the Packers would have only had to convert that drive into points at the end, and at worst a field goal would have tied it.
As for the National title game, if I was Cardale Jones, especially at his age and the fact he has a wife and kid (he's 23 and is a redshirt sophmore) I would bolt to the NFL unless I 100% knew I was going to be the starter, and even that might not help. And I find it hilarious that people are hyped about Ezekiel Elliot (which is well deserved) when he was probably the third or fourth best runner in the Big 10, especially with the likes of Melvin Gordon and Ameer Abdullah just running out o their mind this year. Good thing Elliot has another year to build up on this three game tear
Next year's BIG 10 conference is going to be ridiculous
I… somewhat agree, yet I somewhat don't. The things the NFL teams want him for: size, arm strength, and accuracy, aren't going anywhere. His draft stock could really only take a hit with a major injury. But the things that the NFL is leery about, inability to read defenses, working through his progressions, small sample size, and general inexperience, are things that he can improve on by going back. That's why a lot of draft analysts feel like he could potentially go from a 4th or 5th round pick to a top 10 guy by returning next season. And even if he doesn't, he should still be a 4th or 5th round pick.
As for Elliot, he was legitimately average through the first half of the season. He only averaged 3.7 yards per carry against Navy. But the last few games he just looks like a different player. Of course the offensive line has a huge impact on that, as well. Gordon and Abdullah were the best running backs in the Big 10 over the course of the entire season, but Elliot may have been the best running back by the end of it. He has ridiculous speed and some slick moves, but he's also extremely physical and wants to run people over. There are very few people with that combination of speed and power, which is why AP gets mentioned. Even Gordon is thought of more as a burner who can break a couple tackles (Jamaal Charles vibes), and Abdullah is thought of more as a physical player who can run a bit (but he's also got great vision and cuts, sort of like Arian Foster). Elliot will have to prove next year that he can keep it up for an entire season, though.
I'm really curious about Braxton Miller. Bottom line is the NFL doesn't want this guy as a QB, and his torn labrum definitely doesn't help his cause. Denard Robinson is having success in the NFL as a running back, and when he was at Michigan he and Braxton looked like very similar players. The NFL wanted Tebow to play a position other than QB, but his pride got in the way and he refused and is no longer in the league anymore. I see three possible paths for Braxton, with leaving for the NFL draft this season being the most unlikely of the three. I think he'll either stay at OSU as a HB/WR type player to prepare and showcase for the NFL at his ideal position, or he'll be glued to his pride and transfer in order to try to prove that he's a great QB and can make it in the NFL doing that.
And as for the Big 10, yeah, the tides are shifting. Michigan and Wisconsin could both build into top 10 teams again as early as next season, along with OSU and MSU. Penn St and Minnesota aren't going away, either. I don't really know what to think of Nebraska right now, though. I mean, Mike Riley? Really? He's not young OR elite. At the end of the day, only about half the conference will really be worth talking about, but that's pretty much the norm for every conference. But if they can start getting 3-4 teams into the top 10 in preseason, and ~6 in the top 25, then nobody ever questions conference strength again because they'll have that SEC style monopoly on top 25 spots before anyone has a chance to do anything about it, where any losses they incur tend to come at the hands of other conference teams anyway. They really need to stop with the preseason rankings and not start ranking teams at all until like week 6, but the associated press will never give that up.
I definitely think that Nebraska will have problems due to the fact that it's going to take a couple years for Riley to morph the team away from what Bo Pelini created, but one of the reasons why they went with Riley was due to his recruiting ties to the West coast.
Also agree with your observations about Miller, especially with his recurring shoulder problems.
According to Adam Schefter and other sources, Jim Tomsula will be next 49ers HC… our front office is trash, really!!
I definitely think that Nebraska will have problems due to the fact that it's going to take a couple years for Riley to morph the team away from what Bo Pelini created, but one of the reasons why they went with Riley was due to his recruiting ties to the West coast.
They could have certainly made worse choices. He shouldn't do anything completely idiotic like make the team small a la Rich Rod at Michigan. But still, while the main competition is swinging for the fences (Meyer, Dantonio, Harbaugh, Franklin, Chryst, Kill), the Huskers seem like they're trying to hit a single with a long time head coach that's solid yet has never managed a 10 win season.
Harbaugh and Chryst, on the other hand, should be able to develop great teams very quickly with the talent that's already in place at Michigan and Wisconsin. It already fits what they want to do.
According to Adam Schefter and other sources, Jim Tomsula will be next 49ers HC… our front office is trash, really!!
I just had flashbacks of 49er teams that were coached by Mike Singletary.