Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

I was promised a recession.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

In my day, never was longer.

Come on, man.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

John Fetterman: Too Manly for Pennsylvania.  Paid for by the Oz for Senator campaign.

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / NFL & General Open Thread

NFL & General Open Thread

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I’m watching the abysmal Bucs play the horrid Falcons. It is, in the theft-worthy words of Dolly Llama from yesterday’s college football thread, like watching “two mules fighting over a turnip.” But Go Bucs.

We are also monitoring Miami vs. Buffalo, where the Bills have a 14-point lead in the first quarter. Booo! The mister is a Buffalonian, so he’s happy with that development. I’m hoping Miami comes back and crushes the Bills like a rotten grape.

Please feel free to discuss football or whatever else.

Reader Interactions

163Comments

  5. 5.

    burnspbesq

    Galaxy need to finish the job today against SJ. Going into Seattle on the last night of the season needing a result to make the playoffs would not be good.

  10. 10.

    Corner Stone

    Not really waiting for the Texans to play the late afternoon game at KC, but will root for former U of Houston stud QB Case Keenum to do well. Mildly defined as less than 8 sacks and 3 or fewer INTs with only one for a Pick 6.

  11. 11.

    JScott

    Actually, the anniversary is Wednesday. I got ahead of myself. I knew one of the Marines, and I am… you know. Sorry.

  15. 15.

    CaseyL

    Seahawks get a bye this week, which is a huge relief, since I seem to have the power to jinx them simply by making the wrong decision whether or not to wear Seahawk-colors mardi gras beads while watching the game :)

    (Last week, remember when the offense started to be able to move the ball and actually score? Yes? That was after I took the beads off. You’re welcome.)

  16. 16.

    Yatsuno

    @CaseyL: They played (and won) on Thursday, which if they’re going into the bye week with that much rest we might have our full offencive line back in place. This makes me haz a happy.

    Impromptu brekkie out and a shit ton of stuff to do.Have fun kidz.

  18. 18.

    Svensker

    @Irony Abounds:

    Take it to them Bills!!!! And may the Jets beat the cursed Patriots.

    Dang good players, the Pats, but why the hell do they have to do the classless shit — and never get called for it, either, of course.

    Smash the fish, cause maximize pain to the Pats. Thank you.

  20. 20.

    Roxy

    Fog vs Sun. Looks like the Sun is winning along the bay, Fog is winning along some parts of the coast.

  24. 24.

    CaseyL

    @Yatsuno: Oy. I meant Thursday. Honestly, this week, my brain has been taking time off without clearing it with me first.

    Have a happy brekkie. If you want to go out for Sunday Brunch sometime, let me know. I love Sunday Brunches.

    Hey! Hey! How about, next Seattle BJ meetup, maybe make a ‘Hawks gameday thing of it? Either at a sports bar, or at some brave person’s house. I’d be willing to host – I’ve got a 55″ TV – but can only fit maybe 5-6 people in my living room; more if they don’t mind sitting on the floor and getting cosy.

  25. 25.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    Tigers lost last night. Red Wings blew a third period lead and lost last night.

    But the Gophers won their 55th game in a row so it’s all okay. And Ohio State beat North Dakota in one of the four games all year where I’ll root for them. Other than the Ivies, who just started play this weekend, Minnesota is the only unbeaten, untied team left in the country.

    Edit: And holy crap. Dartmouth is up on BC after a period.

  27. 27.

    Schlemizel

    Show of hands. How many of you are super exited to see the Giants Vikings game tonight! A combined 1-10 on the year. Its a must lose situation for Minnesota, the Vikings really need to lose tonight to stay in contention for the #1 draft pick.

  32. 32.

    zombie rotten mcdonald

    The Bears and the Lions (oh my!) are both losing at the half, so things are looking up.

    Myself, I am starting to feel kind of bad for the Vikings. Maybe they should bring Favre back. Again.

  34. 34.

    Betty Cracker

    @BGinCHI: No. He fled Buffalo while still in his teens. At this point, he’s lived in Florida longer. Still roots for the Bills and likes a good beef on weck, though.

  36. 36.

    Betty Cracker

    @Bob In Portland: Yeah, that was pretty awesome. I was worried about him as it unfolded as it looked like he was getting helicoptered, but all’s well that ends well.

  37. 37.

    opiejeanne

    @CaseyL: Oooh! I’m in.

    And I could host one too, if our kitchen ever gets finished. Cabinets have been sighted on the horizon and promised to arrive tomorrow sometime. Trying not to get my hopes up because they have put us off for the past 3 weeks after they were ALREADY a couple of weeks late. We might be done for Thanksgiving.

  39. 39.

    West of the Cascades

    @burnspbesq: I was a very frustrated Timbers fan at the game against RSL last night … I think we’re hoping for a SJ win over the Galaxy, then a Galaxy win over the Sounders next week could mean that the team from the fishing village to the north might miss the playoffs. Seattle has looked atrocious during their 4-game losing streak, which makes people in Portland almost as happy as seeing the Timbers continue their 7-game unbeaten streak.

    Nick Rimando (RSL goalie) had three amazing saves, or we’d be in a better position to clinch the West — and five teams in the East are still fighting for the last three playoff spots. Great final couple of weekends as teams jockey for playoff position.

    Also — go Bills!

  42. 42.

    Betty Cracker

    @BGinCHI: Yeah, the food is fantastic, as is the drinking, because why not? It’s not like you’re going anywhere. The mister’s parents are snowbirds who bring us delicacies such as Weber’s mustard and Sahlen’s hot dogs when they migrate south for the winter. I’ve learned to make an excellent weck by creating a corn starch-water slurry and using it to coat a plain Kaiser roll top with kosher salt and caraway seeds. It’s all good.

  45. 45.

    West of the Cascades

    @Ben: yes, indeedy — I grew up about a mile from Duff’s (back when you could get a pitcher of Old Vienna for a dollar), and have only had Anchor Bar wings once … meh. But I’m definitely biased!

  46. 46.

    BGinCHI

    @Betty Cracker: I love your homemade weck kung fu. Very crafty.

    And you are right: you have to take indoor sports seriously there. Otherwise, madness. Or you drive to Toronto.

  50. 50.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    BC finally woke up with a five goal second period that still has 2:55 to go.

  51. 51.

    burnspbesq

    @BGinCHI:

    you have to take indoor sports seriously there.

    The Mistake on the Lake even takes box lacrosse seriously, which makes them the only Americans outside Haudenosaunee country to do so.

    Box is like sevens rugby: a bastardized version of the real game.

  55. 55.

    burnspbesq

    @West of the Cascades:

    Fortunately the Galaxy have already clinched their Champions League group, so it they need a result next week they can send an all-reserve and Academy group down to El Salvador on Wednesday.

  59. 59.

    burnspbesq

    @BGinCHI:

    Played six a side on a surface the size of a hockey rink, with a hockey-sized goal. Mostly indoors, but on some of the Haudenosaunee reservations you’ll find outdoor boxes that are used as practice facilities.

    Box is loosely organized mayhem. Not my cup of hot chocolate. My best attribute as a player was that I had wheels and could make shit happen in transition (I’m so old, I played when all midfielders played both offense and defense and there were no LSMs), and wheels aren’t very relevant in the confined spaces of box.

  60. 60.

    CaseyL

    Opiejeanne –

    That would be great! Can you seat more than 6? If so, you might be stuck hosting, unless we opt for a sports bar. Sports bars tend to be really noisy, though; and FSM knows the BJ crowd ain’t exactly reticent.

    Next weekend I’m unavailable, and Thanksgiving weekend as well. But other than that, my schedule is pretty much open.

  61. 61.

    West of the Cascades

    @burnspbesq: good point – at least SJ doesn’t have to travel to Costa Rica for its game, but they’re in a position where they literally need to win three games in seven days (to extend a three-game winning streak) to make the MLS playoffs and stay alive in the CL.

  63. 63.

    Betty Cracker

    @West of the Cascades: He’s kinda “meh” on wings in general. A Jafafa Hots “shit canoe” is more his speed.

    @J: I don’t understand why Dowd has a job, much less a Pulitzer. Her shtick was already tired when the Macarena was all the rage.

  65. 65.

    Schlemizel

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):

    Oh, the excitement is just so much like Christmas that I am trying to hurry it along.

    Funny but this past week I read the first half of “Monday Night Mayhem” which is about how MNF came into being. One of the first issues they knew they would have to deal with is games that were not interesting. Roone Arledge understood he needed to create drama so he did that with lots of reaction shots and close ups of players. But his big idea was stolen from pro rasslin. He took the abrasive Howard Cosell and teamed him with the country boy Don Meredith. He knew people would tune in to cheer the hero and boo the villain even if the game was a snoozefest

  66. 66.

    BGinCHI

    @Betty Cracker: You fuck that chicken long enough you get a Pulitzer. Says a lot about that award. Unless you get taken hostage or there are bombs falling around you, there is no reason to get an award for sitting in your nice house in NoVa and typing shit anyone could think up.

  68. 68.

    Corner Stone

    WTF just happened in DET?
    Stafford threw a bomb to Calvin in the end zone with triple coverage and CJ comes down with it. Un-freakin-believable catch.
    And just a monumentally stupid decision on Stafford’s part.

  71. 71.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Corner Stone: Whether it was stupid depends upon whether anyone else was open. It was 3rd and 18 on the fringes of field goal range. At that point, if you can’t hit anyone else and are about to get sacked, there’s really no downside to just heaving it into the end zone.

  72. 72.

    scav

    @Amir Khalid: Yeah, there was a general enough heart-boiling that I saw somewhere they backed off and said he could work again. But Daddy Walmart owns you and your behavior, even when chewing on a sandwich in a parking lot.

  73. 73.

    Corner Stone

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): Disagree. Throw it away and live to decide your fate on the next play. With 12 minutes left, a pooch punt may have been the right answer, or an attempted FG if they chose.
    With triple coverage on him, and a defender underneath, the chances of an INT were pretty stout.
    Lots of bad opportunities there and not much likelihood of gain. Too much time left to pull that trigger.

  75. 75.

    Betty Cracker

    Goddamn it, Miami! How do you fumble that ball?!?! All we can hope for is the Return of Norwood now. Fuck!

  76. 76.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Corner Stone: I absolutely loathe punting from that deep in opponents’ territory. All statistical analysis says that that’s a really stupid decision; I think coaches would make more sensible decisions on punting if they thought of it as a turnover, which it is. So the alternatives after throwing it away are going for it on 4th and 18, trying a 57 yard field goal, or being an idiot and punting. None of those alternatives have a higher upside or expected value than just tossing it up and hoping the best receiver in the game can come down with it. I’m not saying that it’s a good option, just that none of the others are really any better.

    Stafford’s dumb play was the grounding earlier in the sequence. Once that happened the odds of a happy outcome to the possession went down dratically.

  77. 77.

    Dee Loralei

    @Betty Cracker: we lived in Buffalo in the early 70’s when my dad was at SUNY-B getting his PhD. I have a weck recipe, if you don’t mind making fresh bread. I can fish it out for you if you like.

  78. 78.

    Corner Stone

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): His receiver broke the wrong route. He didn’t expect to complete that pass but he did think someone would be in the area.
    And a punt is *not* a turnover. Look what happens when QB’s make desperate throws and end up with in INT downfield. The DB’s wreak having with the OL trying to track them down, and the QB either takes a cheap shot or is the last resort to stop a big return.

  79. 79.

    Betty Cracker

    Buffalo wins. BOOOO!

    But the Bears just pulled ahead of the Washington Racial Slurs. YAY!

  80. 80.

    Corner Stone

    In any event, an actually tense situation forming in the CIN @ DET game. Would not have expected this much fun.

  81. 81.

    prufrock

    @JScott: I had two drill instructors who were blown up in that fiasco. Both survived, buy one had a scar that ran from his ear all the way down to his mouth. Hard core dudes both.

  85. 85.

    Betty Cracker

    @Dee Loralei: Thank you, but I don’t have much luck with baking bread, so I’m probably better off sticking to my Sandra Lee strategy with the Kaiser rolls.When you make it, do you roast the beef yourself or doctor up deli roast beef?

  88. 88.

    West of the Cascades

    @Betty Cracker: Fish!! Squished!!!! (apologies for the coldness of that, but, damn, the Bills needed this sort of come-from-behind road win more than the Dolphins did).

  91. 91.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Schlemizel: Yeah. One of the clearest things that serious analysis has shown is that possession is vastly more important than field position. Overall, football coaches, NFL and otherwise, are much too prone to willingly give the ball to the other team.

  92. 92.

    Betty Cracker

    @West of the Cascades: Pffft. Oh well. I’m clearly an albatross for any team I root for — all my teams have lost so far this weekend (Gators, Bucs and Dolphins) and even teams I’m casually rooting for just because I hate their opponents (Bears vs Skins) start losing the second I express enthusiasm for their potential victory. I’ll just STFU about football now…

  94. 94.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Corner Stone: The numbers say you’re wrong. The value of a turnover isn’t the yardage you gain on a return; it’s the fact that you now have the ball and the other team doesn’t. A punt replicates the most important thing about a turnover and in terms of game consequences that’s what it is.

  101. 101.

    James E. Powell

    That call against the Pats was truly a shit call. I’d be checking the finances of the ref who threw that one.

    He just handed the game to the Jets.

  105. 105.

    2liberal

    pats lose on a very ticky tack type penalty. it looked to me like Jones was doing a stunt rather than pushing his own player from behind.

  107. 107.

    Another Holocene Human

    ruemara, if you’re still online {{{ruemara}}}

    I always look forward to your comments here and I’m horrified to hear you’re feeling so hopeless and depressed (believe me: been there, done that)

    fuck all those assholes that won’t give you a job, anyway. You’re better than that.

    if you need a sympathetic ear I could send you my cell # via burner email
    or send me a mailing addy & I could send you a care package of sorts
    dead thread floggers gotta stick together

  109. 109.

    gelfling545

    Listening to the regular Sunday classical programs on WNED, our 24/7 classical station. They announced the Bills had won. I have never heard them do such a thing before. I guess folks are really pleased.

  112. 112.

    SFAW

    @James E. Powell:

    That call against the Pats was truly a shit call. I’d be checking the finances of the ref who threw that one.

    Good point. From what I understand, from the transcript of the double-tippy-top-super-duper-secret rules change meeting between seasons, Woody Johnson was really pushing for the rule change, because “I’m gonna pay off a ref to throw the second Jets-Pats game next season in our direction, have him call a penalty in OT on some guy named Johnson or Jones, give us a Mulligan on a FG attempt.” Looks like he made it happen.

    Next up: the “Tuck” Rule.

  113. 113.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Corner Stone: One of the best places to go for this is Football Outsiders but there search engine seems to be down at the moment so I’m having trouble finding any of their research specifically on the question of going for it.

    But really, this goes back to the first serious attempt at outside statistical analysis of football, John Thorn and Pete Palmer’s book The Hidden Game of Football. Some other alternatives:

    A New Study on 4th Downs or the longer version of the same thing The 4th Down Study – Part 1.

    David Romer (Christine Romer’s husband) did an extensive study in 2003.

    When you start looking at the numbers this is something that just leaps out at you. NFL teams should go for it on 4th down far more often than they do.

  115. 115.

    Corner Stone

    I have yet to understand the marketing campaign behind the Mac&Cheese “Eat Like That Guy You Know”.
    I actually don’t want to have anything to do with those guys I am somehow supposed to know. They sound like they all vote Republican.

  116. 116.

    Dee Loralei

    @Betty Cracker: Oddly enough, I don’t ever remember beef and weck.I was 11 when we moved. But I did remember the rolls. So I just make them as a dinner roll like when we have stew or soup. Isn’t a beef and weck basically a french dip that’s already been dipped? How do you do yours?

  117. 117.

    Corner Stone

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): I’ll take a look at those, thanks. However, I would like to point out the play we discussed was 3rd down. Maintaining possession seems to have been the most valuable option according to your analysis, and that was a low level probability to do so. Negating one entire down of their possession if they committed a TO.

  120. 120.

    PsiFighter37

    J-E-T-S

    Nothing makes my heart warm up like seeing sad-face Tom Brady walk off the football field.

  121. 121.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Corner Stone: In general, yes. And of the alternatives if Stafford throws it away, going for it is probably the best. But given that it would have been 4th and 18, even that’s iffy. I could see an argument for throwing it away and going for it but I don’t think what he did would end up being much less productive than that. If they had been 15 yards closer, the field goal probably would have been a better option, but not from 57 yards.

    I think the harshest thing I could say about that pass was that it was suboptimal but not to the point of being really stupid. Sometimes you’re better off just letting That Guy try to make a play.

  122. 122.

    Botsplainer

    Reason #7865 on why Mestizos hate pure blood Cubanos – par for the course, Rubio is a craven little prick.

    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/20/rubio-house-republicans-deserve-to-dictate-immigration-reform-after-government-shutdown/

    “Again, I think the House deserves the time and space to have its own ideas on how they want to move forward on this, let’s see what they come up with. It could very well be much better than what than the Senate has done so far.”

  123. 123.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Corner Stone: And here is the Football Outsiders page on some of their most basic findings, though none of them address this question directly, though some of them obviously have implications for the decision.

  124. 124.

    Betty Cracker

    @Dee Loralei: You’re right: It is sort of like a French dip. I’ve done a roast myself for the purpose, but most of the time I’ll get thinly sliced rare roast beef from the deli and toss it in pan of heated au jus and let people build their own sandwiches with the beef, weck rolls and horseradish. You can throw the beef and au jus in a crockpot on low too — the trick is not to cook it, just to heat it up slightly and let folks drip the au jus all over the roll. Mmmmm!

  125. 125.

    PsiFighter37

    Doing a light dinner tonight, since a lot of people are not around…cacio e pepe and braised swiss chard with pesto. Couple of new recipes, but relatively simple.

  126. 126.

    Corner Stone

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): I actually agree to some extent that NFL coaches (and probably a big percentage of NCAAF coaches) play it too conservatively on 4th down. Most likely, IMO, due to harsh criticism from sports radio and callers-in.
    I wish more would actually make the tougher call, mainly because I’m not being paid to coach their team and I think it makes more sense in isolated incidents where they decline to do so.
    However, I do believe field position is an important factor (probably more important than bare number crunching reveals but I haven’t read the links yet), and combined with game clock, some defensive plays make more sense than the straight numbers analysis.

  127. 127.

    Botsplainer

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):

    When you start looking at the numbers this is something that just leaps out at you. NFL teams should go for it on 4th down far more often than they do.

    Were I a coach, my team would always go for a first down anytime we were past our own 45. Stats-wise, it makes sense. I’d even consider it from the 35, depending on how well players ere performing.

  129. 129.

    Botsplainer

    @Corner Stone:

    I keep thinking about deep punts and touchback to the 25. I’ve seen soooo many pointless punts, particularly in the 3rd quarter by teams that are down 2 touchdowns.

  130. 130.

    Corner Stone

    How do you not call defensive PI on that?

    And, an example of the pooch punt as opposed to trying an FG or going for it and sacrificing field position.

  131. 131.

    opiejeanne

    @CaseyL: Oh, no. I just realized the tv you could actually see from the new dining room is too small unless you’re sitting at the counter, and that only seats 5. Oh well, foo.

  133. 133.

    Pogonip

    @JScott: That’s OK. I know a guy who switched to Army (to become a Green Beret), shipped out of Beirut the day before the bombing, and has been haunted by survivor’s guilt ever since. My condolences on your loss.

  134. 134.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Corner Stone: Field position is important, though not as much as possession. One of the key bits, though, is that each yard on the field doesn’t have the same value. Where you are in the field plays a big role in figuring out whether kicking the ball is a good call. Some of the early work done (which to some extent includes Romer’s) basically concluded that punting is never the right call. And that mostly highlights that analysis is never done and further refinements (much like has happened with sacrifice bunts in baseball) have shown that the question is more nuanced than that.

    In a different sport, there’s a huge experiment being conducted in the NHL this year. All (and I mean all) of the advanced analytical systems for hockey say that the Toronto Maple Leafs are not a good team. Yet they made it to the playoffs last year and are off to a good start this year. So the question is whether they can sustain that success and, if they do sustain it long enough to suggest that it isn’t a fluke, what changes will need to be made. Having watched them some I think that there has to be at least something of a fluke element to it; that game last week when they beat the Wild 4-1 despite being outshot 37-14 screams of luck. That said, I also suspect that shots on goal aren’t really as good a proxy for puck possession as the publicly available systems model it as.

  135. 135.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Corner Stone:

    I have yet to understand the marketing campaign behind the Mac&Cheese “Eat Like That Guy You Know”.

    I don’t get it either. I guess they were trying for a version of the “Real Men of Genius” beer ads? Even if it’s supposed to be ironic or something, it seems like the whole premise is their product is something best enjoyed by losers and dipshits.

  138. 138.

    FlipYrWhig

    @James E. Powell: What’s the rationale behind that being a penalty in the first place? Shouldn’t the league want to encourage blocked kicks, because they’re exciting?

  140. 140.

    Corner Stone

    Of course, the defensive battle of using field position is predicated on your defense actually being able to stop a 97 yard drive.

  143. 143.

    Corner Stone

    I’ve never understood why any team would invest money in Sam Bradford. The guy had like 17 knee injuries before he left college.

  144. 144.

    patrick II

    @Corner Stone:

    The really sad thing is that the Rams picked him twice. Once out of college and again when they chose him over RGIII — since Shanahan, desperate for a quarterback, was willing to give about the same deal for either.

  151. 151.

    Corner Stone

    Betty, my love. Your poison pen worked against the Hated Ravens. But, unfortunately, the Texans O-Line decided to not bother blocking the KC DL pass rushers on the three most crucial plays of the game.
    And if I were JJ Watt, I would pick Jamaal Charles up by his fucking jock strap and DDT that motherfucker right into the fucking turf.

  153. 153.

    SFAW

    @FlipYrWhig:

    What’s the thinking behind it?

    They wanted to give the Juicers something to bitch about?

    I have no idea. If I had to guess, it’s probably something along the lines of each player is “responsible” (or whatever) for his own play/performance, and can’t hook up with another player to enhance his own, or his teammate’s, play. Don’t they forbid kick-blockers from climbing on a teammate’s back? I seem to remember something like that.

    But, as the saying goes – I am not a referee, nor do I play one on TV (nor in Balloon Juice).

  154. 154.

    2liberal

    @SFAW:

    Yes. New rule for this season, apparently.

    the rule is supposed to be that the pushing player can’t start off at the second level – behind the defensive line. The player who got flagged actually started off at the LOS so bellichick argued it was a completely bad call.

  155. 155.

    Joel

    Not too broken up about the Patriots losing today. It is odd to see them get tuck ruled after all these years.

  156. 156.

    JPL

    @SFAW: He didn’t touch him with his hands, it was with his body or torso to be more exact. Go to any football game and during a field goal attempt, watch how many times it doesn’t happen.

  157. 157.

    FlipYrWhig

    @SFAW: @JPL: I don’t understand why you can’t try to block a kick by jumping on someone’s back, either. If it’s not a penalty to launch yourself into a scrum to propel the ballcarrier either forward or backward, this has no business being a penalty either.

  158. 158.

    SFAW

    @JPL:

    Not to put too fine a point on it, but: didn’t see the Jones-eye-view vid, only the one from the Jets-side of scrimmage, so … don’t care that much. Belichick could have had it reviewed, I expect, if he felt that strongly about it. Or is there no review in OT?

    WAS there a Jones-eye-view vid of the play?

    And, by the way, I just watched the Jets-side vid: Jones’s right hand CLEARLY moves into position and pushes – who, Svitek? – on the play. So, if the hand is the key body part which determines whether it’s a penalty, then looks like the call was valid.

  159. 159.

    SFAW

    @FlipYrWhig:

    I don’t understand why you can’t try to block a kick by jumping on someone’s back, either.

    No idea. Lacrosse is/was my game, I just watch football for grins – or when the Jets are playing, in case I’m feeling not-bald-enough. Kinda like watching the Mets – more penance than 1000 Ave Marias and 1000 Paternosters.

    ETA: Of course, rooting for the Mets is a venal, not mortal, sin.

  160. 160.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @Corner Stone:

    WTF just happened in DET?
    Stafford threw a bomb to Calvin in the end zone with triple coverage and CJ comes down with it. Un-freakin-believable catch.
    And just a monumentally stupid decision on Stafford’s part.

    When you’ve got the best WR in the league, a guy who’s 6’5″ and has a great vertical leap, it’s something that should happen more often. Lions’ fans, local sports talk hosts and Lions-beat writers have been saying it for a few years now. I agree with ’em.

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