It's Tua. There were open receivers in the 49er game but he missed them. He threw the ball right at defensive players yesterday. Defenses have made adjustments but he hasn't. He is not our quarterback of the future. The Dolphins were challenging the Bills for the AFC East title but now even the bottom wild card spot is slipping away.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Dolphins commit suicide and blow the season. No idea what they are going to do next.

Very tragic about Damar Hamlin and it will mar this Football season, as though it wasn't a constant problem known by all. The players are too big and the hits are too violent.

That tackle wasn't even anything out of the ordinary, but when you punch the heart at just the right time it can stop. What they aren't talking about yet is how long oxygen to the brain was lost before his heart was restarted. I enjoy watching Football, but it shouldn't be Rollerball and rule modifications aren't making players any safer.

So they will call it bad luck, say a prayer the next game and go back about their business. And we will still watch too.

So this is pretty sick. Just check out the sold eBay listings on Damar Hamlin's autograph cards in November and December 2022. For the most part they were under $10 on standard issues and some non-premium rookies. Now look at the sold activity and prices on and after January 2nd, 2023. What do you think these buyers are hoping will happen? The worst of the hobby.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

What do you think these buyers are hoping will happen? The worst of the hobby.

This happens all the time, you only have to hear somebody has died and the sellers race to double the price and the buyers race to buy them .

The other thing about that is that I have a vague memory of something similar happening to one of the Lions in the mid-70's (?) and I think it was a Monday Night game.

The league wanted to resume the game after Hamlin was transported away but I think the teams protested and someone at the league realized in time what a huge public relations nightmare that would have been to push for finishing the game that night. The league is already seen as constantly searching for more millions of dollars to gorge on no matter the mounting injuries while players and fans just want to hear that the kid is going to be okay.

The league is now considering declaring the game a "no contest" rather than a tie (the option I thought they would choose) or trying to resume the game on another day. That would mean letting this weekend's games settle the playoff spots.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Very tragic about Damar Hamlin and it will mar this Football season, as though it wasn't a constant problem known by all. The players are too big and the hits are too violent.

That tackle wasn't even anything out of the ordinary, but when you punch the heart at just the right time it can stop. What they aren't talking about yet is how long oxygen to the brain was lost before his heart was restarted. I enjoy watching Football, but it shouldn't be Rollerball and rule modifications aren't making players any safer.

So they will call it bad luck, say a prayer the next game and go back about their business. And we will still watch too.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
This happens all the time, you only have to hear somebody has died and the sellers race to double the price and the buyers race to buy them .

Happily, it seems that they jumped the gun this time. Hamlin didn't make history by being the first Pro football player to die on national TV. So those who went and spent hundreds, if not thousands, to get his autographed rookie cards are now stuck with them. Sellers are laughing at the buyers. They all deserve each other.

Hamlin may never play football again, but wind up as a coach, or an announcer, or a motivational speaker. I sure wouldn't try for a third time if I died twice and still have my brains. He'd have to be nuts to tempt fate again.

Today he will be remembered in all the games, but it will be a feel-good story and everybody working for the Game is relieved. It is going to happen eventually though, and everybody knows that too.

Well god knows how that happened but the Dolphins are in the play offs.

However...Buffalo away with no quarterback means we might aswell not be.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Well god knows how that happened but the Dolphins are in the play offs.

However...Buffalo away with no quarterback means we might asbwell not be.

Don't feel bad, the Dolphins have a lot of company with other teams that don't belong in the playoffs either. They should be put out of their misery pretty fast.

The Giants aren't a good team, they just got away with winning more games than usual. The Seahawks have backed in and are lucky to be there. All three should be gone by next week.

Neither the Bucs or the Cowboys, who are playing each other, have been consistent and both of their fabulously praised QBs have had really bad games at bad times. This is the game I can't call. It might be terrific, or it might be 6-3 in the fourth quarter.

For the last two, I'd say Chargers over Jaguars on a hunch and Bengals over Ravens. Every year I get burned by the Ravens and every year I don't pick them, so there is that.

I'm glad to see the back of the Packers and the Steelers, they didn't merit a slot. The Steelers need to rebuild more, and the Pack weren't very good even in the comeback. I watched a lot of Packers games and Rodgers missed more throws than I can ever recall all by himself. They so should have won last night's game but settling for 3 points when you should have had 7 and throwing stupid interceptions will do that to you.

The call guys wanted so badly to say he was still doing great, even praising his ability to get teams offside when the Pack couldn't be relied upon to get a yard on 4th down. They just didn't have good game plays, which was the Coach's fault and when the running was shut down, Rodgers wasn't able to find the receivers either. He needs to retire or move on to a better offensive line and quality receivers. I doubt he will retire, too much ego and he will want to outlast Brady at least for a little.

Right, shaky teams don't win the Super Bowl. They lose to consistent teams in the playoffs.

The Bengals should beat the Ravens but they've had trouble with them. Cowboys have to worry if they're leading by less than 7 late in the game. Tampa has put together drives in the last few minutes.

Yeah, Chargers vs. Jaguars looks like a close one.

The Packers have looked terrible. Rodgers doesn't want to put in the work off-season. While other quarterbacks are meeting with receivers, practicing, in the spring, he's off somewhere for some me-time. However, after he retires or goes to another team, the Packers go back to the 80's when they were a losing team before they got lucky picking up Favre. Fans thought Majkowski was going to be the next Bart Starr but it was Favre. Actually, Starr won two Super Bowls while Favre and Rodgers each have one. They're still waiting for the next Starr.

I knew the Seahawks would lose because teams that are lucky enough to back into a playoff position because a better team blew their game usually disappoint. Also Geno is a hard luck player. He always looks like he will mature to be a good QB whenever he gets a starting role, until something happens in a crucial part of the game. He fumbles, he gets sacked, he throws an interception, he always loses when it counts. He played for the Jets and I liked him, but he's been around a long time, and he doesn't get passed it to the next level. I don't think he will.

I watched the whole Chargers/Jaguars game, even when it looked like a blowout, and I was tempted to turn it off. There isn't a doubt in my mind that the Chargers went soft with a 27-0 lead and thought they would cruise in the 2nd half. Only when the Jaguars put 14 points on the board did they start to think they might need some more scores. After that they couldn't restart the offense and could only get one field goal, while the defense couldn't hold. The Chargers should never have lost that game, they celebrated in their heads too early.

Generally speaking, after such a remarkable win, the team loses badly the next week. That's the pattern anyway, so I don't have much faith in the Jaguars, but we shall see. It was an exciting game if you weren't a Chargers' fan.

NOOOOoooooooooooooooo

To be honest we gave it everything we had with everything we had and very nearly pulled it off when nobody gave us a prayer.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
NOOOOoooooooooooooooo

To be honest we gave it everything we had with everything we had and very nearly pulled it off when nobody gave us a prayer.

I really enjoyed most of that game and was hoping the Dolphins could pull it out. From my viewpoint, it was the coaching staff that lost it. The bad interception was on a pass play that never should have been called with such bad field position. The time management was terrible. They couldn't get plays started in time and blew through all their timeouts. They were taking too long to get to the line and then rushing on key downs. Maybe next year when they have a more stable lineup and more practice, Miami might not make the small mistakes that wind up losing close games. So there is hope.

Daniel Jones looked like Joe Montana. He isn't, but the Vikings let him play that way. For the Giants to be allowed to score 31 points is remarkable. If they do it in Philly next week, where they have not won a game in 10 years, then we will know if they are really a good team or just a lucky team.

The Bengals were a lucky team. Finally, I didn't get burned by the Ravens, but I didn't like some of the calls that went against them and they could have tied it on the last play. I wasn't impressed with the Bengals and they are going to have to do better or they will be gone next week.

Most people seem to be going for the Cowboys tonight. If I were betting, I think I would to, I don't really think Brady and the Bucs have that much left in them. However I'm not betting and I will root for Brady because he is an old familiar link to glory days in Football, and I will miss him when he leaves.

Too bad the Cowboys/Bucs matchup was so one sided. When Brady threw the interception in the end zone any hope of a close game just disappeared. The Cowboys looked good, but I still don't trust Prescott as an elite QB. He seems too out of control sometimes.

There is a rumor now that Brady is looking at the Raiders for next year. I think he's done with the Bucs, they don't have the game he can still play. He should retire, but I'm sure going out with a bad year and a bad performance would stick in his throat. As long as he is physically OK he might go again for the right offer, but I don't see him carrying a team anymore, so he better have lots of help.

I see no reason not to pick all the favorites next week, although I'm not confidant about all of them.

Chiefs and Bills should have little trouble with the Jaguars and Bengals. The Eagles should send the Giants home and the only doubt is that it's really hard to beat a team 3 times in the same season. The Giants have been lucky lately and seen the Eagles plays an awful lot. They could steal the third and final game and everyone would go nuts. I don't think it will happen.

49ers and Cowboys may be close. Cowboys are getting 4 points. If the 49ers and their new QB Purdy show up like they should, they win. I'm not sure about Purdy under the pressure, so I can see an upset if Dak plays like he did yesterday.

The Dolphins did the best they could with a third string quarterback and reshuffled line. Actually, he played great. I missed the beginning of the game but heard there were some dropped passes. They burned their timeouts early but I don't know if they would've helped. Tua should retire. I think Steve Young retired after three concussions.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
NOOOOoooooooooooooooo

To be honest we gave it everything we had with everything we had and very nearly pulled it off when nobody gave us a prayer.

No surprises. Giants didn't have a prayer and the only thing that made Chiefs/Jaguars close was a hobbled Mahomes.

One thing I loved to see was the Eagles playing an entire game of offense and defense. They never went into cruise control. They never played stupid. They looked like a team ready to go to the Super Bowl.

So Dallas did what I expected, the Bills didn't, but the Bengals were a pleasure.

In the Cowboys/49ers game, both teams showed their flaws, but Dallas was just worse. Dak is not an elite QB that can carry the team. When he tries, he makes mistakes and gets interceptions. I never felt as though they were going to win at any point in that game and their last quarter push was very poor. It's not just him, they need to come up with a better team.

The Bengals played a flawless game against the Bills. I didn't pick them for the Super Bowl, but I am now. Maybe I wouldn't if Mahomes didn't have that high ankle sprain, but he does, and I think he will have limited mobility this weekend. The Bengals were disciplined and made zero mistakes. If they play like that again, they will beat the Chiefs.

The Eagles looked terrific and I think should beat the 49ers. So those are my Super Bowl picks, Bengals v. Eagles, but I hope both Championship games are competitive.

The Jaguars made the game look closer than it was late. I've had a sprained ankle. It takes weeks to heal. I don't know how anyone still goes out to play pro football with one.

The Bengals were missing both starting tackles and they still beat Buffalo who was playing at home. It was like the Bengals knew how to play in the snow but the Bills didn't. The Bills kept trying long passes though the visibility was low when the snow got heavier.

I missed the Cowboys-$9ers game (had to work) but I hear Dak played poorly. A quarterback can't have zero touchdowns and two interceptions in the playoffs. It was close, though, and the 49ers had trouble scoring too.

I saw part of the Eagles-Giants game. Yeah, the Eagles took them apart.

Yeah, Cincinnati should beat Kansas City but the Bengals need to protect Burrows. The lack of their starting tackles will offset a limping Mahomes to some degree. This one could be Chiefs by a field goal.

I think the Eagles win by a field goal too. That one will be low-scoring.

All things considered, that was about as good a Super Bowl as you are likely to see. There was the feeling in the 4th that whichever team had the football last was going to win, but I think it really came down to two plays, and not that final Mahomes run either.

It was the Hurts fumble that led to the KC touchdown and the 65-yard punt return that the Eagles let happen. The Chiefs played better for the whole game, even though the offense was kept off the field most of the time.

This year most of the commercials were pretty good and not depressing or overwrought. My only issue is that the name stars get paid too much.
I enjoyed the Jen and Ben Dunkin Donuts one, but how much did they get paid for a spot that cost about 7M just for the airtime? It's a lot of donuts, I'm sure.

I thought that Rhianna was neither the best nor the worst act. I liked the song selection and the floating stages. The costumes and choreography not so much. Still much better than the last two years. Congratulations to her for a first on her second.

Really enjoyed the game. As a fan of neither side all i wanted was a good close game and that was what i got.

Could somebody explain to me how kneeling down in order to run the clock down is not classed as intentional grounding?

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Could somebody explain to me how kneeling down in order to run the clock down is not classed as intentional grounding?

"Taking a knee" is just the QB ending the play without getting anyone hit. The clock keeps running unless the other team still has a timeout to use. It's a legal play to kill the remaining time.

"Intentional grounding" is a penalty. It's called on a QB when he is still in the pocket and throws the football away without having an eligible receiver in the area. The pocket is the imaginary space between the tackles where the QB stands after getting the football from the Center. "Intentional grounding" occurs because the QB is about to be sacked and he doesn't want to lose the yardage, so he throws it into the ground anywhere. When called the yardage is lost and so is the down, so it's an expensive penalty.

It's not so much bad calls on penalties this year that bothered me. I thought the Refs made fewer mistakes with benefit of all the replays. What I hated were these slow-mos on both catches and incompletions that resulted in reversals from the on-field call.

Some of them were so minor in replay as far as ball movement, or what was called going to the ground, I mean catches were erased for things that no person could reasonably see. It was a guess as to how any review would be decided by the head office Refs. The same type of play could go either way in different games and often it was a really important game changing play that stood or was disallowed. Sometimes they looked, sometimes they didn't review it at all.

Trying to officiate with inconsistent micromanaged technology does nothing to ensure fairness in pro football games. It's just another way to get plays wrong in my opinion.