I think the 49ers-Packers game was just a tough one to play when the temperature is less than 10 degrees. You're breathing hard at times inhaling that cold air. You warm up running around but any time when you're just standing there between plays and commercial breaks has to be very uncomfortable. I saw an interview with Greg Jennings, retired Packers receiver, and he was asked if he missed playing in that weather. He answered, "No." He likes watching the game on his couch with a blanket and snacks.

As for the Rams-Bucs game, now Brady knows what it was like for the Chiefs last year in the Super Bowl missing pieces of the offensive line against a line with its starters. The Rans had them on the ropes but the Bucs fought back from way back. The Rams just had to put together one nice drive at the end and get into field goal range.

I remember when the announcers were already speculating that Brady's career could be over when it looked like the Seahawks had beaten the Patriots in the Super Bowl now several years ago. The Patriots ended up winning after a bad play call and interception at the goal line and suddenly Brady was the GOAT again. He might retire but I think he'll give it one more year. He's still playing well.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: catskilleagle,

We're down to the conference championships now with the Rams picked by 3 1/2 points to beat the 49ers and the Chiefs by 7. I'm a little surprised by that the 49ers are the underdog because they beat the Rams both times during the season including the last week of the season which got them into the playoffs. It should be a close game but the 49ers have a great kicker so they should at least cover the point spread and then win by 1 or 2 points on a late field goal.

The Bengals have played tough but I think the Chiefs will win by 7 and maybe 10.

I've been doubting that Tom Brady would retire this offseason. It seems to me that he'll go one more year and let it be known that next season is probably his last. On the other hand he had a good year and he might want to end his career that way.

I would be really surprised if the Chiefs don't win today and in the Super Bowl.

I think the 49ers are lucky to have gotten this far. I'm not impressed with Stafford in the clutch, but Jimmy G. is just as shaky. I think the Rams have a better overall team. I don't know why they lost twice to them this year, maybe the 49ers do have their number. Winning 3 in a row should be harder and I really feel that the 49ers shouldn't even have gotten this far, so I'll say Rams, without any conviction.

Brady is a wise guy and he will go out as a wise guy. He wants to always be the center of attention for as long as possible, so of course he can't just say whether he's retiring or not just yet.

Personally, I think it has more to do with his teammates than he wants to let on. If some of his key players don't come back, he won't have as good a team. I'm sure if he was confident of getting another ring, he'd love to do it. He will go down as the greatest football player now, but to go out at 45 and on top would make him invincible. Only he won't try it without a very good chance of making it because a bad season tarnishes the legend.

So he's waiting to get a better idea of who will come back with him, or maybe even who might be signed new. Meanwhile he's got all this free press going crazy over which rumors are true. He's a wise guy.

Mahomes lost his mind and he AND Andy Reid lost that game. If I had put money on KC, I'd be fuming today. They were blowing it out in the first half and then they let the time run out when all they had to do was kick the field goal.

We have been talking about this here all year. Head Coaches are passing up easy extra points. field goals, punts, to go after touchdowns and fourth downs that they don't make. Then the team loses by the easy points not taken.

If the Chiefs had those 3 points from the end of the first half, there would have been no OT. They would have won by 3. Why Reid let Mahomes keep running plays with 9 seconds left I don't know. Why Mahomes ran down the middle and squandered those 9 seconds, I don't know.

Why Mahomes lost his mind at the end of the game and started losing 30 yards for the field goal, I don't know. Why in OT, after they got lucky and their kicker managed to tie the game, Mahomes started throwing balls at the other team until he got intercepted, I don't know. It was like the Chiefs stopped doing everything in their game plan and forgot how to play. So the Bengals are in and good for them, but I'm still waiting for the pundits to call the Chiefs out for a horrible failure of their own making.

Rams and 49ers was a good game and just when I started to think that the 49ers would take it, the Rams came back. Jimmy G. had time at the end, but he reverted to form. To me, that's his problem. He folds when pressured and I think he will be looking for a new team next year. He can be good, but he needs protection.

So now its Rams/Bengals for the Super Bowl and I'll take the Rams.

Yeah, the Chiefs wouldn't take the easy points at the end of the first half. Historically, in that situation, the quarterback looks for someone open in the end zone as a quick read. If no one is open right away, he throws it away and the kicker comes in to try a point-black near-automatic field goal. Instead Mahomes throws behind the line to a receiver who tries to run it in but doesn't make it as time expires. They gambled and lost and it contributed to their losing the game.

Yeah, it boiled down to the 49ers last drive. Garoppolo didn't have to throw it up for grabs. That was 3rd Down but he would've been sacked and he didn't want a 4th-and-16 (or whatever) - a very low percentage situation. I can't fault him too much for that. The 49ers might trade him now but they're probably trading away their chance of getting to the playoffs for the next couple of years at least. The funny thing is the important takeaway of the game for some people was that the Niners did beat the spread.

According to a report, Mahomes was badly flustered in the second half after the Bengals made a defensive adjustment and put eight men in coverage. Who knew it was that simple? If true, he'd better get used to seeing eight men in coverage.

I think his problem is he feels compelled to throw deep or at least get a big chunk so when the guys aren't open past 20 yards downfield, he gets frustrated. When the defense puts more guys into coverage, that's when you run the ball out of a pass formation or just run more...period. You get 3-4 yards per play until you force them to move a guy or two closer to the line. Hopefully, not making it to the Super Bowl this year will get the message through. He's an incredible talent. He can make all the throws but he doesn't have the patience to methodically pick apart a defense yet. The mad bombers of the past are revered but they didn't win many championships. Guys like Griese, Montana, and Brees would find the holes in the defense rather than try to throw for the fences.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
According to a report, Mahomes was badly flustered in the second half after the Bengals made a defensive adjustment and put eight men in coverage. Who knew it was that simple? If true, he'd better get used to seeing eight men in coverage.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: catskilleagle,

I wish to complain about this overtime rule where if the team that wins the toss scores a touchdown the game is over. This is totally unfair, both teams should have a chance to score before a result is declared.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
I wish to complain about this overtime rule where if the team that wins the toss scores a touchdown the game is over. This is totally unfair, both teams should have a chance to score before a result is declared.

Totally agree. A bit more like the Extra Time we have in our footy.

If still no winner after overtime I think they should make the O and D Line have to score field goals...that would be fun, watching a 350lb nose tackle run up to take a kick.

In overtime it used to be that a field goal would win a game, but then it was decided if one team scored a field goal, then the other team should have a chance to score. I was against the rule change. I have seen teams play conservative with the score tied near the end of the game. They were willing to take a chance with the coin flip.

If a team loses the coin flip, they just need to play defense and get the ball back and it hasn't been an automatic that the first team with the ball wins. The Chiefs won the flip in the game against the Bills and they won with the first drive. They won the flip against the Bengals but a pass was intercepted and the Bengals moved from there and kicked a field goal.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
I wish to complain about this overtime rule where if the team that wins the toss scores a touchdown the game is over. This is totally unfair, both teams should have a chance to score before a result is declared.

The league doesn't want long overtime games. People could get hurt because they are tired, but even more critical, they might overlap the TV schedule of the next games.

During the season you play an additional 10 minute period and then if no one's ahead, it ends in a tie. During postseason you need a winner. They changed the rule already so that a field goal on the first possession in OT could be tied or beaten, but the touchdown is a winner on first possession.

Now there is going to be a move to let the other team get a possession regardless because of these QBs that seem to only wake up in the last 2 minutes of anything. While not a bad idea, it will make the entirety of the game even less important than it seems to be now.

I really didn't like and don't understand the pattern of this year where the team that had the ball last won most often, despite doing nothing most of the game. Yeah, it makes for exciting endings, but how does an offense that has been contained all day suddenly get allowed to march the whole length of the field, usually with no time outs? Don't allow the big play doesn't mean soft defense and I saw numerous games that were well played until the last 5 minutes and then it was a shootout.

It seems Brady has announced his retirement.

I thought he might have a farewell season making it known it would be his last. The NFL would have loved it. He was still playing well but why push your luck for another 17-game regular season plus a probable playoff run? He walked away while he could still walk without a limp or a nagging back problem. Brees and Peyton Manning could barely throw 30 yards when they retired.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
It seems Brady has announced his retirement.

The Rams are picked by 4 over the Bengals in the Super Bowl. I figured the Bengals would beat the Raiders but thought the Titans would beat them but they couldn't. I expected the Chiefs to beat the Bengals but they didn't. All three of those games were close. I think the Super Bowl is going to be close and low-scoring. The score could be 17-16 or 20-17 with one team missing an extra point. My prediction is that the Bengals will beat the spread but lose. They will miss a field goal or get knocked out of field goal range at a crucial point. However, if the game is tied at the end of regulation, I see the Bengals winning.

Our biggest problem with the Superbowl is it does not kick off until 11:30 pm.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
The Rams are picked by 4 over the Bengals in the Super Bowl. I figured the Bengals would beat the Raiders but thought the Titans would beat them but they couldn't. I expected the Chiefs to beat the Bengals but they didn't. All three of those games were close. I think the Super Bowl is going to be close and low-scoring. The score could be 17-16 or 20-17 with one team missing an extra point. My prediction is that the Bengals will beat the spread but lose. They will miss a field goal or get knocked out of field goal range at a crucial point. However, if the game is tied at the end of regulation, I see the Bengals winning.

Wow, that was Nostradamus-level prognosticatin' down to the mixed extra point!

As a lifelong Rams fan, I can't tell you how glad I am about how spot on you were.

Good game, lousy half-time show. Six people and I didn't know the words to one song, but at least Bligh gave a performance I liked. Were these their greatest hits or new for the occasion? I don't know.

Anyway, I was afraid the game was going to be marred by penalty calls at the end. I thought the Bengals tried a bad last play and made it too easy for the defense to stop, but the Rams still had to do it. They were the better team and they won.

I saw a lot of the commercials but can only remember the annoying one where everyone was screaming and the football game with the Small Soldiers version of pro players. I have no idea what they were selling. A few million dollars used to get you more than slumming cameo appearances by actors you try to identify.

Congratulations! Sometimes I get lucky. The Bengals have been playing everybody tough. The Rams played well late in the regular season and in the playoffs but haven't been dominant. It was going to be close but I figured the more experienced team, the Rams, had a slight edge.

Did you like when they played Ambrosia's "Biggest Part of Me" as they went to commercial in the first quarter? It's because they were an L.A. band. I got a kick out of that.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
The Rams are picked by 4 over the Bengals in the Super Bowl. I figured the Bengals would beat the Raiders but thought the Titans would beat them but they couldn't. I expected the Chiefs to beat the Bengals but they didn't. All three of those games were close. I think the Super Bowl is going to be close and low-scoring. The score could be 17-16 or 20-17 with one team missing an extra point. My prediction is that the Bengals will beat the spread but lose. They will miss a field goal or get knocked out of field goal range at a crucial point. However, if the game is tied at the end of regulation, I see the Bengals winning.

Wow, that was Nostradamus-level prognosticatin' down to the mixed extra point!

As a lifelong Rams fan, I can't tell you how glad I am about how spot on you were.

The Eminem song was old and Snoop and Dr. Dre are old but I liked that. Honor the older artists. One of the other songs sounded familiar but I didn't know the words either. I know the words to "Biggest Part of Me." Yeah, it wasn't Katy Perry riding in on a giant tiger but it was all entertaining and you had to be impressed with how fast that house was built and taken down.

A few days ago, I heard that NBC is putting Al Michaels out to pasture. Yeah, he's 77 but he still sounds great and is still quick with a joke that isn't too inside. Networks honor the old guy only for so long. If they did it to Johnny Carson, it can happen to anybody.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Good game, lousy half-time show. Six people and I didn't know the words to one song, but at least Bligh gave a performance I liked. Were these their greatest hits or new for the occasion? I don't know.

Anyway, I was afraid the game was going to be marred by penalty calls at the end. I thought the Bengals tried a bad last play and made it too easy for the defense to stop, but the Rams still had to do it. They were the better team and they won.

I saw a lot of the commercials but can only remember the annoying one where everyone was screaming and the football game with the Small Soldiers version of pro players. I have no idea what they were selling. A few million dollars used to get you more than slumming cameo appearances by actors you try to identify.

Really enjoyed the game. Congrats to the Rams on winning but i think the Bengals getting to the superbowl is the greater achievment, what they have done in the last two years is totally amazing.