The NFL Discussion Thread

[Philip J. Fry]

This was one of the greatest games I've seen.

[Ezee E]

a Denver Hate Superbowl. lol.

[Dukefrukem]

[Scar]

Looks like I'm rooting for the Pat's in the Superbowl. Haven't done that in over a decade.

[Skitch]

Why do I have distaste for Seattle? Can someone remind me? Im thinking the coach...

[Dukefrukem]

Why do I have distaste for Seattle? Can someone remind me? Im thinking the coach...

No it's Dick Sherman getting in your head.

Marshon Lynch doesn't help things either.

[shaun]

Meh. Theoretically a good matchup. I just hope it's a better game than last year.

e: I do like the Pete Carroll revenge against Bob Kraft angle though.

[dreamdead]

I'd like to say that I can't believe that the Packers lost yesterday, but when Mike McCarthy's your coach, it's hard to lie. Can't believe he didn't trust his offense to go for either of those 4th-and-1s at the goal line in the first quarter. Or that Clinton-Dix failed to knock down the floating hail mary 2-point conversion, which stayed in the air forever. They didn't seem like they'd decide the game, but it's just so depressing.

Rodgers is marooned by a poor strategist.

[Dukefrukem]

Yeh shame. The Packers were winning 19-7 with 2 minutes left.

[Philip J. Fry]

I'd like to say that I can't believe that the Packers lost yesterday, but when Mike McCarthy's your coach, it's hard to lie. Can't believe he didn't trust his offense to go for either of those 4th-and-1s at the goal line in the first quarter. Or that Clinton-Dix failed to knock down the floating hail mary 2-point conversion, which stayed in the air forever. They didn't seem like they'd decide the game, but it's just so depressing.
Rodgers is marooned by a poor strategist.

And don't forget the bad clock management on the Packers' final drive (which is on both McCarthy and Rodgers), I mean, did they actually use any of their three time outs?

[shaun]

This is pretty funny.

[Dukefrukem]

Typical west coast fans right there.

[MadMan]

Both McCarthy and Capers will probably be fired after next season when the Packers flame out in the post season again. This shit is getting old.

[shaun]

Capers probably but I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone other than Packers fans reacting emotionally who don't think McCarthy is one of the better coaches in the league.

Caveat of course being it's super easy to look like a good coach when you have a great QB.

[MadMan]

McCarthy has made questionable play calling decisions before. Also not further utilizing Starks and Lacy plus the decision to not go for it when you have Aaron Rodgers is head scratching and frustrating.

[shaun]

I love the NFL. The Pats getting slapped around in the media for under-inflated footballs is about the most karmic justice-y think I can think of after Bob Kraft decided to be a whiny bitch and file tampering charges against the Jets for name-checking Revis in a post-season press conference.

lol

[Dukefrukem]

It's annoying, but I'm enjoying the circus. Hilarious to see everyone whining, I'm loving that. Owners, coaches, players all complaining is so childish and awesome at the same time.

[Dukefrukem]

Here's how insignificant and laughable this is:

Brad Johnson has admitted to paying a bribe to have the footballs tampered with before the 2003 Super Bowl.

[shaun]

Technically those "100 footballs" that Johnson had scuffed would be used by both teams. Also scuffing isn't against the rules. In this instance though, only the Pats' footballs would be deflated which could theoretically give the team an advantage in inclement weather.

It's still dumb but I'm a big fan of PatsFan cage-rattling so a full 2 weeks of this being A Thing is pretty awesome.

[DavidSeven]

I get that it might have marginal impact on games, but then why do it? If this is true, the level of hubris is just astounding to me. I have a hard time believing it for that reason alone. After all they went through on Spy-Gate, how could they do something like this again?

Also, considering Pats have a QB with a lessening arm and RBs prone to drops, I'm not entirely convinced this is just a minor thing. Improving grip could be huge to both the pass and run game.

[Dukefrukem]

I get that it might have marginal impact on games, but then why do it? If this is true, the level of hubris is just astounding to me. I have a hard time believing it for that reason alone. After all they went through on Spy-Gate, how could they do something like this again?

Also, considering Pats have a QB with a lessening arm and RBs prone to drops, I'm not entirely convinced this is just a minor thing. Improving grip could be huge to both the pass and run game.

Stupid question. It's the same answer why taping the opposing players signals was done (which had been proven to not give any competitive advantage since the opposing team would just change the signals at halftime or for the next games). Because Belichick is maddening competitive and will do anything to gain a competitive edge.

"Anybody who thinks deflategate has anything to do with football and not pure unadulterated jealousy is a certified moron."

[Dukefrukem]

And now that we can finally lay this to bed, we're on to Seattle.

According to a report from Pro Football Talk, the NFL reviewed its game officials’ actions Sunday and determined that they properly checked the footballs before the AFC championship game.

It was later determined that 11 of the 12 footballs the Patriots were using on offense were substantially deflated from the minimum accepted pressure of 12.5 pounds per square inch (PSI).

The Pro Football Talk report, which credits a league source, also indicated that the two-pound difference in PSI would not be obvious to an official handling the ball unless specifically looking for it.

The Colts reportedly alerted the officials to the issue during the first half, and the balls were tested at halftime and reinflated to the proper amount.

The Pats scored 28 points in the 2nd half versus 17 points in the first half.

[shaun]

No one is saying it affected the outcome of this particular game. What's interesting in that PFT piece is that 12 balls were checked prior to the game and at halftime 11 of them were 2lbs light in PSI. That's probably not a coincidence. It seems like someone let air out after the official weigh-in.

Do they do this for every inclement weather game? Do they do it because it's tougher to fumble the ball when it's easier to grip? Is Belichick a hyper-competitive freak who wouldn't blink at exploiting every minute advantage they could get? Maybe it was at Brady's request since QBs probably have their own preferences with footballs and Bill had nothing to do with it.

"I would have gotten an 'A' anyways; I didn't need to cheat" probably isn't going to fly as an excuse.

[shaun]

I honestly don't care unless they also used deflated balls against the Jets when we should have won because fuck that game.

Go Seattle and 9/11 Truther Pete Carroll.

[DavidSeven]

It's been reported that the Colts first noticed the Patriots' balls were lighter when they played them in Indy back in November. Probably reasonable to conclude the Pats were also deflating balls for other games if they felt the need to do it in Indy.