DIVISIONAL WEEKEND PICS – Lamar shit the bed, but it didn’t help this time
And then there were four. So far, none of these playoff games have been really great. We usually have at least one great game per round, but so far most of them have been largely letdowns. The best we’ve gotten is arguably Colts/Bills, the very first game, but even in that one the Bills were leading pretty much the entire time and it got tense at the end. Browns/Steelers was the most entertaining game so far, but not because it was a good game. Browns/Chiefs got tense at the end, but only because Mahomes got knocked out and the Chiefs were trying to hold onto the lead with old man Henne.
The biggest scandal of the week is probably the stupid touchback rule once more rearing it’s ugly head against the Browns. It seems like a love it or hate it rule. I hate it. If the ball is fumbled out of bounds anywhere else on the field, it gets returned to the spot of the fumble. It should be treated the same way in the endzone. Fumble returns to spot of the fumble, you lose a down but retain possession. If this was the rule I doubt people would be mad about it when it happens, even the people who currently defend it. Defenders of the rule largely see the endzone as sacred hallowed ground that deserves special treatment, so they think no turnover is simply not acceptable. For me the problem is the inconsistently across the field. If the endzone is a turnover, then all fumbles out of bounds should be turnovers. If not, then none. If you want to argue the endzone is a special zone that requires more punishment, I can buy that, but I’d rather see them instead place the ball back at the 5 or 10 yard line instead. Even if you don’t punish the offense as much, there is still no incentive to fumble. This rule takes place maybe 3-4 times per season, a simple change wont affect much. And stop comparing the rule to touchbacks on kicks or punts, punts especially. Punts are a deliberate transfer of possession, done to save field position instead of giving it over too far back. Fumbles are not.
If you want to change rules so the defense is slightly better off, the real problem is still mild 5 yard penalties that give auto-first downs. No defensive penalties outside personal fouls should be automatic first downs, unless the penalty yardage gives the team a first down anyway. I’m so sick of seeing hands to the face giving a team with 10 yards to go a first down. That happens far more often and is more bullshit.
LET US BID ADIEU TO THE LOSERS
BROWNS – The Browns defense probably held this team back from being truly championship caliber, but this season was a wild success either way. There’s no reason for Cleveland to feel anything but pride after this year. I can only hope the trend continues.
RAVENS – Well that was a very unfortunate ending. The weather in this game probably kept us from a classic, but that pick6 followed by the bad snap/concussion was probably the most devastating minute of Ravens football all year. Lamar has taken the Ravens to 2 straight divisional matchups in a row by the age of 24 and is an MVP. Anyone who uses this game against him is a moron. The Ravens need to get him a better line and a true #1 target and he’s going to rule even more.
SAINTS – That was a bummer. The final battle of the Olds basically boiled down to watching Brees end his career in real time. That’s it. He’s out. A depressing end. The Saints are going to be very different next year, the question is do they commit to the Taysom Hill experiment or the Jameis party? Should be Jameis. This team is built to win now, Jameis is the only guy they can possibly get to take them there anytime soon. Especially in the cap hell they are in. End of an era. Farewell, Drew.
RAMS – This team was never going to make it with how banged up they were, but they proved that the McVay magic wasn’t just one season, this team is here to put up a fight for a while.
PICS
JUST 3 GAMES LEFT ALL YEAR
BILLS @ CHIEFS
This is going to depend very heavily on Mahomes. He appeared to have foot problems early in the game and then left for the rest of the game after being awkwardly wrapped up. If Mahomes isn’t himself, this is probably the Bills game to lose. As it stands, this should be incredible. Also, whoever comes out of this game has my endorsement for champion.
If the Bills win, I will draw Josh Allen on a buffalo with wings flying through the sky with Diggs as his passenger
If the Chiefs win, I will draw the Walrus, stuffed after a delightful plate of buffalo wings
BUCS @ PACKERS
Battle of the olds. The Packers seem like the best team in the league, especially after casually dismantling the #1 defense in the league (even if they were hurt). I guess if I have to root for someone here, it might have to be the Packers. Rodgers has only been to the big game once and only has one ring. Watching Brady take the Bucs to the bowl in their own stadium would result in such an obscene amount of worship it makes me ill just thinking about it.
If the Packers win, I will draw a Rodgers conquering Brady’s pirate ship
If the Bucs win, I will draw the Bucs ship sailing into Tampa, ready to take this thing home
As a Tampainian (even If I root for the aqua & orange rather than the pewter & red), winning a home super bowl would be amazing.
I am rooting for the Bills, the Bucs, and the Packers to win it all, in that order. Nerts to the Chiefs.
The Bills should win for awesome charity-fan related reasons, plus futility-decades, and them being the only team still around that’s never won. Bucs I want to win, because the deliciously cancerous conversations of Brady vs. Belicheat will get all the more inflamed, and the fetid worship of the QB– not just Brady– will go to even higher levels. The Packers because I kind of like Aaron Rodgers, and the Packers are as close to America’s Actual Team as exists. If it looks like the Chiefs are going to win it all, then I’m rooting for the comet to hit the stadium, and let the world burn.
Pretty close to the same page here, but my satisfaction cutoff is one team sooner. I want the Packers to lose hard only slightly less than the chefs.
I’m mostly with you on this, although I would flip Buffalo behind Green Bay. At this point, I’m basically on the “anyone but Kansas City, for the love of GOD ANYONE BUT KANSAS CITY” train for a number of reasons I don’t feel like getting into on this page, but I’d be happiest to see the Bucs win it all. Tom Brady didn’t have much else left to prove, but seeing him make people eat shite every week is my life juice. Lord knows what happens beyond this point, but this was one helluva season for the old man.
Full agreement on your observations on rules. Fumbling out of the end zone being a touchback is effectively punishing a team for driving the ball too far before fumbling it and is stupid. Likewise, if 80% of defensive penalties result in automatic first downs then a bunch of offensive penalties should result in automatic fourth downs. If this sounds silly to you think about how silly it is just handing over a first down when a dude tickles someone else’s helmet in the no no zone.
Very disappointed that the Chiefs/Brady nightmare scenario is still on the table…
The fumble out of the end zone doesn’t bother me much. What bothers me is that it was caused by an illegal hit that the refs didn’t even look at because they were too bothered with ball placement.
The Bills making it to the Superbowl only to lose to Brady yet again would be so poetic.
But if they lose to him, who will donate to Brady’s favorite charity case – the Donald Trump Defense Fund? X’D
“We did it boys! The dynasty is no more, the NFL is ours now! Who do we got nex– oh fuck not again are you serious?!” –Sean McDermott after the AFC Championship
At the start of 2020, a Bills fan found a Monkey’s Paw.
“I want the Bad Man out of the division!”
A finger curled.
“I want to sweep the Patriots and win the division!”
A finger curled.
“I want Josh Allen to make the leap and play like an elite QB!”
A finger curled.
“I WANT TO GO TO THE SUPERBOWL!”
The final finger curled, and then, in the flames dancing upon the folding table the Bills fan saw the twisted and ghostly image a monkey’s face, laughing at him.
For a guy who goes on about how much he loves chaos, you’re siding with order, Dave?? 😯
I like the fumble rule just the way it is. Considering how infrequently it ever comes up, it’s a nice risk for the offense and hope for the defense that always lurks in the backburner of everyone’s minds. For me, it’s not even about the end zone being sacred or holy, but it acts as an extra defender. You fumble there, the endzone recovers the ball for the defense.
Much like The Panthers fan said, the problem here isn’t the fumble rule, it’s that it was an illegal hit that didn’t get called.
Either way, I’m far more bored that the NFC is either going to be Brady or Rodgers. Gag me, neither of those options is appealing. Is it too late to just cancel the season? XD
The hit was legal. I’d love to be able to complain that Sorensen targeted Hollywood there, but the NFL rule isn’t the same as the college one, and it’s not a basic helmet-to-helmet hit because Higgins wasn’t defenseless.
Dave is 100% right that the fumble through the end zone rule is silly. Not because it unnecessarily punishes the offense (even though it does), but because it makes no sense. The intent is to disincentivize intentionally fumbling through the end zone so the defense can’t get to it, but the batting rule already exists for that purpose.
If it’s a legitimate fumble that goes out of bounds through happenstance, then treat it like any other fumble out of bounds. If a player bats it out of the end zone because they can’t recover it and they don’t want the defense getting it, then it’s a ten yard penalty with loss of down from the original spot, just like Rule 12(5)(1) prescribes. You don’t think going from first and goal at the 1 to second and 20 at the 36 is enough punishment for doing that intentionally?
That’s not the rule, though – it was a textbook illegal use of the helmet call. https://i.imgur.com/tBIBnM5.jpg
The illegal use of helmet rule requires intent to use the helmet as a weapon. The NFL has been clear about that since the rule was written, even though it doesn’t state it explicitly in the rulebook. There isn’t clear evidence of his intent, since he at least made a show of going for the ball with his hand before the helmet hit. The refs erred on the side of not penalizing Sorensen because they couldn’t make that distinction at full speed. It sounds like the NFL is going to overrule the decision on the field though.
I have a comment from yesterday morning still stuck in moderation, I included 2 links & it got flagged as potential spam, methinks, so I’ll update my thoughts here.
If you lower your head and lead with the helmet, that IS intent. I have only ever seen this rule called as described above. Do you know of any other incidents where lowering & leading with a helmet WASN’T an illegal hit?
The rules about a defenseless receiver focus on how they can be hit. There is no need for defenseless when it comes to spearing – you lower & lead with your helmet any time, any place, they’ll call it.
In this case, Sorenson never made any show of going for the ball with his hand, probably because his head has been lowered, and he doesn’t see that it came loose. In fact, he has both hands behind him balled into fists, because he apparently thinks he’s the Juggernaut, b%&@. Which is 100% illegal 100% of the time, kind of like how I 100% hate that commercial because they 100% overplay it in my area. Anyway, look at the hands, look at how he lowers his helmet for impact. That’s a foul.
https://twitter.com/Chiefs/status/1350916423267344389
By NFL rules, it was 100% illegal. Rule 12, Section 2, Article 10 states: “It is a foul if a player lowers his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent.” Whether he’s defenseless or not doesn’t negate the spearing.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Er9v1JkXcAcU-Kb?format=jpg
Here are some video examples to compare with: https://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/nfl-video-rulebook/use-of-the-helmet. By the rules, Sorensen should have been ejected.
As for the fumble rule, I’m not arguing whether it’s silly or not, simply that the alternative would be – in my opinion – infinitely more dull. You cannot punish an offense strongly enough to deter them from kicking EVERY fumble out of bounds if they can’t secure it. You can tell them it will immediately be 3rd & 80 from their own 20 yard line. They will STILL take that over losing the ball.
Having the endzone be on the side of the defense when a ball is lost is a much more exciting solution, and provides a faint (and relatively rare) glimmer of spice in a game that sorely needs it. If you want to pick a fight with silly rules, how about the onside kick? There’s a guy whose uses are few. XD
I agree with you. In fact I would go further, and say ANY fumble out of bounds should be awarded to the opposing team. The consequences for dropping the ball should be STARK and DIRE!
Seriously though it’s not about the Endzone being ‘sacred’ or ‘holy’ (way to strawman there Dave), it’s about escalating tension. The field is cramped, and points are on the line (hah literally). Mistakes and triumphs are magnified in significance at that area of the field.
The fairest way to treat fumbles out of bounds is to award them alternately to the offense and defense with, for lack of a better term, a possession arrow like is used for tie-ups in basketball. Fumbles that don’t go out of bounds typically hover in the 50-50 range for offensive and defensive recoveries, so it isn’t a statistically unsound idea. Most folks would probably hate it and it will surely never happen anyway, but it is more fair than always returning possession to the offense when a fumble goes out of bounds.
I both love, and hate this proposal.
eh, i’m 50-50 on it
“If you want to change rules so the defense is slightly better off, the real problem is still mild 5 yard penalties that give auto-first downs. No defensive penalties outside personal fouls should be automatic first downs, unless the penalty yardage gives the team a first down anyway. I’m so sick of seeing hands to the face giving a team with 10 yards to go a first down. That happens far more often and is more bullshit.”
From your mouth to God’s ears.
So… while I hate the 5 yard penalty giving an auto first down, there *has* to be more than a yardage penalty for the defense. 10-15 yards is too much yardage for a “What Might Have Been”, but 5 yards isn’t a sufficient disuasion.
The compromise to the current situation I have is that, instead of an Automatic First Down, you send it back one down. Not just replay the down, but send it back one. 5 yard penalty on 4th and 25? Now it’s 3rd and 20. That feels like it maintains the initial reasoning (deliberate defensive cheating when it looks like they’re otherwise going to get beat on a BIG play), BUT it removes the frankly enraging 4th-and-25 becoming 1st and 10 on an away-from-the-play holding.
i really like this
So can’t help but notice that in your Saints/Bucs drawing old man Brady is standing in for Obi Wan Kenobi. So you’re declaring him to be one of the good guys after all this time? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
“the jedi are evil, from a certain point of view”
Henne’s never looked that cocky. He’s always had a look of Hide The Pain Harold about him.
lol @ dreaux brees
Chad Henne is actually living life better than you think. As a backup QB, you get paid millions to sit the bench. You can only get hurt in practice, and if you do, you have a top team of physicists and doctors.