The Week 15 NFL Thread - The Tebow Watch has Begun

[jeff061]

Yeah Warren's in.

I think I trust Graham more to make field goals than I do extra points.

[jeff061]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Making overly much of one game? With a banged up defense?

Yeah, I laughed at this, considering how pretty much everyone has been going overboard on how great and unstoppable they are over the last couple weeks(which is just as silly). Can't we have a nice happy medium?

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by jeff061

Yeah Warren's in.

I think I trust Graham more to make field goals than I do extra points.

Aaaah. Still...I think they've got depth issues on the DL this week, and the Packers have been putting together lengthy drives that are gassing them.

[DaddyTorgo]

Somebody woke Tommy up...

[DaddyTorgo]

TD HERNANDEZ (#2)

[DaddyTorgo]

c'mon pats...if you're gonna make a third down stop do it here!

[DaddyTorgo]

good D!

[DaddyTorgo]

That's a hell of a stat....62 straight home wins when they have a 4th Quarter lead...

[DaddyTorgo]

Ugh. 3 and out.

[DaddyTorgo]

PICK BY MERIWEATHER!

[DaddyTorgo]

NOOOOOOOOOOO

[DaddyTorgo]

Tully always has the worst fucking timing for penalties.

I hate his ass. Hitting guys out of bounds...personal fouls...all that shit. His timing fucking sucks.

[DaddyTorgo]

Man I've got a badddd feeling about this.

[DaddyTorgo]

nice sack fletcher!

[Izulde]

Crap, the Patriots need to lose! They can't clinch the AFC East this week! I need Brady to be big man in fantasy playoffs next week!

[DaddyTorgo]

No spike...this is it...yikes.

GOT HIM!!

BALLGAME!!!

Damn...that was too close for frigging comfort though.

[Abe Sargent]

Wow, I cannot beleive he was mor eprepared than that - even just a set and QB Rush for a TD and spike.

[jeff061]

Good, they needed a close one to bring their heads back to earth. Nice to not lose doing it .

[Izulde]

Way to get fucked over for fantasy football playoffs.

[Thomkal]

ugh that was an ugly way to finish the game there Green Bay

[DaddyTorgo]

Huge sack by Fletcher to force them to take the TO, and a huge tackle by Chung to prevent them from being able to spike it there and get a designed play off.

Great showing by Flynn though - kudos to him.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by jeff061

Good, they needed a close one to bring their heads back to earth. Nice to not lose doing it .

I agree. I'm sure Beli will be all the fuck over them in the locker room about how lucky they are not to have lost, and how they got outplayed for much of the game.

[Buccaneer]

DaddyTorgo. Taking the fun out of being a Patriots fan and being at FOFC since 2002.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

DaddyTorgo. Taking the fun out of being a Patriots fan and being at FOFC since 2002.

WTF?

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

I agree. I'm sure Beli will be all the fuck over them in the locker room about how lucky they are not to have lost, and how they got outplayed for much of the game.

He should be all over himself. I've praised Belichek a ton in the past and he is by far the best coach/GM in the game. But tonight he was woefully outcoached. No idea why he didn't do more to stop the run and force Flynn to beat them through the air.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

He should be all over himself. I've praised Belichek a ton in the past and he is by far the best coach/GM in the game. But tonight he was woefully outcoached. No idea why he didn't do more to stop the run and force Flynn to beat them through the air.

Very true.

His presser, first line: "Obviously I have to do a better job of preparing the team. We weren't able to stop a lot of the basic things they were doing."

[jeff061]

O-line was man handling them. Some injuries on the Pats side and the Packers motivated from getting killed last week. Can't lay it all on the coach. If you can I'd be honestly interested in specifically what Belichick was doing wrong.

[Sun Tzu]

I thought the Pats were the odds on favorite to win the SB until watching that game. Holy crap. They look exactly like the 49ers of 91/92/93. Incredible offense, zero defense.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Sun Tzu

I thought the Pats were the odds on favorite to win the SB until watching that game. Holy crap. They look exactly like the 49ers of 91/92/93. Incredible offense, zero defense.

Seriously?

The defense played bad this week, no doubt. But over the 3 weeks before this they were absolutely ridiculously dominant.

They're not that dominant, but they're not this bad.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

DaddyTorgo. Taking the fun out of being a Patriots fan and being at FOFC since 2002.

I dunno if you're trying to be "edgy" or you're being serious, so I'm reserving further comment until you clarify.

[Sun Tzu]

Meh...I don't know that having the 27th ranked D (31st against the pass) typically translates to a Super Bowl title. I mean, it's probably happened before, but they looked completely helpless this evening.

[jeff061]

Their run defense has pretty damn stout all year. I think they've maybe had a game like this once before all year. This game didn't concern me so much. Didn't help they were on the field so much either, I'm sure they were getting winded by the end.

Their pass defense is what has been the problem. But that has been slowly improving all year and they've been able to cover for it by converting every turnover opportunity that comes their way. I expect it to be even better for the playoffs, barring injury.

[tucker rocky]

Hmm, looks like GB took a page from the "Les Miles book of clock management".

[Fonzie]

Flynn far exceeded my expectations, and may have just turned himself into a nice set of draft picks for the Packers come offseason. This feels like yet another game that the Pack was *this close* to winning, but let slip away. In their six losses they were outscored by a grand total of 20 points - four three-point losses (two in OT) and two four-point losses. That's tough to swallow.

Still, considering I was expecting my Packers to get beaten 45-3 tonight I'm somewhat pleased with the end result.

Flynn should've been able to do something more (and more quickly) on that fourth down play, but earlier Bulaga's gaffe is what cost the Pack at the end - he should've kicked out on that sack. At minimum, that would've saved the Pack 8 yards and a timeout. Killer mistake.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by jeff061

O-line was man handling them. Some injuries on the Pats side and the Packers motivated from getting killed last week. Can't lay it all on the coach. If you can I'd be honestly interested in specifically what Belichick was doing wrong.

Packers have been hit much harder with injuries.

[jeff061]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Packers have been hit much harder with injuries.

I really don't care. Like DT said, you lose 2 of your linemen you are likely going to suffer some on the run. And that's not all it was, Green Bay's o-line was playing like a unit possessed, presumably after getting embarrassed last week.

If you want to blame the coach, fine, but when I see the d-line getting blown 5 yards off the line of scrimmage play after play....they were just getting flat outplayed.

[Sun Tzu]

The Packers threw the ball at will with a QB who had thrown a total of 46 career passes against the Pats. The issue isn't the D-line, it's either A.) the DB's, or B.) the game plan.

I mean...seriously here people. Your pass D is second to last in the entire league, and some guy named Matt Flynn just lit you up for 3 TD's and a QB rating over 100...at home. What's all this talk about injured DL?

[McSweeny]

Originally Posted by Sun Tzu

The Packers threw the ball at will with a QB who had thrown a total of 46 career passes against the Pats. The issue isn't the D-line, it's either A.) the DB's, or B.) the game plan.

I mean...seriously here people. Your pass D is second to last in the entire league, and some guy named Matt Flynn just lit you up for 3 TD's and a QB rating over 100...at home. What's all this talk about injured DL?

I think what people are saying is that if the Patriots had a healthier DL they would have been more effective against the run and thus would have been more effective against the pass. Also they'd probably be able to apply more consistent pressure which will make any secondary more effective.

[Vince, Pt. II]

So the NFC worst...

St. Louis Rams:
vs. San Francisco
@ Seattle

Win the NFC West with: 2 wins OR win @ Seattle AND 49er loss vs. Arizona AND Seattle loss vs Tampa. If they lose against SF, they will lose a tiebreaker vs. Seattle based on divisional record.

Seattle Seahawks:
@ Tampa Bay
vs. St. Louis

Win NFC West with: 2 wins OR a win vs. St. Louis and 1 49er loss.

San Francisco 49ers:
@ St. Louis
vs. Arizona

Win NFC West with: 2 wins and 1 Seattle loss.

It's actually somewhat of a likely possibility that there will be a three way 7-9 tie for first in the NFC Worst. The 49ers win all tiebreakers they would possibly be involved in, while the Seahawks would beat the Rams should they be in a two-way tie.

[jbergey22]

I cant believe how much overreaction there is about 1 game. The prior 2 games the Pats looked pretty damn good. The Packers are a decent team with a pretty decent offensive coach so I dont see a reason to get bent out of shape about a game in which the Packers were more motivated to win then the Pats. Packers are fighting for a playoff spot while the Pats have a nice playoff birth wrapped up. I think we seen a less than motivated Pats squad tonight.

It was kind of similiar last year when the Saints and Vikings started struggling once they wrapped up a playoff birth early.

[Comey]

Originally Posted by tucker rocky

Hmm, looks like GB took a page from the "Les Miles book of clock management".

Flynn is a LSU grad, no?

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Comey

Flynn is a LSU grad, no?

Yup, played in the national championship in 07

[JonInMiddleGA]

Interesting tidbit from espn.com

Tebow completed 8 of 16 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown. His passer rating of 100.5 was the highest ever by a Denver quarterback in his starting debut. Yes, even higher than John Elway’s.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Sun Tzu

Meh...I don't know that having the 27th ranked D (31st against the pass) typically translates to a Super Bowl title. I mean, it's probably happened before, but they looked completely helpless this evening.

I think the rule changes of late (primarily for safety concerns) have tilted things in favor of offenses in the process as a side-effect. This seems to be the theme for most successful teams right now. Last year's champ Saints are all offense and little defense this year (their defense seems to rely on timely turnovers). My team the Falcons are all offense and no defense, the Patriots are all offense and no defense.

There are still some defensive oriented teams out there that do a good job, but they just don't seem to be as successful this year as the offensive oriented teams.

Normally the rule of thumb on this type of thing is these all offense/no defense teams will fade once you get to the playoffs vs better teams, bad weather, bad field conditions... but the Falcons are on a good pace to have a shot at locking up homefield inside their dome. We saw how the Patriots played in "bad conditions" and it didn't seem to slow their offense down. So who knows what will happen in the playoffs this year.

We saw how the #1 and #3 defenses did vs the patriots (Bears and Packers games) in stopping their offenses. Right now I just have a higher confidence that the higher scoring teams such as New England, Philadelphia, Atlanta or even Indy (despite their record) will be able to go further in the playoffs as this year becomes the game of simply scoring more points than the opposition.


Edit: Sorry, I'm not sure if there have actually been that many rule "changes" but more-so it appears the enforcement of some already established rules have been more strictly enforced. I'm not saying that is a bad thing necessarily either, just it tilts the favor towards offenses though.

[FF]

Originally Posted by Matthean

But he was putting up average numbers early on even when he was healthy. First game was 1.4 ypc. Again, Morris is putting up 5+ as of late and mostly with a back up QB. Best isn't a guy you have carry the ball a bunch of times as a main RB. He's somebody you find ways to get the ball in open space.

if you want to claim that best isnt an every down back then fine, but your arguments using some of those statistics is poor form. would you care to post morris' and the rest of the teams rushing stats from the same time frame?

NO ONE was running on this lions team and while morris has been a stud, to attribute the advancement of the running game the past couple of weeks solely to him would not be giving any credit to what the o-line has become.

best is fine and has shown how explosive he can be when hes fully healthy, but to judge players only by statistics without taking into account what you can see with your own eyes? i guess after today stanton should be franchised after this season.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by TroyF

If I had to make a prediction, I'll say he busts.

Originally Posted by TroyF

Happy Tebow looked better than I thought he would and happy the team lost.

If you think he's going to bust, why would you be happy he looked better than you thought he would? Isn't it better that he spectacularly flame out, rather than be the Broncos Jason Campbell or something, a guy who shows just enough flashes to keep around for 4-5 years of mediocrity before finally saying enough is enough? The worst thing that could happen to the Broncos, IMO, is for Tebow to be "not as bad as I thought he'd be."

[remper]

So now the table's all set for the Bears to wrap up the division against 3rd string QB Joe Webb and the Vikings. It's just that easy right? And yet.. I feel very uneasy about this game...

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Favre is going to throw before the game, upgraded to questionable.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

Favre is going to throw before the game, upgraded to questionable.

F this, he better not play. I started Joe Webb as a WR in Fantasy Football and need a decent game out of him. There is no reason at all Favre needs to play. They need to see what Webb can do and hopefully lose the game.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Reason #4908 not to get cute in the fantasy playoffs.