NFL Week 15 - Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, don't miss out

[Fonzie]

hxxp://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/12/22/report-chilly-ripped-offense-at-halftime-hurled-post-game-expletives-at-favre/

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Report: Chilly ripped offense at halftime, hurled post-game expletives at Favre
Posted by Mike Florio on December 22, 2009 8:58 AM ET
As it turns out, Chilly isn't such a chump after all.

Sean Jensen of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that, both before and after the "heated discussion" that Vikings coach Brad Childress claims wasn't a "heated discussion," Childress targeted some heated words at members of his team.

Per Jensen, the offense got it at halftime, and Favre himself was the target after the game, presumably after Favre aired the dirty laundry to the media.

At the half, Childress reportedly cursed at the team and said it's "laughable" that the Vikings consider themselves a Super Bowl team.

Though a kinder, gentler Chilly emerged on Monday, Jensen writes that "all is not well between Brad and Brett, and the primary difference centers on the quarterback's penchant to check out of runs and into passes."

And so, as several of you have suggested in the comments, it sounds like there's finally a schism in Minnesota. Favre might not have known what the term meant in August, but we've got a feeling that he knows it now.

[Matthean]

I'm still trying to figure out if Childress really deserves a nickname, or not. The Vikings are not a SB contender due to Childress's coaching as much as it is knowing Favre is going to screw up at some point. Favre checking into passing plays versus running plays makes all too much sense considering the number of passes Favre throws. But really, Favre doing his own thing and pissing off those around him? If we had only seen signs of this before... Be careful of what you wish for.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Lemme see here, Favre has thrown about the same number of passes in the last two losses as he threw in over half their wins. The Vikings have the 2nd best record in the NFC & only an otherworldly season by the Saints keeps them from having the best record. But suddenly it's Brett's fault for checking out of plays?

Hope Childress has his next job lined up and that he rented rather than bought.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Actually he just signed a contract extension.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

Actually he just signed a contract extension.

Like that stops anybody from getting fired?

[Logan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Lemme see here, Favre has thrown about the same number of passes in the last two losses as he threw in over half their wins. The Vikings have the 2nd best record in the NFC & only an otherworldly season by the Saints keeps them from having the best record. But suddenly it's Brett's fault for checking out of plays?

His checking out of plays caused the following drive lengths beginning in the 3rd quarter after having a 7-6 lead:

1:01
2:28
2:27
0:57
(Carolina scores, takes lead)
2:26
(Carolina scores, takes 2 TD lead)
1:10
(Carolina scores, takes 3 TD lead)

There were 25 pass plays called in the 2nd half (taking into account sacks and penalties in addition to actual pass attempts). This and the above is a good method to win what was once a close game and your best player is a RB.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Logan

Good method to win a game.

{shrug} I simply ask myself who I trust more to make the right decision: Favre or Childress & Co?

Even with his propensity to overreach, that's one of the easiest questions in football to me.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Logan

His checking out of plays caused the following drive lengths beginning in the 3rd quarter after having a 7-6 lead:

1:01
2:28
2:27
0:57
(Carolina scores, takes lead)
2:26
(Carolina scores, takes 2 TD lead)
1:10
(Carolina scores, takes 3 TD lead)

There were 25 pass plays called in the 2nd half (taking into account sacks and penalties in addition to actual pass attempts). This and the above is a good method to win what was once a close game and you're best player is a RB.

Not only that, but said RB is considered by many to be one of the best players in the league, period.

The whole point of bringing in Favre was supposed to be to keep defenses honest for Adrian Peterson. Not to completely shift the focus of the offense.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Logan

His checking out of plays caused the following drive lengths beginning in the 3rd quarter after having a 7-6 lead:

1:01
2:28
2:27
0:57
(Carolina scores, takes lead)
2:26
(Carolina scores, takes 2 TD lead)
1:10
(Carolina scores, takes 3 TD lead)

There were 25 pass plays called in the 2nd half (taking into account sacks and penalties in addition to actual pass attempts). This and the above is a good method to win what was once a close game and you're best player is a RB.

I think Logan wins here.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

I think Logan wins here.

Yeah but I had to edit out that "you're". Ugh .

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

What ... the fuck ... was .... THAT?

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

Im literally speechless

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

And Jim Zorn officially tops Lane Kiffin's 76-yard FG attempt from last year on the "I don't give a fuck" scale.

I'm assuming these are about the fake FG attempt? I just finished watching the game. Wow.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

I'm assuming these are about the fake FG attempt? I just finished watching the game. Wow.

If you want to call it a fake FG attempt, yeah. I think the term "monkey fucking a football" is more appropriate here.

[cartman]

[Rizon]

What the ... FUCK?

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Logan

His checking out of plays caused the following drive lengths beginning in the 3rd quarter after having a 7-6 lead:

1:01
2:28
2:27
0:57
(Carolina scores, takes lead)
2:26
(Carolina scores, takes 2 TD lead)
1:10
(Carolina scores, takes 3 TD lead)

There were 25 pass plays called in the 2nd half (taking into account sacks and penalties in addition to actual pass attempts). This and the above is a good method to win what was once a close game and your best player is a RB.

Can you post the drive results from the first half when Favre was 6-7 for 49 yards?(They ran it 13 times in the first half) They had 62 yards in the first half.

They didnt move the ball the whole game so pointing to 2nd half possessions isnt a true indicator of whether or not it was Favre checking out of plays that caused this.

[Rizon]

hxxp://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/12692307/idiotic-play-call-seals-zorns-doom-in-washington


Idiotic play call seals Zorn's doom in Washington

LANDOVER, Md. -- People like you and me, we like to exaggerate. We like to watch a struggling team like the Washington Redskins, with a struggling coach like Jim Zorn, and we like to say things like, "That guy's an idiot."

Do we mean it? Not really. In our heart of hearts, we know that an NFL head coach can't really be an idiot, especially a head coach who once played quarterback in the NFL for 11 years. A guy like that -- a genuinely nice guy like Jim Zorn -- obviously knows football. He knows a lot more football than people like you and me.

Only today, I'm going to say this, and I'm not going to exaggerate. I'm simply going to make a reasonable observation about genuinely nice Jim Zorn:

That guy's an idiot.

You saw the play, right? The play at the end of the first half of the Redskins' 10th loss of the season, 45-12 on Monday night to the New York Giants? The play was so bad that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder would have been justified in firing Jim Zorn at halftime, and that's allowing for the fact that Zorn might not have been the one to call it. Zorn already had been cuckolded by Snyder in early October, forced to accept bingo-calling retiree Sherman Lewis onto his staff as an "offensive consultant" and then forced to let Lewis call the plays a few weeks later. It's possible Sherman Lewis called the play in question, which means that guy's an idiot.

But Zorn let it happen, after a timeout was called. Which leads me to my original premise: He's an idiot.

If you saw the play, you know what I'm talking about. If you didn't see the play, picture this. Picture the Redskins lining up for a 38-yard field goal on the final play of the first half. They trail 24-0, so the field goal is window dressing. The Redskins are going to lose this game, obviously. But if they want to avoid a shutout, here's their chance.

Only, they decide to fake it. The Redskins line up for a conventional field goal, and then most of the team splits out wide to the left side of the field for some sort of trick play. OK, fine. The Giants have no idea what's going on, so they call timeout. Again, fine. After the timeout, the Redskins line up again for a conventional field goal.

And then they do it again. They send most of the team over to the left, leaving only the snapper, the holder and the kicker in the middle of the field. The crowd, still holding onto hope that Jim Zorn isn't an idiot, screams in pleasure.

This, they're thinking, is going to be good.

If they only knew ...

The ball is snapped to holder Hunter Smith, a punter by day, and an awful thrower of the football by night. Nobody is open -- hell, nobody even seems to be running a route -- but Smith throws it anyway, fluttering the football toward the left side of the field. He threw it to everybody, and to nobody. Remember when you were in recess in junior high and one kid threw the football up for grabs into a crowd of about 15 classmates? That's what this was.

A play out of junior high recess.

Did it work? Of course it didn't work. It was batted down by one Giant, intercepted by another, and damn near returned 90 yards for a touchdown. In the stadium, the crowd was booing. In the press box, the media was laughing. Lewis or Zorn -- somebody -- had called for that monstrosity of a play ... and then, given a second chance after the New York timeout, that same somebody had called for it again.

When he's fired after this season -- and Jim Zorn will be fired after this season -- that play will be his epitaph, a multi-colored bird dropping on the tombstone of his head coaching career. And it came in the appropriate game, because a 60-minute showing this bad deserved a signature play that preposterous.

The Giants had 14 first downs before the Redskins got one. Late in the first half the Giants had 226 total yards, and the Redskins had three -- and New York was playing without starting cornerback Corey Webster (knee), and without his backup, Aaron Ross (hamstring).

And anyway, this was the Giants. They'd started the season on a 5-0 roll, but after the Saints ripped out their heart on Oct. 18 -- destroying the Giants 48-27 -- that triggered the 2-6 mudslide that had New York on the precipice of postseason elimination entering the weekend. New York's defense was toast. The Giants' last four opponents had averaged 294 passing yards and 31.5 points per game.

And Washington did this. The Redskins couldn't run (89 rushing yards). They couldn't throw (17 for 33, three interceptions). They couldn't kick an extra point (blocked), and they couldn't convert a two-point rushing try (stuffed).

And they couldn't fake a field goal. Twice. With the same stupid formation and the same punter throwing the ball and the same coach on the sideline nodding his head dumbly as the play was unfolding. Maybe -- and this is my eureka moment -- maybe Zorn knew what would happen. Maybe the play came straight from Sherman Lewis, and Zorn let it happen, knowing the likely result, as if to say to Daniel Snyder, This is the guy you want calling plays? Fine. Here he is. This ain't "B-14," Danny.

Zorn's explanation for the breakdown of the play was a laugh riot. He apparently liked the play call. He liked the personnel. He liked all of it so much, he said, that he stuck with the fake even after the timeout.

"I contemplated just kicking the field goal after that, but the play was unique enough where I didn't think they saw what we were trying to do," Zorn said. "But they smelled it out."

Smelled? Bad word, Jim. Accurate word. But bad.

The riotous Redskins helped keep the Giants within range of the playoffs. New York wouldn't have been mathematically eliminated from the postseason with a loss Monday night, but a loss would have made their eventual elimination extremely likely. Now, though, the Giants (8-6) are a mere one game behind the Cowboys (9-5) and Packers (9-5) in a three-way chase for the NFC's two wild-card spots -- and the Giants hold the tiebreaker edge on both. Pull even with either team at season's end, and New York is back in the playoffs.

The ferocious pass rush the Giants showed Monday (season-high five sacks) -- a pass rush that had been nonexistent most of the season -- would do them wonders in the playoffs. So would the effective 1-2 running punch of speedy Ahmad Bradshaw (nine carries for 61 yards) and bruising Brandon Jacobs (16 for 52). So would the precision passing of Eli Manning (19 for 26 for 268 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions), especially on third down, when New York converted 11 of 15 chances.

Then again, who are we kidding? The Giants looked like world-beaters on Monday night, but it was only against the Redskins.

And the guy coaching the Redskins? That guy's an idiot.

[Radii]

Someone needs to get a cleaner video of that play set to yakkity sax or some sort of circus music up on youtube immediately.

[Dr. Sak]

Benny Hill music

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

Benny Hill music

yeah, yakkity sax

[MikeVic]

Anyone else see the portion of the pre-game show where Steve Young was listing passing teams (or something similar to that), and stammered like crazy trying to say "Eagles?" I swear it went on for four or five full seconds.

"Uhh uhh uhhuhhh uhhh" and I laugh just thinking about it now... please tell me I'm not the only one to have seen it.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

If you want to call it a fake FG attempt, yeah. I think the term "monkey fucking a football" is more appropriate here.

That, and, well...

I love the Zorn quote. "They smelled out what we were trying to do."

No, you dumbshit, you had precisely zero blockers against a three-man rush. It doesn't matter WHAT you were trying to do, you were never going to come close to being successful.

Unless the entire defense died of laughter. Then, maybe.

A monkey fucking a football, to borrow Pumpy's term, could still have broken that abortion of a play.

[Passacaglia]

Was it really only a three man rush? The way that Smith held on to the ball for so long, and the fact that he was half the size of the guys coming at him, made it seem like there were more. Even though his back was to the cameras, I swear I could see the fear in his eyes.

[cartman]

After watching that play somewhere Daivd Winters is smiling, feeling vindicated.

[Passacaglia]

I can't believe I'm analyzing that play this much, but...

I guess it was a 3-man rush. Three more guys covered the middle of the field. One of those three followed the snapper (who didn't even try to throw a block) to the right. The other two followed the guy next to the snapper to the left, where everyone else was.

So I guess the theory is that you've got numbers over on the left? When the play starts, you've got 8 guys out there, and only 5 guys covering them. Of course, when the guy next to the snapper heads to the left, he brings two defenders with him (one of which happens to be the guy who caught the interception), so it's only 9 to 7 then. Not only that, most of your 9 guys out there are offensive linemen. They probably WERE trying to run routes. But...they're linemen!

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Was it really only a three man rush? The way that Smith held on to the ball for so long, and the fact that he was half the size of the guys coming at him, made it seem like there were more. Even though his back was to the cameras, I swear I could see the fear in his eyes.

Wow, I could have swore it was a 5 or 6 man rush ... lmao. But you were right, it was just 3. WOW.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Was it really only a three man rush? The way that Smith held on to the ball for so long, and the fact that he was half the size of the guys coming at him, made it seem like there were more. Even though his back was to the cameras, I swear I could see the fear in his eyes.

Originally Posted by Rizon

Wow, I could have swore it was a 5 or 6 man rush ... lmao. But you were right, it was just 3. WOW.

Three linemen, three linebackers. The linebackers hung back, presumably in case Smith managed to evade the rush somehow and step up to book it.

But of the six men who were at the line of scrimmage, only three brought the rush, yeah.

And the two ostensible blockers didn't bother. They just left Smith screaming "No, no, you're supposed to count to Ten Mississippi before you cross the line of scrimmage!"

[Rizon]

I just can't picture a grown man, or a group of them, sitting around and thinking this could be a good play.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Rizon

I just can't picture a grown man, or a group of them, sitting around and thinking this could be a good play.

Never mind twice?

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Rizon

I just can't picture a grown man, or a group of them, sitting around and thinking this could be a good play.

Never underestimate the stupidity of coaches.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

Never underestimate the stupidity of coaches.

It was like Jim Zorn's anti-"I'm Keith Hernandez" moment.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Lemme see here, Favre has thrown about the same number of passes in the last two losses as he threw in over half their wins. The Vikings have the 2nd best record in the NFC & only an otherworldly season by the Saints keeps them from having the best record. But suddenly it's Brett's fault for checking out of plays?

Hope Childress has his next job lined up and that he rented rather than bought.

Giving Childress that extension is going to turn this into a trainwreck. Apparently Childress and his ego doesnt want Favre to audible out of his 60's designed offense despite having one of the top 5 offenses in the league with whatever Favre was doing.

I will admit I was wrong as some of you had mentioned earlier that Childress would be the ultimate demise of what promise this team has. At the time I didnt think a clueless coach could have this much of an impact on such a talented team.

His conservative coaching cost the Vikings the Pitt game. The fool tried to bench an MVP candidate leading 7-6 in a huge game. I would guess that he has very little respect in the Vikings locker room because most of them must think he pretty much has no clue.

Favre may not be 100 percent correct in many of his decisions but he must be wondering at this point what the hell Childress's goals really are. If Childress is so stubborn that he cant allow for flexibility in his "old age" coaching style he needs to head back to the college game where that type of coaching actually can be successful.

I'm just absolutely stunned that they gave him an extension. Could go down as a worse move than the Herschel Walker trade in Vikings history.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I just want to give credit where credit is due. "Monkey fucking a football" was kcchief19's term. I just used it to second the motion, so to speak.

Jim Zorn is a genius.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Dola

That fake field goal was the equivalent of a guy with a car battery hanging from his scrotum and his hands in the mouths of two lions screaming "Hey, guys! Watch this!"