Super Bowl Chatter Thread

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Sweed

Yes, it was a normal officiated NFL game.

No, it wasn't. They were clearly letting things go and both teams adjusted to that. Chase and Kupp were grabbed so much that it dragged the offenses to a crawl throughout most of the game. I wasn't implying that the Rams got an advantage. The refs weren't calling penalties at all for most of the game.

My thing is that I just want consistency. The Super Bowl should be called like the other games. We should define what taunting is and isn't. We should have a general idea of what a penalty is and isn't. It's maybe the only sport I can think of where rules change so much from game to game.

[Solecismic]

Maybe it's because I watch a lot of football and very little basketball, but I can't for the life of me figure out what a foul is anymore, only that the game alternates between chucking up three-pointers from somewhere near half-court and these mad dashes to the basket where everyone ends up crashing into everyone else and then looking at the referee as if they're hoping someone can make any sense out of the process. Then you get to the end-game, and somehow they haven't figured out it would be a more entertaining game if only it wasn't often in someone's best interest to intentionally foul their opponents. Which, according to the rules, is a technical foul, but no one ever calls that. And then, the video reviews are often ten-minute-long festivals of boredom over who touched the ball last before it went out of bounds. I condense this all into one difficult paragraph because that's what basketball seems to me these days. I'm quickly getting to the point where I won't even watch Michigan play. Yeah, I think basketball is far worse than football when it comes to officiating. Hockey, on the other hand... at least the referees mostly leave the game alone until someone is bashed into mortal peril and the crowd suddenly realizes it's time to stop cheering.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

No, it wasn't. They were clearly letting things go and both teams adjusted to that. Chase and Kupp were grabbed so much that it dragged the offenses to a crawl throughout most of the game. I wasn't implying that the Rams got an advantage. The refs weren't calling penalties at all for most of the game.

My thing is that I just want consistency. The Super Bowl should be called like the other games. We should define what taunting is and isn't. We should have a general idea of what a penalty is and isn't. It's maybe the only sport I can think of where rules change so much from game to game.

Normal officiated playoff game. Is that better?

It is what it is and it's not changing. Both teams played with the same refs. I don't like it either but nobody at NFL HQ cares. The only vote we have is to not watch. Good luck.

[stevew]

It's been a few days but I can't believe how shitty every Rams receiver was outside of Kupp and OBJ. Like those guys couldn't play in the XFL.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by stevew

It's been a few days but I can't believe how shitty every Rams receiver was outside of Kupp and OBJ. Like those guys couldn't play in the XFL.

Skoworski, or whatever his name is really sucks. Maybe he'll develop? I don't know. I remember as a kid Dave Elmendorf as a rookie for the Rams costing them a game against the Colts on MNF. I think he roughed the punter twice or maybe it was two PI calls? Either way I hated that guy. In the end he developed into a damn good safety.

Their 3rd string TE actually stepped up to the challenge, I thought.

Jefferson was disappointing. Pregnant wife leaving stadium to have a baby maybe causing some concentration issues? IDK? He can be hit or miss on his best days.

I think the rest was just running backs like Henderson splitting out wide. Not a good situation but all they had to work with.

I'm not sure how other teams would fare missing their #2, #3, ie Woods and OBJ?

Long winded way of agreeing, I guess.

It surely showed how good Kupp is when it was him making plays while being targeted as the only one to stop. Add in Stafford making throws to him as their only viable target down the stretch and getting the ball to him. I think it came down to the Rams deciding we have to throw to Kupp no matter what. And that speaks to your point that the others couldn't play in the xfl.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Not buying that the overall tally tells the entire story.

If CIN wins that game in a close score with both offenses deadlocked, fully a third of the football universe is still on fire today based on the massive missed call on the facemask-tackle that turned into a long TD out of thin air. Virtually nobody is still talking about the fraction-of-a-second false start here or there.

Some plays and calls/missed calls clearly have a much higher magnitude of effect on the outcome. If they are obvious bad/missed calls, amplify that even further. This is maybe the most egregious case ever, other than it not happening at the very end of the game.

If you let the human element that affects 2-3 plays cost you a game that has 133 snaps, you don't deserve to win. The officials didn't give up 7 sacks and multiple hurries/hits. You can equate those 2 sketchy penalties to LA's 2 turnovers, in both cases you have to overcome that.

It's football and in over 300+ games coached I can't recall a single game that stands out where an officials call created a scenario that cost us a game that we weren't gonna lose anyway, or couldn't overcome to win. Yeah it looks bad on the big stage in plus territory, but every single game has missed calls and BS calls.

I'll give you a couple of clips from our games. Watch the RT (77) and RG (51) execute a perfect double team on the blitzing linebacker. They wash him down the line and he trips over the backside TE who had cut and was on the ground. The official saw it out of the corner of his eye and called a chop block, which is cut blocking an engage player. In this case the defender drew a penalty on a legal block for getting his ass kicked. This clip came to mind because both lineman got helmet awards for the knockdown and we still ended up scoring after being stuck with a 1st and 25 on a bad call. As mentioned, when you watch film you see several of these on both sides every game.

Cut 4118894 - YouTube

This second clip our left wing (20) was leaning before the snap and could have been called for a false start (and he was called for 3-4 for doing this that season) but it was missed or it would have brought back a TD.

Cruz 4167134 - YouTube

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

I think basketball is far worse than football when it comes to officiating.

Agree with this and the several sentences that preceded it. I don't think it's close.

[bhlloy]

If we are talking about refs going entire periods/games without calling things and calling it by the book other times, and whistles being swallowed in the playoffs hockey is also at least as bad if not far worse

[AlexB]

All through the season people have been complaining about the number of flags and shitty penalties in games, and now the reverse.

I get the desire for consistency (PS - never going to happen across the board with different crews, you can hope for some degree of consistency for an individual crew through a season though) but wasn’t the game better to watch with the refs letting them play vs flagging a bunch of minor infractions?

The only one that clearly should have been called IMHO was the facemask on Ramsey, and potentially one on Ramsey himself when he had grasp of a WR shirt on a slant near the end zone, so they pretty much balanced out anyway.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Agree with this and the several sentences that preceded it. I don't think it's close.

Yeah. It is part of the game in basketball. Which we all just accept even though it leads to worse games.

"Try and get him in foul trouble"

"Get in the lane and draw contact"

"AND ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Other than the offsides trap in soccer, I cannot think of another team sport where trying to get the refs involved is an accepted and inherent and celebrated part of game strategy.

[NobodyHere]

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/15/media...hip/index.html

I'm actually surprised by this as the Superbowl didn't seem as hyped as in past years. Add to that the Bengals probably have a relatively small fanbase.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/15/media...hip/index.html

I'm actually surprised by this as the Superbowl didn't seem as hyped as in past years. Add to that the Bengals probably have a relatively small fanbase.

Was it just compared to last year? Last year didn't really have any storylines. Either Brady wins again. Or the Chiefs win again.

This year had an underdog team and a huge media market team filled with stars. I can see how it was more compelling to the average fan.

[albionmoonlight]

#ramsparade pic.twitter.com/CLdXWiJ3fP

— Andrew �� (@memoreno9) February 16, 2022

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Was it just compared to last year? Last year didn't really have any storylines. Either Brady wins again. Or the Chiefs win again.

This year had an underdog team and a huge media market team filled with stars. I can see how it was more compelling to the average fan.

Super Bowl Ratings Chart, All-Time - Sports Media Watch

[Solecismic]

Is there a chart that separates out the 18-29s?

What's remarkable there is the decline in 18-49 viewing. I think people watch the Super Bowl because it's an event - the teams or their story lines don't matter as much.

Are younger people simply not choosing what we consider traditional television as an entertainment option? I could not get my son to watch sports with me, aside from the rare major event. As soon as the commercials start, out pops the device, and pretty soon they're lost in another world entirely, game or no game.

My wife and I are catching up on the Jeopardy! college tournament, and there are categories about influencers and DJs and stuff where I've never even heard of any of the five answers.

I wonder what television is going to look like in ten years. I suppose nothing but reruns of Friends and commercials for I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

I wonder what television is going to look like in ten years. I suppose nothing but reruns of Friends and commercials for I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up.

Isn't that basically what TBS is now?

[sabotai]

I cut the cable chord a long time ago and I can not sit through commercials anymore. When I watch live football, I'm usually sitting on my computer doing whatever during the commercials and turn back to the game when they're done.

I watched the Super Bowl on the Peacock streaming service and paused it several times so I could fall behind and fast forward through the commercials.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

Is there a chart that separates out the 18-29s?

That'd be an unusual one to see. Might find 18-24 and 18-34 out there somewhere though

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by sabotai

I cut the cable chord a long time ago and I can not sit through commercials anymore. When I watch live football, I'm usually sitting on my computer doing whatever during the commercials and turn back to the game when they're done.

I watched the Super Bowl on the Peacock streaming service and paused it several times so I could fall behind and fast forward through the commercials.

I quickly went from "I will reluctantly TiVO the game because we have some major family obligation when it is on" to "I will come up with excuses to delay starting to watch the game so that I can get ahead of commercials."

[Solecismic]

This is for this year through the conference championships:

NFL TV ratings page, 2021 edition - Sports Media Watch

Without knowing total populations and measurement populations, it's hard to conclude anything, but all I get from combining this is that it seems like a negative percentage of 18-24 year olds watch television. Like they go into Dad's house and take a sledgehammer to the set.

[Solecismic]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I quickly went from "I will reluctantly TiVO the game because we have some major family obligation when it is on" to "I will come up with excuses to delay starting to watch the game so that I can get ahead of commercials."

After a couple of years of trying streaming services for a couple of months at a time, then going without any live television, I got a Tablo a few months ago and spent a lot of time working out exactly where to point a good indoor antenna (we are more than 40 miles from the major clusters in Cleveland and Youngstown).

I kind of miss the Big Ten Network and to a lesser extent, ESPN, but it's mainly basketball that's gone, and I'm finding I don't care much.

I was trying a new kind of charting for the Super Bowl (focus on patterns in pass rushing), but didn't find much. It was really just Cincinnati realizing that rushing three was truly stupid in the first quarter and Los Angeles making some halftime adjustment (I wish I knew exactly what) and all of a sudden making Burrow miserable while almost alternating four- and five-man rushes. I should have recorded it so I could go back and see some detail there.

[Ksyrup]

I don't mind commercials for live sporting events. I am usually doing something else during the games, so I am almost always busy during commercials, or switching to other games. I will not tape live sporting events and watch them. Once they happen, they're gone. I usually keep up on apps or twitter if I have to miss them and that's enough for me.

Now, regular shows... we tape every single one and watch without commercials. I don't recall the last time I watched a show I would regularly watch during its actual first-run time slot.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

This is for this year through the conference championships:

NFL TV ratings page, 2021 edition - Sports Media Watch

Without knowing total populations and measurement populations, it's hard to conclude anything, but all I get from combining this is that it seems like a negative percentage of 18-24 year olds watch television. Like they go into Dad's house and take a sledgehammer to the set.

Almost, lol

Even at the 18-34 level, they watch TV at less than half the rate of almost any other major demographic cell. If you got down to 18-24, it'd be worse than that.

Page 17 of this report (from 2020) might interest you, or at least it might help illustrate why the numbers look like they do.

[CrimsonFox]

I kinda feel Bengals lost it in the 3td quarter . They were up and driving and just lost there momentum. The online fell apart play after play and burrows wasn't scrambling anymore and got sacked a lot. When he went down I stopped watching. I really hate on both sides that they try to injure each other. May as well have weapons at this point and play live action. Blood bowl.