NFL Divisional Playoff Thread

[tucker rocky]

NE seemed familiar with that play.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Pats came to play and the Broncos were outcoached IMO.

I don't think coaching could have helped the Bronco's today. Brady is gold in the postseason, and their offense is just running perfect right now. The Tebow's never had a chance.

Originally Posted by k0ruptr

Yep, I was just hoping for a semi close game. At least we had one fantastic game today.

This is no shit!

[Bigsmooth]

Thank you Patriots.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Dutch

That was actually one of our better games.

I meant Detroit vs. Denver.

[Matthean]

A lot of the Pittsburgh organization is drinking heavily tonight. Sub in either a healthy team or a better game plan and they would have won.

[hoopsguy]

Stay classy, Von Miller.

[cuervo72]

Don't put your QB in jeopardy, Phil? How about taking him out in a 45-10 game?

[kingfc22]

Holy crap! The Stick was amazing today. Crowd was sooooo into the game and what can I say about Alex freaking Smith.

This feels very similar to the Giants WS run 2 years ago and I can't wait for next Sunday to get here!

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Matthean

A lot of the Pittsburgh organization is drinking heavily tonight. Sub in either a healthy team or a better game plan and they would have won.

Yeah, but they are secretly happy they didn't suffer the embarrassment of a ass whipping like this too.

[bronconick]

Tim Tebow overcoming adversity, like being a 5* recruit to the University of Florida, Nance? We're not exactly talking about Jerry Rice at Mississippi Valley State here.

[Mustang]

Ohh.. Tebow haters are being scolded by the announcers now.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Yeah, but they are secretly happy they didn't suffer the embarrassment of a ass whipping like this too.

This was very much a message game from the Pats. "Hey guys, remember us? We have done this whole Super Bowl thing before."

I'm still curious to see what Denver does with Tebow. 1-4 in his last five games. The one win was against a beat up team with a horrible game plan. The defense was horrid last year so they got as many miles out of it this as possible. It still needs to get better and the offense needs work as well.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Ohh.. Tebow haters are being scolded by the announcers now.

That was pathetic ball-washing. I'm so sick of the Tebow-love being forced on everybody. Ugh.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

I'm so sick of the Tebow-love being forced on everybody. Ugh.

I give it a 6 on the Ironic-o-meter.

[cartman]

9 for 26, 108 yards

John 9:26 - 'Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”'

Answer - 26 for 34, 363 yards and 6 TDs

[Senator]

Originally Posted by cartman

9 for 26, 108 yards

John 9:26 - 'Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”'

Answer - 26 for 34, 363 yards and 6 TDs

Made ya look.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by Senator

Made ya look.

The Google is good at finding stuff.

[molson]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

I give it a 6 on the Ironic-o-meter.

Brady last I checked as won some stuff so there's a pretty big distinction there. Tebow had a regular season winning streak surrounded by garbage. I think you can make the argument that he's the most overhyped NFL player ever (accomplishments relative to hype/publicity).

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

did anyone not see this coming? there were about 20 indicators predicting this outcome.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

I give it a 6 on the Ironic-o-meter.

Right, except Brady has actually been that good for a career, not 2 games - he's no a doubt HOF. There's a difference, no?


Also, Is Bucc going to whine at everyone again today?

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Right, except Brady has actually been that good for a career, not 2 games - he's no a doubt HOF. There's a difference, no?


Also, Is Bucc going to whine at everyone again today?

About what? Brady has been a favorite player for years and the Patriots one of my favorite teams. People hating on Tebow for what he is as a person has been sad and immature.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Right, except Brady has actually been that good for a career, not 2 games - he's no a doubt HOF. There's a difference, no?

Depends on which 'Brady-love' you want to compare, really.

At this point in time? Yeah, he's made a career of being great, and backed it up. But I seem to recall a point in time when he was just starting out, before he'd built the Legend of Brady, and people were making similar comments.

The body of work is why it's a 6 on the Ironic-o-Meter now, where once upon a time it would've been higher than that.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

People hating on Tebow for what he is as a person has been sad and immature.

Great person, horrible QB. You're not "hating on Tebow for what he is as a person" by recognizing how bad a QB he is. I have a friend named Steve, he's a great guy, and he can't throw a football for shit. Still a great guy though. But it would be a little weird if everyone was saying how amazing he is as a football player, when he's not at all.

It's so bizarre. I respect him for his faith, and for what he's done as a person. But he's not the first good guy to ever play in the NFL. He's not the first man of faith ever to play in the NFL. He's not the first person in NFL history to get some regular season wins and get into the playoffs at 8-8. And yet he's portrayed as something amazing and historic. As must-see TV. If he ever gets way, way better to the point he's as good as, oh, Aaron Brooks, or Kerry Collins, he's going to get his own 24 hour channel.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

About what? Brady has been a favorite player for years and the Patriots one of my favorite teams. People hating on Tebow for what he is as a person has been sad and immature.

Had this discussion with family earlier.

I've got a lot of respect for Tebow the human being, who is apparently an A+ person (despite the fact that his overt religiousity annoys me personally). What I find ridiculous and irritating is the way he brings it so "in your face" onto the field - or more accurately how the media and announcers are so eager to point that out to us all the time and hype it, as if it somehow makes him a better NFL player than his skills.

That's what is annoying about Tebow.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Depends on which 'Brady-love' you want to compare, really.

At this point in time? Yeah, he's made a career of being great, and backed it up. But I seem to recall a point in time when he was just starting out, before he'd built the Legend of Brady, and people were making similar comments.

The body of work is why it's a 6 on the Ironic-o-Meter now, where once upon a time it would've been higher than that.

What?? You're delusional. Nobody was talking about Brady at all until he won the first Superbowl, at which point the love was justified (because of the way he won it, being the youngest, etc). And I'd argue he didn't even really start getting the crazy-style love till after he won the first couple - at which point the love was clearly not out of porportion with accomplishments.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Depends on which 'Brady-love' you want to compare, really.

At this point in time? Yeah, he's made a career of being great, and backed it up. But I seem to recall a point in time when he was just starting out, before he'd built the Legend of Brady, and people were making similar comments.

The body of work is why it's a 6 on the Ironic-o-Meter now, where once upon a time it would've been higher than that.

Cmon man - Brady's first full season, he won the superbowl, and has been at a Pro Bowl level ever since. Tebow's first season, he had 2 good games and was being treated as the reason for wins despite being awful.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Had this discussion with family earlier.

I've got a lot of respect for Tebow the human being, who is apparently an A+ person (despite the fact that his overt religiousity annoys me personally). What I find ridiculous and irritating is the way he brings it so "in your face" onto the field - or more accurately how the media and announcers are so eager to point that out to us all the time and hype it, as if it somehow makes him a better NFL player than his skills.

That's what is annoying about Tebow.

This is the persona about Tebow that irritates the shit out of me. How is he "in your face?" He doesn't do anything tons of other athletes don't do. Countless baseball players do the sign of the cross after a home run, guys thank god all the time, every NFL and college game have guys in prayer circles before and after. Why should Tebow be any different? The reason is because of the media there is a heightened sense of awareness about it with Tebow, and again , why? Because he has won football games, which is his job. He didn't ask to be drafted in the first round by the Broncos, he wasn't screaming that he should be the starter. What exactly has he pushed on anyone?

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Lathum

This is the persona about Tebow that irritates the shit out of me. How is he "in your face?" He doesn't do anything tons of other athletes don't do. Countless baseball players do the sign of the cross after a home run, guys thank god all the time, every NFL and college game have guys in prayer circles before and after. Why should Tebow be any different? The reason is because of the media there is a heightened sense of awareness about it with Tebow, and again , why? Because he has won football games, which is his job. He didn't ask to be drafted in the first round by the Broncos, he wasn't screaming that he should be the starter. What exactly has he pushed on anyone?

I believe i conceded in my post that maybe it wasn't entirely on him, but a lot of it was the media.

He does seem to talk about it incessently in his interviews and such though, and that's on him.

[sabotai]

I was very annoyed with the Tebow coverage early on. Every time he won a game, it took up 2 of every 3 minutes of football coverage for the week and everyone was circle jerking over his performance. The over the top Tebow coverage was just part of the reason I have completely sworn off ESPN for good. Since I've done that, I don't give a shit if he wins or loses anymore.

I guess what I'm saying is that I never realized how much ESPN was ruining sports for me until I completely stopped watching it.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by sabotai

I was very annoyed with the Tebow coverage early on. Every time he won a game, it took up 2 of every 3 minutes of football coverage for the week and everyone was circle jerking over his performance. The over the top Tebow coverage was just part of the reason I have completely sworn off ESPN for good. Since I've done that, I don't give a shit if he wins or loses anymore.

I guess what I'm saying is that I never realized how much ESPN was ruining sports for me until I completely stopped watching it.

I find I never watch ESPN anymore unless there's a live event on that I'm watching. There's just no need for it.

But I mean seriously...ABC Nightly News was doing a piece of fucking Tebow the other night with some tagline about like...divine intervention in his games or something. That's just fucking ridiculous.

[k0ruptr]

8 touchdowns caught by tight ends today. thats awesome.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Lathum

This is the persona about Tebow that irritates the shit out of me. How is he "in your face?" He doesn't do anything tons of other athletes don't do. Countless baseball players do the sign of the cross after a home run, guys thank god all the time, every NFL and college game have guys in prayer circles before and after. Why should Tebow be any different? The reason is because of the media there is a heightened sense of awareness about it with Tebow, and again , why? Because he has won football games, which is his job. He didn't ask to be drafted in the first round by the Broncos, he wasn't screaming that he should be the starter. What exactly has he pushed on anyone?

How many athletes are doing commercials for anti-gay groups during games? I don't think much of him as a QB and I dislike what he stands for when he decided to be a spokesman for that group.

[miked]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

What?? You're delusional. Nobody was talking about Brady at all until he won the first Superbowl, at which point the love was justified (because of the way he won it, being the youngest, etc). And I'd argue he didn't even really start getting the crazy-style love till after he won the first couple - at which point the love was clearly not out of porportion with accomplishments.

Just thought I'd mention he threw for 145 yards in his first superbowl.

Also, I was surprised but he never threw for over 30 TDs until his crazy season of 50, which is about 7 seasons of under 30 TDs and a rating in the mid-uppoer 80s.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by miked

Just thought I'd mention he threw for 145 yards in his first superbowl.

Also, I was surprised but he never threw for over 30 TDs until his crazy season of 50, which is about 7 seasons of under 30 TDs and a rating in the mid-uppoer 80s.

But he was winning Super Bowls as where Tebow was being an internet meme before winning a playoff game.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

This is one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't situations. People always bemoan the prevent defense, but should they have used it here? He stayed aggressive those last 2 drives and it bit him, but to give credit where it's due Smith made some money throws as well.

Tough decision on how to play it either way.

Yeah.. you would think the niners would sit on the FG and it wasn't like the CB didn't do everything he could to knock that ball loose.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by TroyF

As for the Denver defense, I'm really not sure what they are doing now and I'm not sure they know what they are doing. Their only chance is to tackle well and get pressure on Brady. They aren't doing either (credit to the Pats O line for the second part)

Between Welker, Hernandez, Gronkowski, and even Branch and Edelman after them, you don't win by taking away one or even two of Brady's targets. You win by getting pressure on Brady with your front four, maybe one LB. You need enough guys back there that it takes a few seconds for someone to break open, and you need to be in Brady's face by the time that happens. That's why the Giants are a dangerous matchup and the Steelers beat them. Baltimore and Houston MAY have the defense to do this, but I'm not sure either one has the offense to score themselves the way the defense has been playing the last few games.

[gstelmack]

As for Tebow, I want to see what he can do after a full offseason of work. It's been pointed out many times that the offseason between the rookie and sophomore campaigns for a QB is a critical one because the player has some experience that they can latch the lessons onto, and Tebow did not get that. Heck, Drew Brees was horrible his first two seasons, to the point that San Diego took another QB at the top of the draft.

He may never turn out to be much, but you have to give him an offseason, don't you? And I still say this is the offense John Fox has always secretly wanted to run...

[BillJasper]

I think you give him an off-season. But you're going to have to commit through the draft and free-agency to getting personnel that compliment his skill set.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

I find I never watch ESPN anymore unless there's a live event on that I'm watching. There's just no need for it.

But I mean seriously...ABC Nightly News was doing a piece of fucking Tebow the other night with some tagline about like...divine intervention in his games or something. That's just fucking ridiculous.

It's called building the narrative. It's why sports reporting and reporting in general sucks shit. They don't report the truth, they report stories that fit a narrative they either want to push or think we want to hear. Look at all the baseball narratives that the SABR community has ruined over the years. That's the REAL reason why the media hates the SABR community - because it outed their lazy/fictional reporting for what it was.

[Buccaneer]

That is to be expected in the ever-increasing inudation of the 24-hour media and modes of communicating. It will only get worse when the next hot topic comes along. We went through this with Favre, remember? Most of you (I assume) can't live without being instantly connected to everything and gets the latest tweets, text, facebook message, instant headlines, etc. What would be different (e.g., in your perception of media hype - whether of a player, celebrity, etc.) if you weren't so plugged into the media?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Look at all the baseball narratives that the SABR community has ruined over the years.

Hard not to giggle at the notion that anyone other than a tiny fraction of the population even knows what SABR is. It's an annoyance but not much more than that.

[Arles]

Couple things about Green Bay and their "terrible" defense:

1. GB is 11th in the league points allowed through 3 quarters (10.6), the Giants are 17th at 15.7. GB is #1 in points scored through 3 quarters (27.3). So, it shouldn't be a surprise to learn that GB allows significantly more points in the 4th (8.1 - 30th in the NFL) given they usually have a 17 point league and are running out the clock.

2. Packers gave up 22.4 points per game this season, the Giants gave up 25 points per game. The Packers played against 8 of the top 10 offenses and were 8-0 in those games. The Giants played against 5 of the top 10 offenses and went 2-3. Against common opponents (including the game against each other), Packers allowed 24 PPG to the Giants' 26. GB scored 35 in those games, while the Giants scored 28.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Atocep

How many athletes are doing commercials for anti-gay groups during games? I don't think much of him as a QB and I dislike what he stands for when he decided to be a spokesman for that group.

You're right - I hadn't even considered that. Fuck him as a human being. DIAF bigot.

[gstelmack]

So one fun story from all this: back in September, my folks travelled back to Massachusetts, and stopped by Patriot Place to get myself and my son a jersey (my daughter was disappointed they didn't have any pink youth jerseys or she'd have one as well). My son wanted an 83 Welker jersey, since that was the highest number they had in youth. My parents also picked him up one of the Patriots-logoed matchbox cars, since he's such a toy car freak.

He likes wearing the clothes, but hasn't shown much interested in the actual games until late this season, when he finally started sitting down with me to watch and asking questions about the game. He did decide to wear his jersey all day yesterday when he saw he was wearing mine.

Kickoff was at 8:15 last night, which is also the kids' bedtime. I called him in and decided to let him watch the first New England offensive series with me before he went to bed. Unfortunately for him, it took all of 2 minutes for that drive.

I did point out Welker during the drive so he could see "his jersey" on the field. When Welker caught the TD, he jumped up and down yelling "my jersey caught the touchdown!". He was so excited.

This morning he was racing his cars around the living room, and I discovered that the matchbox Patriots car he got back in September is now called "Welker".

[BillJasper]

Jacoby Jones. What an idiot...

[kingfc22]

What a STUPID decision that was.

[frnk55]

Bone headed as Dierdorf said. I love Dan

[BillJasper]

I have a feeling it's all downhill from here for the Texans.

[mauchow]

You can't make those mistakes and win on the road. You need all the momentum you can get on the road -- and the Texans lost every bit of it there. Too bad, I am rooting for them.

[fpres]

Wow, what a joke. It's not like Houston needs to be gifting 70+ yards to the Ravens.