NFL Playoffs this weekend ...fun to watch ?

[ram29jackson]

You should never watch another football game in your life if you didn't enjoy the Saints-49ers game.

It's not the 1950's anymore..

the year has nothing to do with it.
Its that players arent as disciplined in fundamentals and many QBs probably look better than they are because of the defensive passing rules

 

[Hasselbeck]

the year has nothing to do with it.
Its that players arent as disciplined in fundamentals and many QBs probably look better than they are because of the defensive passing rules

So....?

4 lead changes in 4 minutes is boring?

:gtfo:

 

[NAHSTE]

You should never watch another football game in your life if you didn't enjoy the Saints-49ers game.

It's not the 1950's anymore..

I think the missed tackles are what bums me out the most. That has nothing to do with the rules. If anything, it is what caused the rules. The missed tackles and the increased head injuries are both because of the erosion of technique. Over the last 20-25 years or so launching toward the ballcarrier's upper body with forearms extended has replaced wrapping up and driving.

 

[GoChargers]

I thought the playoff games weren't as heavily scrutinized by the refs to the extent of regular season games.

Saints @ 49ers was awesome.

 

[Hasselbeck]

I think the missed tackles are what bums me out the most. That has nothing to do with the rules. If anything, the missed tackles and the increased head injuries which prompted the new rules are both because of the erosion of tackling. Over the last 20-25 years or so launching toward the ballcarrier's upper body with forearms extended has replaced wrapping up and driving.

I can agree with that.

I think the Saints having both a great offense and a terrible defense had more to do with the game being frenetic towards the end than the new rules - which no question are vanilla soft.

But irregardless of bad rules, the finish was exciting. The other 3 games were pretty boring though.

 

[Champ]

As a Giants fan the playoffs have been great to watch this year.

 

[ram29jackson]

So....?

4 lead changes in 4 minutes is boring?

:gtfo:

no not boring, but a defensive squad should be ashamed it happened to them.

Its unacceptable on a 100 yard field.

you allow 435 passing yards in a game but you are still considered a good defense?

 

[red33]

tht graham td was like the davis TD from earlier.

the play of the game was tht smith run. tht was crazy.

 

[killgod]

tht graham td was like the davis TD from earlier.

the play of the game was tht smith run. tht was crazy.

indeed, and that was that.

 

[Bear Pand]

I think it's funny you hear all the talk about how watered down the new rules have made the game (and yes they have had a negative impact) then you see Brees and Rodgers who both put up insane numbers during the regular season get thrown out the playoffs by good defensive performances. I don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be.

 

[St. Francisco]

Best game ever.

So fuck all of you.

 

[Tailback U]

I think it's funny you hear all the talk about how watered down the new rules have made the game (and yes they have had a negative impact) then you see Brees and Rodgers who both put up insane numbers during the regular season get thrown out the playoffs by good defensive performances. I don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be.

Exactly what I was going to say.

Brees and Rodgers are out, the Ravens and Texans both struggled on offense, as did the Broncos against the last ranked pass D in the league.

Are we in a pass happy era? Yes. But it's not just because of the rules that the quarterbacks are better, although it obviously helps.

The QB position is the mosted coveted in all of sports. Kids start throwing spirals at the age of 5 and are playing organized, competitive football their entire lives and being coached by big time QB coaches while in high school.

It's like pitchers in the MLB. Now that roids have been eliminated from the picture, they've gotten so much better because of how specialized the position has gotten and how much work these guys are putting into it their entire lives.

 

[jms493]

I thought the fourth Q of the NO/SF game was fun, but there is no question that 4th Q comebacks are cheapened and watered down these days.

You almost expect teams to go right down the field at will. I remember in the chat box, when Alex Smith scored, the prevailing thought among pretty much everyone was "2:00 is too much time for the Saints, they are scoring".

It wasn't that long ago that those types of comebacks were rare, and not always because of the time. Because defenses would actually stop you. Imagine that. Let;s face it, if the Saints had gotten the ball back, they would have scored again. You play against the clock now, not the defense.

Peyton and Big Ben got stopped on both their 4th qtr comebacks....it happens more than you think....just not as publicized.

 

[Houston]

Don't know why so many people were surprised by Alex Smith's comeback vs the Saints, not his first...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obHhsNhvW0g&feature"]MNF 49ers Game Tying Drive vs. Saints - YouTube[/ame]

 

[DJ Rhude]

The rules man, that's what's ruining the game.....it's making guys too tentative which is leading to shoddy tackling

That personal foul call on Osi in the Green Bay game, are you kidding me?

If I was a coach, I'd start a fine pot at the beginning of the season and have guys put in money every week.....tell my guys go all out, any fines resulting from it would be covered

 

[shag773]

The rules man, that's what's ruining the game.....it's making guys too tentative which is leading to shoddy tackling

I disagree. The rules protect a defenseless receiver trying to come down with a catch. It doesn't protect a receiver or a rb in the open field, where defensive players are going for the big hit vs wrapping up and tackling. The rules have very little if anything to do with it.

 

[Villain]

Best game ever.

So fuck all of you.

QFT. :dealwithit:

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

I think the missed tackles are what bums me out the most. That has nothing to do with the rules. If anything, it is what caused the rules. The missed tackles and the increased head injuries are both because of the erosion of technique. Over the last 20-25 years or so launching toward the ballcarrier's upper body with forearms extended has replaced wrapping up and driving.

Early in that first video I posted you see Leroy Butler get run over by a fb. But he was doing the right thing wrapping up and trying to drive his guy back. In the giants game Packers looked like kids do when they play tackle football without pads hoping a push or a hard bump is enough to knock a guy down. One of the biggest plays of the game came off a weak safety shove where WR just bounced off and scored.

 

[s@ppisgod]

There was some fun taken out of the 49ers/Saints game in knowing that the 49ers, even with their defense, could not stop the Saints in a 2-minute drill in this era of football. But I think the 49ers offense made up for some of that. Them and the Saints D were pretty evenly matched going in, and the 9ers made plays and had some nice playcalls (the Smith run, which I never saw coming, and actually going for the win). It's always nice to see an NFL coach have some balls and get a little creative, because it almost never happens.

Speaking of, the Giants' choice to throw a hail mary with some time left to run a short passing play was pretty ballsy too. And the officiating in that game was the only reason to watch it. The game was so-so to pretty bad between the Giants making some big plays and the Packers playing sloppy. But the officiating was truly awful. The only thing I'll remember about the game 5 years from now, is how incompetent the officiating crew was.

The Ravens game wasn't bad. The Ravens offense stunk, but the rest of the game was interesting. The Texans have some nice pieces coming together. I wanted JJ Watt for the Bucs last year, and I liked the pick by the Texans. But I had no idea he'd ever be this good, much less just out of the gates as a rookie. I wasn't as sold on Brooks Reed, but he's been very good also. I wonder if they're going to move Mario back to DE next year with Barwin and Reed playing as well as they did. Their pass rush is going to be very lethal, and I've always like Ryans and Cushing in the middle.

Also, slightly off-topic, but I was watching SC (always a bad idea) Sunday night while they were recapping the games. Does anyone else notice that Berman says "Arian Foster; Houstonian for beer" in reference to the beer commercial? Only he doesn't sound even remotely Australian, but rather like a fat girl from Boston?

The Pats/Broncos game I watched for the 1st quarter, and you could tell it was going to be a route. I remember popping back in to see the challenge while making dinner and that was an awful cal on the Gronk TD. Where were these refs for the 99 NFC Championship game? Bert Emmanuel caught the ball as clean as can be, but part of the ball touched the ground. Now, apparently going by that call and the Driver TD call, the ball can touch the ground and move around, as if not controlled at all by the receiver, and it's cool. That Broncos D also gave up 68 points in 2 playoff games. And Von Miller, what were you thinking?

 

[ram29jackson]

I think it's funny you hear all the talk about how watered down the new rules have made the game (and yes they have had a negative impact) then you see Brees and Rodgers who both put up insane numbers during the regular season get thrown out the playoffs by good defensive performances. I don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be.

I think its odd saying a team has good defense when they give up 435 passing yards.....?