Championship Sunday
Sacksonville vs Tom Brady's Hand. Nick Foles, Backup QB vs The Team of Destiny. Discuss amongst yourselves. Also, SKOL!
Haven't seen a defense hit like the Jags since the 2000 Ravens. Of course, the rules have changed since then, which could be a problem.
UPDATE: 24-7 at the half. About all I can say is that if you can't stop the Foles-to-Ertz connection, you have no business trying to stop Brady-to-Gronkowski. So far, this game has all the flavor of a Denny Green playoff classic, where the coaching staff simply gets outprepared and outcoached by the opponent's coaches. It would be nice to see some serious adjustments demonstrating otherwise.
UPDATE: 38-7. Game isn't over, but it's over. Outplayed, outcoached, there is simply nothing to complain about. I have the feeling that the defensive backs were told not to worry about double moves because Foles wouldn't be throwing deep. Coach Zim is going to have to up his game if he is going to succeed at this point in the season; my earlier impression of a Denny Green playoff classic would appear to have been correct. I am very impressed with the Philadelphia coaches, as they clearly had their team very well-prepared for this game.
About the only silver linings to be found are that a) it will be cheaper to keep Case next year and b) the NFL ratings for the conference championships are promise to be abysmal.
Haven't seen a defense hit like the Jags since the 2000 Ravens. Of course, the rules have changed since then, which could be a problem.
UPDATE: 24-7 at the half. About all I can say is that if you can't stop the Foles-to-Ertz connection, you have no business trying to stop Brady-to-Gronkowski. So far, this game has all the flavor of a Denny Green playoff classic, where the coaching staff simply gets outprepared and outcoached by the opponent's coaches. It would be nice to see some serious adjustments demonstrating otherwise.
UPDATE: 38-7. Game isn't over, but it's over. Outplayed, outcoached, there is simply nothing to complain about. I have the feeling that the defensive backs were told not to worry about double moves because Foles wouldn't be throwing deep. Coach Zim is going to have to up his game if he is going to succeed at this point in the season; my earlier impression of a Denny Green playoff classic would appear to have been correct. I am very impressed with the Philadelphia coaches, as they clearly had their team very well-prepared for this game.
About the only silver linings to be found are that a) it will be cheaper to keep Case next year and b) the NFL ratings for the conference championships are promise to be abysmal.
Labels: sports
123 Comments:
Brady will be fine just deflate the ball a little.
Don't see the Jags scoring 10 points.
The Vikes are riding a tide of momentum similar to the '07 Giants IMO. Plus, the league MUST have a Vikings v. Pats matchup. Skol!
Do the Pats have a good running back/halfback duo?
No, but if they need one, they'll produce one off the bench.
Patriots win 16-14. Jacksonville seemingly wins with a last second field goal, but after official review, we learn the clock was off by 0.05 seconds. Jacksonville kicked after time expired.
The Vikings defense defeats the Eagles DEF, 2 defensive TDs to 1 defensive TD, final 21-17.
As anyone would expect, Brady and the team are saying ''I don't want to talk about it'' or ''no problemo''. Or as Monty Python put it: ''It's just a flesh wound''.
Rumor mill has it that the hand is worse, Brady says ''I don't want to wear a glove''. Maybe he'll be able to get away with it. Foxboro is 48°/9° Sunny now and is expected to drop to 46°/8° at game time. Which is better than the last time they faced the Pats in the AFC championship game where it was 8°F at kickoff IIRC. My guess? It's gonna be close, but never underestimate the Cheatriots, you know they've got something up their sleeve. For all we know, Brady still has his arm up his sleeve.
> The Vikes are riding a tide of momentum similar to the '07 Giants IMO. Plus, the league MUST have a Vikings v. Pats matchup. Skol!
The Narrative is strong with this one. The league really doesn't want two east coast teams, so it would seem the Vikes are lock.
Go Pats.
Sure, everyone thinks the league wants a Vikes-Pats showdown, but that's just what they want you to think, innit? First, the miraculous Brady finger recovery: Brady attributes it to his diet guru, promoting sales. What you're not seeing: the last scene in Empire Strikes Back, with the cams clicking inside Tom's new prosthetic. We can't have that known as there's a rule against mechanical aids. And with the new hand, Tommy don't need no flat balls, because there's a metal lining inside the pigskin that works with his magnetic fingertips. And wot the hell is a Case Keenum? Seriously? The frickin' safety for the Saints cannot even follow the simple instruction, and the Vike's reciever finds the ball in his hands, and no one between him and the goal line. He's stunned, follows instinct, but once he's in he knows his handlers are going to be pissed, and collapses to the turf....
The Wilfs are Jersey born and bred, and they can count a spread before they can say Mama. Why did the Vikes give away the extra point? Because that point would have made the spread against the Wilf's bets. No dummies, they. Sure, the receiver screwed up, but they knew they were okay.
As a guy that grew up watching the Vikes, I expect them to win today and then choke AGAIN in the Super Bowl. At Home
Blastmaster wrote:As a guy that grew up watching the Vikes, I expect them to win today and then choke AGAIN in the Super Bowl. At Home
C'mon, Vox, don't 'sockpuppet' your own blog. That's just silly ;)
I really should talk a bunch of shit supporting the Pats just to elicit more rage from Akulkis and Snidely.
You guys here?
Hey Vox did you get your Patriots versus Vikings Super Bowl poster yet? I see the NFL has had them out on pre-order for quite a while lol...
The Original Arrogant Steelers Fan wrote:Hey Vox did you get your Patriots versus Vikings Super Bowl poster yet? I see the NFL has had them out on pre-order for quite a while lol...
They've already got them designed and ready for printing, but they're waiting 'till tomorrow to actually start running them off. Those are faster to do than t-shirts, and what is the turd world going to do with the ''wrong'' posters?
They could paper their shacks. It's not as good as tar paper, but with enough layers the coated paper would be pretty good.
Let's be honest, nobody wants the Jags in the Super Bowl.
Except VICE:
https://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2018/01/21/vice-tells-readers-to-cheer-for-the-jaguars-over-the-patriots-because-of-trump-of-course/
"Hey, look... Tony Romo finally made out to a championship game!" My sis in law a few minutes ago.
Michael Maier wrote:"Hey, look... Tony Romo finally made out to a championship game!" My sis in law a few minutes ago.
LOL. I heard they were only setting up Brady in shotgun in practice, looks like it was the game plan too.
> As a guy that grew up watching the Vikes, I expect them to win today and then choke AGAIN in the Super Bowl. At Home
The voice of experience (long, painful experience) speaking. Why, he might almost be a WVU fan.
Fournette is just plowing through and running over the defense
@2: "Don't see the Jags scoring 10 points."
You were right, 7 mins left in the second quarter and they have 14. No possible way for them to get to 10 now.
14-3, You're on your way to the Super Bowl... But does your game look a little bit... Flat?
The NFL really, really, really wants Bortles in the Super Bowl
He got one good pass off, but that ''flesh wound'' looks like it's having an effect...
Bortles is awful, but man that was a nice throw there.
Brady loses to Jax today.. It is just more proof that his whole career is a lie.
If they get to 28-3 it's over.
And ''the finger on the scale'' begins...
The ref cheating has begun. 3 marginal calls now all for the Patriots.
Saved by the flags
Almost enough to make me believe in the narrative conspiracies
Almost
I see that some penalty calls went for the offense in the Pats-Jags game. As I predicted here.
If a hit takes a player out off the game because of the concussion protocol, the rule should be the defender is ejected.
Bortles is making his haters look like fools
Patriots defense aint shit
Patriots defense ain’t shit
Gronkowski officially out for the game
Go for it
Doom
Bah.
Amen dola,
Brady the GOAT
NFL caught promoting a Vikings-Pats Super Bowl. So... I guess it is all fixed after all???
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/look-the-nfl-is-already-advertising-a-patriots-vs-vikings-super-bowl/amp/
But hey Vox, at least your Vikings will be there so enjoy!
NE defense stepped up
98 penalty yards (Where I lost count) against the Jags not a single one of them truly Justified. Would a single one of those calls went against the Patriots? I think not.
2 straight years in which the Patriots rip the heart out of a Southern team.
White Nationalists win again!
Not big on the narrative, but more than most times it does look like a fix. Regardless Belichick is one great coach. Best coach ever?
It does get more and more blatant every year, doesn't it?
The t-shirt leak, and did anybody catch the ref celebrating with the Patriots? lol.
Yeah, those Jagoffs rule! Lololol. Move outta the sticks fellas.
Trump Patriots.
Winning.
Both Foles and Keenum are good old Texas boys but I'm rooting for the Vikings just cuz SKOL!!
Anyone else try Skol Vodka distilled in Kentucky? sells around here for about 8 bucks a bottle
Every bit as good as it sounds
Blah blah blah Patriots cheated blah blah blah fix is in blah blah blah...
Salt prices are skyrocketing across the U.S.
98 penalty yards (Where I lost count) against the Jags not a single one of them truly Justified. Would a single one of those calls went against the Patriots? I think not.
Ridiculous. All three were legitimate. No question at all. Jax was hitting very hard and playing very rough in the secondary.
TD. Vikings demonstrating White excellence
I wish receivers would not use yellow gloves. In congested situations I see penalty flags. Maybe that is why they wear them, but I cannot figure out the purpose for that one.
Good start for the Vikes.
If the refs were cheating, they would've overturned the Pats fumble on that double lateral trick play, which killed their comeback momentum (temporarily).
So hard to believe a 13-3 dynasty team could beat a 10-6 at home, without outside help. :rolleyes:
2 mental errors by the Eagles on the first series. Foles doesn't place the ball for the receiver properly and a receiver jumps out of bounds for no good reason. Bad signs.
Patriots don't do stuff like that.
Diggs is going to be peeing blood after that knee to the left kidney. He has been having too good a time, I guess. Had to be brought back to reality.
Wtf
Good job, Nate. Guess that Brady lie of a career gets to keep going.
Lol. Nate circa 2009: "Brady's just a system QB".
5 mins on the clock and Pats down by only 4 points. Not enough points. The Pats did it again.
I liked the "amen dola" comment. Too bad that the Jag defense was not able to flip amendola at the ankle.
If Gronk had not beenconcussed, the game would not be so close. I seriously did not know that people with heads made of cement could be concussed. Live and learn.
I missed the game due to work. Vox, do you mean that Jax deserved to be penalized or there were no penalties on the plays?
They were legit.
@66
Dude, please.
Looking good Vikes! Losing but... Damn it is settled no!?!
Just in case:SKOL
Gonna get a box of Skol's after this drop.
That's not a Tomb Raider movie Tomb Raider movies need bigger boobs than that
> Best coach ever?
Since 1980 or so mayhap. But you've got Lombardi, Landry, Shula, Noll, and Walsh giving him competition; and that's only scratching the surface.
I think it regrettable that the old Bud Grant coached Vikings never took down a Superbowl win. Always good but never quite good enough.
Well crap I thought it was the Vikings turn to lose to the Patriots in the Super Bowl
I had to admit, once the phat penalties started mounting in favor of the Patriots, the "thumb on the scale" hypothesis made it had to be excited about yet another Patriots amazing comeback.
The Vikes are now down 2 touchdowns...if there's yet another amazing comeback here, I'll be turning off the Superbowl.
I tried to help your team get more Irish, Vox, but some people can't be helped.
The Vikes are now down 2 touchdowns...if there's yet another amazing comeback here, I'll be turning off the Superbowl.
If there isn't, why would you not also?
I have already committed to only the last half, and that is conditional
Philly is definitely playing better this half but that can change
Vikes o-line is being rolled. Vikes better adjust play calling to do more play action.
I've seen this movie before. I believe it was 42-7 Giants, last time. What a crusher, and I collect crushers!
Foles-Ertz
Vox must be hitting the wine hard.
Still heartbroken about last week but I derive no pleasure from this
My condolences, vox
@81
I am. But irrespective of game. Chicken with bacon and blue cheese.
Blanc Du Bois (dry white) and don't feel like putting partial bottle in refrige.
Not over yet...let's be honest. Over.
NO CATCH- Eagles take over on downs...I would've taken the 3 points there.
"Ridiculous. All three were legitimate. No question at all. Jax was hitting very hard and playing very rough in the secondary."
So you think that interference call on the sidelines was legitimate? Please. Even the delay-of-game penalty was absurd. I guess they were using the special Bob Kraft atomic game clock, huh?
Meh nevermind
Sorry Vox.
Team BC is leading team northern Ontario by 7 to 4 in the jr. curling championships. Pretty tense in the 10th end right now.
Can't wait for Vox to review the game. Drunk... Wine induced...
Random Vikings Fan: "I broke my back. My back is broken. Spinal..."
Seems like the Eagles have finally gotten back to the level of consistency that they had before Wentz went down, plus come key plays at just the right time has them up big.
Looking a lot like Nick Foles is going to start a SB. Wow.
At the end of the 3rd quarter...damn this is painful.
This is grotesque.
Eagles-Patriots is not the SB I wanted to see.
Ah well. Seattle has a new pro Rugby team. I'm thinking about getting season tickets. The best seats for the entire season are half the price of a single Seahawk's game.
I would rather have the Vikes lose here than play like this and end up 42-0 at halftime to the GOAT.
Eagles are the better team in this game.I
I wanted to see Keenum in the SB so bad. Eagles QB is also from Texas. Cinderella stories few.
I can't remember a game where a team has been as devastating on third down as the eagles have been
"They are who we thought they were!"
The Vikings are locked in for the win 'cause' conspiracy. Ya, you betca. Losk
Donovan McNabb will also be sitting out the rematch. Tough sledding today Vikes.
Apparently NFL competition is legit. League just composed of, officiated by, and run by predominantly fuckups. Watch and bet at your on risk.
Vox Day for Minnesota Vikings head coach! (not really joking about that either)
The PI penalty at the end of the first half of the Patriots game was about as obvious a case of home cooking as you could ever get. The ball was almost 10 yards beyond the receiver, even without a defender in front of them that ball was clearly uncatchable. That being said, if you don't go into these games intending to play well enough to overcome the home court advantage, you don't deserve to win.
The penalties that didn't get called were the real home court advantage though, I don't think I have ever seen such obvious holding as was going on during the comeback stretch. There was one pass play of about 35 yards during the drive to make it 20-17 where the O-lineman basically had the D-lineman in the chokehold right in front of the official. But once again, it's in Foxborough, if you want to win there you have to blow the doors off the Patsies so badly that not even favorable reffing can overcome it. No sympathy for the Jags, they had their chances and didn't capitalize. But fuck the Patriots, one of the most unlikeable great teams of all time.
"Jax was hitting very hard and playing very rough in the secondary."
yes... Jacksonville was apparently penalized for what is otherwise known as "playing defense"
@102
You should see what is done to JJ Watt in front of refs too. Every single game, all the time.
The Patriots are the Bulls of the 90s... remember Jordan running down the court with the basketball like a fullback and never getting called for traveling?
Yeah. Nothing new Under the Sun. Well other than the fact that everybody nowadays is an armchair conspiracy theorist and actually bother to notice.
I'm curious what the narrative will shift to next. It used to be that the Patriots were cheaters because a guy who could have videotaped what he did from 20 feet away without repercussion and a league that couldn't figure out the universal gas law incorrectly said that the Patriots had used footballs at too light a pressure. Now it's the league favoring them.
I watched this game with a few family members here in Massachusetts and we saw 3 or 4 clear penalties by both the Jaguars and Patriots that weren't called (including a pretty outrageous second quarter DPI when a Jags db held Branden Cooks' left arm 30 yards down field). But that stuff happens. It doesn't all get called. It doesn't all get missed.
We're spoiled here having Belichick coaching and Brady at QB. And that warps your perspective when your team wins for so long. But I think it also warps the perspective of fans of other teams. Get a grip, guys.
The Patriots are the Bulls of the 90s... remember Jordan running down the court with the basketball like a fullback and never getting called for traveling?
Jordan was treated differently because he was literally different from all other players. He was the greatest ever. It makes perfect sense that he was, in a sense, playing a different game from others.
Patriots fans definitely take the cake for one of the the most delusional fanbases in sports. It isn't a conspiracy theory to recognize that home court advantage and favoritism towards league darlings are a real thing, they happen in every sport and are something that the road team/small markets just have to deal with and overcome. It isn't peewee league, there is big money involved and pressures from the top will flow from that.
I doubt the league explicitly tells refs to favor one team or the other, but refs are doing a job and only the dumbest know that there aren't career implications if they blow a call that sends a team like Jacksonville to the Super Bowl over a moneymaker like the Pats in a year where ratings are already down big time. Mistakes happen, but the guys who end up leading officiating crews are the ones who are smart enough to make sure the mistakes happen to the right team.
Seriously, fuck Patriots fans, its always the same story, "we have one of the most dominant sports dynasties ever, but we're poor little victims, waaah"
The NFL really needs to examine the PI rules though, the whole "huck and pray for flag" strategy is seriously boring to watch, and way too effective.
The problem with some of the suggested changes to the DPI rules is that fans ignore the unintended consequences.
If any DPI more than 15 yards from the line of scrimmage will only get you a 15 yard penalty then what do you think you'll see on any pass route 25 or 30 yards down field? The defensive backs will assault receivers.
Do you want to have a game where teams seem to seldom run deep routes, where it seems like every pass is short?
Here in Minnesota, we've been watching the Vikes winning this season with a growing sense of unreality. We'd watch, they'd win again, and it all felt so . . . un-Minnesotan.
But now, all is right in the world. We can finally relax. How could we ever be good apologetic passive-aggressive Scandihoovians if the Vikes were winners?
The problem with some of the suggested changes to the DPI rules is that fans ignore the unintended consequences.
No dumbass. You make a flagrant foul a spot foul and you make the questionable contact fouls 5 yards, replay the down. Then you get rid of the idiotic huck-it-and-pray-for-a-flag throws, while still penalizing DBs who just tackle a guy that beats them. It's not hard.
But that's apparently too high a bar for the NFL rules committee.
I do so love when the haters are out in force going on paragraph long screeds about how Patriots fans are whiners.
I do so love the smell of salt on Monday morning. It smells like winning
In the past I never thought about this stuff, league level cheating, but thinking back on it what I recall is games where the refs seem to have just stopped calling the holding penalty. That would be the way to cheat, really, because the fans give the interior linemen a lot less attention than the ball handlers. And there is always the cover of saying that holding calls are somewhat arbitrary because they are. But consistently not calling holding is going to give an enormous advantage to a team trying to get back into the game, or a great disadvantage to the team where any little thing gets a holding penalty. And if we are to suppose that selective calling on holding is common, that also explains why linemen so seldom complain about holding calls. It happens enough that they have figured it out.
As for how league desires would be communicated to the refs, a few subtle hints to a small number plus who you hire, fire, and promote would take care of that.
I heard a stat tonight that the Pats haven't had an off. holding call against them in nearly 400 plays from scrimmage in playoff games.
SKOLiosis
http://lileks.com/bleats/archive/18/0118/012218.html
Okay, well, we lost. And deservedly so. A sour mood settled insoon while we were watching the game, when it became apparent that the Vaunted Vikings Defense was evaporating like someone turned a firehose on a ball of cotton candy, and by the third quarter the Giant Swede, deep in the cups of disgust, was rooting for the Vikings to be humiliated with more touchdowns, and taking grim solace in the knowledge that every Philly fan would be sharing our pain soon enough.
That’s the odd thing: last week we hated hated HATED the Saints until the last moment, and then we regarded them with a strange flavor of affection and respect. Noble foes, we salute thee. Now we wanted the Eagles fans to experience the absolute summit of delirium so the inevitable reckoning would be all the more painful. They will come to our town and be so nekulturny as to taunt and jeer. They will be ground to smooth paste, and when they look to us for something to daub their tears, we will offer sandpaper.
Bold in original. https://www.lyonspr.com/latest-nielsen-dma-rankings/.
Below is a complete list of Designated Market Areas (DMAs) and their rankings for the 2016-2017 television season. Markets are ranked by population. Advertising campaigns benefit from analysis of TV households by region. Targeting can be achieved for TV Markets using tools like these Top DMAs and US DMA Lists.
The top 3 are NYC, LA, and Chicago.
#4 is Philly, #9 is Boston.
Gotta pump up those Super Bowl ratings.
Nate wrote:"Jax was hitting very hard and playing very rough in the secondary."
yes... Jacksonville was apparently penalized for what is otherwise known as "playing defense"
Look at it this way Nate, the only major college team that didn't lose at all this season didn't even have a chance to make the BCS.
Yet a team that did (and lost late in the season no less) not only did make it but wound up winning the whole thing!
> He was the greatest ever.
Not even close. There's no way he can be compared to Chamberlain or Russell. I wouldn't even rank him as the best guard ever.
There's no way he can be compared to Chamberlain or Russell.
There are many ways. Bill Simmons makes an excellent case for him being #1 over Russell in The Book of Basketball.
Vox, why do you hate the Irish?
If your arrange the letters of "Skol!" you get "Klos!" Which is all the Vikings will ever get: close.
A referee stopping play to call Michael Jordan for traveling would be like an NFL ref throwing a flag on a Hail Mary pass caught in the end zone as time expires and ruling offensive pass interference. Referees prefer to keep their careers on track.
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