NFL chat thread

[Free For All]

Holy crap. OT.

[ejp626]

Holy crap. OT.

What a total bullshit call. I can't stand these pass interference calls. When the league went in this direction, I really lost all interest in it.

[kenny weir]

As a New Orleans stalwart I'm very happy to the Saints in the Super Bowl.

Question from an ignorant Australian: Why are the Saints fans booing in the post-game presentation?

[BruceW]

It really didn't matter how much NO beat up FAvre, Minn. coach Childress blew it when he didn't have Favre continue to run the ball and then kick that field goal in regulation. Too much can go bad on a last minute pass, just like it did - interception and subsequent loss of game.

:bwallace2:

[connoisseur series500]

How could they have ruled that second down pass as a catch? There's no way that the receiver had possession of the ball when it hit the ground. I can't believe that call. I don't think they would have won the game w/o that call. Vikings defense was dominating. Tough game for them to lose. I really thought the Vikes were overall the better team. Anyway, good luck Saints in the Super Bowl.

[Van Basten II]

If it's Favre last game, it will be appropriate and symbolic that his last play will be a pass thrown across his body to the middle of the field

[Aggie87]

If it's Favre last game, it will be appropriate and symbolic that his last play will be a pass thrown across his body to the middle of the field

...to a player on the other team.

[ejp626]

How could they have ruled that second down pass as a catch? There's no way that the receiver had possession of the ball when it hit the ground. I can't believe that call. I don't think they would have won the game w/o that call. Vikings defense was dominating. Tough game for them to lose. I really thought the Vikes were overall the better team. Anyway, good luck Saints in the Super Bowl.

I'm surprised at how upset I am, but I really felt NO got away with a lot of dirty plays. I probably watched 3 minutes tops, and every time I wandered by the tube, they were putting another late hit on Favre. Oh, wait, I did see that ridiculous pass interference play in OT. So between playing dirty and the refs giving the game to NO in OT, I am definitely pulling for the Colts.

[Dave James]

If it's Favre last game, it will be appropriate and symbolic that his last play will be a pass thrown across his body to the middle of the field

Just like Troy Aikman said, the first thing you learn when you become a quarterback is that only bad things can happen if you throw the ball back across your body towards midfield. That probably cost the Vikings the game, although with the number of turnovers they logged, they were probably lucky to be in any kind of position to win. I guess it would have been fun to see Favre and Manning in the Super Bowl, and I'm sure that's what the networks were hoping for, but it's not to be. The upside for Favre is that this early exit will give him a couple of more weeks to turn up the bubble machine with respect to his retirement. Personally, I'm hoping the old soldier hangs up his cleats so the Eagles can get a first round pick from Minnesota for Donovan McNabb.

[Aggie87]

Ball on the ground

Ball on the ground

Vikes lose cuz they put the ball on the ground.

[GA Russell]

Question from an ignorant Australian: Why are the Saints fans booing in the post-game presentation?

Kenny they weren't booing. The presentation was made by a former Saints hero named Deuce McAlister, and they were shouting "Deuce!" It is common for American fans to shout the names of ballplayers whose names rhyme with "boo". Anyone named "Moose", for example.

[kenny weir]

Question from an ignorant Australian: Why are the Saints fans booing in the post-game presentation?

Kenny they weren't booing. The presentation was made by a former Saints hero named Deuce McAlister, and they were shouting "Deuce!" It is common for American fans to shout the names of ballplayers whose names rhyme with "boo". Anyone named "Moose", for example.

Ha ha - fantastic! Like Bonnie Raitt wondering why she was being booed at that no-nukes gig in which she was one before Bruce Springsteen.

[papsrus]

Ball on the ground

Ball on the ground

Vikes lose cuz they put the ball on the ground.

Yep:

The Vikings dominated in time of possession and total yardage. Peterson broke 100 yards -- rare this year. Minnesota gained 475 yards overall. But they had five turnovers.

Still, they were in position to overcome all that and win the game. Should have won the game. A coaching blunder at the end of regulation where they came out of that time out and got penalized for too many men in the huddle pushed them out of FG range and led to Favre's wayward pass on the next play.

Great game though, despite a few questionable calls. Speaking of which, the Saints went after Favre low on the play right after one of their D-linemen planted his helmet in Favre's solar plexus. He was helped off the field after they hit him low. I thought going low at a QB's knees was illegal this year? (The Brady rule?)

Early line has Colts favored by 4. Through these last two weeks, only one dog has covered (Jets vs. Chargers).

[Brad]

If it's Favre last game, it will be appropriate and symbolic that his last play will be a pass thrown across his body to the middle of the field

...to a player on the other team.

That's what separates him from the other great QBs. I don't understand the mindset of trying to throw the ball in that situation. Would you see Montana, Manning Brady, etc., etc. doing that? I don't think so.

Regarding the Jets, injuries killed them to a certain extent, particularly losing Green so early in the third. What really killed them was that drive at the end of the first half. Drives like that are really a killer and I knew that was probably it. Had it been just 17-9, they've probably got a shot but giving up that TD and giving it up so fast, that was a real killer.

Turned out to be a good season though, with good things coming in the future.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

I'm surprised at how upset I am, but I really felt NO got away with a lot of dirty plays. I probably watched 3 minutes tops, and every time I wandered by the tube, they were putting another late hit on Favre.

It really was outrageous, particularly when they got away with that low hit to the knees late in the game. I'm with you -- here's hoping that the Saints get a humiliating shellacking in Miami!!

Edited January 25, 2010 by Son-of-a-Weizen

[Brad]

I'm surprised at how upset I am, but I really felt NO got away with a lot of dirty plays. I probably watched 3 minutes tops, and every time I wandered by the tube, they were putting another late hit on Favre.

It really was outrageous, particularly when they got away with that low hit to the knees late in the game. I'm with you -- here's hoping that the Saints get a humiliating shellacking in Miami!!

I'm sure they will be crushed.

[Larry Kart]

I'm surprised at how upset I am, but I really felt NO got away with a lot of dirty plays. I probably watched 3 minutes tops, and every time I wandered by the tube, they were putting another late hit on Favre.

It really was outrageous, particularly when they got away with that low hit to the knees late in the game. I'm with you -- here's hoping that the Saints get a humiliating shellacking in Miami!!

I know this makes me a bad person, but every hit Favre takes, illegal or not, gives me pleasure. OTOH, that pass interference call in OT was crap. And Childress' CYA non-explanation of that crucial 12 men in the huddle blunder! At least the other Vikings' mistakes were made by guys who were being hit by other guys. OTOH again, I think Peterson does have a problem there that is more than just physical. Can't think of the guy's name right now, but there was another very talented back in the recent years (was it Shaun Alexander or Tiki Barber, or both?) who put the ball on the ground too often in a somewhat similar manner. There seems to be a whiff of petulance or something like it that gets into the mix.

[Chalupa]

Poor Vikes. So close, yet so FARVE.

[papsrus]

So close, yet so FARVE.

Good headline

[GA Russell]

I was vacillating between the TV and the radio. The fumbles that I saw were good strips rather than the result of careless handling of the ball. Obviously you can't plan to win if you fumble that many times, but I didn't see the fumbles to be the result of obvious incompetence on the Vikings' part.

I support the idea that a call must be obviously bad for it to be overturned with the replay. Still, the Saints were given all the close calls at the end, and that leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

I grew up in New Orleans, but the Saints didn't start until my senior year in high school, so I didn't grow up rooting for them. Still, I have pulled for them over the years, and I'll be rooting for them in the Super Bowl. But I think that Peyton and the Colts are going to clobber them. The Colts should have tried to go for the undefeated season. I think that they could have done it.

By the way, how good is the Colts defense? Are the Colts so good because of the offense, or is their defense better than just about everyone else's too? I have read that the Saints are only as good as the kind of a day Brees is having, so maybe the Super Bowl will be one in which they shoot out the lights.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I thought going low at a QB's knees was illegal this year? (The Brady rule?)

The rule making it illegal to hit a quarterback at the knees was put into effect after the Steelers' Kimo von Oelhoffen rolled into Carson Palmer's knee and knocked him out of a playoff game in 2006 so technically it's "The Palmer Rule".

When Brady got injured, it was from a player who, after he was blocked to the ground, got up and dove at his knee. The NFL added a restriction to the Palmer Rule making that move illegal as well.

[WorldB3]

Man did the Saint's get lucky. What an epic of a game.

Now the Son of Archie Manning gets to deprive the Saints of their first championship. Great theater.

I dont' bet but if I did I would jump on the Colts and the 4 1/2. That line will go up and I think the Colts will win by more but I will be rooting for the Saints.

[Shawn]

I'm just thankful that the Vikes/Saints game was at least a fast paced, evenly matched affair that went down to the wire. This years playoffs were the most boring in recent memory.....

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

I hope Brees gets kidnapped for a few hours before the game and he's forced to listen to sides A & B. That'll fix him.

[WorldB3]

Another nice story from yesterday is Pierre Garçon who broke the record for most receptions in an AFC Championship Game, with 11 catches for 151 yards and 1 touchdown.

I am just excited that two 1 seeds will playing against each other.