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RE: The Road to Glendale: NFL Playoffs discussion
February 2, 2015 at 3:46 pm
(February 2, 2015 at 3:32 pm)Tonus Wrote: A pass wasn't a bad call, in and of itself. And Carroll's thought-pattern is understandable: 25 seconds left, one time-out, three downs to try and score, you pass on second down and run on third down if the pass falls incomplete. If the run fails to get in you call your last time-out and you have one shot at all the marbles without worrying that the clock runs out. I don't see any real problem with that approach.
A pass in the middle of the field against a stacked defense is very dangerous. The chances of a deflection leading to an interception are relatively high versus a fade thrown towards a corner or a short flat pass towards the sideline. Sure, if Lockette makes the catch, the world would be wondering why Belichick left a rookie CB in there when he had Arrington on the bench, and patting Carroll on the back for a "gutsy call." But I think there are calls with much lower risk of a turnover in that scenario.
See, I think there is much less risk in pounding the ball into the endzone as soon as possible and then worrying about your defense stopping Brady for fifteen seconds worth of game-time. I'd much rather rely on my solid defense to make a stop than Russel Wilson to make a one yard pass.
Sure, people probably would have called the play gutsy if it had hit the endzone, but the reality is that it would have been luck, not guts, that did that.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: The Road to Glendale: NFL Playoffs discussion
February 2, 2015 at 4:24 pm
(February 2, 2015 at 3:46 pm)Faith No More Wrote: See, I think there is much less risk in pounding the ball into the endzone as soon as possible and then worrying about your defense stopping Brady for fifteen seconds worth of game-time. I'd much rather rely on my solid defense to make a stop than Russel Wilson to make a one yard pass. I think it was Bill Barnwell (Grantland.com) who mentioned this; that perhaps Carroll was thinking about the 2012 Atlanta game or the previous game, where leaving the opposing QB a small amount of time proved either disastrous (2012) or nearly so (NFC Championship this year). He may have been too worried about working the clock down as low as possible.
The numbers indicated that NE was not very good at stopping short-yardage power runs this year, while Seattle was among the best at those runs. And Belichick admitted that if they'd run on second down and come up short, he was going to call a time-out. That would have allowed the Seahawks to run every time if they so wished, but Seattle couldn't have known that. Still, it's possible that Carroll allowed recent playoff memories to affect his approach.
As for getting over it, I turned off the TV and went to bed and got a decent night's sleep. The 1986 California Angels blowing a 3-1 lead against the Red Sox in the ALCS? That was tough to get over (though probably not as tough as what the Sox did to their fans in the WS that year).
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
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RE: The Road to Glendale: NFL Playoffs discussion
February 2, 2015 at 4:47 pm
Sports used to be tough to get over, but I really hate how media drives everyone's emotions. It is just a game even if you are a fan. Life goes on. You don't own the team or playing for that team, they are selling a product.
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RE: The Road to Glendale: NFL Playoffs discussion
February 2, 2015 at 5:18 pm
(February 2, 2015 at 4:47 pm)Brian37 Wrote: they are selling a product.
![[Image: shut-up-and-take-my-money-25.png]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk%2Fi%2Fshut-up-and-take-my-money-25.png)
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RE: The Road to Glendale: NFL Playoffs discussion
February 16, 2015 at 12:18 am
Well guys, what a game! I just got back from the celebrations today.
Had to hitch-hike back the whole damn country bare ass naked.
Patriots, yes, thankfully won me some dolla dolla bills, yo, so the ride was a sweet one.
Fuck the Seahawks. Kaw Kaw...
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RE: The Road to Glendale: NFL Playoffs discussion
February 16, 2015 at 2:46 am
(February 2, 2015 at 4:47 pm)Brian37 Wrote: Sports used to be tough to get over, but I really hate how media drives everyone's emotions. It is just a game even if you are a fan. Life goes on. You don't own the team or playing for that team, they are selling a product.
I started learning this when Al Davis drove the Raiders into the ground in the 80s. I mastered this thesis when Jerry Jones had a fit of ego and fired Jimmy Johnson.
I love my Cowboys, even as you love your 'Skins, but goddamn, it ain't the same as when Jorgensen and Staubach and Emmitt Smith and John Riggins were balling. Art Monk, Drew Pearson, Dave Butz, Monte Coleman, Charlie Waters, Rob Newhouse, Theisman ... it ain't the same as when they played, because while it was business back then, no doubt, it is Big Business nowadays, capital Bs all the way.
I don't get the guys who riot when their teams wins it all, or those who beat the crap out of their girls when their team falters -- good lord, that's a thin reed to grab. I will always root for my 'Pokes, but it isn't 1980 any more, and I'm not 13 any more.
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