I hate to say it but I'm glad that the Patriots won. Mainly because the mainstream media has been negatively reacting to Tom Brady for his support of President Trump since taking office. But I really could care less about the game since the Saints wasn't in it, and probably won't ever be again in our lifetime as long as Tom Benson is running the show. and finally....
Am I the only one here who thought that the Pats needed a lot of "help" to achieve that comeback? I can't think of another 33 minutes of football where so many 50/50 calls went one way. Bear in mind that once it has been called "just so" on the field, there has to be incontrovertible evidence to get it over turned. And the pass interference in OT was a joke. I didn't see a single Pat look to an official for flag before it was thrown, even they didn't think there was a foul. Atlanta may have been complacent, made some bad calls in hindsight, changed from a zone defence etc. and maybe not challenged the right 50/50 calls. But ultimately I think they were robbed.
I don't buy it. There were games that were robbed by the refs this year (in unprecedented numbers) but the SB was not one of them. Case in point, a highly aggressive and young team in Atlanta were robbed by their own coach. 2 and 1 from Pats 25, when you are up 8 already, there is no need to jump in shotgun, empty backfield. The risk reward is too high vs a veteran team in the Pats. The Pats are the king of opportunity, the luckiest team in sports, and there is a reason for it. They make you second guess your game plan. A simple succession of runs there, regardless of whether you got it or not would have run some more time off the clock or made the Pats burn their TO. Best case scenario, Atlanta is up 11 with 3:00 left. Worst case, you stupidly drop back 2 times to pass (which they did) and get sacked pushing you out of FG range. Very similar to Pete Carroll's call to throw at the 1 in SB 49.
I tend to agree, generally rules interpretation tends to get relaxed during playoff/SB games. They deny it of course but you routinely hear 'letting them play the game'. Besides a number of times I saw New England players (damn their cursed souls) jumping up looking for yellow hankies that were not coming.
#482- Dave, are you suggesting the league made game calls that allowed a Pats win? Because the NFL hates the Pats. Why would they make calls against the Falcons... It was delicious to see fans boo Goodell... Admin should keep its nose out of the game. Less governance, more entertainment...Who really cares about psi of footballs. Maybe next year, there will be a smaller admin that will allow the game to be played without interference from many biased officials.
SF 49'r colin kapernickle has decided his political efforts should now take a knee. Yes, colins' wallet had nothing to do with this decision. Goodbye lefty copernicus. Thanks for reducing NFL profits. NFL= wife beaters, murderer's, communists, drug dealers, cheaters...Way to go NFL.
Watched the Dallas/Denver rebroadcast from 2013 on ESPN Classics, where Denver outlasted Dallas...Think the final was 51-48. What a barn burner, the crowd went wild...Best game ever? ESPN Classics is a great channel. Watch a lot of old boxing. They do some good bio's too. There was a good one about Steve Bartman, the baseball fan who interfered with a catch during the Cubs/Marlins playoff 2003. Not NFL, but interesting. Steve Bartman incident - Wikipedia
The guy swayed the game, and even the playoff...shows how baseball can be a mind game. NFL - fans are the 12th player, and can influence game outcomes.
That's terrible news! The franchise has always been in California, right from the inception of the A.F.L Have they learnt nothing from the sojourn to L.A? It's not like they are crap, and moving cities to change their name or their luck. They are 3/5 in Super Bowls for crying out loud. I stumbled across the N.F.L in 1982, and fell in love with the Raiders. (Then in L.A. of course) The move back to Oakland was fine, they were going home after all. But Las Vegas? What Gridiron history and heritage has that city? Are they to be known as the L.V. Raiders? (rhetorical) I know, why not ditch the pirate logo and silver and black uniforms as well. Perhaps white and gold with a slot machine. (sarcastic). If it goes ahead I don't know how I will feel towards this great franchise. I wonder if Al approves from the grave? I originally thought that Mark Davis was going to be good for the club. He started well by healing the rift between Al and Marcus, by having Marcus light the flame. Now I'm not so sure. A black day for Raider Rooters. I wonder what the reaction will be from the "Black Hole". This will be the second time in a lifetime that the club has deserted them. They deserve better than that. I am signing off now, to cry into my coffee. Kind Regards, Raider Dave. (cut me, I bleed silver & black).
24 hours to reflect on the news. Apparently the move will not take place until before the 2020 NFL season. So three more years in Oakland. If they can win a Super Bowl (or two) in that time maybe the move wont take place after all. My thoughts now are to enjoy the next three seasons in Oakland and see how I feel after I have got used to the idea of the move. Right now I'm thinking three and out. But we'll see. Sobbing into coffee.
Good chance that once the move is made the numbers at the game would be even lower than at Oakland. Las Vegas is a football betting town sure, but a football fan watching town, doubtful since so much of their daily population is transitory. Just another nail in the coffin of fan loyalty.
The Raiders have always had a extremely loyal fan base, but they have to share the Oakland/San Francisco population base. They want one of those cathedral like stadiums like in Dallas, Houston etc, but there isn't enough money to be made there to justify it. The Jets/Giants are smart enough to use one stadium, not clear if the Rams/Chargers will follow suit. I have grave doubts that the Raiders could fill a premium level stadium in LV without some kind of shenanigans. Granted LV has a larger population over all, but next to nothing in the 'suburbs' compared to Oakland and the Raiders could draw from the much larger SF population, especially if the put a good product on the field (which they seem poised to do).
Why can't the NFL just increase the number of franchises instead of stripping them from where they are situated now? That would stop cities from robbing from other cities franchises. It's not like there's a shortage of football players around.
I agree. It all comes down to corporate greed. Clearly outside of the top selling football franchises (Dallas, Pitt. etc), smaller market teams are in a constant state of the grass being greener. San Diego, Jacksonville, Oakland and others will never compare to those cities for various reasons. However, they are still pulling a profit. It is also widely believed that higher market teams attract the most talent and thus will be more competitive. That extra dough could be spent on more qualified staff.
I'm not so sure there are Bobby. Look at the bottom 10 teams and you will find serious gaps in talent let alone coaching and front office personnel.
There's plenty enough to go around. Lower the roster numbers for one. How many do they dress out now? The vast majority of players never get their game uniforms dirty. Spread it around a bit. Look at Drew Brees for example. He was a next to nothing nobody when the Saints signed him after San Diego wasn't interested in him anymore. He was just a back up quarterback there. There's more, they just haven't been given a chance. What would help is if the NFL started a farm club system like baseball. The guys that can't read and write or count past ten can go there right out of high school and "develop" for awhile, then move up to the big show when they are ready and needed.
They tried the farm system, NFL Europe. Of course though, it was a joke. It was around for 15 years or so. Seemed to be used primarily as just that. Take bubble roster players and plug them on a team and see how they fared. To be honest, it had potential to be a classic system, such as MLB or the NHL, but the league burned too much money. Not enough profit.
