The NFL 2010 thread

Omniscia · 2010-10-24T20:29:55.000Z

And it all comes down to this…

Avoids the sack, and overthrows!

Bah.

TimJames · 2010-10-24T20:40:15.000Z

I can’t help tuning in to Vikings games to watch Percy Harvin.

Omniscia · 2010-10-24T20:42:07.000Z

Congrats on the 10k, Tim. Although the above is 10K+1.

mkozlows · 2010-10-24T20:43:42.000Z

Some of my fondest football memories are of watching Brett Favre walk off the field having secured a Packer victory, so that was pretty nice.

TimJames · 2010-10-24T20:47:13.000Z

Omniscia:

Congrats on the 10k, Tim. Although the above is 10K+1.

Woops hadn’t noticed. I guess a post about a German PC RPG mod is appropriate.

dwolfe · 2010-10-24T20:48:38.000Z

Omniscia:

And it all comes down to this…

Avoids the sack, and overthrows!

Bah.

You were hoping for another game-ending INT, too? ;)

I don’t know how he was standing by game’s end, that left ankle must have been killing him. He did give it everything he had tonight, I think.

Omniscia · 2010-10-24T20:58:03.000Z

dwolfe:

You were hoping for another game-ending INT, too? ;

I was actually hoping for a game-winning run by Peterson; I could use the fantasy points.

Bill_Dungsroman · 2010-10-24T22:07:04.000Z

strummer:

Because “as it was happening” there was no “fumble”, it was a touchdown. There is no reason why the refs would “stay with the play” after a touchdown has been ruled due to the fact that the play is then over.

Except refs do that all the time Mr. Happy Quote Fingers

TimJames · 2010-10-25T06:29:58.000Z

Just saw the highlights for the Vikings game. Cool, didn’t realize Harvin’s rushing touchdown was on a counter play. Brings me back to 2008.

Dan_Theman · 2010-10-25T07:02:23.000Z

The Cleveland Browns fans would like to extend condolences to the fans of the New Orleans Saints. Don’t worry, our team once sucked as bad as yours does.

Eightball · 2010-10-25T07:37:40.000Z

Jay Cutler is such a douchebag. After throwing FOUR interceptions to Deangelo Hall yesterday, he says the following:

“I’ve played against him before,” Cutler said, at his own press conference. “There’s no reason to shy away from him. I mean, that’s hard for me to say, throwing four picks at a guy, but I’d still, if we had to play them tomorrow, I’d go at him every time, if we could.”

Idiot.

Tin_Wisdom · 2010-10-25T09:12:36.000Z

Yeah, that’s a great line. “Hall’s not that great… I just apparently suck so bad that I can’t help but throw right at him.”

DT1 · 2010-10-25T14:16:25.000Z

Favre’s ankle is fractured in two places. Sources say Favre is likely to play Sunday while hopping on one leg and will be carried to the line of scrimmage between plays by his teammates.

Genji · 2010-10-25T14:31:12.000Z

49ers have only won 1 game this year, against Oakland. I like Singletary, but he’s clearly in over his head when it comes to being a head coach. I don’t see how the 49ers can keep him and Alex Smith next year. Smith is in his 6th year and hasn’t shown anything consistently, which is a shame because Frank Gore’s prime years were wasted on some horrible teams.

Mark_Asher · 2010-10-25T14:44:21.000Z

It’s amazing how Favre manages to stay in the news every week. What is this guy going to do when he retires? All that talk about how much he likes to get on his tractor down on his farm in Mississippi – gotta be BS. He’s not happy unless people are talking about him.

mkozlows · 2010-10-25T15:20:41.000Z

I think at this point, Favre would really really prefer that people weren’t talking about him so much.

Orangist · 2010-10-25T19:12:00.000Z

Cowboys have 13 points off turnovers and got a 93-yard punt return TD by Dez Bryant and are still behind the Giants.

Romo may be out for the game. Kitna is in for Dallas and not good.

::edit:: Romo has a fractured left clavicle and is out for the game.

I think that might be the end of this game for Dallas. I don’t think Kitna will be able to do anything against the Giants’ defense and pass rush.

Lorini · 2010-10-25T20:01:30.000Z

Hmm, will Kevin Kolb be headed to Dallas? Or will Dallas throw the towel in? Should be interesting.

Rimbo · 2010-10-25T20:14:33.000Z

mkozlows:

I think at this point, Favre would really really prefer that people weren’t talking about him so much.

He’s only saying that because he’s a punchline to penis photo jokes. He was just fine with it when they were talking how he was just a heckuva ball player.

rhinohelix · 2010-10-25T20:15:06.000Z

Hanacker:

I shouldn’t have said “a bunch” but I want it to mean something when the Lions beat the Rams 44-6 without their starting quarterback or Oakland beats Denver 59-14 on the road. There does seem to be parity the rest of the time so these random blowouts are weird.

The thing about the NFL is that even with parity, these teams are playing at such a high level that it’s possible to have one team just get down and get out of sync and then boom! blowout. By the next time they play, intra division or playoffs, the dynamic changes or shifts and you can have a great game or even a thumping the other direction. My eternal reference point for this was the 1989 Houston Oilers. They beat the Bengals 26-24 in the first meeting. The next game a few weeks later, the Bengals won 61-7, including kicking a field goal with 21 seconds left in the game (Oilers lost in the first round of the playoffs that year to the Steelers).

Lorini:

The bigger question is why didn’t the refs stay with the play as it was happening? Normally they know who recovers a fumble, no matter how big the pile. They didn’t do a good job with that play.

I guess it is in part due to my having NFL Sunday Ticket this year but I have seen way, way too many games decided by a late call from the refs. One of these past few weeks (think it was two Sundays ago) there were three games effectively decided by late-game pass interference calls.

olaf:

The gear is there to save lives and prevent permanent, crippling injuries. It works and its not going anywhere. I think they should sink a bunch more money into helmet technology though, to see if anything more can be done about concussions, which are fast becoming the bane of the sport.

That said, I didnt think any of the hits that drew fines were really dirty at all and I think the NFL is overreacting. As long as you look at what you are hitting (which is what players are taught as soon as they put on pads, and its to protect the tackler more than the tacklee), and the whistle hasnt blown, its a clean hit in my book.

Tackling with your head up is taught in order to prevent neck injuries like the one that befell Buffalo TE Kevin Everett. Putting your head down is an invitation to a broken neck. We were always taught to put the label of the helmet on someone’s numbers, looking at them, as olaf puts it, which forces your head up and then to wrap up.

ckessel:

Indeed. I watched the NFL’s video of a bunch of illegal (well, now) hits and every single one was a pure hit with no attempt to wrap up at all. Just lowering the head and shoulder and ramming…

The emphasis on shoulder hits (brought about by both the desires for the highlight tackle and to limit limb injuries) I think leads to more helmet to helmet contact than old-school tackling technique. There is something to Steve Young’s comments about crossing routes. Ironically, though, the first player that came to mind when I saw Young say that was Jack Tatum, and Darryl Stingley.

Also, I wonder how much Merrill Hodge’s much-needed campaign against concussive injuries is factoring into a reporting spike in concussions. I know I played on at least a half a dozen occasions with what would be called today a minor concussion but back then was known as “getting your bell rung”. I wonder how many players including myself would have been held out of those games or the ones following them.