LOSERS ASSEMBLE IN SMALL GROUPS AND COMPLAIN ABOUT THE COACHES AND OTHER PLAYERS - WEEK TEN 2009

thanks for sharin bro

Adam_Schefter ESPN's Michael Smith reporting that Larry Johnson is en route to Cincinnati, and barring a breakdown, is expected to sign with Bengals.

we're getting closer then

Taken on its own, there's a certain logic in going for it on 4th and 2 in this situation.

But it was batshit insane given the poor clock management and bad play calls on that play and throughout the 4th quarter (offense and defense).

The Pats needed to commit to their running game in the 4th and just slow everything down and eat up as much clock as possible. Instead they tried lots of failed passing plays and then let the Colts speed down the field.

And tossing it to Faulk right at the 1st down line was wrong, wrong, wrong. There were several better options, just not that.

Rodney Harrison choking back the tears in the after game show damn near broke my heart.

BTW, is Rodney Harrison vs. Tony Dungy an extension of the GREATEST RIVALRY OF ALL TIME?

Ugh, I don't want Larry Johnson upsetting the balance in Cincy! They're going to the AFC championship this year.

it looked like faulk caught the 4th down pass across the 30 for a first down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsU-jkmYXyM

but bobbled it

But it was batshit insane given the poor clock management and bad play calls on that play and throughout the 4th quarter (offense and defense).

i'm not sure how the clock management and other calls affect this one? if anything they added to the sense of urgency and the fact that the pats really needed to steal one.

Honestly don't think this game mattered at all. New England and Indy will both win their divisions, and will probably play the Colts in the playoffs and be healthier when it happens. A lot of hubbub over very little.

i'm not sure how the clock management and other calls affect this one?

i think going for it on fourth would've been much more defensible if they hadn't unnecessarily blown two time outs on that offensive drive (didn't they call one on first down coming out of a tv time out or something?)

yeah they did. timeouts would have been useful to stop the colts from running out the clock which is why my first inclination was to let them score.

With 2 minutes left it makes more sense to force the Colts to move the ball 70 or 80 yards than to give them the opportunity to only go 30.

yes in a vacuum it does.

look, i think it's basically inarguable that the colts were going to score

remember that on monday night this season, the dolphins sat on the ball & kicked a FG assuming that their defense could stop the colts from getting a TD and they scored a TD in like 5 plays

I think if they kicked to Indy, the Pats would have had a decent shot at running down the clock without an Indy TD.

I think they convert that fourth down maybe half of the time, but stop Indy maybe 1 out of 5 times based on how shredded their defense was.

have you been watching the same colts i have run the 2-minute drill for the past 10 years? no one--NO ONE--runs a better two minute drill.

xp btw

also far as the running game.. if memory serves they did try that at least partway into the 4th and it wasn't working? they only had maroney/faulk

the pats running game is passing short to welker. when they can get him the ball 10-12 times a game in little 4/5 yard patterns that let him run after the catch they are pretty much unstoppable. like i said last night, i think the play call on fourth was just obvious & uncreative esp from what you would expect from the pats. idk how they don't try and get moss or welker in space. it's like they got totally spooked by the blitz on third down.

it's like they got totally spooked by the blitz on third down.

― house of flying jaggers (J0rdan S.), Monday, November 16, 2009 2:35 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that's exactly how it seemed, which was so weird because they had looked indestructible offensively earlier. i was totally dismayed during the first half watching all those brady long bombs to moss.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/11/2009/11/500x_billb.jpg

also HOLY CRAP GUYS.

1) it was a bad call not because percentages blabbity blah blah blah but based on how the pats were playing at that point in time (not well) versus the fact that the colts were running their "every other possession" offense in which they score in 30 seconds one possession, and then hurtle the ball straight at the defense in the next. so it's putting a lot of stock in the concept that the pats offense could get the first down after the series of missteps and mistakes that immediately proceeded the call.
2) yes, everyone is right that regardless of the decision, the colts were going to win that game so who even cares, in many ways this was a zen koan.
3) anyone who is all like WORST DECISION EVER is a fucking retard who apparently is unfamiliar with norv turner, brad childress, andy reid, eric mangini, etc. i mean it was just your run-of-the-mill questionable call here where you are like, "yeah well i guess the dude figured either way the colts would score so might as well try to keep the ball" where you understand it but are like "why so negative on your d lil bro, the plays leading up to this did not indicate that your o could accomplish this thing". as opposed to seriously literally having no idea what a person could've possibly been thinking at the time they chose to do that thing.

i don't even understand why this is an argument.

it was also a bad call b/c indy needed to go all the way down and score a td, not just get to the 30 and kick a field goal.

when the indy offense is working they score tds not fgs. is anyone going to tell me that the indy offense wasn't working at that point in the game. also,

yes, everyone is right that regardless of the decision, the colts were going to win that game so who even cares, in many ways this was a zen koan.

iirc if the pats gain 2 yds the colts lose the game, so yeah.

spooked by the blitz is a good description imo.

I wonder if a day will ever go by where the schef doesn't rip on my Chargers. :(

i am simply appalled that no one in the media seems to be talking about: ty warren, jarvis green, sammy morris, fred taylor, tully banta-cain.

signing LJ is such a bengals move - they spend no money on scouting, so they base their personnel decisions off name recognition (their draft this year was a great example of their player-personnel-on-a-budget strategy, andre smith, michael johnson, rey maualuga - they just love to collect big names who fell) - i wouldn't call LJ worthless exactly (except as a human being), but anyone with eyes can see that he's pretty much a used up cumrag

xpost re: why they're not talking about all the injuries for the pats - i don't know. i haven't read too much other than mike reiss who is a really good reporter. besides him i wonder how people get into sportswriting and don't seem to offer much insight, or who are fans of the game for a loooooong long time, and don't try to at least think about all the factors that might go into whatever major decision a coach makes

(the bengals signed larry johnson btw)

btw prev post is not meant in ANY way to refer to anyone on ilnfl, <3<3<3 everyone here, i mean when i read yr average poster on sports blog or boston globe or something

who are also never funny & really i wonder why they even watch football

yeah daria i'm waiting for reiss to do the defensive personnel breakdown because i really think the pats played the whole game in a 2-4-5 mostly rotating their #1, #4, and #5 linemen which is like gee u think that may have been important?

btw this is a VERY otm comment from the football outsiders audibles: "I'm fine with going for it on fourth down, but if you're going to do that, the third-down call MUST be a running play."

merril hoge says, "bill belicheck otm"

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4659408&categoryid=2459789

is it that maroney is really bad at being a rb or the pats o line is bad at run blocking? didn't look like dude had much running room at all

I wonder if a day will ever go by where the schef doesn't rip on my Chargers. :(

if it's any consolation for the next 5 hours the knives will be out for mangini

Yikes, Drew Brees's mom. :(

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/11/16/death-of-drew-brees-mother-ruled-a-suicide/

oh god....

mangini makes norv turner look like a combination of belicheck and walsh

watched some vince young highlights - he played pretty well yesterday it seems like - looks confident in the pocket, didn't force anything, scrambled judiciously - his TD pass was on third & 10 with the bills brining the house - his INT wasn't a terrible read/pass, just kinda put too much air under the ball - the titans had two huge plays out of the option w/ vince pitching it to chris johnson - i still wouldn't be shocked if they drafted a qb, maybe in the 3rd/4th round, but they play well with him & his mobility lets them do some things and also allows him to be more careful with the ball which def fits their philosophy

those blood red cards jerseys were BUTT imo but beanie was an animal yesterday - dude really reminds me of peterson, big and strong and fast, makes good, sharp cuts, has a great burst (peep his 4th down td run) and he runs violent as FUCK when he gets going. he was bouncing off dudes and throwing corners around yesterday. he's gonna be really, really good for them if he can catch passes

for some reason it just hit me as to how insanely retarded it was for the raiders to take sebastian janikowski in the first round - totally underrated in the senile davis wtf years - (btw darrius heyward-bey is comically bad) - they wanted a speed receiver but didn't take maclin or percy - i know this goes without saying but *_*

And yet Seabass has been one of their best and most consistent players.

now obv heyward-bey is a bit of a product of his team & QB (he is really bad at catching but still) but this WR class looks positively amazing

7: heyward-bey - ~_~
10: crabtree - jury is out but should be v solid
19: maclin - budding star at best complimentary game breaker at worst
22: harvin - star, will make pro bowl as a returner, could get there as a WR if the vikes can find a good QB after favre
29: hakeem nicks - solid contributor, could be a solid #2, at the very worst a good interchangeable 2/3 w manningham
30: kenny britt - already making plays, probably the first WR in a while that the titans have that can legit stretch the field
36: brian robiske - okay not sure about this guy, he was good in college tho
50: massaquoi - the only bright spot on the browns offense this year?

louis murphy & brian hartline are also v solid 4th round picks, johnny knox is decent for the 5th round

good post--that is going to be an excellent group.

btw cris carter has been killin it tonight on the countdown--new favorite analyst iirc

Colts also got Austin Collie in the 4th round and has already caught more passes in his rookie season than Reggie Wayne.

truth