COVID Bowl Round 1 - 2022 Wild Card Thread

they've spent the entire 4th quarter eulogizing Big Ben, it's making me nauseous

what a happy moment, to never have to watch ben roethlisberger play football again

even if he wasn't a rapist and (by all accounts) a deeply unpleasant person I can still say he was maybe the most boring HOF QB I've ever seen play, despite some fucking crazy statlines from time to time. the only nice thing I'll say is I do not wish upon him the crippling pain that he is likely to experience for the rest of his life. though if some network gives him an on-air job like they did Brees that may change

he's not bright/interesting enough to be a commentator, and there are way too many other people as or better qualified who aren't rapists

fwiw this is really good, for those who can read it

https://defector.com/what-ill-remember-about-ben-roethlisberger

fart off forever big ben, smell ya never

Cowboy fans crying about the end of the game not acknowledging how stupid it was to run the f'n ball at that point anyway.

DALLAS COWBOYS clap clap OVER RATED
DALLAS COWBOYS clap clap OVER RATED
DALLAS COWBOYS clap clap OVER RATED
DALLAS COWBOYS clap clap OVER RATED

McCarthy in not knowing hte rules shockah

fucking QB draw, and why didn't he just go down a second or two earlier, can he not throw the ball an extra five yards?

like any Cowboy woulda caught the mary.

actually don't think the QB draw was that bad a play - they probably figured one shot from 20 yards out was better than two from 40. of course that is contingent on not running the clock out. apparently they probably could've gotten it off had Dak handed the ball to the ref instead of his center but idk how aware of that he was gonna be in the moment

would've been an insane loss for SF had the Cowboys pulled it off somehow. Cowboys-esque, even

thing is though, he could have slid a second or two sooner, he had cleared the first down by a lot. he got greedy cos the middle of the field was open but like, give yourself up sooner.

the clock ran out because they didnt have enough time to make that play which imho makes it bad

even if he went down earlier its still cutting it way too close

which is why teams throw to the sidelines in these situations, its a known quantity

well yeah, I still don't think they should have run it

but, y'know, Cowboys

I mean, there's also the factor of running one play with one second left from thirty yards out means that basically the 49ers can rush two people and drop back 9, which is very very low on the probability scale for conversion (of course it's happened, rather thrillingly, but people tend to remember those miracle plays rather than the unsuccessful counterparts, which happen 100 times as frequently).

your odds aren't insanely greater with two plays within ten seconds, but the defense at least has to protect the sideline routes and can't wholly commit to keeping you out of the end zone.

the Cowboys' last play was crazy but not as relevant to the outcome as their 14 penalties

^^^ this.

they've spent the entire 4th quarter eulogizing Big Ben, it's making me nauseous

Yeah the whole "Requiem for a Heavyweight" vibe would almost make a more cynical me think that the Raiders/Chargers ending was prearranged, just to get Ben into the playoffs one last time for this express purpose.

well ties are extremely rare - there's almost never more than one in a given NFL season - which is what almost made Chargers-Raiders so awesome. people suspected there may be some collusion, especially if it went into OT, but instead it involved a fucking insane comeback in which Herbert converted like half the 4th-and-longs of the entire NFL season, plus two scores in overtime. and even still the Raiders ruined it for everyone

worst part of it had to be that Big Ben "word cloud" they stuck up there in the 4th quarter. I can think of a couple words they missed!!

it's funny how it was talked about like an elephant in the room, "omg, will they COLLUDE to tie!", when in European football, teams have done that in tournament play quite often.

there was one infamous match I don't remember where one team realized they would do better to lose the match and started trying to score on their own goal, and the other team started defending to stop them.

and yes people should probably stop talking about what Dallas should have done on the final drive, they had 32 seconds and no timeouts & needed a touchdown, that is an insanely tall order for even the best NFL offense. the fact that they got so close is a minor miracle though the 49ers kinda let it happen knowing all they had to do was defend the end zone. they made a zillion other mistakes which affected their WP% more & it sucks because I really wanted to see McCarthy's return to Green Bay. and if I'm being real honest I'm actually starting to feel a little bad for Cowboys fans.

xp well it's a bit different in a sport where offensive and defensive units are completely separate and teams generally score more than once per game

tbh I'm just a fan of sports drama and if the Raiders had knelt it down despite being in FG range it would've been really funny to see Steelers fans go berserk. would've easily been one of the all-time funniest outcomes in any NFL game.

i will never feel sorry for Cowboys fans, laughing at them is always hilarious

Keep in mind the Niners had lost Bosa and their starting middle line backer during the game. I think those 2 minute drills often work as the d-linemen are often just gassed and and often just don't have the pursuit play after play at the end of the game.

The daring call was the Niners going all out blitz (again I think go big or go home as they were down two of their best) to get the ball back on the drive before.

Cowboys and the Raiders both could have won their games but their usual dumb play brought them down.

I think Dalals would have had at least 2 shots at the end zone where they were located. Nature of pass interference, I think that is a decent set of odd myself.

Dalols

curious what the odds are of 2 shots from 40 vs. one shot from 20. I figured Dak would give you as good a chance from that far out as anyone not named Rodgers, Brady, or Mahomes, but idk how good he is from that deep.

McCarthy woulda had him throw a 5 yard pass and hope to lateral his way in

which tbh, is a legit thing that sometimes works but

I should probably add Josh Allen and Joe Burrow to that list

Never feel bad for Cowboys fans - the worst on earth.

Here we go, only game where I'm emotionally involved

Bee, I'd figure you for a NINERS fan (or at least Giants)...

Got to figure St. Louis would hope they both lose tonight. Too soon? Haven't seen that pointed out, but it is kinda funny.

is this the worst offense ever to appear in a playoff game

a challenger appears

Used to be 49ers fan but two things happened. 49ers are no longer in San Francisco and I moved back to Los Angeles. We got a team back in my home town and was easy to become a Rams fan.

I know Arizona looked like sitting ducks coming into the playoffs but -1 net yard on 4 drives yikes

The first 40 years of my life, that play was a catch, fumble, first down, but now we need 10 minutes of reviews to figure this all out.

lol no kidding

that said, challenging was the right move

love too survive the ground

jesus christ Kyler

extremely good move to challenge

Outstanding

That was a crazy play, bouncing all over the place

Cards can't catch a break

lmao

This is shaping up to be an underappreciated troll job pic.twitter.com/aGx0Gt15cl

— James Holzhauer (@James_Holzhauer) January 18, 2022

ohh fuck that did not look good

Kliff K is gonna go from belle of the ball to the hot seat quick

that team was completely unprepared to play football

i was a bit shocked, I expected a competitive match even though I fully expected the Rams to win.

kliff is not good. all my az friends been calling for his head for two+ seasons now. kyler also looked really scared/timid, that didnt help at all.

kliff is a charlatan lol, hired in the middle of the mcvay feeding frenzy. dude managed to have an under .500 record at texas tech with patrick frickin mahomes as his qb.