NFL updates/news

[Deleted]

So, I don't know when we all think Griffin got hurt, but that Washington offense couldn't muster half a shit after the first quarter.

RG3 was injured shortly before the 2nd TD. After that he never really ran anymore and Seattle made adjustments around that. At the end of game the previous injury was to much and his knee collapsed and he was replaced.

[Logonov]

as much as one could enjoy alternate reality dabbling, RGIII could not finish the game and the seahawks move on.

[Badpaladin]

I'm excited for a Packers/Seattle rematch for the NFC championship.

[Trollsbane]

Did you not watch the game? RG3 was wrecking the Hawks before the injury. Then when he got injured he couldn't run the ball himself and the Seahawks had a field day because they could just put a LB on the Morris shutting him down and not having to worry about the run at all. That meant that RG3 had to pass the ball from the pocket, something which he isn't good at. The real story is how the Seahawks used 40 minutes of gametime to catch a 2 TD lead, despite the Redskins barely moving the ball at all.

Because this was the only game ever in history that the better team had a bad start and came back after making adjustments and waking, up to blow the other team away, right? C'mon...

Seattle gained 371 yards and 24 points, while keeping Washington to zero points and 84 yards over the final three quarters. It's a 60 minute, 4 quarter game. 1 lopsided quarter is not rare in football.
And to be honest, with all due respect to RG3's ability, cause the guy is a beast, it wasn't him that rocked the Hawks in the first quarter. It was Morris, and Seattle beating themselves. RG3 didn't really do anything to hurt them in that quarter. In fact, Griffin made many piss poor throws throughout the entire game. If injury was to blame, then that's pure stupidity on the Redskins, and especially Griffin's part. Sit your ass down and let the backup in if you can't even throw the ball where you need to, let alone run.

One team simply started the game well, the other did not. But we all know who finished better. The team that is "terrible on the road". The only road team to win this weekend, and in dominating fashion.

[Logonov]

so out of curiosity. when the game started, did anyone else go, "wow, that field looks like shit"?

[Badpaladin]

In fact, Griffin made many piss poor throws throughout the entire game. If injury was to blame, then that's pure stupidity on the Redskins, and especially Griffin's part. Sit your ass down and let the backup in if you can't even throw the ball where you need to, let alone run.

Ehhh, I dunno if I can blame a 22-year old superstar for trying to play through a "sidelining" injury. Blame falls of Shanahan for keeping him in there until his leg literally collapsed under his own weight. I still think Seattle would have come out on top, but Washington would have certainly been more competitive with Kirk Cousins in.

[Jibjabb]

And to be honest, with all due respect to RG3's ability, cause the guy is a beast, it wasn't him that rocked the Hawks in the first quarter. It was Morris, and Seattle beating themselves. RG3 didn't really do anything to hurt them in that quarter. In fact, Griffin made many piss poor throws throughout the entire game. If injury was to blame, then that's pure stupidity on the Redskins, and especially Griffin's part. Sit your ass down and let the backup in if you can't even throw the ball where you need to, let alone run.

One team simply started the game well, the other did not. But we all know who finished better. The team that is "terrible on the road". The only road team to win this weekend, and in dominating fashion.

Before RG3's injury on that play running to the sideline in the 2nd drive he had 64 Yards passing and 12 yards rushing with a TD. I think its pretty save to say he was beating the Seahawks there, not just Morris who actually had less yards than Griffin did to that point. So lets look at it

Before Injury
64 Pass yds, 1 TD, 12 Rush yds. Time Elapsed 11:37
After Injury
20 Pass Yds 1 TD, 9 Rush yds, 1 INT, 1 FL. Time Elapsed 42:04

You can call it Seattle waking up if you want. The rest will look at the evidence that he was great before he got up limping and sucked after that. And if you call never having a TD or more lead til 7 min left in the 4th quarter "dominating fashion" Id be curious to see what you would call a real blowout. Was the Baltimore/Indy game an "annihilation of biblical proportions?"

[Vetali]

Ehhh, I dunno if I can blame a 22-year old superstar for trying to play through a "sidelining" injury. Blame falls of Shanahan for keeping him in there until his leg literally collapsed under his own weight. I still think Seattle would have come out on top, but Washington would have certainly been more competitive with Kirk Cousins in.

Shanahan would of got shit for sitting RG3 and if they still came out with a loss. Its kinda a damned if you do, damned if you don't. Seattle cranked up the pressure (even with Clemons dead) when Cousins got put in. Its clear they prepared for that and had a plan. Though I would like to see that pressure more often, cause it was insane on that garbage field.

Before RG3's injury on that play running to the sideline in the 2nd drive he had 64 Yards passing and 12 yards rushing with a TD. I think its pretty save to say he was beating the Seahawks there, not just Morris who actually had less yards than Griffin did to that point. So lets look at it

Before Injury
64 Pass yds, 1 TD, 12 Rush yds. Time Elapsed 11:37
After Injury
20 Pass Yds 1 TD, 9 Rush yds, 1 INT, 1 FL. Time Elapsed 42:04

You can call it Seattle waking up if you want. The rest will look at the evidence that he was great before he got up limping and sucked after that. And if you call never having a TD or more lead til 7 min left in the 4th quarter "dominating fashion" Id be curious to see what you would call a real blowout. Was the Baltimore/Indy game an "annihilation of biblical proportions?"

Or what you call running out of a script.

RG3's accuracy didn't really go down the shitter after he aggravated the knee. His receivers dropped a lot of passes. Plus Seattles D has been known to shit the bed for the first few possessions and then tighten up (Cardinals game, Bills, 49ers, Rams, bears, so on. Its been a theme through the season).

Glad Pete Carroll had the balls to call the field shitty. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...-was-horrible/

[fangless]

I'm gonna go with

Pats - I'm biased towards them, my fallback team O_o
49ers - I am a vikings fan, so, I have faith the good 49ers will show up
Broncos - Although this is one of the better teams they've played in months, I don't believe Flacco will play well, he's due for his slump game.
Falcons - The above comments match mine, the Seahawks beat a gimpy RG3 for the 2nd half of the game, and not in a convincing fashion. Ryan is healthy and throwing extremely well.

[conscript]

Predictions:
New England will crush Houston just like they did a couple weeks ago. I think the Pats are going to be out for blood considering how long it has been since they won a Super Bowl.

Denver will crush Baltimore just like they did a couple weeks ago. Denver is just flat out a better team.

Packers will beat San Fran in close fashion (31-274). This game could go either way, but I am willing to bet more on the Packers defense showing up against Kaepernick than I am for San Fran to blow their doors off.

Seattle will grind Atlanta to death. Score might be close, but it won't feel like it. Atlanta can't run (Seattle's weakness and literally the only thing the Skins could do to them). Atlanta can't stop the run (Seattle's biggest strength). Atlanta has played one impressive game the entire season that doesn't look nearly as impressive considering where the Giants wound up (I don't count the Broncos game against essentially a brand new offensive scheme in Denver where Manning spotted them a huge lead and still almost beat them). Atlanta can throw the ball fairly decently. Julio Jones still isn't a deep threat. From Barnwell's column this morning, last year he was 38th in the NFL on pass attempt depth. After making a big todo about how that would change this season, he finished 39th. The Seahawks have the best secondary in the NFL. When one team's strengths align perfectly with the other team's weaknesses, I just don't see how they are going to win. Also Atlanta are pro choke artists.

[Deleted]

Patriots over Texans - Patriots have the best offence and the Texans have been struggling since Brian Cushing got injured.
Broncos over Ravens - Joe Flacco fails to produce and Manning almost never fails.
Packers over 49ers - The GB offence shows up and the 49ers defence isn't going to be able to handle it (this is assuming good weather in SF, if heavy rain then it's a coinflip)
Falcons over Seahawks - Indoor stadium, away game for Seattle means they lose because the Seattle offence is simply to slow, the Falcons will get a small lead early and it will be over before it even started.

Those are my picks.

Next week is the best week of the whole NFL season.

[conscript]

Falcons over Seahawks - Indoor stadium, away game for Seattle means they lose because the Seattle offence is simply to slow, the Falcons will get a small lead early and it will be over before it even started.

Atlanta scored 7 more points than Seattle this year while facing a schedule that was so laughably easier on defense it is disgusting. Atlanta can't run to grind out wins because they absolutely can not run the ball which completely negates the perceived Seattle offensive speed deficiency by itself. Matt Ryan finished with all of 6 more passing TDs than Wilson in 222 more attempts. Wilson's average completion length is 1.2 yards more than Ryan's. 23.2% of Wilson's passes have been for 15+ yards. 17.6% have been for Ryan. So slow offense, where?

[Vetali]

Atlanta reminds me of the 05 seahawks. Piss easy schedule.

[Deleted]

Atlanta scored 7 more points than Seattle this year while facing a schedule that was so laughably easier on defense it is disgusting. Atlanta can't run to grind out wins because they absolutely can not run the ball which completely negates the perceived Seattle offensive speed deficiency by itself. Matt Ryan finished with all of 6 more passing TDs than Wilson in 222 more attempts. So slow offense, where?

By slow I mean the Seahawk offence moves the ball very slow because they run it so often. Running the ball takes longer than passing it, due to nature of how incomplete passes work.

[Pendulous]

You guys are going to think me crazy, but my "upset" pick will be the Texans over the Pats.
Seahawks win, mainly because of running. I'm not as jaded on the Falcons as everyone else is, but if the Seahawks will actually establish running, they probably won't lose.
Denver wins, easily.
Tough pick for the last one, but I'll take Green Bay purely out of momentum. They're healthy again and have been riding the last part of the season better than the Niners.

so out of curiosity. when the game started, did anyone else go, "wow, that field looks like shit"?

Watching shitty-quality stream, so no. I didn't notice until the first person dug up a pound of it with a single step.

[conscript]

By slow I mean the Seahawk offence moves the ball very slow because they run it so often. Running the ball takes longer than passing it, due to nature of how incomplete passes work.

Oh no, Seattle has an average time of possession per game of 31:33 to Atlanta's 30:52. They are so much slower for being a team that doesn't pass nearly as much... Again, it does not matter how slow your offense is (which Seattle's isn't) if your team can not establish the run to eat time to keep the ball from your opponents. Atlanta is not a quick strike offense. They have one legitimate deep threat. Even if they were say the Packers, the Falcons can not keep the ball away from other teams because they can't stop the run or run the ball themselves. Pace is irrelevant if you can't control the clock against running teams.

Oh ya and Seattle did that against the (ranks in reverse, higher=better defense) 30th ranked QB defense, 25th running back, 30th receivers, and 25th TE defense. Atlanta's offense was so explosive (it wasn't ever explosive that is sarcasm) against the easiest defensive schedule in the ENTIRE NFL for QBs, WRs, and TEs. Oh ya and they played the 5th easiest schedule for RBs and STILL COULDN'T ESTABLISH THE RUN.

And if you don't buy that, Atlanta finished the year 7th in Yards per Play at 5.8. Seattle finished right below them at 9th at 5.7 ypp. Seattle is not a slow offense!!!!!!!

[ambivalence]

I'm picking:
Atlanta over Seattle. Falcons will finally show up for a playoff game because they're sick of all the crap they're taking for it. I'm not gonna touch on why the Seahawks will lose, far too many Seattle fans in this thread.

NE over Texans. Easiest pick in my opinion. Texans barely showed up for the Bengals, what could they do against NE?

GB over 9ers. If last week was any indication, the Packers are ready to roll. The 9ers are promising, but I'm not sold on Kaepernick yet.

I'm having trouble deciding for the Ravens/Broncos. I'm a Ravens fan so I obviously think highly of my team. This is one of the few times where our defense is actually playing healthy, and minus the Ray Rice fumbles, the offense was very efficient. If they keep that rolling in Denver (which might not happen) the Ravens can take this game. The Ravens will have to play lights out to be close, if they come out flat they're done.

[Vetali]

ACL tear confirmed for Clemons. Bruce Irvin tweeted that he'll be taking his place in snaps, which is like a lot more than Bruce was getting before.

Hauschka being questionable caused Seahawks to try out Ryan Longwell, Neil Rackers and other kickers.

http://vimeo.com/56943814 also found this funny.

[Jibjabb]

For years Soldier Field (Bears stadium) was just as bad if not worse than Fed Ex. Guys would fall all over the place without being touched, hurting themselves and screwing up routes and coverage it was borderline laughable, it has since been fixed for the most part at least as far as I can tell. So Washington should do what the Bears did since we use natural grass in cold climates as well.

Im still really torn on the NFC matchups. With Atlanta I definitely dont believe they are a poor team like some do, however Im not convinced they are great either. Matt Ryan and his receivers vs the Seattle DBs will basically be what this game comes down to. Im not sure who I like there. Wilson should play his typical game, not many yards but very efficient. Turner may play well, simply for the fact he is so damn rested now since he got such few carries in the regular season and had 2 weeks off before this game. I wouldnt bet on him doing a good job it just wouldnt surprise me. If I look at this game statistically my head says pick Seattle, the Falcons are too flawed and Seattle is too balanced to make the mistakes Atlanta would need to win. But then my gut just has the feeling that this is the year the Falcons dont show up as a joke in the postseason by actually living up to some expectations. That Ryan finally has a big game and proves his worth after this career year.

GB vs SF is just as hard and should be the best game of the weekend in terms of the most talented teams. Even as a Bears fan I openly admit I love watching Aaron Rodgers play, the way he slices and dices everybody he faces and even his "average" games are great games for most every other QB. Kaepernick is intriguing. He has played pretty well in his short stint at QB. If he can be efficient in the way Wilson is I can see them winning this game. Otherwise I keep envisioning Rodgers throwing bombs to Nelson and Cobb and San Fran struggling to stop it. Green Bay has shown they can win the "revenge" game as with Minnesota (granted it was easier with Webb but its not like Ponder is a great QB) so I guess I will say they get their revenge on San Fran as well.

Like everyone in the world I would love to watch a Green Bay-Seattle game. As long as Rodgers doesnt get injured and the replacement refs dont somehow sneak onto the field, me and most everyone else wont really have anything to say but credit Seattle if they can manage to win that monster of a game. I have to imagine Seattle fans would rather face San Francisco since they are more of a mirror team they can handle better. Keeping Green Bay in check is a daunting task for any defense. And ofc Denver-New England will be awesome. If its down to those four I think any of the possible Super Bowl Matchups will be vastly entertaining. Even though we have seen Green Bay and New England in Super Bowls recently, those 2 offenses going at it? You cant help but love that.

[Novar]

Before RG3's injury on that play running to the sideline in the 2nd drive he had 64 Yards passing and 12 yards rushing with a TD. I think its pretty save to say he was beating the Seahawks there, not just Morris who actually had less yards than Griffin did to that point. So lets look at it

Before Injury
64 Pass yds, 1 TD, 12 Rush yds. Time Elapsed 11:37
After Injury
20 Pass Yds 1 TD, 9 Rush yds, 1 INT, 1 FL. Time Elapsed 42:04

You can call it Seattle waking up if you want. The rest will look at the evidence that he was great before he got up limping and sucked after that. And if you call never having a TD or more lead til 7 min left in the 4th quarter "dominating fashion" Id be curious to see what you would call a real blowout. Was the Baltimore/Indy game an "annihilation of biblical proportions?"

Well if that were the case they should have put Cousins in right? Obviously that didn't work either. The better team won is going on to the next round of the playoffs.