- You won't believe this if you didn't watch the game, but there was a time on Sunday where the Patriots looked in serious danger of falling to 1-3. Buffalo should have been up 14 going into halftime (but CJ Spiller fumbled), then fixed that in the second half. At that point, the mountains roared, the sky cracked, and the Patriots ran off a 45-7 roll that made everyone forget about the talk before the season about Buffalo getting back to the playoffs on the backs of their new and improved defense. In fact, this seems like a good spot to give you the weekly Mario Williams performance update.
|
Game
|
Result
|
Performance
|
|
4, vs New England
|
L, 28-52
|
2 tackles (1 for a loss)
|
|
Season Performance to date
|
Guaranteed Money in Contract
|
|
9 tackles (2 for a loss), 1.5 sacks*, 1 pass defensed
|
$50 Million
|
* I feel it's important to point out that all 1.5 of his sacks came against Cleveland, so it's probbaly more like 0.8 true sacks.
- Looking back at the box score for the Pats-Bills game, I was shocked to see that there were only 4 lost fumbles, it felt like at least 7.
- The Detroit Lions lost 8 days ago to Tennessee in overtime 44-41. In that game they gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown, a punt return for a touchdown, and a fumble return for a touchdown. The Lions lost yesterday to Minnesota 20-13. In that game they gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown and a punt return for a touchdown. Now, I'm no football coach, but I'd say the Lions aren't paying nearly enough attention to special teams.
- I'm pretty sure Jim Harbaugh is an insufferable jerk, but San Francisco scoring their first touchdown (and what would be the game-winning points) against the Jets on a wildcat run from their backup quarterback was hilarious. Almost as hilarious as the maelstrom now surrounding embattled starting (for now) quarterback Mark Sanchez. If you listen closely (no matter where you are) you can hear the Tebow chants starting.
- Carolina lost their game to Atlanta thanks in part to gutless coaching. The Panthers had 3rd and 2 from the Falcons 46 and ran Cam Newton off tackle to try and pick it up. The first down would clinch the game for the Panthers, as the Falcons were out of timeouts and there were less than 2 minutes remaining. Newton got the first down, but fumbled and the ball was recovered by Carolina at the Falcons 45, a yard shy. Panthers coach Ron Rivera faced a choice: go for the win, or punt the ball and trust his defense. Despite having a human battering ram of a quarterback, Rivera chose to punt the ball. Even though the best possible outcome happened (Carolina downed the punt at the one), Atlanta drove down the field with less than 70 seconds remaining and kicked the game-winning 40-yard field goal with 5 seconds left.
My problem with the play isn't that it didn't work, but that Rivera "coached scared" and went by the book instead of going for the win with a yard to go. In this situation, the reward (a guaranteed win if you convert the 4th and 1) is so great that it justifies the risk. Add in the fact that the game hasn't exactly been a defensive struggle (it was 28-27 Carolina at the time), and you can't be entirely confident that your defense will stop the Falcons. And yes, the punt was downed at the 1 yard line, but that's not a scenario you can realistically expect. You're more likely to have a touchback than to down the ball inside the 5 yard line, and in that case, you've only given them an extra 25 yards.
- Seattle lost their game to St. Louis because of stupid coaching. First, St. Louis scored their only touchdown on a fake field goal attempt where their 11th offensive player stood near the sidelines instead of in formation to block for the kicker. Seattle never saw him, and the holder threw him an easy 2-yard touchdown pass. In response, Seattle tried to execute a 2-minute drill (even after running the ball on first down), failed, and handed the Rams an easy field goal as the first half expired. They then tried a surprise onside kick to open the second half. It failed (funny how the Rams were prepared for special teams chicanery). It failed, and 3 plays and 6 yards later, the Rams added a 60-yard field goal to take a 9 point lead. That's 6 points (if you attribute the fake field goal idiocy entirely to the Seahawks players) the Rams scored thanks to terrible coaching decisions. Seattle lost by 6.
The onside kick attempt was particularly jarring, as it reeked of desperation. If Seattle really has to rely on those types of desperate measures to generate offense, perhaps the coaches should take a hard look at the "offense" they're trying to run, which can best be described as "Try to win without a functioning passing game."
- Once again Miami plays their hearts out, and does just enough wrong at the end of the game to walk away with an overtime loss. Shocking: The Cardinals are now 4-0. More shocking: They probably should have lost to the Dolphins, who are better than you or I think. Most shocking: The top receiver in this game was Miami's Brian Hartline, who posted a line of 12 catches for 253 yards and a touchdown.
- I'm glad the real officials came back and solved all of Green Bay's problems. It's good that New Orleans weren't allowed to score their first touchdown on a blatant offensive pass interference, nor were the Saints handed an extra possession at the end of the game on a fumble that was incorrectly ruled a down-by-contact. What? Both of those things happened? But I thought the reason Green Bay was 1-2 before this game was the replacement refs?
- It's amazing how different the Philadelphia offense can look when they commit to protecting the ball and protecting their quarterback.
No comments:
Post a Comment