National Football League Thread

[Bullstomp]

My Conference Round Tips

Broncos over Patriots

Panthers over Cardinals

Totally agree, the home teams win.

Go Panthers!

[Avatar_Of_Battle]

lmfao refs don't know how to do their fucking jobs.

Calling that headbutt on the Patriots but not the punch 36 on the Broncos threw on Amendola's return.

 

EDIT:

I supposes it wasn't a punch in technical terms. Dude's hand was open but it was clearly a strike not a "defensive" block.

 

EDIT 2:

What was with that call on the Broncos about the player being out of bounds and staying out of bounds? Has that ever even been called before?

Edited January 24, 2016 by Avatar_Of_Battle

[greenpoison79]

Yay! Patriots are gone.

[skidmarkgn]

Feels good to see the #1 defense in the Superbowl.  Every time the league changes a rule to help offenses and, especially, QB's to cater to fantasy fans it makes me want to throw a puppy into a fire.  There's just something awesome about watching a great defense make life Hell for the golden boys.

[acasser]

EDIT 2:

What was with that call on the Broncos about the player being out of bounds and staying out of bounds? Has that ever even been called before?

 

You don't see it called very often because players know that it's pretty much an auto-call if they don't make every effort to get back in bounds as soon as possible.  Unlike the NHL (and even the NBA), there are enough officials out there on an NFL crew to catch pretty much everything that needs to be caught.  Crews will still botch calls all the time anyhow when discretion gets involved -- e.g., Pass Interference -- but the automatic stuff will get flagged 999,999 times out of 1 million.

[Kubanga]

Lol the Cardnials fucking suck. It makes me wonder how they even won a game this year.

[Conker]

We have our superbowl now

Broncos vs Panthers, should be great

But first things first pro bowl next Sunday

P.s at least we had one close conference championship game

Edited January 25, 2016 by Wallace

[skidmarkgn]

And the most overrated QB of the year award goes tooooooooo........ CARSON PALMER!!!!!!  Fitz carried that guy all the way to the NFC championship where they were exposed.  Hopefully Seattle can plug their massive holes (and somehow keep the important members of the bazillion guys going into free agency) and take the division back next year.  The Cards had a whole lot of catching good teams while they were down and taking advantage.  

 

Anyways, the topic of discussion here locally has been the future of Lynch.  I think there's a 100% opinion that he won't be a Seahawk next year so everyone is speculating where he'll land.  Be it another team or sitting at home enjoying retirement.  What do you guys think?

 

Me personally, I don't think he'll retire.  If I understand correctly, he'll owe the team 5 million dollars in signing bonuses and what-not, which I assume is not an option for him.  I could see him in one of two places.  Either Oakland, because of his home connection or, oddly enough, Dallas.  Jerry Jones is such a headline addict that I think he might be crazy enough to deal with Lynch's personality.  Dallas also has that O-line and Lynch could be even more of a nightmare behind them.  I know Dallas is in cap-hell right now but, like I said, you can never underestimate Jerry Jones when it comes to crazy ass decisions.

[Lithium_Lemon]

I'm honestly disappointed in the outcomes here. It's not necessarily that New England lost because it really doesn't matter to me. For the first time in a long time, I am not excited to see this Superbowl. Why? Someone explain to me how this is not going to end up like the Seattle vs Denver game a couple years back? Carolina and Seattle have nearly identical teams. They play tough physical football on defense and run the ball down your throats on offense. How is this Denver team going to have a chance at stopping Carolina, when they got absolutely embarrassed by Seattle? In my opinion, they were even a far better team two years ago than they are now. I know everyone here was probably cheering and clapping when New England got eliminated today, since the hate for them is beyond comprehension. But honestly, nobody here wanted to see that battle go down except me? Seriously? The two best players in the league this year going at it, a great defense in Carolina and a decent defense in New England. A game that hopefully would have gone something like last year. Absolutely nail biting stuff, where you were glued to your seat the whole game, even if one of your teams was not out there. That's how Superbowls are supposed to be. Let the best team win. I can't be the only one who sees this game getting out of hand quickly. The only football fans who really won today are Carolina fans since they are nearly guaranteed (In my opinion) a Superbowl win. 

[ShadowStar83x]

Describes the Cardinals perfectly!

 

[Kubanga]

I'm honestly disappointed in the outcomes here. It's not necessarily that New England lost because it really doesn't matter to me. For the first time in a long time, I am not excited to see this Superbowl. Why? Someone explain to me how this is not going to end up like the Seattle vs Denver game a couple years back? Carolina and Seattle have nearly identical teams. They play tough physical football on defense and run the ball down your throats on offense. How is this Denver team going to have a chance at stopping Carolina, when they got absolutely embarrassed by Seattle? In my opinion, they were even a far better team two years ago than they are now. I know everyone here was probably cheering and clapping when New England got eliminated today, since the hate for them is beyond comprehension. But honestly, nobody here wanted to see that battle go down except me? Seriously? The two best players in the league this year going at it, a great defense in Carolina and a decent defense in New England. A game that hopefully would have gone something like last year. Absolutely nail biting stuff, where you were glued to your seat the whole game, even if one of your teams was not out there. That's how Superbowls are supposed to be. Let the best team win. I can't be the only one who sees this game getting out of hand quickly. The only football fans who really won today are Carolina fans since they are nearly guaranteed (In my opinion) a Superbowl win.

The Broncos Defense is light years better than the 2013 team. I also think there will be added motivation from the Broncos to try and win Peyton 1 last superbowl. The Panthers are like a lite version of the 2013 seahawks. The Panthers don't have the running game the 2013 Hawks had or the secondary.

[skidmarkgn]

I'm honestly disappointed in the outcomes here. It's not necessarily that New England lost because it really doesn't matter to me. For the first time in a long time, I am not excited to see this Superbowl. Why? Someone explain to me how this is not going to end up like the Seattle vs Denver game a couple years back? Carolina and Seattle have nearly identical teams. They play tough physical football on defense and run the ball down your throats on offense. How is this Denver team going to have a chance at stopping Carolina, when they got absolutely embarrassed by Seattle? In my opinion, they were even a far better team two years ago than they are now. I know everyone here was probably cheering and clapping when New England got eliminated today, since the hate for them is beyond comprehension. But honestly, nobody here wanted to see that battle go down except me? Seriously? The two best players in the league this year going at it, a great defense in Carolina and a decent defense in New England. A game that hopefully would have gone something like last year. Absolutely nail biting stuff, where you were glued to your seat the whole game, even if one of your teams was not out there. That's how Superbowls are supposed to be. Let the best team win. I can't be the only one who sees this game getting out of hand quickly. The only football fans who really won today are Carolina fans since they are nearly guaranteed (In my opinion) a Superbowl win. 

Kubanga said it perfectly.  Denver is on the opposite side of that beat-down a couple years ago.  This time, they're the #1 defense playing against the #1 offense.  If their pass rush can get to Cam without blitzing (Cam is statistically better against the blitz than not) and keep tight coverage then the panthers might struggle.  Their (the Panthers) defense is good but can be exploited with a pass heavy attack.  If they don't come out of the gate like a rocket and build a big lead early I could easily see Denver making it interesting and force Cam to start putting his "sulk-towel" on.

[Lithium_Lemon]

The Broncos Defense is light years better than the 2013 team. I also think there will be added motivation from the Broncos to try and win Peyton 1 last superbowl. The Panthers are like a lite version of the 2013 seahawks. The Panthers don't have the running game the 2013 Hawks had or the secondary.

If their defense is "light years" ahead then is their offense "light years" below?

 

Kubanga said it perfectly.  Denver is on the opposite side of that beat-down a couple years ago.  This time, they're the #1 defense playing against the #1 offense.  If their pass rush can get to Cam without blitzing (Cam is statistically better against the blitz than not) and keep tight coverage then the panthers might struggle.  Their (the Panthers) defense is good but can be exploited with a pass heavy attack.  If they don't come out of the gate like a rocket and build a big lead early I could easily see Denver making it interesting and force Cam to start putting his "sulk-towel" on.

Pass heavy attack? You truly believe the Broncos can win passing 40+ times? Peyton Manning? I don't know man I see Peyton Manning and the Denver rush game being able to do little to nothing against Carolinas defense. The Cardinals had a much better offense than Denver has and they got absolutely blown out of the stadium today. Seriously, I don't see or understand how either of you believe Denver has more than a 5-10% chance at winning this game. They will need 3+ interceptions or fumbles from the Panthers offense to win this game. I don't see that happening. 

[skidmarkgn]

If their defense is "light years" ahead then is their offense "light years" below?

 

Pass heavy attack? You truly believe the Broncos can win passing 40+ times? Peyton Manning? I don't know man I see Peyton Manning and the Denver rush game being able to do little to nothing against Carolinas defense. The Cardinals had a much better offense than Denver has and they got absolutely blown out of the stadium today. Seriously, I don't see or understand how either of you believe Denver has more than a 5-10% chance at winning this game. They will need 3+ interceptions or fumbles from the Panthers offense to win this game. I don't see that happening. 

Don't get me wrong, I think Carolina will win, I just laid out the scenario that (I think) gives Denver their best chance.  I personally was never fully on the Arizona's offense bandwagon, like I said earlier, I think their run was more a result of just catching the good teams when they were at their lowest and exploiting them.  Palmer's good at times, but he's also beyond terrible just as often, if not more.  There's a reason it took him this long to get one playoff win, and he didn't even really deserve it.  Fitz's career year was the one thing Arizona hung their hat on this season and they rode it as far as they could.

 

Anyways, I stand by the previous statement.  Denver's defense absolutely must make sure to not make the same mistake Seattle and Arizona did and let the Panthers get off to a hot start.  If they can, then who knows what happens.  This is still mostly the same Panthers team that went 7-8-1 last year not to mention losing to the Falcons this year.  They're not invincible.

Edited January 25, 2016 by skidmarkgn

[Kubanga]

If their defense is "light years" ahead then is their offense "light years" below?

 

Pass heavy attack? You truly believe the Broncos can win passing 40+ times? Peyton Manning? I don't know man I see Peyton Manning and the Denver rush game being able to do little to nothing against Carolinas defense. The Cardinals had a much better offense than Denver has and they got absolutely blown out of the stadium today. Seriously, I don't see or understand how either of you believe Denver has more than a 5-10% chance at winning this game. They will need 3+ interceptions or fumbles from the Panthers offense to win this game. I don't see that happening?

I just don't think the Panthers are as good as the 2013 seahawks. The Broncos still have the offensive weapons from that 2013 team as well. I highly doubt the Panthers will be able to contain Sanders with Tillman out. I don't see the Panthers doing really anything on offense either. The Broncos have the best secondary in the nfl hands down and I don't see the trailer trash receiving corps of the Panthers doing remotely anything.

[Lithium_Lemon]

Don't get me wrong, I think Carolina will win, I just laid out the scenario that (I think) gives Denver their best chance.  I personally was never fully on the Arizona's offense bandwagon, like I said earlier, I think their run was more a result of just catching the good teams when they were at their lowest and exploiting them.  Palmer's good at times, but he's also beyond terrible just as often, if not more.  There's a reason it took him this long to get one playoff win, and he didn't even really deserve it.  Fitz's career year was the one thing Arizona hung their hat on this season and they rode it as far as they could.

 

Anyways, I stand by the previous statement.  Denver's defense absolutely must make sure to not make the same mistake Seattle and Arizona did and let the Panthers get off to a hot start.  If they can, then who knows what happens.  This is still mostly the same Panthers team that went 7-8-1 last year not to mention losing to the Falcons this year.  They're not invincible.

 

I just don't think the Panthers are as good as the 2013 seahawks. The Broncos still have the offensive weapons from that 2013 team as well. I highly doubt the Panthers will be able to contain Sanders with Tillman out. I don't see the Panthers doing really anything on offense either. The Broncos have the best secondary in the nfl hands down and I don't see the trailer trash receiving corps of the Panthers doing remotely anything.

I have been on this thread all year basically questioning whether or not Carolina had what it took to win even a playoff game. So I agree with you guys that they do have some weaknesses. I just cannot see Denver being able to do the job. Trust me, im far from on the Panther bandwagon at this point. Actually, if I had it my way Denver would win the game. I know Denver has fought hard to get to this point and they deserve it. Although I do believe they would have been eliminated in the divisional round if Antonio Brown/Deangelo Williams and Big Ben were healthy.  I would be more inclined to side with an AFC team if it were New England or Pittsburgh (As bad as their secondary is) in this position and not Denver. From the bottom of my heart, I would be truly astonished if Denver somehow, someway found a way to win this game.

[Avatar_Of_Battle]

You don't see it called very often because players know that it's pretty much an auto-call if they don't make every effort to get back in bounds as soon as possible.  Unlike the NHL (and even the NBA), there are enough officials out there on an NFL crew to catch pretty much everything that needs to be caught.  Crews will still botch calls all the time anyhow when discretion gets involved -- e.g., Pass Interference -- but the automatic stuff will get flagged 999,999 times out of 1 million.

 

lol isn't that part the truth. Idk if I've said it here in this thread or in a status somewhere but the refs were just one step above those replacement refs from a few years back imo. I saw so many calls made against one team that weren't called against the other. Even the commentators will point it out here and there and say the refs screwed the pooch. 

[skidmarkgn]

Forgot to mention, while it doesn't heal the wound entirely, seeing the Pats lose the way they did today, with Brady being picked off at the goal line to seal it, was pretty satisfying for this Seahawks fan.  Doesn't change the past, but it still felt pretty good.  Especially after seeing how much the Pats reveled in rubbing it in during their parade.

[Matto_lsi]

Okay, "official" championship picks:

 

Carolina/Arizona - Carson Palmer has been playing like shit since gimping his finger.  He tried as hard as he could to give the game away against Green Bay and Green Bay refused to take it.  Carolina won't.  Palmer throws 3+ picks, one of them for 6 points trying to force the ball to Fitz on that rough field, Carolina wins.

 

Denver/New England - Going heart over head on this one.  Denver's defense mostly stops Brady and co.  Gronk still Gronks but Peyton eeks out just enough points to win on the back of his defense and running game.  Denver wins, 99% of the football world rejoices.

 

Damn skid, I'm just gonna assume you have a time machine and went back a few mins ago to write that comment.  You really couldn't have been any closer.  Shoulda put some money on it! lol

[Zio_Sam87]

So will be Broncos-Panthers... Really hope Carolina's going to win, just because Montana brothers won more SB than Manning brothers!! 

[Matto_lsi]

I'm honestly disappointed in the outcomes here. It's not necessarily that New England lost because it really doesn't matter to me. For the first time in a long time, I am not excited to see this Superbowl. Why? Someone explain to me how this is not going to end up like the Seattle vs Denver game a couple years back? Carolina and Seattle have nearly identical teams. They play tough physical football on defense and run the ball down your throats on offense. How is this Denver team going to have a chance at stopping Carolina, when they got absolutely embarrassed by Seattle? In my opinion, they were even a far better team two years ago than they are now. I know everyone here was probably cheering and clapping when New England got eliminated today, since the hate for them is beyond comprehension. But honestly, nobody here wanted to see that battle go down except me? Seriously? The two best players in the league this year going at it, a great defense in Carolina and a decent defense in New England. A game that hopefully would have gone something like last year. Absolutely nail biting stuff, where you were glued to your seat the whole game, even if one of your teams was not out there. That's how Superbowls are supposed to be. Let the best team win. I can't be the only one who sees this game getting out of hand quickly. The only football fans who really won today are Carolina fans since they are nearly guaranteed (In my opinion) a Superbowl win. 

 

I'm not trying to be antagonistic, but the way you feel about this result is how most people feel every time New England gets into a SB.  The hate stems from a lot of places and I won't go into it, but I have very rarely (I won't say never, cause I have found 1 or 2) found anyone who isn't a Pats fan who doesn't hate them.  And even then, those people usually are very casual football fans.  Like in 07 one of my mom's friends wanted to see the Pats go 19-0 cause she thought it'd be cool, she didn't actually give 2 shits about football.  So honestly I am very happy with today's result because the team I was cheering for (Broncos) won, which was awesome, but to see the Pats go down simultaneously was icing on the cake.  Every year I cheer when the Pats, Seahawks, and Steelers get eliminated from the playoffs cause I don't like those teams.  But if I go anywhere that loves football and there isn't an NFC West fanbase nearby, no one cares about the later 2, but the vast majority hate the Pats.  With that said, as a Pats fan, you're probably a little disappointed and being overly harsh on Denver's chances, however as a Broncos fan (well, they're my 3rd fave next to SF and Indy), I'm probably going to be overly biased on their chances.  Panthers do have a kick-ass D, they showed it today against Arizona, but as others have said, the Cards just weren't themselves the last 3-4 games (counting today).  Meanwhile, Manning isn't making the mistakes he made earlier in the year, and even under pressure he still threw 2 TDs today and moved the ball adequately.  I know that doesn't mean much normally, but keep in mind that the Pats had everyone healthy except Blount and other than a turnover 'gimme' TD early in the game, the Pats couldn't get down the field to save their lives until the 4th quarter.  Even then, it was a couple last ditch efforts going for it repeatedly on 4th down.  Cam is a mobile QB, more so than Brady, but that's the only advantage he has over him.  As much as I hate Brady, he's a very good QB and he got his ass kicked today.  What was it in the end, sacked 5 times or something like that, knocked down almost 20 times also.  I saw him on the sideline gingerly holding his left arm.  He was feeling it, he threw a lot of wtf incompletions cause he was scared of getting hurt again.  Cam won't have the receivers for Denver to cover like NE has, so they will post a man on Cam so he doesn't get out of the pocket, and if he does, he's gonna get wrecked, Denver is not afraid to hit anyone, especially a mobile QB.  The way I see this is the QB/Offense who makes the least mistakes wins.  Half of the Panthers points today were scored because of the D (either directly or indirectly) and half of Arizona's D is hurt, so Cam looked impressive.  I'm thinking Denver v. Carolina will be a war of attrition.  2 hardcore Ds going after the other teams offense.  If Peyton can take what they give him and run the ball even semi-effectively, and most importantly, keep his turnovers to 1 or none, then Denver has a decent shot.  Red zone turnovers, or even worse, turnovers deep in their own end WILL cost Denver the game.  But the same can be said for Cam and Carolina.  So yeah, the game won't be a flashy offensive shootout like the NFL wants, instead it will be a hard fought defensive battle, and potentially low scoring.  I could see it being under 20 points for either team, but more than likely it'll be more of a 21-17 or 24-20 affair.  That won't be as exciting, maybe even boring to some, but I think the defensive highlights of games are usually the best, so we'll see.  I hope Denver wins, but I see it going either way, and now that the Pats are out, I won't be too upset either way.  I was actually hoping for the Cards to win today just because I'm totally fine with Palmer getting a ring, but I don't have anything against the Panthers at the moment, so if they beat the Broncos I'll deal with it.

 

Forgot to mention, while it doesn't heal the wound entirely, seeing the Pats lose the way they did today, with Brady being picked off at the goal line to seal it, was pretty satisfying for this Seahawks fan.  Doesn't change the past, but it still felt pretty good.  Especially after seeing how much the Pats reveled in rubbing it in during their parade.

 

Haha, the second I saw that happen (after screaming 'Get down' at my tv about 100 times in 2 seconds), I immediately thought about how similar that play was to the one in the SB last year.  And I know what you mean about the parade, Edelman had a poster of Sherman that he was beating up while standing on top of a bus.  It looked like something from an angsy 90s music video, so I can understand how good this one would make a hawks fan feel.  But my god, I was stressing when he started running it back.  I knew he wasn't gonna go the distance (he obviously wanted the 2 points so NE couldn't beat them with a field goal if they recovered the onside kick), and he DID fumble, but I was seeing it in my head, he fumbles, NE scoops it up and somehow runs it back into the endzone for 2 points.  Would have been such a demoralizing way to go to OT that I think NE was have easily won.  SO glad they recovered that onside kick though, lol.

[ShadowStar83x]

The Patriots were having trouble with their Surface tablets, but the Broncos weren't. It was eventually returned to normal, but now...Tabletgate apparently is a thing.

 

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/mobile-computing/tablets/microsoft-surface-tablets-fail-nfl-team-during-championship-game-1313670

 

It's also trending on Facebook. For fuck's sake.

[skidmarkgn]

Haha, the second I saw that happen (after screaming 'Get down' at my tv about 100 times in 2 seconds), I immediately thought about how similar that play was to the one in the SB last year.  And I know what you mean about the parade, Edelman had a poster of Sherman that he was beating up while standing on top of a bus.  It looked like something from an angsy 90s music video, so I can understand how good this one would make a hawks fan feel.  But my god, I was stressing when he started running it back.  I knew he wasn't gonna go the distance (he obviously wanted the 2 points so NE couldn't beat them with a field goal if they recovered the onside kick), and he DID fumble, but I was seeing it in my head, he fumbles, NE scoops it up and somehow runs it back into the endzone for 2 points.  Would have been such a demoralizing way to go to OT that I think NE was have easily won.  SO glad they recovered that onside kick though, lol.

Don't forget Blount's "bitch mode" T-shirt, and the national apology tour that followed once he remembered that he's not half the back Lynch is.  That parade was such a great example of why the Pats are so hated.  Instead of celebrating their team and their win, they opted to take every chance they could to rub it in Seattle's face.  I know Seattle is known for being brash and loudmouthed during the season but at least our parade after '13 was just a celebration between a team and its fans... with only the occasional "Bronco buster" T-shirt from the '80s showing up in the crowd 

Edited January 25, 2016 by skidmarkgn

[Matto_lsi]

Don't forget Blount's "bitch mode" T-shirt, and the ensuing national apology tour that followed once he remembered that he's not half the back Lynch is.  That parade was such a great example of why the Pats are so hated.  Instead of celebrating their team and their win, they opted to take every chance they could to rub it in Seattle's face.  I know Seattle is known for being brash and loudmouthed during the season but at least our parade after '13 was just a celebration between a team and its fans... with only the occasional "Bronco buster" T-shirt from the '80s showing up in the crowd 

 

Yeah, but the hawks in '13 actually had the right to do that, they DESTROYED the Broncos, much to my dismay.  Last year the Pats won cause of a bad offensive call.  The Hawks really should of had that one.  And while that might sting the most, being beat that way, keep in mind that 1 play decided that game.  Not much to cheer about there, at least when it comes to rubbing it in someone elses face.  At least the '13 Hawks lived up to the hype, so despite being loudmouths (well, a couple of them, not the whole team), they backed it up on the field the whole year.  The real SB, as you and me know, was the game right before that when my Niners came very close to winning in Seattle.  That was the game of the year, IMO.  But as they say, close only counts in horseshoes, lol.

[Kubanga]

Don't forget Blount's "bitch mode" T-shirt, and the ensuing national apology tour that followed once he remembered that he's not half the back Lynch is.  That parade was such a great example of why the Pats are so hated.  Instead of celebrating their team and their win, they opted to take every chance they could to rub it in Seattle's face.  I know Seattle is known for being brash and loudmouthed during the season but at least our parade after '13 was just a celebration between a team and its fans... with only the occasional "Bronco buster" T-shirt from the '80s showing up in the crowd 

Blount has always been a bitch. Even when he was playing at Oregon, he would pick fights and act like a d bag.