American Football lounge

[blocho]

Well, that Bills-Colts game was some high drama. I hope all the playoff games are like that.

[tirefeet]

With Rivers, it's one of the two; a hard-earned victory or a crushing defeat. Bills win their first postseason game in 25 years and move on.

[sebby]

Could see this coming a mile away for the Seahawks. Complete fugazi team all year. Pete's time is close to up, or at least should be.

[blocho]

Could see this coming a mile away for the Seahawks. Complete fugazi team all year. Pete's time is close to up, or at least should be.

I did not think they were a fugazi team. So they fooled me, although I can't rule out the possibility that the Rams are just better than we think (even with a thumbless quarterback leading the offense). I also have to point out that Carroll, who I find immensely annoying and self-satisfied, has a 112-63-1 record in Seattle and has recorded nine straight winning seasons. A lot of credit must go to the front office, but based on those results alone, it seems that Carroll is pretty good at what he does.

[blocho]

I don't know about all of you, but I totally jumped on the Taylor Heinicke bandwagon tonight. He was the fourth-string QB for Washington this season. Two months ago, he was taking calculus classes at Old Dominion. Now, he looks to me like the leading candidate for starting QB for Washington next year.

Eleven months ago, Heinicke couldn't even win a starting job in the XFL. Tonight he was a THREAT. Quarterback play in the NFL no longer makes any sense.

[maxwelldeux]

I don't know about all of you, but I totally jumped on the Taylor Heinicke bandwagon tonight. He was the fourth-string QB for Washington this season. Two months ago, he was taking calculus classes at Old Dominion. Now, he looks to me like the leading candidate for starting QB for Washington next year.

Eleven months ago, Heinicke couldn't even win a starting job in the XFL. Tonight he was a THREAT. Quarterback play in the NFL no longer makes any sense.

Yeah - he surprised me tonight. Being able to put up a performance like that in the playoffs was impressive as hell. Losing to Tom Brady in a playoff game when you weren't even supposed to make the team is awesome. Keeping it close and threatening is almost otherworldly.

[GruesomeTwosome]

I don't know about all of you, but I totally jumped on the Taylor Heinicke bandwagon tonight. He was the fourth-string QB for Washington this season. Two months ago, he was taking calculus classes at Old Dominion. Now, he looks to me like the leading candidate for starting QB for Washington next year.

Eleven months ago, Heinicke couldn't even win a starting job in the XFL. Tonight he was a THREAT. Quarterback play in the NFL no longer makes any sense.

I dunno, nice performance tonight but I’d be cautious about any proclamations; I kinda smell another Minshew-mania type situation.

[GruesomeTwosome]

I think the Titans will do like last year and beat the Ravens again, making Lamar Jackson 0-3 in the playoffs. Otherwise I think the favored teams win in the other games (Saints over Bears and Steelers over Browns). I probably would have liked the Browns to win if their best lineman and head coach weren’t gonna miss the game. Would love to see the Browns win though.

[blocho]

I dunno, nice performance tonight but I’d be cautious about any proclamations; I kinda smell another Minshew-mania type situation.

You write that like Minshew Mania is a bad thing. Don't get me wrong -- Minshew himself is not a good quarterback. But I greatly enjoyed Minshew Mania. Then again, I'm not a Jaguars fan.

I guess I just find it funny to see a long-suffering fan base develop totally unwarranted hopes for a quarterback based on little evidence. I remember the Eagles cycling through Bobby Hoying, Rodney Peete, and both Detmer Brothers (Ty and Koy) during two years in the 90s, and each time it seemed the Eagles fans were ready to declare the new quarterback was the savior. Jets fans have often done the same -- I remember when some were convinced that Greg McElroy was going to save the franchise.

[GruesomeTwosome]

Nah, I’m not saying it was bad to find Minshew Mania “fun” when he came on the scene in 2019, I was referring solely to his actual viability as a good starting QB (which he turned out not to be), and applying that to Heinicke this time around. No problem in finding him fun to watch, of course.

Thankfully for me, a lot of those flash-in-the-pan ‘90s Eagles quarterbacks came before I really paid attention to/cared about football, I was a little kid for those years. Though I have some memory of Bobby Hoying...yikes, can’t believe anyone thought he was gonna be something.

[blocho]

This was the moment in my youth when I realized that Philly had some quarterback issues:


Anyway, tough games to pick today. Yesterday, it felt easy to pick the three favorites. Today, only New Orleans-Chicago feels like an easy game to pick, and even then I'm hesitant because picking the Saints in the playoffs is always shaky.

[Knaldskalle]

I don't know about all of you, but I totally jumped on the Taylor Heinicke bandwagon tonight. He was the fourth-string QB for Washington this season. Two months ago, he was taking calculus classes at Old Dominion. Now, he looks to me like the leading candidate for starting QB for Washington next year.

Eleven months ago, Heinicke couldn't even win a starting job in the XFL. Tonight he was a THREAT. Quarterback play in the NFL no longer makes any sense.

There was some buzz surrounding him when he was a backup in Minnesota, but then he decided to kick in a glass door and was cut, both literally and figuratively. Arm like a cannon, so-so in the decision-making dept.

[blocho]

There was some buzz surrounding him when he was a backup in Minnesota, but then he decided to kick in a glass door and was cut, both literally and figuratively. Arm like a cannon, so-so in the decision-making dept.

The more I learn about Heinicke, the more I'm flabbergasted that I had never heard of him before (that's not entirely true -- I vaguely remember he played a couple of games for the Panthers a few years back, but basically I knew nothing about him).

Here's the glass door story. He locked himself out of an apartment by accident and kicked in the door and severed a tendon.

Here's Heinicke going insane after an XFL game in which he was the backup!

And nine years ago, Heinicke set the record for most passing yards in a division 1 game -- 730 on 79 passes attempted in a 64-61 Old Dominion victory over New Hampshire.

[tirefeet]

Espn coverage is abysmal as usual. Commentator calls intentional grounding after Tannehill completes a pass after a play-action as the referee throws a flag for roughing the passer.

[blocho]

Espn coverage is abysmal as usual. Commentator calls intentional grounding after Tannehill completes a pass after a play-action as the referee throws a flag for roughing the passer.

I noticed that. Imagine saying intentional grounding on a play that ended with a completed pass. Still, it's just a random brain fart. Happens to the best of us. It's the stuff that announcers say intentionally, repeatedly that make football the worst announced sport.

[blocho]

The most cowardly punt of this football season. The previous most cowardly punt of this season was also by the Titans.

[tirefeet]

Haha, I just ran into that Twitter feed ^^ "cowardly punt", interesting concept.

[blocho]

Haha, I just ran into that Twitter feed ^^ "cowardly punt", interesting concept.

It all comes from this video:


I feel like I've referenced Jon Bois' videos a dozen times already in this thread.

[tirefeet]

Will check it out, I wonder if the statistic accounts for the rushing prowess. Colts went for it a lot on 4th & short situations this season and utilized Brissett effectively in that role.

[blocho]

Will check it out, I wonder if the statistic accounts for the rushing prowess. Colts went for it a lot on 4th & short situations this season and utilized Brissett effectively in that role.

They also used Brissett a few times in hail mary situations. And then when the colts needed a hail mary yesterday, they left in Philip Rivers, who we quickly learned can't throw the ball more than 50 yards.

[tirefeet]

Pin that on Reich, who wasted a timeout on a fruitless challenge and the offense had to operate like a headless chicken running around, devising plays on the get go with no timeouts available in the last two minutes. I saw a comment on Twitter that made me chuckle which posed the question if Rivers would be able to run the field and spike it in time had he executed a long play.

[blocho]

So, apparently Nickelodeon is also broadcasting this game. Children's TV must have gotten weird.

[blocho]

Steelers-Browns is about to begin. I see that even more players are out with Covid than initially anticipated. I remember that the Browns have a -11 point differential this season. I conclude that the Browns will lose. And two seconds later, the Steelers decide to re-enact the first play of the 2014 Super Bowl.

[blocho]

And now a pick! These Steelers really are this year's version of the 2019 Patriots.

By the way, before that garbage time touchdown in the last minute of the Saints-Bears game, these were the yardage totals: New Orleans 385, Chicago 140.

[sebby]

When ranking the best playoff teams of all-time, the '85 Bears are probably at the top of the heap.

When ranking the worst playoff teams of all-time, the '20 Bears are probably at the bottom. I can't remember watching a team that felt so out of place in the postseason. Shame on the Saints for not winning by 40. Really hope they do a full rebuild and/or go after Watson if he demands a trade.

[GruesomeTwosome]

Crazy start to Browns-Steelers...literally EVERYTHING going right for Cleveland, EVERYTHING going wrong for Pittsburgh. Lovin’ it.

[blocho]

Browns are up 21-0 after ten minutes. This leads to the inevitable question: Is Kevin Stefanski bad at coaching? Maybe without him, the Browns are the best team in the league.

[blocho]

The Browns are experiencing in one quarter all the football glory they missed over the past 20 years.

[blocho]

This is a wild game. Many turnovers. Many huge plays. Multiple achingly stupid punts.

Roethlisberger could break the record for both completions and pass attempts in a game. He's already broken the record for attempts in a playoff game.

[GruesomeTwosome]

Oof, yet another Big Ben pick, and that should seal it...

[blocho]

Roethlisberger sets the all time record for completions in a game. His final stat line is very Blanda-esque: 47-for-68, 501 yards, 4 touchdowns, 4 interceptions.

The Browns win their first playoff game since beating the Patriots in 1994. Oddly enough, I remember watching that game. Probably the second or third NFL game I ever saw.

Also, the 48-37 final score is a Scorigami!

[maxwelldeux]

Browns are up 21-0 after ten minutes. This leads to the inevitable question: Is Kevin Stefanski bad at coaching? Maybe without him, the Browns are the best team in the league.

I took a break to shower and putter around, missing the first quarter. I turn on the game and it was 28-0... Browns? What?

[GruesomeTwosome]

Doug Pederson was fired...damn, the Eagles front office is sending all kinds of mixed signals lately, after several reports from team sources had indicated that Doug would be back. Obviously something changed in the last couple days. Seems that Wentz was the key here: it was either Pederson stays and Wentz is traded, or Wentz stays and Pederson is out, and clearly it turned out to be the latter. The Eagles job doesn’t look very appealing right now; I have no idea what kind of coaches they’ll go after, and more importantly, which ones will be interested. There’s a dearth of young talent on this team, with a lot of key guys that are on the older side. Big fall from the Super Bowl year.

[blocho]

I'm surprised by the Pederson firing. I don't see the rationale.

The Eagles played with the most injured roster other than SF this year. Travis Fulgham was their leading receiver for much of the season. Pederson was coming off three playoff seasons and a Super Bowl. And he dedicated week 17 entirely to trolling the Giants, which is something I think Philly appreciated.

[blocho]

Should be a great weekend of football.

The Rams have me nervous. A weird team. They lost to the Jets four weeks ago. Lost to the Seahawks three weeks ago. Barely edged the Cardinals two weeks ago. And then made the Seahawks look like amateurs last week. The Rams defense is scary. Unlike last year, though, when I regularly predicted the Packers' doom, I feel good about this game. This is the best Packers team since 2014. Still, I see three weaknesses:
- Mediocre and mostly untested run defense.
- The offense only works if Rodgers is protected, which will be harder than ever with two missing offensive line starters playing against a good Rams defensive line.
- Bad special teams.

Any one of those could lead to a loss. Still, the Rams have their own problems, and the health of Aaron Donald and Jared Goff will be key this weekend.

[kongs_speech]

Super excited for my team's new hire. Urban made a mistake at Ohio State and it cost him his job there, perhaps rightfully so, but he's a proven winner and the Jags desperately need that. Between him and Trevor Lawrence, we might not be total shit in the future. Maybe.

[sebby]

He was also extremely toxic at Florida. And has conveniently cited "health reasons" multiple times now to move on from coaching gigs when he has something better in his sights. All in all he seems like a diva and a bit of a piece of shit, but obviously a very good football coach. To be honest the number of football coaches that don't seems like pieces of shit is generally just pretty low, especially at the college level.

[Knaldskalle]

Don't most college coaches fail in the NFL? I seem to remember Nick Saban running back to the NCAA and Chip Whathisname only lasted a few years as well. Pete Carroll is the only one I can immediately think of who succeeded after coming from USC.

[blocho]

Don't most college coaches fail in the NFL? I seem to remember Nick Saban running back to the NCAA and Chip Whathisname only lasted a few years as well. Pete Carroll is the only one I can immediately think of who succeeded after coming from USC.

Yeah, it's not a good record in recent decades. Saban, Bobby Petrino, Chip Kelly, Steve Spurrier, Greg Schiano, Butch Davis, Dennis Erickson. Pete Carroll has done very well, but he was a two-time NFL head coach before he coached in college. The last college coach without previous NFL experience who was a clear NFL success was Jimmy Johnson.

[GruesomeTwosome]

Predictions for this weekend:

Packers over Rams (still banking on Goff’s thumb being gimpy)

Ravens over Bills (really tough call and I really WANT the Bills to win, but for whatever reason I feel like Lamar’s running ability will be a deciding factor)

Saints over Bucs (think it will be closer than their two regular season match-ups, but the Saints dominated both those games so it’s hard not to pick them. Also, fuck Brady)

Chiefs over Browns (because, I mean, come on. But I’d love to see the Browns make a game of it and if they somehow upset the Chiefs that would be pretty awesome)