NFL Playoffs - Divisional Round

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

wow game over?

nah, no way.

[bhlloy]

Seattle's line is unbelievably bad. I don't think they have a shot with that unit playing like this. It also looks like they are better with Lynch off the field on passing downs at least

[whomario]

Panthers look unstoppable

[MizzouRah]

Let's make this 21-0!

[digamma]

Originally Posted by digamma

If I'm looking to bet this weekend, I'm looking at a carnival gamey bet of the Panthers in the first quarter. My guess is that line will be something like -1/2, and I like the Panthers being amped up in front of a home crowd combined with the Seahawks traveling through multiple time zones and back two weeks in a row.

Will accept gratuities.

[Easy Mac]

I guess Wilson didn't drink enough special water

[frnk55]

That little girl jumping up and down wide eyed is awesome.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Seattle's line is unbelievably bad. I don't think they have a shot with that unit playing like this. It also looks like they are better with Lynch off the field on passing downs at least

Wilson, Rawls, and Lynch have made that line look better than it is all year too. The front office bet on Tom Cable being able to make that line serviceable and he was able to do so against weaker front 7s, but when facing teams like the Cardinals, Panthers, and Rams it becomes obvious just how bad that line is.

[Thomkal]

Fox must be hating this.

[Thomkal]

It's a shame the field appears to be so bad.

[whomario]

Whoa, now we are entering F-you territory

[frnk55]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

wow game over?

Yes, now it is.

[Thomkal]

how about now radii?

[miami_fan]

Warm up the camera for the photo shoot!

[sabotai]

Geez, Carolina is curb stomping the fuck out of Seattle...

[MrBug708]

I'm hoping 51-0 happens. It won't happen to a more deserving asshat in Peter Carroll

[JonInMiddleGA]

Why oh why couldn't this actually be done by a team that was likable?

[sabotai]

Also..

Clay Matthews: NFL should 'go to college rules' in OT - NFL.com

I would fucking hate this.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

how about now radii?

Panthers vs. Giants - Game Summary - December 20, 2015 - ESPN

I'll relax in the 4th quarter... maybe :P


This is amazing though!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Also..

Clay Matthews: NFL should 'go to college rules' in OT - NFL.com

I would fucking hate this.

+1

[Radii]

That was a great tackle on 4th down. I think I would ahve taken the points if I were Seattle there.

[stevew]

This Panthers team is the most likeable team left in the playoffs. Arizona isnt too bad either. The AFC is all evil

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Radii

That was a great tackle on 4th down. I think I would ahve taken the points if I were Seattle there.

I understand what Pete was thinking there but at this point Seattle needs to make sure they're getting something out of every drive they can. It's not like it was 4th and short and they're not going to come back by coming up empty handed on good drives.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Atocep

I understand what Pete was thinking there but at this point Seattle needs to make sure they're getting something out of every drive they can. It's not like it was 4th and short and they're not going to come back by coming up empty handed on good drives.

Well they're not going to come back kicking field goals either. They put themselves into the position of having to go for it and make it to make a comeback.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by stevew

This Panthers team is the most likeable team left in the playoffs. Arizona isnt too bad either.

I'd probably argue for Arizona in that pairing on that subject. And that might be more for the reason of having been given less reason to actively dislike them.

The AFC is all evil

Manning is pretty much the last prominent player in the league I genuinely give a damn about. And Eric Berry is the reason that I draw that distinction, he's rarely going to be the focal point of a game.

I've got nothing against Megatron particularly & wish him well but for whatever reason (despite playing for a favorite college team) I never felt the emotional connection to him that I have about those other two.

[Radii]

What the hell is that run with Lynch with no timeouts?

Seattle had a legit chance to get 2 field goals on the board in the final minutes and then to get the ball back to start the second half. Make it 31-13 on 3 straight scores, and you've got some people worrying.

Instead, this. Thanks, Pete.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Radii

What the hell is that run with Lynch with no timeouts?

Seattle had a legit chance to get 2 field goals on the board in the final minutes and then to get the ball back to start the second half. Make it 31-13 on 3 straight scores, and you've got some people worrying.

Instead, this. Thanks, Pete.

Lynch ran 30 seconds off the clock by refusing to go down. Then Wilson goes over the middle with no timeouts.

It looks like Seattle is just ready to go back home at this point.

[EagleFan]

One play at a time...

(trying to stay positive)

[albionmoonlight]

I might start the drive to Charlotte now. If Seattle manages to come back, I will want to slap the smug smile off Pete Carroll's face myself.

[Alf]

WTF Carolina ?

[sabotai]

Uh-oh. UH-OH!

[EagleFan]

Time for the defense to make a play; maybe make this a game.

[Radii]

Ugh, very worried about Olsen.

[HeavyReign]

Sure could use that FG from the first half

[EagleFan]

That field goal is huge now. This could be on the verge of a one score game if they kicked it in the first half.

[EagleFan]

uh, yeah... what he said.

[Easy Mac]

They very clearly saw something from the first half with as much as they're going to kearse

[Easy Mac]

I won't say I called that one...

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

They very clearly saw something from the first half with as much as they're going to kearse

he's going against Carolina's #4 corner since they have two guys out for the year, and Carolina isn't getting pressure on Wilson consistently anymore.

[HeavyReign]

Same thing in Atlanta 3 years ago. Pete hates the FG down big but this team is so good at coming back you need to take the points.

[HeavyReign]

And also take a look at the first half of the last 3 10am Seahawks playoff games. Something like 0 to 57 in favor of the other team.

[EagleFan]

Another miracle would be nice.

[miami_fan]

Kinda cool to see the OLB on the hands team.

[Thomkal]

well turned out to be not so easy after all, but see ya in Carolina next week.

[Radii]

whew. Again, thanks Pete for your idiotic decisions to end the first half. Good game, Seahawks fans.

[HeavyReign]

Can actually say I think I'd prefer Carolina to win of the remaining options. For Seattle I can't question the team's heart. There's a reason they haven't been blown out in years. Need some better starts on the road though. Last 4 road games we got 0-14, 0-20, 0-9, 0-31. Today was the only time they didn't take the lead or win. Stupid FG. 0-16 start at home versus Green Bay too.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by stevew

This Panthers team is the most likeable team left in the playoffs. Arizona isnt too bad either. The AFC is all evil

I am all in on the NFC teams.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

So, a side note here.

Two years ago, thogh it seems liek longer, we were watching the AFC playoffs with total awe. The Peyton Offense in Denver was a remarkable juggernaut (seriously, if you don't remember how awesome they were, I'll wait while you go check).

Meanwhile, scrappy New England was dealing with some manner of weird injuries and so forth (I honestly don't recall the details) - but they managed to advance in the playoffs and face Denver. Denver was a heavy favorite, but at the time I felt like there was a really intriguing subcurrent there.

Peyton Manning had already put himself into the elite tier of all time QBs, but always had the knock that he didn't deliver mightily in the postseason. Brady was the golden boy who did, despite not having the gaudy stats by and large. At the time, most people had those two guys pegged very close to one another in that barroom GOAT conversation. A healthy two-way debate. I would have taken Manning's side at one barstool, personally.

In the 2013-14 playoffs, the fascinating under-appreciated story was actually about Brady. WHAT IF Brady, with seemingly nothing around him, somehow engineered an upset of the might Broncos and went on to win yet another title? With what he had around him, I think that would have been a monstrous upset, and a remarkable entry into that GOAT convration. Maybe enough to put him into the driver's seat and forever separate him from Manning.

But with TWO different quarterbacks playing for major GOAT credentials at the same time - that seemed like a great moment. And it was obscured a bit by the totally amazeballs season that Team Peyton had assembled, and how he was the one going after history (win with two teams, greatest QB season ever, etc).

...

Any, fast forward to now. Brady is not even the MVP, but has clearly emerged as the top gun here, and a now-healthy Patriots team looks to go back to back. We are again talking about another entry into the GOAT conversation, but it's all about Brady. And deservedly so, right? Thy win out here, and he probably becomes the top guy on the consensus list for now and for 25 years from now.

But...let's not overlook Manning now. The storyline here, deservedly so, has been that the team has excelled around him, an even despite him this year. He is not his old self, and their judgment to get him back into the lineup is even questionable, given his obvious limitations.

But we again have a crazy and delicious WHAT IF, don't we? WHAT IF Denver wins this week, and gets to play against the golden boy and the (surely) favored Patriots? And WHAT IF Peyton plays well and really contributes to a win? Not a 400 yard passing game, necessarily, but what if he is throwing precision passes and calling all his audibles, and makes a signature gritty/clutch play or two? And they go on to win it all with him playing well?

What, then? The biggest Manning detractors are the anti-clutch types. But a title here with him at the helm, almost regardless of how much he contributes, would have to help his legacy a ton (think John Elway, who suddenly became a talented game manager handing off to Terrell Davis and forever escaped a psychological near-tie with Jim Kelly in the GOAT conversation). But if Manning actually WINS one of these games with the big play at the end or somesuch... what then?

You don't get this a lot. We saw it with Federer and Nadal in tennis, perhaps. No other recent examples come right to mind for me. Two guys, already cemented as legends, simultaneously battling for their exact place in history among the very to echelon of their shared set.

Brady seemed to put it to be last year with a great comeback season and improbable title. Maning seems done. But how fascinating would it be to see the tables turned here?

I'm not calling it. Hardly anyone is. If anything, we see Von Miller with a sack-strip-fumble-six as the face of any sort of Denver title run this year. But
I'm just saying...this sort of thing doesn't even come together on paper very often. It's usually only in your backyard, when you're making shit up as you go.

Great, great post QS.

I'll just add that:

Assuming that game happens, for once during this "rivalry" Manning will feel like the disrespected player. Brady gets uses people disrespecting him to fuel his RAGE. If the story all week is NE being favored and everyone kicking the corpse of Manning?

How many times did the Patriots have a superior defense to the Colts and used it to turn the game ugly and win it? That's what Denver would attempt to do against the Patriots.

If it comes about, it will be fascinating to see.

[stevew]

Is anyone else's game in Spanish?

[RedKingGold]

Originally Posted by stevew

Is anyone else's game in Spanish?

Nope, I have Phil Simms but would happily switch with you.