Wild Card Weekend game thread

Ale Xander

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I'm fairly certain that after taking a 27-0 lead Ekeler had a total of 6 touches and a few additional targets that were incomplete. Granted he didn't do much with those touches but short of turning it over I'm fairly certain you could have handed it off to him 15 times and won fairly easily.
If they just handed it off to him on 3rd and one they would have won
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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I know there is a generation that doesn’t even know that the two point play hasn’t always been in the game, but it has not always been that way. Tagliabue actually faced some resistance. But it is one little change that was so huge. It looms so large in all these great games that we remember. Even in games where one is not converted, just the prospect of a two point conversion affects so much.
 

OurF'ingCity

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One thing this game makes clear is that the AFC was absolute trash this year. This Chargers team was the fourth best team in the conference record-wise.
 

jon abbey

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One thing this game makes clear is that the AFC was absolute trash this year. This Chargers team was the fourth best team in the conference record-wise.
But the top 3 seem to be 3 of the top 4 teams with SF.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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IOW equal opportunity shitty reffing.
Yeah, that’s the secret I guess. Even it out.

Two biggest plays in the second half were to no catch called a catch and the roughing the passer. Those were as big if not bigger than an offside call. You can criticize Pederson for not challenging butThe refs still gave the Chargers a free 20 yards in a ball that was not caught. And they still only managed three points in the half
 

AB in DC

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I'm fairly certain that after taking a 27-0 lead Ekeler had a total of 6 touches and a few additional targets that were incomplete. Granted he didn't do much with those touches but short of turning it over I'm fairly certain you could have handed it off to him 15 times and won fairly easily.
If I read the PBP correctly, Ekeler in the second half:
5 carries, 0 yards
2 targets, 1 catch 4 yards.
 

Cellar-Door

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One thing this game makes clear is that the AFC was absolute trash this year. This Chargers team was the fourth best team in the conference record-wise.
They're a weird team, ton of injuries, particularly on offense.

Have to think this game goes differently if....
1. Staley doesn't play his star WR Mike Williams in a meaningless week 19 game and lose him to a back injury.
2. Dresses more than 4 WRs for his game, so when one of them gets hurt he can't even run a bunch of stuff.
3. Their LT (already a backup) doesn't get hurt in-game.
 

j44thor

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One thing this game makes clear is that the AFC was absolute trash this year. This Chargers team was the fourth best team in the conference record-wise.
You do realize the NFC 3rd seed Vikings had a -3 point differential and the entire NFC South had a minus point differential yes?
I'll be very surprised if the NFC wins the SB this year, I'd give a significant edge to CIN/BUF/KC over the NFC field.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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3:18 left in the first half. 4th and 2 at the JAX 36. Down 27-0. Chargers getting possession plus getting the second half kick off. Pederson punted.

One of those decisions that may or may not be correct analytically. And one that will probably be forgotten. But he made a potentially game saving call.
 

j44thor

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If I read the PBP correctly, Ekeler in the second half:
5 carries, 0 yards
2 targets, 1 catch 4 yards.
Yes he didn't do much but when you are up 27 all you need to do is beat the clock not yourself. I'd wager he would break a run or two to kill some clock. My $$ was on Jax so I'm glad they didn't just pointing out that not using a top 3 RB more than 6 times up 27 is probably not an ideal strategy.
 

AB in DC

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All they really needed was for the defense to make a stop. Just one.

Four drives, four scores in the second half by Jax. Five for five counting the last possession in the first half.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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All they really needed was for the defense to make a stop. Just one.

Four drives, four scores in the second half by Jax. Five for five counting the last possession in the first half.
You want to hear a crazy stat. For their last five drives of the game, the Jags average starting position was the 29.4 yard line. They scored four TDs and one FG. They gained 335 yards.

On all five drives combined they were 2 for 4 on third down conversions.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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From the stadium, I told you after the 3rd and 1 trickery the Jags were going to win.

Fun game to attend and not give a shit.
Nice! I was thinking that must have been a great atmosphere. I've been to my fair share of live Patriots and Red Sox hype moments, but love when a stadium or fanbase not used to it can go freaking bananas.
 

E5 Yaz

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espn: The last time a team turned the ball over five times in the first half of a playoff game was in the 1999 divisional playoffs -- the Miami Dolphins did it against the Jaguars on this same field. The Jaguars won that game 62-7 and sent Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino into retirement.
 

rodderick

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I don't love the whole "just run the ball!!!" argument. It's not how the Chargers have moved the ball all year. Their issue was not executing in the passing game, they put a single TD drive together there and the game is done. Not to mention it was a two score game with 5:11 to go in the third quarter, they should have just killed clock for the remaining 20 minutes hoping there wouldn't be enough time for the Jaguars to piece together two drives? Because there would be. I don't think they're scoring with a run heavy approach.

My guess is they start leaning on Ekeler in the second half and we're killing Staley for taking the ball out of Herbert's hands and coaching scared.
 

johnmd20

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I'm fairly certain that after taking a 27-0 lead Ekeler had a total of 6 touches and a few additional targets that were incomplete. Granted he didn't do much with those touches but short of turning it over I'm fairly certain you could have handed it off to him 15 times and won fairly easily.
If you have the chance to get Michael Bandy get the ball, you HAVE to get Michael Bandy get the ball. What's the point of getting the ball to one of the best pass catching running backs in the game?

I was saying this for the entire 2nd half.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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View: https://twitter.com/cbssports/status/1614483513603940353?s=46&t=IRJzvCE0DeDY7NmKfq0afA

The Chargers have not advanced past the Divisional Round of the postseason since 2007

Reminds me of the Twins
Nice to see Staley paying homage to the great failed teams of Chargers’ past. Young people dont

Nice clip of showing how the key run was informed by a run in week 3 View: https://twitter.com/BenjaminSolak/status/1614491341513281536


Staley went Nickel against the 1 WR, 3TE look in short yardage, got obliterated for a TD. Today he left in LBs, but Pederson still got basically what he wanted.... his RB 1v1 with Asante Samuel Jr.
Meyer to Pederson must be one of the biggest coaching upgrades in the league in recent years.

Wrong. It does get much worse than that.

Picking up pennies in front of a steamroller.

View: https://twitter.com/br_betting/status/1614491073153306625
Is this an heir or something? Money laundering? An r/wallstreetbets regular? I can’t fathom someone having actually earned that kind of throwing-around-money being reckless and stupid enough to do this for a return that is barely better than a regular savings account.
 
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RobertS975

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This 3rd string QB has won 6 starts in a row (surrounded by a great staff but still). The team has the # 1 defense in the NFL by many meaures. The team has vaulted to # 1 in several rankngs.
While it´s true the Seahwaks don´t have the starpower they used to have, this is still a classic rivalry.

Many matchups in WC weekend tend to be lopsided because there is an extra team, so #6 and #7 are facing very good to great teams. But this has got to be a very bad slot.

Anyhow I know I am mostly complaining for me. I'll watch what I can after sundown.
Not knowing the "rules" as well as I should, couldn't you simply record the game? I usually do that anyway, allowing me to speed through all first half commercials and injuries.
 

steveluck7

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Nice to see Staley paying homage to the great failed teams of Chargers’ past. Young people dont



Meyer to Pederson must be one of the biggest coaching upgrades in the league in recent years.



Is this an heir or something? Money laundering? I can’t fathom someone having actually earned that kind of throwing-around-money being reckless and stupid enough to do this for a return that is barely better than a regular savings account.
We were watching the game and at 27-0 I said “The Jags are gonna win and we’re gonna see stuff on Twitter about idiots losing crazy money live betting the Chargers.”

I was so confident I put a whopping $2 on the Jags at +2800. made me a cool $56 haha
 

bankshot1

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I had Jax and the points and at 27-0, said "fuck it, Trevor is not ready for primetime" and switched to the Celts watched them battle back from a decent deficit, and then watched a real fun old-timey feeling movie, Knives Out, (but kept an eye on the score) just in case.

At 30-20 with Jax driving, I paused the movie and enjoyed the Chargers being the Chargers for the remaining minutes of the game.

And then resumed Knives Out.

Fun movie.

Fun night.

But I kept on thinking Craig's inscrutable detective should have been named Charles Chandler.

In any case, I suspect Chargers fans may also have Knives Out after that epic collapse.
 

B H Kim

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We were watching the game and at 27-0 I said “The Jags are gonna win and we’re gonna see stuff on Twitter about idiots losing crazy money live betting the Chargers.”

I was so confident I put a whopping $2 on the Jags at +2800. made me a cool $56 haha
You got better odds than I did with my Jags bet when it was 27-0.

60113
 

nattysez

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I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's too bad Michaels was on this call. He was almost deadpan during most of the comeback and sounded disappointed at the end. He spent all year whining about the quality of games he had to call, then has a classic on front of him and he blows it. This is especially apparent on the highlights packages.
 

bankshot1

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I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's too bad Michaels was on this call. He was almost deadpan during most of the comeback and sounded disappointed at the end. He spent all year whining about the quality of games he had to call, then has a classic on front of him and he blows it. This is especially apparent on the highlights packages.
Maybe he played down to his partner.

Imo Dungy was brutal, flat and added almost nothing of interest. He seemed bored and slow. And the sound of his voice puts me on edge.
 

Oil Can Dan

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I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's too bad Michaels was on this call. He was almost deadpan during most of the comeback and sounded disappointed at the end. He spent all year whining about the quality of games he had to call, then has a classic on front of him and he blows it. This is especially apparent on the highlights packages.
Michaels is cooked.
 

trekfan55

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Not knowing the "rules" as well as I should, couldn't you simply record the game? I usually do that anyway, allowing me to speed through all first half commercials and injuries.
The cable cokoany ovet here is wonky and does not offer DVR, has not for a while.

And in either case I would knownthe results.

I will try and catch it on rebroadcast or something.

BTW I believe it can be recorded.
 

j44thor

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I don't love the whole "just run the ball!!!" argument. It's not how the Chargers have moved the ball all year. Their issue was not executing in the passing game, they put a single TD drive together there and the game is done. Not to mention it was a two score game with 5:11 to go in the third quarter, they should have just killed clock for the remaining 20 minutes hoping there wouldn't be enough time for the Jaguars to piece together two drives? Because there would be. I don't think they're scoring with a run heavy approach.

My guess is they start leaning on Ekeler in the second half and we're killing Staley for taking the ball out of Herbert's hands and coaching scared.
I was focused more on the 6 total touches including targets Ekeler had once the LAC went up 27-0. I agree they probably couldn't have just ran it but get the ball into your best players hands especially when you are down to 2 WRs which was much of the game once Carter got hurt.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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I wonder if that guy was watching his 1.4 mil disappear at the sports book which is already a miserable place to watch because half the people there are gambler angry.
 

tims4wins

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The Chargers could have run it a few more times, but it was a similar story as 28-3 where they had some negative plays and got behind schedule so they kind of had to throw more.
 

8slim

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I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's too bad Michaels was on this call. He was almost deadpan during most of the comeback and sounded disappointed at the end. He spent all year whining about the quality of games he had to call, then has a classic on front of him and he blows it. This is especially apparent on the highlights packages.
He definitely gave off a 2001 Summerall vibe on that last Jags drive. The guy who is noted for the making most famous winning call of all time was remarkably flat.
 

johnmd20

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Maybe he played down to his partner.

Imo Dungy was brutal, flat and added almost nothing of interest. He seemed bored and slow. And the sound of his voice puts me on edge.
He was unequivocally awful. He brought down the entire show and murdered any joy of the job Al Michaels ever had. Just a truly brutal booth for a historic game. Dungy gets an F. But it's worse than an F. He gets a 0. Michaels gets a D-.

Anyway, I am absolutely in SHOCK that Staley isn't fired yet. At some point you have to send a message from ownership. And the Chargers are just like, "We're reviewing our options." The only option is to get rid of Brandon. It was a flawless performance by him, if the goal is to lose in the worst way possible.
 

Marciano490

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Feels like Chargers are on their second decade of shitty coaching. Even those stacked Rivers, LDT, Merriman teams would find ways to screw up in the playoffs, well plus Tom Brady.
 

johnmd20

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The Chargers could have run it a few more times, but it was a similar story as 28-3 where they had some negative plays and got behind schedule so they kind of had to throw more.
Ekeler had 2 catches for 8 yards. He had 107 receptions this year. And Mike Williams was out. And the Chargers were like, "Nah, let's use this Michael Bandy fellow, he's got promise, especially on an important 3rd and 1 play."

NFL coaches are hilarious when it comes to not using their best players. It is such a stupid and weird flex.

Do you know why Brock Purdy is basically Tom Brady but more handsome? He gets the ball to Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Christian McCaffrey. Turns out, using your best players is a good strategy. Yesterday Palmer, McKitty(who?) Parham, and Carter had as many or more receptions as Austin Ekeler. Austin Ekeler is in the running for offensive player of the year.

Josh Kelley had more than twice as many carries as Ekeler too. I am truly gobsmacked at this. How does this happen?