Wildcard Gamethread
- Thread starter Dogman
- Start date
With my luck, I'd get the verbs and nouns scrambled in that.mabrowndog said:
No, my luck is fine.
Of course the only reason that guy got close is that he was way offsides. It was called and declined
I will say in spots like that SF 3rd and 7 I don't think defenses play aggressively enough. Getting beat for a TD isn't that much worse than giving up ten yards. Should be bringing lots of blitzes and lots of aggressive man coverage. After that first down happens they should be selling out to shoot gaps and bring inside runs down for losses. I don't think there was a play to let SF score there but you can play uber aggressive
I think that's actually exactly what GB did there. The problem is that with a running QB, when you blitz are in man coverage, if he gets by the first wave, it's basically an automatic 10 yard run.Stitch01 said:
I agree with the uber aggressive strategy generally in those situations, but selling out on the edge with no one spying Kap may not have been the best way to prevent a 7 yard play in that situation. At minimum, you have to coach the blitzing players to not get stuck inside and lose contain (though maybe they did and Bush just messed up)
SMU_Sox said:
I was picking against the spread. 6.5 is a big spread in a playoff game, especially for a Marvin Lewis/Andy Dalton team. SD has scored 26+ points in 5 of their last 6, so I figured they could certainly score in the low 20's/High teens. At that point, it came down to how much I thought a Lewis/Dalton team would score.
My conclusion was obvious.
Not much.
Stitch, I wouldn't have had an issue with that either. Send all 11 men, and if you start knocking them backwards, great. If you don't and they break through and score, so be it. Either way, these decisions have to be made at the 2/3 minute mark, and not when the opposing team has already reached the red zone and there is a minute left. You simply have to know whether or not your team has a chance to stop them from doing what they want, and clearly, GB couldn't. We have a word for doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, and that's what McCarthy did tonight and Kelly did yesterday. The result was...the same.
Truthfully, I was pretty confident in all 3 games leading up to the GB/SF game. I flip flopped on the 2.5 point line for a while and was pretty close to taking GB. Seeing the way the game ended, I guess I had a reason to flip flop.
At the 2/3 minute mark the obvious play was trying to stop the 49ers since they weren't in field goal range. And it almost worked. It's not like SF was scoring at will all night.Deathofthebambino said:
Your narrative has merit in some cases, but tonight truthfully is just not a good example. You're trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
I like Lewis. But he has been the coach for 11 years and never won a playoff game. That's enough right there. Give him the Andy Reid treatment. Wouldn't shock me at all if another team picked him up. Change of scenery may be best for all parties.Super Nomario said:
There's also enough talent in Cinci to make that an attractive job too.
This is still the creepiest thing ever.
Even on the day Old Spice drops their Oedipal commercial?
Even on the day Old Spice drops their Oedipal commercial?
Look, you fire the guy for a lot of reasons not just this game. I think it's time in Cincinnati. That's an amazing team when healthy. Maybe get a QB guy who can work with Dalton? You need a healthier team and a more consistent Dalton and you'd be a top AFC squad.
The biggest shock for me this weekend was how poor the Bengals offensive line played. Besides Ingram who has a very limited pro resume, SD has a weak front seven on defense. Not making excuses for Dalton but his line is good and got whipped by a no name group.
They're down by 2 scores relatively late in the 4th quarter and they are just trying to stuff the ball up the middle. Teams like the Bengals don't have one specific problem. You can't blame it on just the coach or just the QB. Some teams play to win and some play to not lose. I think the Bengals play trying not to lose. That's their problem.
Maybe Lewis' body of work deserves a firing, but I don't think today's loss had much to do with him. I don't think Dalton's salvageable. What is he good at? He's not particularly accurate. He doesn't have a big arm. He throws too many picks. He's a decent runner but not RGIII-level. This year they used their first two picks on weapons for him and he didn't really improve. I think it's time to cut bait. Maybe you pull a Freeman / Glennon next year and use a later pick to give Dalton competition, but they can't just hand him the job again.SMU_Sox said:
Did you think so? They ran the ball OK (4.5 YPC) and Dalton only got sacked three times. They moved the ball pretty consistently; they just screwed themselves with turnovers.ShaneTrot said:
Well, if you're trying not to lose, turning the ball over four times is a pretty bad tactic.RogueSquad22 said:
Super Nomario said:
I'd like to see the pressure counts because I got the impression that the O-line got dominated the entire game.
SN, I think the Bengals should have thrown them around. The SD defense seemed to be in Dalton's face all day.
There's two types of quarterbacks in this league. Those who fall on their face and drop the ball in a playoff game without anyone touching them. And the other guys.
He has a hot girlfriend. I saw her on Hard Knocks.Super Nomario said:
Edit: Never mind that was Tannehill's GF
Super Nomario said:
I'll be interested to see where he goes from here. I can see both sides of the argument on Dalton.
On one hand, some great QBs struggled in their first few seasons. Peyton Manning threw an average of 20 INT/year over his first 4 seasons and didn't win a playoff game until his 6th season in the league. Drew Brees didn't throw that many picks, but he was a .500 QB with the Chargers (30-28 W-L) and also didn't win a playoff game until his 6th season.
On the other hand, most QBs who struggle with INTs and lose playoff games in their first few years don't turn into Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.
Manning didn't throw a lot of INT's, but his first 3 playoff games:dynomite said:
1999 19-42, 227 YD, 0 TD, (0 INT)
2000 17-32, 194 YD, 1 TD, (0 INT)
2002 (41-0 trouncing), 14-31, 137 YD, 0 TD, 2 INT. QBR 31.2
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MannPe00/gamelog//
It should be also noted, that in the year that shall not be mentioned, when he got the ring (thanks, Lovie and Rashad Baker), he went 3 TD, 7 INT that playoff year.
Manning threw a lot of picks his first and fourth season, but he made the Pro Bowl his second and third. I don't think there's any comparison between him and Dalton.dynomite said:
Brees is a reasonable parallel, though as you note, there are probably 50 guys who don't turn into Brees for every one who does. I'm not sure Dalton's one of the 20 best QBs in the league, and he's really holding that team back IMO.
What if KC had kneeled on every play in second half after going up by 28?
http://www.advancednflstats.com/2014/01/what-if-kc-had-just-kneeled-out-2nd-half.html?m=1
Oh, and the requisite fan meltdown after his team loses:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgYHh__aWRA
http://www.advancednflstats.com/2014/01/what-if-kc-had-just-kneeled-out-2nd-half.html?m=1
Oh, and the requisite fan meltdown after his team loses:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgYHh__aWRA