Football (american football to those across the pond!)

[Grimward]

I think everyone here would agree with you that it should be called no matter who it is, but the reality is that there are those who get the calls and others who don't. What can one say? The video also shows that Adams didn't intentionally do it, and if the refs considered it incidental, it's not a penalty. Don't get me wrong; I didn't like the game ending that way, either, but the rule change has been around for 2 years now....

[Weasel Soup]

I'm not comfortable talking about it yet the facemask was nothing, the deliberate helmet to helmet was infuriating...... however Rogers tried to chip the keeper and blew it.

My pessimism was correct, but to quote Cubs fans there is always next year.

Sad.

[Rothgar]

I'm not intending to be argumentative Grim but I think it could be said that the players grab facemasks unintentionally most of the time. But like you say the rules are what they are. It was just very frustrating to end the game that way. I'll have to look to next season.

[Weasel Soup]

Roth, as a long time and former player of sport, you always know when you do something wrong.

12 years one yellow card. Central defense.

We know

[Grimward]

You're right, Wease; that helmet-to-helmet was pretty bad. And I agree, Rothgar; never want to lose a game (much less one you battled from so far back in) that way. Oddly, despite the comments about the rules favoring the offense, in that game, at least, the defense was getting the calls (or lack thereof!).

My condolences to both of you. At least you finished much better than the Skins!

[Culhwch]

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it should matter who the player is either. In another game on another day with another ref, it gets called. Whether it should or not - intention is so subjective. If the 'victim' is at risk of injury, I think it should be fifteen yards every time. If ti's incidental, not so much. But it's never good when a win (or a loss) comes down to such a thing. If Green Bay's defence gets a couple more stops it never gets to overtime. If Rackers nails the chip, it never gets to overtime. If Rodgers hits Jennings in the clear one play before, Green Bay win. These are the reasons why we love sport.

Incidentally, I should probably apologise to the fans of all the teams I jinxed by picking them, both in the past and in the future. So sorry!

[Weasel Soup]

Rogers is the worst punter ever lol

But beyond a worthy successor to Favre.

So Favre or Martin...Vikings or Jets.... or my always kinda blackhorse team the Ravens.

To me its only so much fluff now lol.

[Rothgar]

Originally Posted by Culhwch

Incidentally, I should probably apologise to the fans of all the teams I jinxed by picking them, both in the past and in the future. So sorry!

Then I hope you plan on picking the Cardinals and the Vikings.

[Culhwch]

Also...

Originally Posted by Grimward

Weasel Bengals, Eagles, Ravens Cardinals 1

Shouldn't this be a two?

[Culhwch]

Originally Posted by Rothgar

Then I hope you plan on picking the Cardinals and the Vikings.

Can't pick against my Saints, just can't do it. I'll be apologising to myself come next week...

[Parson]

It did look like the referees swallowed their whistles in the GB/Card game. But I think the "star" treatment only comes into play when the play is seen in isolation. I doubt there was any official at the GB game that thought, "It's only Aaron Rodgers, I won't bother to blow my whistle."

Also, if I understand the rule correctly flagging the face mask would not have had any bearing on the outcome of the play. The ball was already free, any penalties occurring during a free ball are assessed after the play has finished.

I really have nothing against the Packers, as my previous posts might have indicated. I do have a considerable aggravation against a rabid Packer fan in my community. When the Packers win he is insufferable, so I always hope to avoid that situation.

Picks:

Cards vs. Saints --- Saints win. Cards may give up 40+ again, but they won't score that many.

Ravens vs. Colts ---- Colts win. Ravens may hold them to 20 points, but will likely not score 14 of their own.

Cowboys vs. Vikings ---- Vikings win. This is likely the hardest game to call. But I think that the Vikings are going to feel disrespected being the underdogs at home (at least according to all the pundits. I haven't seen the "official" line yet.) AP runs for a 120 yards and Vikes win by 3.

Jets vs. Chargers ---- Jets win. I think an upset is likely here. It is never wise to bet against a team who can run and play superior defense.

The real difficult thing about handicapping NFL games is that winning the turnover margin leads to an almost certain win. And any of the teams listed could win that, and win the game. (See Packers or New England about how a better team loses the turnovers and loses the game.)

[Wiglaf]

Originally Posted by Parson

It did look like the referees swallowed their whistles in the GB/Card game. But I think the "star" treatment only comes into play when the play is seen in isolation. I doubt there was any official at the GB game that thought, "It's only Aaron Rodgers, I won't bother to blow my whistle."

Also, if I understand the rule correctly flagging the face mask would not have had any bearing on the outcome of the play. The ball was already free, any penalties occurring during a free ball are assessed after the play has finished.

I really have nothing against the Packers, as my previous posts might have indicated. I do have a considerable aggravation against a rabid Packer fan in my community. When the Packers win he is insufferable, so I always hope to avoid that situation.

Picks:

Cards vs. Saints --- Saints win. Cards may give up 40+ again, but they won't score that many.

Ravens vs. Colts ---- Colts win. Ravens may hold them to 20 points, but will likely not score 14 of their own.

Cowboys vs. Vikings ---- Vikings win. This is likely the hardest game to call. But I think that the Vikings are going to feel disrespected being the underdogs at home (at least according to all the pundits. I haven't seen the "official" line yet.) AP runs for a 120 yards and Vikes win by 3.

Jets vs. Chargers ---- Jets win. I think an upset is likely here. It is never wise to bet against a team who can run and play superior defense.

The real difficult thing about handicapping NFL games is that winning the turnover margin leads to an almost certain win. And any of the teams listed could win that, and win the game. (See Packers or New England about how a better team loses the turnovers and loses the game.)

Same picks as me except for that last one. San Diego better win. However, the Jets still scare me more than the Colts (and I remember the Chargers losing to the wild card team in January of 1981; that wild card team (my most hated to boot) went on to win the Super Bowl.

[Weasel Soup]

PS Pack vs Cards = desesrt vs tundra

ultimate home feild playoff lol

BTW Parson I live in wisconsin, they are ALL unsufferable packer fans

also chargers v jets s a pickum

[Winters_Sorrow]

Well here's my picks for the divisional games. My 50% record seems to be holding strong through the regular season and post season so you can guarantee 2 of these will be wrong!

Cards vs Saints.
A bit of a risky one as the Saints have got plenty of weapons and it could turn into another repeat of the Packers game. But I am just getting parallels of last season where the Cards had a poor end of season and blitzed the playoffs. Their offense is really clicking (and Boldin should be back) and Darnell Dockett is starting to motor on the pass rush. I still think their secondary is weak (though I rate DMC) but I also think the Saints defense hasn't looked the same since they lost E J Henderson and their pass rush has been poor. Unless it picks up, Warner can pick you apart. I'll go for 38-28 to the Cards.

Ravens vs Colts

Much as I like the aggression on defense that the Ravens bring, Flacco and the receiving core has been very poor and if the Colts successfully stack up against the run, I don't see him hurting them that much. On the other side of the coin you have Peyton Manning. He can throw to any of the receivers and their running game isn't too bad either. That and homefield advantage swings it for me. 24-10 to the Colts.

Cowboys vs Vikings

I am picking the Vikings against my better judgement. I think the Cowboys are playing really well at the moment but the Williams brothers & Jared Allen represent an upgrade at run stuffing & pash rush than the Iggles & Giants this season. I do worry about "Butterfingers Petersen" and Favre who always seems 1 game away from a stinker but we'll see. I do have a sneaking feeling the Cowboys will win this one but I'm sticking my fingers in my ears and going la-la-la until that goes away. 28-24 to the Vikes.

Jets vs Chargers

I think this is a terrible match-up for the Chargers. The Jets defense is playing lights out and the running game is pounding away like a juggernaut. They need to limit them to field goals and/or force the Shancise to throw it a lot to force errors. They can win with their own big play potential but the chargers defense is a bit of a worry for me. If the Jets get off to an early lead of 2 scores, they can destroy the clock and make Rivers a non-factor. 17-10 to the Jets.

[Culhwch]

Originally Posted by Winters_Sorrow

...but I also think the Saints defense hasn't looked the same since they lost E J Henderson and their pass rush has been poor.

That was the Vikes. But our pass rush has been poor, and we did just lose Charles Grant in the last game. The key here is that we get both Porter and Greer back in the secondary, and I think that gives Gregg Williams a whole heap more confidence to dial up blitzes than he has had since those two guys went out. He'll trust those guys in single coverage more often than he did Jenkins or McKenzie. They also free up Darren Sharper from having to play in support and do what he does best - roam the field and jump routes. Remains to be seen whether his drop off in interceptions from about the halfway point was because those two guys missed so much time, or because his old legs aren't carrying him the distance. I think it's the former, and he gets at least one pick this Saturday. He's gotta have a book on Warner. And once Warner starts to throw interceptions... well, just ask Carolina.

...pash rush...

Tehehehe. Interesting image there. Though I don't know if 'pash' has any meaning outside of Australia.