NFL Postseason Megathread: Playoffs in the Post-Orton Era

[Admiral Yi]

Looking again at the footage there isn't any doubt it was intentional.  He tries to crunch him with his left foot first and doesn't make solid contact, but the miss helps in lock in to the target with his other foot.

A non-scumbag player is not going to keep going backwards after he makes contact with that first foot.

[Neil]

So after all the blabbering about how the NFC South representative is going to suck, Carolina is a 4.5 pt favorite.

Football is a game about matchups.  Carolina is a team that loves to run the ball.  Arizona is a team that has had more and more trouble stopping the run.  It's a tough matchup, especially with Arizona having been offensively hampered by the lack of a QB.

[Neil]

Regarding Suh, it's not good sportsmanship, but then again nobody has suspended Tom Brady for doing the same thing to the entire Tennessee Titans team a while back.

[jimmy olsen]

Wild Card Weekend NFL Football Point Spread
NFL Playoff Game Spreads 1/3 - 1/4, 2015

Date & Time    Favorite    Spread    Underdog
1/3 4:35 ET    At Carolina    -4.5    Arizona
1/3 8:15 ET    At Pittsburgh    -3    Baltimore
1/4 1:00 ET    At Indianapolis    -4    Cincinnati
1/4 4:40 ET    At Dallas    -7    Detroit

Goodbye, Kyle. 

Man, the way you phrased that I thought he died.

[jimmy olsen]

In the last few games the Patriots stumbled their way into a bye week and home field advantage for all playoff games. Their offense was stopped the last couple of games, and yesterday they lost the final game of the season to Buffalo.  I hope their post season offense improves or else it'll be a short season. Prior to that it was extremely good, and their defense has been very good, but injuries have hurt them too.

They didn't play Gronk, Edelman or Browner. Brady didn't play the second half. They didn't try to win that game, just survive in good health.

[CountDeMoney]

House of Spears suspended for the Dallas game.  That's what you get for messing with NFL Properties.

[CountDeMoney]

Ndamukong Suh's step on Aaron Rodgers could squash Lions' season
By Michael Rothstein
ESPN


ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Ndamukong Suh almost made it through the entire season without controversy about the way he plays. Now, with one placement of his foot, the Detroit Lions defensive tackle will miss one of the team's biggest games in decades.

Suh was suspended Monday for one game -- the Lions' wild-card game against Dallas this weekend -- because he stepped on the ankle of Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Sunday. In doing so, Suh's actions jeopardized Detroit's playoff hopes in the process.

Detroit now loses its best and most indispensable player -- the guy whom the Lions defense revolves around. For those who wondered what a post-Suh world might look like for Detroit in 2015 after he reaches free agency, the playoffs now become a preview for that at the worst possible time for this franchise.

This started when Rodgers fell to the ground and Suh's feet found Rodgers' calf and ankle. Twice. It all started after Packers offensive lineman T.J. Lang blocked Suh as Rodgers was falling down behind both of them.

Both Lang and Suh were looking up the field at a completed pass to Jordy Nelson. Suh stepped backward and initially couldn't have seen Rodgers lying on the ground. So the first step was apparently unintentional, based on getting balance.

It is the second one of Suh's two-step that got him in trouble. It was clear he felt his foot hit something when it came down on the play. That something was Rodgers. Then he stepped back again, right onto Rodgers' ailing calf and ankle and left it there for a moment before walking away.

Figuring that Suh's history with questionable play factored into this decision, it is clear why the league chose to act as it did even if in the pantheon of Suh missteps, this was not the most egregious.

It wasn't as blatant or as obvious as the Evan Dietrich-Smith stomp in 2011. It wasn't as vicious as the low block on John Sullivan last season or the slamming of Andy Dalton without a helmet in 2011. Those were all much more vicious and much more obvious than what happened at Lambeau Field on Sunday.

The issue for Suh is the same as it was for center Dominic Raiola last week when he was suspended for the Green Bay game after stepping on Chicago defensive lineman Ego Ferguson's ankle. The benefit of the doubt has long since disappeared because of prior transgressions.

In Suh's case, it vanished long ago, shredded for good against Green Bay in 2011 when he stomped on Dietrich-Smith, resulting in a two-game suspension and the semi-permanent bad boy image Suh now possesses.

Unlike Raiola after his stomp in Chicago, Suh did not talk with the media after Sunday's loss to Green Bay, so it is unknown what he thought. But his coach, Jim Caldwell, called it unintentional. That would be worth something -- except Caldwell also called Raiola's stomping on Ferguson unintentional last week, because that's what Raiola told him. The league suspended Raiola anyway.

If it were other players in the league, there is a good chance the player might have been subjected to only a fine -- and that is where the benefit of the doubt comes in.

And the lack of the benefit of the doubt may be what costs the Detroit Lions their season.

[dps]

The issue for Suh is the same as it was for center Dominic Raiola last week when he was suspended for the Green Bay game after stepping on Chicago defensive lineman Ego Ferguson's ankle. The benefit of the doubt has long since disappeared because of prior transgressions.

If it were other players in the league, there is a good chance the player might have been subjected to only a fine -- and that is where the benefit of the doubt comes in.

Yeah, pretty much what I said earlier.

I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for the Lions, though.  You choose to have a dirty player as a mainstay on your team, you take the chance that he could get called for dirty play at a most inopportune time.

[CountDeMoney]

I see a distinct correlation in Suh's attitude this season--what with the lack of dirty play this year--and the lack of Jim Schwartz.

[CountDeMoney]

First Vegas odds out to win the Super Bowl.

Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook

Seahawks: 9-4.
Patriots: 5-2.
Packers: 5-1.
Broncos: 6-1.
Cowboys: 10-1.
Colts: 20-1.
Steelers: 20-1.
Ravens: 30-1.
Bengals: 40-1.
Lions: 40-1.
Panthers: 40-1.
Cardinals: 75-1.

William Hill U.S.
Patriots: 11-5.
Seahawks: 11-5.
Packers: 11-2.
Broncos: 6-1.
Cowboys: 8-1.
Steelers: 12-1.
Colts: 30-1.
Ravens: 30-1.
Lions: 40-1.
Bengals: 50-1.
Panthers: 50-1.
Cardinals: 100-1.

[Tonitrus]

I would love to see the Seahawks smack down Brady and the Pats in the Superbowl. 

[jimmy olsen]

I would love to see the Seahawks smack down Brady and the Pats in the Superbowl. 

Definitely the team I would fear the most in the big game, though Green Bay of course would be formidable as well.

[CountDeMoney]

The Raiders are reportedly set to interview a former NFL head coach for their top coaching position.

Former Browns and Jets coach Eric Mangini will meet with Oakland, Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports reported Monday night.

The 43-year-old Mangini was 23-26 in three seasons in New York (2006-2008) and 10-22 in two seasons with Cleveland (2009-2010). He is currently the 49ers' tight ends coach.

Before joining the Jets, Mangini rose to prominence as a defensive assistant during New England's run of three Super Bowls in four seasons. He has been off the radar as an NFL head coaching candidate in recent years, but he appears ready to meet with Oakland.

[Sophie Scholl]

   I always liked the Mangenius during his run in Cleveland.  He managed to get screwed over by Brett Favre in NY and then Favre's "mentor" in Holmgren in Cleveland.  At the very least he seemed like he was building a solid core of quality players and curbing attitude issues by discipline or removal in Cleveland before Holmgren blew it all up and ruined the Browns for the next several seasons.  I still hate him for that.  Damn Walrus bastard.

[Tonitrus]