The 2013 NFL Playoffs? PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS??? Morathread

[Neil]

Random people on the internet agree with me! 

Like you, random people on the internet are easily distracted by shiny things.  That kick return was an awesome feat, but the person most responsible for winning the game was Flacco.

I'm not that easily

You're wrong, but you're funny.  And that helps.

[Neil]

I was at a bar and couldn't hear, what did he say?

Well for one he was unclear about what yardline the free kick would be on and did not seem to know they could either kick off or punt.  I was like 'really?' I mean those rules have been around forever.

Yeah, but the NFL isn't the CFL.  You can count the number of safeties per year on one hand, and I don't think I remember seeing a team ever intentionally take a safety before in the NFL (whereas that's considered a rather common tactic for field position in the CFL).

[Alcibiades]

I noticed that on the safety, Baltimore was holding like crazy. It seems the players were told to do whatever it took to give maximum time to the punter, damn the rules. However, I don't think a flag was thrown. It didn't make any difference on that play, but it still illustrates a point: the refs weren't going to make any call that late in the game unless they absolutely had to.

Since holding in the end zone results in a safety players are taught to hold like crazy during an intentional safety play.  The result of the play and the penalty are exactly the same so there is no reason to call it.  They might want to change that rule after that play though.

What rule change could you make that would have prevented Baltimore from holding in the end zone there?

Ball turnover at your 1 yard line?

That makes no sense in the context of the current rulebook.

It has to be 4th down obviously but the rule could be : In the event of Offensive Holding on a play that resulted in a safety, the safety is nullified & the ball is turned over. In the other 3 downs : ball on 1 yard line, no down repeat.

Too much, I think a 15 yard penalty added to the kick return would be punitive enough.

[derspiess]

I like Dan Fouts. Can't hold anything back now.

I like him too, but he's prone to Dierdorf-esque hyperbole at times. 

Gannon is just a blabbering idiot.  Obviously Siragusa cut all oxygen off to his brain when he landed on him in the '00 AFC Championship.

I was doing a Waterboy reference.

Can never have enough of those.  I was unexpectedly called upon to get up & say some words at a wedding, so I started in with Clint Howard's speech.  I got through  "I am not what you would call a handsome man. The good Lord chose not to bless me with... with charm, athletic ability... or a fully functional brain..." before I could think of something else to say.

Only about 5-10 people seemed to get the reference

[Valmy]

I noticed that on the safety, Baltimore was holding like crazy. It seems the players were told to do whatever it took to give maximum time to the punter, damn the rules. However, I don't think a flag was thrown. It didn't make any difference on that play, but it still illustrates a point: the refs weren't going to make any call that late in the game unless they absolutely had to.

Since holding in the end zone results in a safety players are taught to hold like crazy during an intentional safety play.  The result of the play and the penalty are exactly the same so there is no reason to call it.  They might want to change that rule after that play though.

What rule change could you make that would have prevented Baltimore from holding in the end zone there?

It's a tough issue to address, but you could say that if you're in punt formation and you hold in the endzone, you get hit with the safety plus a 10-yard penalty on the ensuing free kick.

FWIW, the Niners did the exact same thing to the Bengals late in a regular season game in 2012.  Took several seconds off the clock and I'm pretty sure they were holding.

Yeah I was thinking along the lines of a 10 yard penalty on the free kick.

[merithyn]

I like Dan Fouts. Can't hold anything back now.

I like him too, but he's prone to Dierdorf-esque hyperbole at times. 

Gannon is just a blabbering idiot.  Obviously Siragusa cut all oxygen off to his brain when he landed on him in the '00 AFC Championship.

I was doing a Waterboy reference.

Can never have enough of those.  I was unexpectedly called upon to get up & say some words at a wedding, so I started in with Clint Howard's speech.  I got through  "I am not what you would call a handsome man. The good Lord chose not to bless me with... with charm, athletic ability... or a fully functional brain..." before I could think of something else to say.

Only about 5-10 people seemed to get the reference

Never seen it, and probably never will since I can't stand Adam Sandler.

[Ed Anger]

Women. 

[Valmy]

Never seen it, and probably never will since I can't stand Adam Sandler.

I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul.

[merithyn]

If I want to watch an idiot be an idiot, I can watch my teenagers pretending to be adults. It's not funny to me; just really pathetic.

[Neil]

Wait a minute Seedy:  The NFL Network?  That's the worst play-by-play team in history.  They make Gumbel and Dierdorff look like Madden and Michaels.

[CountDeMoney]

Wait a minute Seedy:  The NFL Network?  That's the worst play-by-play team in history.  They make Gumbel and Dierdorff look like Madden and Michaels.

For the games they covered, I felt they did remarkable well for such shitty match ups this season.

And at least on the NFL Network, you're not buffeted into unconsciousness by CBS promos for CBS programming.  Jesus fucking Christ, as much as I want to spank the hell out of the brunette from "Two Broke Girls", even I can get promo overload.

[derspiess]

And at least on the NFL Network, you're not buffeted into unconsciousness by CBS promos for CBS programming.  Jesus fucking Christ, as much as I want to spank the hell out of the brunette from "Two Broke Girls", even I can get promo overload.

Yeah.  Second half was full of that shit. 

[Grey Fox]

Kat Denning. Oh, all the boob jokes they do on that show.

[Eddie Teach]

I saw the pilot. Don't think I laughed once.

[Berkut]

And the 49ers radio guys never said anything either, they just blamed Kap

Don't see how it was his fault.  It was a shitty play to call in the first place.

I was telling Kat in World of Tanks this AM that, if Kaper had run even once in those final 2 downs instead of passing, they'd have been in the lead with a minute left to go.

Crappy play calling considering the time left, but the Ravens bull rushed the kid up the middle with everything intent on making Kaper beat them with a pass, and he had no choice but to toss it up too quickly on an incredibly compressed field;  if they had 5 more yards of space, Kaper may have been able to get a better pass off.   Can't blame him at all on that.

I was very suprised by the play calling down there. They kept calling plays where all the options were to the right, and the Ravens compressed the right side of the field each time.

I would think a single counter play (whether run or pass) to the left would have seen SOMEONE wide open.