Great article. I just ran across it on the Giants MB. Was that you who posted it there?
So I’ve come to the realization that 2005 has put streaks and trends on the endangered list. I know of a bunch already, but hopefully some of you can add to this list. It is time to forget all that has past, because trends are falling like bowling pins this season. To wit:
The Steelers no longer own the Colts
The Patriots no longer own the Colts
The Packers no longer own the Vikings
The Eagles no longer own the Giants
The Giants no longer own the Vikings
The Rams no longer own the Seahawks
The Jets no longer own the Chargers
In this light, I don’t hate the Broncos at Indy in the playoffs this year, nor am I particularly worried about the Falcons anymore. Sure, they used to own the Giants…
So kudos to both the Colts and Vikes, who have removed multiple monkeys from their backs.
Unbelievable. Why does Dallas insist on playing by the “if it’s still broke, don’t fix it” plan?
How long do you think it took NY to figure out that we were going to give it to Julius Jones half the time? Not nearly as long as it’s taking Big D to realize that they’ve bottled him up on almost every carry.
Oh, and what the hell were we thinking, to air it out on a critical third and a short one? JUST. PLAIN. STUPID. (Hello?? Quarterback sneak, anyone?)
Come on, Dallas–would it kill you to try a surprise play every once in a while? No reverses, few draw plays, and not a flea flicker to be seen. And while I’m on the subject, why in hell would you call a pitch-back when we’re deep (and by deep, I mean in our own end zone) in Dallas territory? It was sheer luck that we didn’t get dropped for a safety on that play.
Oh, well. They’re are a few games left–maybe we can crawl back into first by the end of regular season. But this whole game just burned my ass.
What happened to the Dallas offense since that Eagles blowout, besides Flozell Adams’ injury? The Cowboys at one point in the season were slinging the ball around effectively, thanks in large part to the offensive line. Now, they’re having a lot of trouble moving the ball. :mad:
At least Dallas is holding onto the wildcard spot (#6 seed).
I was watching the highlights of the Dallas v NYG game. I think it was early in the 2nd half when the NYG defender jumps through the Dallas O-Line, interrupting the Bledsoe handoff, causing a fumble for a NYG TD.
Did they discuss during the game whether the defender was off sides?
No, it was not discussed, though the snap was replayed in slow motion from the endzone camera behind the line of scrimmage. I only saw it on the live broadcast, but it seemed to me that the center or guard or whomever it was tried to pull, leaving a huge gaping hole for Clancy to run through untouched. I’ll check my tape and verify exactly what happened on that play, if you like.
Speaking of tape, I finally got a second VCR, so even though I’m in low-def purgatory, my archives of this season are near perfect, IMO. I edited out all the commercials and in-game promos, obviously, but I also edited out all the game breaks, virtually all the sideline reporting, and all the discussions that focus on the opposing team. It ends up being concentrated Giants games, but with a much more relaxed flow than the DirecTV NFL Package Short Cuts.
On my tapes, the games end up being around an hour and a half, so I can put 5 on a tape. Which works well if I’m an optimist, leaving plenty of room for any playoff games on the fourth tape. I don’t have the energy to edit down my raw tapes of the previous seasons for full games…I may only do highlight reels that put an entire season on a single tape.
It may not be the best quality, but it sure helps to get through the dog days of summer. I probably watched that Cowboys game a half dozen times last summer. (It was the only win that Eli started. Go Tyree!)
It is an amazing amount of work to compile those. It takes around three hours to write down all the cuts, and then another two hours to do the actual recording. Except that Saints game with all the interviews and pledge drives…that took over four hours to identify all the cuts.
Anyway, I’m halfway through identifying the cuts in the Chargers game – week 3 – and have actually recorded only the Cards from week 1. (Which turned out sweet.) I’m hoping to have the entire regular season finished by the time the regular season ends.
Ellis, do you wait to see if the NFL channel is going to use it as a Game Of The Week first or is there something about their format you dislike? Sure would save you some effort. They’re about an hour of highlights that pay special attention to critical plays. Course, they’re also not going to replay every down.
Congrats to the Giants D which looked pretty damn impressive. Their performance almost caused the game to be over by shortly after the half.
Anyone see a repeat of the Cowboy’s third interception deep in Giants territory in the 4th that was negated by a PI call? My first impression was that Aaron Glenn got mauled by Plaxico but, admittedly, I’ve not seen it in slo mo or from additional angles.
The Giants should have won in Seattle, and he blew a chance to put yesterday’s game into two possession territory. Is he concealing some sort of injury, or is it just in his head?
I don’t get the NFL network; my buddy with the 70 inch hi-def with awesome stereo and theatre seating who hosts xbox (now 360!) night has it. He’s actually bailing on DirecTV and switching to cable because the NFL network is only in hi def on the latter. How insane is that? Anyway…
My understanding is that the Game of the Week is a stylized NFL Films production, complete with musical score and voiceover. Now, I love film, as it does look so much richer than video, but they don’t shoot film from what I call the “camera 1” angle, as all live broadcasts shoot from during live play. And as you said, I miss out on plays. For example, I most definitely want to see every one of Petitgout’s false starts in Seattle. (Fucker!)
DirecTV’s NFL Package offers Short Cuts, which is nothing but camera 1 footage with natural sound…the actual game announcers, sometimes cut off in mid-sentence. Every play in the game, 12 seconds per play, 30 minutes per game. No commercials. (It’s like NFL crack; it’s too good for words if you missed your game.)
Originally I wanted to port all my tapes over to the computer in mpegs, one file for each play, and then set up a database to watch a single game, a player’s career, whatever. I have since abandoned that because the quality would be so poor in the transfer. Also, the Short Cuts features every snap with good cuts in hi def, so in several years when I’ve caught up with technology I’m sure I’ll be able to acquire those going from 2005 on, when they introduced them. But that’s completely different.
Short Cuts really animates the progress up and down the field, and is phenomenal for our dinner watching on xbox night. Unlike me and the host (who is a Jets fan), the Billies and Steelers fans usually don’t get to see their games, so we watch the Short Cut of their game. Thus I’ve seen about a dozen of them so far. There is no emotional investment in watching them; no sense of crowd intensity, no prolonged replay in loving slow mo. Just an endless series of 135 jump cuts, 12 seconds apart, all from camera 1. No soul.
What I want is the actual camera 1 view, with the announcers play by play. And I also want all the color commentary about the Giants, and also any and all replays, and even the between play action if it’s Giants-centric. It’s from a hardcore Giants perspective that I want this, too. After an opponent score, unless there is a compelling replay, my tape abruptly jumps to extra point (3 seconds) and then kickoff, so pretty much 10 seconds after letting up a TD the Giants are getting the ball back. Conversely, after a Giant score, I keep all the crowd shots, color, and replay. Also I keep much of the defensive stands in between plays. Nothing finer than hearing the crowd ramp up before 3rd & long, only to be following by a huge sack. You get the idea.
Ignoring the Giants-centric bias, is the Game of the Week a straight rebroadcast, or is it the stylized NFL Films production I’m thinking of? I find their music (or any music) to be horribly intrusive. Music is for highlights. I want to watch basically the real football game, I don’t want to have to fast forward (or even touch a remote), and I want it on as few cassettes as physically possible.
It’ll take some effort, as I’ve discovered, but I’ve got a month to do it, and I’ll have an entire season to bask in during the dog days of summer when I’m starting to get jacked about the upcoming season.
I’ll check it out again, but my impression was this:
Plaxico comes off the line, defender locks up on him about 4 yards downfield. Plax then cuts left to the ball, which is being thrown about 3 yards left of him. Unfortunately, Plax never got more than half a foot to the left, because the defender had grabbed both of his arms and pushed him to the ground.
To me it seemed like a no-brainer PI call at the time, and if there were no PI, instead of an interception it would have been an “easy” catch for Plax to pull in. (Though he missed several “easy” ones that game, IIRC.)
It’s in his head, and at this point I’d rather have Matt Bryant back. Hell, I’ll take Steve Christie.
I have no cite, but I heard that he actually said (paraphrased) this about the Seattle game: “I can’t say that the first two misses had no effect on the third attempt.”
The Giants are the surprise kings of the hill now, and look to stay that way. However, they are inconsistent and not out of the woods yet.
The Cowboys offense, particularly the O-line, is vulnerable, and has been sliding downhill over the past several weeks, with no sign of turning around. Dallas is improved over last year, winning record, possibly most likely a wildard spot, but still in contention for the division if the Giants falter and Dallas plays better. In all, a good year just to get a winning record again.
The Redskins appear to be ending up about where people expected, maybe a bit better than that. Gibbs is coming around.
The Eagles sucking that bad is the big surprise. T.O., injuries, what a mess.
I wanted to point out that the Redskins remaining schedule is against the old NFC East. @Cards, Cowboys(girls), Giants, and @Eagles. Realistically I see us going 2-2, (ending the season at 8-8 which would be our best since 01) but hoping for 3-1. W’s against AZ, PHI, and if I get my Christmas wish, DAL. I think the Giants will beat us simply because I can’t imagine winning out. 9-7 (probably) gets us sniffing a wild card but ultimately missing the playoffs.
Dammit Philly! Dammit Kansas City! Just when I thought the Redskins were going to move up a game in the East, you gave it away.
Ok, I have to know. Those of you who saw the 4th down and goal play at the end of the 4th quarter where Bledsoe threw incomplete to Witten, how bad of a hold was it for the holding penalty that was called? Was it blatant or was it a nitpick/non-hold? I need my curiousity satisfied. Please be objective.
(I’m away from a TV and won’t get to watch the highlights tonight.)
Next week: Dallas @ Washington. This game is going to be
Hating the Cowgirls with a red hot passion that goes beyond how most people feel about an IRS audit during their prostate exam from a doctor with inflamed knuckle joints, it pains me to say that there was indeed a hold on that play. I didn’t see it when it happened and was ready to go through the roof, but it was a pretty obvious mugging upon replay.
A few plays earlier though, the refs gave the 'Girls a hometown break that extended their drive. Don’t remember exactly which play it was, and the play by play isn’t up yet, but IIRC they got a break on a catch that was pretty clearly out of bounds on 3rd and long.
