I was pissed the Ravens didn’t lose. It’s like they don’t want a top 5 draft pick (that Ozzie will subsequently trade away for 5 second round picks that all have mysterious knee injuries).
I drank good bit of gin, remembered the Ravens played Monday night, turned the game on late, fell asleep early, woke up to see Austin slide for the first down with less than a minute left, changed the channel because fuck that, checked the score 10 minutes later, and shook my head. Fuck this team. I’m trying very hard not to care about football and now they’re on a win streak? I swear if they beat the Seahawks…I’m not gonna do anything, but I’m just committed to them tanking and their winning is fucking that up.
Yeah, they can’t even tank right! But the thing is, all these games have been close. That means they’re not really a terrible team this year, just a mediocre team that had bad luck in the first half of the season. The hope for a top draft pick was probably a mirage all along.
I think you can safely call them bad, even if the refs didn’t bungle two of their losses. The fact that they have a very distant hope, but hope nonethless, for a wild card spot is just sad. On the plus side, I’ve been watching a lot more soccer.
In addition to this thread, this very scenario even happened yesterday in the Cats/Saints game (for the first time ever.) Ok, universe, I get it. I was wrong.
Nah. You’re familiar with losing, no doubt, but not like that.
A team can now turn an extra point attempt into points for themselves, so the point should be attempted. Even if the game is “over,” there are points scored playoff tie-breakers, however unlikely they are to be applied.
You’re wrong. XPs aren’t necessary in OT because, by rule, any TD ends the game. But that is not true in regulation games. The defense can get points from an opponents PAT attempt, so its attempt is mandatory. Mike Turico was right.
Example: a team down 10-15 scores a TD with no time left in regulation. The game is not over because the now trailing team can return a failed PAT for 2 points.
By that line of reasoning, running up the score is always a good thing. IMO, this is why teams take a knee on the conversion at the end of the fourth quarter if it wouldn’t change the result; trying to score in that situation smacks of running up the score.
Then again, that only makes sense if it was the team that was ahead that scored the final TD. Still, even if the team behind (by 3 or more, of course) were to try to score, it might be considered the football equivalent of bunting to break up a no-hitter; it’s “bad form” more than anything else.
I don’t recall this happening prior to this year. Seems teams used to always kick the meaningless extra point with time expired (in regulation). Feel free to correct me if I’m misremembering. Is it possible that the fact that you can give up points on the try is causing teams to take a knee? It seems like this would be a no-brainer if the TD put you up by 1 or 2, but if it put you up by more, it doesn’t matter either way.
No, you’re remembering accurately. I’m reasonably certain it’s being done now because there’s a small chance that, with a blocked kick, the “meaningless” play could become a scrum, and the possibility of injury on that play is higher than it was before this season.
Prediction: After this season the NFL will eliminate the conversion on touchdowns scored as time expires, unless the game is tied or the scoring team trails by one or two.
They’d have to keep it if the scoring team is now up by only one or two as well, to allow for the other team to get a 2 pt run back (or 1 pt. safety for that matter) on the PAT. But otherwise, yes, you could be right.
Pointless. The leading team will call a kneeldown. The last thing people want after a thrilling game-winning touchdown is a big hassle to clear the field for a meaningless kneeldown. NCAA football blows off the PAT when the scoring team is ahead–even by one or two–for that very reason.