Which is why I said earlier the smart plan is to stop Gore and Kappy on the ground and make them beat you in the air. If they don’t stop Gore it’ll be a long day.
A lot of people seem to think that Wilson’s last outing was bad. Did anyone actually watch the game? Crazy wind and rain and he made no major mistakes by playing smart in those conditions and strong Saint’s defensive pressure. He had several off target passes, but a number of big ones that were well thrown but dropped. He played better than the “elite” Brees, and the exhalted Broncos scored just one more point against the Charger’s 23rd ranked defense. He’s had better stats than the auto-osculating Kaepernik has in their last three meetings. And they won.
The 49ers have multiple weapons in the passing game, while the Seahawks are thin there, even if Harvin plays. I have confidence in the Niners’ ability to keep balanced on offense. The big thing is getting 7 points and not 3 when they get into the Red Zone. If anything goes wrong early that sets off the crowd, it could get rough, but I seriously doubt either teams’s chances of getting a really big lead at all.
I bet the Seahawks feel good that the 49ers have had a total of five field goals and one touchdown against them in two games this year. Not great red zone production.
Any official word on what Peyton Manning’s call of “Omaha” means? Seemed like he audibled that at least half the time against the Chargers.
Not sure, but 5 businesses in Omaha Nebraska are donating $500 to the Manning Foundation for each “Omaha!” call he makes in the AFC Championship game.
The Niners have been my second-favorite team since 1970 so I’m predicting they will beat Seattle 24-23.
Denver will smoke New England 45-28
This isn’t Week 12. They played well that week, all the more reason to think Denver will be well prepared. The Broncos are the superior team and have to be considered an enormous favourite.
The Broncos line is apparently up to 5 or 6, and I’d take the Broncos and give six in a heartbeat.
He was asked this in a press conference today. Basically means its a certain running play. Or a pass. Or something to do with the wind. Or the color of the jerseys they’re wearing. Or something.
One thing that could benefit the Broncos in a big way is that the Pats are depleted on the defensive line, and won’t have the luxury of rotating waves of linemen in and out.
Here is Manning’s official explanation of what it means.
In the Lakota Sioux language, it means “Green 18.”
Both NE/Den defenses - especially the secondaries - are depleted. Although NE will certainly try to keep the ball on the ground like they did last week, and keep Manning off the field. The only way to limit his points is to limit the number of times he has the ball.
If the NE O-line plays as well as they have since Thanksgiving, the Pats will stay in it. I think that will happen. Plus Belicheck has a way of getting into Manning’s head. Denver deserves to be the favorite - they are the better team on paper and are at home, but I expect a close game.
People often say this about Manning, but I’m not sure it’s always a good strategy. If you’re a big underdog, then reducing the number of possessions in a game can increase the variance and give you a better chance to win. But otherwise, you should just design your offensive game plan to improve your chances of scoring, rather than accepting smaller chances of scoring in exchange for reducing the number of possessions in the game.
I know the talking heads have commented on this ad nauseum all season but look at the expected score totals for New England. An expectant 4-5 TDs with the skill players that they have? The Broncos aren’t exactly a defensive juggernaut but still, we shouldn’t take Brady for granted.
Omaha, from what I’ve heard from various “insider” pundits and my own paltry experiences with organized football, Omaha could mean an “over” call because of the “O”, which just mirrors the play to the other side. However, with the frequency that Peyton calls it, it’s probably just a dummy call or a flag call signaling that there is an audible, but the play that’s being audible-d to will be referenced by a follow up call.
Football play calls aren’t inherently hard. The key, as with all codes, is having the codex.
They could be organized by starting letter (Sam and Will backers being Strong and Weak), by number (800, 801, and 802 Eagle has option routes for the x, y, and z receivers respectively), Color (Red plays have the TE as the primary receiver, Blue goes to the slot, Gold goes deep) and of course - a combination of whatever established code you have (Red 200 is a play-action to the left, looking for the tight end, Gold 301 is a 3 step drop quick slant to the Z receiver with an Omaha call flips it to a quick slant to the X receiver)…
Again, in Week 12 vs the Broncos, the Patriots put up 28 points in the first 17 minutes of the 2nd half. Gronkowski is gone from the team, but the Patriots havew averaged 33 points per game since week 12. Good, dry weather predicted against an injury-ridden defense and I do expect Brady to excel. Manning as well. And knowing that Manning will be difficult to stop, I’m also expecting that the Patriots will be pretty aggressive. You don’t sit on a lead vs Manning. And, in week 12, Manning learned you don’t sit on a lead vs NE.
Already mentioned in post #46.
Omaha!
Linda!
These are some amazing matchups.
If Brady wins the SB, he’ll have the most SB wins ever (tied with Montana and Bradshaw), plus an undefeated regular season, making him probably the best to ever play.
If Manning wins, he’ll suddenly have a winning record in the playoffs and in the SB (currently neither are above .500) to go along with 2 SB rings and regular season dominance.
If the 49ers win, they’ll have the most SB wins of any team (tied with the Steelers).
And yet, I still think the Seahawks should be considered the favorite to win it all.