# NFL Playoffs Division Weekend **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 9, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426 "2015-01-09T19:21:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/21 "2015-01-11T00:58:44Z")
> [@Boogly](#): > > Holy crap I’m glad I’m not a huge fan of either team. This turned into a hell of a game. As a Denver fan, I’m crapping my pants either way ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/22 "2015-01-11T00:59:20Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > The horseshoe remains firmly up Flacco’s ass, as his fumble in his own red zone gets negated by yet another penalty by the Pats. KaTHUNK!!! Hey, it fell out. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/23 "2015-01-11T01:00:17Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > I could hear Patriots’ fans bitching about the officiating if I were all alone in a nuclear bunker in 1950. > > And I can hear Flacco breathing a sigh of relief that the Pat’s can’t seem to hold onto interceptions. They sure as hell held on to that one!!! Hell of a game!!! Why the hells did Baltimore take that TO at 2:14??? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/24 "2015-01-11T01:07:53Z")
It was 4th down, they had to plan their next play. Flacco was not going to throw a pick into the endzone, so they might as well use the timeout. ---
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/25 "2015-01-11T01:09:47Z")
Didn’t the play clock have enough time to have that stop the clock instead? ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/26 "2015-01-11T01:14:35Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > Baltimore needs to get pressure on Brady and tackle well, and they need to keep the Pats offense off the field. If they get some long drives and/or turnovers, they’ll be in good shape. Here’s hoping playoff Flacco shows up tomorrow. They got the long drives, but didn’t tackle well enough, didn’t get the pressure they needed in the second half, and they gave the ball away more than they took it away. It was a great game, but the Ravens just didn’t play well enough. I can’t complain about the season, though - Baltimore barely snuck into the playoffs, so everything after that was gravy. The win in Pittsburgh was fantastic. This loss hurts, but to go as far as they did by pulling random dudes off the street to play at CB is pretty impressive. Hoping for a Brady-Rodgers Super Bowl now. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/27 "2015-01-11T01:56:33Z")
Carolina are killing themselves. I want them to win, because they’re easier to beat than Seattle in Seattle, but they aren’t helping themselves at all. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/28 "2015-01-11T02:36:30Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > The horseshoe remains firmly up Flacco’s ass, as his fumble in his own red zone gets negated by yet another penalty by the Pats. The horseshoe made a quick trip up to Seattle to help out Cam. Sherman dropped an interception and now a fumble goes out of bounds. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/29 "2015-01-11T02:41:56Z")
KaTHUNK!! ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/30 "2015-01-11T02:47:40Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > KaTHUNK!! SchhhhhhhTHWING!!! It’s back up. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/31 "2015-01-11T03:01:33Z")
What happen to the 10 second run-off on offensive penalties, does that only apply in the late 4th? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/32 "2015-01-11T04:05:05Z")
Yow. “Thank you very much, I’ll take this into the next county”. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/33 "2015-01-11T04:26:35Z")
Cam to Kam for 6 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/34 "2015-01-11T04:57:37Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > What happen to the 10 second run-off on offensive penalties, does that only apply in the late 4th? It applies at the end of either half. [http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/timingfinal](http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/timingfinal) ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/35 "2015-01-11T05:01:27Z")
Russell Wilson will soon be the highest paid QB in the NFL. And some team (will the Panthers do it?) will come close to matching that for Cam Newton. I do so love watching teams throw money at average QB’s. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/36 "2015-01-11T14:22:09Z")
How can Wilson still be underrated? The guy’s not an average quarterback. He finished eleventh in the league in passer rating and that’s counting several QBs who didn’t play a full schedule. He’s easily the best rushing QB in the league, makes few turnovers, and his career playoff rating is something like 104. Oh, and he’s only 26 and had led the Seahawks to the most success the franchise has ever had. I’d give him a truckload of money and not bat an eye. Wilson is the real deal and he’ll win more championships. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/37 "2015-01-11T14:46:40Z")
lol. Harbaugh complained that Belichick used “illegal” formations. All I can see is that Belichick and his coaches identified a team that relies heavily on substitution packages and instructions from the sideline, and they used that to their advantage. > **[‘Illegal,’ ‘deceptive’ Belichick plays enrage John Harbaugh](https://nypost.com/2015/01/11/illegal-deceptive-belichick-plays-enrage-john-harbaugh/)** > > FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Is Bill Beli-cheat back in business? If you listened to Ravens coach John Harbaugh after Saturday’s 35-31 Patriots win Saturday, it sure sounded like he thought so. Harbaugh was… > [@](#): > > “It’s not something that anybody has ever done before,” Harbaugh said. “They’re an illegal type of a thing and I’m sure that [the NFL will] make some adjustments and things like that.” > > The formation confused the Ravens, who did not have time to figure out which receiver to leave uncovered because the referee would announce the ineligible player, and quarterback Tom Brady would snap the ball seconds later. > > “We wanted an opportunity to be able to ID who the eligible players were,” Harbaugh said, “because what they were doing was they would announce the eligible player and then time was taken and they would go over and snap the ball before we even had the chance to figure out who was lined up where, and that was the deception part of it. And that was where it was clearly deception.” ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/38 "2015-01-11T14:57:01Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > How can Wilson still be underrated? The guy’s not an average quarterback. He finished eleventh in the league in passer rating and that’s counting several QBs who didn’t play a full schedule. He’s easily the best rushing QB in the league, makes few turnovers, and his career playoff rating is something like 104. Oh, and he’s only 26 and had led the Seahawks to the most success the franchise has ever had. I’d give him a truckload of money and not bat an eye. Wilson is the real deal and he’ll win more championships. Passer rating is a garbage statistic, about on par with unadjusted batting average in baseball - Wilson finished tenth among qualified players, just behind career mediocrity Ryan Fitzpatrick and just ahead of Matt Ryan and Phillip Rivers, and no one outside the Pacific Northwest seriously believes that Wilson is a worse QB than the former or a better QB than either of the latter. QBR might be better, though since no one knows exactly how it’s calculated it’s hard to say for sure. But QBR purports to take into account QB running ability (and in that department, I do agree that Wilson is the best in the NFL), and it’s much more tightly tuned than passer rating. And - even when you take into account that signifiant advantage in rushing ability - Wilson was 12th this season in QBR, the same as last year. This puts him toward the bottom of the second quartile of full-season starting quarterbacks - certainly not elite, certainly not terrible… just about average. Pro football outsiders uses DVOA and DYAR, more elaborate statistics than passer rating and QBR, that purport to show value per play and total value; I have problems with these numbers, too, but nonetheless, they both put Wilson even _lower_ than 12th - behind Fitzpatrick, Carson Palmer, and _Drew Stanton_ and about even with guys like Alex Smith and Eli Manning. So of the four most prominent single statistical measures of QB performance, only one of them - the least useful - puts Wilson higher than 12th among starters (and even that’s only 10th!). And of course, QB performance _must_ be judged subjectively, too, because no extant statistic can completely summarize what’s happening out there. Rodgers, Manning, Brees, Romo, Brady, Roethlisberger, Ryan, Rivers, Luck, and probably Flacco are all clearly better quarterbacks than Wilson in my mind, and several others have a strong case; if you’re no better than the middle third at your position, your team would be foolish to give you a “truckload of money.” And the idea that he’s “led the team to the most success the franchise is ever had” is, while true, meaningless. The Seahawks have won because they have the most dominant running back in football and because they have an overwhelming defense. Their quarterback has been fine, and as a guy who doesn’t turn the ball over and makes periodic good plays, he’s a good fit for the rest of their rosters. But don’t kid yourself: any of the guys listed above would have been more successful in his place, and any number of players not currently considered great QBs would have a ring if they’d played for the Seahawks last season. Wilson will win additional championships if and only if the defense remains top-tier; I’ll be very surprised if he ever leads a really dominant, passing-focused offense, because he’s just not that good. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/39 "2015-01-11T15:00:38Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > How can Wilson still be underrated? The guy’s not an average quarterback. He finished eleventh in the league in passer rating and that’s counting several QBs who didn’t play a full schedule. I meant Newton. Wilson is a better than average QB. He is very good at what he does. He’s accurate, efficient, can run the ball intelligently, can throw on the run, knows when to throw the ball away, doesn’t make many mistakes, and he can run your offense well. He’s a perfect fit for a team like Seattle. The thing with Wilson is that I think he’s much more of a “win with” QB than a “win because” of QB. Seattle has had a great deal of success, not because Wilson is an elite QB, but because they have an incredible defense, a great running game, and a QB who doesn’t make mistakes. As long as Wilson doesn’t help Seattle beat themselves, ala Newton last night, the Seahawks can win. But it’s not because of Russell Wilson. Wilson throws for 217 yards per game, good for 26th in the NFL, and behind guys like Case Keenum, Brian Hoyer, and Mike Glennon. The Seahawks don’t need Russell Wilson to win games. He is very good at what they ask him to do though. I’m just not sure that’s worth being the highest paid player in the NFL. Maybe, if Seattle takes the regulator off him, Wilson could be a difference maker, “win because of” type QB. But that’s not proven at all. Don’t get me wrong, though. I love Russell Wilson. I think he’s a genuinely good guy, I love his work ethic, his public persona, his abilities as a QB and I would love him on my team. I think he’s a perfect fit in Seattle, and he’ll continue to find success there. I won’t begrudge him a dollar of his soon to be salary. I just don’t think he’s shown he’s worth being the highest paid player in the NFL. ETA: And what storyteller said. ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426/40 "2015-01-11T15:03:55Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Don’t get me wrong, though. I love Russell Wilson. I think he’s a genuinely good guy, I love his work ethic, his public persona, his abilities as a QB and I would love him on my team. I think he’s a perfect fit in Seattle, and he’ll continue to find success there. I won’t begrudge him a dollar of his soon to be salary. I mean, my previous post notwithstanding, I agree with all of this. I don’t think he’s one of the best QBs at the position, but I enjoy watching him play and he certainly has value (more in Seattle than elsewhere, I expect, but that’s true of a lot of guys). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoffs-division-weekend/709426.md?page=3)