I can see why Boldin’s headbutt wasn’t called. It wasn’t as severe as the one that was flagged previously. That said, I think it should have been flagged to reign in the chippyness that was going on from the first drive.
I think the 49ers were working the trash talk. They were in control of it, the Panthers weren’t. The moment it clicked for me was after the Kaepernick draw in the first half. It went for about 5 yards and he slid rather than taking a shot. One of the Panthers (I didn’t catch who) got up in Kaepernick’s face and was jawing at him. Kaepernick was jawing right back, but the grin on his face just read “Talk all you want. I’m in control and you aren’t.” By the end of the game, the Panthers clearly weren’t in control. They were throwing cheap (and ineffective) blows and getting flagged. The 49ers seemed to know where the line was. They’d tapdance all over it, but seemed much more in control of their emotions.
I’m more than happy to lump them in too. There are way too many teams to dislike now, although with Schwartz and Schiano out, I can go back to not hating the Lions and Bucs.
I do love me some Luke Kuechley and Star Lotuleilei, so I hope it wasn’t them doing that kind of stuff.
There is no tolerance. Used to have a diff between 5 and 15 yd penalty. His hand was clearly, tho barely, on the facemask. Legit call under current rules. BroncoManiac since 1974
I didn’t care for Kaepernick doing the Superman thing, but it was a direct answer to multiple Panther defenders doing his bicep kissing thing after sacks during their regular season game.
My understanding is that the 5 yard incidental facemask is no longer a penalty. Players may now accidentally brush the facemask. It’s a 15 yard penalty if the fingers get into the facemask or the head is turned. Correction or clarification is welcome.
Well I’m rooting for the Chargers to make an incredible comeback, but unlikely. Still, it was nice to see the bomb on 4th and 5. I mean what’s the point of doing anything but the long shots necessary for an unlikely win? But apparently there are coaches that don’t seem to grasp that most basic concept.
This weekend’s games have not been terribly compelling.
Random thought: this is two years in a row where there was a pretty significant playoff field goal that went over the upright. Now, I’m sure the refs are pretty good at this, and they probably got them right (at least last year for B’more - I still need to see tonight’s a few more times, but as of now I’m more skeptical). But wouldn’t this be the absolute easiest thing to check with modern technology? Some sort of laser/camera combination on top of the goalposts? I know the league’s got a lot to fix and this seems kind of trivial in our concussion-aware world, but it’s also kind of silly that we’ve had these field goals that may or may not have been good in such important spots.
Multiple camera angle replay seems to work good enough. Plus, the refs really are right there. Has one been proven to have been called wrong? Really wondering, no snark
I guess the thing is that it’s basically impossible to prove either way because of how the angles work, and (in theory - I could certainly be wrong) the cost of potential fool-proof solutions is really low in a NFL-relative sense. It’s probably just a coincidence that it happened two years in a row, anyways; it wasn’t as big a thing tonight because it happened in the middle instead of the end, but if Denver had 3 fewer points, that obviously makes all the difference for the last few drives.