Running the ball out the first time eliminates the two minute warning as a clock stoppage. Even if they go three and out after that, the Pats get the ball back with a minute left and no time outs. I can understand that decision.
The second time… not so understandable.
The only reason McKelvin should be returning kicks next week would be if he buys sneakers that don’t fit tomorrow.
50th anniversary of the AFL
BILLS! FUCK! MY HEART… fucking… shit with- OW! Chest pains! THE STUPID! The agony… what … HOW DO YOU FUCKING… what did we do to deserve this? In two minutes! FUCK!
Meanwhile the Raiders look good against San Diego.
Apparently, it’s impossible to catch a ball in the NFL anymore. At least if you’re the Raiders. :rolleyes: Seriously, what kind of game is this intended to be when someone brings a ball in, takes two steps and keeps the ball in their hand the entire way to the ground?
Absolutely right. The decision worked out poorly this time, but it was still the correct one to make. Under the right circumstances, the running it out could cost the Patriots 45 seconds out of the remaining 2:06 (not to mention 10 yards of field position: McKelvin ran it out to the 30).
As an aside, I think Jon Gruden has the potential to be *almost *as dumb as Joe Theisman, but much more aggressive about it.
I dunno about Gruden. Will he say something like “Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein…”
[…]
Apparently the only throw Russell can make is the one straight over the middle about 15 yards. What a bum. The Raiders should be up by like 20 points.
Well, the Raiders *did *look good…
Wow! Those were two really good finishes!
Fucking hell, Norv, you’re gonna give me another year of last-second heart attacks?
Raider’s defense was looking damned good on all fronts, I have to give them that. Ours, not so much; pass pressure is just as bad as it was last year, Sha[u/w]n[e]s or otherwise. (Man, those guys are easier said than written.) If it weren’t for JaMarcus Russell’s commitment to putting the ball nowhere if not in Charger hands, we’d have been pretty much hosed…especially since someone decided it’d be a good idea to run up the middle on every first and 10, and half the third and longs for that matter. Y’know, I wanted to believe that LT was still the best, I truly did, but the evidence just isn’t there.
For his part, Rivers came through in the clutch as only he can do, but he still needs to watch his temper. The real stars, though, were the receivers: Vincent Jackson and Legedu Naanee were beyond reproach.
And now that I’ve hopefully gained enough cred to keep my Charger fan card, I really do have to ask: why exactly did Oakland’s touchdown get overturned? I know the ball has to be controlled through the ground on the field, but I thought two feet down sealed the deal in the end zone. If I were a Raider fan, I’d be screaming almost (but not quite) as loud as I did during the Hochuli affair last season.
At any rate, well played to the Oakland D, and both teams need to step it up if the AFC West is to avoid being Bitch Division this year.
Read here.
Steve Young is a pompous loud mouth. He was wrong on the broadcast and because of him we’ll hear no end to the hand wringing this week. When has 2 feet down ever been enough to warrant a catch? This rule happens EVERY YEAR and we have this conversion. Hell, in LAST YEARS Super Bowl the exact same play occurred and while the Refs were partly checking to see if he had his feet in bounds they were also looking to see if he maintained possession of the ball. This rule has been clear as crystal for years and it’s very frequently applied. Heck, it’s even got a name.
Now, I think there’s room for debate on whether Murphy lost control of the ball when he hit the ground or not. It clearly moved when he came down, but the opposite view made it appear that while the ball moved he didn’t seem to lose his grip on it at all. I’m not clear on how “maintaining possession” is defined, it’s probably a judgment call which means there’s no debate to be made. The ball did move and in at least on persons judgment that’s a lack of possession.
The Browns were dominant in all aspects of special teams play in the preseason and pretty good all throughout last year, but the kick coverage kind of sucked against Minnesota. Turns out that since Cribbs earned time as the #2 receiver, he wasn’t out there on kick coverage, and the unit suffered. Cribbs isn’t some weak ass returner - he consistently leads the special teams in tackles and force fumbles. He gets right up in there and ruins people’s shit.
Maybe the Raiders can send a draft pick to the Eagles for Jeff Garcia. 
There was one view (if you were standing in the Chargers’ endzone looking at the field, the camera would be to your left) where you can clearly see that not only does he lose control of the ball after hitting the ground, it’s not even in his hands. It was weird because he did maintain control all the way to the ground (the hard part), then lost it.
Still, I didn’t think the play would be overturned just because of the ‘let the call on the field stand’ thing.
I like Steve Young as a person and as an in-studio analyst, but he’s a really bad announcer and he made himself sound like a complete moron by repeating a rule that didn’t exist over and over. I liked the “Mike & Mike & Mike” combo with Mike Ditka that they did last year much better.
Yeah, Young may well have been where I learned about that “rule” in the first place. His TV persona is annoying, but I figured he’d at least know the rules of the game…go figure. Thanks for the correction, Omniscient.
Random observations from the first week:
[ul]
[li]Glad to see TO lose. With only two catches. Bills choke in the last few minutes.[/li][li]“Going from two Super Bowls in Pittsburgh to the winless Detroit team – that’s like going from dating Beyonce to Whoopi Goldberg” (announcer Chris Myers) That is just cold. *Funny *but cold.[/li][li]I loved the Bears’ fake punt. Too bad it failed, but I love to see the trick plays. [/li][li]McNabb hurt already? He’s gotta be worrying about his job right about now.[/li][li]Steelers, I love ya, but you’ll have to play better if you want to have a winning season.[/li][/ul]
Actually, 2 feet down can be a definitive catch so long as the player isn’t on his way to the ground (i.e., isn’t falling down, but rather simply landing on his feet). There was a play some years ago in which Jeremy Shockey jumped straight up in the back of the end zone to make a catch. His toes had just barely come down and grazed the field when a defender clobbered him, his feet shot out from under him, and the ball flew loose. It was reviewed and ruled a touchdown because, in this situation unlike the one last night, he wasn’t going to ground and the play really was over once he got two feet down.
But he also had possession of the ball. It’s not just two feet, it has to be two feet with possession. If the ball is still moving in the receiver’s arms, it’s almost always ruled that he doesn’t have possession.
This does not compute…
Two solutions. Man up and go to the bar, or, go out Saturday night and don’t come home. Then you’ll just be drinking late, not early.
By the way, did anyone see Tom Brady totally blow off Suzy Kolber after the game? That was great. That immediate, on the field, post-game “interview” is such a useless, pointless practice anyway. It was much more entertaining to watch Kolber chase Brady back to the locker room, getting the old, “I can’t hear you,” line than hearing a bunch of NFL standard, automated, cliche answers would have been anyway.