Denver just took the lead over the Pats with 1:09 left in the game which is too miuch time for Tom Brady
Don’t think anyone in NE cares about this game right now. Still reeling re: Gronk.
They driving down the field just fine without Gronk
Well, it’s just like Jimmy Graham in Seattle: just because you don’t absolutely NEED him doesn’t mean you don’t REALLY REALLY want him.
ETA: And they lost.
Wow, that was a hell of a game.
Pretty sure they blew the holding/PI call on the first play of overtime. Pats still deserved to lose because they couldn’t cover the same running play they had seen (and been beaten on) earlier. And… I still don’t care remotely about this game, it’s all about what the Gronk news is tomorrow morning. The default assumption is something terrible and he’s out for the season, but he was in the air and it was kind of an awkward hit. Which might be even worse, because it leaves some cause for hope. Hope is terrible.
They showed him walking around in the locker room on ESPN and he looked pretty good
Here ya go, have some more unfounded hope. There’s nothing really behind it, but, as you say, it’s just enough to make the injury hurt you again when the MRI shows he tore X, Y, and Z.
It would be crazy if he missed a lot of time. I mean, going into last night’s game, New England’s top four receivers on the season were Edelman, Gronkowski, Amendola, and Lewis, then there’s a major dropoff – those four had accounted for 200 of the Patriots’ 271 receptions (74%). And now presumably they’ll all be out, at least for a while.
Prediction: Tom Brady’s numbers over the next 5 games are going to look a lot worse than they have over the first 11. Not only are his healthy receiving targets all below-average or worse, but his remaining schedule is pretty tough: Eagles (6th ranked defense per DVOA), Texans (12th, but on fire and trending upwards), Titans (11th), Jets (5th), Dolphins (25th).
Eagles just gave up 45 pts to the Lions and 38 pts to Tampa the week before. Now I definitely don’t seem them beating the texans
In other tight end news, Jimmy Graham tore his patellar tendon, and is out of the rest of the season - at least. I’m not particularly familiar with this injury, but it sounds like it could be the kind of thing that one does not ever fully recover from.
There’s been a lot of talk of how Graham ‘doesn’t fit in the Seahawks offense’ or ‘isn’t getting his targets,’ etc. But he and Wilson definitely seemed to be figuring each other out, and he’s been a very good upgrade for the Seahawks at the tight end spot. Damn.
This narrative took hold in the first few weeks of the season, and IMO should have died thereafter. Graham was being used appropriately in recent weeks and has been a big part of Seahawks offense. Some bozo on ESPN last night felt compelled to say something like “It’s a shame Graham never fit in in Seattle.”
Graham had 4 or fewer catches in 7 of 11 games. Hadn’t been in the end zone since September. Whether he fits or not, Seattle was not optimizing his talents.
Graham is (was) on track for 70 catches this year and 880 yards (regular season only.) Last four season average with the Saints was 89 and 1099. He’s second on the team (behind Baldwin) for catches, yards, and yards/catch.
Seattle’s offense is tilted towards running and throwing deep. You may argue that that offense is never going to “optimize the talents” of a big, catching tight end. And maybe you’d be right. But he was nonetheless a huge contributor.
It always seemed to me that what Seattle needs in a tight end is primarily a good blocker, and secondarily, someone who can improvise and break away to catch passes when Wilson is scrambling. Graham is a mediocre blocker and a good route runner, neither of which complement what Seattle’s offense does. They were starting to make it work, but it was never a smart trade in the first place.
I also had doubts about how much the Hawks offense was going to have to retool itself to fit Graham in effectively, and how much it cost in proven capability. But again, I thought there was some (trollish) value in denying his utility to the Saints or to any other competing organization. Although you can’t pin New Orleans’ precipitous decline to losing Graham, I’m sure it didn’t help.
That Monday Night game tonight is awful and glad I have a date. lol
Baltimore vs Cleveland?
This is probably the worst game ever for me. At this point I just want the Browns to lose out and get a high draft pick and finally grab a top QB prospect. But I fucking hate Baltimore. Not in the way that you normally hate a division rival, but in the way where I masturbate to the scene in “The Sum of all Fears” when Baltimore gets nuked.
So I’m torn. A win here - which is very possible, even likely, as we beat them before on the road and that was with Flacco - could potentially drop us a few draft slots. On the other hand, losing to that stain on all of sports and humanity is too hard to stomach.
This game should be on ESPN radio
Is this with someone you’re not attracted to, or someone who has the sports package?
I don’t know if there’s a tougher QB in the league than Josh McCown. That dude has endured so much punishment (mostly physical, but also mental due to Manziel) every time he plays I am constantly amazed when he keeps pulling himself off the turf. Tonight is another case in point, he just went out of the game but man, I’ve been watching this game as a mildly interested Cincy fan looking for trainwreck football between two bad teams and boy, McCown endures some serious physical punishment. Kudos to him for continually getting up, and the fans calls for Manziel.