# NFL Week 9 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 6, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073 "2011-11-06T17:23:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/121 "2011-11-08T04:50:06Z")
> [@Jules\_Andre](#): > > Zero confidence. Zero. Smart man. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/122 "2011-11-08T04:50:41Z")
Woooo!!! Love it. Maclin killed the Illini for 3 years, so I’m glad to see him be the goat tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Jules\_Andre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jules_andre/32/9334_2.png) [@Jules\_Andre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules_Andre)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/123 "2011-11-08T04:51:17Z")
Third time Maclin has had the last play of the game and blown it for the team. It’s remarkable how the Eagles can’t get out of their own way, repeating the exact same mistakes game after game. Well, there goes 2011. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/124 "2011-11-08T04:55:48Z")
Ah, good night. Bears get a big win and I get my tickets to Lambeau on Christmas Day. ---
**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:** [November 8, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/125 "2011-11-08T05:00:49Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Ah, good night. Bears get a big win and I get my tickets to Lambeau on Christmas Day. I liked it too. The Bears don’t scare me as much as the Eagles. Enjoy Santa and the tailgaiting, because once kickoff hits, I think you’re fun will be done. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/126 "2011-11-08T05:04:32Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > I liked it too. The Bears don’t scare me as much as the Eagles. Enjoy Santa and the tailgaiting, because once kickoff hits, I think you’re fun will be done. I’m hoping to track down a bright orange Santa costume. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/127 "2011-11-08T06:11:51Z")
Vick didn’t look good out there, he’s lucky the Bears didn’t hold on to a few more of those throws. Was it the scheme or all the hits? ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/128 "2011-11-08T13:29:53Z")
So, not to keep beating the same horse every week, but: Hey guys, Vick was in a game last night where the margin of victory was a (barely if that) roughing the passer call. You’ll never guess which quarterback wasn’t the one who was given the call, will you? [To be fair, I didn’t notice any particular late/rough hits on Vick that I thought should have gotten the call, though it was on fast forward a good bit of the time. But the call against the Eagles was pretty iffy: the rushed was pushed into Cutler by a blocker. I mean, this was a call bad enough the announcers were saying it was wrong]. Also, though I think this is just random chance, the two close PI calls (one called one wasn’t) went against the Eagles, too. But of course, I’m not sure you deserve to win if you call a fake punt without bothering to check if the punter can actually throw the ball far enough to reach the receiver. ---
**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:** [November 8, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/129 "2011-11-08T14:11:51Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > So, not to keep beating the same horse every week, but: Hey guys, Vick was in a game last night where the margin of victory was a (barely if that) roughing the passer call. You’ll never guess which quarterback wasn’t the one who was given the call, will you? > > [To be fair, I didn’t notice any particular late/rough hits on Vick that I thought should have gotten the call, though it was on fast forward a good bit of the time. But the call against the Eagles was pretty iffy: the rushed was pushed into Cutler by a blocker. I mean, this was a call bad enough the announcers were saying it was wrong]. While I agree the Eagles were on the wrong side of a couple calls in the game, I’m not seeing any actual evidence of the “Vick doesn’t get roughing calls” meme that seems to be floating around Eagleland. Soon, every play in the NFL will be some offensive lineman holding James Harrison as he smacks into Vick 20 seconds after the play is whistled dead, and no flags at all. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/130 "2011-11-08T17:11:12Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > While I agree the Eagles were on the wrong side of a couple calls in the game, I’m not seeing any actual evidence of the “Vick doesn’t get roughing calls” meme that seems to be floating around Eagleland. Well, as I said, I didn’t see any uncalled hits on Vick last night. But it’s completely clear that a QB that takes off running is allowed to get hit harder than a QB standing in the pocket. And think that referees carry this over, so all extremely mobile running QBs – not just Vick – tend to not get the benefit of the doubt on roughing calls even when they’re just standing in the pocket, while time-their-40-yard-dash-with-a-calendar types like Manning do tend to get the marginal roughing calls. And this general double-standard has probably gotten worse in the last several years as the NFL has rolled out the ‘kid gloves for QBs’ policy. It’s just that Vick is the most prominent running QB ever, both for his running and other activities, so he gets it worst. And yes, I did see several examples earlier in the season where Vick was hit hard enough and late enough that I have little doubt that Peyton Manning, or someone similar, would have gotten a roughing call but Vick got nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/131 "2011-11-08T17:23:00Z")
> [@Jules\_Andre](#): > > Third time Maclin has had the last play of the game and blown it for the team. I don’t see how it’s Maclin’s fault. The pass was awful and he had to stretch out to get it. If the ball had been better placed he wouldn’t have lost his balance. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/132 "2011-11-08T17:26:52Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Vick didn’t look good out there, he’s lucky the Bears didn’t hold on to a few more of those throws. Was it the scheme or all the hits? Vick is 1-4 against the Bears and has looked pretty poor in all of them, 0-4 as a starter I believe. The Bears scheme seems to give him fits as does the collective speed of the defense. Vick really didn’t get hit that much in this game. He rarely threw deep and rarely ran with the ball. He was only sacked once. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/133 "2011-11-08T17:32:58Z")
The two-deep-safeties look (whether or not it’s a pure Tampa 2) has always given Vick trouble. ---
**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:** [November 8, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/134 "2011-11-08T18:25:07Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > And yes, I did see several examples earlier in the season where Vick was hit hard enough and late enough that I have little doubt that Peyton Manning, or someone similar, would have gotten a roughing call but Vick got nothing. Yeah, but you also thought the roughing call for Cutler last night was legit, so I’ll consider the source. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/135 "2011-11-08T19:39:09Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Yeah, but you also thought the roughing call for Cutler last night was legit, so I’ll consider the source. 😛 Well, if it was reviewable, the call might have been overturned. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/136 "2011-11-08T19:54:50Z")
> [@Jules\_Andre](#): > > Third time Maclin has had the last play of the game and blown it for the team. It’s remarkable how the Eagles can’t get out of their own way, repeating the exact same mistakes game after game. How in Og’s name is that on Maclin? It was a bad pass that he had to leap to get; the only chance that throw had was if he was hit dead in stride. > [@](#): > > Well, there goes 2011. Overreact one way, then overreact the other, eh? Sun, Nov 13 Arizona Sun, Nov 20 at NY Giants Sun, Nov 27 New England Thu, Dec 1 at Seattle Sun, Dec 11 at Miami 4-1 against that slate gets them to 7-6 going into the stretch. They’re not out of it yet. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/137 "2011-11-08T20:20:56Z")
Why is it that no one is on bye this week, but 4 teams are next week? Incidentally, the Browns have the Rams and Jags over the next two weeks. They could conceivably become the shittiest 5-5 team in history. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/138 "2011-11-08T20:43:42Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Incidentally, the Browns have the Rams and Jags over the next two weeks. They could conceivably become the shittiest 5-5 team in history. They’re #1 in pass defense, though that may be because nobody has to throw to score the 14 points required to beat them. From one of the Yahoo! fantasy-week review articles: “Joshua Cribbs had the Browns touchdown this week. Congratulations if you had him in the pool.” ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/139 "2011-11-08T21:15:57Z")
Combination of factors. The pass defense is pretty good - the completely built from scratch D-line has been surprisingly good, Joe Haden is one of the best corners in the NFL, and Dick Jauron has done a better job than I expected. The Browns run defense actually hasn’t been bad except for this last game - they were giving up 3.8 yards per carry or so before Houston. Even though they were running over us, every time Houston tried to pass, the D-line got to Schaub and the secondary had their guys covered. I don’t know why they attempted like 8-10 passes in the second half when they had 12 yards anytime they wanted to run, but all of their passes went badly. They’ve faced pretty bad quarterbacks for the most part. So… they’re not really the top pass defense in the league, but they’re very good. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073/140 "2011-11-08T21:29:26Z")
NFC North, best Division in football. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-9/602073.md?page=8)