# Really? No Super Bowl LII thread? What about the commercials??!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 30, 2018, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814 "2018-01-30T16:07:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/301 "2018-02-06T00:21:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There were three commercials with Clydesdales in them (we were paying attention to that because some of the bingo cards included a space for Clydesdales). I think one of them must have been a Budweiser commercial, because it showed the wagon in it, but I can’t remember. > > But I still miss the commercials with the 'Dales playing football. Thanks. I must have had my face in a bowl French onion dip ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/302 "2018-02-06T00:54:51Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > People like to see things succeed more than they like to see them thwarted. It’s simply more exciting and rewarding to see completed passes and successful runs than it is to see them go nowhere because the defense stopped them. This is one good reason. For instance, let’s take soccer and how popular that sport is in the US. You’d have to get rid of ties to see an increase in viewing. A 0-0 tie isn’t exciting to most people. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2018, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/303 "2018-02-06T01:01:27Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > The other commercial-related thing I thought of: Did Netflix originally put in their commercial for the _Cloverfield_ movie that it would air after the SB, but NBC nixed this due to their _This is Us_ programming? Because I know the filmmaker complained that the commercial didn’t state that it would be streaming immediately, whereas I’m a little surprised NBC even accepted the ad at all. The trailer did say the movie would air “TONIGHT”, even if it didn’t say immediately after the show. Either way, Netflix already has a streaming relationship with NBC, so I’m not surprised NBC would carry the ad. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/304 "2018-02-06T01:08:04Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > **SlackerInc** I’m not saying that defense doesn’t play an important role in the game, it’s just that it’s not as exciting to watch. In the same way, game plans are important too, but who wants to sit for three hours and watch coaches talk X’s and O’s? You have to remember that in recent years the rules have been tweaked to favor offensive production. You will often hear famous bygone era QB’s say something like “I wish I played today” because their historical stats would definitely trend way upward under these newer rules. Heck, remember when DB’s were allowed to openly mug wide receivers or wear “stickum”? When defenders could “clothesline” or “horsecollar” offensive players? When QB’s could get drilled mercilessly way after the ball had been thrown with no penalty? Defense before the 5 yard “chuck” rule? And on and on. There have been many, MANY rules changes to generate more yards and scoring (and to protect star players, ie, the QB from injury) because the NFL thought that’s what the majority of fans wanted. They were right. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/305 "2018-02-06T01:28:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Oh, and yeah, I would have liked to see more defense in this game, too. Sure, scores are exciting, but then, so are sacks and turnovers No argument there. The strip sack was by far the biggest play of the game. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/306 "2018-02-06T01:36:45Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > No argument there. The strip sack was by far the biggest play of the game. It’s amazing to me that was the only sack of the game, and couldn’t have happened at a better time for the Eagles. Wait, is that another SB record? Fewest sacks allowed in a game combined? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/307 "2018-02-06T01:47:25Z")
Missed the edit: nope, it’s happened four times before, but it’s now a five-way tie for the fewest combined sacks in a SB game. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/308 "2018-02-06T01:57:26Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Heck, remember when DB’s were allowed to openly mug wide receivers or wear “stickum”? The players **do** wear “stickum”. It is just not pine tar, or whatever, anymore. Now they have these gloves that have such a sticky surface that you can hold a ball hanging by its nose between your thumb and forefinger. Those amazing catches would never happen barehanded. Which is probably one reason “what is a catch” is so closely defined. Without the gloves, QB completion percentages would be far lower and many of those plays would never get to the point of being controversial. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/309 "2018-02-06T02:02:17Z")
The record I find most amazing, and most disturbing when it is cheered so widely, is the total number of yards gained. It’s the most yards combined in any Super Bowl. But wait, it’s actually the most yards combined in any playoff game. Hang on: it’s the most yards in any NFL game, ever. Not even some sad late-season matchup of two teams with losing records and woeful defenses, combined with flukey long plays, has resulted in this many yards. That’s messed up. And it wasn’t even from long TDs: it was from defenses just unable to stop the opposition from relentlessly getting chunks of yards going down the field. If this is what fans like, does that mean what _every other NFL game_ has featured was “lesser”? Jesus. :smack: And in many cases it wasn’t from offensive awesomeness, but from poor tackling and slow and ineffectual defensive pursuit. That this would look like some kind of masterpiece to most fans is honestly really sickening to me. That part at least can’t be changed by tinkering with the rules: you can’t legislate that defenses be slow, use poor tackling technique, or take bad angles. > [@Chronos](#): > > Oh, and yeah, I would have liked to see more defense in this game, too. Sure, scores are exciting, but then, so are sacks and turnovers, and this game had less than its fair share of those. Right? > [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Heck, remember when DB’s were allowed to openly mug wide receivers or wear “stickum”? When defenders could “clothesline” or “horsecollar” offensive players? When QB’s could get drilled mercilessly way after the ball had been thrown with no penalty? > > Defense before the 5 yard “chuck” rule? And on and on. There have been many, MANY rules changes to generate more yards and scoring (and to protect star players, ie, the QB from injury) because the NFL thought that’s what the majority of fans wanted. They were right. I think you’re conflating a couple of different things here. I absolutely support the rules that protect players from injury, while OTOH I’m not so sure fans do overall (I think to the extent that the average fan likes defense, it’s the hard hitting aspect of it). Rules that encourage more scoring are another matter. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/310 "2018-02-06T03:28:22Z")
What’s amazing is that Tom Brady had arguably one of the best games statistically in the history of the post season, let alone the Super Bowl: 505 yards passing, 3 TDs, no INTs, a passer rating of 115.4 – all of that…and he **lost**. If you had told me that he’d have those numbers, I would have expected you to continue with “in one of the most lopsided blowouts in Super Bowl history.” He had basically one bad play, and it cost them. A couple of missed throws here and there, but on the whole, a monster performance. Yet not enough. Give credit to the Eagles coaching staff, which made Jeff Lurie look good in moving past the Andy Reid era and, eventually, into the Doug Pederson era. Credit Nick Foles, too. He knew he’d have to have the game of his life – and he did. For a back up to continue to play with such poise in the biggest game he’ll ever play, and against the legendary Patriots, who are notorious for making other teams beat themselves, was simply impressive stuff. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/311 "2018-02-06T03:35:11Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > How do you stop that? The ball carrier was pivoting wildly, and spun himself right into the defender’s way. I saw the initial contact to be around the chest/shoulders, with the defender’s helmet sliding up to his the carrier’s helmet. You saw wrong. Re-watch it: his helmet is directed directly into the receiver’s helmet. > [@](#): > > How do you write a rule that protects against that - without turning it into touch or flag football? Ask College football; that hit is against the rules in College ball; indeed, it would potentially result in the ejection of the player who made it. @ **bobot** : The rule in the NFL is that the player cannot use the crown of the helmet, and will be flagged for unnecessary roughness if “a player uses any part of his helmet (including the top/crown and forehead/”hairline” parts) or facemask to butt, spear, or ram an opponent violently or unnecessarily.” There are different rules for “defenseless” players, but as was noted, the player was not any longer a “defenseless” player because he had started to run. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2018, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/312 "2018-02-06T03:44:41Z")
they should just play without helmets ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/313 "2018-02-06T03:44:54Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > This is one good reason. For instance, let’s take soccer and how popular that sport is in the US. You’d have to get rid of ties to see an increase in viewing. A 0-0 tie isn’t exciting to most people. Not to hijack the thread, but: A) In terms of participation, soccer is the most popular sport in the US. Apparently playing in a tie game isn’t that dispiriting. B) Soccer games very rarely end 0-0. Indeed, that sort of score is kind of like an American football game ending 13 - 10. Rare. C) The absolutely worst behavior I’ve ever experienced from spectators was from moms of U-16 girls teams playing in the last minutes of a 0-0 or 1-1 soccer game. **EVERY** decision you make as a referee, even the decision of which way a throw-in goes, is greeted with such passionate abuse that you begin to hope the police are arriving soon to escort you off the field. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/314 "2018-02-06T05:03:26Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Yeah, lack of offense was not the issue. Lack of defense was decidedly a problem. would Butler himself have made the difference? It only needed to be one touchdown less… > > Losing Cooks, though, brings me again to my assertion that the NFL **must** do something to end direct hits to a player’s helmet. First of all, in this day and age when we know that repetitive trauma to the brain causes these men to suffer degenerative brain conditions, it’s simply unconscionable that the NFL doesn’t work to end hits that will certainly add to that probability for a player. Secondly, it’s simply unfair that a DB can knock a receiver out of the game at little or no risk to himself (he’s braced for the impact). Football is violent enough, inherently, without allowing defensive players to weaponize themselves that way. ☹ Ryan Shazier would like a word. I would support an NFL version of the targeting penalty, complete with instant replay verification or enforcement. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > In the same way, game plans are important too, but who wants to sit for three hours and watch coaches talk X’s and O’s? Is that a thing? Can we make it a thing? It might just be the wannabe coach in me, but I’d watch that shit every day. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > The record I find most amazing, and most disturbing when it is cheered so widely, is the total number of yards gained. It’s the most yards combined in any Super Bowl. But wait, it’s actually the most yards combined in any playoff game. Hang on: it’s the most yards in any NFL game, ever. Not even some sad late-season matchup of two teams with losing records and woeful defenses, combined with flukey long plays, has resulted in this many yards. That’s messed up. And it wasn’t even from long TDs: it was from defenses just unable to stop the opposition from relentlessly getting chunks of yards going down the field. If this is what fans like, does that mean what _every other NFL game_ has featured was “lesser”? I don’t think it was so well-received because of ALL THAT OFFENSE OMG, but because it was a relatively close game throughout mixed with a combination of “here we go again” halfway through the fourth quarter when the Patriots took a one point lead, and again when they got the ball back, down 8, with a minute to go. Was it a ridiculously high octane game led by two quarterbacks at different ends of the spectrum having all-time games? That delivers excitement, especially when more than one touchdown comes from more than 30 yards out with the quarterback heaving it downfield with a “fukit” and a prayer. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/315 "2018-02-06T05:16:49Z")
NFC East = best division in the league. 21 combined SB appearances and 13 SB titles. Only division in which every single team has won a Super Bowl. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/316 "2018-02-06T05:18:32Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > they should just play without helmets And we should get rid of seat belts and air bags in cars. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2018, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/317 "2018-02-06T05:51:24Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > And we should get rid of seat belts and air bags in cars. Only if we get rid of windshields as well, and take licenses away from assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/318 "2018-02-06T05:56:13Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > NFC East = best division in the league. 21 combined SB appearances and 13 SB titles. Only division in which every single team has won a Super Bowl. Yes that’s true, but only because the Cardinals were moved out of that division in the 2002 realignment. Before that they were in the division from since before Super Bowl I. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/319 "2018-02-06T07:39:49Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > they should just play without helmets The Seahawks got in trouble for running especially aggressive training sessions in the offseason. People were going at each other full speed. And it was at least partly the organization’s fault for courting that aggressiveness and instilling a culture of competition. They tried holding practices without helmets to force players to slow down and not attack each other but got fined and lost a 7th-round pick for being unsafe. > **[Seahawks fined, lose pick for practice violation](https://abc11.com/sports/seahawks-pete-carroll-fined;-team-loses-pick-for-no-contact-violation/1517752/)** > > Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has been fined $200,000, and the team has been fined $400,000 and will lose a fifth-round draft choice for violating the NFL's work rules on contact in the offseason. Don’t expect the NFL to embrace that idea any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814/320 "2018-02-06T09:05:44Z")
About commercials, the Jeep Manifesto ad was a good one! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OmMa4kLj-ZQ/hqdefault.jpg "Official Jeep Super Bowl Commercial | Anti-Manifesto") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmMa4kLj-ZQ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-no-super-bowl-lii-thread-what-about-the-commercials/807814.md?page=17)