Don’t jump off the bandwagon yet, BB.
That was the weirdest punt play by the Colts I have ever seen. I can’t figure out what they were trying to do, plus I can’t see how that could be a legal formation to begin with.
On the bright side this opens up a lot of weekends in January! (not to mention November and December)
~X( 8-} L-) #-o X_X :-<
I’m thinking that Wilson needs to make a total break from mythological tradition and cut his hair and _______ his girlfriend if the tide is ever going to turn.
Are you guys really such fair weather fans?
“Are you guys really such fair weather fans?”
Yes. At least I am. I really don’t care a bit about football, unless we’re in the Superbowl or headed that direction. Then it becomes interesting. Maybe just not used to having really good sports teams out here in the PNW.
“On the bright side this opens up a lot of weekends in January! (not to mention November and December)”
True. You can go skiing now. That is, if we have any snow!
Could be the problem with Wilson, too much pent up sexual energy. Or…maybe not enough. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. 
Didn’t have a chance to see much this weekend. Only caught bits and pieces.
- I see Seattle's defense has given up big points in yet another 4thQ. Their offense has never been great but this is bad play by the defense. This team could be 1-5 if not for luck.
- Interesting how many games came down to one play. Denver/Cleveland for example, and GB/SD. My guess is that Peyton has a physical problem because he has to will strong throws and is often a total mess, if the bit I saw is an indication.
- Lions managed to win a game! And they actually threw deep! Why they installed a short throwing offense is beyond me. It's like teams decide, "Let's screw up what we do well."
- I thought Indy's defense was improved. I note that Brady's only INT of the season was when Julian Edelman flung the ball in the air by mistake and it was grabbed and taken in for a score. The game was not as close as the score, but that's true of many games. It's weird to say this but NE's offense is still trying to find itself. Weird to say that because they put up 34, which is a ton of points and is considered an "explosion" for most teams - only Detroit scored more and that was 3 points with those in OT - but is meh for NE. Like everyone else, I have no idea what that Indy punt was about. The formation is illegal. I'm not clear on the rules but since this was illegal formation, how could there be offsides, if the aim was to draw NE offsides?
- SD's offensive toughness since Rivers has been there is impressive. Gates is one of my all-time favorite players: he somehow is always open. Does he have an invisibility cloak? But SD's defense remains, well, they give up big plays and commit crucial mistakes.
The defense was great for most of the game. My assessment is that they are on the field WAY too long. I haven’t looked at stats yet but the offensive time of possession sucks. We can’t make a first down when we need it so don’t eat any clock in the 4th quarter. They should be able to get a drive or two and take time off the clock if not add points. It isn’t happening and instead they expect the defense to be perfect for 15 minutes straight. It was a major screw up at the end there, no doubt, but it was set up by the total inability to convert on 3rd down.
The league has figured Wilson out and he is no longer able to spin backwards and roll around to his blind side escape hatch like he used to.
Seattle’s 4th quarter ToP in the last game was 49%, for the last 3 games 45%. This is not a huge disadvantage IMO. There is a large discrepancy between home and away (59% vs. 39%) but they were at home for the last one.
I can’t figure out why the Patriots didn’t go for two on their last touchdown. There’s really no difference between being up by 12 or 13, but being up by 14 instead of 13 is huge difference.
NE held the ball for 5 minutes less than Indy. Carolina held the ball 5 minutes more than Seattle. Time of possession is not the issue.
Time of possession in of itself only usually indicates things when it is mismatched (like 40-20), 5 minutes won’t mean all that much. More importantly, there are teams that are the opposite of Philadelphia, that take a long time for each play, that run a lot and grind out first downs, that end up being relatively low scoring. The key stat to me is efficiency, what percent of drives end up scoring. The slow paced, grind team that scores a larger percentage of the time is going to win, since the other team is playing catchup ball with limited time, but if they routinely use up a lot of time but don’t score a lot of the time, the other team has plenty of time to score enough to win (and of course, if the other team is a Philadelphia rapid paced offense, time of possession may indicate very little).
FYI, when Jamie Collins jumped over center to block a Colts extra point, that was designed:
“The Colts’ field-goal protection, they try to get real low and protect those guys from not getting knocked out of there by the defensive linemen,” coach Bill Belichick explained. “I thought we had an opportunity to go over the top of them, and Jamie did and made a great play on it.”
I kind of feel for the UM punter. Big mistake, but he had played pretty well prior to that. I hope the fans aren’t giving him too bad of a time. I would think the center would share some of the blame. Also, there were other missed opportunities to increase the lead prior to that.
Poor kid. He’ll never forget that play.
Death threats on social media. Who are these cowardly losers on Twitter?
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/punting-error-death-threats-michigan-football-blake-oneill/
Remarkable ending to MSU UM. Lots of comments online, some with good analysis.
The punt play wasn’t executed well. The block play was. Its notable that in certain situations, you need to play unconventionally because the conventional way is going to lose. MSU got that, and UM didn’t. I watched a lot of the game, and, despite the play, MSU won because they have a great quarterback, and UM has a very good one. If Ohio State is able to beat both these teams at the end of the season, they deserve another title.
Scout, it’s disgusting. Luckily it’s fall break here at U of M so he has a little longer to recover.
It’s sad that these things don’t surprise me.
Oh my gosh, I just read that the player who scored the winning TD for Michigan State was injured on the play and is out for the season. Was he injured by the opponent, or by his teammates’ celebratory pile on?
Given that there was hardly a Wolverine anywhere in sight, I’d suspect it occurred during the celebration. #-o
I put the blame at about 50/50 between the punter and the coaches. Coming out of a timeout there should’ve been no doubt in that kid’s mind what to do in the event of a fumbled snap if the coaches did their job. I haven’t heard yet whether they did or didn’t coach him up before that play.
@Wolverine86, there was one Wolverine who got to him and took him down. But I’d be willing to bet he did get hurt in the ensuing pile on.