@nepatsgirl:
Brady has a lot to do with it, his first couple of years with their shutdown D I could argue it was the system, but when their D went south when Brewski and others left, Brady was carrying the team by puitting up 35 points a game with a rotating cast of characters, and that tells me a lot about him (the sign of a great QB is they can work with the pieces they have; a QB with a perfect O line, great surrounding players, can be okay and do well). On the other hand, there is no doubt Belichick is one of the greatest coaches the game has seen, I have to laugh when at a news conference he will say something like “Oh, I am not sure about that, I am not an expert on the rules”, he knows more than the head of NFL officials does, he is a true student and historian of the game (If he ever retires, I think he should write a history of the NFL, besides having great insight, he also could stick it to Goodell). Given he is the GM as well, his ability to ferret out players like Gronkowski and Brady whom others thought were risky takes, finding these deep round players or his trading down and finding gems (and also, quite honestly, building them). He also surrounds himself with decent coordinators, and unlike the Todd Bowles of the world who insist on doing play calling, he leaves it to the coordinators, which has to be hard given he was one of the best D coordinators in the game. I think it is telling that his assistants end up other places as great coordinators, but fail as head coaches.
What scares me is the last couple of games I caught him at times nearly smiling, now that is scary, I thought he was going to high five Matt Patricia after one play several games ago lol. NE is an example of an organization that knows what they are doing, they are the mirror of the clevelands and NY Jets whose owner and management team don’t have a clue most of the time.
Clemson deserved the win, and I’m happy for Watson and Sweeney. It would have been crushing for them to lose last night, after coming so close two years in a row. Jalen Hurts has 2 or 3 more years of play ahead of him and he’s got plenty of time to mature (if he hasn’t already). I hope Bo Scarbrough makes a full recovery. The Tide needs him healthy for next year.
@nrdsb4:
Yeah, but no way, no how could he argue that he ‘planned’ that, the 1 second also was based to a certain extent on luck, ie the pass interference penalty in the end zone. When there was 23 seconds and they were on the 16, they could easily have run out of time if the pass in question had failed, or be forced to kick a field goal and go into overtime, which in college football is a joke, might as well decide the winner on a coin flip. It looked to me like they were playing to wind down the clock and kick the fg, but they didn’t even do that right, if they wanted to do that they could run the ball, let the clock wind down, take their last timeout or spike it, then bring on the kicker.
I think this is when the true geniuses of football shine. Were the Alabama ‘hands’ team told that the only way that second would remain on the clock if they recovered the on-sides kick was if they were on the ground when they recovered it? That if it was kicked through the end zone to let it go? That if they recovered it in the air to do a ‘Cal-Stanford Band’ play?
My brother is a ref in another sport, but knows a LOT about football. (when he played, he had to be on the field for all special teams plays because he was the only one who knew all the rules, how to line them up, who was eligible; he had to count them all -11? okay) I’m not sure he would have known it just before the kick. The announcers took a few moments to figure it out. The officials took a few minutes to figure it out.
But I agree that at 22 seconds left, Clemson should have been calling time outs.
I know the playoffs are on right now, but to jump back to college ball for a moment: I just read that Alabama spends $43 million annually on its football program. The next highest number is $29 million, which both Clemson and Ohio State spend. So without even commenting on the concept of spending such amounts, Alabama spends $14 million more than the next two highest spenders. Wow.
Intense game!!! Would love to see there be one more game in the Atlanta Dome. That said, Packers vs Falcons would cause several friends to have very divided loyalties!!
When we were at the Falcons v Green Bay game back in 2010 (or 2009) the dome was filled with more Packers fans that Falcons fans. We (Falcons) won that game! Looks like it’s going to be Green Bay and Atlanta in Green Bay…I think GB.
@threeofthree , @teriwtt is coorrect-- game is in Atlanta next week. Kickoff is 3:05pm, I believe. I was at the very first game played in the dome (we had seats holding up the back wall, LOL) I still have the tickets and commemorative pin they gave out. DH will be flying back from Chicago when the game starts, though.
