NFL 2017 Super Bowl Thread

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Eagles-Vikings

I expected the Vikings to win on Sunday. Not just because I thought they’d have an advantage against an offense led by Nick Foles (THEY DID NOT). Why did I really think that? Because they’re the Vikings, and nobody crushes their fans like the Minnesota Vikings. Not the Bills, with their years of mediocrity. Not the Browns, who you know are always terrible. It’s the Vikings, who are just good enough to give their fans hope, and then crush it in spectacular ways.

So, I asked myself, what’s the most Vikings way you can lose? I’d at first expected them to go to the Super Bowl at home, have a solid lead, and then lose to a last-minute Tom Brady drive so they could be crushed right at the end of the game. That seemed perfect, but . . . I think what happened was as Vikings as Vikings could be. You had the amazing Minneapolis Miracle. You had a week of hope and destiny and THIS IS THE YEAR. You go into Philadelphia, march down the field, and score easily. There’s the hope, just building, and then . . . utter humiliation. Everything goes wrong, you get destroyed. I think it’s even worse than the last-minute loss, because, in that case, you at least got close. You have some respect for that. This? This craps on the arguably greatest moment in franchise history in Diggs’ amazing catch, and every Packers fan I know is having the best sports week they’ve had in years.

As for the game itself, yes, I expected a Vikings win, largely because I didn’t figure the Eagles would be able to completely stonewall that defense. What’s very weird is the Eagles really didn’t have that great of an offensive line this year; Football Outsiders ranks that line as 29th in pressure rate allowed, 12th in adjusted sack rate, and 22nd in adjusted line yards. In other words, the line wasn’t that great, it’s just that Carson Wentz’s mobility helped hide the deficiencies of the line. So how did that line control what was one of the best defenses in the league in Minnesota last weekend? Coaching, apparently; Philadelphia offensive linemen were intentionally pointing out incorrect blitzers pre-snap in order to make the defense think they had an advantage. Nick Foles had ridiculous amounts of time to throw, and the Vikings never seemed to get close to him. Match that with the domination of the Eagles’ excellent defensive line, and the Vikings got their butts kiiiiiiicked.

Patriots-Jaguars

I’d like to congratulate the Jacksonville Jaguars for playing well all year, and then insult them for curling into a tiny little ball in terror rather than finishing the season as they began.

A certain Jacksonville fan on this site (OK, there’s really only one of them . . . not sure if it’s on this site or just there is literally one Jacksonville fan) mentioned in an earlier thread that, based on the relative successes of the Jaguars and Rams, Sean McVay shouldn’t be a complete lock for Coach of the Year considering the job Doug Marrone did. That was actually a valid point.

Until there were 55 seconds left in the first half.

Two timeouts. At worst 40 yards for a vaguely realistic FG attempt. 55 seconds is a lifetime in that case with the number of clock stoppages you could potentially have. And Jacksonville kneeled on it. Against the greatest QB and coach combo in NFL history, on the road, and they kneeled on it.

I mean, I know Bortles is Bortles, but good GOD, man. That’s “Mike Martz refusing to run Marshall Faulk against the Patriots” or “Bill Callahan not bothering to change the playcalls against the Bucs” kind of big game bad coaching. Kyle Shanahan makes fun of those calls. That’s an insanely bad call now, and there can’t be anyone who wasn’t shocked on some level by it. I know Bortles sucks, but, seriously, that was ridiculous.

Also blah blah blah Brady Amendola and NO I DON’T THINK THERE WAS A CONSPIRACY SHUT UP GURU.

The fundamental story of this game is Doug Marrone played to not lose, and tried to get conservative against Belichick, who is known for being great at halftime adjustments. Everything that worked in the first half stopped working in the second, and the Jaguars turtled up.

IMAGE( http://u.cubeupload.com/MilkmanDanimal/RamseyBouye.jpg)

I’m all for thinking outside the box, but Jalen Ramsey in consistent zone coverage is a war crime of stupid. Literally, my first search for the headline image was “Doug Marrone fetal position”, but (A) there not surprisingly wasn’t one, and (B) it’s not worth the effort to make one. I also considered “Eagles take a giant dump on Minnesota” but I’m writing this on a work laptop and . . . yeah, no.

I just want to remind the Jaguars they were moments from the Super Bowl with Blake Bortles, and he is totally worth that long-term extension. Kirk who?

So, the Super Bowl. . .

One could argue I have been overly harsh and/or pessimistic about Nick Foles; outside his one great season, he’s been marginal at best, though there’s a certain degree of Jeff Fisher Effect going on there. He played OK vs. the Falcons and was simply great against the Vikings; do I need to start giving him credit?

Nope. I have a hard time imagining him having the time to throw he did against the Vikings, and I’d expect the Patriots to clamp up on shorter timing throws. Stephon Gilmore spent the first few weeks of the season as a giant, expensive anchor around that defense, but turned it around to be completely worth his contract (and that was even before his ridiculous 4th down pass defense last week). While I think the Eagles defensive line is definitely better than the Patriots line, playcalling and Tom Brady can account for that to a certain extent. I would just tend to think the Patriots defense can get to Nick Foles, and I don’t think we’ll see the same QB we saw last week.

Final Score:

Patriots 27, Eagles 17

Meh.

If the Patriots win, do you realize that NE will have won three of the past four Super Bowls?

It would also tie the Pats with the Steelers for most SB wins in franchise history.

I'd love for the Eagles to win one, but a NE win just seems so damned destined.

I think it will be close.

Philly matches up pretty well against the Pats who IMHO are pretty weak on both lines this year. So if they can avoid some brain farts it seems like they can win.

Of course for personal reasons I would not mind the Pats getting another one.

Controversy in dodgeball? *gasp*

Graham Gano versus Jarvis Landry for the whole thing.

And AFC with the come-from-behind win.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

So, I asked myself, what’s the most Vikings way you can lose? I’d at first expected them to go to the Super Bowl at home, have a solid lead, and then lose to a last-minute Tom Brady drive so they could be crushed right at the end of the game. That seemed perfect, but . . . I think what happened was as Vikings as Vikings could be. You had the amazing Minneapolis Miracle. You had a week of hope and destiny and THIS IS THE YEAR. You go into Philadelphia, march down the field, and score easily. There’s the hope, just building, and then . . . utter humiliation. Everything goes wrong, you get destroyed. I think it’s even worse than the last-minute loss, because, in that case, you at least got close. You have some respect for that. This? This craps on the arguably greatest moment in franchise history in Diggs’ amazing catch, and every Packers fan I know is having the best sports week they’ve had in years.

Something I had noticed among Vikings fans for most of the year was a marked lack of their usual unearned cockiness. They were always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Until after the Saints game. After that catch, the fans went right back to normal and that's how I knew they were going to lose.

The fans of every other Minnesota team know how the script goes and tend to act accordingly. Vikings fans are like goldfish. And, those goldfish are loud assholes.

I actually considered creating a Pro Bowl thread and asking Certis to lock it instantly just for humor's sake.

Something I'll give the skeptics is that the Vikings lost a bunch of Defense players to injury in the game against the Saints, and unless they all got better and I didn't know it that meant their high rating defense wasn't up to snuff.

So if you wanna be skeptical of the chances there's an excuse. I'm just glad they're at the Super Bowl, and am hoping for an even stronger season next year. If they win I'll be happy, but if they don't... whatever, it is what it is.

I can't argue with the coaching failure in the game against the Patriots.

However, Coach of the Year is for the whole year. Plus Sean McVay's team didn't exactly look coached-up in the playoffs, and they didn't win 2 other playoff games first.

Just going two weeks without football sucks. If XFL really wanted to capitalize they should start a couple weeks after the Superbowl when everyone is still in withdrawal.

*Legion* wrote:

I can't argue with the coaching failure in the game against the Patriots.

However, Coach of the Year is for the whole year. Plus Sean McVay's team didn't exactly look coached-up in the playoffs, and they didn't win 2 other playoff games first.

Marrone got a team that added parts like Campbell, Bouye, and Dareus, whom had all been exceptionally good, and helped turn that into a great defense. McVay wound up with an offense full of cast-offs and turned it into a juggernaut. If somebody had showed you Jacksonville's defensive lineup before the season, you could have guessed they'd have a turnaround (though maybe not as big of one as they actually did). If someone showed you a Rams offense with Jared Goff, Robert Woods, Sammy Watkins, post-last year Todd Gurley, and just a couple new old guys on the offensive line, would anyone have vaguely expected them to gel like that? Goff had the singly-biggest turnaround in the history of FO's individual players stats for a QB, and it wasn't even close.

Jacksonville's turnaround makes sense. The Rams' was completely unexpected.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Marrone got a team that starts Blake Bortles

FIXED.

Goff's turnaround was unexpected, but we have hindsight now, and see Case Keenum and Nick Foles suddenly playing playoff-winning football too once unshackled from the Jeff Fisher ball and chain. Goff has simply started playing like the guy that the Cal Bears tape made him look like he should be.

EDIT: Also, those ex-Bills receivers fall into a similar spot. Marquise Goodwin left Buffalo this offseason too and had a career year in San Francisco. Turns out they didn't bother actually coaching WRs very much in Buffalo. After watching Goodwin's arc this year, I'm not surprised Robert Woods started looking so much better in Los Angeles too.

Mike White is my dark horse QB candidate.

Wait, this isn't the Draft thread? When's that start?

garion333 wrote:

Mike White is my dark horse QB candidate.

Wait, this isn't the Draft thread? When's that start?

Post-Super Bowl; sorry, kids, you have to spend the next week and a half watching JeremyK and Guru have slap-fights about the Patriots before we all move on to pretending we understand the draft.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Mike White is my dark horse QB candidate.

Wait, this isn't the Draft thread? When's that start?

Post-Super Bowl; sorry, kids, you have to spend the next week and a half watching JeremyK and Guru have slap-fights about the Patriots before we all move on to pretending we understand the draft.

But the draft is all I have. It is all I ever have. They even made a movie commemorating my misery.

IMAGE(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91rRcnN7pwL._SY445_.jpg)

UpToIsomorphism wrote:

But the draft is all I have. It is all I ever have. They even made a movie commemorating my misery.

IMAGE(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91rRcnN7pwL._SY445_.jpg)

Wait, the cover background focuses on a player from the Browns and it implies the movie is about the greatest victories happening at the draft. And it's supposed to be a drama, not fantasy!

I mean... whatever the Browns' greatest victory was last year, it didn't happen on the field, so... looks accurate.

*looks at Browns draft history*

You know, I'd have to say the Browns tend to be just as good on draft day as they are the rest of the year.

At least they're consistent.

garion333 wrote:

At least they're consistent.

Damn you, Joe Thomas; you have ruined everything.

EvilDead wrote:

Wait, the cover background focuses on a player from the Browns and it implies the movie is about the greatest victories happening at the draft. And it's supposed to be a drama, not fantasy! :lol:

If a Brown and another player appear in a picture, who in their right mind would assume that the Browns player was going to be the victorious one?

I feel like one of these days, Iso's gonna be like, "ahh f*ck these threads."

Then again, Browns fans seem to have a super-human tolerance for sports misery.

It will be better next year. By definition, it couldn’t be worse.

Hrdina wrote:
EvilDead wrote:

Wait, the cover background focuses on a player from the Browns and it implies the movie is about the greatest victories happening at the draft. And it's supposed to be a drama, not fantasy! :lol:

If a Brown and another player appear in a picture, who in their right mind would assume that the Browns player was going to be the victorious one?

That's my bad. I assumed it was a Browns running back stiff arming but clearly it's a Browns QB taking a sack for a loss. Occam's Razor.

So the Pro Bowl apparently happened. When I saw this, I was actually disappointed about the Pro Bowl no longer doing that thing it did for a few years where it was played at the site of the Super Bowl the week beforehand. If the Pro Bowl had been in Minneapolis, I'd have gone to it to have seen some awful football.

And it started at a weird time this year, too. Twelve Pacific.

Needs more:

Primetime kickoff
HOF coaches wearing their HOF jackets on the sidelines
Teams picked by the HOF coaches 10min before kickoff
$100k to each player on the winning team
$50k X-of the night bonuses for: hit, sack, TD and celebration, as voted by Twitter

Or screw it and just don't play because football doesn't work as an exhibition.

I'm disappointed you guys even mentioned it. Every year there's one of you who talks about it like it's a thing ever worth contemplating.

The sooner the ProBowl conceded it would be better to watch if it were flag football the better.

It pretty much was flag football in pads - any time a defender got near the ball carrier, they'd blow the whistle.

It was vaguely interesting to watch this year though. Or I just needed a football-like fix.

Also, my video card decided to fry Sat. night so I had nothing better to do. Which is kind of sad now that I write that.

tboon wrote:

Also, my video card decided to fry Sat. night so I had nothing better to do. Which is kind of sad now that I write that.

Sorry man. When you didn't come back to Rocket League we feared the worst

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