NFL 2017 Super Bowl Thread

karmajay wrote:
1) because they're winning and it's easy to get along and be a wonderful team with wonderful people when you're winning,

This is true and will always be true. Winning solves a lot of issues in regards to team chemistry and locker rooms and always has.

That said, I expect Philly's team chemistry is just fine regardless. The team seemed on a good track since Pederson arrived. I wouldn't have any concerns with Philly's locker room.

I just wouldn't expect a quarterback who is likely to get his last best chance at a starting job (and starting money) to be all, "nah fam, I'm good going back to holding this clipboard". Being an NFL athlete takes too god damn much work for someone to snub opportunities like the ones Foles is likely to get.

I will say that Philly won't be in a hurry to trade, given Wentz's status. They're not going to take just any slapdick low offer that comes along. Someone that wants Foles is going to have to come and get him.

I sure hope that's how the play was drawn for reals.

garion333 wrote:

Admittedly nice of her.

I read a story about how she was consoling her kids post-game, explaining that the Eagles had never won so they should be happy for them.

Enix wrote:

Also, I don't fault Collinsworth for mis-speculating on those two catch calls. I honestly thought that both calls would be overturned based on how stuff like that had been called all season. (The Steelers would like a word about the Zac Ertz TD.) But god bless Gene Steratore for using some damn common sense for a change.

I got really tired of listening to him, especially during the long delay for that second TD review. The first one really should not have counted IMO, but there was no way that the Ertz one was anything but a TD.

(BEP said it better)

bepnewt wrote:

Whenever we'd play backyard ball, I always dreamed I was Wilbert Montgomery or Harold Carmichael. I idolized those guys.

I'm smiling big today, and can't seem to stop.

I was always Carmichael because (in grade school at least) I was tall and played WR.

A friend of mine was wearing his Dawkins jersey at work today. As soon as I saw him, I started grinning and couldn't stop.

My office is on NJ-3, about 3 miles from the Meadowlands.

garion333 wrote:

I sure hope that's how the play was drawn for reals.

I'm guessing the image is mirrored, because otherwise the play is going the wrong direction.

But allowing for that... ehh, it's still not great. Burton was tight to the formation, not split out wide. Torrey Smith too.

But everyone does appear to at least be running in the right directions. Alshon Jeffery does inside release, Torrey runs an arc, Foles releases into a flat route.

I've hated Collinsworth ever since he was added to Inside the NFL on HBO. First, Lenny Dawson and Nick Buoniconti did not need a third voice to join. But worse, he apparently didn't get along with Dawson, so he used trash the Chiefs every week just to get a rise out of him.

Let's to forget, he also said this in 1984:

I'm not gonna deny it, I walk around with hundred dollar bills hanging out of my pocket...I like girls that aren't too bright because you can trick 'em a little bit...high school girls love me. Fourteen to eighteen, I'm a big star with them. As soon as they mature, after they turn 18 years old, they start to figure it out.

Holy crap the 80's were a f*cked up decade.

Skeeziness aside, I typically think Collinsworth is the best color guy out there. Except for last night.

Maybe he was honoring the defenses by barely showing up and putting in minimal effort.

Last night I thought they needed a Mike Pereira or someone like him to bring in on the replays. The "what is a catch?" was clearly a dig at the NFL because they had no idea which way they'd go. I agree with Chris, they nerd to fix that rule.

But the Clements TD was just lame. They didn't even touch on why it might go either way, just that they saw the ball move and obsessed on the third step.

Also, the game was an offensive blowout but they didn't excite me. They were both just kinda there.

What, no Gus Johnson?

garion333 wrote:

Last night I thought they needed a Mike Pereira or someone like him to bring in on the replays. The "what is a catch?" was clearly a dig at the NFL because they had no idea which way they'd go. I agree with Chris, they nerd to fix that rule.

But the Clements TD was just lame. They didn't even touch on why it might go either way, just that they saw the ball move and obsessed on the third step.

Also, the game was an offensive blowout but they didn't excite me. They were both just kinda there.

I still think the Clements TD wasn't actually a catch by what has been continually repeated, and the later TD where he became a runner was questionable and one of those that would have stayed with the call on the field regardless. To just have it highlighted twice in the Super Bowl made a dumb rule even dumber.

The game was . . . there. I mean, as a Philly fan, it'll always be magic, but it was actively frustrating to watch because all they did was run up and down the field. That wasn't the NFL, that was the Arena League.

To be fair, sh*tty tackling has been a hallmark of the NFL for years.

According to FO, this was the first game since at least 2001 where both teams had over 320 yards of offense at halftime.

Not the first Super Bowl in that span, the first NFL game.

But it didn't come on thrilling big plays. Not a bunch of big-armed boundary throws or crazy tackle breaking runs. It came on swing passes and sprint-outs to running backs and slot receivers, and them scampering 40 yards before someone was in the area to tackle them.

All that yardage, but the only memorable offensive play went for 1 yard.

Great game for Philly fans, don't listen to anyone's complaints. But for the rest of us, it was junk food football.

*Legion* wrote:

According to FO, this was the first game since at least 2001 where both teams had over 320 yards of offense at halftime.

Not the first Super Bowl in that span, the first NFL game.

But it didn't come on thrilling big plays. Not a bunch of big-armed boundary throws or crazy tackle breaking runs. It came on swing passes and sprint-outs to running backs and slot receivers, and them scampering 40 yards before someone was in the area to tackle them.

All that yardage, but the only memorable offensive play went for 1 yard.

Great game for Philly fans, don't listen to anyone's complaints. But for the rest of us, it was junk food football.

We commented several times how terrible the defenses were all night. For the most part Patriots receivers were so open there wouldn’t even be an Eagles defender on the screen when they caught the pass. Brady made some good throws to Gronk since he was about the only guy that had defenders on him (it didn’t work he was basically unstoppable).

It really came down to one Brandon Graham play at the end. It was going to end the typical Patriots way with Brady driving down at the end of the game for the game winning score.

If you were a football purist or even a fan of good football on both sides of the ball this was not the game for you. It was arena football.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Skeeziness aside, I typically think Collinsworth is the best color guy out there. Except for last night.

Maybe he was honoring the defenses by barely showing up and putting in minimal effort.

Could be!

Here's one more thing I think I saw that didn't get called out: Brady doesn't seem to have much zip on the ball. He's super accurate (maybe most accurate in the league) on those short crossing routes. But on the throws along the sidelines that require a QB to gun it, his throws seemed to ... well, not flutter exactly but just kinda get there eventually.

It's not as noticeable as Pumpkinhead Manning during his Denver years. But Brady doesn't seem to have a whole lot of zing. Maybe he never did and I'm just noticing. Or maybe that TB12-brand avocado ice cream isn't really holding his advanced age at bay. Whatever, his throws looked a little ... I dunno, slow.

TheGameguru wrote:

We commented several times how terrible the defenses were all night. For the most part Patriots receivers were so open there wouldn’t even be an Eagles defender on the screen when they caught the pass.

Yup. It reminded me of the second half of the previous Super Bowl.

-BEP

So I’m in the ER with a kidney stone attack. Pretty sure all the jumping I did Sunday night dislodged a Stone in my Kidney and it’s in my bladder now. It’s small enough to pass so I’m getting sent home soon with pain meds and marching orders to drink water until it passes. Wheee! No way am I missing the parade Thursday.

That Super Bowl was pure Madden football. I liked it.

TheGameguru wrote:

So I’m in the ER with a kidney stone attack. Pretty sure all the jumping I did Sunday night dislodged a Stone in my Kidney and it’s in my bladder now. It’s small enough to pass so I’m getting sent home soon with pain meds and marching orders to drink water until it passes. Wheee! No way am I missing the parade Thursday.

Damn, glad it wasn't a heart attack! lol

Get well so you can stand out in the cold!

Enix wrote:

Here's one more thing I think I saw that didn't get called out: Brady doesn't seem to have much zip on the ball. He's super accurate (maybe most accurate in the league) on those short crossing routes. But on the throws along the sidelines that require a QB to gun it, his throws seemed to ... well, not flutter exactly but just kinda get there eventually.

It's not as noticeable as Pumpkinhead Manning during his Denver years. But Brady doesn't seem to have a whole lot of zing. Maybe he never did and I'm just noticing. Or maybe that TB12-brand avocado ice cream isn't really holding his advanced age at bay. Whatever, his throws looked a little ... I dunno, slow.

That's something that was touched on right before the playoffs. He had lost something and the belief was he either hit the age wall or was dealing with some minor injury that didn't allow for quite as much zing.

The Pats O doesn't ask him to make many longer throws, it's mostly over the middle and toss up balls within the vicinity of Gronk.

It'll be interesting to see if this is repeated next season and the next. Maybe Brady needs to find a way to be suspended for the first four games again...

Jayhawker wrote:

That Super Bowl was pure Madden football. I liked it.

I'd like just a little more defense. One sack all game is crazy.

The passing game could've used more long balls, like the hail mary at the end. Too much conservative, easy throws which are the staple of the NFL atm.

I did enjoy the power run game of the Eagles, especially in the early second half. That was what the Jags should've done but didn't. The Eagles OL is better than the Jags and that was evident when the RBs weren't being touched at the line and then bowled over LBs and DBs.

Josh McDaniels to Colts is official.

garion333 wrote:

Josh McDaniels to Colts is official.

IMAGE(http://u.cubeupload.com/MilkmanDanimal/tebow7f1web.jpg)

garion333 wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

That Super Bowl was pure Madden football. I liked it.

I'd like just a little more defense. One sack all game is crazy.

The passing game could've used more long balls, like the hail mary at the end. Too much conservative, easy throws which are the staple of the NFL atm.

Disclaimer: My understanding of the game is total amateur hour.

However, it seems to me that the two gripes you posted are connected. Brady DID get plastered quite a few times, but he did manage to get the ball out really quickly on short routes. Perhaps those were the staple because they prevent sacks, which would have otherwise happened.

Personally, I enjoyed that game a lot more than expected. And--as a Seahawks fan--I really loved that what broke the game in the end was a defensive play. When defensive linemen are supposed to be tired, and sloppy, these guys brought their A+ game. That was superb.

If you need another reason for why the Eagles will likely move Foles, here you go:

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/1HFCuRb.png)

That's the bottom of the 2018 salary cap space list. Philly needs to open up a lot of space, especially since they've got free agents not factoring into that number that they need to either re-sign or replace.

Keeping Foles would be a luxury that they probably can't afford. Him, Brent Celek, and Torrey Smith have to go just to get the team back out of the red. After that, the options for creating cap space get more painful. Most of their money is tied up in players whose absence would really hurt (or whose absense did hurt, like Jason Peters).

MoonDragon wrote:
garion333 wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

That Super Bowl was pure Madden football. I liked it.

I'd like just a little more defense. One sack all game is crazy.

The passing game could've used more long balls, like the hail mary at the end. Too much conservative, easy throws which are the staple of the NFL atm.

Disclaimer: My understanding of the game is total amateur hour.

However, it seems to me that the two gripes you posted are connected. Brady DID get plastered quite a few times, but he did manage to get the ball out really quickly on short routes. Perhaps those were the staple because they prevent sacks, which would have otherwise happened.

Oh, absolutely. The Arizona Cardinals were the last of a dying breed that were living and dying by the long ball. Bruce Arians has now retired so it's all spread offenses across the NFL. This helps get people open and being in shotgun gives the QB enough time to make a read or two and throw an easy-ish throw.

The Patriots are built on short and intermediate passes, but they upped the tempo going no huddle to tire out the pass rush. This is why we didn't see too much pressure on him most of the game.

The Eagles ran run pass options (a college staple) along with play action (partially to give receivers time to get downfield/open) to keep Foles safe. They tried some longer passes but Foles was mostly inaccurate on those. What he did hit was speed demon Torrey Smith 5 yards down field and turn it into a first down.

All of this was to play to their strengths and minimize weaknesses. Neither team had the exact same strengths and weaknesses, but they mostly made easier, safer throws because 5 yards on a pass play is better than 0 yds. That's the new NFL.

Schefter reporting McDaniels not taking Colts job,will stay with Pats.

I feel like the McDaniels news results from:

A) Luck's shoulder is worse than publicly reported.
B) McDaniels finally actually met Jim Irsay.
C) A and B