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 ZergSmasher wrote:
God, I hope the Chiefs win tomorrow! It's about time they got into a Super Bowl. I've endured far too many seasons of them making the playoffs and getting eliminated immediately.

About that...

Brady making his 9th Superbowl appearance now.

That was one of the worst non-calls of...all time?

Given that it was in New Orleans too, still shocked at that non-call, especially as the DB didn't look back for the ball at all.

Still, more importantly, the Patriots are in the Super Bowl again - wow!

Hope they can finish it off this year - and maybe, just maybe, Tom rides off into the sunset, going out on top...

the incompetent refs for allowing that debacle.

the rams.

the patriots.

I'm cheering for a meteor to obliterate the stadium and all trace of both teams.

So. I didn't expect that, I thought Mahomes would run riot over the Pats Defence. I wanted to just watch the first quarter then go to sleep. Instead I watched the lot, which finished about 3.15am. Today I'll mostly be powered by caffeine.


That non-call was atrocious. Saints should be in the Superbowl.

 Alpharius wrote:
That was one of the worst non-calls of...all time?

Given that it was in New Orleans too, still shocked at that non-call, especially as the DB didn't look back for the ball at all.

Still, more importantly, the Patriots are in the Super Bowl again - wow!

Hope they can finish it off this year - and maybe, just maybe, Tom rides off into the sunset, going out on top...

I have ZERO sympathy for the Saints. Against the Steelers they were gifted with the ball on the 1 after a completely fraudulent PI call in what ended up a 3 point game. The game clinched home field advantage for the Saints and effectively knocked the Steelers out of the playoffs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVywG4X21lM

I didn't hear Sean Payton talking about how they got lucky on that joke of a call. Can't have it both ways, Seanny boy.

The officiating was that bad all year long...it wasn't something limited to that playoff game, if you watched enough games. It really affected my enjoyment of the season.

Regarding Chiefs and Pats, I knew how bad the Chiefs defense was, but I didn't expect their offense to sleep for 3 quarters. Kudos to the Pats' D, but the Chiefs also just plain weren't executing. And of course I regret thinking Reid could win a big game. Reid just keeps on Reiding.

I especially like how Reid, rather notorious in his inability to manage the clock, actually called a timeout in the first half that helped the Patriots score a TD!

Still, the Chiefs are a great team, and with a little tweaking on defense, look to be a power for years to come...

To be fair, I think fans jump on 'clock management' far too much these days. It's completely legit to take a TO to get your players settled, make sure you have the right call and personnel group, etc. even if it hands your opponent some time. Better to do that than give up a quick score because you weren't set up properly.

I think I blame pundit culture and video game culture equally for that. I don't care if you're coaching a peewee league or an NFL team -- you have to manage a bunch of human beings, and there's always going to be some chaos involved with that.

Fair enough, but Reid really appears to (still) struggle with that.

OR, perhaps, not think of it as a priority, especially at the half vs. at the end of the game.

 Alpharius wrote:
Fair enough, but Reid really appears to (still) struggle with that.

OR, perhaps, not think of it as a priority, especially at the half vs. at the end of the game.

The thing that drove me nuts about Reid in Philly (note that I'm not even an Eagles fan) is how slow he was getting offensive plays in. Seemed like the clock was already winding down every time they broke the huddle. I haven't watched enough KC to know if that's improved. He sure seems to have loosened up as a playcaller. There was a time when there were no 3-yard checkdowns that he didn't love. Some of that was probably personnel-related, but...

I don't think anyone really knows exactly what went on at the end of SBXXXIX. McNabb apparently had some kind of issue, but there didn't seem to be any urgency coming from the sidelines either.

At the time that the Chiefs had the big play that put them in place for their final touchdown, I felt they should have run the clock a bit more before scoring. A couple run plays, and failing to get a TD on 3rd down, just tie up the game with a FG and risk it in OT. Humongous risk and will be second guessed forever if it failed, but it seemed like the Pats just let them score on the very next play, so they could give Tom more time to run down the field. I seriously doubt that was the case, but 2 minutes is plenty of time for the greatest QB in history to do what he's been doing his entire career, particularly against a Chiefs defense that was getting exposed for the majority of the game.

I think a team a few years ago, maybe it was my Ravens, had done a clock wasting set of downs at the 1 yard line to keep Tom off the field for as long as possible before scoring. There are certain QBs who truly excel at clutch 2 minute warning drive moments, and Brady is the pinnacle.

Looking forward to what the Chiefs do with Mahomes in the future, though. He's fun to watch. I think they definitely need to bulk up their defense, but a few more weapons for him would be ideal as well.

 gorgon wrote:


The officiating was that bad all year long...it wasn't something limited to that playoff game, if you watched enough games. It really affected my enjoyment of the season.

Regarding Chiefs and Pats, I knew how bad the Chiefs defense was, but I didn't expect their offense to sleep for 3 quarters. Kudos to the Pats' D, but the Chiefs also just plain weren't executing. And of course I regret thinking Reid could win a big game. Reid just keeps on Reiding.

Agreed. . . and weirdly, when I watched all the games last week, they were all relatively well officiated. This week, the bad officiating reared its head in both games. I dont want to beat the dead horse of the saints rams game (I think most of us see it as a bad/missed call), but there was probably the weakest fething "roughing the passer" call that extended a brady scoring drive in the 2nd half, where the Chiefs player basically brushed some dirt off of brady's jersey (while he still had the ball in hand) and gets called for roughing. . . come the feth on, this is exaclty what I was referring to when saying the league loves TB. . . I absolutely hate the pats, make no secret of it. But, they are the best team in the NFL year in and year out, they literally do not need that kind of help from the refs!

Patriots vs. Rams...... no interest in watching the Super Bowl.

Yeah, as someone not attached to any of these teams, I kind of wanted either a Brady vs Brees or Goff vs Mahomes matchup... not quite as sure about this one.

Will be interesting to see the coaching showdown though, between McVay's early success and Belichick's long term excellence.

Well IDGAF about the Super Bowl now. Another one with the damn Patriots in it. While on one hand I hope the Rams hand the Pats their asses, at the same time I've heard some shady stuff regarding the Rams possibly bribing the officials and stuff (not sure if it's true or not). Whatever the case, I won't bother watching and will just have to hear about it later.

I'll be rooting for the University of Pittsburgh's own Aaron Donald. Go Rams. Hail to Pitt.

Read that Saints season ticketholders are suing the NFL to try to get them to enforce some obscure rule that potentially would allow for replaying the game from the point of the game when the non-called penalty happened.

What will lawyers not take money for.

Well, it *might* lead to a rule change on what is reviewable, and what you can throw a challenge flag on, maybe?

Seems like a potential cluster-f of epic proportions but...that was a really bad non-call that most likely changed the who ended up winning and going to the Superbowl.

Whatever though!

Go Pats!

And Go! they did!

The New England Patriots - Champs again!

Good night everyone!

Non-Super Bowl:

Mahomes as offensive MVP sounds right, same with Aaron Donald pulling a consecutive defensive MVP. Rookie of the year going to saquon Barkley instead of Baker Mayfield felt silly. Mayfield instantly changed the dynamic in Cleveland and that conference. Dude broke Peyton Manning and Russell Wilsons rookie records, and didn’t even play for the first two games.

Pure robbery if you ask me.

Getting on for a 4am finish for me last night. But totally worth it.

Many people online complaining that it was boring, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not every game needs to have 50+ points.

Really pleased Edelman got MVP, but I think Gilmore had a shout too.

Probably needs a new thread... but...

2019 season is drawing near. We briefly discussed a Dakka Dakka fantasy league - is there any interest in one?