NFL Playoffs 2011-2012

[Mo Noyz]

He was pretty bad.

[Mo Noyz]

BTW, this whole M.I.A. thing (I just thought she was some back up singer for Madonna) is just one more reason to completely shitcan the Superbowl halftime show. Or stop hiring petulant children to do them.

I'm drawing up my petition to bring back Up With People.

[Noj]

A great halftime show they do at some UCLA home games is having peewee level local football teams square off for several downs of offense and defense apiece. Tiny little guys with big ol' helmets playing on a giant field in front of a huge Rose Bowl crowd. It rules.

[Mo Noyz]

That does sound like it would kick ass.

Anything would be better than these gaudy and embarrassing extravaganzas performed by petulant rich fucks with a chip on their shoulder and the delusions that they're "sticking it to the man" with their childish displays.

I guess that sentence also applies to the halftime shows...

[The G Man]

Also, as far as I know that's only the second time in Superbowl history a team simply allowed a score towards the end to preserve time on the clock.

And both teams lost.

they did kind of have to do that, though, once Belichick lost the challenge (which I also thought he had to try) and Nicks got that last first down. you agree with the strategy, right? that Hail Mary was too damn close for comfort after it was deflected, on the live angle, I was sure Gronk was going to get it.

Belichick was right to let Bradshaw waltz in. On average, (not taking into account the particular teams involved), The Patriots would have had a 4% chance of winning if the Giants ran three times in a row for no gain and then attempted the FG. They had a 15% chance of winning after Bradshaw's TD, really higher when you consider that the QB was Tom Brady.
These numbers are based on the statistical work of Brian Burke.

Belichick was right to challenge the Manningham catch, but if he hadn't, NE would have had an addtional time out, which would have given NE a chance to stop the Giants' last drive and get the ball back with time to kick a FG.


Gisele, after the game, knowing she was being videotaped, "“My husband cannot f–king throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can’t believe they dropped the ball so many times.”

[Captain Hate]

The Giants are a pretty young team. I think they'll have to be reckoned with for a fairly long period of time by enneffell standards.

[jon abbey]

they really could use an upgrade at RB and some help in the back seven, although I guess they're getting some DBs back from injury next year.

NE actually looks exceedingly well positioned going forward if Brady stays solid, those young TEs, a bunch of young defensive players, tons of draft picks and cap space. the Jets window is gone.

[The G Man]

they really could use an upgrade at RB and some help in the back seven, although I guess they're getting some DBs back from injury next year.

NE actually looks exceedingly well positioned going forward if Brady stays solid, those young TEs, a bunch of young defensive players, tons of draft picks and cap space. the Jets window is gone.

Amukamara should be much better with training camp and Terrell Thomas will be back. Jonathan Goff will be back at MLB and second round pick Miles Austin will be back to play the interior line.
The Giants need to upgrade the OL badly. They also might want to find a TE, especially given their Super Bowl injuries to Beckum and Ballard. I also have concerns, like you at RB, where they could use a younger version of Bradshaw.

[The G Man]

The Giants are a pretty young team. I think they'll have to be reckoned with for a fairly long period of time by enneffell standards.

They are except for running back and OL.

Manningham is an unrestricted FA. If he leaves, they will need to upgrade receiver beyond the top two. I hope he stays at a reasonable price.

[Enforcer]

Gisele, after the game, knowing she was being videotaped, "“My husband cannot f–king throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can’t believe they dropped the ball so many times.”

If you're stupid enough to ask people to pray about a football game, you deserve to suffer for it.

I don't blame Brady for the way the public fawns over his idyllic life. He doesn't really annoy me or anything. But I've never understood the attention Giselle gets. To me, she's a beautiful model but no more beautiful than any other, and less striking than some others. I don't get why she's regarded as somehow in a different echelon or something. I used to wonder the same thing about Julia Roberts back when she was the big thing.

[crawjo]

Are the Giants the worst regular season team to ever win a major sports championship? 9-7, four game losing streak during the regular season, outscored during the regular season, two bad losses to the 5-11 Redskins...

When I was a kid it seemed like a given almost every year that the best team was going to win the Super Bowl, and they were probably going to win by 30+ points. From about 1984 to 1996, the championship passed from San Francisco to Chicago to New York to Washington to Dallas, and at every stop along the way (with a couple of exceptions) it seemed like whoever was the 14-2 or 15-1 team during the regular season was going to win the Super Bowl, and win by a lot.

Somehow that's changed, and I'm not sure why. "Parity" is what everyone says, but it seems to me there was decent parity back then too. I don't think we've had a true Super Bowl blowout in about 10 years...and that's a strange thing to me.

[Enforcer]

Great piece by Dan Wetzel on Brady: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=A ... eat_020512

[jon abbey]

Are the Giants the worst regular season team to ever win a major sports championship? 9-7, four game losing streak during the regular season, outscored during the regular season, two bad losses to the 5-11 Redskins....

they had tons of injuries during the season, once they got all three receivers and four pass rushers healthy, they were a very different team. they did have a rough regular season, but they had a brutal schedule (NE, GB, SF, NO all in less than a month, three of those on the road). they easily could have lost either of the last two playoff games and were lucky they didn't have to play NO again, but they were also the only team in the playoffs with both a good offense and defense.

haven't seen this written anywhere, so I have to note that the Jets and Giants have now ended three of Brady's last four seasons.

[crawjo]

Yeah, that's why I said regular season. Obviously they were a different team in the playoffs. But when the Redskins beat them handily in Week 15, I thought they were done. Everybody was talking about how the Eagles could sneak into the playoffs at 8-8. It's funny how quickly things turned in their favor.

Also, given the personality of their football team, I'm completely expecting them to finish 7-9 next year. They should be very good, but somehow I think they will figure out a way to underachieve.

[Mo Noyz]

Are the Giants the worst regular season team to ever win a major sports championship? 9-7, four game losing streak during the regular season, outscored during the regular season, two bad losses to the 5-11 Redskins....

they had tons of injuries during the season, once they got all three receivers and four pass rushers healthy, they were a very different team. they did have a rough regular season, but they had a brutal schedule (NE, GB, SF, NO all in less than a month, three of those on the road). they easily could have lost either of the last two playoff games and were lucky they didn't have to play NO again, but they were also the only team in the playoffs with both a good offense and defense.

Houston would have been the other if Schaub hadn't been injured.

BTW, this is an outstanding answer to crawjo's question. I'd have simply said "yes" and left it at that. But, you set me straight on them a few weeks back and you were 100% correct in your assessment. Very good call.

The Giants are a pretty young team. I think they'll have to be reckoned with for a fairly long period of time by enneffell standards.

I agree. I'd say jon is correct concerning their RB situation. I really hoped Bradshaw would build on his breakthrough year in 2010, but he seems to have regressed to being an average/slightly above RB. Who the fuck can figure Jacobs? Cat's 9 feet tall and weighs 500lbs, yet can't break a fucking arm tackle from a DB. He can chip block like a motherfucker, but put the ball in his hands and he suddenly gets rather dainty.

jon, do you not like Ross? I noticed you said "back seven" and may have been generalizing, but I love this cat. He's physical, though not overly athletic, and brings some serious pain when it comes to run support. Just the kind of corner you'd expect in NY.

I think their only question mark offensively is TE. I do want to see another season of Ballard, though. I think he's got some decent potential.

[Enforcer]

http://youtu.be/Qr2EF362Q0k

[jon abbey]

jon, do you not like Ross? I noticed you said "back seven" and may have been generalizing, but I love this cat. He's physical, though not overly athletic, and brings some serious pain when it comes to run support. Just the kind of corner you'd expect in NY.

no, he's good, but he's going to be 30 at the start of next season. but Gordon reminded me they'll already have two young guys there to push the vets in Thomas and Amukamara, so maybe they're good there.

Bradshaw might still be OK, he was playing with a fractured foot for the last couple of months, but we all know that running backs in the NFL have a very short shelf life.

[The G Man]

Ross is only so-so. I expect him to lose his starting job next year with Amukamara getting a full training camp and Terrell Thomas returning to health. That would make Ross the 4th CB unless he moves back to safety for the second time in his Giants career. Corey Webster, who is good but not great, was matched up against the other team's best receiver in almost every game in order to compensate for Ross's inadequacy in coverage.

The Giants may have aging running backs but if Bradshaw's foot heals in the off-season he'll be quite good. He hasn't been used that heavily in his career. Tiki was still great at age 31 because his usage rate was low early in his career, like Bradshaw. The Giants' anemic run game during the regular season was not due to poor running, it was due to poor blocking. David Baas, who had a good Super Bowl was either injured or ineffective at center. David Diehl was one of the worst pass blocking starters in the entire NFL this year. He has to go. Kareem McKenzie, the other starting tackle, showed his age this year. Chris Snee is adequate but not the Pro Bowl quality guard he once was.

Ballard looked good early in the year but it may have been a fluke. His drop rate was very high starting in the second half of the season and he's not much of a blocker. The Giants TE's will never draw comparisons as blockers to Shockey or even Boss.

David, as Jon already mentioned, the Giants were the healthiest they were all year in the post-season , much better than a typical 9-7 team.

[jon abbey]

Hynoski had a big impact too, an undrafted rookie who made some huge plays yesterday. also Ramses Barden looked like he could be a major weapon in the very little time he got a chance this year, I was surprised he didn't get more of an opportunity but those top three guys are so good.

so yeah, the more I think about it, the better NY seems to be set up going forward. how good is Jerry Reese?

[jon abbey]

the funny thing is that the Giants probably weren't even playing the best in the NFC East at the end of the season, the Eagles were.

maybe the postseason matchups worked better for NY than they would have for Philly, but you know that Philly and probably Dallas fans are so pissed about this whole thing, the division was right there for both of them all year.