NFL season thread

[MIB41]

Congrats to Green Bay. Regardless of the one call, Dallas had their chances and left allot of points on the field. Green Bay deserves to move on.

[MIB41]

One of the most eventful field goal kicks ever. LOL!

[MIB41]

That Ravens/Pats game was excellent. The Patriots scratched and clawed to win that one. Every second counted.

[Fuzzysnail]

Who thinks the Broncos will lose this weekend? I'm a big Bronco fan. I'm willing to bet a Mego on the outcome

[megoapesnut]

I think if we get a competitive match up, I'll be satisfied with the outcome.

Amen

No one has been harder on him than me

Double Amen

All I know is this team has conviction and I respect them for the fight they've shown this year. Allot of Cowboy fans have waited a long time to see this kind of fire return to this team. It's great to see them back in the post season dialogue. They're valid again and the usual suspects are back to shout their hatred. That's almost sweeter than a title. It's a great season.

Triple Duper Amen

[Spawn67]

As the lone Ravens fan on this board Im a happy lad that we beat the Steelers in Pittsburg. As usual all the sports networks said we stood no chance and were gonna get blown out and won anyways. January Joe is in effect!However going into New England will be tough but it can be done and weve done it before. Im not gonna trash talk (although I want to) because its bad karma and will be a tough game for both teams.Even if we lose beating the Steelers was the superbowl for me. They were the only team that won on the road this week.

As far as the Dallas game that call is a tough one. I can see both sides of the argument. I was hoping for a lions win but Im glad dallas won. Tony Romo took alot of crap from everyone the past couple years and stepped up his game this year. On a sad note a friend of mine who recently passed unexpectedly a couple weeks ago was a huge dallas fan so I like to think there game wins are for her.

But as we all know ANYTHING can happen in the playoffs.

[MIB41]

Regardless of what you think of the particular call or the Cowboys or Lions in general, the Cowboys are moving on to play Green Bay. That's not going to change.

Fortunately for the Cowboys, the Packers have not been firing on all cylinders as of late. Also, the weather in Green Bay this weekend looks as though it may not be too severe.

In my opinion, the outcome of the game is a flip of the coin, at this point.

- Ian

Amen. I have a number of good friends who are Packers fans, so we're having a good time poking each other but we all agree it will be a very good game. I think if we get a competitive match up, I'll be satisfied with the outcome. As much as I love Dallas (and have my whole life), I didn't expect them to be in this position before the season started, let alone win their own division and get the rushing title. I'll thrilled with this turnaround and watching the maturation of Romo. No one has been harder on him than me and he's silenced all of his critics. He's playing smart ball and they finally have a solid front line to open up this new found running game. They have REAL weapons in the receiver position; One of the all time greats at tight end, and a scrappy defense that continues to kill me and surprise me simultaneously. All I know is this team has conviction and I respect them for the fight they've shown this year. Allot of Cowboy fans have waited a long time to see this kind of fire return to this team. It's great to see them back in the post season dialogue. They're valid again and the usual suspects are back to shout their hatred. That's almost sweeter than a title. It's a great season.

[EmergencyIan]

Regardless of what you think of the particular call or the Cowboys or Lions in general, the Cowboys are moving on to play Green Bay. That's not going to change.

Fortunately for the Cowboys, the Packers have not been firing on all cylinders as of late. Also, the weather in Green Bay this weekend looks as though it may not be too severe.

In my opinion, the outcome of the game is a flip of the coin, at this point.

- Ian

[megoapesnut]

Ah, what the hell does Mike Pereira know? . Again, I completely disagree. The play is NOT "very clearly" pass interference. I do not believe the hand on the shoulder restricted the receiver from making the catch. Neither did the 3 officials who were closest to the play. The only ref who did think that was the guy farther away. NOW, I certainly agree that there was a jersey grab before the pass was thrown so there WAS a legitimate holding penalty. However, if we are going to call penalties after we see replays, then we also need to call the illegal hands to face that the receiver committed to the defender, WHICH was why the defender couldn't turn his head around to play the ball. In actuality, it should have been offsetting penalties. But again, we are now calling fouls based on what we see via replay. And, contrary to opinion, the play did not cost Detroit the game. The scored 3 points in the 2nd half. Play better, score points, and you win the game. And, we are also forgetting the poor calling in the first half. One, terrible call kept Detroit on the field when they were pinned in their own end zone and would have given Dallas the ball with great field position. Instead, Detroit keeps it and gets a TD. It was a poorly called game on both sides, that I will agree. The better, more resilient team overcame the poor calls and won the game. Enuff said.

[megomania]

I'm not saying anyone here did this, but I find it amusing how Cowboy fans point to Romo as "clutch" and Stafford "can't win" because the Lions haven't won a playoff game since '92. Romo's been in the league since 2003 with a career playoff record of 2-3. He's been to the playoffs 4 times in 8 seasons as a starting QB.

[megomania]

As Mike Pereira noted in his analysis, the play itself is very clearly pass interference. Face guarding isn’t a penalty, but the first definition of pass interference includes “Contact by a defender who is not playing the ball and such contact restricts the receiver’s opportunity to make the catch.” That’s exactly what Hitchens did to Brandon Pettigrew. Furthermore, even before Hitchens committed pass interference, he clearly grabbed Pettigrew’s jersey earlier in the route, which should have qualified for defensive holding and a first down.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/wild-card-nfl-playoffs-lions-cowboys-panthers-cardinals-ravens-steelers/

[Mr.Marion]

That call was pretty heartbreaking, I heard Taylor Swift is working on writing a song about it.
We had other chances to win but that call would have helped us out greatly. To the conspiracy theories who think the NFL wanted Dallas to win because it means more $$$. The NFL is a nonprofit organization so I doubt they care :p

[megoapesnut]

Here is the last thing I will say about the "phantom" flag yesterday, but it is a doozy. Proving that there are two sides to every story, check out this article and the video in it. Pettigrew had been grabbing the face mask of Hitchens most of the play. Hitchens wasn't able to turn his head to face the ball as the receiver was holding his facemask. Little hard to turn your head around in those circumstances. Then, when he finally releases it, he has the helmet skewed so much Hitchens can't even see for a few nanoseconds. It should have been an illegal hands to face call on Pettigrew.

http://dal.247sports.com/Bolt/Maybe-...-Move-34463748

[MIB41]

^^^ Dallas played the number one defense in rushing last night. That game was going to be tough no matter how it shook down. The Green Bay game is very interesting. Green Bay is an undeniable force on offense. Easily one of the best in the NFL right now. No question. But their defense is 23rd against the rush. That's a weakness that Dallas will exploit. So if Green Bay puts eight men in the box to stop Murray, that opens up allot of one on ones in the secondary. I know Dallas will want to slow down the game with the run, but it could conceivably turn into a shoot out. The cold weather will favor the Packers if that happens. But if Dallas gets that running game going and keeps the Packers offense off the field, there is a good chance Dallas could pull the upset. Of course the big X-factor in this is what that cold weather does to Aaron Rodgers and his calf issues.

[megoapesnut]

Reading some of these responses, Dallas fans need a Super Bowl win badly! the tension is building up badly!

Good thought, but I will be honest with you and say that's not the case for me. If they lose to the Packers, I will not be too upset. Sure, I'd love to see them win it all and will be disappointed if they lose. I REALLY want Tony Romo to get a ring because I think he is one of the top 5 QB's in the NFL right now and has been a top 5 QB for most of his career. Unfortunately, and mostly because he is a Dallas QB, he will be regarded as a failure if he doesn't win the big one. Anyway, I just wanted a friggin playoff win and a gritty performance to get some satisfaction on the season. Only one team can win the big one and that's a tall order with the parity level in the NFL these days. And, as long as the Eagles and Steelers are out of it, I can sleep at night All of the teams that are in it now (with maybe Carolina as the exception) deserve to be in it and whoever wins the SB will make a good Championship team this year.