Super Bowl 50 Game Thread

lithos2003

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Harry Hooper

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"Do we have any more angles on replay?"

"No, Dean, I showed you what we have."
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Gee, I wonder why the Cotchery catch didn't get reversed.

What a joke this league is. Did Blandino forget and wear his Cowboys jersey to the game too?

Remember kids, the Broncos have never lost a game that either Hochuli (AFCCG) or Blakeman (SB) has reffed. Those guys were actually OK in these two games, but the optics, as usual, look terrible.
 

BlackJack

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Question for those who understand line play - early in the game the Panthers' center was tilting his head to the right just before the snap. He definitely did it on the snap where Cam fumbled and Denver scored. Given the ITP article on Stork's head bob, how big of a factor was this? I kind of lost track of watching it during the game but looking at a few highlights online just now it looked like he wasn't doing it so much later in the game.
 

Stitch01

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Gee, I wonder why the Cotchery catch didn't get reversed.

What a joke this league is. Did Blandino forget and wear his Cowboys jersey to the game too?

Remember kids, the Broncos have never lost a game that either Hochuli (AFCCG) or Blakeman (SB) has reffed. Those guys were actually OK in these two games, but the optics, as usual, look terrible.
Of course the optics look terrible, the league is run by idiots so they run into that often. Doubt it affected the Cotchery catch.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Of course the optics look terrible, the league is run by idiots so they run into that often. Doubt it affected the Cotchery catch.
I don't doubt it at all. You've got a guy with a rooting interest in Denver (at least, if he doesn't want to be sleeping on the couch that night) supplying replay angles on a play that would be a huge swing for Carolina. What do you think is going to happen in that situation?

And of course the league doesn't give a shit. They got what they wanted, after all. This is the same league run by ex-Jets employees with a grudge against Belichick.
 

johnmd20

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If you are going to say inflammatory things, some people disagree with you. No one is making you post in here either.
His comments, while inflammatory, aren't exactly that crazy, though. The league IS run by ex Jets with a grudge against the Patriots. The league does support Peyton Manning in many ways.(e.g. HGH) The league did use a replay assistant whose wife is a huge fan of the Broncos.

These are just facts. The inferences from those facts might deviate for different people, but that is still the reality.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Right. I wouldn't feel this way if Kensil (long-time Jets employee, dad was too) hadn't been strutting around the Pats' sideline last AFCCG, screaming "You guys are fucked now!" If Goodell (former Jets employee) hadn't been on a year-long rampage to trash the Pats and Brady at the urging of the other owners, ignoring science and common sense along the way. If the league's counsel (who also worked for the Jets) hadn't compared alleged football deflation to PED use, only to promptly ignore strong evidence of PED use by another superstar QB.

This is all besides the fact that the head of officials was photo'd partying on the Cowboys team bus. And the aforementioned issue with the replay assistant's wife opening cheering for Denver at the SB, which certainly gives the appearance of impartiality.

Look, it's probably incredibly likely that the replay assistant did his job properly, even though the Cotchery catch should have been overturned. But goddammit, it's certainly POSSIBLE that bias crept in given that the league didn't care enough to made sure that there wasn't this type of conflict. For last year's SB they flew in the Bears' equipment staff because they were all worked up about the pre-game treatment of the balls, but for replay they let this slide? You've got to be fucking kidding me.

The league has in the past made sure that on-field officials who hail from certain cities/areas don't ref games involving their home teams (IIRC Hochuli can't ref Arizona games, for example), but they let the replay assistant stay even though his wife is a huge Broncos fan and was there in jersey for the game? Unacceptable.

The league appears to be corrupt as hell.
 

DanoooME

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So then why wasn't there a flag on Malcolm Butler for DPI in last year's Super Bowl? Late flags come in all the time and it was enough of a bang-bang play that they could have justified it.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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So then why wasn't there a flag on Malcolm Butler for DPI in last year's Super Bowl? Late flags come in all the time and it was enough of a bang-bang play that they could have justified it.
Because DBs are allowed to make plays on the ball and Butler came nowhere close to committing DPI. And not once since then have I heard anyone even hint that it should have been DPI: not national broadcasters or writers or fans of any team. Not even on reddit.

It wasn't thrown because it wasn't even close to a flaggable play.
 

johnmd20

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So then why wasn't there a flag on Malcolm Butler for DPI in last year's Super Bowl? Late flags come in all the time and it was enough of a bang-bang play that they could have justified it.
In no world could that be construed as DPI. He went for the ball, which in all instances isn't DPI. I get you're playing devil's advocate with your glib commentary but at least make an effort to come up with something worthwhile.
 

DanoooME

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Because DBs are allowed to make plays on the ball and Butler came nowhere close to committing DPI. And not once since then have I heard anyone even hint that it should have been DPI: not national broadcasters or writers or fans of any team. Not even on reddit.

It wasn't thrown because it wasn't even close to a flaggable play.
In no world could that be construed as DPI. He went for the ball, which in all instances isn't DPI. I get you're playing devil's advocate with your glib commentary but at least make an effort to come up with something worthwhile.
My point is if they are as corrupt as SJH is saying, that fact shouldn't have stopped them from fucking the Pats over. I didn't think it was DPI either, but that shouldn't stop a corrupt organization from doing whatever they want.
 

Van Everyman

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"Do we have any more angles on replay?"

"No, Dean, I showed you what we have."
Fwiw, wasn't the official explanation that they saw the ball slide up his arm and hit the ground? I didn't see it either, really, but I didn't think it was a "we didn't have conclusive evidence" situation.
 

pappymojo

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Is the idea that the NFL should keep track of the favorite teams for their employees and the immediate family of their employees and then schedule the work load of their employees based on that?
 

86spike

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I wish there was a way to automatically move all deflategate posts into one big thread.

It's a shame since apparently self-control is too much to ask.
 

Harry Hooper

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Fwiw, wasn't the official explanation that they saw the ball slide up his arm and hit the ground? I didn't see it either, really, but I didn't think it was a "we didn't have conclusive evidence" situation.
I wasn't referring to any specific play in the game, just pointing out how easily the assistant could manipulate the situation. The NFL should have selected the assistant more carefully to avoid this whole issue.
 

Ralphwiggum

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Is the idea that the NFL should keep track of the favorite teams for their employees and the immediate family of their employees and then schedule the work load of their employees based on that?
Might be tough to do in any given week with 16 games going on, but for the Super Bowl it doesn't seem that it would be that difficult to make sure these kinds of perceived conflicts don't get aired for the public to see. Or the people they employ as officials and their families need to be a bit more sensitive to it. It shouldn't be that difficult or controversial, and anyone who draws a paycheck from the NFL front office should understand why it should be in their best interests to be perceived as not favoring any one team over another. The NFL seems to have great difficulty in pulling that off.
 

Hendu for Kutch

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Is the idea that the NFL should keep track of the favorite teams for their employees and the immediate family of their employees and then schedule the work load of their employees based on that?
I think it's easy enough to know the guy is from Denver, without digging into any familial rooting patterns. Don't use staff/personnel in any sort of potentially game-affecting roles that originate from one of the participant cities. Not terribly difficult.

It'd be entirely different and understandable if they brought in a replay guy from Atlanta and he happened to have family that liked the Broncos vs. bringing in the guy from Denver.

It's a minor quibble, but just another in a long line of stupid and unnecessary black marks against the NFL.
 

BigJimEd

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The guy lives in Denver so that should have sent up red flags. It really isn't difficult.

And yes officials need to be more sensitive to it. It comes with the job and is called being a professional. I think it speaks very poorly to the culture of NFL officiating that this guy thought that would be ok.
Most refs/umps at any level are very sensitive to any appearance of potential bias.
 
I highly doubt the replay assistant was a factor. But:

1. Not turning over the Cotchery call was awful and a huge play in the game.

2. A Denver resident (whose wife posts Bronco celebration videos) looks really bad.

For a league that is constantly under fire for shit like this, you would think they wouldn't want this clown to be working the game. Why open yourself up for criticism like this? As Ralphwiggum pointed out, it's the fucking Super Bowl. You can vet these guys for one game a year?
 

ifmanis5

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I doubt it's much but just imagine for one second if the was a guy from Framingham and his wife was a huge Pats fan. It'd be on ESPN 24/7. We'd already be down 2 draft picks.
 

troparra

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Is the idea that the NFL should keep track of the favorite teams for their employees and the immediate family of their employees and then schedule the work load of their employees based on that?
Yes. People do this kind of thing all the time in conflict of interest reporting.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Are Patriots' fans hypersensitive about this kind of stuff? Your'e damn right we are, and it is understandable.

Congrats on your team's success. It was a well deserved victory.

Now, let me taint that. For the next nine months (and counting) whenever someone brings up the great victory by the Broncos, ten other people will jump in and talk about how it wasn't really a victory, "it is tainted, the only reason the Broncos won is because the replay guy was on the take, Manning took steroids, and oh, by the way, '98 and '99 don't count either because, well, you do know the Broncos were over the salary cap and cheated." Now, enjoy your vctory.

Do you, personally say this stuff? No, you have not. Ever. I have never read a post of yours that wasn't on the level, well reasoned, and passionate. You bring a ton to this board and I for one am glad you cointribute - I learn a lot from your posts and am grateful. But I don't begrudge any Pats' fan for getting pissed off at the total inequity and double standard that is thrown at the Patriots. I'm tired of having to defend the Patriots's success, and can understand why the double standard pisses people off. It pisses me off.
As a big a Pats fan as anyone else here, I'll say it's fucking tired and it needs to stop. It permeates the entire board, not just this forum. It's fucking obnoxious at this point and it's the perfect example of why other fanbases hate us.

It pisses us all off. We've all said it and anyone rational here agrees, whether they are Pats fans or not. Bitching about it still is fucking juvenile and annoying. If you're tired of defending the Pats, stop engaging in those conversations. You're literally being trolled in real life and not even realizing it - those people will never be convinced to your point of view.

At this point, you and others that keep going with it are the guy in your group of friends who had his wife leave him five years ago and still manages to work it into every conversation. At first you were sympathetic to him, but at this point, you just want to stop inviting him out.
 

Norm Siebern

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As a big a Pats fan as anyone else here, I'll say it's fucking tired and it needs to stop. It permeates the entire board, not just this forum. It's fucking obnoxious at this point and it's the perfect example of why other fanbases hate us.

It pisses us all off. We've all said it and anyone rational here agrees, whether they are Pats fans or not. Bitching about it still is fucking juvenile and annoying. If you're tired of defending the Pats, stop engaging in those conversations. You're literally being trolled in real life and not even realizing it - those people will never be convinced to your point of view.

At this point, you and others that keep going with it are the guy in your group of friends who had his wife leave him five years ago and still manages to work it into every conversation. At first you were sympathetic to him, but at this point, you just want to stop inviting him out.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you wrote this before I self edited and removed what I wrote. If not, and you still want to go ape shit even though I basically agree with you and self policed (something we could probably all do a little more of), well I don't know what to say.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Given that I quoted your post before you edited it, I'd say that's a fair assumption that I wrote before you edited. I, in fact, will leave my post because it can't be said enough.

Edit: and sincere kudos on the self policing. The next step is stopping it in the first place.
 

86spike

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I can think of absolutely nothing that will make me feel less than thrilled that Denver won SB 50. Anyone who feels the need to try to diminish my enjoyment is going to get a baffled response and will just remind me of how awesome it is when your team wins. I need no approval from other fans. I don't understand why anyone would.

Boston pro teams have won a shitload of titles. Just enjoy the fuck out of that. Isn't that the whole point of fandom?
 

Marciano490

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I can think of absolutely nothing that will make me feel less than thrilled that Denver won SB 50. Anyone who feels the need to try to diminish my enjoyment is going to get a baffled response and will just remind me of how awesome it is when your team wins. I need no approval from other fans. I don't understand why anyone would.

Boston pro teams have won a shitload of titles. Just enjoy the fuck out of that. Isn't that the whole point of fandom?
Your favorite team sucks.
 

bankshot1

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I can think of absolutely nothing that will make me feel less than thrilled that Denver won SB 50. Anyone who feels the need to try to diminish my enjoyment is going to get a baffled response and will just remind me of how awesome it is when your team wins. I need no approval from other fans. I don't understand why anyone would.

Boston pro teams have won a shitload of titles. Just enjoy the fuck out of that. Isn't that the whole point of fandom?
Speaking as an All-Boston/All the time sports fan living in NYC metro area, welcome to my world. Fans of other teams can be insecure fucking assholes. So can trolls on message boards. And then there is plain vanilla ball-busting. It comes with the bragging rights..

And just off the top of my head, I'd say it would not be a stretch for you to imagine a few things that could kill the buzz.

Congrats again.
 
I can think of absolutely nothing that will make me feel less than thrilled that Denver won SB 50. Anyone who feels the need to try to diminish my enjoyment is going to get a baffled response and will just remind me of how awesome it is when your team wins. I need no approval from other fans. I don't understand why anyone would.

Boston pro teams have won a shitload of titles. Just enjoy the fuck out of that. Isn't that the whole point of fandom?
I saw this on twitter a few months ago (I think it originally came from a Charger fan). I've actually posted the Schlereth quote on SoSH when he was taking shots at the Patriots.

I'm sure I'll see it again with an update that chronicles Peyton's HGH shipments and the replay assistant. YOUR TEAM CHEATS MOAR THAN ANYBODY BUT CONGRATS!!!



PS - Pretty sure they lost two 3rd round picks for the salary cap violations, not one.
 

Dehere

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I can think of absolutely nothing that will make me feel less than thrilled that Denver won SB 50. Anyone who feels the need to try to diminish my enjoyment is going to get a baffled response and will just remind me of how awesome it is when your team wins. I need no approval from other fans. I don't understand why anyone would.

Boston pro teams have won a shitload of titles. Just enjoy the fuck out of that. Isn't that the whole point of fandom?
As a PIT fan, the fact that SB 40 is generally regarded to have been horribly officiated and one of the worst SBs in history does absolutely nothing to diminish my memory of seeing the game live with my dad. One of the sweetest days of my life and always will be. Congrats and enjoy your victory. They don't come every day.
 

BigSoxFan

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As a PIT fan, the fact that SB 40 is generally regarded to have been horribly officiated and one of the worst SBs in history does absolutely nothing to diminish my memory of seeing the game live with my dad. One of the sweetest days of my life and always will be. Congrats and enjoy your victory. They don't come every day.
Especially if you're a Steelers fan, amirite?!
 
As a PIT fan, the fact that SB 40 is generally regarded to have been horribly officiated and one of the worst SBs in history does absolutely nothing to diminish my memory of seeing the game live with my dad. One of the sweetest days of my life and always will be. Congrats and enjoy your victory. They don't come every day.
So true. The officiating was nothing compared to the advantages the Steelers gained by doing steroids during their dynasty. PEDs were the foundation of that team.

Said Jim Haslett: "It started, really, in Pittsburgh. They got an advantage on a lot of football teams. They were so much stronger (in the) '70s, late '70s, early '80s.

Former Vikings and Giants quarterback Fran Tarkenton corroborated Haslett's story in a June 2009 interview, saying: "We’re playing the Steelers in the Super Bowl in ’75 or ’76 … we’re on the field warming up, and I see these Steeler offensive linemen with their sleeves rolled up, and they've got these bulging muscles. Later, we found out it that … these guys were juiced … all of them."
And how about Richard Rydze, the Steelers team doctor for 22 years who was arrested as part of a PED ring that bought and distributed illegal HGH, testosterone and anabolic steroids.

CONGRATS ON YOUR SIX SUPER BOWLS!!!
 
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Kenny F'ing Powers

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I can think of absolutely nothing that will make me feel less than thrilled that Denver won SB 50. Anyone who feels the need to try to diminish my enjoyment is going to get a baffled response and will just remind me of how awesome it is when your team wins. I need no approval from other fans.
That's because you're just happy your team won. They are, easily, the weakest Superbowl winner of the past 30 years. Luck and moronic ref's blowing games gave us a completely forgettable SB winner and made the league significantly worse. You guys get to celebrate, but 10 years from now everyone will remember this team and year as a sham.
 

luckiestman

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That's because you're just happy your team won. They are, easily, the weakest Superbowl winner of the past 30 years. Luck and moronic ref's blowing games gave us a completely forgettable SB winner and made the league significantly worse. You guys get to celebrate, but 10 years from now everyone will remember this team and year as a sham.

They were the one seed. Beat 2 hof QBs on the way to the Super Bowl and Stomped a 15-1 team in he big game and you have them as the worst since 86? Idk about all that.
 

BigSoxFan

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In 10 years, this team will be remembered for exactly what it was - a team with a great defense that carried a shitty Manning to a title. Sports fans have incredibly short memories when their teams are not involved.
 

RG33

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In 10 years, this team will be remembered for exactly what it was - a team with a great defense that carried a shitty Manning to a title. Sports fans have incredibly short memories when their teams are not involved.
Manning, in his two Superbowl winning postseasons, threw 5 TDs with 8 INTs, averaged 222 yards passing in the 7 games, had a QBR of 73.0 (career average of 87), and had a 60% completion rate (career average of 63%).

I'm comfortable saying he won 1 1/2 Superbowls. At best.
 

86spike

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That's because you're just happy your team won. They are, easily, the weakest Superbowl winner of the past 30 years. Luck and moronic ref's blowing games gave us a completely forgettable SB winner and made the league significantly worse. You guys get to celebrate, but 10 years from now everyone will remember this team and year as a sham.