SBLII: Tell me What to Watch in the Runup to the Game!

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Mugsy's Jock

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On game day, I just programmed a day-long marathon of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on Freeform... so if you have little ones (or very old ones) you can mo e them out of harm’s way to the upstairs TV.

(Sunday is the 80th anniversary of the film, among other things.)
 

vicirus

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Jul 17, 2005
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I just received an email from Fios saying that from 01/29 at 9am through 02/03 at 8pm, channel 601 will be the Patriots Not Done Network (Boston area). They have a full schedule of the programming, but it looks like they’ll have live coverage from MN, interviews, and numerous Pats shows (Three Games to Glory, America’s Game, The Brady 6, Do Your Job, etc). Set your DVRs!
 

mostman

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I just received an email from Fios saying that from 01/29 at 9am through 02/03 at 8pm, channel 601 will be the Patriots Not Done Network (Boston area). They have a full schedule of the programming, but it looks like they’ll have live coverage from MN, interviews, and numerous Pats shows (Three Games to Glory, America’s Game, The Brady 6, Do Your Job, etc). Set your DVRs!
I’m watching the Patriots plane taxi on the runway.
 

mostman

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This channel is awesome. At night it just turns into an NFL Films commercial-free loop.
 

Mystic Merlin

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Odd, Comcast's guide states that this should be ATL/NE (SB 51).

In any event, how fucking good was Brian Westbrook? Really impressive how well the Pats contained him, he barely cracked 100 total yards (104) running/receiving despite receiving 22 combined touches.

Not to mention how much of a beast T.O. was, one of the better SB performances by a WR given the quality of the opposition and the fact he suffered a fractured fibula/ankle sprain like 6 weeks prior.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Odd, Comcast's guide states that this should be ATL/NE (SB 51).

In any event, how fucking good was Brian Westbrook? Really impressive how well the Pats contained him, he barely cracked 100 total yards (104) running/receiving despite receiving 22 combined touches.

Not to mention how much of a beast T.O. was, one of the better SB performances by a WR given the quality of the opposition and the fact he suffered a fractured fibula/ankle sprain like 6 weeks prior.
TO was a complete animal in this. It's a shame they were coached by Andy Reid and McNabb threw up all over the field.
 

InstaFace

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God, maybe Ty Law does deserve to be in the hall of fame. Just some unbelievably athletic plays that guy made to intercept, defend, or be in a fantastic position on so many situations. I realize I'm watching highlights here but his highlights are eye-popping.
 

tims4wins

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Two observations on the first half of XXXIX

1) Collinsworth used to be really, really good. He isn't as good now
2) I obviously remembered Reid's clock management in the 4th quarter, but I forgot about it in the first half. Pats had the ball on the Iggles 7 yard line at the 2 minute warning. Philly had all 3 timeouts. Pats ran for 2 yards on 1st down. Reid sat on his timeouts and the clock ran under 1:20 for the TD pass to Givens. Then the Eagles got a holding penalty on the kick return, ran for minus 3, Pats called timeout. Eagles then threw for 10 yards on 2nd and 13, making it 3rd and 3, both teams let the clock run... Eagles convert then call a timeout with like 12 seconds left. Then a couple incomplete passes later and the half was over. It was pretty brutal by Reid.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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It took the Eagles 2:45 to move the ball 25 yards from the 21 to the 46. Possibly the worst decision was challenging on a short completion but not seeming to care that after the successful challenge the clock started up again when they were still in the huddle.

Of course, the problem for the Patriots was that the Eagles covered the last 54 yards in just a minute.
 

8slim

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Meanwhile I just re-watched the last drive of Super Bowl 36 again, and the Pats drove 53 yards in 1 minute, 14 seconds. Without any time outs.
 

Al Zarilla

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Meanwhile I just re-watched the last drive of Super Bowl 36 again, and the Pats drove 53 yards in 1 minute, 14 seconds. Without any time outs.
”And now, with no timeouts, I think the Patriots, with this field position, you have to just run the clock out, you have to just play for overtime.”

- John Madden
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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Troy Brown gets a lot of credit for his play. And he should. It was awesome.

But one of the most easily forgotten big plays in the Brady and Belichick Super Bowl era has to be J.R. Redmond getting out of bounds to stop the clock on his first down catch. He looks like he should get tackled in bounds. But he dives for the sideline and sort of rugby style touches the ball down out of bounds before he can get downed on the field, and the ref calls it correctly. If he gets tackled in bounds there, it's a different story.
 

Super Nomario

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Troy Brown gets a lot of credit for his play. And he should. It was awesome.

But one of the most easily forgotten big plays in the Brady and Belichick Super Bowl era has to be J.R. Redmond getting out of bounds to stop the clock on his first down catch. He looks like he should get tackled in bounds. But he dives for the sideline and sort of rugby style touches the ball down out of bounds before he can get downed on the field, and the ref calls it correctly. If he gets tackled in bounds there, it's a different story.
Yes. Two more underrated plays:
1) On the next play the Rams sent an overload blitz off the blind side and the Patriots didn't have the right protection. Brady recognized it immediately, sprinted out right and threw it away. That had disaster written all over it and it was a heady play just to live to fight another down.
2) They started out the drive with two short completions (five and eight yards), which seemed like a waste. In hindsight, I think those plays were important. Had Brady thrown incomplete and put them in second and 10 or third and 10 and still north of a minute left, they probably reconsider going for it and just kneel the clock out and play for overtime. Those 13 yards didn't make a lot of difference but they got the clock down to where they didn't have to worry about punting back to St. Louis with time to mount a drive.
 

Leather

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Jul 18, 2005
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You know...
You don't hear the "There was a second left on the game clock in the Rams Super Bowl!" conspiracy theory much, anymore.

That was hot for awhile.
 

8slim

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1) On the next play the Rams sent an overload blitz off the blind side and the Patriots didn't have the right protection. Brady recognized it immediately, sprinted out right and threw it away. That had disaster written all over it and it was a heady play just to live to fight another down.
That was remarkable awareness for a QB starting just his 16th NFL game. There are veteran QBs in the game today who'd have panicked and taken a sack there. That Brady had the presence of mind to do what he did was a sign of his unusual maturity.
 

bankshot1

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Two Bills: Reliving the musical chairs Parcells played with the Pats/Jets was in retrospect interesting to rewatch.

But the takeaway remained the same, Parcells is a dick.
 

Al Zarilla

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Two Bills: Reliving the musical chairs Parcells played with the Pats/Jets was in retrospect interesting to rewatch.

But the takeaway remained the same, Parcells is a dick.
That's not what Lawrence Taylor called him. Something like "great coach but could be a real a−hole." Lawrence tells it like it is.

Very well done show. I didn't know everything about Belichick's career: Colts, Lions, Broncos, Giants, etc., but the more shows like this, the more it gets ingrained.
 

dcmissle

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Two Bills: Reliving the musical chairs Parcells played with the Pats/Jets was in retrospect interesting to rewatch.

But the takeaway remained the same, Parcells is a dick.
We need to get over it and here is why. Kraft explained in the 30 for 30 that he was one day away — one — from hiring Dom Capers to replace just fired Pete Carroll. He could not wait any longer. Then “Darth Vader” called Kraft, they worked out the comp for B.B. coming here, and the rest is history.

Among the many nuggets in the “Two Bills”
 

Deathofthebambino

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We need to get over it and here is why. Kraft explained in the 30 for 30 that he was one day away — one — from hiring Dom Capers to replace just fired Pete Carroll. He could not wait any longer. Then “Darth Vader” called Kraft, they worked out the comp for B.B. coming here, and the rest is history.

Among the many nuggets in the “Two Bills”
It might have even been less than one day. They alluded to it at one point, but didn't go back to it, but there was some kind of snowstorm that sounded like it delayed Capers from coming to New England during that one day period. I imagine if Capers had made it to New England, it would have been a much tougher decision for Kraft to make.
 

bankshot1

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We need to get over it and here is why. Kraft explained in the 30 for 30 that he was one day away — one — from hiring Dom Capers to replace just fired Pete Carroll. He could not wait any longer. Then “Darth Vader” called Kraft, they worked out the comp for B.B. coming here, and the rest is history.

Among the many nuggets in the “Two Bills”
I'm over it. But the fact remains Parcells is a dick.

The real nugget was the Kraft fax to the Jets requesting an inteview with BB was never reponded to. and thus creating the potential Caper solution.

Or the Kraft could pay up to get BB.

As has been said often of Parcells, "great coach, shitty human being"
 

Deathofthebambino

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I'm over it. But the fact remains Parcells is a dick.

The real nugget was the Kraft fax to the Jets requesting an inteview with BB was never reponded to. and thus creating the potential Caper solution.

Or the Kraft could pay up to get BB.

As been said often of Parcells, "great coach, shitty human being"
It was also that fax, in which the Pats were asking for permission to talk to BB, that led to BB resigning as HC of the NYJ. When the fax came in, fat ass Parcells received it, and immediately lumbered down the hall and resigned as head coach. By doing that, it triggered BB's contract, and he became head coach of the Jets, which meant, he couldn't speak to any other teams. BB was furious about it, and pissed that they had backdoored him into the HC position, without giving him the opportunity to talk to the Pats, and he resigned the next day. Then Parcells contacted Kraft and negotiated the release of BB from the contract, so he could take the job with the Pats.

That fax literally changed the history of NFL football.
 

bankshot1

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It was also that fax, in which the Pats were asking for permission to talk to BB, that led to BB resigning as HC of the NYJ. When the fax came in, fat ass Parcells received it, and immediately lumbered down the hall and resigned as head coach. By doing that, it triggered BB's contract, and he became head coach of the Jets, which meant, he couldn't speak to any other teams. BB was furious about it, and pissed that they had backdoored him into the HC position, without giving him the opportunity to talk to the Pats, and he resigned the next day. Then Parcells contacted Kraft and negotiated the release of BB from the contract, so he could take the job with the Pats.

That fax literally changed the history of NFL football.
Right,

Parcells was a dick and didn't think twice about dicking over BB. That was made perfectly clear last night, and explains the frosty relationship these guys had for years.
 

eustis22

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Nov 14, 2016
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LotR, The Two Towers, th Battle for Helms Deep.

This has been another in Simple Answers to Simple Questions.

Bonus if you seque into Pellenor Fields.
 

Deathofthebambino

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I actually didn't really love the 30/30 last night. I mean, it was good as a refresher to remember what went down, but I thought it fell short when it came to telling us stuff we didn't already know. I think part of it is the fact that BB and Parcells aren't really the most interesting guys (Parcells is a lot less exuberant and articulate as he's gotten older) in that kind of setting, and listening to Lawrence Taylor basically say nothing over and over again didn't do much for me. I don't know if I was expecting something else, or something more, or I don't know. I had pretty high expectations, so maybe I set myself up for a let down. Anyone else feel that way?
 

Al Zarilla

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I actually didn't really love the 30/30 last night. I mean, it was good as a refresher to remember what went down, but I thought it fell short when it came to telling us stuff we didn't already know. I think part of it is the fact that BB and Parcells aren't really the most interesting guys (Parcells is a lot less exuberant and articulate as he's gotten older) in that kind of setting, and listening to Lawrence Taylor basically say nothing over and over again didn't do much for me. I don't know if I was expecting something else, or something more, or I don't know. I had pretty high expectations, so maybe I set myself up for a let down. Anyone else feel that way?
Maybe you're in the 90th percentile when it comes to knowledge of the history of the two Bills and ESPN can't tailor a show about them to someone at that level.
 

drbretto

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I'd love to watch the 30 for 30 but for some reason, ESPN thinks it's not part of my cable subscription, even though it's an employee account that has every channel.

But, since screw ESPN anyway, anyone know of any alternate streams?
 

Deathofthebambino

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Maybe you're in the 90th percentile when it comes to knowledge of the history of the two Bills and ESPN can't tailor a show about them to someone at that level.
I guess it's possible, but I usually love the 30/30's, even the stories I'm intimately familiar with already. It always seems like the producers of each one find something that you either didn't know, or present it in a different way. I don't know how to explain it. Just fell flat for me. I think a lot of it was the guys they chose to interview besides BB and Parcells. Taylor, Pepper Johnson, etc. just didn't offer much and I feel like there had to have been other stories (or other people better at telling them) that they could have pulled out of them. I'm looking at you Berj Najarian (for those that don't know who he is, look him up, you'll be surprised that you've never heard of him). I actually found the little snippets as they came back from commercial break to be some of the best parts of the show.
 
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8slim

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We need to get over it and here is why. Kraft explained in the 30 for 30 that he was one day away — one — from hiring Dom Capers to replace just fired Pete Carroll. He could not wait any longer. Then “Darth Vader” called Kraft, they worked out the comp for B.B. coming here, and the rest is history.

Among the many nuggets in the “Two Bills”
What do we need to get over? Parcells was a colossal jerk who created a massive distraction the week of the Super Bowl in '96 when he played public footsie with the Jets. His actions in blocking the guy who loyally served him for 2 decades from talking to the Pats were loathsome. Yes, it all worked out. But I don't need to get over still thoroughly disliking Parcells. Its sports, I'm allowed to be petty.
 

johnmd20

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What do we need to get over? Parcells was a colossal jerk who created a massive distraction the week of the Super Bowl in '96 when he played public footsie with the Jets. His actions in blocking the guy who loyally served him for 2 decades from talking to the Pats were loathsome. Yes, it all worked out. But I don't need to get over still thoroughly disliking Parcells. Its sports, I'm allowed to be petty.
Parcells is a terrible person. I'm not interested in getting over it but it certainly doesn't keep me awake at night.
 

dcmissle

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What do we need to get over? Parcells was a colossal jerk who created a massive distraction the week of the Super Bowl in '96 when he played public footsie with the Jets. His actions in blocking the guy who loyally served him for 2 decades from talking to the Pats were loathsome. Yes, it all worked out. But I don't need to get over still thoroughly disliking Parcells. Its sports, I'm allowed to be petty.
Did you watch it? Robert Kraft was within one fucking day of hiring Dom Capers to replace Pete Carroll, then Parcells called to deal. I do not care why he called, he called and B.B. became coach in 2000. No call, Capers, got that? Kraft said it.

Nothing against Capers, but we’re not sitting here talking about the 6th ring and 8 appearance (since 2000) if it was Capers. Not close.

As for what happened when Parcells left on such bad terms in such an unprofessional way — yeah it was bad. But Kraft admitted to doing his part in fucking up the relationship.
 

tims4wins

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Did you watch it? Robert Kraft was within one fucking day of hiring Dom Capers to replace Pete Carroll, then Parcells called to deal. I do not care why he called, he called and B.B. became coach in 2000. No call, Capers, got that? Kraft said it.

Nothing against Capers, but we’re not sitting here talking about the 6th ring and 8 appearance (since 2000) if it was Capers. Not close.

As for what happened when Parcells left on such bad terms in such an unprofessional way — yeah it was bad. But Kraft admitted to doing his part in fucking up the relationship.
For his part, Parcells also admitted he could have handled it better
 

dcmissle

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For his part, Parcells also admitted he could have handled it better
Absolutely, he did. Kraft and Tuna both acknowledge big error in how they handled it. It WAS a salvageable situation; the team WAS on the upswing. Ego driven bullshit wiped that out, and were it not for this ultimately leading to B.B. being hired, it’s a catastrophe.
 

loshjott

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I guess it's possible, but I usually love the 30/30's, even the stories I'm intimately familiar with already. It always seems like the producers of each one find something that you either didn't know, or present it in a different way. I don't know how to explain it. Just fell flat for me. I think a lot of it was the guys they chose to interview besides BB and Parcells. Taylor, Pepper Johnson, etc. just didn't offer much and I feel like there had to have been other stories (or other people better at telling them) that they could have pulled out of them. I'm looking at you Berj Najarian (for those that don't know who he is, look him up, you'll be surprised that you've never heard of him). I actually found the little snippets as they came back from commercial break to be some of the best parts of the show.
The anecdote from Pioli about how he encouraged the rapprochement over a round of golf in Nantucket was new to me. Ultimately irrelevant to the key points of the story but a fun thing to hear them recall. I had forgotten that Pioli is married to Parcells’ daughter.
 

Prodigal Sox

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It was also that fax, in which the Pats were asking for permission to talk to BB, that led to BB resigning as HC of the NYJ. When the fax came in, fat ass Parcells received it, and immediately lumbered down the hall and resigned as head coach. By doing that, it triggered BB's contract, and he became head coach of the Jets, which meant, he couldn't speak to any other teams. BB was furious about it, and pissed that they had backdoored him into the HC position, without giving him the opportunity to talk to the Pats, and he resigned the next day. Then Parcells contacted Kraft and negotiated the release of BB from the contract, so he could take the job with the Pats.

That fax literally changed the history of NFL football.
It often gets lost in the telling of the story, but this is exactly what happened and was why BB was so pissed.
 

koufax32

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Great reminder that this whole Patriots dynasty started because Parcells and the whole Jets organization tried to screw over New England, Kraft, and even their own BB. Isn’t this story the greatest lololololol in sports?
 

SMU_Sox

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Hey guys, if you haven’t checked out LockedonPats the podcast I’d highly recommend it. If you want X and O’s previews, strategy, matchup talk, etc. check it out. It’s free too. I enjoyed killing hours of time with it. The biggest help for me was now I have a much better understanding of what the Eagles do on defense and what kinds of things they have been doing on offense with Foles. I knew a fair amount about Philadelphia going into the game but not enough to comfortably analyze it. Hope that wasn’t too much of a plug - not affiliated with them just a big fan and very happy with the content on the Eagles, the matchups, and this game.
 
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