Wild Card Weekend Gamethread

BigSoxFan

Member
SoSH Member
May 31, 2007
47,094
Based on one game you say this? Good grief
They haven’t had a really good running game since early December. Not sure I’d call them one dimensional but their running game has not performed the way they did earlier in the year for several weeks now
 

Dehere

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 25, 2010
3,143
They haven’t had a really good running game since early December. Not sure I’d call them one dimensional but their running game has not performed the way they did earlier in the year for several weeks now
Yeah that's what I've seen. Starting with the Rams game they haven't run the ball well at all.

Brees always gives them a chance but I think Minnie is going to suffocate them on the ground.
 

Soxy

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 1, 2008
6,095
I thought Cam played a really good game. Dropped TD in the first. The Funchess ball was very catchable. He has no WRs.
He's never had any good WRs outside of Steve Smith. It's bizarre how Carolina keeps reaching in the draft for guys like Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess but can't get him a true #1 wideout.
 

BigSoxFan

Member
SoSH Member
May 31, 2007
47,094
Yeah that's what I've seen. Starting with the Rams game they haven't run the ball well at all.

Brees always gives them a chance but I think Minnie is going to suffocate them on the ground.
And they have Rhodes to stick on Thomas with little help so they can dedicate safety help to Ginn. With Saints OL taking some injuries today, it’ll be interesting to see if they can get Kamara/Ingram more holes in the running game.
 

alydar

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 19, 2006
921
Jamaica Plain
Funny how Minnesota, at least superficially, would be a great cold weather outdoor team -- excellent D, not scaring you at QB -- especially for a matchup with Brees, who (I assume) would be much worse outside a dome. I wonder if they can blow a hole in the roof for one week.
 

Seels

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
4,948
NH
He's never had any good WRs outside of Steve Smith. It's bizarre how Carolina keeps reaching in the draft for guys like Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess but can't get him a true #1 wideout.
I don't remember Benjamin as a reach.
 

54thMA

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 15, 2012
10,154
Westwood MA
Funny how Minnesota, at least superficially, would be a great cold weather outdoor team -- excellent D, not scaring you at QB -- especially for a matchup with Brees, who (I assume) would be much worse outside a dome. I wonder if they can blow a hole in the roof for one week.
I'll never understand why they went with an indoor stadium not once but twice; those good but not Super Bowl Champion good enough Vikings teams of the late 1960's/early to mid 1970's used weather to their advantage.

Teams like the Rams come playoff time would crap themselves in Minnesota. Does anyone think the Falcons in 1999 win the NFCCG if it's played outdoors? An indoor game is right in the Saints wheelhouse, we'll see what happens next weekend.
 

Leather

given himself a skunk spot
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
28,451
Indoor stadiums allow owners to host events in the winter and make more money off of the public financing of the stadium.
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
SoSH Member
Dec 16, 2010
53,850
What a shock. That doesn’t sound like him

/s

Is this referring to something in particular? We're not all on twitter all the time.

Is he just calling out Incognito (#64) for his past indiscretions, or did something happen today?
 

Ralphwiggum

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2012
9,827
Needham, MA
An outdoor stadium in Minnesota is stupid. I love that Gillette is outdoors and I love cold weather games, but the cold in Minnesota and the cold in New England are not the same.
 

MuppetAsteriskTalk

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 19, 2015
5,398
Is this referring to something in particular? We're not all on twitter all the time.

Is he just calling out Incognito (#64) for his past indiscretions, or did something happen today?
Think he's accusing Ritchie Incognito of using racial slurs during the game.
 

BigSoxFan

Member
SoSH Member
May 31, 2007
47,094
An outdoor stadium in Minnesota is stupid. I love that Gillette is outdoors and I love cold weather games, but the cold in Minnesota and the cold in New England are not the same.
Yeah, I have family in Minnesota and once had a work engagement during the winter in Minneapolis. There’s a HUGE difference between New England and Minneapolis. The cold in Minnesota is downright debilitating. High next Sunday is 2 degrees. No thank you.
 

bigq

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
11,088
Yeah, I have family in Minnesota and once had a work engagement during the winter in Minneapolis. There’s a HUGE difference between New England and Minneapolis. The cold in Minnesota is downright debilitating. High next Sunday is 2 degrees. No thank you.
Is it really any worse than Green Bay though?
 

soxhop411

news aggravator
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2009
46,278
Someone's going to have to explain this one to me
Is this referring to something in particular? We're not all on twitter all the time.

Is he just calling out Incognito (#64) for his past indiscretions, or did something happen today?
He is accusing Incognito of using racial slurs directed towards him during today’s game.

Which is business as usual for Incognito
 

Ralphwiggum

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2012
9,827
Needham, MA
Is it really any worse than Green Bay though?
I’m not sure but we’re talking about options when you are building a new stadium that costs billions of dollars and where you want to maximize return on investment. The only way to get a Super Bowl is to build a dome, and as Dr. Leather noted there are a whole bunch of other cold weather events that can happen there that can’t happen at Gillette.
 

genoasalami

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 4, 2006
2,579
Is it really any worse than Green Bay though?
An outdoor stadium in Minnesota is stupid. I love that Gillette is outdoors and I love cold weather games, but the cold in Minnesota and the cold in New England are not the same.
Ave high in Foxboro today is about 35 ...ave low is about 20 (adjusting from Logan) Ave high in MSP today is 23 ...average low is 8. ...actually lower than Green Bay whose average high today is 24. Average low is 9.
 

BigSoxFan

Member
SoSH Member
May 31, 2007
47,094
I’m not sure but we’re talking about options when you are building a new stadium that costs billions of dollars and where you want to maximize return on investment. The only way to get a Super Bowl is to build a dome, and as Dr. Leather noted there are a whole bunch of other cold weather events that can happen there that can’t happen at Gillette.
I think bigq’s point was that Green Bay has similarly cold weather and they obviously play outside, which is fair and true. As you and Dr. Leather noted, there are primarily economic reasons why the Vikings built a new dome. For starters, they obviously got a Super Bowl as part of the package, which was surely part of the sales pitch since the state paid about $350M.
 

bigq

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
11,088
I’m not sure but we’re talking about options when you are building a new stadium that costs billions of dollars and where you want to maximize return on investment. The only way to get a Super Bowl is to build a dome, and as Dr. Leather noted there are a whole bunch of other cold weather events that can happen there that can’t happen at Gillette.
I suppose curling and snowmobile racing aren't going to be big cold weather draws. Capital costs and operating expenses for a dome will certainly be higher than an open air stadium. It is funny that an open air stadium can offer a better home field advantage for a team which may help from a team valuation perspective while being at odds with ROI on a new stadium in a cold climate. It would be interesting to look at ROI and payback on new stadiums built in the past 20 years to see how regional trends vary. I am glad Kraft didn't spring for a dome.
 

Al Zarilla

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 8, 2005
58,878
San Andreas Fault
An outdoor stadium in Minnesota is stupid. I love that Gillette is outdoors and I love cold weather games, but the cold in Minnesota and the cold in New England are not the same.
But it’s a dry cold in Minnesota, isn’t it? ;)

I’d like to hear an interview with Fran Tarkenton on his feelings about playing outside in Minnesota all those years. Or, Minnesota vs. New York. I like football outside, but if a dome belongs anywhere, it’s probably Minnesota.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

posts way less than 18% useful shit
SoSH Member
Nov 17, 2010
14,427
I suppose curling and snowmobile racing aren't going to be big cold weather draws. Capital costs and operating expenses for a dome will certainly be higher than an open air stadium. It is funny that an open air stadium can offer a better home field advantage for a team which may help from a team valuation perspective while being at odds with ROI on a new stadium in a cold climate. It would be interesting to look at ROI and payback on new stadiums built in the past 20 years to see how regional trends vary. I am glad Kraft didn't spring for a dome.
Outdoor stadiums dont really have a leg up on home field advantage. If dome teams are built with speed in mind - Greatest show on turf, the Manning Colts, etc - they hold a large edge over outdoor teams while at home.

6 in one.
 

joe dokes

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
30,243
I think bigq’s point was that Green Bay has similarly cold weather and they obviously play outside, which is fair and true. As you and Dr. Leather noted, there are primarily economic reasons why the Vikings built a new dome. For starters, they obviously got a Super Bowl as part of the package, which was surely part of the sales pitch since the state paid about $350M.
The same political types who green-light free money for billionaires dont want to have to sit in the cold when they get invited to the games.
 

loshjott

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 30, 2004
14,946
Silver Spring, MD
The same political types who green-light free money for billionaires dont want to have to sit in the cold when they get invited to the games.
I doubt we'll ever see a new football stadium in a really cold climate built without at least a retractable roof. . Lambeau and Soldier were both totally renovated fairly recently but would've been impossible to add a roof. Heinz and Gillette opened within a year of each other but even Pittsburgh cold is not like GB, Chicago or Minn.
 

Van Everyman

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2009
26,993
Newton
Among other things, he is known as the official who threw the penalty flag that struck then-Browns offensive lineman Orlando Brown in the eye during a 1999 game. Triplette immediately apologized, but Brown was left partially blind, and missed significant time because of the injury.
Dude still played after being rendered partially blind?