And Brady's post-game statement (or maybe it was the next day) to the effect of "Malcolm does that to me in practice all the time, I'm glad he did it to someone else."
Yeah, tough to gin up hate so far.
Funny, I never thought to make the connection to the Kearse catch. I think you're right, the extreme shift from down to up was immense. We've all seen the Win-Probablility charts for that play, but if there were an emotional temperature chart for an individual, Malcolm's surely would have shown an extreme variance over those handful of plays.
I can't remember exactly, but I imagine this lead-up will be a bit like Super Bowl XXXVIII. There wasn't a lot of reason to hate Carolina, as I recall. They were still a relatively young franchise, not a lot of hatable personalities, no rivalry history, etc.
Rowe actually had great agility drills - he was fifth among DBs in the short shuttle and second in the three-cone. The Patriots have all of the top three 3-cone DBs that year (Coleman, Rowe, Richards).
It feels like there is less at stake for this Super Bowl, too. In 2007 there was the specter of 19-0, in 2011 there was revenge, and in 2014 there was a feeling of "oh shoot, we might never get another one." Obviously if they blow a 20-point lead or something that's going to be a gut punch, but I don't think I'll be walking around shell-shocked on Monday if they lose this one like I was after both Giants games.
But this doesn't mean Brady Belichick Kraft are. I assure you that there are more than 3 people in the entire NFL that support Trump. I would also wager that some of them aren't white. All that being said the difference is that Trump has been around the team for years and is personal friends with those 3. I'm sure they don't agree with everything he says and does. I have friends that I don't agree with everything they do. Hell one or two might be sexist pigs. That doesn't make me one and I'm sure lots of people here are in the same boat.
I'm hoping some Falcon player will spout off in the next couple weeks. Even if it's a simple "The Pats haven't played an explosive offense like ours" type of line (which in reality is true, but can still serve a purpose for us).
Also, the premise -- that their support emboldens Trump -- is ludicrous. Does anyone think that Trump's thoughts or actions would be altered by even .00000001% if BB, Kraft and Brady were not supporters?
Yes, and every waking moment that you're not working to stop that racist misogynist, you're passively letting him perform his works on this planet. It's like Roko's Basilisk. For shame!
Given that Julio somehow seemed fine after landing directly on his neck, this looks like the most notable injury of the weekend. No direct plug and play if the center misses snaps. I believe I heard that the Falcons have had perfect continuity on the OL this season.
Didn't know Rowe boasted those physical attributes. The problem is that most of that hasn't really translated into great production. I thought he was decidedly shaky at times against Pitt. He would definitely have safety help if he was matched up with Jones, and I'm starting to suspect a semi-permanent double team is what this gameplan has to call for. Things get more complex than this obviously, but doubling Jones with Rowe/Ryan and McCourty/Harmon, allowing Butler to track Sanu (who isn't quite the same burner as Jones), and then matching up elsewhere seems like a reasonable place to start. It does seem like the type of game (again) where you have to make Atlanta execute 8-10 plays to beat you.
What I thought was really impressive about the double-teaming the Pats did against Brown last game was how Butler used the safety help to give himself leverage to the opposite side. So in essence, he could always take away one side for Brown to run and thus forced him back toward the safety help. The graphic that CBS ran at one point late in the game showing the two Pats DB linked together in two red circles I found to be incredibly informative for how the two DBs worked in tandem.
Because although rich beyond averice you need to make more money at the expense of those less well off? Or because the need for more money outweighs your respect for women, disabled, LGBT?
Please take it to V&N there are enough Trump threads throughout SOSH land, we don't need to litter the SB thread.
As a Falcons fan, this would certainly be a considerable silver lining should the Patriots win.
This crossed my mind (probably a lot of our minds) yesterday when hearing about the dual-threa backs of the Falcons. They're certainly impressive, but Lewis and White pose similar problems
The two guys I saw getting beat/making mistakes on nearly every play were backups: Fant at LT and Odhiambo at RG. I'd say that Solder and Mason are a lot better than those two jamokes.
I could easily see the Patriots scoring 38 points. I'm really struggling to envision the Falcons scoring only 24 points.
I went back thru that thread and box score and here are some things for you:
I get your point, but Jones has done that week in and week out for his whole career. Sunday was Hogan's second game all season with more than 4 catches. His YPC is great, but he just doesn't have anywhere near the track record of Jones do have those types of articles written.
Not a player, but this is a start: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/why-atlanta-deserves-this-super-bowl-shot-and-why-boston-fans-better-be-nervous-171912473.html
