BbtL Super Bowl XLIX Thread

DaughtersofDougMirabelli

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Three10toLeft said:
Did anyone else think Brady seemed a little sick?
 
I kept seeing him wiping his face, and saw him cough a couple times. 
 
Probably being paranoid.
 
He supposedly had a cold last week. I thought Tom Curran had tweeted it, but can't seem to find it right now. 
 
I'm sure he'll be fine by Sunday. 
 

dynomite

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Three10toLeft said:
Did anyone else think Brady seemed a little sick?
 
I kept seeing him wiping his face, and saw him cough a couple times. 
 
Probably being paranoid.
You are not being paranoid -- Brady has a common cold.  Considering he's been sick for a few days and it's only Tuesday he should be 100% by Sunday.
 
Feel free to suggest the hashtag.  #coldgate doesn't have the right ring to it.  #flughazi? 
 
Edit: And I'm unclear why Marshawn Lynch is here.  Hopefully he will provide an answer.
 
Another edit: Belichick was wearing flip flops.  
 
You're welcome.  I'm basically the Edward R. Murrow of watching media day while trapped at home due to a blizzard.
 

Caspir

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timelysarcasm said:
Marshawn Lynch draws more attention to himself with this "I'm here so I won't get fined" schtick than he would if he just had a few vanilla answers prepped.
Oh please,I think it's great. Fuck the NFL and their shit rules about talking to these mouth breathers. He's been fined $120k this year alone for not taking to the media. That's absurd.
 

E5 Yaz

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15 years ago today, Bill Belichick was hired by the Patriots. There have been 123 head coaching changes since (via @FieldYates)
 

timelysarcasm

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Caspir said:
Oh please,I think it's great. Fuck the NFL and their shit rules about talking to these mouth breathers. He's been fined $120k this year alone for not taking to the media. That's absurd.
 
I didn't say I supported the NFL's rules or fines. I just said I think he makes it worse on himself, especially if attention is what he doesn't want.
 
I think he comes off pretty juvenile, especially with the big smirk he was wearing the entire time. But I have no love lost with the NFL, so I can appreciate thumbing them.
 

wibi

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timelysarcasm said:
 
I didn't say I supported the NFL's rules or fines. I just said I think he makes it worse on himself, especially if attention is what he doesn't want.
 
I think he comes off pretty juvenile, especially with the big smirk he was wearing the entire time. But I have no love lost with the NFL, so I can appreciate thumbing them.
 
Have you ever seen him do a real interview?  He's socially freaking awkward in front of a camera.  This isnt about him making a statement but more about him being him. 
 

Caspir

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Ahh, I gotcha. I just hate the requirement in general. I get that the league needs to market star players, but they've got plenty to choose from. The guy clearly doesn't like the interview process. Maybe he's just a prick, but maybe he's got some anxiety or another issue he wants to ignore. I just hate that forced nature of it, but you're right he probably does attract more attention by being stand offish.
 

Kliq

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I could give a shit less about whatever Lynch says to deflect questions from the media. The fact that is the leading story on ESPN.com is what bothers me. We should all really be talking about is Gronk using the selfie stick, Gronk naming himself the best dancer on the Pats (and Edelman the worst), Gronk reading a line from "A Gronking to Remember" and this: https://vine.co/v/OTI0wMjQMaH
 

TomRicardo

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timelysarcasm said:
Marshawn Lynch draws more attention to himself with this "I'm here so I won't get fined" schtick than he would if he just had a few vanilla answers prepped.
 
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5PgOk1Hjcc[/youtube]
 

timelysarcasm

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Kliq said:
I could give a shit less about whatever Lynch says to deflect questions from the media. The fact that is the leading story on ESPN.com is what bothers me. We should all really be talking about is Gronk using the selfie stick, Gronk naming himself the best dancer on the Pats (and Edelman the worst), Gronk reading a line from "A Gronking to Remember" and this: https://vine.co/v/OTI0wMjQMaH
 
Pretty much this. Gronk was hilarious, made my day. Also would have been nice if Lynch had answered the kid's question. I get it, you don't want to talk to the media - but that kid had a once in a lifetime chance and he basically ruined it.
 

FL4WL3SS

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timelysarcasm said:
 
Pretty much this. Gronk was hilarious, made my day. Also would have been nice if Lynch had answered the kid's question. I get it, you don't want to talk to the media - but that kid had a once in a lifetime chance and he basically ruined it.
That's fucked.
 

theapportioner

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Loved this Sherman comment. Trolling the league.
 
https://twitter.com/MikeGarafolo/status/560162779999371264
 

SoxFanInPdx

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Just got back from Seattle an hour ago. They are convinced they're winning on Sunday. A lot of passive-aggressive comments when wearing my Pats hat. May as well not play the game. Most annoying fan base in the NFL by far.
 

Kliq

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I noticed during some of the ESPN deflategate polls, one of which "Does deflategate taint the Patriots success" the state with the highest percentage of "no" votes was not Indiana, or New York or Florida or Colorado, it was Washington. They are scared.
 

Byrdbrain

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Well Marshawn Lynch wasn't the only person who made a video this week.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0HFHON3M1k&feature=youtu.be
 

TomTerrific

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Watching the scroll on NFLN right now. Apparently Terrell Suggs is joining the "Analysis Team" at 11pm tonight.
 
Their topic? Analyzing the Pats top 10 plays of 2014. This should be entertaining.
 

Shelterdog

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TomTerrific said:
Watching the scroll on NFLN right now. Apparently Terrell Suggs is joining the "Analysis Team" at 11pm tonight.
 
Their topic? Analyzing the Pats top 10 plays of 2014. This should be entertaining.
The Clorox sponsorship means a ton to the NFL.
 

RememberTheGronkans

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JimBoSox9 said:
They hate him cause they ain't him:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2VuKYXYRlg (as featured on SI.com)
Really, that video can be enjoyed by fans of any team. 

Well done. Bravo to whoever made it. 
 

singaporesoxfan

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timelysarcasm said:
Marshawn Lynch draws more attention to himself with this "I'm here so I won't get fined" schtick than he would if he just had a few vanilla answers prepped.
bosox188 said:
Marshawn Lynch answers every question with "I'm just here so I don't get fined."
The fantasy of reporters with any interviewee is that with the right question they can break through the pablum answers, Lynch's response just highlights the absurdity of that notion.

The reporters should have used this as a chance for absurdist questions with Lynch. "Marshawn, what do you say when you go to the library to return your books?" "Marshawn, what are you doing standing there feeding the parking meter?" "Marshawn, why are you waiting at the crosswalk instead of jaywalking?"
 

DJnVa

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The best thing about the Lynch stuff is that his fine would have ben $500,000 for skipping media day. The fine listed in NFL rulebook for "ball manipulation"? $25,000
 
 
And yes, I know that's a minimum, but they listed in for a reason, and the difference in those 2 numbers is staggering when one (media day) is 100% meaningless to anything except PR and the other is, supposedly, a game integrity issue.
 

steveluck7

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Brady talking to the media now. Acknowledged that he's sick, said the wife and kids were pretty sick last week but he'll be fine. Not sure what the set-up is with lights, etc. but he's sweating a lot... wonder if he has a fever
 

johnmd20

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steveluck7 said:
Brady talking to the media now. Acknowledged that he's sick, said the wife and kids were pretty sick last week but he'll be fine. Not sure what the set-up is with lights, etc. but he's sweating a lot... wonder if he has a fever
 
Pete Carroll poisoned Brady? Flughazi!
 

dcmissle

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Sure, the offense didn't play well, but the offensive point totals were also driven by defenses that couldn't get off the field, limiting the opportunities for the offense and giving them generally poor field position when they did get the ball.
 
EDIT: I'm not exonerating the offense in either game - they weren't good. But the final score suggests a good defensive performance, which wasn't the case, either. Both the offense and defense played poorly in both Super Bowl losses.
I am interested in views about the value, if any, in the game simulations, which are beginning to pile up. I'm posting here rather than the game thread because a post there about the Madden simulation, which the Patriots won, set off a counter-productive dust up. And I'm posting in response to this post because the simulations that I have seen, which go both ways, seem to forecast the same type of game that we have seen in the last two SBs the Pats have played in.

For example, this links to the results of a 50,000 game run, the bottom line of which has the Seahawks winning 57.5% of the time, by an average score of 24 to 20:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/simulator-runs-super-bowl-matchup-50-000-times--and-winner-is-----022252004.html

I heard the guy who runs this outfit interviewed on local radio yesterday, and his main point was that teams that run the ball well and play good defense shorten the game. He added that the Seahawks fit the profile of the few teams the Pats have struggle with this year.

I think Microsoft has a product predicting a 24 to 23 Pats' win. I don't believe Silver's ELO is out with a prediction yet; I be mildly interested in what that has to say if a prediction is offered(the merits of ELO aside, it should be noted that Silver was abysmal in forecasting World Cup soccer and the last NCAA tournament). Finally, I saw something that gave the Seahawks a 52.5% chance of winning, which is pretty close to pick 'em.

I don't get too worked up one way or another over these, having learned the hard way 7 years ago that an 78% chance of victory (produced by one of these engines) still translates to losing more than 1 time in 5, which is a lot.

But I am interested in people's thoughts generally, and how comfortable they are playing a shortened relatively low scoring game. Defensively, I think the Pats are better positioned to play such a game than they have been in 10 years.
 

Super Nomario

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dcmissle said:
I am interested in views about the value, if any, in the game simulations, which are beginning to pile up. I'm posting here rather than the game thread because a post there about the Madden simulation, which the Patriots won, set off a counter-productive dust up. And I'm posting in response to this post because the simulations that I have seen, which go both ways, seem to forecast the same type of game that we have seen in the last two SBs the Pats have played in.

For example, this links to the results of a 50,000 game run, the bottom line of which has the Seahawks winning 57.5% of the time, by an average score of 24 to 20:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/simulator-runs-super-bowl-matchup-50-000-times--and-winner-is-----022252004.html

I heard the guy who runs this outfit interviewed on local radio yesterday, and his main point was that teams that run the ball well and play good defense shorten the game. He added that the Seahawks fit the profile of the few teams the Pats have struggle with this year.
It can shorten the game, but there's a lot that goes into that. For the season, the Seahawks defense faced the second-fewest number of drives against, while the Patriots were tied for 15th-most (basically average). However, the difference was only 11 drives on the season (182 vs 171), or fewer than 1 per game. Running the ball can eat clock - if you keep getting first downs. If you run three times and then punt, you're not burning much clock. And good defense can cut either way - forcing three-and-outs and turnovers generally leads to more total possessions in the game. It's possible this game has fewer possessions than an average game, but I wouldn't assume it, and I certainly wouldn't expect anything dramatic.
 
And a shorter game isn't necessarily bad for the Patriots, anyway. The last two Super Bowls, they were clearly better than the Giants (arguably the two worst Super Bowl winners in history), so the increased randomness in a shorter game was bad. If the Patriots are better than the Seahawks, it isn't by much, and increased randomness doesn't really move the needle on win probability. It could be bad, but it could be good.
 

shepard50

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Valek123 said:
 
That's actually a better ad than I frankly thought they could make, their current spectrum of ads made with people forced to drum up tears and cry on camera was so horribly done it left people confused as to what the message actually was and came off as a forced attempt to deflect.  This ad at least takes the step toward reality, and the struggles that exist in many households across the country rich or poor.  100% better, still not perfect but at least the message is clear and doesn't seem like onions are off-camera.
 
I thought that was really powerful.
 
CaptainLaddie said:
Tom Brady is really good looking.
 
It's really impossible to ignore. Every picture it's "Fuck ,that guy is handsome"...
 

m0ckduck

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Listening to Aaron Schatz from Football Outsiders on the BS Report explaining that, by weighted DVOA, this is probably the most evenly-matched SB in history
 

Silverdude2167

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tims4wins said:
 
ALARMGATE
 
Edit: this joke has probably already been made like 300 times right?
I believe the Pats should be fined and lose a first round pick for being in the vicinity and as such are damaging the integrity of Superbowl week.
 

singaporesoxfan

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tims4wins said:
 
ALARMGATE
 
Edit: this joke has probably already been made like 300 times right?
 
Maybe it's not a fire alarm. Maybe Jonas Gray just really, really, really wants to wake up early this time.
 

Kliq

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