Week 16 Game Thread

[LondonSox]

A lot is protected info, but there is a lot of diet, and planned exercise regimes and stuff like 10 hours of sleep a night for players.
I am not sure the whole thing is publicly available, but bits and pieces are, and I'm sure there are other leaks and ideas coming

 

[jercra]

And this prevents ACL tears and pectoral tears and concussions how?  Maybe it has some effect and helps prevent hamstring pulls but people don't go on IR for hamstring pulls very often.  Isn't it more likely that they're just really lucky wrt season ending type injuries?

 

[ivanvamp]

And this prevents ACL tears and pectoral tears and concussions how?  Maybe it has some effect and helps prevent hamstring pulls but people don't go on IR for hamstring pulls very often.  Isn't it more likely that they're just really lucky wrt season ending type injuries?

 
There probably is some benefit, especially with respect to the amount of sleep they are required to get (the body does need time to heal itself), but yeah, Gronk's ankle, Mayo's peck, Wilfork's achilles….. those aren't prevented by some sort of better training.  I'm trying to imagine how good this Patriots team would be if literally everyone was healthy.

 

[LESDL]

Can anyone who watched the Seattle game comment about that bounce leading to the interception? I only saw a quick replay and it would have been interesting to see the in-game super-slomo/closeups. It looked to me like the ball did hit the turf and the guy's arm together.
 
If it happened in the Pats game yesterday there would have been at least a 5-minute delay. How long did it take that crew to finalize the call?

 

[Dehere]

I was watching that SEA game. I thought based on the angle at which the ball caromed that it was the correct call. Given that the ruling on the field was an INT I don't think there was anywhere near enough evidence to overturn.

AZ has a legit case as a top five team right now and it's too bad that they stand a pretty good chance to go 11-5 and not make the playoffs.

 

[Stitch01]

Three or four minutes.  The closeups looked fairly inconclusive, I thought it hit arm but nothing definitive.

 

[Spacemans Bong]

The onfield call was big, I think either call would not have been overturned.

 

[Stitch01]

They asked Mike Tomlin in his post game press conference why he didnt just take two knees and kick a chip shot FG to win the game after they got a first and goal with under 2 minutes left and Green Bay had one timeout
 
His answer
 

"I'm not into that," Tomlin said of having Roethlisberger take a knee twice after Bell had reached the 1-yard line. "Given an opportunity to score, we are going to score."
 

 
Not that into winning the game 99% of the time, would rather score the TD and win 75% of the time or w/e instead I guess.
 
Of course McCarthy, who is possibly the worst in game coach in the league
--doesnt let the Steelers score on first down costing them their final TO
--completely blows the clock at the end so the Packers only get to run two plays after having first and goal from the 5 with 40 seconds left, partially because they dont have the TO they could have had if they let the Steelers score originally.
Im going to cry when Belichick leaves if the Pats get an average coach.  If I owned the Steelers or Packers Id have the head coach in my office today and tell them they could either pack up and be gone by days end or hire an assistant coach to be in charge of game management.

 

[Dogman]

Can anyone who watched the Seattle game comment about that bounce leading to the interception? I only saw a quick replay and it would have been interesting to see the in-game super-slomo/closeups. It looked to me like the ball did hit the turf and the guy's arm together.
 
If it happened in the Pats game yesterday there would have been at least a 5-minute delay. How long did it take that crew to finalize the call?

 
 
There was a replay that I saw where the ball definitively bounced off of the receivers arm and never touched the ground. The refs got this one correct.

 

[Dehere]

You really think the FG in those conditions at Lambeau was a 99% shot?
 
Questionable move by Tomlin but I don't think he deserves as much criticism as he's getting this morning. I have no problem with not playing too cute in that situation.

 

[Stitch01]

The chances of missing the field goal were way, way, way lower than the chances of Green Bay driving the length of the field for a TD.  Conditions weren't ideal, but it was basically an extra point and kickers were 10/10 on the day, it wasnt a true bad weather game.  Change the chances to 95% (too low IMO) and its still a very stupid unforced error. Tomlin deserves to be skewered more.  He's getting off light because they won, and McCarthy is getting off light too.

 

[dynomite]

    If I owned the Steelers or Packers Id have the head coach in my office today and tell them they could either pack up and be gone by days end or hire an assistant coach to be in charge of game management.

Honestly it feels like owners are going to start adopting the statistical point of view like they did in MLB, at which point coaches will have to follow suit.

I would imagine most teams already have young analysts in the front office who put together those spreadsheets, they're just falling on deaf ears. Remember in 2003 when the Red Sox fired Grady Little and subsequently found a stack of statistical reports sitting unread in his desk? I feel like that's where we are right now.

 

[Stitch01]

I agree, its coming soon.

 

[LondonSox]

 
There probably is some benefit, especially with respect to the amount of sleep they are required to get (the body does need time to heal itself), but yeah, Gronk's ankle, Mayo's peck, Wilfork's achilles.. those aren't prevented by some sort of better training.  I'm trying to imagine how good this Patriots team would be if literally everyone was healthy.

Well the EAgles had 3 ACL tears in the early weeks of training camp, but I suppose you could argue that's before the program kicked in.
I'm not, I think it's interesting re soft tissue injuries, muscles etc, not bone breaks, concussions etc. Ligaments seem unlikely, but possible to be improved with diet, rest and stretching etc.
One year is too volatile to draw conclusions for, but it's interesting to watch for. I'm sure some will be looking into it for next year, and if next year repeats a lot more from there. We shall see.

 

[crystalline]

I agree, its coming soon.

I am hoping other teams don't figure it out. As long as other coaches are screwing up easy game management decisions, Belichick and the Pats have an easily achieved advantage.

 

[Stitch01]

I think BB has been too conservative on 4th downs in recent seasons, but he wouldnt have flubbed that FG decision ever.

 

[ifmanis5]

Chris Berman's fake hair really scraping the bottom tonight. Who do you think you're kidding with that??
And of course he made sure to have ESPN pay him for a trip to SF. Normally he's in the studio but he loves SF so they couldn't say no to him.

 

[mascho]

Seeing Harbaugh catching balls for Kaepernick brought a smile to my face.  

 

[Dogman]

Last game ever in this stadium.  You would think ESPN would mention it.

 

[Al Zarilla]

Last game ever in this stadium.  You would think ESPN would mention it.

Montana couldn't make it. Strange.

 

[mauf]

Last game ever in this stadium. You would think ESPN would mention it.


My son (8 years old) parrots whatever they're talking about on ESPN during the week. So tonight, it has been "that may be the last field goal at Candlestick" and "that's the end of the last first quarter at Candlestick." Seems like a lot of fuss for a venue that most people didn't love -- it's a multi-purpose stadium, and I've never heard an ex-player say anything complimentary about the quality of the playing surface.

 

[Spacemans Bong]

My son (8 years old) parrots whatever they're talking about on ESPN during the week. So tonight, it has been "that may be the last field goal at Candlestick" and "that's the end of the last first quarter at Candlestick." Seems like a lot of fuss for a venue that most people didn't love -- it's a multi-purpose stadium, and I've never heard an ex-player say anything complimentary about the quality of the playing surface.

Um, it's hosted more playoff games than any other stadium. You don't think that's worth celebrating? Other than Lambeau is there a field in its league for history? Remember, Soldier's been totally rebuilt and the Bears have been ass for about 35 out of the 40 years they've played there.

 

[Al Zarilla]

Harbaugh's right there, hit him in the chest.

 

[trekfan55]

Was that hit by Whitner really a personal foul?

 

[SMU_Sox]

That's a horse shit call. Bulllllllshit bulllllllllshit.

 

[54thMA]

No, it was not, it was 100% shoulder.
 
Terrible call.

 

[Ed Hillel]

It was close, probably not, but I'm sorry he has to be smarter. He could have wrapped him up and taken him down easily there. That's the new league, you have to adjust. The days of Bernard Pollard and Whitner are dying.

 

[JCizzle]

That is a horrible call. Those plays should be open to replay.

 

[Al Zarilla]

It was close, probably not, but I'm sorry he has to be smarter. He could have wrapped him up and taken him down easily there. That's the new league, you have to adjust. The days of Bernard Pollard and Whitner are dying.

It's Whitner, though, who says he's going to change his name to Hitner. That's his calling card. 

 

[Ed Hillel]

That is a horrible call. Those plays should be open to replay.


Hard to argue this. Should be fairly easy call to make usually.

 

[Ed Hillel]

It's Whitner, though, who says he's going to change his name to Hitner. That's his calling card.


Right, but my point was that the league is basically trying to get rid of these players.

 

[radsoxfan]

Obviously a terrible call, regardless of the new rules. 
 
NFL refs are bad, but they are particularly bad at determining illegal hits in real time.  Pretty much any legal hard hit results in a players head snapping back to some degree, and that motion draws a flag every time because it "looks bad".  I think they are probably under orders to error on the side of over-calling, so the result is inevitable.
 
They really need to figure out a way to shift the penalties from real-time on field calls to more of a review based system after the game.  I know they already do that also, and that on-field penalties might be more of a deterrent, but these refs are just so incapable of officiating the rules correctly with the speed of the game.  It's no better than a coin flip, often times it seems worse.

 

[Dogman]

Wait, I thought it was an unsportsman penalty for taunting after the hit, no?

 

[Al Zarilla]

Not necessarily based on that last run, buy Kaepernick just doesn't look as fast this year. He does too much side to side when running and is getting caught behind the line a lot more, seems like. 

 

[radsoxfan]

Wait, I thought it was an unsportsman penalty for taunting after the hit, no?

 
i think they said it was both. 2 penalties were called.

 

[swiftaw]

Wait, I thought it was an unsportsman penalty for taunting after the hit, no?


I think there were 2 flags, one for the hit, one for the taunting.

 

[Dogman]

Well then, I agree with you all.  You just can't throw a flag there.

 

[Ed Hillel]

NFL needs to start fining/suspending for that shit.

 

[Ed Hillel]

I mean diving.

 

[Corsi]

Jesus Christ, Berman's plugs are disgusting.

 

[swiftaw]

Jesus Christ, Berman's plugs are disgusting.


Yes, his hair is quite terrible.

 

[mascho]

The Real Fantasy Redskins are more than pleased with the development of one of their supplemental draft picks, SLB Joplo Bartu.  

 

[ifmanis5]

Montana couldn't make it. Strange.

Busy masturbating.
 
 
Berman's "hair" is a color not normally found in nature.

 

[SemperFidelisSox]

Went to the closing ceremony thing for the old Garden as a kid. I remember people using their keys to unscrew the seats, and stealing toilet paper. Last games at stadiums are always fun.

 

[Buster Olney the Lonely]

How the hell do you drop that?

 

[Bellhorn]

Stupid-ass penalty by Osi ends up hurting them big.

 

[Ed Hillel]

LOL Green Day? They're from Seattle, right?

 

[Dogman]

Went to the closing ceremony thing for the old Garden as a kid. I remember people using their keys to unscrew the seats, and stealing toilet paper. Last games at stadiums are always fun.

 
 
It's very unlikely but the 9ers could potentially host the NFCCG.

 

[Spacemans Bong]

I'm pretty sure that Montana's not coming because his vocal support for the Levi's Stadium project (totally unrelated to him being the lead developer in the surrounding the land entertainment district) means he's a good candidate to get booed.

 

[Spacemans Bong]

LOL Green Day? They're from Seattle, right?

Berkeley, California.