In my defense, I didn't really read the link- I just kinda blew it off as soon as I saw that it was conspiracy-related wrt officiating.
Still the video does a fine job of exposing a number of blown and bad decisions that influenced the outcome of the game. I don't buy into the premise they wanted the Seahawks in the Super Bowl. SF would have been a bigger draw than Seattle from a national interest storyline.
Super Bowl XLVIII: Seattle Seahawks destroy Denver Broncos – brick-by-brick video http://www.theguardian.com/sport/vi...4-seattle-seahawks-denver-broncos-brick-video
CBS wins right to produce 2014 Thursday Night football. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...s-with-cbs-on-thursday-night-football-in-2014 -- There will be 14 Thursday night and 2 late-season Saturday night games. -- CBS will televise 8 early season games which will also be simulcast on NFL Network. -- NFL Network will exclusively show the 8 remaining late-season games. -- All 16 games will be produced by CBS. -- All 16 games will have CBS' lead announcing team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. -- All 16 telecasts will include pre-game, halftime and post-game hosts and analysts from both CBS and the NFL Network. -- Deal is for 2014 with an option on 2015. I had heard earlier that NBC and ESPN were also interested in this package. No idea on Fox.
Gotta love profootballmock. http://profootballmock.com/delivery...-peyton-manning-described-as-kind-of-awkward/
Taken me a while to get to this. Rewatched the game tonight. First off, the hit was nothing. Thomas was running free along the line and Chancellor came up and t-boned him, which knocked him about four yards upfield-- because it was perpendicular to his momentum, not because it was especially hard. There isn't a receiver in the NFL who doesn't get hit harder than that every full pad practice. If Golic really thought it intimidated anybody, he's been away from the field too long. Earl Thomas got all excited by it, but two Bronco receivers went across the middle on the very next play, and one of them caught the ball. They didn't get the first on it, but that was due to a quick response by the secondary, not any timidity on Denver's part. It is when a guy is going one direction and you hit him going the other, or when he's pinned against somebody-- that's when the Mel Blount/Steve Atwater type hits happen (or to speak your language, Stanger, the Kenny Easley type hits.) Chancellor is very quick and he is physical (and very good,)but it never occurred to me that he's exceptional in the intimidation way-- he's not Ronnie Lott or Hardy Brown or Night Train Lane or anything. So the next possession Welker went up the middle on the first play, getting kinda squashed by three tacklers for a five yard gain, but not hard hit. He got up without quaking at the horror of it or anything. Next play was the Moreno fumble, then the first pick, on which somebody dummied over the middle without any cold sweats, and the receiver ran his route decently-- Manning just rushed the throw because Cliff Avril was about to eat his feet. Next possession, now down 15-0, delayed when Chancellor was down after making the tackle on the kick return: Bubble screen for six. D Thomas in the flat for a couple, quick response by the linebackers. Moreno off tackle, first down. D Thomas a short slant for 7, hit not particularly hard, pattern looked tentative because he was trying to stay under the coverage, which he did-- a brisk slant would not have been complete. Then Moreno for not quite the first down. Thought the spot was short at the time, but it looks good when you can run it back. Bubble screen to D Thomas for the first. Not a particularly hard hit. Next an incomplete go route to D. Thomas. Tight end was wide open on an out, Thomas was double covered. Welker went over the middle without incident, wasn't open. Screen to Ball, no gain, Bennett got in behind it. Chancellor back in. Welker over the middle first down. Managed to catch the ball on Thomas despite the trembling hands and tears. D Thomas, WR screen for nine. Ball off tackle for a yard loss, stop by Avril who blew right by Vasquez' trap/kick out effort. Announcers blame it on Franklin, but his assignment was the LB and he got him. Ball off tackle-- Not sure if it was Avril or Bennett, but Franklin took him the wrong way, and Ball barely gets the first down while in a bear hug. Roll out to an end zone pattern of some sort, incomplete, moot because Beadles called for tripping Bryant. Tight end screen, Mebane got behind it, two yard loss. Moreno up the middle against two deep, 9 yard gain. Avril makes a wheelbarrow of Franklin, whacks Manning's arm, pick six. Smith's on the scoresheet, but its Avril's TD. Next possession, down 22-0: Back shoulder fade for 18; two receivers go over the middle without incident, one of them completely uncovered-- the safety went for D. Thomas from the get go, never believed Manning was going anywhere else. Middle hitch to Welker for five. He had to wait a bit for it but made the catch despite his intense fear of the footstps he could hear coming. Not a particularly hard it. Julius Thomas on a baby out, almost a hitch, for 8, not a hard hit at all. 2 minute warning. I should mention that on almost all of this, the Broncos are basically running timing plays-- Manning is not going through any progressions because he knows at the snap where he's going-- so it is immaterial if the receivers "complete their routes" or not-- the ball is out before they have any chance to complete them. We are 20 minutes since the Chancellor hit, and the whole allegation is a non-sequitur. The game has had nothing to do with receivers being intimidated or running tentative routes. Out of 2 minute warning, Julius Thomas, deep slant in, held egregiously by Earl Thomas, no call. Looked like an Italian soccer player, holding his hands up "I didn't do what you just watched me do." Seahawk fans will now defend this noncall for the next forty years... (Or maybe not-- they didn't need it as it happened.) Screen to Moreno for 7. Mc Daniel got in behind it but made the tackle well downfield. False start on Vasquez, flinched. He probably was intimidated by now. Manning to Moreno on a middle hitch for 8. Okay, here's something-- fourth and two or three, short out to D. Thomas, who looked like he did not complete the route. He clearly thought the play was going to Julius Thomas who ran a curl/hitch into the middle and was covered. Manning pulled the string on the throw at the last second to avoid a second pick six or it was tipped or both. Halftime. Two long drives taking up pretty much the whole second quarter-- and they fell 7 more behind for them. Much like the Seahawks, they really didn't beat the defense much, they were just working underneath it, "taking what was given." Next possession, second half, down 29-0 after Harvin's return.Short out to Welker, incomplete. Welker, zig up the hashmark for a first down. Play action pass, Decker pulled up under the coverage, Manning expected him to go, threw to no one. If this is what they mean by "not running tight routes," it is silly. If he went on downfield he was unlikely to get whacked, but pulling it up into a hitch is likely to draw both safeties into the small of your back. Next play, Peyton flushed out, throws outlet hitch to Moreno, hospital ball as Moreno is crushed between Wright and Wagner. Hard, awkward hit, Moreno leaves the field. Gain of six. Decker runs a shallow in, towards if not over the middle, for the first down. WR screen to D Thomas for four. Sherman down again. D Thomas over the middle, cuts to the upfield side of the tackler, held to three. Bryant offsides before next snap, first down. Go route to D. Thomas, incomplete, OPI not called. Live, I thought the contact was Sherman cutting Thomas off, but he stayed out front. Thomas hooked his elbow pulling him down because he didn't trust Manning to overthrow them. If Seahawks fans want to complain about this one they are on solid footing. Play action, Welker over the middle, deepish, Chancellor breaks it up, doesn't get much of a hit on Welker, grinds his face into the turf after. Welker's pants remain dry. Draw to Ball, Wright not fooled. Punt. Still down 29-0 after Seahawk punt. Ball off tackle for not much. D Thomas over the middle for a first down. Bulled his way meekly through three Seahawks to reach the line to gain. D Thomas deep over the middle for a big gain-- and a lost fumble. 36-0, as Seahawks beat the tiring Bronco defense right down the field. Play action pass to Ball nullified by holding. Welker over the middle for three, hit very hard by Wright, coming in almost the opposite direction. Julius Thomas over the middle for eight, runs timidly over people for the last three of it. Go to D. Thomas, incomplete but PI. Maxwell tried to hook him before the ball was in the air, but Manning got the ball out too quickly. Good foul. Delayed in to Welker for 12. Tamme over the middle for 10. Welker over the middle for 22. At this point the Seahawks have Wright playing MLB very deep, and there's a ton of space over the middle, but on this play Chancellor picked Maxwell for Welker. No rub, they just collided while trying to decide whose coverage it was. D. Thomas, skinny post, TD. PI to no avail. Welker in the flat for 2 pointer. Vasquez leaves game. This is Russell Wilson's drive, picks the tiring Bronco defense apart-- coverages mostly good, but the ball thrown on a dime each time. Announcers claim the Broncos are playing soft, which they aren't, and tackling poorly, which is partly true. 43-8 Hitch intended for Decker, knocked down by Avril. Hitch intended for D. Thomas, broken up by Sherman, Sherman leaves game. Go for D. Thomas, PI Thurman. Again, tried to hold before the throw, but Manning too quick. The other way in which the Seahwks have mastered the rules is in damage control. If they are going to have to do it, they do it early when it might only be holding and if not the yardage is limited. D. Thomas over the middle for first down plus, Thurman goes down. Short out by Ball for 1. Welker, skinny slant to the middle for 7. Decker in the flat, low, drops it. Probably intimidated that all the Seahawks in the locker room were gonna hit him. Hitch over the middle to Ball called incomplete. Touched the ground, but he had control, should have been challenged. Ball goes over on downs. Last possession. Ball off tackle for 3. Ball jet sweep loss of 4. Post? to D. Thomas incomplete, well covered. Strip of Manning by Clemons, turnover. No, this was the last possession as Seahawks turn it over on downs. Anderson curl out of the backfield for a first down. Anderson up the middle for 3. Anderson up the middle for five, Broncos running the clock out on themselves. final. Obviously I saw no sign of any intimidation; the Broncos, in a sense, were not running tight routes, but not out of any fear of hits-- they were simply game planned to work underneath, and curving off or slowing up routes to get or stay open. In fact I saw only two hard hits by Seattle in the whole game, and in fact the Broncos worked over the middle constantly and successfully the whole game long. But the real shocker was this-- after the first couple of possessions the Broncos moved the ball almost at will. If you take the turnover points away from Seattle, and assume that the Broncos would have scored 10 points on those possessions, this was a 24-17 game in disguise. In a sense the Broncos' record passing day tells more truth about the game thant he final score does. Of course the turnovers happened and counted and should count-- but NFC coaches who play the Seahawks next year would be well advised to tailor their game plans around the Broncos'.
I believe a lot of that Super Bowl came down to who was better-prepared for that matchup. The Seahawks were clearly the more prepared team when they went onto the field, and I think that showed when it came down to it.
I don't know that I agree, other than perhaps the first snap. The Broncos pretty much did what they wanted on both offense and defense, other than hang on to the ball. Contrary to the myth, the LOB didn't play particularly above average-- it was the front seven who did the real work. They were very well prepared for Denver's screens; but then the Broncos D had no real trouble stopping Lynch, so there's a sort of balance there. It really came down to, Franklin's inability to handle Avril, who "caused" two picks and made two short yardage stops, and generally left Denver no time for anything but quick stuff. As a result, they had to work the ball downfield slowly and just got farther and farther behind. The real preparation against that is "Don't let Ryan Clady get hurt," and it was too late for that. BTW, I libeled Ball earlier-- he wasn't actually asked to pick pass rushers up, don't know where I got that from. Maybe from the Patriot game. The backbreakers were the Thomas fumble, which was just the sort of thing that happens in the NFL, and the kick return which was just the sort of thing that happens in games in which Percy Harvin stays healthy. Preparation can't do much about those unless you can prepare by bringing Steve Tasker out of retirement or something. I see no reason the think that a rematch wouldn't be competitive, even if the Broncos took most of the week off.
Browns fire CEO Joe Banner and GM Mike Lombardi. Word out of Cleveland is that the handling of the coaching search sealed the deal as Lombardi wanted Josh McDaniels, but Banner would not give up any control over player procurement to McDaniels. The resulting rift between Lombardi and Banner poisoned the coaching search and led to Cleveland being viewed as a "Toxic" place throughout the League. Assistant GM Ray Farmer moves into the GM office and now has total control over football operations. The President Alec Shiner moves to the CEO office and will control the business side of the organization. This is a departure from the previous regime where Banner had total control.
Unbelievable. They're rewriting the book on how NOT to run an organization, which was previously authored by the late Al Davis.
Then again, I'm not convinced the Raiders are any better off now than when Mr. Davis was around given that Hue Jackson was let go in the first off-season without Big Al and the entire current coaching staff is being retained for next season.
True. The Raiders have remained consistent in their incompetency. The Browns have taken theirs to new levels.
The new GM also played no part in the process of hiring Pettine. This has all of the making of another one and done. On the "bright side", at least they didn't let Lombardi go through FA and the draft and fire him afterwards. That would have been even worse.
I thought the 2013 Raiders were quite well-coached. Paul Brown and Vince Lombardi together couldn't have won with that roster/budget, but they at least had some idea what they were trying to do by the end of the year.
Exactly. If I were Pettine I'd be asking the grapevine about college jobs that might be open next year.
If Denis Allen can get two years i'm sure Mike pettine will. On another note i'm glad i'm not the only person who thinks Mike Lombardi sucks.
The Raiders actually aren't doing too bad in terms of organizational competency right now. They're rebuilding and revamping their roster, and they understand that; they aren't panicking and firing their coach because the results aren't coming RIGHT NAO like the Browns, and they have a idea of where they're headed at the moment.
I disagree about the Raiders I wouldn't say they are rebuilding at all. The only reason why that defense was even respectable at times last year was lots of veterans on 1 year deals, i'm not seeing any young talent. that defense is pretty damn old for a rebuilding team, i mean lamar houston showed flashes but he's 26 and a fa i think, so he won't be coming back. There o-line has taken a big step back since the cable/hu jackson eras as well. Reggie Mckenzie sucks as a gm. Anyone who thinks Denis Allen is capable isn't watching there games.
I actually don't look at Chud's firing as panicking.. I look at it as an admission that they got the hire wrong from the start. That Haslam made this move now means that he's actually paying attention to the national reputation of his organization that Banner and Lombardi were ruining (more than previously ruined, of course). The coaching search was the prime example of this horrible situation that HAD to be rectified. Haslam proved that he is able to make a hard choice and act when action is necessary, and he said as much in his press conference today. This move is being lauded in Cleveland right now as the first good move out of the Browns FO in a long time. New GM Ray Farmer now has 7 picks in the first 4 rounds of this year's draft (2, 1, 2, 2), $46M in cap space to work with, and an owner that is now learning how to manage a franchise. This offseason has now been set up to be the most important one in Cleveland since the resurrection in 1999. It's going to be fun to watch.
For goshsakes, half their payroll last year was dead money and they haven't had more than a couple of draft choices since Al Davis and Marcus Allen were on speaking terms. They couldn't get anybody else. They weren't "rebuilding" they were serving time.