NFL week 9 [R]

1-fair enough but technically he started the season as #2

2-unquestionably? hmmm... i don't know about that - the others are fantastic to be sure, but little is having a monster year so far

3-i guess we'll find out - they've done pretty well without some top players, all of whom should be back soon

 

bluedaddy, billy pretty much nailed you to the floor with these three comments.

1) I live in St. Louis, so I see this stuff every day of my life. (Bastards refuse to talk about the Chiefs, wonder why ) Bulger is the starter. Furthermore, he's even being called the "quarterback of the future" for the franchise.
2) Little is NOT by any means the best DE in football. I think billy listed enough to prove you wrong.
3) Bad calls?! What?! Bad calls?!?! How about the 49ers up 7-0 and Bulger fumbles the ball that is returned for a TD. Wait, "down by contact". That was a terrible call that kept the game from being 14-0 VERY early.

 

He probably read that homer twat Bernie Miklasz in the Post-Dispatch, who didn't mention the Bulger fumble in his rant on "bad calls", either.

Actually, re: 3, specifically Wilson's TD return, I'll give bluedaddy the benefit of the doubt. I was there, so we didn't get many replays of the clip because the scoreboard kept showing the TD return and Julian Peterson's block. I taped the game but have yet to watch it. Needless to say, there was no "controversy" mentioned on local news out here last night, nor in today's local papers.

Healthy or not, I think the only threat from Missouri to go all the way this season wear red.

 

I know this is doing a little bit of time travelling, but why in gods name was Heaps TD (where he got hit HEAVY & lost his helmet right after) reception over the middle vs. Denver last week not allowed? Maybe you could say it was disputable whether he got the TD or not, but it got included, meaning there had to be indusputable evidence that it was NOT a catch, and I just don't see how that's possible. Please help me out here

And I'd be very surprised if the Chiefs didn't go to 12-0 by wee k13 (they'd have to lose it themselves, as opposed to being beaten).

 

That Dolphins game yesterday was a joke. The defense played like *#*#*#*#. We missed way too many tackles. We allowed way too many plays that shouldn't have happened. The Colts also had luck on their side with the big play from Pollard at the end of the first half to set up the field goal.

The Dolphins should have won. Wade Smith is *#*#*#*#in awful. He allowed Bratzke to get a sack, and then allowed Freeney to get 3! WTF!!!!

Griese has no mobility. Fiedler avoided tons of sacks at QB. We didn't allow a lot of sacks in the beginning because Fiedler ran away from them. Griese can't do that. Also, he can't hold onto the ball after he is sacked.

Our offensive line has to be the worst one in the league. They can't open up any holes at all. They also can't stop defenders from running right past them.

 

Well.....that's true. Have fun trying to make the playoffs. Say........can you help us out against The Titans next week?

 

well what a surprise the SF media didn't mention the clip - as for bulger's fumble, i stepped out of the room and didn't see it - as for the RAM's chances, as i said, we shall see soon enough

 

As bad as the Pats played in the first half, with all the penalties, turnovers, and surprisingly porous pass defense: only down 4 at the half. Now a stop right off the get-go is needed in Half 2, then a sustained drive, which we really haven't had yet, and we'll be okay.

 

Re: Rams chances
The Rams will make the playoffs based on how weak their schedule is alone. But they aren't that good, and certainly would have to get very hot and lucky to make the Super Bowl

Re: Heap TD
Well, there have been many catches this season that appear good that are called back. They changed the rule, or the interpretation of the rule, somewhat this year. Now for it to be a catch the player must control the ball "all the way through the action of catching". Basically what they say is that if a guy comes down with the ball and slams into the ground he must hold the ball all the way through the action; i.e the ball cant come out at any time. But in the Heap case my opinion was that he had the ball with two feet on the ground in the end zone. Thus making the play dead with a TD, and what happened after that didn't matter. Refs, surprisingly, didn't see it that way. But the league must be saying something because theres a lot of catches that look good that are being called incomplete this season.

Re: Chiefs 12-0/Super Bowl
I wouldn't be surprised if they were 12-0 (weak Nov. schedule). But I have two reservations about the Super Bowl. 1) They only have two "tough" games in their last eight. Hardly good practice for a tough game vs. Indy/Tennesse/New England in the Divisional game. 2) 1995 and 1997; Linn Elliott and Elvis Grbac. Period.

Re: Clipping on 49ers
At work today some Rams fans told me that the refs said the block wasn't "low". I'll admit I didn't see the call because once I saw the flag I switched channels (Sunday Ticket rocks!). I came back as they were kicking the extra point. But the guys at work, die hard Rams fans, said they didnt see a clip and thought it was an okay call. Their only problem was that if a ref thinks he sees something they probably did and were worried that the crowd effected the call.

 

I was one of the few who agreed 100% with the ref's ruling, it was not a touchdown. Why is a "catch" inside the endzone ruled differently from a "catch" outside the endzone? When I initially saw the play, I said touchdown and thought the same thing as you, what happened after the catch was irrelevant. But after a few reviews, I pretty quickly changed to no way was that a touchdown. If that ball was caught at the 50 yard line, it would have been ruled incomplete 90 out of 100 times. The definition of a "catch" does not change depending on where you are on the field, a catch is a catch. In order for it be a catch, you must have possession of the ball. While it was borderline possession or not, I ruled it no possession because he did not maintain that possession of the ball through the hit as he fell to the turf. Great defensive play IMO.

 

I only got into American football at in the 01-02 offseason, hwne I got Madden 2002 (there is NO football coverage over here, but I had the game recommended to me, rented it, loved it, and got into NFL the next season), but I'm guessing they "pulled a Peyton"?

 

Well then surely it would be regarded as a fumble, and - if this was only brought to our attention by a challenge - the play would basically be taken as down at the point of contact, because it would be impossible to detemrine hwo would have recovered the fumble. Obviously it is impossible to fumble in the end zone as you must have had possession and your feet on the ground beforehand, resulting in a touchdown. BTW, I am unsure if this makes a difference, but IIRC Heaps back and ass had hit the ground before the ball came out.

 

1995: Chiefs go 13-3 and have home field advantage. We get a bye in the first round of the playoffs, and play the Colts in the second round. They come to Arrowhead in mid-January. Its like 10 degrees F (freaking ass cold) and the place is packed and excited cause the Colts were a 10-6 team who were lucky to beat San Diego and even be there.
So we play like ass and we're down 10-7 into the second half. We have this kicker, Linn Elliot. He has two chances during the game for field goals and misses them both wide. Then on the last play of the game the team gets down into position for a tying FG. There was no way the Colts could score on us if we tied it, we would surely win. There was also no way in hell Elliot was making that kick.
Snap. Kick. Miss.....80,000 silent fans.

1997: Chiefs go 13-3 again. We get the home field advantage. Have a first round bye. Second round game we host Elway and the Donkeys. They come in and beat us late. Elvis Grbac (a decent QB, but many people really disliked him in KC) played his worst game of the season by far. Our defense couldnt stop Elway or Terrel Davis. Another great regular season wasted. Again....80,000 silent fans leave crying in their beers.

So...I've been here before. I'm not getting excited. Its fun, but I've been a die hard for a long time and seen us blow three great post season opportunities.



As for the catch, or non catch. The way they're calling the rule this year, they were right to disallow it IF he was in the field not if he was in the end zone. By the book. But I disagree with the book and the interpretation. Heap caught that ball, the only reason he drops it is the ground. If that were the end of it, it wouldnt be a catch. BUT Derek, you're missing my point. He had two feet down and the ball in his hands in the end zone. PLAY IS OVER. That would be like taking a TD away from a guy (and I've seen this) that catches a ball in the end zone and immediatelly spikes the ball. They don't because once you hold the ball with two hands and get two feet down in the end zone the play is over. Another good example is a person running into the end zone and stretching the ball in. Once they possess the ball and it breaks the plane of the goal line it doesnt matter if they fumble the ball (happens all the time), the play is over and its a TD. Same thing happened with Heap, he possessed the ball with two feet down in the end zone. IMO the refs just missed it. But then there are others that disagree, it comes down to one of those judgement calls. At least it didnt cost the Ravens the game.

 

I won't disagree with that. He's one of the best strategists if not the best, but in hindsight taking the safety down by one was pretty much a no-brainer. Shanahan's play selection, especially the third down play, left a lot to be desired though.

 

Steve Bono is so lucky Elliot missed those field goals, because he played like absolute ass. I've always blamed Bono more than Elliot because he threw 4 picks in that game. That game was also Gannon's coming out party when Marty benched Bono on the final drive of the game, and Gannon comes in a does an incredible job leading the team down the field to put us in position for the field goal.

And just to let you know Billy, Lin Elliot is now a curse word in KC.

Hah, I remember that '97 defense destroying everyone. They went like 10 games without allowing a 2nd half touchdown that season. Chiefs would have been in the Superbowl that year had Gannon not had a bad game in week 16. While Marty was a loyalist, I think he goes with Gannon (who was 6-1 that season) rather than Grbac in week 17 and the playoff game. With Gannon, we beat the Broncos, win the championship game at Arrowhead and play the packers. Who wins that game? Who knows. We would have been there though.


About the Heap's catch... I completely understand what you are saying about a touchdown occuring once the player has possession in the endzone. That's where we disagree, I don't think he had possession. He had to hang on to the ball once he hit the ground, and he didn't. If that was at the 50 yard line, 90 out of 100 times it would have been ruled that he didn't have possession, and the ruling should be the same whether it is in the endzone or not. You must maintain possession of the ball, in the endzone, to get a touchdown. Heaps didn't do that.

The whole issue is whether or not he had possession of the ball. I say he didn't, you say he did. It was an extremely close call that easily could have gone either way. I don't think it was as clear-cut as some people said it was.

 

Not only is it a curse word, its also an verb: "You sure Linn Ellioted that one".

I'll give you that.