NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
Saturday January, 13
4:30PM
AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF
AT 
8:00PM
NFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAME
AT 
Sunday January, 14
1:00PM
NFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF
AT 
4:30PM
AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF
AT 
Posted on 01/13/2007 12:00:03 PM PST by scott says
NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
Saturday January, 13
4:30PM
AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF
AT
8:00PM
NFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAME
AT
Sunday January, 14
1:00PM
NFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF
AT
4:30PM
AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF
AT
Nope...your team, sir...was outclassed.
Funny--neither does Schottenheimer's career. Marty is so gone.
Ironically, his son is likely to become the next head coach of the Dolphins.
Ah, I see now. An ignorant, drunk, blowhard Pats homer. The rest of the Pats fans here are winning with class, why not learn a thing or two from them?
But I thought Cam Cameron did all of the offensive play calling, and Marty didn't interfere? That's what we've been led to believe all season.
Another Troy Brown moment that I as a Steeler fan will never forget. THE LATERAL
http://sportsforum.ws/showthread.html?t=11949
By Thomas Boswell
Tuesday, January 29, 2002; Page D01
(snip) --- If you think the New England Patriots got the replay-reversal gift from heaven in their victory over the Raiders 10 days ago, then you only know the half of it.
On Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Patriots got an equally important replay-related break -- one few have noticed until this column.
The Patriots' game-winning touchdown came on an illegal forward lateral by Troy Brown. The blocked-field goal return for a touchdown should have been called back but it stayed on the scoreboard. And the Pats, the Replay Team of Destiny, are in the Super Bowl. One week, they win on a Snow Job, 16-13. Now, they steal one from the Steelers, 24-17.
As an added twist of perverse fate, the Steelers had already used both of their allotted "challenges" successfully and could not have disputed the ruling on the field if they desired.
If you want one more piece of evidence that the NFL's replay system -- and perhaps use of replay itself -- is a disaster, there you have it. A team can only keep the zebras from giving them the shaft twice in one game. Beyond that, you're just out of luck. And, like the Steelers, perhaps out of the Super Bowl.
The Rams should forget about practicing offense, defense and special teams this week. Just study the rule book and the replay angles. After all, the NFL, especially in postseason, has become a perpetual, infuriating replay debate almost as much as it is a sport. If Vince Lombardi didn't need all this, why do we?
But we've got it. That's for sure. So, if replay is the name of the game now, we might as well use it. Next time you see a replay of Antwan Harris running 49 yards with that lateral from Brown, tape it on your home TV. Don't worry -- if you miss it, it'll be replayed dozens of times. Then play it back in slow motion and freeze frame it. Decide for yourself.
(Almost all replays come from the same CBS feed that game officials would have used on a challenge. The ESPN "SportsCenter" tape I viewed was that same CBS game feed.)
Here's what happened: Brown's lateral to Harris went forward, at least two feet, not backward. So it was illegal.
Slow-motion freeze frame, from two complementary angles, is as clear as a bell. If the Steelers had challenged the ruling, they would almost certainly have gotten a reversal.
One camera was directly behind the play, shot from the end zone. So you can see exactly when the ball leaves Brown's hand and when Harris catches it. The other camera, on the sideline, is at the 50-yard line, exactly where the illegal "lateral" took place.
From the end zone angle, you can see that the ball is entirely out of Brown's hands just as his right foot lands a bit shy of the 50. From the sideline angle, you can see that, as his right foot lands, no part of his body, or any part of the ball, has quite reached the 50.
So, the lateral has been made before midfield.
From both angles, it's clear that when Harris first touches the ball, it is about two feet past midfield. Lateraled before the 50. Caught on the other side. What could be more "indisputable?"
You can discuss whether the ball went two feet forward, or perhaps as much as a full yard forward. But you can't say it was legal. And you can't say that, on replay, it was even very close. Calls are routinely reversed on far less crystal-clear camera work.
Unfortunately, the Steelers didn't have any challenges left.
And, in full speed, the lateral looks legal. It's only on replay that you realize your eyes have tricked you.
Unfortunately, NFL football has reached a point where there are two realities: What your eyes see and what frame-by-frame replay sees. Throughout Sunday's game, play was interrupted by long replay discussions. Once, officials called a Steelers receiver out of bounds. Then they had a meeting and reversed themselves. Finally, the Pats challenged the play and it was overturned because, on replay, you could see an itsy-bitsy bobble of the ball. What if, just one week ago, Pats Coach Bill Belichick had been "out of challenges" -- even correct ones -- against Oakland? We would have no famous multiple-choice Tom Brady moment. Was it a fumble or was it an incompletion? The question couldn't have been asked. Fortunately for Belichick, he didn't have to ask the question. Since the fumble was in the final two minutes of a half, it was up to the replay official.
Troy Brown is everywhere.
;-)
Simms said the wind was 8-10 mph against SD at that point, which would have made a 48 yard FG difficult. Plus any kind of ball carries less in cool weather because the air is denser (and it was around 58 in SD today), so that was probably an OK decision. That challenge on the fumbled interception was a bad decision and that might get him fired. When the point spread came out I was stunned that SD was a 6 point favorite. That got bet down lower, but I thought it would open at 2-3 points for SD.
Actually, I'm not a Patriots fan. Can't stand them, actually. But I can't help but acknowledge their greatness.
No kidding! This is always a fun thread with good natured back and forth. My team, Denver, was done long ago. Now, I just cheer or jeer and have a good time! I'm happy for all the great Pats fans here and would have been just as happy for the great Chargers fans.
I think the Pats players were trying to "console" and compliment LT about his terrific individual performance, but he wasn't having any part of it. He was being a sore loser, period. They were saying to LT, "Hey, you're better than that, dog", as he was trying to flee the scence. Oh well, LT, go home and be miserable until training camp. Actually, if I were there, I would tell "LT to look at the bright side of things...pitchers and catchers report in about 6 weeks"...
It's early, lol.
You only got one TV? one HD-TV I can see, but no back up?
I knew it was a big mistake when he challenged it. Sorry man.
I do in my bedroom but I don't have a cable box with it so I only get basic cable on it.
Did you just hear Tomlinson?!!!
The Colts didn't win pretty, but they did win, and they won with defense, something that the "experts" said was impossible because their defense was so bad. And I guarantee you that those same "experts" will spend all of this week telling you all about how we shouldn't even bother playing this game, that Peyton Manning and the Colts aren't even fit to carry Tom Brady's jockstrap.
Yeah..he should have just walked off the field..what a tough loss. BB on NOW!!!
We needed a few more plays in the playbook today but it was also bad execution on some plays. Rivers is still almost a rookie and he made a bad decision on that screen pass that was picked off.
I'm not writing them off but I do think the Pats just beat a superior team than Indy.
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