01-10-2016, 04:20 AM
1. You don't run the ball on the opponents 20 yard line with 1:38 left. You kneel 3x, use their timeouts, force them to go the length of the field with no timeouts and get into the endzone.
2. You don't run the ball on the opponents 20 yard line with 1:38 left in a rainy wet game with the Steelers trying to rip the ball out 24/7.
3. Burfict got caught in a bad spot. He had to see if the catch was made, he's a LB and is taught to watch the body, he was steaming @ Antonio. If he wanted to destroy Brown he could have done a lot worse than tucking his elbow and trying to run by him.
4. The Gio hit was an obvious penalty, I've seen it called numerous times in the NFL this year. Piss poor officiating crew and that was the moment things escalated.
5. This crap about 'Andy would have won 56-15' does a huge disservice to what McCarron did tonight on the field. He stunk in the first half, had issues with the wet football, and in the 4th quarter put 2 TDs and a FG on the board. That was a gutty performance, he adapted, improved as the game went on, and there are a lot of teams with young QBs like Jameis Winston, Derek Carr, Blake Bortles etc who would be thrilled with that kind of performance out of their young QBs in their first playoff start. It's not going to be easy. Watch what happens with Bridgewater tomorrow - he's going to get rolled up and smoked. McCarron threw what should have been a game-winning TD with less than 2 minutes to go.
And his QB rating from today was higher than any playoff game Andy Dalton has ever played in (and lost). He had the Bengals within 3 kneeldowns of beating the Steelers and winning the first playoff game in years for the Bengals.
The TD to Green was his 2nd or 3rd read, and against zone coverage. Most of the criticisms lobbed against him on this board are completely irrational. He needs experience, reps, and time and he looks every bit like a perennial Pro Bowl QB in the NFL. The Bengals don't need to start him over Andy, but they have an asset that they can get value from during the offseason. Draft another QB this year to serve as Andy's backup.
6. If I were the Bengals GM/owner I would have fired Marvin Lewis with time left on the clock. I would hire a coach from the outside who would come in and show the plays that cost the team this playoff game and remind the players that they aren't just letting down the coach but they are betraying all of the hard work and dedication that every other teammate puts into each and every NFL game. Every time they are jawing with the other team, they are risking all of that hard work going down the drain because of their own selfish stupidity.
If Pacman and Burfict get upset over that tense filmroom session on day 1, I cut Pacman and bench Burfict for the 1st game.
I'd be less likely to cut Burfict because he is a baller and he won the game for the team before he lost the game for the team. But again, he was in such a tough spot and all things considered the fact that he didn't try to destroy Brown shows that he has the potential to get over his self-control issues. He needs a coach who says "this won't fly" and then actually punishes him. Not a coach who coddles him. But without doubt he was a difference-maker on the defense tonight and he put it all out there for the team.
7. The NFL needs to fine Porter and Munchak for their behavior tonight. Inexcusable. Shazier and Porter should both be suspended for the next game.
8. The NFL is turning into the WWE. Staged, fixed, teams they want to see win because they draw better crowds. The fact that Nantz and Simms commentated on that game in such a one-sided fashion, quick to dismiss the Shazier hit as perfectly legal but then jumping all over the Burfict hit, it really is approaching the level of the Kings/Lakers playoff series that cured me from caring about NBA basketball. In this game the players did not decide the outcome. The refs did. They didn't flag Shazier. They didn't flag Porter for jawing on the field. Eifert got targeted and nobody called it. A guy dove at Eifert's head on the ground and nobody called it. I don't want this to sound like sour grapes, but if the NFL had put their best officiating crew on this game, it would have been called differently.
9. Whitworth got abused early and McCarron looked like crap. Hue started calling more 3/5-step drops and the problem quickly went away. Hue should have fixed that a lot earlier than halfway through the 3rd quarter. And that 2-pt conversion playcall was the worst 2-pt conversion play in the history of sports. I don't even think Jr. High teams call such bad plays. The only way that play works is if you get a crash blitz from that side of the field, and it certainly didn't happen.
10. A lot to be excited about in the future, this is a loaded roster. What it needs is a coach who will hold the players and other coaches accountable. One that holds the refs accountable. One that loses his freaking mind on the sidelines when his guy gets knocked out. One that loses his mind even worse when his player gets flagged for hitting someone with his shoulder. One that refuses to be the patsy in a system that seems to want the Steelers to win. One that makes his entire team leave the field while Brown is on the ground so there's not even the potential for jawing and another 15-yard penalty.
2. You don't run the ball on the opponents 20 yard line with 1:38 left in a rainy wet game with the Steelers trying to rip the ball out 24/7.
3. Burfict got caught in a bad spot. He had to see if the catch was made, he's a LB and is taught to watch the body, he was steaming @ Antonio. If he wanted to destroy Brown he could have done a lot worse than tucking his elbow and trying to run by him.
4. The Gio hit was an obvious penalty, I've seen it called numerous times in the NFL this year. Piss poor officiating crew and that was the moment things escalated.
5. This crap about 'Andy would have won 56-15' does a huge disservice to what McCarron did tonight on the field. He stunk in the first half, had issues with the wet football, and in the 4th quarter put 2 TDs and a FG on the board. That was a gutty performance, he adapted, improved as the game went on, and there are a lot of teams with young QBs like Jameis Winston, Derek Carr, Blake Bortles etc who would be thrilled with that kind of performance out of their young QBs in their first playoff start. It's not going to be easy. Watch what happens with Bridgewater tomorrow - he's going to get rolled up and smoked. McCarron threw what should have been a game-winning TD with less than 2 minutes to go.
And his QB rating from today was higher than any playoff game Andy Dalton has ever played in (and lost). He had the Bengals within 3 kneeldowns of beating the Steelers and winning the first playoff game in years for the Bengals.
The TD to Green was his 2nd or 3rd read, and against zone coverage. Most of the criticisms lobbed against him on this board are completely irrational. He needs experience, reps, and time and he looks every bit like a perennial Pro Bowl QB in the NFL. The Bengals don't need to start him over Andy, but they have an asset that they can get value from during the offseason. Draft another QB this year to serve as Andy's backup.
6. If I were the Bengals GM/owner I would have fired Marvin Lewis with time left on the clock. I would hire a coach from the outside who would come in and show the plays that cost the team this playoff game and remind the players that they aren't just letting down the coach but they are betraying all of the hard work and dedication that every other teammate puts into each and every NFL game. Every time they are jawing with the other team, they are risking all of that hard work going down the drain because of their own selfish stupidity.
If Pacman and Burfict get upset over that tense filmroom session on day 1, I cut Pacman and bench Burfict for the 1st game.
I'd be less likely to cut Burfict because he is a baller and he won the game for the team before he lost the game for the team. But again, he was in such a tough spot and all things considered the fact that he didn't try to destroy Brown shows that he has the potential to get over his self-control issues. He needs a coach who says "this won't fly" and then actually punishes him. Not a coach who coddles him. But without doubt he was a difference-maker on the defense tonight and he put it all out there for the team.
7. The NFL needs to fine Porter and Munchak for their behavior tonight. Inexcusable. Shazier and Porter should both be suspended for the next game.
8. The NFL is turning into the WWE. Staged, fixed, teams they want to see win because they draw better crowds. The fact that Nantz and Simms commentated on that game in such a one-sided fashion, quick to dismiss the Shazier hit as perfectly legal but then jumping all over the Burfict hit, it really is approaching the level of the Kings/Lakers playoff series that cured me from caring about NBA basketball. In this game the players did not decide the outcome. The refs did. They didn't flag Shazier. They didn't flag Porter for jawing on the field. Eifert got targeted and nobody called it. A guy dove at Eifert's head on the ground and nobody called it. I don't want this to sound like sour grapes, but if the NFL had put their best officiating crew on this game, it would have been called differently.
9. Whitworth got abused early and McCarron looked like crap. Hue started calling more 3/5-step drops and the problem quickly went away. Hue should have fixed that a lot earlier than halfway through the 3rd quarter. And that 2-pt conversion playcall was the worst 2-pt conversion play in the history of sports. I don't even think Jr. High teams call such bad plays. The only way that play works is if you get a crash blitz from that side of the field, and it certainly didn't happen.
10. A lot to be excited about in the future, this is a loaded roster. What it needs is a coach who will hold the players and other coaches accountable. One that holds the refs accountable. One that loses his freaking mind on the sidelines when his guy gets knocked out. One that loses his mind even worse when his player gets flagged for hitting someone with his shoulder. One that refuses to be the patsy in a system that seems to want the Steelers to win. One that makes his entire team leave the field while Brown is on the ground so there's not even the potential for jawing and another 15-yard penalty.
