- Joined
- Apr 3, 2006
- Messages
- 26,101
- Reaction score
- 52,115
A lot has been made about field goal kickers, but has anyone noticed that virtually all of them were from the underdog teams who are perennial league doormats. I watched a good hodge podge of games this weekend, and rooting for the underdog/team playing Pats rivals was brutal. Here is what I saw go down:
Steelers versus Ravens
I'll start by deviating from this thread a little bit because the Steelers are not a loser franchise, but the underdog Steelers were clearly beaten before the game started coming in without Roethlisberger. Even a usually strong team like the Steelers proved to be mentally weak, with atrocious play calling down the stretch and two missed field goals that would have put the game nearly out of reach. Thursday Night was a harbinger of things to come, with the underdogs just beating themselves and inventing ways to lose. The Steelers outplayed the Ravens and lost.
Jaguars at Colts
The Colts haven't lost to any of these AFC South losers in like three years. It was obvious the Jags would figure out a way to pull out the Loss, and they did. Again, it came down to bad field goal kicking but only for the underdog laughingstock team. Two missed field goals by Myers in a dome...actually it was three. On the first field goal attempt at the end of regulation, Pagano called a timeout to ice Myers, and he missed that one, too. In fairness to Gus Bradley, he actually didn't go conservative once the Jags moved the ball into outer field goal range, as he continued to call pass plays. However, the Jags psyched themselves out and lost, and I think everyone in the world knew it would happen as soon as they missed the first FG. The Jags outplayed the Colts handily and lost.
Browns at Chargers
My father-in-law is a Browns fan, and I had him over for the game. It just absolutely brutal to watch these games with him because you KNOW the Browns will find some spectacular way to lose the game no matter what. It's just another example of the theme of this thread, which is that bad teams cannot beat good teams, even if they play better. In this case, the game was evenly matched. The Chargers drove the ball down for a 39-yard FG at the end of regulation, and their rookie kicker missed. Of course, this is the Browns. Offsides penalty. Re-kick. Money. Anyone remember that spectacular loss the Browns had at Foxboro a few years ago, when Gronk got his knee blown out by TJ Ward? It involved like three scores in the last three minutes and an onside kick recovery. But you knew it would happen, because it was the Browns playing in Foxboro.
Vikings at Broncos
This wasn't quite as big a choke as the others, but it's another example of a team playing quite well and standing their ground but losing based on just being destined to lose. Walsh missed a field goal from within 40 yards early in the game, and the tone was set. Sometimes you just know that is going to come back and be the difference. The Vikings were taking it to the Broncos in the fourth quarter and picked off Manning with about five minutes remaining down three. Of course, you knew they would do exactly what they did, which is give Manning the ball back with a couple minutes left. Many opportunities for the Vikings to win that game.
Lions at Seahawks
We all know the story and the bad call, but let me ask you something. Had the Lions gotten the ball back, does anyone think they would have actually won the game? It is pretty clear when your all-world WR FUMBLES the ball at the ONE-YARD LINE in that situation, that you are just a loser team that makes loser mistakes and lose games, and you are not winning a game in Seattle. The Lions absolutely had the Seahawks on the ropes, but they are engraved losers all around while the Seahawks know they will find a way at home.
Steelers versus Ravens
I'll start by deviating from this thread a little bit because the Steelers are not a loser franchise, but the underdog Steelers were clearly beaten before the game started coming in without Roethlisberger. Even a usually strong team like the Steelers proved to be mentally weak, with atrocious play calling down the stretch and two missed field goals that would have put the game nearly out of reach. Thursday Night was a harbinger of things to come, with the underdogs just beating themselves and inventing ways to lose. The Steelers outplayed the Ravens and lost.
Jaguars at Colts
The Colts haven't lost to any of these AFC South losers in like three years. It was obvious the Jags would figure out a way to pull out the Loss, and they did. Again, it came down to bad field goal kicking but only for the underdog laughingstock team. Two missed field goals by Myers in a dome...actually it was three. On the first field goal attempt at the end of regulation, Pagano called a timeout to ice Myers, and he missed that one, too. In fairness to Gus Bradley, he actually didn't go conservative once the Jags moved the ball into outer field goal range, as he continued to call pass plays. However, the Jags psyched themselves out and lost, and I think everyone in the world knew it would happen as soon as they missed the first FG. The Jags outplayed the Colts handily and lost.
Browns at Chargers
My father-in-law is a Browns fan, and I had him over for the game. It just absolutely brutal to watch these games with him because you KNOW the Browns will find some spectacular way to lose the game no matter what. It's just another example of the theme of this thread, which is that bad teams cannot beat good teams, even if they play better. In this case, the game was evenly matched. The Chargers drove the ball down for a 39-yard FG at the end of regulation, and their rookie kicker missed. Of course, this is the Browns. Offsides penalty. Re-kick. Money. Anyone remember that spectacular loss the Browns had at Foxboro a few years ago, when Gronk got his knee blown out by TJ Ward? It involved like three scores in the last three minutes and an onside kick recovery. But you knew it would happen, because it was the Browns playing in Foxboro.
Vikings at Broncos
This wasn't quite as big a choke as the others, but it's another example of a team playing quite well and standing their ground but losing based on just being destined to lose. Walsh missed a field goal from within 40 yards early in the game, and the tone was set. Sometimes you just know that is going to come back and be the difference. The Vikings were taking it to the Broncos in the fourth quarter and picked off Manning with about five minutes remaining down three. Of course, you knew they would do exactly what they did, which is give Manning the ball back with a couple minutes left. Many opportunities for the Vikings to win that game.
Lions at Seahawks
We all know the story and the bad call, but let me ask you something. Had the Lions gotten the ball back, does anyone think they would have actually won the game? It is pretty clear when your all-world WR FUMBLES the ball at the ONE-YARD LINE in that situation, that you are just a loser team that makes loser mistakes and lose games, and you are not winning a game in Seattle. The Lions absolutely had the Seahawks on the ropes, but they are engraved losers all around while the Seahawks know they will find a way at home.