Idle thoughts - the 'endgame' edition

[Patsfanin Philly]

What makes this a bit tricky is that some players like Gronk have incentives on their contracts so we will see what happens. Personally I would play all of them with a slightly more conservative approach (e.g. no seam routes for Gronk). And then start sitting players at the end of the third quarter (or whenever the game is over).

Gronk has reached some of his incentives ( 1000 yds) and would get another $2 million for 1200 yards. He would need about 130 yards to get that... If the PAts were not a playoff team, I could see them feeding him the ball to get it but with his injury history and so much on the line ( and remembering Welker's week 17 non contact injury)not likely. Looking at the big picture, as others have written, I see a normal game plan and then a conservative approach ( Hoyer, Bolden, Britt, Allen i.e. backups) IF the game is in hand...

 

[juny]

Nice recap as always

Sorry if I missed it but no mention of Trey? I thought he helped the d line a bunch with his return.

 

[Joker]

Flowers did pop more than once.
I notice odd things during the game...like the play of Shaq Mason. I actually focus on him during a lot of plays. This kid is a beast.

 

[archstanton543]

Yes, it's finally absolutely clear that the "incontrovertible evidence" standard is being ignored, so, why?

Uh, no. The people in NYC and the refs on the field are looking at camera feeds that you're not seeing on TV. It's a choice of the network to show you certain clips and not others to shape your opinion of the play. By all accounts, there's an angle that clearly shows his foot not on the ground while securing the ball. But the network kept showing us (and, more importantly, the fans in Buffalo) the angle where it looks like he has both feet in.

 

[Bill Lee]

Uh, no. The people in NYC and the refs on the field are looking at camera feeds that you're not seeing on TV. It's a choice of the network to show you certain clips and not others to shape your opinion of the play. By all accounts, there's an angle that clearly shows his foot not on the ground while securing the ball. But the network kept showing us (and, more importantly, the fans in Buffalo) the angle where it looks like he has both feet in.

Ahh, so you're proposing a variation on "c) Controversy". Sadly there's no way to prove if your variation is true or not, but it's still an intriguing suggestion. Today's world is seems to be a challenge to me. I'm not very good at working through all the various conspiracies that could possibly account for the things we see going on all around us. I guess I'll have to leave that to others and retain my mostly conventional outlook on things.

 

[aluminum seats]

I think this is the year the Patriots can win the Superbowl

This is the year, huh?

Malcolm Brown, Trey Flowers, Shaq Mason were all in that draft

Hadn't thought of that...great haul, really.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

Uh, no. The people in NYC and the refs on the field are looking at camera feeds that you're not seeing on TV

And I assume they have a system where they can synchronize multiple feeds. That way they can mark exactly when control was achieved and then note where the feet were positioned at that specific time.

Wouldn't be too hard for the networks to show us a similar synchronized version of multiple feeds.

 

[AtomicDawg]

I think a shout out is due to Nate Solder for toughing it out and playing like a champ despite an illness.

I'm sure all Pats fans had their anuses clench up on Saturday night when he came up mysteriously on the injury report.

I'll admit, when he wasn't warming up with the first team, I got a bit worried.
(Which is interesting since he seems to have become a punching bag for fans/media, but every LT in the league is for the most part; you're protecting the most important player playing the most important position in the game)

Then Tony Romo says (paraphrasing) sick Patriots players don't warm up with the same thoroughness and edge that is necessary to begin a game. BB usually wants them to conserve energy.

He struggled a bit against Kyle Williams in the 3rd quarter in that 3rd down situation, which sucked, but he rebounded big time.

But man, he made some crushing blocks against Jerry Hughes yesterday. BB interrupted HIMSELF during the post-game presser To give him props. The Dion Lewis TD was his best block (along with Shaq Mason who was also a monster as others have mentioned earlier.)
Good job Nate!

 

[Ring 6]

Ahh, so you're proposing a variation on "c) Controversy". Sadly there's no way to prove if your variation is true or not, but it's still an intriguing suggestion. Today's world is seems to be a challenge to me. I'm not very good at working through all the various conspiracies that could possibly account for the things we see going on all around us. I guess I'll have to leave that to others and retain my mostly conventional outlook on things.

I’m pretty sure they showed the incontrovertible view once but then kept showing the less clear ones while romo pleaded for them to just give it to him.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

I’m pretty sure they showed the incontrovertible view once but then kept showing the less clear ones while romo pleaded for them to just give it to him.

They did and it was pretty clear and Romo even mentioned it, then once it was announced the reversal he inexplicably forget about the view that showed the foot off the ground.

 

[Patstopia]

I think that most of Brady's interceptions can be traced to his receivers inability to be open and Brady having to try and sqeeze it in, I am sure he feels it is all on him. When Edelman gets back next year and Brady has a solid slot guy who he can depend on, all the other receivers will be more open. This may open Cooks up a lot more.

I don't care about the reviews anymore, what will happen, will happen and I know that eventually it will bite the Pats in the butt and all the other teams and reporters that have been crying will silently sit there and not say a word, so screw em all.

When Romo first got on TV I thought he was interesting, but after a few weeks of listening to him I am getting tired of his seeming self congratulatory exuberance. His harping on every point he makes grinds on my delicate senses and makes me want to scream at him every time he repeats himself.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

I still think Romo's is one of the best but he contradicts himself with these replays

 

[upstater1]

One way to speed things up on these replays is to give the coaches an extra challenge, but only 2 of those challenges can be used for plays between the end zones. One is reserved for end zone plays. So you don't review every single TD. Maybe you give coaches extra time to use the TD challenge by kicking the XP AFTER commercials.

 

[Bill Lee]

One way to speed things up on these replays is to give the coaches an extra challenge, but only 2 of those challenges can be used for plays between the end zones. One is reserved for end zone plays. So you don't review every single TD. Maybe you give coaches extra time to use the TD challenge by kicking the XP AFTER commercials.

Interesting idea.

One interesting but unworkable idea I read to speed up replay was to only allow the referee to look at the replay at half speed, no slower. The upside of that would be they wouldn't be spending minutes looking at each and every frame, and perhaps the calls would be closer to "50 guys in a bar" instead of the tedious mess we have now. The downside would be that the fans at home would still be seeing the network views that are made after a truck full of people look for the one frame that shows something significant, so it's unworkable.

Yes, I know the current system favors teams that coach to the rules like the Patriots do, and yes, we're getting better calls over time. However the cost of all this is a game that's just not very fun. We see a bang-bang play, then everything stops while one guy holds up a computer and another guy sits there and watches what some corporate stooge in NYC chooses to show him for the next three minutes. Hopefully we can do something to get both fast and accurate calls.

 

[BobDigital]

No cheap hits on Gronk too.

 

[n6249c]

"I think you have to go back to the concept of, 'you need clear evidence' to overturn a call on the field. Sorry but in THIS case there wasn't clear evidence"

Maybe not to you but the rules say that your opinion of what is clear evidence and what is not doesn't count.

"Rather than all the talk about THIS week's reversal call, I think I would have rather they just gave the Bills that call, just so it wouldn't be the focal point of the narrative this week. It just takes so much away from my enjoyment of a winning week. Anyone else feel that way?"

No. You don't want games officiated by how everyone is going to feel the following week. Follow the rules and make calls based on them, though the skies fall. There's no crying in football.

Yep. It's simple. Make the best call you can.

Don't take a down off. Don't shade your eyes because it might be unpopular. Don't cave to popular uproar incited by those who benefit from controversy and don't care which way it goes.

There was clear visual evidence, unless you don't want to see it.

 

[n6249c]

Uh, no. The people in NYC and the refs on the field are looking at camera feeds that you're not seeing on TV. It's a choice of the network to show you certain clips and not others to shape your opinion of the play. By all accounts, there's an angle that clearly shows his foot not on the ground while securing the ball. But the network kept showing us (and, more importantly, the fans in Buffalo) the angle where it looks like he has both feet in.

Gee, that would mean the networks were deliberately fomenting controversy wouldn't it?

I mean, how likely is that? We saw Deflategate demonstrate their commitment to the truth above all else, didn't we?

 

[n6249c]

Interesting idea.

One interesting but unworkable idea I read to speed up replay was to only allow the referee to look at the replay at half speed, no slower. The upside of that would be they wouldn't be spending minutes looking at each and every frame, and perhaps the calls would be closer to "50 guys in a bar" instead of the tedious mess we have now. The downside would be that the fans at home would still be seeing the network views that are made after a truck full of people look for the one frame that shows something significant, so it's unworkable.

Yes, I know the current system favors teams that coach to the rules like the Patriots do, and yes, we're getting better calls over time. However the cost of all this is a game that's just not very fun. We see a bang-bang play, then everything stops while one guy holds up a computer and another guy sits there and watches what some corporate stooge in NYC chooses to show him for the next three minutes. Hopefully we can do something to get both fast and accurate calls.

So can we all agree that the point of replay is to get calls right?

Are we now saying the point of reply isn't really to get calls right, just somewhat better, with how much better undefined?

Seems to me that allowing half speed replay but not stop action is like telling the ref he has to take his contacts out before he goes under the hood. Looks good but is as beneficial as tits on a bull.

If it is unworkable, as you state, why waste time socializing it by including it in the discussion?

 

[Ring 6]

No cheap hits on Gronk too.

But wait I was told the start thing to do was sit him because he’d be on IR by the end of the game. It’s just so hard that you can’t believe what you read.

 

[Ring 6]

So can we all agree that the point of replay is to get calls right?

Are we now saying the point of reply isn't really to get calls right, just somewhat better, with how much better undefined?

Seems to me that allowing half speed replay but not stop action is like telling the ref he has to take his contacts out before he goes under the hood. Looks good but is as beneficial as tits on a bull.

If it is unworkable, as you state, why waste time socializing it by including it in the discussion?

I think people have this idea that replay is to reverse a ref clearly missing he call. But if he misses one that every other ref would have gotten or one that was so close most would have missed aren’t you still supposed to get them both right?