5. General thoughts on the game
a. I wish Collingworth would come out and say what he thinks on some of the calls that are made where there are no infractions. He came so close on a couple of calls against the Pats, but stopped just short of calling a spade a spade.
b. I applauded Dan Quinn for going for it on fourth down behind only 7-0 in the first half, in Pats territory. They made it the first time. Not so well after that. It might not have been the right move for many, but it made sense to me. He probably came into the game thinking that, like a lot of people, the game was going to be a shootout. Both the 4th downs he missed were short yardage situations. I'm sure I will be in the minority on this, though in his shoes I might have punted the first time, I can see why he made the move.
c. The good news the Pats offense didn't turn over the ball. The bad news is the defense did GET any TO's. I know shutting down a 4th down is LIKE a TO, but I would REALLY like to see the defense create more TO's. IIRC all the really good Pats teams have been at the top of the league in TO's. The DL is solidifying and the secondary is coming into their own. NOW I would like to see the Pats creating 2 or 3 TO's a game.
d. I saw bits and pieces of the Jets/Miami, Bears/Panthers, and Titans/Browns. Hard to believe a team can win a game in this league with a QB going 4/7 and rushing for less than 3.5 ypc. How the f*ck did we lose to the Panthers. BTW- I hated watching Akeem Hicks have a very disruptive game (5 tackles, a sack, and a bunch of pressures). If the only issue was money, I think Bill regrets that one. So do I.
e. Lots of talk this week about the ratings decline for the NFL. I wonder if a lot of people are like me. We used to watch 2 or three games each Sunday, and maybe a Monday night if it was a good game. Now I think a lot of people watch THEIR team, and then shut it down...like me. Even though I was getting a number of games to watch before the Pats, I never watch more than 5 minutes and usually turned back to some movie at the onset of the first commercial break.
I don't think the kneeling has anything to do with the loss of ratings. I think the product isn't as good or as interesting, especially when you don't have a rooting interest. The massive resurgence in penalties, like I mentioned above, is a factor. In the ideal game, the refs would be invisible. Now they are ubiquitous, and they are killing the flow of the game. Between that issue, the concussion issue, and to a lesser degree, the kneeling thing that would have quickly become a non-story, if the "blamer-in-chief" hadn't needed a convenient distraction and some pay-back.
f. BTW- After all the crap the AFCE got at the beginning of the year, the division now has 3 winning teams with 16 wins. Is there any other division with this many wins?
OK, I'm done. It's past 4am, and I'm at the babbling stage. Lots of things to discuss. I'll still be smiling when I wake up. This was a great win.
