NFL Playoffs

[James Foote]

I'm a die hard Redskins fan, but honestly, that game last week was one of the worst playoff games I've ever seen by either team. Yes, Seattle didn't have Alexander, but it was just ugly. If I'm Seattle, I'm worrying about Carolina. If Hasselbeck has as little help as he did on Saturday, he'll be saying (well, at least thinking) quite a few things worse than Manning. NFC Championship game should be a good close one. I'm pretty neutral in the NFC now with the Skins out so I'll just be observing. Here in Denver on the other hand...

[Danny Hogan]

as a skins fan i can say it has been the most miserable 11-7 season you can have. they have looked absolutely dreadful in wins (3 FG to beat the bears 10-7 in the opener, snuck by arizona, dallas on MNF and @ tampa in the playoffs) and awesome in losses (the entire AFC west). Brunnell is a stiff.

they looked like crap against seattle, seattle looked like crap as well.

[laxfan25]

FYI - NFL says the interception that was overturned in the Pittsburgh game was the referee's judgement and is being questioned. Here's the article. You might have to sign up for a free account to read it???

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... f43bf.html

The latest of course is that the NFL is saying that the call was blown, past the questioning stage. It'll be interesting though to see how much the Steeler player gets fine for his outspoken criticism. He'll get dinged about $20K. I wonder if the ref will get docked a similar percentage??

[James Foote]

as a skins fan i can say it has been the most miserable 11-7 season you can have. they have looked absolutely dreadful in wins (3 FG to beat the bears 10-7 in the opener, snuck by arizona, dallas on MNF and @ tampa in the playoffs) and awesome in losses (the entire AFC west). Brunnell is a stiff.

they looked like crap against seattle, seattle looked like crap as well.

I'm still waiting for Brunell's announcement to retire. He's too tough to watch and Joey Harrington has a better arm. You're totally right... most disgusting 11-7 season ever, but at least we played 18 games this year.

Chris Cooley for President

[Dan Wishengrad]

I agree that Washington's offense is pretty dreadful, but the Skins DID win five in a row to make the playoffs and advance past the wildcard round at Tampa Bay. The game wasn't pretty, but I think the Seahawks played great defense throughout, and if not for the three fumbles (two on punt returns) they might have held Washington to only 3 pts.

Personally I am no more worried by Carolina than any other team we might match up against -- you make it to the NFC title game and you are not going to get an easy opponent regardless. Carolina is very good, but without their first-string (Davis) or second-string (Foster) RB they may have alot of trouble running the ball. If Seattle can contain Steve Smith (Marcus Trufant will get the call for coverage) I don't see the Panthers having alot of success offensively. The crowd will definitely play a big factor, and IF Shaun Alexander returns (likely) and IF he has a good game the 'Hawks should prevail.

[James Foote]

I agree totally. If you're playing in a Conference Championship, you've gotta have talent.

You're exactly right... Carolina will be hurt in the backfield, but they still look really tough. And for all of you Seattle fans, I wouldn't worry too much about whether or not Alexander will play this weekend. He could have lost both legs last week and still be the starting half back this Sunday.

[shrekjr]

FYI - NFL says the interception that was overturned in the Pittsburgh game was the referee's judgement and is being questioned. Here's the article. You might have to sign up for a free account to read it???

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... f43bf.html

The latest of course is that the NFL is saying that the call was blown, past the questioning stage. It'll be interesting though to see how much the Steeler player gets fine for his outspoken criticism. He'll get dinged about $20K. I wonder if the ref will get docked a similar percentage??

As an official who almost always supports other officials (depending on who they are???), I have to wonder what this guy was thinking. If it wasn't a rule, why would he try to create strange logic in overturning a call as opposed to common sense that would have supported the original call. Of all groups, the NFL is about as "by the book" as they come. This referee went outside the usual thought processes. Very unusual for an NFL official.

[laxfan25]

FYI - NFL says the interception that was overturned in the Pittsburgh game was the referee's judgement and is being questioned. Here's the article. You might have to sign up for a free account to read it???

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... f43bf.html

The latest of course is that the NFL is saying that the call was blown, past the questioning stage. It'll be interesting though to see how much the Steeler player gets fine for his outspoken criticism. He'll get dinged about $20K. I wonder if the ref will get docked a similar percentage??

As an official who almost always supports other officials (depending on who they are???), I have to wonder what this guy was thinking. If it wasn't a rule, why would he try to create strange logic in overturning a call as opposed to common sense that would have supported the original call. Of all groups, the NFL is about as "by the book" as they come. This referee went outside the usual thought processes. Very unusual for an NFL official.

I'm surprised too that the replay booth went along with his twisted logic. It was so apparent that it was a pick. I guess the ref has final authority (and I would guess it'll be a while before he gets another plum playoff assignment!)
By the way, what's that comment about "depending on who they are"?

[Downie]

Carolina is still a very good team without Foster. Nick Goings is a solid back that most people don't know about. He hits the hole hard and rarely hesitates. And he has gotten plenty of quality touches in the past three seasons. Any decent back could have run through the holes opened up against the bears this past weekend. And I doubt the seahawks will contain Steve Smith especially considering no team has had much luck doing that this year. I would be shocked if they hold him under 100 yds.

Carolina moves on in a really close game and gets another playoff road win.

[tamu33]

As an official who almost always supports other officials (depending on who they are???), I have to wonder what this guy was thinking. If it wasn't a rule, why would he try to create strange logic in overturning a call as opposed to common sense that would have supported the original call. Of all groups, the NFL is about as "by the book" as they come. This referee went outside the usual thought processes. Very unusual for an NFL official.

While I understand he is trying his best. The official really just used the definition of a catch as his justification. He didn't make up a rule. He stated that the player didn't maintain possesion while on the ground (which must happen for a pass to be considered complete when a player is falling toward the ground on his own accord.) In this case Palomalu caught the ball and rolled; then on his way up (with knee still down) the ball came loose. The ref deemed that since he did not maintain possesion that it was an incomplete pass. The NFL and all of america says that his roll with the ball and attempt to get up was enough to confirm a completion and then a fumble. (Basically because he was attempting a football move.) I think the refs were so worried about getting it wrong that they actually forgot the intent of the rules (which is to maintain the spirit of the game). Plus the fact that they were in the dome during playoffs with about 60,000 people wanting the called changed; talk about pressure. That call reversal will be talked about for a long time. Thankfully it didn't change the outcome of the game.

[laxfan25]

Carolina is still a very good team without Foster. Nick Goings is a solid back that most people don't know about. He hits the hole hard and rarely hesitates. And he has gotten plenty of quality touches in the past three seasons. Any decent back could have run through the holes opened up against the bears this past weekend. And I doubt the seahawks will contain Steve Smith especially considering no team has had much luck doing that this year. I would be shocked if they hold him under 100 yds.

Carolina moves on in a really close game and gets another playoff road win.

Shhhhh!! Lets let sleeping dogs lie. No need to waken the giant. I don't mind going in as an overlooked underdog, even if I agree with your comments about Goings. I would assume that Steve Smith will see a healthy dose of double-teams, something that Chicago rarely tried.
Go Panthers!

[tamu33]

And I doubt the seahawks will contain Steve Smith especially considering no team has had much luck doing that this year.

S. Smith

10/3 2rec - 12yds 0TDs vs GB
11/13 3rec - 34yds 0TDs vs NYJ
11/27 3rec - 55yds 0TDs vs BUF
12/24 1rec - 18yds 0TDs vs DAL (1 fumble rec - 5yds)

Record of these 4 teams 22 - 42 (.342 win %)

Yup these teams had no success in stopping Smith. Notice something about these teams.... yeah, none are in the playoffs ... so I have got to think that it can be done in the NFC championship game. No doubt Smith is a good WR but he can be shut down. Dallas did it so well that he got frustrated enough that he was ejected from the game for doing something stupid.

[asulax]

the ref would have never had to over turn the interception call if he would have made the call on the no call offsides earlier....bc the steelers would not have gone for it on 4th and 6...so if he was doing anything it was making up for the no call earlier....

[shrekjr]

While I understand he is trying his best. The official really just used the definition of a catch as his justification. He didn't make up a rule. He stated that the player didn't maintain possesion while on the ground (which must happen for a pass to be considered complete when a player is falling toward the ground on his own accord.)

In this case Palomalu caught the ball and rolled; then on his way up (with knee still down) the ball came loose.

As a football official, your last sentence is where I see the contradiction. By rule, the catch is complete as soon as the player comes to the ground with possession of the ball. It is strictly a matter of undefined judgement as to how long the player must maintain possession. If a player catches the ball in mid-air, comes down flat on his back and holds the ball for five seconds before letting go and watching the ball roll off his chest, is that a completion and fumble, or an incompletion? There is nothing in the book that says how long the ball must be possessed other than a vague attempt at using the term "a football move" to describe the players next action. In this case, had Palomalu stayed on the ground and never attempted to get up, it would have been ruled an interception. Since he did try to get up and ball came out at that point, the referee was trying to combine both rules...having possession while still being down on the ground and also while attempting "a football move" by getting up. You can't combine the two.

[tamu33]

I got what your saying. I was just commenting on the part where you said make up a rule. But I see it like you.

Also.... has anyone read this article of the guy who had a heart attack seconds after Bettis fumbled. Crazy. He's ok and the steelers won... so everything is peachy now.

click here