John in Jax

Been watching the Falcons/Panthers game closely today, and I wholeheartedly disagree. In fact, they (Panthers) just had TWO drive opportunities late in the 4th qtr to put the game away, and it was 3 and out both times. ETA: The Falcons are really bad too. LOL

LOL....Love it! Thanks, Herm! Also, I'm on board with everyone other than the OP, that is.....the Bills should play as hard as they've ever played, and win this one. The Pats have been nothing close to the team they have been in previous years, and they are beatable.

I think that some of the refs may not even care anymore. Since I went to the game on Sunday, I DVR'd it so I could watch it later, which I did last night. I have long felt that the refs are very generous with their spots of the ball, and tend to always give a little more than is actually deserved on their "forward motion" point determinations. Well, here we have the opposite, but maybe it happened just because it's the Buffalo Bills. LOL In Sunday's game, on the Bills' second drive, after a Jags' punt went out of bounds, the ball is spotted at the 43 yard line. On 1st & 10, with 12:00 on the clock, EJ throws an incomplete pass to Stevie J. in the left flat (throw was too high, over Stevie's head). So it should be 2nd & 10 at the 43, however, the ball is spotted TWO YARDS BACK, at the 45! WTF!? No one noticed, not even the broadcast crew. How does that happen? It was an incomplete pass! LOL In the big picture, it didn't really matter, but it's unreal how the Refs continuously get things wrong One more example from this game. Late in the game (around 4:45 left), when the Jags were driving for the tying TD, they completed a pass to Harbor down near the goal line, and the ball was spotted at the 1. The replay clearly shows that after Harbor caught it, he went to the ground, and was touched by Searcy at the 2. Again, not a big deal seeing how it turned out (Henne throwing that horrible pass which was picked), but one yard down near the goal line certainly often is a big deal. Bottom line, as most everyone realizes, the Refs Suck, Big time.

Just saw on ESPN's "NFL Insiders" that punters & kickers are supposed to be given "protected status" at all times when they are on the field. The ESPN crew says it definitely should have been flagged, and that Hochulis' crew will suffer a downgrade, and the guy who made the hit will likely get fined. Sssssoooo, just wondering if that would have made any difference in the game's outcome, since that punt was returned for a TD by the Steelers, and it should have come back....Steelers would have started that drive somewhere just short of midfield. Also, IMHO, those are the kinds of hits (Blindside hits) which should be outlawed in any case, no matter who makes the hit. There's absolutely no need for the guy making the block to "lay out" the other guy when he's unaware the hit is coming. Hell, as the blocker, you could probably stop/knock the guy down with your arms alone.

Can the Steelers still make the playoffs?

Yep....4 sections in the upper deck, and even one section in the lower bowl, at the north endzone, as seen here.

Back on topic....EJ played just average in my mind....some good, some bad. The INT on the screen pass could have been a backbreaker, but then EJ hustled back and made the tackle. And yes, as I stated earlier in this very thread, there were a bunch of passes which were slightly off target, and the receivers made great catches. The FOUR turnovers by the Jags certainly played prominently into the Bills winning this game though.

Carpenter from 40 to end the half....it's Good! Oh, and to answer an earlier question: yeah, the stadium was only about half full all day. Personally, I think it's absolutely idiotic for all these people who had a ticket (game was sold out) but didn't go, to not give that ticket away to someone who would have gone....makes no sense.

I think it helps to be 6'5", when you play QB in the NFL! LOL

LOL. I didn't have any "point" at all! I am just sharing a couple pics from the game! I actually have EJ's TD run too, but you can barely see him. You can just see his helmet off the left shoulder of the Jag's defensive lineman, at about in the center of the picture....1/2 second either way and it would have been a great shot. LOL

EJ's TD pass to Woods, as seen from my camera lens at the 45 yard line, in the club level. EJ's game-winning TD pass to Summers.

Bengals stinking it up so far.

Nice, logical, pertinent post. Yes, the turnovers did indeed doom the Jags.

Jets lost too...to Carolina! And they looked real bad doing it too.

Just got home from the game not too long ago....stadium was about half full....don't understand why all these people with tickets, who are obviously not using them (game was "sold out"), don't give them away to someone who never gets to go to a game, but would love to. But I digress....don't know if this came across on TV, but an awful lot of EJ's throws, even though completions, were a little bit off the mark, and the receivers made some awesome grabs.

Wow, now that I've seen it, I'm amazed.....amazed that the NFL has become such a JOKE with its endless rules & restrictions on the defensive players. The only thing that actually touched the QB was Byrd's arms, and maybe a light grazing from his shoulder, and that's "roughing!?" Ray Lewis should step up & pay some of Byrd's fine too. LOL IMHO, the future of the NFL is at stake with all of these totally ridiculous rules being put on the defense.

Didn't see it. Anybody got a link to the video?

No sure if this has already been posted in the 5 pages, but I was watching the NBC SNF highlight show today (DVRd it) and saw that after NE scored the go-ahead TD, Clev still had time to move the ball down the field, and did in fact try some very long FG, which fell short. The interesting, and not surprising, thing was on Clev's last play before the game-ending FG try, it was a pass completion, and a NE DB CLEARLY launches himself at the receiver, but no personal foul penalty was called. Again it was very easy to see, and even Dan Patrick noted it as he narrated the highlight.

Agree with this 100%. The inconsistency and outright horrible calls certainly makes one wonder about the notion that the games are being "fixed." I also agree, and am amazed, that sometimes an official is right there, in the perfect position to see the play, he's looking right at it, and he still blows the call! And then often times, they have to go to the replay to get it right (getting both feet down, fumble or no fumble, hit to the head or not, etc.).

Coach Dungy & his cohort (on SNF's pre-game show) agree with the above 100%. Any sane, knowledgeable pro football fan would also wholeheartedly agree with the above. I've been saying for years that the subjective calls of PI and Holding have been ruining and/or influencing MANY NFL games. Of course, if it's your team that's getting boned, it makes it all the more worse. Truth be told, the inconsistency and bad calls (re PI & Holding) happen in pretty much every game.

Wow! That's pretty amazing, especially considering how cold it is there today. Cold normally makes the ball harder, thus, harder to kick a longer distance. But who the hell knows? Maybe they keep the "K" balls in a heated trunk during the game. LOL

I'm pretty amazed that both the Ravens & the Pats pulled out wins. Personally, it didn't look the Ravens WR got both feet down for that game-winning TD.

It has stopped in GB right now, but going like gangbusters in Pittsburgh.

Here in my town in FL, games on local TV are Steelers-Fish and Packers-Falcons. At least at the start of the game, Heinz Field has way, way more empty seats than Lambeau Field. Fair weather Steeler fans are plenty, apparently. LOL And oh btw, Steelers went 3 & out on their first possession.

Guess you missed post #40 from just a few hours ago, where I posted the exact same link that you did above.