TheFunPolice

Stafford knee

That might be the first time I've seen a WR miss a throw

Rams runs are wasted plays

Man Rams look done...

Donald is always in the midst of a fight it seems

Bengals are going to win this game. Rams look done. This is where they go into a funk where they can't move the ball

Rams tried to implode vs the Bucs but they are getting it done today

Wow total no-call there

Not a lot of OMG! Plays... Bills Chiefs had like 4 in the final 2 minutes

Bills and Packers or Bills Bucs

Feels like a weird Super Bowl...

Wow the freaking Bengals are going to win it all!

Knee

Love the idea!

Our defense was overrated. I'm not saying they were bad by any means. But we have this idea that some of these guys are a lot better than they really are. There isn't ONE DL on this team that makes a real difference. I like Oliver and Phillips and Rousseau well enough but they are totally interchangeable with any other "NFL lineman whose name gets called once in a while." It's the NFL. Guys make plays sometimes. Doesn't make you special. Our DL is below average at best, IMO, no matter what the stat geeks and excel spreadsheets say. Hyde and Poyer make plays. We all remember Hyde's insane INT vs NE in the playoffs. AWESOME PLAY! Can anyone remember a meaningful play in a big moment by a DL?

Oh the Patriots were so persecuted... Try this though experiment out: Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy go to 9 Super Bowls together, winning 6. Are the Colts "hated" the way NE was? Why is that? No, NE wasn't "hated by the haterZ because they were good." They were a bunch of cheating jerks who acted like heels, took every advantage, got every call, and had ridiculous luck fall into their lap time and time again. And when you thought they lost (Tuck Rule, Baltimore playoff game in NE) they went to page 361 of the rule book and found some obscure ticky tack BS wrinkle to pull out.

Totally spontaneous and unplanned too!

Dak wearing a nice suit but no socks is so ironically symbolic of his career

McD trusted his coordinators too much in the key moments and it bit him, IMO. That defense was NOT a McDermott type defense. I just can't imagine it. That special teams play was also NOT a McDermott type call, I also can't see that. I think he trusted is coordinators to make the calls and it was botched. Hopefully in the future he takes charge in those moments, because it's going to be on him either way.

I look at it this way: EVEN IF Baker plays really well, he is the 3rd best QB in that division behind both Burrow and Jackson. If the Steelers bring in a veteran QB he will be trying not to be the 4th best. Baker can be fine, but he's nothing spectacular. That team bases its offense around the running game, which you don't normally do if you have a top QB. Ravens are an exception, because the QB has a unique skillset.

Also, New England skewed peoples' ideas about Super Bowls. Even GREAT players, all-time HOF players, are BLESSED beyond belief to win 1 or 2 rings in a 15 year career. Many win 0 or only get 1 SB shot, if any at all. Because of what NE did, going to 9 Super Bowls with Brady, people look at someone like Peyton Manning who went to 4 Super Bowls, 2 with each team he played for, and won 2, 1 with each team he played for, as some sort of "letdown" who couldn't win the big games. People STILL say that stuff: Peyton was great, but couldn't win the big games... Yeah, he has 2 SB rings and played in 4, BUT.... As we are seeing, it is REALLY hard to even GET to 1 Super Bowl, let alone WIN 1. If by the end of Josh Allen's career he has Big Ben's career: 3 SB appearances and 2 wins, that is an all-time HOF level career.

I just did a little self-check and I'm still as mad as I was when it happened. The BENGALS are in the Super Bowl... THE BENGALS! We're getting to the place with McDermott where it's time to get the team to the next level. I think he will. Some players might need to be let go if they can't deal with doing what it takes to win, and that's fine. We also REALLY missed Tre White in that game. He'll be back and that will be huge.

Donald and company showed vs Tampa what they can do when the OL is not up to speed. They even had some success against SF's OL, which is one of the best. The more I think about it, the more I see a beatdown coming. Donald and Miller are going to eat!

To me, it seems like there was some kind of tension on the team this year. Could be the COVID/vaccine stuff, pressure to win, or just people getting tired of each other. McKenzie's show in the restaurant that was posted on YouTube after the season ended seemed odd to me as well. When made the comment "oh, with that defense, that's how" referring to how the Chiefs went down and scored I took it as a window into some sort of mixup going on. Also when he basically said there was no explanation of what happened and you just do whatever coach (McD) says and that's it it also struck me as odd. There could definitely be something to all this, but maybe McDermott is just demanding and wants everyone dialed in and some people don't like it, thinking they have "earned" a bit more leeway. If I'm McDermott I remind them they haven't won squat or earned a damn thing yet. When Tom Brady acts like nobody believes in him and he needs to earn his spot on the field after 7 Super Bowl wins maybe McD doesn't want to hear or sense that anyone feels like they have arrived just because the team made the playoffs.

that drives me nuts too. There's basically a flag on every punt return these days. It totally ruins the play. 90% of the time if there is a runback of nay significance it's cancelled out by a penalty and now you're at your own 10 yard line instead. Kills 1/3 of the game.