familykwi

Apparently the officials do not know the rules either. I referee football myself and know how progress works. That is an unbelievable call.

It would be nice if Romo knew the rules of the game he used to play.

Correct.

Although the RB may have crossed the line, HE pulls the ball back, therefore his progress is eliminated. The line to gain is not a goal line. You only get progress if the defense pulls you back, not if YOU pull the ball back to your chest to protect it. The referee closest has the best spot

TT plays not to make mistakes (despite throwing a screen 8 yards deep to a guy surrounded by blue jerseys) in order to eek out as many paychecks as he can before coaches stop putting him on the field just because he's an athlete.

If his performance is that poor, they should consider a replacement that has a chance of doing more. He may have been brought in to be the return guy, but if he's not getting the job done... More importantly are his situational choices. Late in a game, with little time he not only fails to get the ball to the 25, he uses up precious seconds additionally. It always irritates me when I, the lay person on my couch, NOT getting paid as a professional has more sense than players on the field.

How many times is she going to say Taylor's name is McCoy?

I'm mostly glad you at least gave an explanation other than blind faith, or to simply say it worked, so it was right. They had executed the punts well up to that point, so that was the weakest of my points to be sure. A bad snap there though and the colts are likely in Bills territory to start a drive. Personally, I think the Colts choice to throw the ball was also pretty dumb, especially given the outcome of the last drive and having two time outs and no need to score a TD. Like I said, I really hope McDermott works out. Truth be told I was more excited about his hiring than Marv Levy back in the day and that worked out better than I expected, so I'll reserve judgement. The thing that worries me is what I fell is arrogance in his decision making. I'm not in the locker room, so I don't know exactly how committed these players are to him. If they are all in, then great and if you make a questionable call, they have your back. If not, those decisions are going to become more and more difficult to defend until you've lost the room. Just sayin'

Saying it was the right call does not make it so. Can you justify your position other than to say "it worked since we won"? I can justify why this was a poor choice: 1) Field conditions make punting risky 2) Last Indy offensive possession demonstrated our defense was tiring 3) We will execute a short punt to pin them inside the 10. IF they punt, they will get a full kick thus giving us a longer field with less time. 4) If he believes his team will win, he believes they can earn one yard, not put them on a field needing probably 30, or more to even get into field goal range. If McD expects his players to trust the process, that requires him to trust in them too. Any success we have will not be solely his doing. He needs to create a culture where he puts faith in his men and shows that he expects them to convert in situations like that. Today I found that punt choice rather arrogant on his part. Instead of letting them win, it highlights HIS choice (good, or bad). The risk of losing the team by almost literally punting away the season, is not undone by a miracle catch by Thompson and a great finishing run by McCoy. There is NO WAY McDermott had those plays in the back of his mind when he chose to punt. I'm not saying he cannot make this team successful, but he needs to be careful not to sabotage himself by trying to prove how smart he is.

If McDermott believes in his guys, how can he not believe in them to get 1 yard? Although they won, his decision made the task harder, not easier. Please don't point to the result as a justification of the decision. At least explain why you felt the punt was a good idea AT THE TIME if you are going to insist it was the right call.

I hope someone in the press conference calls out McD on the punt choice regardless of the outcome of this game

Wow! The Colts want us to win apparently. Two clock stoppages.

Not just as long as the injured player is out. The time out, PLUS the punishment. Westwood One radio thinks his opinion matters since he was responding to Jim Gray's question. I was surprised by that response. Because you know Gronk is a good player does not mean Tre White deserves any less respect.

I don't believe Happy Meals are a part of the breakfast menu. Sigh

It's important to avoid STUPID penalties (like Gronk's). Having your teammate's back is not a stupid penalty especially given the game situation. The outcome was not in doubt, so taking a 15 yard penalty to establish the unity of your team would not detract from a chance to win. I'm not saying anyone had to come in and start a Crabtree type brawl, but a shove and making it clear that he cannot do that to one of ours would deliver a far better message.

That outcome is pure fantasy, but that would be OUTSTANDING! The union has to appeal as it is what they are designed to do, but that is one of the problems with the legal system. Sometimes it would be nice to have the guilty party say, "my bad, I deserve it." Of course, Gronk's "apology" was a joke. If you're sorry, say so and end the statement. If you feel the need to add reasons and excuses, then your apology is not accepted as sincere. JMHO

Did we believe this year would be a bust before or after the Watkins trade? I did not start seeing so much negative expectation until that deal was made. If the candy boys (M&M) had taken time to evaluate and WORK with what we have then used the coming off season to fill holes I think they would not be facing the DIStrust of the process they are facing now.

There is more than one factor in the Tyrod benching, and if this has not crossed the minds of M&M, it has crossed mine. I think the purge of Watkins and Darby at the beginning of the season is a result of them observing Tyrod and not liking what they saw. Because they had Shady and others who still want to win, they claimed they are not mailing it in, and our defense supported that point of view. Unfortunately, Dennison has exposed himself as a system coordinator, not a teacher of offense, so he and Tyrod do not fit together. Tyrod's benching makes it clear they will not depart from Dennison and they believe in his system. I'm sure M & M believe Peterman will better fit Dennison's offense, so I think watching Peterman will be fascinating. It may blow up, it may work OK. IF they stuck with Tyrod and this team found a way to make the playoffs, they may still have brought in another QB, but they would have been criticized then instead of now. M & M has decided to rip the bandaid off now and get ready to fix the problem now instead of later. Doing so now leads to questions regarding M & M knowing what they are doing, so they betting start showing improvement next year and be in the playoffs no later than two years from now. Good luck fellas.

My concern is the step in and blow it up philosophy of management. Often, when a person takes over as manager, they assess, get a feel for the culture, make decision about what to keep and what to change and decide the best way to bring their philosophy into the culture that exists. Now the NFL may have less patience in allowing management to build a program, but blowing it all up so soon may prolong the building process because you leave yourself little to no foundation to build upon. Making the playoffs this year will be a relief, but unless this turns into some magical finale of a season, I'm reserving my judgement on McBeane/McDermott until they've had a couple of drafts. If this team makes the playoffs, it will not be solely due to one McDermott draft with the Benjamin, Matthews and Gaines acquisitions. Most of this roster was assembled by Whaley, so success this year is still a product of his labor. If we do not show incremental improvement over the next 3 years, then this hire is not much different than the last 17 years. The barrage of news out of OBD is interesting and entertaining for sure. I'm not yet ready to blindly trust the process until it yields sustainable success though.

Are there stats supporting the "Dennison system has been successful," comment? His last couple of stays as OC, his offenses were no better than bottom half of the league. Good coaches put their players in the best position to use THEIR strengths, not put square pegs in round holes. Coaches coach players, not systems on paper.

Many of these players were already a part of the losing culture here. The trick will be insulating the new players with promise from those destined to be gone at season's end.

Good drafts over the next 2-3 years along with smart spending.

Back to point... The NFL is in LA for advertising dollars in the 2nd largest market. Selling seats helps the optics and the trendsetters in LA will absolutely want to say they were there for the opening of the new shiny stadium. I suspect even the Chargers will sell out early on. San Diego will not have the Chargers back so long as Spanos owns the team. The stadium is not long from demolition, there is no replacement and the city will not even try to work with the Spanos family. If he sells they may come back. If he keeps the team, he's stuck in LA because he could never afford another relocation fee.

Truthfully, with the line play the way it is, I'm not sure starting Peterman is good for his health, nor his development. And for the record, any athlete would say they block out the boos, or in this case the cheers for his replacement. Standard cliche.

Marcel is not the reason we look bad in all 3 stages of the game. This culture has to change and Marcel has been selfish since he came here. I don't miss him at all. Talented, but not a guy I ever trusted. LOVE the Benjamin trade though. I'll take him over Watkins every day and twice every Sunday. I just hope he gets a QB that can make throws before he decides to leave. What I don't understand is why our offense comes out with an uncharacteristic timing throw to Benjamin, a nice run by Shady, a designed run by Taylor all to great success, then after two missed attempts to Benjamin in the end zone, devolves to the same old boring offense. Why not keep the pedal to the medal? Defensively, it looks like our secondary is standing in zones as receivers just run to the openings instead of shadowing receivers through the zones to give the DL a chance to put pressure on the QB. We're still the six seed. That's tenuous for sure, but we still control our own fate. I still think the LAC, Ind, and both Miami games are very winnable. Very losable the way we've played the last two weeks, but I'm now going to examine how this team adjusts to this adversity. Firing Beane is WAY too premature now.