This game reminds me of watching Purdy in the Super Bowl last year. You could just see it in his eyes that he wasn’t winning that game. Darnold’s had that same look all night.
And this is why Detroit is the gold standard of in-game strategy. They’ve been swinging for knockouts, and they finally got one. Meanwhile, they were still winning by decision.
We’ve got a good old fashioned rock fight going on tonight. Didn’t see it coming, but it will be interesting to see how these teams respond. You’ve got to win at least one in the postseason to get a trophy.
That’s a perfectly sound strategy. Another sound strategy is trying to hit the with a big play when they aren’t expecting it. The play was there. You don’t really account for a DL perfectly timing a jump and knocking down a pass.
For as much flak as Campbell got for his game management in the playoffs, Detroit is probably the best team in the league in terms of consistently good in game decisions.
Darnold ain’t that guy just like Jimmy G wasn’t that guy and neither is Purdy. You still need MFers at QB to win it all. The only recent exception is when Stafford beat Burrow, and that’s because one of them had to win.
Denver has a bunch of guys who can get to the QB. They lead the league in sacks by a wide margin, and they’ve got an elite CB on the back end. I’m not a fan of Payton’s, but he’s got postseason experience as well. They’re no joke.
Not perfect examples, but Jordan famously got into fights with his teammates when he thought that they got uppity with him. https://clutchpoints.com/three-teammates-michael-jordan-walloped-with-a-haymaker
Here’s a good one with Olajuwon.