Koufax

It is not over, and I sure hope the team is not going to quit. We need help from two of KC/Jets/Pitt all of whom have a good shot at getting to 10 wins. I don't think KC loses out, and am not putting much hopes in this, but I am sure rooting against them against the Ravens on Sunday, and know that the Ravens have a shot. I don't think the Steelers lose two of three after upsetting the Bengals, but with a game the Broncos really need on Sunday, there is a decent chance a week from today we are hoping the Steelers lose one of two. I DO think the Jets lose the the resurgent Patriots, which is what we need from them. They could also lose to the Cowboys in Dallas and I am rooting for that, but it isn't likely or necessary. Beat the Redskins, root for the Broncos, Patriots, and Cowboys this weekend. Thinks like this happen in football, and I don't want our 6-7 do be what dictates our approach or effort or faith in game 14. And if we can somehow 9-7 our way in, we could have one of the following matchups: a Dalton-less Bengals team a Manning-less Broncos team a Luck-less Colts team Face one of those on an emotional three game winning streak and playoff high, and there is a decent chance you get to play another game the following week (unfortunately most likely in Foxboro). Edit: also root for the Packers over the Raiders, because even though they finish with the Chiefs, the Raiders winning out could spoil our 9-7 hopes even of the other things break our way

Super disappointed with the outcome. Very disappointed with the overall performance of the defense, and the inability of Rex to get the most out of them in his scheme. There of course should be some adjustment period on both player and coach, but since it was such a strength under Schwartz, this has been a big disappointment that Rex couldn't make more seamless adjustments. I don't think Rex forgot how to coach, and I don't think our players forgot how to be talented (although the Kyle and Aaron injuries are very disruptive ones). This needed to be done better this year since we weren't in a new coach rebuild, and we have paid the price for it being botched. Medium disappointed with the offense. Tyrod is in year 1, and he needs to be a more complex passer capable of reading the defense and not just being a deep ball or scramble guy (although those are really key weapons too). Roman/Tyrod have to get the ball to Sammy more as the broken record continues to say. No, I don't think Rex was a bad hire (our HC walked out on us for contractual/situational reasons, and I think Rex was as good a fit for this team as there was, although Schwartz could have made for a smoother transition, I don't think he is as good a head coach, and a better DC). I don't wish Rex is gone next year for a void. I am withholding judgment on Roman right now, but have some doubts. I expect better from this team and this coaching staff. I think I would like tweaks to each, and it is not time to blow it up. And by the way, our job now is to beat the Redskins. We still have paths to the playoffs with help, and have to keep playing for that goal.

Yep. We need to beat the Eagles. Nothing else matters. Sure I will be rooting against certain other teams in certain other games, but we have to take care of Sunday and are not yet to complicated scenarios beyond winning. I think we are a 10-6 team at our core, and anything better than that would be overachieving and less than that would be disappointing. 10-6 teams usually make the playoffs, 11-5 almost always, 9-7 rarely. There are still four weeks left, and so many variables, and very possible situations where we miss the playoffs at 10-6 and where we make the playoffs at 9-7. But losing to the Eagles would put us into magic miracle mode, while beating them has us in looking really good mode. So I suggest we just beat Philly and take it from there. But just for kicks, if we lose to the Eagles and then win out to 9-7, the only help we need to get in is Jets losing to Patriots, and Steelers losing to Bengals and Broncos (all three games the most likely outcome), then three teams at 9-7 and we pass. So while this week is awesomely important, it isn't even yet a season decider. #WeAreOnToPhiladelphia

I am not sure who those teams you are talking about are, but we only play the Eagles this week. So we can only beat or lose to the Eagles this week. I am sure the NFL will probably schedule a game for the Bills for the following week, and may have already done so, but right now the only game that exists is against an up and down Eagles team in their stadium after they just beat the Patriots and are fighting for their division. I would like for us to do everything to win that game. #WeAreOnToPhiladelphia

Yep. His relevance was based on playing him and includes that miss today. 9 missed extra points today, so isn't just on Carp, but I would have Novak over Carp if I could. Hoping he can get his head back on straight and his kicks back straight, because we will have some kicker difference moments in our final four games.

5) Mario is coming off a foot injury. Might be a cap casualty down the stretch, but still is a big presence who I think can help us a lot down the stretch. 8) Not "technically" alive. Really truly alive. "Technically" alive will be if we were to lose in Philly and have to come up with creative ways to get in at 9-7. Getting in at 10-6 is a straight shot. Even if the Jets win all but our game including beating the Patriots, they would miss out to us at 10-6. Steelers have a very tough road to 10-6. We lose most tie breakers scenarios with them, so tonight, Go Colts! 16) Carpenter has been brutal. I thought we should have picked up Novak a long time ago when the Chargers cut him. But I don't know that we can beat Carp in the waiver wire, so we might have to just cross our fingers and hope the worst is behind us. 17) #WeAreOnToPhiladelphia

But he did once complete two out of three passes to set up a playoff winning field goal before special teams messed it up. Sort of a 20th century version of Austin Davis's Monday night!

Second most important stat. Most important is WINS, and I look forward to running the table and getting to double digits for the first time this season. As I have said in other threads, Ryan hasn't been at his best, and some of the decisions are questionable, and some of the growing pains of a new scheme have been hard, and injuries to three Williams boys have complicated things further. I actually really like Schwartz as DC and as HC, but I don't think Ryan is inferior at either. He has to do better than he has, and I expect he will.

#WeAreOnToHouston Losing Schwartz was no fun, and being in year 1 of a new coach and scheme is no fun, and the ongoing injuries are no fun. But Ryan is better than Marrone, and Schwartz had a healthy Aaron Williams, Mario Williams, Kyle Williams throughout the year to make things happen. Our team has to play better and be coached better, and while we should always be trying to upgrade any part of our roster we can, I think we have the coaches and players to be a contender and evolve into a champion. That will also end up involving a little less Dareus in coverage and a little more targeting Sammy, so I expect improvements by our current coaches before we can reach our potential.

No chance they can win five or three games in a row this weekend. And any team trying to is going to get beat, which is why the "win out" and "this is our first playoff game" stuff shouldn't go anywhere. What they can do is win Sunday. Of our final six games, @Chiefs was the hardest. If we were going to go 5-1 over those and not 6-0, that was the game we were most likely to lose. Doesn't mean we should have and doesn't mean it sits well. But what they can do is win a winnable game against a very hot but very average Houston team that has a four game winning streak, but doesn't really deserve a five game winning streak. Getting ahead of ourselves to beating the 4-7 Eagles backup QB after they have just been blown out by Tampa and Detroit is worrying too far ahead. Thinking about beating the 5-6 Redskins and hoping they play like the team Miami and the Jets and the Falcons all beat is way too far ahead. Preparing to take on the now 3-8 soon to be 3-11 Matt Cassel led Cowboys is really not the thing to prepare for this week. And thinking of feasting on the Jets at home with the season on the line to make the playoffs would be a silly approach this week. They have one thing to do and one thing only. Prepare to score more points than the Texans and find a way to make them look like the 2-5 team that Miami put up 44 against one month ago and leave the Ralph with their heads bowed and burst their bubble of a win streak. If we can't beat the Texans in our place with the season on the line, then we don't really have much reason to think about those other four games and the playoffs. They have a very good and hot defense lead by a very good player. But their offense is suspect and Rex can and will pressure Hoyer. Let's find a way to get to 6-6 before worrying about why that is actually going to be a pretty good place to be. #WeAreOnToHouston

Agreeing strongly with the frustration and some of the specifics being mentioned here. They shifted safety help on Sammy in the second half, which cut down on the deep ball window. But in that situation Roman needs to call more intermediate routes where Sammy is the first option. I know with the safety help deep the corner was playing a little closer, but on the intermediate routes it doesn't matter as much, and we can rely on Sammy's route running and battle for the catch, and less on Tyrod threading a needle. They didn't do that, and as a result the second half was a disaster and Sammy wasn't a factor.

KC and Buf as the wild cards. http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/machine Five loss Jets get sixth loss against us. Would have to beat Pats and Giants to get to 10-6 and then lose head to head with us. Five loss Steelers have Colts, Bengals, Broncos. If they lose any two or lose to the Broncos we win the tie breaker. Five loss Texans get sixth loss against us, lose to Colts or leapfrog them for division and we win tie breaker against Colts There are a couple scenarios where we could be eliminated by the Steelers at 10-6, but involves very specific combinations of things. And even though there are a couple 9-7 paths, that isn't something I want to attach any hopes to, so right now we have to get to 6-6 on Sunday no matter what. #WeAreOnToHouston

Both plays were obvious on replay, probably not obvious on a sideline view. I can't blame Rex for not challenging those two, but whoever looked at them in the booth and didn't tell him to challenge probably shouldn't have that responsibility next week. Woods also has to relax the "hell yes I caught it" act which I expect influenced Rex's decision. But maybe Hogan can dial his act up a little. Rex as HC is in charge of deciding who is in the booth reviewing, how they pass information to him, and what he decides to do based on that information. Twice that failed the Bills, and if the same guy said "challenge it! Woods caught it!" rather than that being Rex reacting to a player, then it is three.

This loss wipes out any chance of going 11-5, but was the hardest game left on our schedule, and the most likely for us to lose if we were going to go 10-6. 10-6 gets us in to the playoffs. It is actually more likely that we make the playoffs at 9-7 then we miss them at 10-6, with a number of plausible paths to the former, but some pretty creative configurations needed for the latter. But the issue is unless we win our sixth game, we could also go 5-11 or 7-9uaron. New England wouldn't have lost this game, New England wouldn't be 5-6, but you know if it happened, their evening of being pissed would be over, and starting right now it would be "we are on to Houston". So I'm cool if they want to fire/demote/reassign whoever was responsible for challenges. I'm fine if Rex gives Roman and Taylor an ultimatum of targeting Sammy every half and not just running deep sideline routes into safety help. But things will start to seem more reasonable and doable if we can find our way to 6-6 and look at the last quarter of our schedule and the chances that we go on winning streak. So above all #WeAreOnToHouston.

This one is tough to swallow, but the season is alive and we have to find a way to beat the Texans and get to 6-6. 1) Rex is taking a lot of heat, but someone else is to blame for the challenges, and Roman/Tyrod are responsible for not getting Sammy the ball in the second half. I still think Rex is an excellent coach, and I'm not as down on him after this one as some are. 2) Their OL was hurting as much as our DL, so I would have liked to see better pressure and creativity. Smith is a good runner and smart, but I think creativity could have gotten some pressure on him. 3) Going for two early was worse than the missed extra point. We will never know, but being down 7 instead of 8 could have been a big difference. 4) Back to Sammy, the first blame is on Roman. There were so many deep sideline routes even after he got the safety help. Call a play where Tyrod can target him without throwing deep into double coverage. Second blame is on Tyrod. Understand the game, and find a way to get to him on the progression at least a few more times even with the bad play calling. Third is on Rex. Don't let Roman exist in a vacuum. After a no catch third quarter, go over to him and say "Greg, call some plays to get the ball to Sammy". 5) Hard to play without four different Williams. I'm glad we didn't have a fifth Williams today to be unavailable. Did I mention shaking this off, beating the Texans, and getting to 6-6? 10-6 is a long way away, but we have a winnable home game leading into a weaker three game stretch before the Jets at home. Need to get to 6-6 first, but a lot of good things can happen. At 9-7 we would need a miracle, but 10-6 will get us in with the remaining schedules for the other contenders. Today was a key game and a tough one to lose, but not a playoff game. NEXT Sunday is the first of five playoff games. And hit the playoffs at 10-6 and a five game winning streak would certainly be a good place to be. But the Texans and their four game winning streak is going to be a challenge and we have to be up for it.

Too early to try for 2 anyway. Kick it.

Coaching was horrible today. Rex has to answer for the people upstairs who had him 0-for-3 on the plays to challenge. Rex has to answer for Roman/Tyrod refusing to throw to Sammy in the second half, including on the game on the line drive. I don't blame Rex for the defense as their OL injuries and our DL injuries balanced out to a tough scheme with a mobile QB, but I sure do blame Rex for being where the buck stops on both of the inexcusable issues other coaches were responsible for.

No, but I will shake this off and root for 6-6 against the Texans.

Can't sugar coat this one. Pure coaching garbage. Blaming Roman and the guys upstairs even more than Rex, but those are guys that answer to Rex and he is responsible for.

Challenge the spot is all you can do right?

Postgame: "Had a good half, but golly...we have to try to find a way to get Sammy the ball..." And now 0 for 3 in challenge opportunities....JOKE!!!! And now we waste a timeout that we could have "lost" in the challenge if it weren't somehow given to us.

Or the decision to go for 2 last time instead of kicking it. We would be down 7 now which is how football works.

Also, please remember when Rex went for two way to soon. I'm still a Rex fan, and have more questions for Roman overall, but that was too early for math and time to just take the point.

Any chance the Colts can sign Kelvin Sheppard and trade him back to us? I would really appreciate some better football to be played right about now.

Thanks Jerry! That was great for our season!