2021 NFL Playoff Predictions..........

[Motown Bombers]

On a squib kick, does the clock start as soon as the returner touches the ball? Why wouldn't a returner just waive for a fair catch? Or whoever returned it just kneel? I guess at that point even kneeling and taking a second or two is huge. 

[Motor City Sonics]

1 minute ago, Motown Bombers said:

On a squib kick, does the clock start as soon as the returner touches the ball? Why wouldn't a returner just waive for a fair catch? Or whoever returned it just kneel? I guess at that point even kneeling and taking a second or two is huge. 

Because on a squib kick the kicking team can recover the ball after 10 yards (someone tell the Falcons that and in order to make a fair catch you have to catch it on the fly, don't you?  

[sagnam]

I really hate the Chiefs.  Of course the Bills shit the bed.  I didn't watch the game and didn't realize that the Bills didn't squib kick with 13 seconds left until this thread.  That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

[Motor City Sonics]

The Bills-Chiefs reminded me of the first night game at Michigan Stadium vs. Notre Dame.    

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Over the next decade how many Super Bowls will Patrick Mahomes appear in and how many will he win?

Assuming his body holds up I'll say he'll appear in at least 5-6 and will 3-4 of them.

Edited January 24, 2022 by Mr.TaterSalad

[sagnam]

The clock starts as soon as someone touches it.  You can't fair catch a ball that touches the ground.  You can give yourself up and they will call the play dead, but someone would have to fall on the ball cleanly and even then there would certainly be a couple seconds ran off.  If the player has a brain fart and runs at all or hesitates then that's even more time.  With only 13 seconds left only a moron kicks it out of the endzone.  Would you rather even 1 second gone by with the ball in Mahomes' hands or some shitty special teamer?

[Motor City Sonics]

[MichiganCardinal]

17 minutes ago, sagnam said:

The clock starts as soon as someone touches it.  You can't fair catch a ball that touches the ground.  You can give yourself up and they will call the play dead, but someone would have to fall on the ball cleanly and even then there would certainly be a couple seconds ran off.  If the player has a brain fart and runs at all or hesitates then that's even more time.  With only 13 seconds left only a moron kicks it out of the endzone.  Would you rather even 1 second gone by with the ball in Mahomes' hands or some shitty special teamer?

You can fair catch a squib while it’s in the air, it’s just not technically a fair catch after it bounces.

NFL Rule 10 Section 2 Article 3: (a) If a player of the receiving team makes a valid fair-catch signal, and the ball is not touched by a player of the kicking team, the following apply: (2) If he recovers the ball after it strikes the ground, it is dead immediately, but it is not a fair catch.

It would accomplish the goal (not having time come off the clock), but you have to be sure-handed because the defense can pop you, you don’t have fair catch protections on the bounce.

 

[sagnam]

25 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

You can fair catch a squib while it’s in the air, it’s just not technically a fair catch after it bounces.

NFL Rule 10 Section 2 Article 3: (a) If a player of the receiving team makes a valid fair-catch signal, and the ball is not touched by a player of the kicking team, the following apply: (2) If he recovers the ball after it strikes the ground, it is dead immediately, but it is not a fair catch.

It would accomplish the goal (not having time come off the clock), but you have to be sure-handed because the defense can pop you, you don’t have fair catch protections on the bounce.

 

That's to cover the case where he muffs the kick so they don't try to advance the ball.  I don't think you can even know who the squib is going to go to for them to signal a fair catch in the short amount of time the ball is in the air.

[NYLion]

6 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I won't disagree with most of this, but the 2021 Lions celebrating their wins is not something to be ashamed of. It's not like they were popping champagne, they were excited for their first (and only) wins as a team. The majority of those guys won't even be on the team in two years.

No it's not and I'm ok with this season as a whole considering expectations but it just gets magnified how sad it is that we're considering a 3 win season somewhat of a success when the franchise QB they failed for 12 seasons goes to the NFC Championship in his 1st season away from this toxic place. I'm happy for Stafford but it's just more pain for Lions fans.

[NYLion]

6 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

Equally bad are all the shitty Lions fans who wanted to replace him because he didn't beat good teams or win playoff games. 

Most of us said that Stafford wasn't the problem here and will start winning important games the moment he leaves this franchise. There were only a few posters who put most of the blame on him for the lack of team success. Stafford was the only thing keeping the last decade from being possibly worse than the Millen era.

Edited January 24, 2022 by NYLion

[MichiganCardinal]

An OT rule change I heard on 97.1 this morning that I don’t hate is just making OT the practical 5th quarter. Whoever has the ball to end the 4th quarter keeps it and you flip the field like you would between the 1st and 2nd or 3rd and 4th. Make it more of a quarter change than a halftime. No more coin flip.

[RedRamage]

16 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

Stafford on pace for over 450 yards and 4 TDs. Something, something, playoff games. 

Obviously Stafford couldn't win in Detroit because he wasn't very good. The only reason he's winning in LA is because they have a good team around him. 😉

[RedRamage]

1 hour ago, MichiganCardinal said:

An OT rule change I heard on 97.1 this morning that I don’t hate is just making OT the practical 5th quarter. Whoever has the ball to end the 4th quarter keeps it and you flip the field like you would between the 1st and 2nd or 3rd and 4th. Make it more of a quarter change than a halftime. No more coin flip.

Hmm... that could be interesting.  It might really change how teams handled the end of the 4th quarter.  I'm not sure I like as I do love the drama of the final minutes of a game and we might lose some of that.  What I mean is if the game is tied with only like a minute left the team with the ball wouldn't have any urgency to rush down for a FG try.

I get that it kinda stinks that there's sudden death in overtime on a TD, but it's also supposed to be hard to score a TD, right?  I'm not as against a sudden death on TD as I was sudden death on a FG.

Really I wouldn't mind seeing a full 5th quarter played in the playoffs.  If after 5 qtrs it's still tied than go to "normal" OT rules in the 6th qtr to make sure the game doesn't go on forever.

(On a side note: I still advocate that the rule in OT should be the first team to be head by more than 4pts wins.)

[RedRamage]

15 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

With the technology we have today, it seems like they could put a GPS chip in every football to eliminate these issues. 

GPS isn't that accurate... you wouldn't be able to know that precisely where the ball is.  However, other technologies could surely be used to get very accurate.  The problem though wouldn't be knowing where the ball was, but knowing where the ball was when it mattered.

For example, take a guy that's being tackled from behind and falls forward and reached out with the ball to try and cross the first down line.  When all is said and done the ball is across the line, but where was the ball when his knees touched the ground?  It would be pretty hard to be able to get that exact moment on a camera, know the exact split second on the clock, then check that against the position recorded at that exact split second by the computer.

This could work for things like forward progress or know if the ball actually cross the goal line (but again you wouldn't know if the runner was down or not before that).

[RedRamage]

15 hours ago, TP_Fan said:

I really just want to see stafford lose.  

Part of me wanted to see the Rams lose for the better draft pick.  But at this point I'm not sure if it's really matters that much.  The pick will be at best 28 and at worst 32, right?  I think at this point I'm just gonna root for Stafford.  If he makes the SB then I'm definitely rooting for the Rams.  31 vs. 32 is a pretty small difference.

[TP_Fan]

10 hours ago, NYLion said:

No it's not and I'm ok with this season as a whole considering expectations but it just gets magnified how sad it is that we're considering a 3 win season somewhat of a success when the franchise QB they failed for 12 seasons goes to the NFC Championship in his 1st season away from this toxic place. I'm happy for Stafford but it's just more pain for Lions fans.

Toxic is the wrong choice of words.  The lions have always gotten high marks as a place to work, minus Patricia.  But for the last 60 years the work environment hasn’t been toxic. It’s been bad football, but that’s different. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

59 minutes ago, TP_Fan said:

Toxic is the wrong choice of words.  The lions have always gotten high marks as a place to work, minus Patricia.  But for the last 60 years the work environment hasn’t been toxic. It’s been bad football, but that’s different. 

Matt Millen called Johnny Morton a fa**ot, that sounds like someone who created a toxic work culture to me.

[Motor City Sonics]

17 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Matt Millen called Johnny Morton a fa**ot, that sounds like someone who created a toxic work culture to me.

I don't know.  An ex-player calling a current player a name - while it's ridiculous for a guy who is supposed to be an executive even getting in a verbal row with a player, I think by toxic it means a place where it is a bad place to work, a place ruled by intimidation, fear, humiliation and threats.   Think: Washington Football team (stadium dumps raw sewage on fans, so even that is toxic).  That team is a never-ending lawsuit.    The Lions don't operate that way and in fact have a reputation as being a very respectful place to work.   As much as I dislike Millen, I don't think he was talking that way to office personnel.   We'd have heard it by now.  

[Motor City Sonics]

Just now, Motor City Sonics said:

I don't know.  An ex-player calling a current player a name - while it's ridiculous for a guy who is supposed to be an executive even getting in a verbal row with a player, I think by toxic it means a place where it is a bad place to work, a place ruled by intimidation, fear, humiliation and threats.   Think: Washington Football team (stadium dumps raw sewage on fans, so even that is toxic).  That team is a never-ending lawsuit.    The Lions don't operate that way and in fact have a reputation as being a very respectful place to work.   As much as I dislike Millen, I don't think he was talking that way to office personnel.   We'd have heard it by now.  

The Lions are more clueless than toxic.    They hire the wrong people and don't recognize their mistakes fast enough. 

If you really want to get narrow about it, just look at their 2nd round picks through the years.  That seems to be their biggest flaw.  

[MichiganCardinal]

2 hours ago, RedRamage said:

Really I wouldn't mind seeing a full 5th quarter played in the playoffs.  If after 5 qtrs it's still tied than go to "normal" OT rules in the 6th qtr to make sure the game doesn't go on forever.

I could get behind this also. Probably not a full 15 minutes for the “5th quarter”, but 10 could do before going to sudden death.

10-20 years ago, I could agree with the “just play defense” argument in support of the current OT rule. With the evolving nature of the sport though, that’s just so much easier said than done, especially after a 60-minute game. These aren’t our grandfather’s “3 yards and a cloud of dust” Steelers/Ravens 13-9 barnburners anymore. With guys like Allen and Mahomes, the NFL is moving rapidly towards high-octane pass-first offenses led by some of the best athletes on Earth, who can put up 80-some combined points.

I won’t be convinced that Josh Allen wouldn’t have done the same thing Mahomes did in OT had he won the toss. I don’t think it takes away from what the Chiefs did, but I think it’s a shame to see the Bills year end that way.

[lordstanley]

4 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

An OT rule change I heard on 97.1 this morning that I don’t hate is just making OT the practical 5th quarter. Whoever has the ball to end the 4th quarter keeps it and you flip the field like you would between the 1st and 2nd or 3rd and 4th. Make it more of a quarter change than a halftime. No more coin flip.

I’d send to them the lockerrooms for a 15 minute break before OT, like they do during hockey playoff games. 

[Motown Bombers]

 

[RedRamage]

38 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I could get behind this also. Probably not a full 15 minutes for the “5th quarter”, but 10 could do before going to sudden death.

10-20 years ago, I could agree with the “just play defense” argument in support of the current OT rule. With the evolving nature of the sport though, that’s just so much easier said than done, especially after a 60-minute game. These aren’t our grandfather’s “3 yards and a cloud of dust” Steelers/Ravens 13-9 barnburners anymore. With guys like Allen and Mahomes, the NFL is moving rapidly towards high-octane pass-first offenses led by some of the best athletes on Earth, who can put up 80-some combined points.

I won’t be convinced that Josh Allen wouldn’t have done the same thing Mahomes did in OT had he won the toss. I don’t think it takes away from what the Chiefs did, but I think it’s a shame to see the Bills year end that way.

100% agreed on everything, except the 10 minute thing.  I wouldn't be opposed to it necessarily, but I worry that 10 minutes could get used up by a team that is good at ball control.  Again, I wouldn't fight too hard on that cause then you could always bring up: Play better defense... if they are doing a 7, 8 or 9 minute drive they're not getting some lucky shots here or there for big chunks, but methodically moving the chains... you had amble chances to stop 'em.  But I'd rather see 15 minutes.

[buddha]

i think overtime is fine the way it is now.