NFL Playoffs!!!!

[_random_]

_Random_ obviously this does not apply to you and I hope you don't get mad when you read this. He's a rational, reasonable and cool-headed Bengals fan, and I'm sure plenty of them exist. But the people in the stands for that game? Disgusting.

I watched the game at a friend's place, and sent him this text this afternoon:
So I won't say I can't sympathize with those folks. Beer and emotions will make fools of us all. I would probably try to restrain myself in public, and I wouldn't drink nearly as much with stadium prices, but still, sympathy.

From the get-go, this year felt different. It seemed like the team had finally gotten its stuff together and was ready to be a serious contender. And now for the fifth damn time, that's not happening. And the players are largely to blame. And Lewis, for all his skill, can't get them to calm the hell down. I'd hate to fire a guy who gave us a 12-4 season. But the prospect is tempting. The whole situation is disenheartening. But that's the Ohio professional sports fan life. Go whoever wins the NFC I guess.

 

[schlaufuchs]

He said rapists with an s (plural) so I was afraid of a gang rape by a bunch of Steelers players. NFL players are huge and pumped full of testosterone and god knows what else so I wouldn't put much past them. Especially because the NFL will do anything to keep them out of trouble and they know it and actively take advantage of it.

Because most team names are pluralized. Jets, Panthers, Cardinals, Rapists, Racists, Murderers. It all follows.

 

[Antilogic]

I've never been any kind of Bengals fan, and their stupidity at the end was beyond measure.

That said, I have been and still am a little bit of a Steelers fan, but...that was a typical Steelers game.

A bunch of dirty and almost dirty plays early in the game, because, well, that's what they do. No calls, because, well, that's who they are. They have "the league picks on us" queued up on their jukebox, always, and their owner is among the league's heavy hitters, and they benefit from a lot of non-calls. Then late in the game the Bengals do the same things and get flagged every time, and of course because they're the Bengals their response is "if I'm getting flagged anyway I'll get my money's worth."

Garbage game with garbage results. Ben's thrashed, Antonio Brown is in concussion protocol and actually lucky to be there since that could have been the kill shot the NFL has feared forever, and they still don't have a running back. Denver gets the big break.

The Steelers have a rep that's probably only exceeded by the Raiders. I don't blame the Bengals fans for getting mad at 'em.

I mean, what are they supposed to do? Cheer for the opposing team? Is this Canadian football or something?

 

[Timsup2nothin]

The Steelers have a rep that's probably only exceeded by the Raiders.

Hard to measure. The Raiders, in their day, didn't get the benefit of calls, they were just willing to take the penalty. Third and long? Well, we didn't convert and we can punt on fourth and longer just as well as we can on fourth and long, so I'll kick this guy while I have the chance. That was Raider football. The Steelers just take edgy cheap shots and count on the other team to get called for retaliation more often than they get called themselves.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

So I guessed wrong on guts. Props to Russel Wilson.

 

[Antilogic]

They were saved by a failed chip shot. 27 yard field goal.

 

[Light Cleric]

Man I didn't even get to make the "can't wait to see how Russel Wilson gets credited for this" joke before someone did it seriously

Dude can do no wrong in some people's eyes I guess.

 

[Sommerswerd]

If I was a Minnesota fan I would have thrown up in my mouth at the way this game ended.

If I was a Cincinnati fan yesterday I would have thrown up all over myself at the end of that game.

 

[BirraImperial]

The Seahawks are the luckiest team in the league...


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[Sommerswerd]

God (if you believe in him) made the Steelers win that game because the Bengals were acting nothing short of pathetic, both the Players and the Fans...

The Bengals players were threatening the refs several times and even shoving them, making all sorts of inappropriate gestures and threats. Getting into fights so many times.

And the fans...

From getting rowdy and acting like they're going to knock down the stands to cheering when Ben got injured to booing and throwing things into the stadium after the game ended.

I was rooting for Pittsburgh anyway because the Broncos are my favorite AFC team and I'm not scared of the Steelers. But when the Bengals people were nothing short of absolute jerks, it made the Steeler victory all the sweeter.

_Random_ obviously this does not apply to you and I hope you don't get mad when you read this. He's a rational, reasonable and cool-headed Bengals fan, and I'm sure plenty of them exist. But the people in the stands for that game? Disgusting.

Anyone who has had the distinct and surreal (dis)pleasure to attend a game in Philly can attest to the Philly fans being 10 times worse than anything the Bengals fans did on Saturday and worse... And they are like that during the regular season, they don't save it for the high-stakes, high-pressure playoffs...

Its like the difference between the relative that gets drunk and starts a fight every Thanksgiving (Cinci fans) versus the relative that gets drunk and starts a fight at literally EVERY family get together (Philly).

On another note... The "House of Cards" theme to open the Wash v. GB game... classy

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Man I didn't even get to make the "can't wait to see how Russel Wilson gets credited for this" joke before someone did it seriously

Dude can do no wrong in some people's eyes I guess.

Play that made the game was a play where a lot of quarterbacks would have belly flopped on the ball and called it a miserably cold day. Say what you want, he won the game for them.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Anyone who has had the distinct and surreal (dis)pleasure to attend a game in Philly can attest to the Philly fans being 10 times worse than anything the Bengals fans did on Saturday and worse... And they are like that during the regular season, they don't save it for the high-stakes, high-pressure playoffs...

Its like the difference between the relative that gets drunk and starts a fight every Thanksgiving (Cinci fans) versus the relative that gets drunk and starts a fight at literally EVERY family get together (Philly).

On another note... The "House of Cards" theme to open the Wash v. GB game... classy

Classless fans award goes hands down to Houston, where one time they cheered when their own quarterback got injured.

 

[Light Cleric]

Play that made the game was a play where a lot of quarterbacks would have belly flopped on the ball and called it a miserably cold day. Say what you want, he won the game for them.

Or he could have, you know, handled the snap? It wasn't like it was a full foot to his left. Or maybe he should have helped them not go 3-and-out and just sealed the game instead of needing the other team to miss a 27 yard chip shot?

The hero worship of Wilson is getting to be Peyton Manning level bad. Seahawks are a great team, that defense is ridiculous, and yet this is the second playoff game where Wilson pees the bed for 3 quarters, the defense keeps them in it, and then he gets lauded at the end with no mention of the defense. The praise is meaningless when there's never any criticism.

I know this is a QB-driven league but Jesus Christ, dude manages to salvage a busted play that was partially his own doing and suddenly he "won the game". Give me a break.

 

[Serutan]

Classless fans award goes hands down to Houston, where one time they cheered when their own quarterback got injured.

It's hard to beat when the Philly fans cheered while Micheal Irvin was lying on the field with a possible broken neck.

 

[Martin Alvito]

Anyone who has had the distinct and surreal (dis)pleasure to attend a game in Philly can attest to the Philly fans being 10 times worse than anything the Bengals fans did on Saturday and worse... And they are like that during the regular season, they don't save it for the high-stakes, high-pressure playoffs...

Grew up in Philly during the Vet years, and can confirm that Eagles fans are the worst fans in the US in any given sport. Can't speak to say, the hooligans or the modern ultras of Europe, since I'm not there.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Or he could have, you know, handled the snap? It wasn't like it was a full foot to his left. Or maybe he should have helped them not go 3-and-out and just sealed the game instead of needing the other team to miss a 27 yard chip shot?

The hero worship of Wilson is getting to be Peyton Manning level bad. Seahawks are a great team, that defense is ridiculous, and yet this is the second playoff game where Wilson pees the bed for 3 quarters, the defense keeps them in it, and then he gets lauded at the end with no mention of the defense. The praise is meaningless when there's never any criticism.

I know this is a QB-driven league but Jesus Christ, dude manages to salvage a busted play that was partially his own doing and suddenly he "won the game". Give me a break.

Wahhhh.

Seattle's defense was matched by Minnesota's. Both played great, as expected in a subzero game where defense has the advantage and both teams have great defenses to begin with.

Special teams both had critical botches through the course of the game. Minnesota's will be remembered because it had one at the end of the game.

Both offenses battled solid defenses and horrid conditions all day. At the critical make or break point Wilson converted a bad snap into a huge play, while at the critical make or break point Peterson fumbled the ball.

I'm not worshiping anyone, just acknowledging that he went out into a horrid day and did what had to be done. I said at the start the game would go to whoever gutted it out, and he did.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

It's hard to beat when the Philly fans cheered while Micheal Irvin was lying on the field with a possible broken neck.

I still think cheering when your own player gets injured trumps possible severity of injury.

 

[Light Cleric]

You literally said he won the game so, uh, yeah, that does strike me as hero worship. Kind of like all the praise that was heaped on him when he threw 4 picks in the NFC title game and the defense did a similar thing(against a much better offense in Green Bay, at that).

Really, that argument could literally be applied to any team that has won a game ever; if a team wins 3-0 and their QB threw 6 interceptions and had a 40% completion percentage, their QB, by definition, did what he had to do to win.

I don't know what he could possibly do that makes him open to criticism at this point. As far as I can tell, nothing. Superbowl interception, "look how dumb the coaches are". They lose a bunch early this year, "man the defense isn't playing like it has been the last few years". He catches fire, "SEE HE DOESN'T NEED LYNCH ANYMORE". They manage 13 first downs today and score 10 points against the same team they hung 38 on, he "won the game".

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I repeat...wahhhhh.

No debating the realities I pointed out that the defenses matched up. Since there would be no grounds for such a debate.

No debating that the special teams matched up. Since there would be no grounds for such a debate.

No debating that he made the play that turned the game, since there would be no grounds for such a debate. Just a red herring reference to "under totally different conditions when the Minnesota D was missing four key players they scored a lot more points." I think you are so committed to "he is overrated" that you are blinding yourself to anything he actually does accomplish.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Yeah giving Wilson "won the game" laurels for getting hit in the face with the snap, dropping it, and then picking it up and throwing a complete pass... reminds me of people giving Prez Bush credit for us "not getting hit with a terrorist attack" or "keeping us safe"... Blair Walsh "won the game" for Seattle, not Wilson.

For example, Romo did something similar this season against the Giants to literally win the game with 8 seconds left... and he got no help from a garbage kicker... But the headline in the NYT was "On Verge of Inspiring Win, Giants’ Defense Collapses Against Cowboys"...

Here's the video for comparison:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/nfl/gotta-see-it-romo-drops-snap-throws-game-winning-td/