Sunday, February 2, 2014

By The Pigskin Of Our Teeth: Side Out


What's up with describing Brandi Carlile as a "Local recording artist" like they plucked her off the street or something? That's a terrible punt.  That hit's late. Also it caught Harvin in the helmet and we won't see him again until 2016. Seriously, when did Mark Ingram stop sucking? Damn it, Graham, you couldn't have done that last week?




Wilson got rid of it too fast. Hauschka sneaked that one through. Fumble? Fumble! There'll be no overturning that. Touchdown! And Lynch doesn't care who's trying to bear down on him. That looks like a good burger. Where do I get that? So are the Seahawks covering Graham with a tank or something? Who is Josh Hill and why is he being targeted? The left tackle did a good job of protecting Brees there despite the incompletion. That's more like it.


I think all that hit to Harvin did was piss him off. We're seeing a lot more of Robinson since Ingram's fumble. Good play by Wagner to knock that 4th down pass down. Did Brees not see him? Seriously, Lynch is all, "Y'all remember me, right?" That's a dangerous lob — WHOA! Nice catch by Harvin, who's the smallest guy out here. Not a good red zone sequence for the Seahawks. This is the longest kickoff setup ever. The Seahawks haven't changed their game at all. This is two weeks in a row where Brees hasn't played well in the first half. Bradshaw thinks it's the gloves? That's the best pass Brees has thrown all day. Running on 3rd and 9? Okay. That replay they just showed — that should be a fumble. Seahawks should have challenged.


I guess that's why Josh Hill is being targeted. Touchdown Saints, though it took some grinding at the end there.Amazingly this is a one-score game despite how thoroughly dominant the Seahawks have been. They have beaten down this Saints offense, along with poor execution and bad penalties like the one that wiped out that Stills catch. Robert Meachem... I don't know if he's a true bust but he's never really lived up to his first-round draft position.  But that catch he made is how Auburn beat Georgia. Why are the Saints trying this field goal? I know it's 4th and 15 but 48 yards INTO the wind? See? Wasn't even close. The best coach on the Saints sideline today has been Rob Ryan, and that's a thought I never dreamed I'd have.



VINTAGE BEAST MODE. That should wrap this up. Damn, Thomas isn't even trying to play off what happened to him there. Lot of "Don't get fired!" going on in the FOX booth right now. Wait, hang on here. Something's cooking. That OPI on Moore may have sunk this. Or not. First they've got to get the onside kick before anyone can worry about the fact that there's only 30 seconds left. They... got it? THE HELL IS COLSTON DOING? That's a fireable offense.

(Seahawks 23, Saints 15)

I still struggle with the idea that Allie LAFORCE is her real name. I suspect it's not. Anyone? More rain? Luck should never have thrown that ball. That happens a lot. Edelman's making $1M this year and he had the season the Patriots paid Danny Amendola big money to have. Speaking of Amendola, halfway through the first and he's still healthy — check your pool sheets. Did that skip off the ground? I guess not. This Pats' reinvention as a running team was absolutely necessary given all the inexperience at receiver and the... problems at tight end. Hilton's limping off? That's bad. Whoa! The Colts needed that. Their receivers have elevated their games since Reggie Wayne went out but they may need more than they can give now.
Good job by the Colts getting a field goal there after that — could have been disastrous otherwise.


High snap! Wait, that's a safety, what are they even discussing here? Unless there's a claim of an incomplete pass? Zoltan would not have screwed this up, by the way. The thing the punter should do there is just try to boot it out of the end zone.


Meanwhile, Luck was, er, blessed that that one wasn't intercepted. And cursed that that one was. Wait, Gostkowski punted that? Did Belichick bench the regular punter, too? I mean, we've seen Stevan Ridley tonight for the first time in five weeks. Oh, the punter's holding his shoulder? Nice route and catch by Hilton, losing Talib in the process. Uh oh, here come the Colts again. That was an unfortunate fizzle out. Amendola! Wait, what? That's a worse call than the one that screwed the Browns.


"Holder-challenged." Wow! Luck beats the blitz twice and just like that it's a seven-point game again.


Another big-time punt from Gostkowski. Who knew? This could add five years to his career. Man, Blount is SLOW. Brady's holding? Has he ever held? Maybe in his rookie year? Bad decision, Luck. That was double coverage before Collins (who's been huge tonight) swooped in. Well, that's that. I mean, these aren't the Chiefs. Why are the Colts punting on 4th and 1? Even Dierdorf's questioning it. Blount was faster there than he was on the touchdown run.





Oh, it was Lundquist. And Dick Enberg before him, too. (I couldn't remember who Dierdorf's partners were before Gumbel.) I much preferred his CBS work to his time on Monday Night Football, for the record. (Patriots 43, Colts 22)




I also support more instrumental anthems in general. That guy's a semi-regular anthem player at Eagles home games. Dude's a beast. Hold up. They called that a late hit? That wasn't as late as the one on Harvin yesterday. Then Kaepernick was lucky the next pass wasn't picked off. A wide receiver pass by Boldin? What? Did the 49ers see something?


This is really unimaginative play calling by Carolina here. Why not throw it or send Cam on a bootleg? Ted Ginn Jr. was a top-10 overall draft pick and this is really the only thing he excels at. Still, way to flip the field. That throw though. Cam placed it perfectly in the middle of good coverage. That long pass to Olsen on the next drive looked like it was headed for trouble, too. You know who else doesn't slide is Newton. The problem right now is that the Panthers' backs haven't done much so far and Newton's their best runner. WHAT. Why is Brooks running his mouth after he jumped OVER THE PANTHERS' OFFENSIVE LINE? That was amazing and terrible.

I think I'd normally want Rivera to go for it but what does he call that can work given what just happened.


Great leaping catch by Crabtree. And he jumped into Florence to get that pass interference call but whatever. Did Davis get that back foot down? That's the question. It may not matter now because Harbaugh had a heart attack and cost his team 15 yards. Well they're reviewing it. Pereira thinks it'll be a touchdown and the penalty will be enforced on the kickoff. He's right.


Boldin just embarrassed Munnerlyn on that one. What was that? Florence just flat out missed Kaepernick. I think that's what Harbaugh meant by "cranking" the chippiness up. Of course, the danger is in pissing the Panthers off.


This drive is taking a long time for something that doesn't seem to be progressing.


That didn't end well. Huh, hadn't seen the 49ers take too long to call a play yet until now. That's a backbreaker run by Gore and I'm not sure a field goal doesn't bury the Panthers here. That's a big penalty. And that bad throw by Cam probably ends it. That personal foul on 22 definitely does. (49ers 23, Panthers 10)

Yeah, that's a facemask. Couldn't tell at first. Figures, first time the Chargers actually cover someone and they miss an interception. Wait, the Chargers have used two timeouts already? Is Jim Harbaugh coaching?


Some physical running here by the Broncos at the end of this drive. And that's a touchdown. I think Thomas might have been down there. But I'm not sure enough to be confident in a reversal. Well, I've been wrong before. Rivers got crushed on that sack, which probably puts them Chargers in that no man's land where they might as well go for it. That kick never had a chance. Novak slipped? Seriously, the Broncos are really wearing the Chargers out with the run here. Another touchdown pass. How did Decker not break that punt return? Looks like the punter slipped chasing him down, too.


(I will refrain from making the Manti Te'o joke that eight million people have already made.) Can we get a dryer on that field? NICE pick by Butler in the end zone to kill the drive — that went off Decker's chest (and the coverage was good so he might not have caught it cleanly anyway).


Hey, Holliday's back and he almost broke that one. The Chargers are short on answers here. Man, Prater cut that CLOSE. I think the goalposts work the same way as the plane of the goal line where it just goes on forever. Hey, an Antonio Gates sighting. Hell, a Chargers FORWARD PASS sighting. I can count the number of things that have gone right for the Chargers on one hand. At least Scifres, their punter, is back. Good on the Chargers getting those run stops. Whoa, Prater doesn't miss but could you kind of see that coming the way his last attempt went?


The Punt, Pass and Kick kids are always a highlight. Cue the "Well, they switched to the no-huddle and it started working, so why didn't they do it sooner?" discussion. It's also interesting that Woodhead is the running back now, since he's the best pass catcher of the Chargers' backs and they've gotten nothing from Mathews. At least they won't get shut out. Wait, what's going on?


Man, Rivers is STAYING mad. And I can't blame him. Welker tripped and fell; that shouldn't be a flag on anybody. By the way, this is the guy who picked up the flag for no good reason at the end of Pats-Panthers, so. When's the last time a quarterback in this game lined up under center? Three straight Moreno runs and it's back to a 17-point lead. THAT was quick. Onside kick? Novak is working that tee like they're gonna do something. Chargers recover! Decker had it and let it get away from him. It is the Keenan Allen show out here now. Um... hang on here. Novak just kicked a field goal. They can't try another onside kick here, right? The probability of two in a row working isn't even on the board in Vegas, right? OK, they're kicking it deep. Smart. Good Lord. That coverage was so blown it was blown twice.

That Moreno run will sew this up.


(Broncos 24, Chargers 17)

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)