Friday, January 9, 2015

By The Pigskin Of Our Teeth: The Drop

The last time these two teams played a playoff game here, Jake Delhomme's career ended. He only remembers it when he doesn't take his medicine, though, so it's OK. Wasn't SPEED on the Panthers in that game? No, he wasn't — he hasn't been around as along as I thought he had. How do you screw up the coin toss? That's exactly what the Cardinals didn't need, including the short punt. Cam misses one and has one broken up and the Panthers are settling for three. That's really what the Cardinals didn't need. Newton's starting to cook now. Three straight completions, was it? Then Stewart breaks four or five tackles for a touchdown. This could be over quickly.


Good extension by Floyd to get that much-needed first down. Uh-oh, that punt was almost blocked. And it's the best one so far — it hit the return man! Cardinals ball!


Wow. That's a problem. That's already the Cardinals' second time out. Running the ball isn't working, guys. And I don't think Lindley has the skills to exploit this secondary. He just missed Fitzgerald badly there. That's a bad throw into traffic and Fitzgerald caught it somehow. That was easy enough. These penalties are also not helping the Cardinals' cause. Stewart's only 27? Nice fake to DeAngelo Williams. Even caught Tirico off guard. That's a missed opportunity there. Did Lindley drop the snap? Get away from that punt, kid. Cam's cooled off. Down at the 2. So many things can happen here. Tirico: "Watch the back line!" Two Cardinals in the same spot? Who screwed up? They're gonna need a punter after this, too. Jesus. What was THAT? Cotchery was looking the other way and I don't think Cam ever saw Cromartie, who was behind Cotchery.


A Logan Thomas sighting? Did he fumble that? He... that's a touchdown.


Ball breaks the plane and he's not down. The refs got it right and the Cardinals have the lead.


Yeah, that's interference. The Panthers — and Cam especially — needed that. The Cardinals' blitz has gotten home a few times, if a bit late, but enough to screw things up for the Panthers. It's still good. That was pointless. Cam keeps missing open receivers. He hasn't played well either but he can still save drives with his legs. He got that pass away just in time. I don't punt here. Cardinals still can't do anything without help. That's another crappy punt. Seriously. Fozzy Whitaker? Who the hell is Fozzy Whitaker? No. 77 just killed a guy. Touchdown!


SPEED 2 FUMBLES THE KICKOFF?!?!? Serves him right for bringing it out from that deep when his offense needs the best field position possible. Of course, if you figure that there's no way this offense can go 80 yards, it's kind of defensible, I guess. Still, you can't cough the ball up like that. That whole sequence was a mess. Did that go backwards or no?


Yet another Cardinals three-and-out. This one's definitely a fumble. And Lindley immediately throws an interception! I know he was under pressure but that was positively Gabbert-esque.


The Cardinals' defense is tired. Understated: This may be the worst punting display I've ever seen in a playoff game. It's so remarkably bad that it actually stands out. Safety.


This game came with a warning label. If only we'd heeded it. (Panthers 27, Cardinals 16)



Did the crew actually leave Pittsburgh? Man, no rest for the newbie Ben Tate. So Brown had to reach behind his body, catch it, make the defender miss, and still didn't get the first down? That's gotta hurt. So they ran all those screens away from Suggs like Cris was just talking about, then they send poor Dri Archer right into his mouth. I don't always understand you, Steelers.


Good Lord, the seas parted on that Pierce touchdown run. How did Heath Miller get THAT wide open? That was close but Brown was out of bounds. YOU'RE NOT ON THE LIST. Former special teams coach John Harbaugh should be livid. And that's another good reason not to lead with your head. Wait, Antoine Cason's a Raven now? When did he leave the Panthers? Steve Smith is mad that he fell down. "First of all, you don't slap a man." How did that not turn violent? That one didn't have a chance. That was a lot to go through for a 47yard Suisham field goal. The Ravens caught a break that the center was there to fall on that. That's a close call but it's probably right to put the flag away. Feet get tangled. It happens. Steve Smith! The Ravens have the Steelers on their heels now. Somebody just wiped out Harrison, who was about to harm Flacco. Touchdown! And now the Steelers are in a bind. I think they have to go for this here. It's the right decision. Got it. And then they lose 10 yards. I haven't mentioned Le'Veon Bell tonight but the Steelers obviously miss their best player. This 4th and inches decision is something else. They don't do this against any other team, I'm convinced. Sneak! Flacco made it. FUMBLE!! BANG!!! That didn't take long. Is it too early to go for two? No touchdown? The question still stands, though. Who moved? The Steelers. Bryant! They're going for two... and it's the complete opposite of successful. That's an obvious hit out of bounds. Mike Mitchell appears to be the Steelers' Nate Allen. Whoa! Torrey Smith just missed a touchdown because Flacco's deep ball was too deep. That was 3rd and 1?? Tucker never misses either, though, so it's OK. That is one weirdly staggered line. Note to self: That's no good for pass protection. Wait, Suggs snared that between his knees? And that touchdown to a guy I've never seen before will probably put a bow on this one.


Free plays! Ben runs like a panicky walrus. The Ravens are playing kind of soft. This is coming back? Yep. Is Ben hurt? What are the Steelers trying to do, stall for time? Terrible throw upon Ben's return and that's a wrap.


Blocked punt safety? Too little too late, most likely. That's a wicked hit Will Hill put on Wheaton. Another fumble. That's that. (Ravens 30, Steelers 17)

Gresham's out too? The Bengals already don't have Green because of a concussion... now they're in real trouble. They're not booing; they're saying "Boooooom." How did Hilton NOT catch that? Oh, Newman knocked it out. Meanwhile, the Colts have found a back and his name is not Trent Richardson. That was almost too easy. Yeah, it's gonna have to be a Jeremy Hill show for the Colts.


Wait, Boomer's middle name is "Julius"? Good Lord. Norman Julius Esiason. I'd demand to be called "Boomer", too. That's two big plays Hilton's missed so far. Like I said, it's gonna need to be Hill's day. The Bengals cross midfield... that's already an improvement over their first meeting, isn't it? Who's this Burkhead dude? Touchdown Bengals, which is a definite improvement over last time.


Wait, Josh Cribbs is on the Colts? OK, whatever. The field opened up for Luck on that run. Hey, Hilton got one finally. Malaluga going down just adds to the Bengals' problems. Nice play by Kirkpatrick to break that up even though it might have gone high anyway. That's the best catch Hakeem Nicks has made in three years. Lot of overthrowing going on in this game on both sides. Nice blitz pickup. Strip fumble? I forgot the Bengals even ended up drafting Dennard. I think it's the first time I've seen him this year. Are the Bengals somehow not going to get points out of this?


57 yards? Well, they are indoors. Nugent... BANKS it in! Fleener seems snakebitten today. Wait, they called a penalty on a guy who wasn't even on the field? That's hilarious. The Colts are having trouble going downfield for some reason — it's hard to see how good coverage is. Great throw on the run by Luck for the touchdown. That's hard to do. And another Bengals drive goes nowhere.


Fleener IS snakebitten. He finally catches one, for a touchdown, no less, and it gets called back. Cribbs doesn't believe in the fair catch, does he? I just noticed that Herron has eye black on one eye. How does that even work? Man, Richardson can't even get in the game ahead of No. 37? He must be sick. You know how hard it is to bust as a running back? Why aren't the Bengals in a hurry-up? That's a fumble and that'll do it. (Colts 26, Bengals 10)



The Cowboys are gonna need more than that from Murray. Dez got CLOCKED. Probably not the best decision Golden Tate has made. We just gonna keep dropping the ball all over the place? Tate! That took no time at all.


It's hard to find Cole Beasley sometimes. The Lions' front four will play like their namesake when warranted. And I don't think that was a blitz, either. Best shanked punt ever. They took the penalty? Damn. "A career-low 4,200 yards." WHAT. You can pretty much find any excuse to find Calvin Johnson somewhere. He ran into the punter? That's a killer. That Stafford run looked like it was doomed but he bounced off No. 20 and someone threw a block. That fake end around took a little too long to set up but it still worked. I'm kind of surprised the Lions are running the ball so well — I thought there was a chance that they could expose the Cowboys, but I figured it would be through the air.


Reggie Bush still has moves. The replays showed well the wide receivers blocking. Witten did well to catch that in traffic, and after it was tipped, at that. Holy hell that blitz. Romo had no chance. This one's short anyway. There goes Romo again, just falling down when he's about to get blitzed. I don't see any other quarterback do that as often as he does. A lot happening on that punt. Possible hit on the punter, the muff, then a scuffle afterward. The unthrown flag wouldn't have given the Cowboys a first down, though. Offensive pass interference? So much for that. And so much for THAT. There's no need to leave Calvin Johnson in single coverage, Cowboys. I don't think that's a good spot but you can't really know with these things. They changed it! I'm surprised. That was a BAD throw by Stafford and he got very lucky. That kick JUST made it. Yeah, that's not a good snap. Tipped ball? Interception. Good job by whoever grabbed Murray's foot. I don't think anyone has said Suh's name today. Bailey MISSED?!?!?!? That was legitimately shocking. And now it's like that sucked the life out of the defense. Was Romo looking at an Etch-a-Sketch? Aikman's right about the 3rd down miss — that's a touchdown if Tate breaks off the route sooner. Is Murray starting to heat up? That would help. I thought Dez only had one catch. You can't cover him with a linebacker, I don't care how good he is. Touchdown! Or not. A pitch to Witten? Why do that? I'm surprised he got a yard. First time they've said Suh's name today. Cowboys going for it? They went outside and got it. And they needed to get a stop on defense to follow that and they did. The Lions need to get No. 39 off the field. Beasley just got smashed. How did he hold on? Suh's starting to assert himself finally. Yeah, that was interference. Wait, what? They picked the flag up? HUH?








I mean, that's interference personified. They didn't even say why, either. As much as we make fun of Ed Hochuli's long-winded explanations, you can damn well bet he'd have given us one. The Lions have to go for this now, right? They're not? Oh Christ. That's a terrible decision by Caldwell that he never should have been forced to make. That punt would have fit right in in Cardinals-Panthers.


This thing has completely turned now. The Lions are falling apart.


Both these teams can't choke, right? Touchdown Williams. This is unbelievable. Legitimately unbelievable. All right, Stafford. Let's see what you've got. Oh, a fumble. So this is how it's gonna — AND THE COWBOYS FUMBLE IT RIGHT BACK. Just fall on it, you clown.


And the Lions gained three yards to boot. I don't care if Calvin is quintuple-covered — he gets the ball to the exclusion of everyone else. A nation is depending on you! You can't get SACKED. That was sickening on so many levels.


These "all-star" officiating crews have proven to be anything but. They screwed up, didn't say why they screwed up, then offered a half-hearted correction long after the irrevocable damage has been done. Which is pretty much how the NFL seems to do everything these days. (Cowboys 24, Lions 20)


Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)