2015 NFL season general discussion thread

[Toga]

It really is crazy that Roman could singehandedly lose that game from the sideline. That end of half time management was next level special.

I say singlehandedly but Taylor was bad. McCoy dropped a TD and Carpenter missed a FG.

What fan didn't say - let's get that clock down with 2 minutes to go in the half? First words out of my mouth.

 

[Alsacs]

Biggest take away for me is the Pats have a top 5 D. They will get Collins back as well. Butler was awesome on Watkins.

Bills look legit playoff team. Buffalo mixed up blitzes well. Hit Brady 13 times. The offensive gameplan for Buffalo was awful.

Pats will get the OL healthy and Edelman will be back for the playoffs.

To beat Denver it will have to be a similar game win with D.

 

[longislandcuse]

What fan didn't say - let's get that clock down with 2 minutes to go in the half? First words out of my mouth.

It made Shafer look like a end of half wizard.

I couldn't believe a team who's been as conservative as Sean Hannity all half was throwing on first down. Hogan running out of bounds. No run plays to burn clock. Like What...

 

[longislandcuse]

Biggest take away for me is the Pats have a top 5 D. They will get Collins back as well. Butler was awesome on Watkins.

Bills look legit playoff team. Buffalo mixed up blitzes well. Hit Brady 13 times. The offensive gameplan for Buffalo was awful.

Pats will get the OL healthy and Edelman will be back for the playoffs.

To beat Denver it will have to be a similar game win with D.

There's no one in the AFC who can beat you. Definitely not Denver with Osweiller or the corpse of Manning.

Buffalo had the Pats offense dead to rights all game but the offense couldn't do a damn thing bc A) Roman and B) your defense is really good.

Pats are impossible to beat for us bc they don't make mistakes. Like ever. And if they do its on a deep bomb that doesn't hurt them. Meanwhile Buffalo is fumbling punts, missing easy FGs and dropping passes/missing open WRs on deep throws that our QB is usually money with. We just can't beat you.

Even when we get a break we get a personal foul because our coach is being nomadic.

 

[BillJay]

That's the stupidest rule I've ever heard. I'm not disputing it with you. Just think it's stupid.

The rule is in place to prevent the defense from stopping the clock by pushing the ball carrier backwards and out of bounds.

 

[Toga]

The rule is in place to prevent the defense from stopping the clock by pushing the ball carrier backwards and out of bounds.

Why would that be a horrible thing to do? :noidea:

 

[BillJay]

Why would that be a horrible thing to do? :noidea:

In that instance it would be because the offense is trying to run the clock out. In tonight's game I have no idea where the ball would've been spotted if there was an appreciable amount of time left, where SW stopped his forward progress or where he went out of bounds.

 

[BillJay]

In that instance it would be because the offense is trying to run the clock out. In tonight's game I have no idea where the ball would've been spotted if there was an appreciable amount of time left, where SW stopped his forward progress or where he went out of bounds.

Mike Pereira on Twitter saying the clock should've stopped with 2 seconds left because the ball carrier went out of bounds untouched.
@MikePereira - Not that it really makes a difference, but the clock should have stopped on that last play. He went out untouched.

 

[BuffOrange]

Is Buffalo for real with how they played/called that end of half drive?

Everyone knew what would happen. Throwing passes in run downs, players running out of bounds stopping clock. Players dropping passes. Just awful.

I honestly couldn't watch the 2nd half as the game was obviously over right there.

Another example of Madden players understanding situations better than coaches. It's very easy to manipulate the clock there so you're no worse than tied at the half.
Even if McCoy hangs on you're giving up a FG minimum in all likelihood with 2 minutes left. Obviously not worth it. There's 58 other minutes in the game to take all the deep shots you want.

 

[Melancer46]

Again that was correctly called. If you go backwards the clock continues. Watkins went backwards out of bounds the clock doesn't stop.

The Bills offensive gameplan was atrocious. They practically killed Brady. The Bills D was special the injuries weren't a big deal as the Bills D was awesome. I am sure Edelman helps but not much.

I'm not sure that's true. Certainly seems that every other ref/former ref disagrees anyways. I think forward progress only comes into play if a defender stops the forward progress.

That was a really bizarrely officiated game. The refs screwed the Patriots with that inadvertent whistle, but then they screwed the Bills by screwing up their response to the inadvertent whistle, and the Patriots still ended up getting 30 yards out of it when it's hard to tell if they would have gotten those yards had the whistle never been blown. Darby was right behind Amendola and stopped playing once the whistle blew, but I think he had a chance to make the tackle once the pass would have been caught.

Another one that jumped out at me was the facemask that the refs saw, called, and then picked back up even though the replays showed a clear facemask call. Not making the call ended the Bills drive. And then obviously the bizarre end of game stuff.

It's hard to even say whether the officiating favored one team or not because of just how bad it was. At any rate, the Bills squandered a big opportunity tonight. Tyrod was absolutely dreadful; missing open receivers left and right. If he had played even as poorly as he did in the first Patriots game, the Bills probably win tonight.

 

[Alsacs]

I'm not sure that's true. Certainly seems that every other ref/former ref disagrees anyways. I think forward progress only comes into play if a defender stops the forward progress.

That was a really bizarrely officiated game. The refs screwed the Patriots with that inadvertent whistle, but then they screwed the Bills by screwing up their response to the inadvertent whistle, and the Patriots still ended up getting 30 yards out of it when it's hard to tell if they would have gotten those yards had the whistle never been blown. Darby was right behind Amendola and stopped playing once the whistle blew, but I think he had a chance to make the tackle once the pass would have been caught.

Another one that jumped out at me was the facemask that the refs saw, called, and then picked back up even though the replays showed a clear facemask call. Not making the call ended the Bills drive. And then obviously the bizarre end of game stuff.

It's hard to even say whether the officiating favored one team or not because of just how bad it was. At any rate, the Bills squandered a big opportunity tonight. Tyrod was absolutely dreadful; missing open receivers left and right. If he had played even as poorly as he did in the first Patriots game, the Bills probably win tonight.

The facemask penalty was picked up because the ref who called it couldn't see the play. He was shielded by the defender and was on the Buf sidelines the ref that was in position overruled and please show the picture that showed the facemask. ESPN didn't show a replay as it was the last play of the 3rd Q. Replays were never shown how was it obvious?

On the whistle play it was a broken play and Darby was a step behind Amendola. He could have made the tackle or missed it. It was a bad whistle. Also Rex Ryan was clearly on the white OOB during the play thus that penalty was correct.

If in the last 2 last minutes a player goes backwards out of bounds the clock is not stopped because forward progress.

The refs were bad but to the Conspiracy theorist on this board the refs are always out to rig the game. The refs in this game did not favor the Pats and screw the Bills. Like the mantra of said person. Bills slightly got more calls.

 

[shandeezy7]

Watkins went backwards. If went forward out of bounds the clock would have stopped. That was correctly called 100%.

That is 100% not the correct call. This isn't college, it's the NFL.

 

[Alsacs]

That is 100% not the correct call. This isn't college, it's the NFL.

THe college vs. NFL has nothing to do with it. If you go forward out of bounds the clock stops. If you go backwards the clock doesn't stop. Watkins is rolling backwards out of bounds. Clock doesn't stop.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

The facemask penalty was picked up because the ref who called it couldn't see the play. He was shielded by the defender and was on the Buf sidelines the ref that was in position overruled and please show the picture that showed the facemask. ESPN didn't show a replay as it was the last play of the 3rd Q. Replays were never shown how was it obvious?

On the whistle play it was a broken play and Darby was a step behind Amendola. He could have made the tackle or missed it. It was a bad whistle. Also Rex Ryan was clearly on the white OOB during the play thus that penalty was correct.

If in the last 2 last minutes a player goes backwards out of bounds the clock is not stopped because forward progress.

The refs were bad but to the Conspiracy theorist on this board the refs are always out to rig the game. The refs in this game did not favor the Pats and screw the Bills. Like the mantra of said person. Bills slightly got more calls.

If they are stopped in the field of play, then go out of bounds, the clock doesn't stop, but they give forward progress.
If the runner goes out on his own, the clock stops.

 

[Alsacs]

The Forward Progress of a runner or airborne receiver is the point at which his advance toward his opponent's goal ends and is the spot at which the ball is declared dead by rule, irrespective of the runner or receiver being pushed or carried backward by an opponent.

 

[Alsacs]

By Watkins going backwards it doesn't stop the clock if he went sideways the clock would have stopped.

 

[Melancer46]

The facemask penalty was picked up because the ref who called it couldn't see the play. He was shielded by the defender and was on the Buf sidelines the ref that was in position overruled and please show the picture that showed the facemask. ESPN didn't show a replay as it was the last play of the 3rd Q. Replays were never shown how was it obvious?

On the whistle play it was a broken play and Darby was a step behind Amendola. He could have made the tackle or missed it. It was a bad whistle. Also Rex Ryan was clearly on the white OOB during the play thus that penalty was correct.

If in the last 2 last minutes a player goes backwards out of bounds the clock is not stopped because forward progress.

The refs were bad but to the Conspiracy theorist on this board the refs are always out to rig the game. The refs in this game did not favor the Pats and screw the Bills. Like the mantra of said person. Bills slightly got more calls.

1. I don't have a link to it because it was sent around a group chat that I was in, but someone went back and got a freeze frame of the play that showed Ninkovich (I think) grabbing the guy's face mask. I'm guessing it was posted on Twitter somewhere.

2. Right, so there's really no way of knowing whether or not the inadvertent whistle cost the Patriots anything. The play may have resulted the same way had Darby made the tackle. But once the ref blew the play by blowing his whistle, it should have resulted in replaying the down because he blew the whistle while the ball was still in the air (and based on some weird technicality that I don't understand, but the ref in the booth said it on the air last night) the penalty would have been negated due to the fact that the play was blown dead prior to the flag or something weird like that. So basically, the refs made the mistake of blowing the whistle and then ignored/didn't know the rules to give the Patriots what they think the Patriots should have gotten out of the play anyways. But once the whistle was blown, it should have been a replay of the down rather than a 30 yard gain for the Patriots. So initially, the refs screwed the Patriots on the call because they ruined a chance at a touchdown (but it could have also simply resulted in a 30 yard gain after the penalty), but then they screwed the Bills by incorrectly handling the situation after the whistle was blown.

3. Others have already pointed it out, but it sounds like basically every NFL referee besides the ones that officiated last night's game disagree with you regarding the forward progress. I don't even think the refs last night ruled that his forward progress was stopped; I think they ruled that he gave himself up in bounds (like a QB sliding), and therefore, the play was over before he got out of bounds. Either way they were wrong.

 

[shandeezy7]

THe college vs. NFL has nothing to do with it. If you go forward out of bounds the clock stops. If you go backwards the clock doesn't stop. Watkins is rolling backwards out of bounds. Clock doesn't stop.

Listen, it doesn't matter really, because they were most likely still going to lose, but you are wrong. Steratore said that they ruled that Watkins had given himself up in the field of play, which is why they ruled the clock to continue. Give me a freaking break. He stumbled as he caught it and then slid out of bounds. Why in god's name would he give himself up in the field of play there? More incompetency from NFL officials.

 

[Alsacs]

1. I don't have a link to it because it was sent around a group chat that I was in, but someone went back and got a freeze frame of the play that showed Ninkovich (I think) grabbing the guy's face mask. I'm guessing it was posted on Twitter somewhere.

2. Right, so there's really no way of knowing whether or not the inadvertent whistle cost the Patriots anything. The play may have resulted the same way had Darby made the tackle. But once the ref blew the play by blowing his whistle, it should have resulted in replaying the down because he blew the whistle while the ball was still in the air (and based on some weird technicality that I don't understand, but the ref in the booth said it on the air last night) the penalty would have been negated due to the fact that the play was blown dead prior to the flag or something weird like that. So basically, the refs made the mistake of blowing the whistle and then ignored/didn't know the rules to give the Patriots what they think the Patriots should have gotten out of the play anyways. But once the whistle was blown, it should have been a replay of the down rather than a 30 yard gain for the Patriots. So initially, the refs screwed the Patriots on the call because they ruined a chance at a touchdown (but it could have also simply resulted in a 30 yard gain after the penalty), but then they screwed the Bills by incorrectly handling the situation after the whistle was blown.

3. Others have already pointed it out, but it sounds like basically every NFL referee besides the ones that officiated last night's game disagree with you regarding the forward progress. I don't even think the refs last night ruled that his forward progress was stopped; I think they ruled that he gave himself up in bounds (like a QB slid would have been committed. ing), and therefore, the play was over before he got out of bounds. Either way they were wrong.

The replay showed the ball was in the air when the whistle blew but Ryan was clearly on the white. The call should have negated the pass but the penalty would have been called on Ryan. The ref blew the whistle because Ryan was righton him. Who knows what happens but Amendola had a step on Darby.

The facemask wasn't a facemask. If the call was bad ESPN would have showed the replay Gruden was killing the refs all night.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I'm not a fan of either team, but I felt cheated watching the game. I think the officials could of cost both teams points. I know when you play sports, they tell you to play through the officials, but man. That stuff last night was comical. I think a high school crew could of done a better job. Football officiating has become so bad in college and the NFL, I wonder if the rules are just too complicated.

 

[shandeezy7]

I'm not a fan of either team, but I felt cheated watching the game. I think the officials could of cost both teams points. I know when you play sports, they tell you to play through the officials, but man. That stuff last night was comical. I think a high school crew could of done a better job. Football officiating has become so bad in college and the NFL, I wonder if the rules are just too complicated.

How many times did the refs huddle for 5 minutes to discuss a call? The one play where a Patriots WR (I forget who it was) caught the ball across the middle late in the first half and it was reviewed - why did that review take so long? It was so obvious it was a catch. And at the end, when Tyrod fumbled, what the F was Steratore doing on the mic telling us that Buffalo recovered and giving the down and distance? Shut up and get out of the way, the clock is running moron.

 

[Cusefan0307]

How many times did the refs huddle for 5 minutes to discuss a call? The one play where a Patriots WR (I forget who it was) caught the ball across the middle late in the first half and it was reviewed - why did that review take so long? It was so obvious it was a catch. And at the end, when Tyrod fumbled, what the F was Steratore doing on the mic telling us that Buffalo recovered and giving the down and distance? Shut up and get out of the way, the clock is running moron.

The game took almost 4 hours! Ridiculous. Steratore is usually pretty good, but his crew is awful, and I felt like everytime they missed a call they tried to compensate for calling something stupid on the other team.

 

[Alsacs]

This week is going to determine the 6 seed in the AFC. KC has a really soft ending schedule but if Buffalo wins this game it will be a 2 game lead with 5 games left.
Houston/Indy are competing for the division.
Jets have a pretty hard remaining schedule.
Buffalo/KC will likely be the 6 seed @ either Cincinnati/Denver.
Pittsburgh will likely be @ Indy/Houston unless KC beats Buffalo then they could be the 5 seed.

NE will get a bye if they win this week they will practically clinch HFA. My sneaky upset of the week is Rams over Bengals.

 

[Alsacs]

The game took almost 4 hours! Ridiculous. Steratore is usually pretty good, but his crew is awful, and I felt like everytime they missed a call they tried to compensate for calling something stupid on the other team.

I mean a ref threw a flag then picked it up then threw it again and then conferenced for 5 minutes before picking a call on Buffalo.

It was bad officiated game but neither side was favored. Steratore is a good official your right that Side Judge has to be suspended.

If Taylor throws better Buffalo could have won that game. As their D was the story of that game. It played well.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Maybe officiating once a week isn't good enough. I think officials need training camp/practice like the players. In basketball and baseball umpires and officials work every night. When you work once a week you aren't as good.

The Bills pounded Brady last night, but he knows how to take hits. Besides his ACL year, the guy never gets hurt. There is definately a skill he has to taking a hit that other QB's don't have.

If the Bills are going to pay Sammy Watkins they need to be getting him the ball and not Chris Hogan.

I do think the Pats defense is better even this year. Butler is a better corner right now than Revis is.