1 hour ago, Joe Ball said:

The fact that the Bills ran another blitz with cover 0 after just knocking them well out of fg range produced that throw and ultimately the pi call. Pretty sure they ran three straight blitzes bringing 7…the last one really hurt them.

Yeah, the defensive call can be argued as too aggressive - but that's balanced against a 3rd & 10 at the BUF 45 with 2 timeouts (could Russ get another 20 yards under these conditions against less pressure?).

17 minutes ago, paco said:

I agree with that logic however:

1) The announcers said roughly 23 times that kicking in that direction is difficult.  You are putting undue stress on your kicker for the game winner by rushing an already tricky kick by rushing the set up.

2) Their defense played really well up to that point.  Spike the ball, get set up and trust your defense to hold.

When I was watching it in real time, I said I would kick it on third down because of how bad their special teams had been prior to that. They missed an extra point, and they botched the hold on extra point on the previous touchdown. If you botch the hold on 3rd down can throw it away and have a chance on 4th down. If their ST had been good all night I’d have done the plan they choose. 

that said, could’ve just had their FG unit out there on 3rd down. Have the holder take the snap and kneel down because then you already have your FG unit out there. So it’s much easier to set it up and you don’t really have to rush the unit and lutz because they are already out there. On the flip side not sure the practiced or trust their holder to take a snap from under center without fumbling it.  

1 hour ago, paco said:

Not that it mattered. Penn State's offense is, well, offensive. Franklin is an incompetent boob who can recruit but can't coach a lick. His players had no chance.

1 minute ago, just relax said:

Not that it mattered. Penn State's offense is, well, offensive. Franklin is an incompetent boob who can recruit but can't coach a lick. His players had no chance.

I actually think Franklin is a little overrated as a recruiter as well. 10 years later they still have o-line issues. 10 years later they still get mauled in the running game by Michigan. They have no receivers. Now, he's going on his 7th o-coordinator since he's been hired. He's nothing but a pompous, overrated fraud. 

3 minutes ago, vsptroops said:

I actually think Franklin is a little overrated as a recruiter as well. 10 years later they still have o-line issues. 10 years later they still get mauled in the running game by Michigan. They have no receivers. Now, he's going on his 7th o-coordinator since he's been hired. He's nothing but a pompous, overrated fraud. 

I'm a Michigan man to the core but I felt sorry for his players.

 

Just now, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

 

Big loss

27 minutes ago, paco said:

Jeff George?

Jay Cutler

1 minute ago, HazletonEagle said:

Big loss

It's every year with him. They have adapted by now. Not a major loss.

Eagles @ Chiefs O/U is hovering around 46-48 depending on sports books. I would hammer O46 if I can find it.

47 minutes ago, paco said:

I agree with that logic however:

1) The announcers said roughly 23 times that kicking in that direction is difficult.  You are putting undue stress on your kicker for the game winner by rushing an already tricky kick by rushing the set up.

2) Their defense played really well up to that point.  Spike the ball, get set up and trust your defense to hold.

Counterpoint. The Bills also had to rush their substitutions on the field, and well….

35 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

When I was watching it in real time, I said I would kick it on third down because of how bad their special teams had been prior to that. They missed an extra point, and they botched the hold on extra point on the previous touchdown. If you botch the hold on 3rd down can throw it away and have a chance on 4th down. If their ST had been good all night I’d have done the plan they choose. 

that said, could’ve just had their FG unit out there on 3rd down. Have the holder take the snap and kneel down because then you already have your FG unit out there. So it’s much easier to set it up and you don’t really have to rush the unit and lutz because they are already out there. On the flip side not sure the practiced or trust their holder to take a snap from under center without fumbling it.  

If the holder kneels down, you’re surrendering eight yards for the placement of the next attempt. Hardly ideal.

3 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Counterpoint. The Bills also had to rush their substitutions on the field, and well….

It’s a good counter. However not sure you want to count on going into the kick if you miss don’t worry Buffalo is dumb and will have 12 men out there. Originally lutz missed a 40 yard FG attempt. From 40 and in Lutz had made about 94% of his kicks.

1 hour ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

I don't think it was a matter of the Broncos "getting cute" by attempting that field goal with a running clock. I believe it was actually the smart play. They were facing third down without any timeouts at around thirty seconds. Maybe twenty-five seconds. Their only options are to kick on third down or fourth down. (Or get a touchdown, which isn't happening.)

If they kick on third down, they give the Bills about twenty seconds to get a field goal. It wouldn't have won the game on the spot. The Bills would actually have a slight chance.

They could try to throw the ball on third down to run some time off the clock, but you run the risk of a sack or a penalty or anything else that's stupid.

Kicking on fourth down seemed like the better option to me. Twenty seconds is plenty of time to do it. Hell, remember that Eagles game against the Steelers in 2000 when they ran David Akers onto the field at the last instant to kick the tying field goal at the gun? I think that was with about seventeen seconds or so but that was coming off an actual play to gain yardage and required tremendous improvisation and discipline. With twenty seconds and a group of players ready on the sidelines to sprint in, it's a piece of cake to get set up. You can do that in ten seconds and have the kicker ready without being rushed. Plus, once you make it, the Bills won't have a chance to get the ball back.

The Broncos were extremely well prepared on that play. The mystery is why the Bills were not. But that's their own fault.

McDermott claimed they did prep for that scenario, so for them to get it wrong, says a lot about where the Bills are right now. Feels like his time as HC is coming to a natural end; they are stuck treading water and the QB looks like he needs a change of tune.

3 minutes ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

If the holder kneels down, you’re surrendering eight yards for the placement of the next attempt. Hardly ideal.

I said he’d take the snap from under center at the end of the paragraph. You can have the FG unit out there and not have it set up for a field goal. So Wouldn’t be surrendering 8 yards. However like i said not sure they trust him under center after he botched the hold prior and likely never practiced it. 

also just a point out when Russell Wilson did it on third down, they lost 3 yards. That’s hardly ideal either 

17 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

Jay Cutler

Rex "F it, I'm throwing downfield" Grossman

Just now, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I said he’d take the snap from under center at the end of the paragraph. You can have the FG unit out there and not have it set up for a field goal. So Wouldn’t be surrendering 8 yards. However like i said not sure they trust him under center after he botched the hold prior and likely never practiced it. 

Okay, yeah, I get it now. That’s an idea. Might work, but you’re trying an alignment there that might be tricky to set up and you’d run the risk of a misalignment penalty of some kind and maybe a clock runoff and who knows what else might go wrong.

14 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Counterpoint. The Bills also had to rush their substitutions on the field, and well….

Fair, but missing a kick is more likely than 12 men on the field in that scenario IMO

11 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

Big loss

Yep, it had a big impact last year as well when he was out for a significant amount of time. He gets the other backers and SS in the right places to make plays when he is on the field...he's not flashy but his contribution is important. DQ has tried to move other hybrid type SS into more of a backer role...time will tell how that works out. The Cowboys should have gotten a backer before the trade deadline...Thanks Jerruh.

12 minutes ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Okay, yeah, I get it now. That’s an idea. Might work, but you’re trying an alignment there that might be tricky to set up and you’d run the risk of a misalignment penalty of some kind and maybe a clock runoff and who knows what else might go wrong.

Besides not trusting the holder to take the snap, there’s a lot so if they hadn’t practiced it you are also risking issue. Frankly, I’m surprised teams don’t practice that in case of something like this. Because it would make sense so would be more comfortable lining up to avoid penalties, and feels like it could avoid rushing the kicker and unit to just get on the field and set up right. 

frankly the way the Broncos did it, they also have to be perfectly set up  because if they don’t and there’s a penalty for it, there’s a 10 second runoff.

off topic of on what we’re talking about, the 3 yards that Russell Wilson lost on 3rd down was the difference in the initial miss. If he was 3 yards closer it looks like it just makes it in on the first attempt. 

Hopefully this board is finally off Allen's D now.

If anyone ever asks how on earth we made it to 8-1….

Although it wasn't a good weekend for the Eagles' playoff picture, it was a great one for the Chiefs.

Baltimore, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Jacksonville all lost.  

Maybe it takes just enough of off their sense of urgency on Monday.

Well there is the fall guy...

4 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

Although it wasn't a good weekend for the Eagles' playoff picture, it was a great one for the Chiefs.

Baltimore, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Jacksonville all lost.  

Maybe it takes just enough of off their sense of urgency on Monday.

It is an interesting game, preparation and psychology-wise. Andy off the bye is remarkably successful. We have two new-to-the-job OCs who will not have the strategy and breakdown level he does. Clear KC advantage. Then the psychology part. The Eagles should have won the SB. The players who experienced that should be pissed. Reddick and Sweat in particular were on skates the whole game. I'm hoping that Carter in the middle with two crazed lunatics on the edge will get to Mahomes.