2013 NFL Football

[RonTheSavage]

It was late in the game, they needed a TD. Picks that late against a secondary that good (who else is he supposed to challenge - Kam Chancellor? Earl Thomas? Walter Thurmond?) aren't exactly a surprise when you have an offense that needs a TD.

Yeah Kaep made the right read here. It was one on one coverage so he took a shot with his #1 WR against the #1 DB. I fault nobody there, Sherman made a great play.

[MS256]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamo

Sure, but what else do you expect Kaepernick to say? "****ing Crabtree man, I shoulda never passed to that sorry-ass disgrace of a receiver."

It was late in the game, they needed a TD. Picks that late against a secondary that good (who else is he supposed to challenge - Kam Chancellor? Earl Thomas? Walter Thurmond?) aren't exactly a surprise when you have an offense that needs a TD.

Yeah Kaep made the right read here. It was one on one coverage so he took a shot with his #1 WR against the #1 DB. I fault nobody there, Sherman made a great play.

I completely agree. If the ball is a foot higher and if Sherman doesn't get a hand on the ball and if it's a touchdown everybody is singing praises to Kaepernick's and Crabtree's names.

Like Don Meredith used to say "If ifs and buts were candy and nuts we would all have a Merry Christmas."

[phan52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phan52

Kaepernick also said he didn't regret trying to get the ball to Crabtree against Sherman, who is considered by many to be the game's best corner.

"I'll take Crabtree against Sherman any day of the week," Kaepernick said.

Still, Kaepernick continued to take blame for the loss as the 49ers came up just shy of their second straight Super Bowl appearance. "If I throw that ball one foot farther, it's a TD and now you're the goat, Richard Sherman," Kaepernick said.

I think I've seen that play at least 100 times now from multiple angles (you can't avoid it if your TV is on this week) and I don't see any way Kaepernicik was going to complete that pass. In fact, Sherman had the play totally smothered it he threw the pass all the way to the very corner of the end zone. Shermman had to actually stop and twist back to make the play because Crabtree had a chance to catch the ball on his back shoulder.

Crabtree is really good but he's far from the best WR in the NFL. Sherman IS the best CB.

Originally Posted by jamo

Sure, but what else do you expect Kaepernick to say? "****ing Crabtree man, I shoulda never passed to that sorry-ass disgrace of a receiver."

It was late in the game, they needed a TD. Picks that late against a secondary that good (who else is he supposed to challenge - Kam Chancellor? Earl Thomas? Walter Thurmond?) aren't exactly a surprise when you have an offense that needs a TD.

Well the point of my post is,  Kaepernick is fooling himself when he says "if I throw the ball one foot farther." If it was a foot farther it would have been an easier play for Sherman, as he had the corner play completely smothered. The ball was thrown closer to Crabtree's back shoulder and Sherman had to make a great move to get back there and knock it away.

I don't think there was any way that pass was going to be completed and it wasn't necessary. Why challenge their best player? They still had some time and a couple of timeouts to get it in the end zone.

[uno6518]

Great post @uno6518 . I love this stuff.  I love the X's and O's stuff and wish the media would do more.  A couple of weeks ago a local Boston station asked Belichick about offenses.  He went into detail about the Tom Landry Cowboys offense and how intricate it was.  It was fascinating.

I don't think any intelligent fan thought that Carroll was a horrible coach in NE, just that he did not have the players to fit his D and he did not know enough about offense.  Our GM at the time was dense.  The media tend to blow things up, which I can't stand.

The Seahawks have a real good chance of slowing down the Manning offense for a couple of reasons.  First, the cover corners can limit Thomas and Decker with just one corner each freeing up the safeties.  Once Talib went out, the Pats had no answers with there young secondary, especially with Thomas.  The looked lost and Seattle will not.  Second, the middle linebacker is key to disrupting the "Dig" play and any crossing route.  He has to read the play, but disrupt the crossing route.  The Pats had Collins, a rookie, in that spot and he did not react well to any cross that Thomas had.  Manning ate him up.

My worry for Seattle is their offense.  Wilson is young and has not looked his normal self the last few games.  When the Pats had Gronk in November, it was easier to attack the Denver D because of the match-up.  Without Gronk and limited wide receivers, it was easier for Denver to take away routes.  Seattle relies a lot on running the ball, which I think is Denver's defensive strength.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I also wish you could get more of this stuff from the media, but at least the internet exists.

Here's a new Brown piece about wrinkles in the Broncos O this year compared to their Indy playbook last year. This is particularly great because as good as Seattle's D is, Denver is just such a matchup nightmare when you get to the third and fourth options. Plus, as the piece mentions, teams have tried to employ press coverage against Denver, and they have answers. Certainly, no one does it better than Seattle though.

I'm so amped up for this game. It's going to be such a fun Super Bowl. With the Niners in it last year, I was just stressed out for the two weeks leading up. Sucks they didn't make it this year, but the silver lining is that now my only worry is what time to get the pork shoulder on the smoker Saturday night to be ready for gametime.

[RonTheSavage]

I dont know I think it was first down and they decided to take a shot. You know try to put it in a place where only Crab can get it or an incomplete and it backfired big time. At that point they were running out of options. We find out the next day Gore was playing with a broken hand. Vernon Davis is absolutely SOFT and Kam Chancellor had him bottled up all day. I did read later that on that play Anquan boldin was wide open but I havent been able to go back and verify that myself. Now one theory that I find interesting is that the ego of Crabtree cost us the SB last year and Harbaughs ego cost us a trip to the SB this year. If you remember we had 4 downs maybe on the 10 yard line last year against Baltimore and all 4 passes went to Crabtree. On the 4th down play VD was standing wide open in the end zone but Kaep locked in to Crab. It was later reported that Crab was in Kaep's ear saying get him the ball that entire drive. Fast forward to this year against Seattle it was reported that Harbaugh, Crab and Kaep wanted to score on Sherman to shut him up. Any other coach I would call BS but this is Harbaugh we're talking about. The guy takes everything personal. I dont know, but I thought it was interesting enough to share. We're still in mourning here in Niner Country

[boogielicious]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I also wish you could get more of this stuff from the media, but at least the internet exists.

Here's a new Brown piece about wrinkles in the Broncos O this year compared to their Indy playbook last year. This is particularly great because as good as Seattle's D is, Denver is just such a matchup nightmare when you get to the third and fourth options. Plus, as the piece mentions, teams have tried to employ press coverage against Denver, and they have answers. Certainly, no one does it better than Seattle though.

I'm so amped up for this game. It's going to be such a fun Super Bowl. With the Niners in it last year, I was just stressed out for the two weeks leading up. Sucks they didn't make it this year, but the silver lining is that now my only worry is what time to get the pork shoulder on the smoker Saturday night to be ready for gametime.

If I was a Broncos fan I would still be concerned.  The Pats held them to 12 points below their season average in perfect weather with a banged up defense that doesn't do press coverage well.  The real key is whether the refs allow Seattle to play the receivers the way they have done all year.  They are very physical off the line and it delays the routes.  Manning is excellent when his receivers get open off the line.  But he will have less success if the plays take longer than 3 seconds.  Watch the routes in the first five yards and see how the release works.  In the 2003 Championship game, the Pats played the receivers in a similar manner as Seattle.

[meenman]

If I was a Broncos fan I would still be concerned.  The Pats held them to 12 points below their season average in perfect weather with a banged up defense

This is kind of weak rationale.

The Broncos played that game to win and kept playing that way while well in control of the game - there was no reason to go for the blowout and risk mistakes.

[Harmonious]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I also wish you could get more of this stuff from the media, but at least the internet exists.

Here's a link with far more technical info than I can comprehend, but maybe some folks will appreciate it: http://grantland.com/features/the-official-super-bowl-preview/

[boogielicious]

I'm not a fan of The Bleacher Report , but he was an interesting article.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1941610-key-to-super-bowl-xlviii-isnt-a-player-or-coach-its-referee-terry-mcaulay?utm_source=cnn.com&utm;_medium=referral&utm;_campaign=cnn-sports-bin&hpt;=hp_bn15

[phan52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phan52

Well the point of my post is,  Kaepernick is fooling himself when he says "if I throw the ball one foot farther." If it was a foot farther it would have been an easier play for Sherman, as he had the corner play completely smothered. The ball was thrown closer to Crabtree's back shoulder and Sherman had to make a great move to get back there and knock it away.

I don't think there was any way that pass was going to be completed and it wasn't necessary. Why challenge their best player? They still had some time and a couple of timeouts to get it in the end zone.

I dont know I think it was first down and they decided to take a shot. You know try to put it in a place where only Crab can get it or an incomplete and it backfired big time. At that point they were running out of options. We find out the next day Gore was playing with a broken hand. Vernon Davis is absolutely SOFT and Kam Chancellor had him bottled up all day. I did read later that on that play Anquan boldin was wide open but I havent been able to go back and verify that myself.

Now one theory that I find interesting is that the ego of Crabtree cost us the SB last year and Harbaughs ego cost us a trip to the SB this year. If you remember we had 4 downs maybe on the 10 yard line last year against Baltimore and all 4 passes went to Crabtree. On the 4th down play VD was standing wide open in the end zone but Kaep locked in to Crab. It was later reported that Crab was in Kaep's ear saying get him the ball that entire drive.

Fast forward to this year against Seattle it was reported that Harbaugh, Crab and Kaep wanted to score on Sherman to shut him up. Any other coach I would call BS but this is Harbaugh we're talking about. The guy takes everything personal. I dont know, but I thought it was interesting enough to share. We're still in mourning here in Niner Country

I have no evidence that was in play so I didn't bring it up, although I had it written in my post and deleted it before I hit send. It would not surprise me even a little bit if that was a factor in the playcalling. I think Kaepernick's reaction adds to my suspicions. They clearly have issues with Sherman and he knows it. In the Inside the NFL episode on Showtime after the Conference Championship games, they have NFL Films footage of Sherman talking to his teammates as they were going out for the last drive, saying that "they're going to try me."

[Fourputt]

The Broncos made several long drives by intent. It was part of the game plan to score, but score slowly to give the Pats fewer opportunities. Look at th play by play. Dnver time of posession was higher than any other game this season (or nearly so). Their averaage was around 26 minutes, but against NE they had the ball for more than 35 minutes. It had less to do with the defense than it did with the overall game plan.

[boogielicious]

The Broncos made several long drives by intent. It was part of the game plan to score, but score slowly to give the Pats fewer opportunities. Look at th play by play. Dnver time of posession was higher than any other game this season (or nearly so). Their averaage was around 26 minutes, but against NE they had the ball for more than 35 minutes. It had less to do with the defense than it did with the overall game plan.

Not sure if I buy that.  If the NE offense had all their players heathy, they would have been able to score more.  They scored 31 points in one half against the Broncos earlier in the year and have posted a lot of points in the last four meeting against the Broncos.  NE defense allows lots of yard but few points.  That is their philosophy.

If you knew before the game that Denver would only score 26, as a Bronco fan you would have been worried.  I would have bet NE would win with that knowledge.  But the NE offense did not play well, bottom line.

Denver will have to score more to win the Super Bowl.  Ball control is not their MO.

[Fourputt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt

The Broncos made several long drives by intent. It was part of the game plan to score, but score slowly to give the Pats fewer opportunities. Look at th play by play. Dnver time of posession was higher than any other game this season (or nearly so). Their averaage was around 26 minutes, but against NE they had the ball for more than 35 minutes. It had less to do with the defense than it did with the overall game plan.

Not sure if I buy that.  If the NE offense had all their players heathy, they would have been able to score more.  They scored 31 points in one half against the Broncos earlier in the year and have posted a lot of points in the last four meeting against the Broncos.  NE defense allows lots of yard but few points.  That is their philosophy.

If you knew before the game that Denver would only score 26, as a Bronco fan you would have been worried.  I would have bet NE would win with that knowledge.  But the NE offense did not play well, bottom line.

Denver will have to score more to win the Super Bowl.  Ball control is not their MO.

You clearly haven't watched them play much.  They have had several games this year with one or two punts (and one game where Colquitt never left the bench).  The only reason that other teams score as much as they do is because they get so many chances.  During most of the season  Denver was scoring so quickly that the other team would get 8-10 possessions.  If they scored on half of their drives, then they had 20-28 points (a decent offensive day for  a lot of teams), yet most still trailed by 2 touchdowns by the time they had tallied up that many points.  They won time of possession because they were trying to keep the Denver offense off the field, but that always worked against them because they simply weren't able to score at the same high percentage as the Broncos.

You think that the Broncos weren't trying to change up the game from that first meeting with NE?  It was obvious to anyone who had watched them play every game all season long.  It was also apparent to the talking heads in their Monday morning quarterbacking.  Denver had two goals, shut down Blount and the Pats running game, and slow down their own offensive drives to eat more time.  I admit that they were helped by a couple of Brady overthrows, but that's going to happen in any game, to any quarterback.  It almost looked like Brady was trying to ensure against the possibility of an interception and just put the ball out of reach of everyone.  Brady actually looked like he was playing scared, most unlike him.

By the way, you have to admit that the weather had a lot to do with the results of the first game.  If Manning has an Achille's heel, it's wind, and that was as responsible for the Pats win as anything special they did on the field.  The Pats were outclassed through most of the game, and it took an overtime for them to pull out a win.

[phan52]

Prediction time.

I believe the tone of the game is going to be set by the Seahawks. Their offense will use ball control to keep Manning off the field, and the defense will frustrate the Denver offense, particularly in the red zone. Both teams will move the ball but two Manning picks, one in the late going, will seal the deal and the Seahawks will win a hard fought 24-23 victory.

[saevel25]

Prediction time.

I believe the tone of the game is going to be set by the Seahawks. Their offense will use ball control to keep Manning off the field, and the defense will frustrate the Denver offense, particularly in the red zone. Both teams will move the ball but two Manning picks, one in the late going, will seal the deal and the Seahawks will win a hard fought 24-23 victory.

Nah, it's Peyton's last go around. I think he has too many weapons. To me the key is turnovers. If Manning has 2 INT's then the Seahawks win. If Manny doesn't throw any then Branco's win.

Denver 30

Seattle 21

[golf2much420]

Prediction time. I believe the tone of the game is going to be set by the Seahawks. Their offense will use ball control to keep Manning off the field, and the defense will frustrate the Denver offense, particularly in the red zone. Both teams will move the ball but two Manning picks, one in the late going, will seal the deal and the Seahawks will win a hard fought 24-23 victory.

As far as the red zones i believe peyton is 19/20 with 1int i dont see him havin any troubles hes a surgeon out there i like both teams and am happy to see them there but i do think the broncos will take care of business and i agree its gonna be a great game! Broncos - 31 Seahawks - 24

[SamGray]

Being a hawks fan it's hard to go against them but here is my prediction. This is going to be a hard fought game and will come down to one pick or any turnover. Final Seahawks-- 31 Broncos-- 28

[phan52]

As far as the red zones i believe peyton is 19/20 with 1int i dont see him havin any troubles hes a surgeon out there i like both teams and am happy to see them there but i do think the broncos will take care of business and i agree its gonna be a great game! Broncos - 31 Seahawks - 24

Denver hasn't faced a defense like Seattle. They are not only the #1 overall defense, they also have the best red zone defense since 2006. They will force turnovers, IMO. I think the refs are going to let them play because they've pretty much done that in the postseason. That favors defense.