~2017 NFL Thread~

[MrNubbz]

Damn Vonn Bell played big on the last two downs & the Saints Win

[rook119]

Great game. Oh and Carolina you might want to shore up the OL before Cam is more broken than Andy Luck. 

[MrNubbz]

I dunno except for the last play he stood in the pocket quite awhile.there was pressure sometimes but the pocket wasn't folding.N.O.DB's doing their jobs,Brees plays like that the rest of the way they'll be a tough out

[Kris61]

It wasn't a dumb pick.  These guys are trained to create turnovers.  It's drilled into them 24/7.  To expect that guy to have the presence of mind to knock the ball down in that situation is incredibly unfair.  Besides, he' playing in front of the WR.  What if the WR slips and falls and then he picks it and his off to the races.  Maybe he breaks the tackle and keeps going.  

He made the right play.  The play he is trained to make.

[MrNubbz]

Not really he's professional now.Those circumstances come up from time to time.Coaches or the veterans should have brought this up.Not hindsight really they cost themselves some serious field position

[Kris61]

I'll just never agree with that.  He made a play on the ball like he's been coached to do his entire life. It was what? 4th and 2?  No one is in the huddle or on the sidelines telling anyone to just knock it down if the pass is more than 10 yards past the LOS.  They are just screaming for someone to make a play and get the ball back for the offense.

That's exactly what he did.  I thought it was unfair for Buck and Aikman to make it out like he made a mistake and it's unfair for you to do the same thing.  It was definitely a hindsight comment. Did that thought occur to anyone before the play?  The answer is no.  Like I said, if the receiver falls coming out of his break or whiffs on the tackle or is knocked down he's in the open field with a live ball turnover.  

[MrNubbz]

It's just like a Hail Mary however.knock the damn ball down.While the DB is trying to grab it a WR might have enough time to snatch it.Risk-reward,have to think a play ahead.There is nothing to be gained by catching instead of spiking it on 4th down(when you stand to lose field position).I understand it's second nature to try and catch it but the coaches should have been thinking instead of watching the game

[Kris61]

It's nothing like a Hail Mary.  It's not even comparable.  It was a 4th and 2 in the middle of the field.  The defense has no idea what is coming.  They just want to make a stop.

No coach, Saban, Belechick, Lombardi, no one is going to have the foresight to pull a defense over and tell them not to catch a pass in that situation because it "might" (might being the key word) cost them field position if they catch it.  You want these guys in the mindset of making a play and being ballhawks.  You don't tell them not to catch a pass on the assumption they might get tackled behind where the original LOS is.

[MrNubbz]

You're wrong these are professionals.We talked about this - 4 of us who watched the game.There are times when the ball is to be knocked away - think.I guarantee Belichick/Patricia where shaking their heads at this - seriously.Game situations/circumstances you're jockeying for field position in crunch time - really not that difficult.BB is a strategist he would think a play a head being a DC originally 

[Kris61]

So, you and your friends were talking BEFORE the ball was snapped that any pass play by NO should just be knocked down because it would likely cost the Panthers field position if it was picked and the defender was tackled past the LOS?

Of course you didn't.  After you saw the result of the play you used 20/20 hindsight to surmise that based on where he was pushed OB it would have been better if he had not made the pick.  Yeah, we all saw that.

I'd bet $100 that no coach in the world is pulling his players to the side and saying, "Remember guys, no interceptions.  Just knock it down.  We don't know what might happen if you pick it off so let's not take that chance."

[MrNubbz]

I'd take that bet because it's not that unusual.We did discuss watching one Panther DB immediately signaling "incomplete" - immediately.Why would he immediately signal that?Oh that's right because he recognized it as the mistake that it was - losing 20 yds of field in the waning minute & 1/2

[Kris61]

Yeah, Kuechly wanted it called incomplete AFTER the play.  We're all geniuses after we see the result of the play.  Me,  you, your friends, Buck, Aikman, Kuechly.

I'd love to know if Kuechly was instructing his teammates prior to the ball being snapped not to intercept any passes.

[MrNubbz]

Kris this is not about hindsight.This is about the staff going over(preparing) players for game circumstances.What happened is not that unusual.It was magnified because it was a P.O.game.Staffs go over all sorts of different situations.Literally thinking one play ahead is all.What to do & why.For instance the reason I brought up Hail Mary's too many times a DB will foolishly(on 4th down or time running out) try to pick a ball - keeping it in play long enough for a WR to grab.Instead of just spiking the damn ball down.

[MaximumSam]

It's a can't win situation.  If you bother trying to knock the ball down it might get deflected to someone else.