NFL 2012: AFC/NFC Championships and beyond

[mobvok]

Games played on January 20th

NFC: Niners @ Falcons (3pm EST)
AFC: Ravens @ Patriots (6:30 pm EST)

One thread for only two weekends of play. Nice.

Gronkowski out for the rest of the postseason w/ a broken arm.

 

[PhilsFan]

Regarding the PBP discussion ... I like Buck as well. He tries too hard to be cool, but he is as solid as anyone.

I consider myself studied in this.

 

[LemonMelon]

Django Unchained was indeed more entertaining than the Pats/Texans game.

 

[trojanchick99]

I can't stand Buck. I do however like Michaels a ton. My favorite combos are Michaels/Collingsworth and Tirico/Gruden. I love me some Chucky.

I'm incredibly nervous for Sunday. I like the SF/ATL matchup, but I hate the cross country travel.

 

[PhilsFan]

A Brief Word About Joe Buck's "We Will See You Tomorrow Night" Call

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Apparently mobvok doesn't know what year it is.

 

[mobvok]

every regular season game was in 2012. So I still think of it as the 2012 season

 

[bono_212]

I thought it was always considered the 2012 game

 

[PhilsFan]

Hey, Mobster, it sounds like Gus Bradley is the next head coach of the Eagles. What should I be feeling? From what I hear, he sounds like a good hire.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Let's go 49ers-Pats!

I need to win something after two disgraceful seasons of Pick'em.

 

[PhilsFan]

Yeah, Niners-Pats would make for a great Super Bowl matchup.

 

[mobvok]

Hey, Mobster, it sounds like Gus Bradley is the next head coach of the Eagles. What should I be feeling? From what I hear, he sounds like a good hire.

I'm annoyed, which is a good thing for you.

Flashback: in 2009, Jim Mora replaces Mike Holmgren, and brings in Gus Bradley as DC. They spend a lot of time in the offseason talking about developing some bold new "West Coast Defense" which would be flexible and incorporate both 4-3 and 3-4 concepts and hopefully shake up the game. Well, the 2009 season was a complete wreck and the defense stunk. This was not entirely the coaches' fault, as the Seahawks were old and had bad players, but still..... and Jim Mora and GM Tim Ruskell were fired (Ruskell landed with the Bears FO, who led them to great glory).

Enter Pete Carroll, who overhauls the entire FO, but....keeps Gus Bradley, and incorporate his own blend of 4-3 and 3-4 concepts.

For the last 3 years the Seahawks have been pretty creative on defense, and obviously have done well drafting remarkable talent/picking it off the scrap heap. It's hard to tease apart who is responsible for what given Carroll obviously casts a shadow in the organization, but on a most basic level of competence (do they blitz enough, do they blitz too much, does the defense adjust well, do they look prepared for screens/end arounds?) I have no complaints with Gus Bradley. He seems like a smart guy. My biggest annoyance is that he's likely being hired to install a similar type of defense as Seattle, so the price of players Seattle wants will rise as competition increases.

As to whether he'd be a good head coach, I guess it's hard to tell without being in the interview, but I'd say the odds are as good as any other first-time HC working out. I grant you +3 Cautious Optimism. He's not going to be a Pat Shurmur/ Romeo Crennel style trainwreck.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

And the Seahawks' offensive coordinator is one of the three finalists for the position of CHICAGO BEARS HEAD COACH.

 

[mobvok]

Darrell Bevel's an interesting case. The first year, he was saddled with Tarvaris Jackson at QB, where the most you could say was that the run game looked like something we could build around.

Bevel's play calling this season has looked about as good as Russell Wilson has been, which is to say that he got better as time went on. I suspect that means he wasn't very good at fighting with one hand behind his back, and was more comfortable calling plays with an open playbook by the end of the season. The way we've integrated the read-option this season despite Wilson not using it in college has been a solid mark in his favor.

Some Minnesota fans might have negative feelings from his time there, but again: Tarvaris Jackson. All I know is that Russell Wilson loves the guy, and it's going to suck if both OC and DC get plucked away. But maybe if you love someone, you must let them fly away.

I'd be +2 Cautious Optimism.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

and it's going to suck if both OC and DC get plucked away.

Yeah, I wonder when the last time a team's O and D coordinators BOTH gained head coaching positions with other teams in the same year.

 

[PhilsFan]

Latest rumor is that if Bradley becomes the head coach, the Eagles would pursue Ken Whisenhunt for offensive coordinator. I think I'd be on board with that.

 

[mobvok]

They'd need a steady hand guiding the QB search. It would be concerning to me that Whiz was so awful at prospectively evaluating quarterbacks, to the point where Arizona may have been 6-10 or 7-9 this season with just a below average QB. Their defense was ridiculously talented for how the team overall faired.

 

[No spoken words]

FARED, please.

 

[mobvok]

FARED, please.

tr.v. faired, fair·ing, fairs
To join (pieces) so as to be smooth, even, or regular: faired the aircraft's wing into the fuselage.

The team, as elements of offense and defense, did not fair together well.

 

[No spoken words]

But you meant fared. You know it.

Spoiler

I know it.

And I hope someone shoves a wing up your fuselage.

 

[phanan]

Yeah, I wonder when the last time a team's O and D coordinators BOTH gained head coaching positions with other teams in the same year.

Crennel and Weis left the Patriots the same year, but of course not exactly the same thing since Weis went to Notre Dame.

 

[mobvok]

But you meant fared. You know it.

 

[No spoken words]

I....um.....fuck.....

I would like to issue a public and heartfelt apology to Mobvok and all of his fans for stating that Mobvok misused a word. Mobvok has a very long track record of grammatical excellence and it was unwise of me to question his usage of "faired". In the future, I will be much more careful with who I cast aspersions against, and I hope that Mobvok, his fans and the fine city of Seattle will forgive me. God bless America.

 

[mobvok]

Apology accepted.

...I probably have to retire that GIF now. A nuclear weapon is best stored, not used.

 

[bono_212]

I hope it makes appearances once or twice a season forevermore.

 

[mobvok]

L'entraîneur des Alouettes est maintenant entraîneur Da Bears!

 

[BoMac]

You've got a good one in Trestman, GAFman.

 

[PhilsFan]

Chip Kelly?

 

[mobvok]

YES

He's finally OUT OF THE PAC 12.

Guy is sneaky ill give him that. Did not see this coming.

 

[BoMac]

Saw a tweet that Philly fans will now be confused with the competent clock management. Sad, but true.