Why the Patriots rock

[MrBrau1]

Refs lighten up on penalties in the playoffs cause they know LARGE amounts of people are watching. They don't wanna annoy them w/ tons of yellow flags. It's salesmanship, the NFL tries to put it's best foot forward. I'm more bothered by FOX interviewing some NASCAR dude during halftime of the NFC Championship .

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

nice of tom brady to skip practice to sit in on the state of the union address...

 

[Chizip]

Refs lighten up on penalties in the playoffs cause they know LARGE amounts of people are watching. They don't wanna annoy them w/ tons of yellow flags. It's salesmanship, the NFL tries to put it's best foot forward. I'm more bothered by FOX interviewing some NASCAR dude during halftime of the NFC Championship .

but dont they want the most exciting type of play on the field. holding and clutching onto recievers only slows the game down and makes it less exciting. its like the neutral zone trap that has ruined the nhl.

 

[Hewson]

nice of tom brady to skip practice to sit in on the state of the union address...

I wasn't aware the pats had practice at 9PM last night.

 

[Hewson]

Oh and the Boss's wife, Olive and anyone else should feel free to post here, like speedracer said, the original post was about U2 music at Gillette (a common ocurrence), and there need be no prequalification to posting about your local sports team, many people pay more attention as the stakes are raised in the post season, its part of the appeal of championships, they bring together the die hard and casual fan alike.

 

[Leeloo]

but dont they want the most exciting type of play on the field. holding and clutching onto recievers only slows the game down and makes it less exciting. its like the neutral zone trap that has ruined the nhl.

This is true, this causes less touchdowns and bombs which is what makes the game exciting, and also who wouldn't want it to be fair and get an honest result? I agree about the NHL too.

 

[MrBrau1]

How isn't it fair if they do it to both teams?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

the colts lose half their game plan if they can't throw the ball long... the pats don't look to throw long, so it doesn't effect them as much.

but i don't blame the officials... as long as it's within the 5 yard bump zone, ty law can level marvin harrison for all i care. if the refs are letting it go, and the pats are being overly physical, then the colts simply need to adjust their game plan at halftime. they did, relying more on edge james in the third quarter... but they didn't make nearly enough of an adjustment with their passing game.

if i were the pats, the thing i'd be the most worried about is the fact that despite dominating the colts physicaly on both sides of the ball for the entire game, peyton manning still had the ball in his hands with 2 minutes to go and a chance to send the game to OT. they never could put together the knock-out punch to send the colts packing. that's why i think this super bowl is comming down to the last 5 minutes... the pats might have a slight edge defensively, but that edge is very very slight. brady's a better QB than delhomme, but delhomme doesn't make many mistakes, and the panthers can run the ball better than new england can.

i think this 7 point, 6 1/2 point, whatever it is now spread is way too high... these teams are much closer than that.

 

[oliveu2cm]

Oh and the Boss's wife, Olive and anyone else should feel free to post here, like speedracer said, the original post was about U2 music at Gillette (a common ocurrence), and there need be no prequalification to posting about your local sports team, many people pay more attention as the stakes are raised in the post season, its part of the appeal of championships, they bring together the die hard and casual fan alike.

Thanks Hewson- you're absolutely right. And I don't see the need for anyone to have to justify their level of "fandom" - it's like mocking a new U2 fan on the board for assuming they are only just discovering the band Anyway I've come to expect this behavior at times.

And I'm still psyched about the Pats.

 

[Hewson]

the colts lose half their game plan if they can't throw the ball long... the pats don't look to throw long, so it doesn't effect them as much.

Now I know you don't watch the Pats in the reg. season, but I assume you watch the playoffs...you do recall the first score vs. Tennessee was a perfectly thrown bomb from Brady to Bethel Johnson. And you should have seen that the Pats employ a 5 wideout set quite frequently, in fact most frequently in the NFL. And the Colts if you look at the numbers, run the ball more than the Pats. So if the refs are calling the game both ways, physical play should in fact favor the Colts D if they have the secondary to play the style...problem is their D-backs aren't nearly as physical as Law, Harrison and Co., and their slight receivers (much like the Lambs in SuperBowl XXXVI) can't stay on their routes in a physical game. Thats why their most effective receiver Sunday was Pollard. Tough to knock that guy off his route, whereas a stiff wind might knock Starvin' Marvin off of his.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

the pats throw the ball more often because they have to thanks to their limited ability to run the ball. so they run by passing... lots of 5-10 yard outs, slants and passing to the running back out of the flat, where-as the colts have more of a vertical passing attack, where they use edge james to force the defense to put an extra man in the box, opening things up for their recievers. yes, brady is a very capable quarterback and the defense has to respect his ability to go long, but it's not exactly something they're looking to do on a regular basis.

again... i'm not making excuses for the colts. no ref has ever cost a team a game... ever. great teams make adjustments... wether that be adjusting to what the other team is doing, adjusting to the weather, adjusting to the officiating. the colts didn't do a good enough job adjusting, and they lost the game...

... but if i were a pats fan i'd still be worried about the fact that the colts played like absolute dog shit and still had the ball with 2 minutes to go and a chance to send the game to overtime...

i still favor the pats over the panthers, but i think it's comming down to a field goal.