NFL Playoffs Thread

amacachi · 08-01-2012 02:50AM

Lovely.

Kylo Ren · 08-01-2012 02:52AM

What a throw from Brees.

Paully D · 08-01-2012 02:58AM

That wrong decision from the referee to blow for an incomplete pass when it was a fumble could be very costly come the end of this game.

Also, the Lions need to get a grip on the Saints running game very soon.

Tristram · 08-01-2012 03:02AM

I wonder if we will see Detroit's discipline problems coming to the fore as this progresses.

Kylo Ren · 08-01-2012 03:14AM

Expected a good game and we were given one.

Pudsy33 · 08-01-2012 03:24AM

Get in Matty! lovely play

Paully D · 08-01-2012 03:35AM

The Lions just cannot stop 3rd or 4th downs and it will ultimately cost them this game.

Paully D · 08-01-2012 03:49AM

That's that then.

Very enjoyable game, but that wrong whistle by the referee will cast a bit of a black cloud over it as the Lions were going to run that back for a TD.

That said, the Lions had the lead twice, had possession after 2 Saints turnovers and did nothing with it. The Saints were very productive on 3rd and 4th downs, and the Lions couldn't stop their running game at all.

The Saints were deserving winners and are such a force on offense with a great running and passing game.

Roll on tomorrows games!

davyjose · 08-01-2012 03:58AM

Stafford/Johnson still such an awesome combo. Can't wait to see what kinda stats these guys are gonna put up over the years. They are the core of a SB winning side.

jimjimjimmy · 08-01-2012 06:20AM

jimjimjimmy wrote: »

Who Dat! Saints win this one by 10+ points.

Ha, love it when I'm right, especially when I predict my team's victory! Who Dat!

Think we'll win it all.

basillarkin · 08-01-2012 01:19PM

jimjimjimmy wrote: »

Ha, love it when I'm right, especially when I predict my team's victory! Who Dat!

Think we'll win it all.

Long way to go yet, I don't see NO winning it out,they will come a cropper soon enough. A better team would have stopped them on some of those 3rd and 4th down converions. On two of their touchdowns the cornerback went awol. As Paully D said the Lions unlucky not to return the fumble for 6. Their defence gives up too many points imo. To win the superbow,l a solid defence in the most important ingredient imo.

matthew8 · 08-01-2012 01:27PM

basillarkin wrote: »

Long way to go yet, I don't see NO winning it out,they will come a cropper soon enough. A better team would have stopped them on some of those 3rd and 4th down converions. On two of their touchdowns the cornerback went awol. As Paully D said the Lions unlucky not to return the fumble for 6. Their defence gives up too many points imo. To win the superbow,l a solid defence in the most important ingredient imo.

I wouldn't say the most important ingredient, QB is the most important ingredient for a championship, last 8 have been won by Brady, Brady, Roethlisberger, Manning, Manning, Roethlisberger, Brees and Rodgers. I don't think the Saints defense played all that bad against Detroit, they were forced to air it out the whole time. Detroit can air it out against you, but San Francisco won't be able to.

Paully D · 08-01-2012 01:50PM

basillarkin wrote: »

Their defence gives up too many points imo. To win the superbow,l a solid defence in the most important ingredient imo.

I'm not so sure that's the case to be honest.

Green Bay are clear favourites (with the bookmakers at least) to win the Super Bowl and they rank bottom of the regular season total defence, New England are second favourites along with New Orleans and both those teams rank 2nd from bottom and 24th out of the 32 teams respectively.

So basically the 3 favourites for the Super Bowl are ranked as 3 of the worst in terms of defence in the league.

I'm not so sure a solid defence is that important if you have an offence putting up an average of 35 points a game.

heartofwhite · 08-01-2012 01:52PM

I believe that the Ravens will go all the way this year. Would love to see them play the Patriots for the Championship. Hoping the Steelers do not win tonight but believe they will.

adrian522 · 08-01-2012 02:58PM

Paully D wrote: »

I'm not so sure that's the case to be honest.

Green Bay are clear favourites (with the bookmakers at least) to win the Super Bowl and they rank bottom of the regular season total defence, New England are second favourites along with New Orleans and both those teams rank 2nd from bottom and 24th out of the 32 teams respectively.

So basically the 3 favourites for the Super Bowl are ranked as 3 of the worst in terms of defence in the league.

I'm not so sure a solid defence is that important if you have an offence putting up an average of 35 points a game.

Jaysus to listen to the analysis of some of the experts the 49ers may as well not turn up next week.

The Saints may well put up 35 points per game at home but on the road their average is more like 24 points. I think the 49ers have an above average defense don't see Willis and Bowman giving up huge runs like that.

If the 49ers O-line performs and we get the run game going I would give the 49ers a decent chance. A good defense still counts for something.

Saints are probably 3 or 4 points favourites but not much more than that IMO.

mikemac1 · 08-01-2012 03:03PM

Saints and Lions was like watching a computer game. Ok that can sound ridiculous but just making a point

Terrible tackling like Sproles rushing TD in the second half and the constant going for it on fourth down

I'm not liking the way this league is going, defense becomes unimportant, just rack up the points

Sometimes the best games are brutal, hard hitting, nervous, low scoring games

Pudsy33 · 08-01-2012 03:05PM

mikemac1 wrote: »

Saints and Lions was like watching a computer game. Ok that can sound ridiculous but just making a point

Terrible tackling like Sproles rushing TD in the second half and the constant going for it on fourth down

I'm not liking the way this league is going, defense becomes unimportant, just rack up the points

Sometimes the best games are brutal, hard hitting, nervous, low scoring games

Think we'll see one of them in Denver tonight

Raoul · 08-01-2012 03:09PM

Do you think that is down to less emphasis put on Defense in general?

I think it is just down to great quarterbacks. Plus I think defences put a lot of emphasis on trying to get the takeaway rather than limiting teams to short yardage. Last night was ridiculous but I thought it was great to watch (except for the Lions losing of course). Brees was unbelievable, Stafford just lacked a little bit of composure I thought with his picks.

I also think that we should have gotten a td from the fumble but I don't think it would have made a difference as I think Brees would just score more points!

matthew8 · 08-01-2012 03:11PM

adrian522 wrote: »

Jaysus to listen to the analysis of some of the experts the 49ers may as well not turn up next week.

The Saints may well put up 35 points per game at home but on the road their average is more like 24 points. I think the 49ers have an above average defense don't see Willis and Bowman giving up huge runs like that.

If the 49ers O-line performs and we get the run game going I would give the 49ers a decent chance. A good defense still counts for something.

Saints are probably 3 or 4 points favourites but not much more than that IMO.

The thing is that NO are on a 9 game winning streak, and in 5 of their last 7 have put up 40 points, while SF have looked exposed recently.

spiralism · 08-01-2012 03:23PM

adrian522 wrote: »

Jaysus to listen to the analysis of some of the experts the 49ers may as well not turn up next week.

The Saints may well put up 35 points per game at home but on the road their average is more like 24 points. I think the 49ers have an above average defense don't see Willis and Bowman giving up huge runs like that.

If the 49ers O-line performs and we get the run game going I would give the 49ers a decent chance. A good defense still counts for something.

Saints are probably 3 or 4 points favourites but not much more than that IMO.

If the Saints put up 24 points will the Niners be able to match that though? Saints defence is underrated, and the Niners have only put up over 30 points 3 times all year (all of them against bad teams, 2 at home). This Saints offence is a bona fide juggernaught (the best the NFL has seen since the Greatest Show on Turf), SF will do extremely well to keep them under 24 points.

spiralism · 08-01-2012 03:27PM

davyjose wrote: »

Stafford/Johnson still such an awesome combo. Can't wait to see what kinda stats these guys are gonna put up over the years. They are the core of a SB winning side.

I think last night we saw two future SB winning teams with them and Houston. Texans with a ton of injuries go 10-6 and win in the playoffs, next year with another draft and FA on top of getting Mario Williams and Schaub back they'll be a force to be reckoned with.

Detroit were unlucky with how things worked out, i'd have fancied them a lot more going to NY than the Superdome where the Saints are pretty much invincible.

adrian522 · 08-01-2012 03:50PM

Raoul wrote: »

Plus I think defences put a lot of emphasis on trying to get the takeaway rather than limiting teams to short yardage. Last night was ridiculous but I thought it was great to watch (except for the Lions losing of course). Brees was unbelievable, Stafford just lacked a little bit of composure I thought with his picks.

Yes but the Lions also had chances to pick off Brees on at least 3 occasions. It's a completely different game if the Lions get that TD and another 3 picks.

matthew8 wrote: »

The thing is that NO are on a 9 game winning streak, and in 5 of their last 7 have put up 40 points, while SF have looked exposed recently.

True but they have also lost to 2 of the worst teams in the league. Also 49ers have had a few injuries recently which will hopefully be sorted by next weekend.

spiralism wrote: »

If the Saints put up 24 points will the Niners be able to match that though? Saints defence is underrated, and the Niners have only put up over 30 points 3 times all year (all of them against bad teams, 2 at home). This Saints offence is a bona fide juggernaught (the best the NFL has seen since the Greatest Show on Turf), SF will do extremely well to keep them under 24 points.

I think the 49ers are capable of putting up 24-27 points, they really need to improve red zone offense though. The big question for me is can the limit the saints to about 24? It will require a supreme defensive performance no doubt but I think the 49ers have a big performance in them. They will need to control TOP though something the Lions failed to do,

TBH I'm really looking forward to this one...

Raoul · 08-01-2012 03:58PM

adrian522 wrote: »

Yes but the Lions also had chances to pick off Brees on at least 3 occasions. It's a completely different game if the Lions get that TD and another 3 picks.

Not sure about another 3 picks but definitely Berry should have had 1 that would have made the game a lot more interesting. The D was awful for the last saints td, someone should have gotten across to help Smith.

Morrisseeee · 08-01-2012 04:28PM

Felt sorry for the Bengals last night, they were right in with a shout until Dalton threw that pick 6, and it wasn't his 1st low throw either, it just seems lazy, it's as if he doesn't realize the guy is going to raise his hand/s to stop the throw.
Someone else mentioned it earlier, Crocker had a shocker, and he did. Jones wasn't much better.
Brees & the Saints are unstoppable..............inside, but will they have such dominance outdoors ?! More praise should go to the O-line tho, they really let Brees make hay. Stafford had some poor throws, but also had some excellent throws, right on the numbers, one into tripple coverage at one stage.
Hopefully tonights games will be close & exciting, I won't mind if the Broncos loose, as long as they play well & give an honest account of themselves.
Come on Tebow, I believe

Red Crow · 08-01-2012 05:21PM

Brent Grimes is inactive today.

Bad news for Atlanta.

human 19 · 08-01-2012 05:55PM

no major inactives for the Giants.

LB Mark Herzlich

C Jim Cordle

DT Jimmy Kennedy

T James Brewer

WR Ramses Barden

DE Justin Trattou

C'mon Giants.. lets have another crack at the Packers next week

poldebruin · 08-01-2012 06:13PM

just where you don't want to be against the Giants - third and long. Could be in for a proper playoff game here, consecutive 3 and outs from each team.