dave mcbride

Turns out it was freaking Al Riveron — who has no business being employed as an NFL official — who made the decision: ”The final minute had a major controversy, with the Colts’ Zach Pascal appearing to fumble and the Bills recovering to seal the win. The officials ruled Pascal down on the field and the replay official didn’t signal for a review, but Bills coach Sean McDermott called timeout, and during the timeout the play was reviewed. Most observers weighing in on social media thought it was a fumble, but Al Riveron in the league’s officiating office decided that the ruling on the field would stand.” https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/01/09/bills-hold-on-to-beat-colts-in-wild-postseason-opener/

I watched it again—it’s obvious in second viewing. The colts were absolutely jobbed, but screw ‘em after the non-reversal on the fumble.

The Colts are legit good.

One thing to note: the refs did screw the colts at the end. After the Colts receiver got out of bounds with 19 seconds, they stopped the clock. They line up while the clock is stopped, and then five seconds before rivers snapped it, they started it! The bills called TO, and it was set to 14 seconds instead of 19 (which was the correct amount of time left). But still, it should never have come to that because FUMBLE.

I am not over that non reversal. That was CLEARLY and obviously a fumble. Grrr.

Yup, and Hurts is terrible. 3.6 ypa and a 35 percent completion rate! He is not good, but he is better than Hurts.

Do you think Tua is anywhere near as good or as promising as Herbert? I sure don’t.

Why do you think he’ll claim racism given that he’s never done such a thing in his career? Hmm.

This is simply false. In 2018, through the first 8 games, he was one of the best QBs in the league, and particularly from the pocket. The Panthers were 6-2 and he had 15 TD passes and 4 INTs. He was on pace for a second MVP season. He then injured his rotator cuff and was never the same. It is quite literally the worst injury a QB can suffer.

Makes me wonder if Beasley is more hurt than they’re letting on.

Speaking of names dating back to the early 1990s, my fantasy teams have always been named “The God Squad.” A friend of mine bartended at Jim Kelly’s bar back in the day, and the players would all hang out there. Reich, Metzelaars, and I think Beebe would always come in together a little bit later than the other players and then hang out as a group. They were all bible-quoting teetotalers (but of course nice people, unlike Bruce Smith, who my friend said was the worst tipper ever) so my friend dubbed them “The God Squad.” Hence my team name.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_Street

Good take on Darnold: https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/12/21/22193382/jets-rams-upset-ripple-effects-draft-trevor-lawrence-sam-darnold

Yeah, agreed. I thought they were stupid to not kick the fg and make it a 4-score game, effectively ending it then and there.

He got it, but that call has to be a QB sneak *every single time*. Maybe in a closer game they sneak it; it was a blowout at that point and perhaps they wanted to try and see if they could succeed with the RB.

Totally disagree. The bills have a second home game in their sights. The last thing you want is facing kc in arrowhead in round 2. If pitt loses another and the bills win out, they’d be in line for a second home playoff game. The bills still need to win out! 🙂

I did see Butler come back in fwiw.

Intentional tackling is by definition “forcible” (as opposed to unintentional incidental). I don’t think that’s debatable. As I said, the rule is what it is, and it’s clear. We just have live with it. If you’re a defender on the ground, accept the fact that you can’t a sack a qb or do a qb hit until you stand up again.

He literally tried to tackle him low! Come on, Simon! Don’t get me wrong - I have issues with the rule, but it is what it is and it’s pretty clear.

Um ... wrapping him up low is absolutely a penalty. “A rushing defender is prohibited from forcibly hitting in the knee area or below a passer who has one or both feet on the ground, even if the initial contact is above the knee.” I wouldn’t be surprised if the extended delay was due to the league office contacting the refs and telling them that they completely missed the call.

No, it was completely legit. He deliberately plowed into the defender four yards down the field.

I have no problem with any of the calls today. I thought the call on milano was legit too — it followed the rule about hitting the qb low, which he absolutely did.

Everyone of those calls was legit. Every damn one. The bills need to look themselves in the mirror with regard to the red zone penalties.

Why is it such a terrible program? I mean, they are a major state university (with a top-five engineering school and a top-five computer science school at the graduate level) that's been in a top conference forever, and the program is truly ancient, going back to the 1890s. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/illinois/. I can't quite figure it out. They're the most populous state in the midwest too, and it's a state with a great football culture (i.e., the Bears).

I don't mean to sound too harsh toward Knox, and this perhaps IS too harsh, but I ... kinda feel like he still could (and maybe should) have caught that goal-line pass despite being interfered with prior to the ball hitting him right in the hands. Diggs probably would have caught it. I do realize it's tough to catch a pass with a defender whacking you before it arrives. It was a perfect throw.