*Kitna named Superbowl MVP!* Official NFL 2013 Postseason thread

[smackababy]

The last game sold out in 15 minutes. Hence a 1 hour delay would be a formality with no relevance--same net effect.

Considering King County and Seattle tax payers, fans or not, have substantially funded the local stadiums local residents should absolutely get priority before non-residents. Don't like it? Go get home field for your own city. I would not have whined if WAS and ATL last year only sold tickets locally. Those cities support those teams in many ways, including financially, so reserving tickets for the local fan base should be an obvious policy.

This is only an issue because as we saw last week teams like IND and CIN do not have the luxury of ticket limitations if they want to avoid blackouts.

Yeah! Let's punish the people who have absolutely no control over the failure / success of the teams! What? Don't live in an area where the best team got home field advantage? Fuck you!

This sport is only as big as its fans. Letting owners effectively shit on them is stupid. What if I am a Seattle fan that lives outside of the area? Rather than being able to buy tickets, go to the game, and spend my money in the city, I can't. They lose money they would otherwise not be getting.

The whole "let the other guys buy them from ebay / stubhub" is stupid. Every extra dollar I spend is one less dollar that is going to the local community of the team.

 

[zinfamous]

I don't like it because I don't think it should be legal - tax free/antitrust/interstate commerce/etc

The NFL is a legalized Monopoly that is also recognized as, yes, a tax-free non-profit.

amazing. I would doubt that the typical interstate or commerce laws that apply to every other business would apply to equally to the entirely unique type of business that the NFL has created for itself.

 

[SP33Demon]

Defensive end Michael Bennett said Graham was soft and the most overrated player in the NFL, according to Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman.

Bennett and the Seahawks' defense were extra fired up because of a pregame dust-up between Graham and several Seahawks, including Bruce Irvin. It started when Irvin asked Graham to get out of the Seahawks' area, according to USA Today.

Graham's response: "I'm Jimmy."

Irvin's retort: "Who's Jimmy?"

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...ichael-bennett-jimmy-graham-is-soft-overrated

Graham is a douche thinking he can practice in Seattle's area, I'm glad Seattle shut him the fuck up and sent him packing. Soft might be the word, but probably not overrated.

 

[Childs]

Must have been an Eagles fan dressed in a 49ers fan disguise, because as previously discussed, only Eagles fans are assholes.

Since SF has started winning in baseball and football, thugs have started going to the games. I recall a recent incident where a Dodger fan was actually killed.

 

[SP33Demon]

The whole "let the other guys buy them from ebay / stubhub" is stupid. Every extra dollar I spend is one less dollar that is going to the local community of the team.

If you want to go to the game bad enough, you'll spend the money on stubhub/ebay and then go and spend more money in the other team's town. The home teams aren't stupid, they know that this is the case and if you're not diehard enough to go, someone else will. You seem to not be grasping the fact that demand > supply for these games, even with the home team ticket restrictions.

 

[davmat787]

In two games between SEA-NO this year, Jimmy Graham was held to only 4 completions for 50 yards. Going into each of those games, Graham was the NO weapon that really concerned me.

Holding Graham to only 50 yards on 4 completions is pretty damn impressive.

 

[zinfamous]

Since SF has started winning in baseball and football, thugs have started going to the games. I recall a recent incident where a Dodger fan was actually killed.

yeah, the Niners and Giants games have had a string of thug life in recent years, but this is almost exclusively due to those huge rivalry games--almost always Dodgers.

Don't forget the Giants fan that was beaten senseless at the game in LA 2 years ago and, afaik, remains in a coma.

 

[zinfamous]

as to the ticket broo-ha-ha--I tend to side with the argument of "didn't get home field advantage? well, tough titties."

but smackababy makes a good point regarding Seattle fans that live in CA not having access to tickets, as a general problem with that model. However, I would imagine that in reality, any Seattle fan living in CA is most likely from Seattle and probably has connections outside of the state, within Washington and even Oregon.

This likely wouldn't pose a problem for the majority of legit fans that would be living out of state that do want to go to the game.

 

[smackababy]

If you want to go to the game bad enough, you'll spend the money on stubhub/ebay and then go and spend more money in the other team's town. The home teams aren't stupid, they know that this is the case and if you're not diehard enough to go, someone else will. You seem to not be grasping the fact that demand > supply for these games, even with the home team ticket restrictions.

Don't get me wrong, I know if someone wants to go bad enough, they will. What I am saying is the league is fucking over every other business by forcing out of area fans to waste extra money on the tickets. That money could easily be going to more restaurants, attractions, etc and benefit more than the douche charging double for them on stub hub.

 

[MetalMat]

In two games between SEA-NO this year, Jimmy Graham was held to only 4 completions for 50 yards. Going into each of those games, Graham was the NO weapon that really concerned me.

Holding Graham to only 50 yards on 4 completions is pretty damn impressive.

For as good as Graham is he does have some flaws, in particular his blocking and lack of physicality off LOS and DBs.

The Saints really need another good WR to take some of the defensive pressure on Graham. Colston is decent but is getting older and has lost a step, Moore is trending backwards and will likely be released unless he takes a pay cut, Meachem is just meh, Stills is still raw, and our other 2 guys (Toon, Morgan) are untested.

And for you fantasy guys there is a chance Graham is listed as a WR depending on what happens with his contract negotiation.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

as to the ticket broo-ha-ha--I tend to side with the argument of "didn't get home field advantage? well, tough titties."

but smackababy makes a good point regarding Seattle fans that live in CA not having access to tickets, as a general problem with that model. However, I would imagine that in reality, any Seattle fan living in CA is most likely from Seattle and probably has connections outside of the state, within Washington and even Oregon.

This likely wouldn't pose a problem for the majority of legit fans that would be living out of state that do want to go to the game.

I like that Seattle is still selling tickets to Oregon, as though Oregon is chock-full of Seahawks fans. Granted, there are a lot of them here. But there are just as many people who are furious that the local Fox affiliate has a deal with the Seahawks that requires airing the Seattle games in the Portland-metro area for the last decade even though the team has been Godawful for most of that stretch and we've missed out on plenty of good games to watch Seattle get blown out by some equally awful team; there's a lot of jaded people here. There's also a massive contingent of 49ers fans throughout southern Oregon, which is unsurprising as Ashland is closer to San Francisco than Seattle.

 

[Imported]

You keep forgetting that if SD didnt call a timeout at 2:02, it would have been 1st down at the 2:00 mark. A play takes 40-50 seconds off the game clock. If they dont call that timeout Denver runs out the clock. They need to take that timeout before they get the ball back. There is no way around it.

It saved two seconds to call the time out. What it did was give the Broncos a chance at a free pass. I'd rather have taken the timeout after the first play after the 2 minute warning.

 

[The_Dude8]

http://imgur.com/r/Seahawks/KAW6hk2

pretty funny instagram pictures between wilson and Kap.

 

[Imported]

http://imgur.com/r/Seahawks/KAW6hk2

pretty funny instagram pictures between wilson and Kap.

Awesome way of cherry picking photos.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-s...comparison-is-totally-off-base-182213225.html

 

[SP33Demon]

Don't get me wrong, I know if someone wants to go bad enough, they will. What I am saying is the league is fucking over every other business by forcing out of area fans to waste extra money on the tickets. That money could easily be going to more restaurants, attractions, etc and benefit more than the douche charging double for them on stub hub.

I see what you're saying, but if demand is so high then a couple things:
1) I don't think the "on the cusp" fans are even going to get tickets because none will be left for them (see how fast they sold out).
2) Out of market fans, assuming they have the cash to pay demand-driven markup on tix, are still going to spend money going out to eat, going to attractions, etc. I don't think that say, an extra $200 for tickets = $200 less for the city. What is more likely to happen is that the fan's total budget goes up by $200. I could be wrong but most fans who make the trip are already expecting to drop some serious cash because of airfare to get there. Hence an extra $200 or so for tix isn't going to be that big of a deal when taken as a total percentage of airfare, hotel, and meals.

 

[smackababy]

Awesome way of cherry picking photos.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-s...comparison-is-totally-off-base-182213225.html

Yeah! Our QB is such a charitable guy we have to have articles written about how much of a charitable guy he is to combat some silly internet picture!


I am not saying Kaep is a bad guy, because he doesn't seem like one at all, but he is going up against the classiest of classy guys, Russell Wilson.

 

[SP33Demon]

For as good as Graham is he does have some flaws, in particular his blocking and lack of physicality off LOS and DBs.

The Saints really need another good WR to take some of the defensive pressure on Graham. Colston is decent but is getting older and has lost a step, Moore is trending backwards and will likely be released unless he takes a pay cut, Meachem is just meh, Stills is still raw, and our other 2 guys (Toon, Morgan) are untested.

And for you fantasy guys there is a chance Graham is listed as a WR depending on what happens with his contract negotiation.

Graham could be franchised as a WR? That would be amazing, I'd make him my second pick if so - assuming he would be designated with a WR/TE label. The flexibility would be amazing with such a label, I've only seen Tim Wright of the Bucs with that (yahoo standard).

 

[Atomic Playboy]

It saved two seconds to call the time out. What it did was give the Broncos a chance at a free pass. I'd rather have taken the timeout after the first play after the 2 minute warning.

Honestly, I don't like where the Chargers called their timeouts either. I think using them before the 2 minute warning is ideal, but they should have done it after Moreno's 1 yard run with 2:50ish left on the clock. Waiting until Denver has run off 40 seconds and then converts a first down doesn't help you, and the argument can certainly be made that stopping the clock two seconds from a designated stoppage gives Denver a free look at a pass play (although pass plays also carry a higher chance of a turnover, in the form of a strip-sack, interception or receiver fumble, and Manning did have one pick thrown on the day). But really, this game was decided when the Chargers couldn't prevent the Broncos from picking up a first down from third and 17 with 3 minutes left. If they can't stop that play, they aren't stopping anything Denver has to offer, regardless of how judiciously they use their timeouts.

 

[Imported]

Honestly, I don't like where the Chargers called their timeouts either. I think using them before the 2 minute warning is ideal, but they should have done it after Moreno's 1 yard run with 2:50ish left on the clock. Waiting until Denver has run off 40 seconds and then converts a first down doesn't help you, and the argument can certainly be made that stopping the clock two seconds from a designated stoppage gives Denver a free look at a pass play (although pass plays also carry a higher chance of a turnover, in the form of a strip-sack, interception or receiver fumble, and Manning did have one pick thrown on the day). But really, this game was decided when the Chargers couldn't prevent the Broncos from picking up a first down from third and 17 with 3 minutes left. If they can't stop that play, they aren't stopping anything Denver has to offer, regardless of how judiciously they use their timeouts.

Yup. Converting third and 17 was the killer.

 

[Childs]

It saved two seconds to call the time out. What it did was give the Broncos a chance at a free pass. I'd rather have taken the timeout after the first play after the 2 minute warning.

Thats fine, but it wasnt the pass that hurt SD, it was the runs. In this scenario SD would rather have Denver pass. SD gave up a 3 yard pass, which also is an int opportunity, but then gave up 6 and 5 yard runs. But really SD had no good options after they gave up the 3rd and 17 that Denver converted. Then they gave up the first down which forced the timeout at 2:02. At that point its just about prolonging the game and hoping for Denver to make a mistake. They had their chances, but a timeout right before or right after the 2:00 mark doesnt really change things. The one thing they couldnt do is hold onto the timeout.

 

[SlitheryDee]

.

In two games between SEA-NO this year, Jimmy Graham was held to only 4 completions for 50 yards. Going into each of those games, Graham was the NO weapon that really concerned me.

Holding Graham to only 50 yards on 4 completions is pretty damn impressive.

My feeling is that Graham wasn't terribly effective toward the latter half of the season though. He added a few touchdowns to his total in the last few games, but those were often the only passes he caught in entire games. In a way you could argue that he was drawing enough attention to get the rest of the receiving corps open, but there were times during the year that he was essentially shut down by one good cover guy. Seattle managed to cover him without seeming to give him any extra attention too. Not sure who they had on him, but really anyone in their secondary is good enough to do it. Seattle is great at frustrating offenses, making it seem like nothing they do can work. Teams that can maintain a decent running attack throughout the game can be effective, but Seattle has a tendency to clamp down on that eventually as well.

The only time I saw NO make any real headway was when time was running down and they started running a faster paced offense. Suddenly they were grabbing yardage in huge chunks and scoring rapidly. For some reason Seattle wasn't able to keep up with that as well. It makes me wonder how Chip Kelly's offense would have fared against them since the Eagles have been trying to play entire games at that pace.

 

[SP33Demon]

Yeah! Our QB is such a charitable guy we have to have articles written about how much of a charitable guy he is to combat some silly internet picture!
I am not saying Kaep is a bad guy, because he doesn't seem like one at all, but he is going up against the classiest of classy guys, Russell Wilson.

Yep, agree. Kaep may do charities as well, but keep in mind he's also a hot dog. When was the last time Russell Wilson's teammate had to answer questions from the media for hotdogging?

"I don't fault him for that," Davis said. "Look, I can't judge him. We can't judge him. He was just excited. I'm sure he and Cam are good friends. I'm sure they're close. He didn't mean any harm at all."

http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/201...rancisco-49ers-mocks-cam-newton-superman-pose

Vernon making excuses for Kaep, "He was just excited". You would never see anyone have to make excuses for Russell Wilson because he's the epitome of class. There is no question of who's more mature/humble, and maybe that will change in the future for Kaep but he isn't there yet. Wilson is not only statistically better than Kaep but more mature as well.

 

[lupi]

Picks this week gonna suck. I put both of them at about 55/45 for the home team.

 

[dainthomas]

Yep, agree. Kaep may do charities as well, but keep in mind he's also a hot dog. When was the last time Russell Wilson's teammate had to answer questions from the media for hotdogging?


http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/201...rancisco-49ers-mocks-cam-newton-superman-pose

Vernon making excuses for Kaep, "He was just excited". You would never see anyone have to make excuses for Russell Wilson because he's the epitome of class. There is no question of who's more mature/humble, and maybe that will change in the future for Kaep but he isn't there yet. Wilson is not only statistically better than Kaep but more mature as well.

I don't really mind Kaepernick any more than most NFL quarterbacks. He comes across as fairly narcissistic, but not significantly more than a lot of them.

My problem is with Harbaugh. He seems to epitomize the entire "forty-whiner" mindset. If you cry enough about every penalty (or lack thereof) then people will start to believe you. No matter how obvious the call, he'll scream at the refs about it. You have to think they get tired of his non-stop jawing after a couple hours.

 

[MetalMat]

Graham could be franchised as a WR? That would be amazing, I'd make him my second pick if so - assuming he would be designated with a WR/TE label. The flexibility would be amazing with such a label, I've only seen Tim Wright of the Bucs with that (yahoo standard).

It depends on what happens if the Saints have to go down the franchise tag road. Graham's agents will argue that he has been playing more as a WR than a TE and the issue would go into arbitration.

If it's concluded that he played the WR roll more then the Saints would be forced to franchise him as a WR which is quite a bit more expensive ( 6.5 mill for TE vs. 13.5 mill for WR) and would be rough for the Saints already dreary 2014 salary cap issues.

Low chance this happens though, I think they will come to a reasonable agreement to avoid this and he will stay with New Orleans as a TE. Either way I doubt he will be listed as a WR/TE, it is going to be one or the other.