12/21/24
January 19, 2014
Seahawks Edge Niners: Seattle forced three fourth-quarter turnovers and Russell Wilson threw a 35-yard touchdown pass on fourth down for the winning points in a 23-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, sending the Seahawks into Super Bowl 0x30 against the Denver Broncos. The Seahawks are an early one-point favorite.
Yeah, the officiating has been forehead-slap worthy.
posted by NoMich at 08:19 PM on January 19, 2014
I hate it when Harbaugh's tantrums are justified, but that personal foul penalty after the 4th down in the 1st half on Carlos Rogers was baffling.
posted by dfleming at 08:31 PM on January 19, 2014
That TD throw from Kaepernick was sick. On the run, into basically zero room for error.
posted by dfleming at 08:42 PM on January 19, 2014
This crew ain't working the Super Bowl. Pereira is flat-out calling them out.
posted by Etrigan at 09:09 PM on January 19, 2014
Pretty nifty coaching from Carroll on the 4th and 7. The primary target was to draw the 49ers offside and shorten the 4th down; the free-play throw and TD was just a bonus.
posted by etagloh at 09:22 PM on January 19, 2014
At least Bowman's fumble recovery that wasn't called didn't wind up costing the Niners points. Too bad the guy had to get hurt, though.
posted by dyams at 09:28 PM on January 19, 2014
Not a showcase for good officiating or review calls...
That non-fumble-recovery call was thankfully evened out by the gods of football on the next play.
posted by grum@work at 09:28 PM on January 19, 2014
Wow, this 4th quarter is a bit of a train wreck for all involved.
posted by jeremias at 09:31 PM on January 19, 2014
Teflon should consider signing Lynch as a commercial spokesperson. The dude is almost untackleable.
posted by grum@work at 09:35 PM on January 19, 2014
Stupid game theory idea here:
Seattle doesn't go for the field goal to go up 6.
You either get the touchdown to go up 10, or stay at up 3.
If you're up 6, the 49ers have to play for a touchdown, and the near-automatic extra point means they'd win if they pull it off.
If you're up 3, the 49ers will probably play for the field goal to tie, giving the Seahawks a chance to win in overtime.
So if you think you can't stop the offence, then you stay only 3 points ahead.
posted by grum@work at 09:42 PM on January 19, 2014
That interception was infuckingcredible!!! In a house full of Seahawks fans here in Seattle, and it went nuts- as did most every home and sports bar in Seattle, I'm sure...
posted by hincandenza at 10:00 PM on January 19, 2014
Oh hell yes, put a microphone in front of Richard Sherman right as the game ends, before he has time to get his head out of game mode. My love for Erin Andrews keeps growing.
posted by fumblerooski at 10:15 PM on January 19, 2014
Cue the Kanye memes: "Yo, Richard Sherman, I'm real happy for you, and imma let you finish, but Beyonce was the best corner of all time. Of all time!"
posted by hincandenza at 10:53 PM on January 19, 2014
Good throw, Crabtree had Sherman beat and it looked like a TD - great defensive recovery to get a hand in. Certainly saved Pete Carroll's ass after that bone headed gamble on 4th down up by 6 points.
It's clear from this game that the players ability to make plays has far surpassed the officials capability to make the correct calls. Great game, brutal officiating.
posted by cixelsyd at 11:08 PM on January 19, 2014
I agree, for example that fumble that wasn't at the 1 yard line for Seattle (which quickly proved irrelevent) being a prime example.
They should just institute booth-based instant replay, on ALL plays. A team up in a booth watches multiple feeds in real time, just like fans at home but with a better setup, and can hit a panic button at any time for "booth review", signalling a pause in play to potentially prevent another snap, and a formal review. They then review the feeds in slo-mo, and have the ability to oveeturn the call on the field.
People croak about this, imaging games taking 4+ hours... and all new replay rules are a big to-do in the off-season. But really, they'd likely only use it a few times a game, and it'd be happening at the same time as viewers at home were watching replays already at home, so it wouldn't really add much if any time at all.
I don't know why all the major sports have such a hard-on for traditionalism and this idea of the infallible ref. No human can be all places at all times, so use technology to insure the right call is made at all times, and it's absurd to me that even before the teams line up for the next step, Joe Six Pack at home already jnows the last call was BS.
posted by hincandenza at 12:16 AM on January 20, 2014
Here's a crazy idea.
Make it illegal for quarterbacks to run the football. San Francisco's offense got completely shut down tonight except for some huge runs by Colin Pumpernickel. He is an above average thrower with unbelievable foot speed, able to immobilize defenses by posing a throwing threat behind the line of scrimmage, and thus creating wide open spaces which he can then slide into for first downs and then some.
It's like watching a glitch in the game. There is literally no other position on the field that can run for 58 yards just totally uncontested like that in one single play, on what typically amounts to a broken offensive play or a quarterback run play masquerading as a passing play. I'm really sick of seeing it and it's the only way San Francisco managed to survive Green Bay (remember that last touchdown?). But at the end of the day, the football gods delivered. There is really nothing more enjoyable than watching the felonius 49ers make it so far only to get their asses beat, year in and year out. It's.. perfect.
posted by phaedon at 03:35 AM on January 20, 2014
He is an above average thrower with unbelievable foot speed, able to immobilize defenses by posing a throwing threat behind the line of scrimmage, and thus creating wide open spaces which he can then slide into for first downs and then some.
...and that's a problem why exactly? If it was so easy, Kaepernick would've had a lot more than 524 yards this season. Teams adjust, as Seattle did, and Kaepernick wasn't able to run as easily later in the game.
Also - that 58 yard run wasn't uncontested. There were hands on him behind the line of scrimmage and three other times. They missed tackles because he's tough to take down. How many times has Aaron Rodgers taken off on a broken play to get yardage or a first down? Fran Tarkenton?
I don't get why it's a problem that defences have to account for a QB who can run, other than a personal preference.
posted by dfleming at 06:48 AM on January 20, 2014
I don't know why all the major sports have such a hard-on for traditionalism and this idea of the infallible ref. No human can be all places at all times, so use technology to insure the right call is made at all times
The flipside there is the hard-on for technology. One person on the desk might spot something that can be zoomed in from a 4K shot covering three frames, another person might miss it. The canonical replays don't appear by technology magic.
You're basically empowering the network camera and production crew in pretty significant ways, which sets up a weird dynamic when it comes to rights negotiation. Suppose the CBS crew has a technical fubar one Sunday: a camera breaks, or an editing console has a glitch, or the producer only comes up with a definitive replay after a decision has been made.
There's also the potential for subtle changes to the interpretation of rules -- especially holding and pass interference -- through constant exposure to replay.
Of course, in the grand technical future, everyone in the stands will have a high-def ultrazoom camera on a contact lens, and every play will be reviewable from 50,000 slightly different angles, just as long as there's a datacenter hooked into the feeds.
posted by etagloh at 08:43 AM on January 20, 2014
Make it illegal for quarterbacks to run the football.
I imagine you were unhappy when they legalized the forward pass.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 09:09 AM on January 20, 2014
Make it illegal for quarterbacks to run the football
Yeah, and while were at it, let's also institute a height limit on QBs so that they all resemble Drew Brees. Having actual althletes play QB is ruining the game.
posted by cixelsyd at 09:29 AM on January 20, 2014
"Here's a crazy idea."
Yep.
"Make it illegal for quarterbacks to run the football"
And deny us Manning's glacial bootleg touchdown against the Cowboys? What's wrong with you?
posted by Mr Bismarck at 09:34 AM on January 20, 2014
While we're changing the rules, let's make it illegal for teams to win the final regular season game against the Cowboys.
posted by rcade at 10:00 AM on January 20, 2014
While we're changing the rules, let's make it illegal for teams to win the final regular season game against the Cowboys.
Now you're just talking crazy!
posted by dyams at 10:13 AM on January 20, 2014
While we're changing the rules, let's make it illegal for teams to win the final regular season game against the Cowboys.
You really ARE against tradition.
posted by grum@work at 10:32 AM on January 20, 2014
rcade, there is no need to make special rules to help the Cowboys. Just Outlaw Jerry and they'll be fine. It may take a few years to recover, but they'll be fine with a real GM.
posted by Mothball at 12:00 PM on January 20, 2014
While we're changing the rules, let's make it illegal for teams to win the final regular season game against the Cowboys.
Goddammit rcade that's brilliant! Simply brilliant!
posted by BornIcon at 01:03 PM on January 20, 2014
Richard Sherman writes a column for MMQB about last night's game. Some of it presumes the reader is an idiot -- "I ran over to Crabtree to shake his hand but he ignored me" is followed later by "A lot of what I said to Andrews was adrenaline talking, and some of that was Crabtree. I just don't like him. " -- but most of it makes him sound like one of the more interesting players to reach the Super Bowl stage in a while.
posted by rcade at 02:22 PM on January 20, 2014
Justin Verlander gets his two cents in on Sherman - "If he played baseball, he would get a high and tight fastball." Somehow, a pitcher tough-guyying a football player just doesn't seem terribly impressive.
Especially the part where he goes on about Bowman and the way the fans treated him make him seem less like a nut and more like a smart guy who's figured out the media and how to mess with receivers' confidence.
posted by dfleming at 02:47 PM on January 20, 2014
posted by NoMich at 02:58 PM on January 20, 2014
Somehow, a pitcher tough-guyying a football player just doesn't seem terribly impressive.
Not just a pitcher, but an AMERICAN League pitcher, who doesn't even bat for himself during the regular season.
posted by grum@work at 02:59 PM on January 20, 2014
I just don't like him.
American professional sport has relatively few genuine no-love-lost rivalries; Seattle-SF is becoming a decent one.
posted by etagloh at 05:15 PM on January 20, 2014
Still wondering why anyone would care what Verlander necessarily thought about the issue. American League pitchers are neck-and-neck with NFL punters in the bad-ass department. Actually, punters are probably several notches higher on the toughness meter.
posted by dyams at 08:47 PM on January 20, 2014
I'm wondering how many "banned substances" will show up in Sherman's urine sample this time ... unless it was powerful enough to burn through the container once again.
And would the NFL have the balls to suspend the guy for the Superbowl?
posted by cixelsyd at 10:50 PM on January 20, 2014
American professional sport has relatively few genuine no-love-lost rivalries
I've always thought it was remarkable how quickly the newly relocated and rebranded Ravens established a rivalry with the Steelers (and Bengals) that carried weight, presence, and meaning to a national audience. They soon got to a level of do or die that took other teams decades to establish.
God knows if the Browns ever get relevant again, that could be a top to bottom scorched earth division. (But the way the Browns' coaching search is going, they're going to be lucky to end up with Gerry Faust).
I also wonder if any NFL division has ever gone from mudbottom suck bad to worldwide ass whoopers as fast as the NFC West has.
posted by beaverboard at 12:39 AM on January 21, 2014
And would the NFL have the balls to suspend the guy for the Superbowl?
I can't stand the guy and Seattle's version of the Tampa Two, the Adderall Four (Everyone), makes it harder to root for them (weighed against Pete Carroll's affable nature and the best New School unis in the league) but I think the collective bargaining agreement explicitly disallows suspensions for imagining the contents of someone's urine, so their willingness to suspend or not suspend is really Fruit of the Poisoned Strawman logically.
posted by yerfatma at 10:11 AM on January 21, 2014
Sherman's WWF interview.
NoMich, that is the funniest thing I've seen! Classic!!
Well you know Mean Gene...
posted by BornIcon at 12:07 PM on January 21, 2014
And would the NFL have the balls to suspend the guy for the Superbowl?
posted by grum@work at 12:50 PM on January 21, 2014
Good game so far.
Brutal officiating.