11/21/24
November 29, 2015
SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
That NE-Broncos game had some of the sketchiest officiating I've seen in years. Congrats to Roger Goodell on his victory.
posted by hincandenza at 01:09 AM on November 30, 2015
The offensive pass interference calls on Gronk are (were?!) getting old in a hurry. 6 this year and I think maybe 2 of them were valid. The bad calls definitely went both ways last night as I felt Talib got screwed on his PI call as well.
posted by yerfatma at 11:29 AM on November 30, 2015
Congrats to Roger Goodell on his victory.
C'mon. The officiating this season has been piss poor all the way around. I agree that some bad calls went against the Pats last night (and as the fatma noted, they got some in their favor, as well), but to conclude that there was some Goodell-instigated conspiracy at play is pretty silly.
posted by tahoemoj at 12:12 PM on November 30, 2015
If the Patriots lose it's always officiating and Goodell ... except that the Broncos had equally as many bad calls or no calls in that game.
Had absolutely nothing to do with the fact the Patriots were playing on the road without half of their offensive weapons against a pretty decent team, right?
posted by cixelsyd at 12:24 PM on November 30, 2015
Sure, cutting the Pats' lead in the AFC East from five games to four was totally worth the effort involved to tilt the game in the Broncos' favor. That passes the sniff test.
posted by Etrigan at 12:43 PM on November 30, 2015
If a questionable pass interference call is enough to say Goodell fixed a game, he's fixed a lot of games this year.
The Patriots didn't lose because of a single call. They led 21-7 at the start of the fourth quarter against a quarterback making his second start ever.
I think they probably are better off for a Super Bowl repeat without the added pressure of an undefeated season. But had they won this game, I didn't see another team capable of beating them left on the schedule. Maybe Houston on the road.
posted by rcade at 01:36 PM on November 30, 2015
On the Broncos' last TD drive in regulation, that low throw of Osweiler's that bounced off the receiver's hands and was almost picked off by the airborne Chung (might have been Ryan, can't remember) - situationally, that reminded me of the missed pick by Asante Samuel in Pats-Giants SB I.
At that point, I realized that Osweiler was fully capable of pulling an Eli on the Pats, and so he did. The kid stepped up. He could care less about game day field conditions. He's from Billings, or some such place that's no stranger to winter.
I hope they give him a full opportunity to play. I don't want to listen to any Denver QB soap operas with Manning on the mend, etc. If Osweiler stays confident and the Broncos finish ahead of the Bengals in the playoff standings, they will be a tough team to face in the postseason. They can run the ball and defend and they embrace their snarly home weather.
posted by beaverboard at 01:58 PM on November 30, 2015
except that the Broncos had equally as many bad calls or no calls in that game.
No, the Broncos definitely got the long end of the stick, and I say that as a Bronco fan. The Broncos got most of the calls and some really high leverage ones. If that game was officiated well the Patriots would have won.
posted by tron7 at 02:30 PM on November 30, 2015
In case this is all in response to me, I don't think the Pats lost because of the refs. I was surprised they were able to do as well offensively against the Broncos' great defense given all the weapons the Pats were missing. Beyond Gronk, the loss of Hightower (especially with Jamie Collins already out with a case of The Creeping Crud) was a killer-- the Broncos' run game turned around as soon as Hightower went out.
posted by yerfatma at 02:49 PM on November 30, 2015
I also thought the Pats played remarkably well with the injuries they had on offense and on the road.
Refs made 6 calls against the Broncos for 46 yards and 5 calls against the Patriots for 47. Hardly points to any obvious advantage and also results in a contest most fans are interested in: the players deciding the game and not the officials.
posted by cixelsyd at 03:40 PM on November 30, 2015
Refs made 6 calls against the Broncos for 46 yards and 5 calls against the Patriots for 47. Hardly points to any obvious advantage and also results in a contest most fans are interested in: the players deciding the game and not the officials.
That doesn't speak at all to whether the calls were justified, though.
posted by Etrigan at 04:04 PM on November 30, 2015
I think it was a tightly contested game with the Patriots playing significantly better in the first and the Broncos playing better by the end of the game. I don't think the Boncos were playing that much better though, just more desperate. That comeback from being down 21-7 in that weather was already pretty damn unlikely and I don't think it happens without the fumble luck and the refs blowing some key calls.
posted by tron7 at 06:54 PM on November 30, 2015
I'm not sure how the Gronk OPI could be considered questionable. He ran straight at a backpedalling DB, initiated contact about 5 yards downfield by hitting the defender's chest/shoulders with his left forearm then cut hard right while he straightened his left arm to hold him off.
Historically not called often but pretty clearly OPI.
posted by deflated at 10:42 PM on November 30, 2015
From 2010-2014, Gronkowski had 7 total OPI calls in his career. So far this season he's gotten 6, which is why NE leads the NFL in OPI. The next highest team is the Redskins at 5.
That suggest either he's suddenly altered his style of play, or the refs are now calling OPI for reasons they never did before. The OPI in yesterday's game is the kind of casual contact made all the time, but it seems Gronk is now treated like young Shaq, getting dinged for fouls simply because he's bigger and stronger than everyone else.
Here's hoping the Patriots still finish 18-1... :)
posted by hincandenza at 11:29 PM on November 30, 2015
the refs are now calling OPI for reasons they never did before
I thought I'd read/ heard it was a point of emphasis this year. ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss looked at all of the calls this year and was not impressed. Obviously there's a chance of homerism there, but given he exactly agrees with my "2 of 6" decree above, it must be true. My uninformed opinion is that Gronk is such an outlier it's hard for the refs to call it "fairly" against him. Think about what he looks like running in open space, where he will shed any number of individual blockers; he's using the same arms to get open while running routes and the result is just very different from the rest of receivers in the sport.
posted by yerfatma at 08:19 AM on December 01, 2015
He's from Billings, or some such place that's no stranger to winter.
Osweiler is from Kalispell, Montana, which is about half a state or 450 miles away from Billings, and the two towns could not be more different. Kalispell is next to Glacier National Park, mountainous, with some decent skiing nearby. Billings is a couple hours from Yellowstone National Park, relatively flat (for Montana), and culture deals more with farming and ranching.
According to Google, there are 9 Montanans in the NFL. Osweiler is getting mentioned a lot around the watercoolers here this season. If he continues to be successful, he will get drafted a round or two earlier than expect in most FFL drafts "just 'cause he is local". Dan Carpenter, from Helena where I live, always goes early. :)
posted by prof at 09:44 AM on December 01, 2015
the two towns could not be more different.
Sorry, prof. I'm not sure what you think you know about Montana, but those of us from the central coast of California can assure you that Montana is not what you think.
It is completely homogenous, and its citizens are all virtual exact replicas of each other - rugged, scruffy, outdoorsy types who all carry fly rods at all times. I'm also about 98% certain that it is one great big valley, surrounded by stunning mountain scenery in every direction that is always somehow on the horizon. You clearly do not watch enough movies about Montana.
posted by tahoemoj at 10:04 AM on December 01, 2015
That description doesn't square at all with the best Montana movie ever.
posted by Etrigan at 10:12 AM on December 01, 2015
Glad to get the clarification on Kalispell. I once worked with the sister of former major league pitcher Joe McIntosh, and I grew up following the stellar exploits of Dave McNally, so I must have Billings on the brain.
I was in Butte for a portion of one day a few years back as a visiting East Coaster. I got run out of there because I got a cup of coffee at a bakery shop on one of the main drags facing the mine pit. Everything was going OK until I asked for a bit of milk or cream to put in it.
You don't put stuff in your black coffee in Butte. You just don't. Not in a lot of other places either. If that's your game, you need to keep moving until you get to one of the college towns.
posted by beaverboard at 11:28 AM on December 01, 2015
rugged, scruffy, outdoorsy types who all carry fly rods at all times
I thought they were all militiamen. Is my Field Guide to American Stereotypes outdated? Brooklyn is still a brawling place full of Irish and Italian immigrants, right?
posted by yerfatma at 11:40 AM on December 01, 2015
That's Montańa, Ertrigan, not Montana. One of my buddies moved to Boseman the summer before last because girlfriend and I still think he's crazy (despite her being a sweet, intelligent, lovely person).
posted by billsaysthis at 01:42 PM on December 01, 2015
Hey rcade, the db ate my accented n in the original submit, so I edited it to Montańa. Weird. The original was made by holding the n key down on my Mac until the alternate key choices showed, if I took #1 I got the error and #2 is what you see working in the previous comment.
posted by billsaysthis at 01:43 PM on December 01, 2015
Is my Field Guide to American Stereotypes outdated?
More likely that mine is. I haven't gotten the post-Redford update.
posted by tahoemoj at 01:51 PM on December 01, 2015
Haha
tahoemoj, A River Runs Through It is my ideal image of Western Montana and close to your description. I just ignore the next four months of cold and snow.
Eastern Montana is more guns, ranches, and farms than the west. Before Columbine, no matter how small the school, it was a safe bet at least one vehicle in the high school parking lot had a gun in it. You never knew what you would see on any day and best to have a rifle nearby.
beaverboard, I lived in Butte for 4 years and do not have enough time or space to explain it. Just know that Evel Knievel lived there and was considered an ordinary guy.
posted by prof at 09:16 AM on December 02, 2015
Ipswich Town with a classic Championship goal against Charlton yesterday. Championship tiki taka.
Cloughie wouldn't be happy.