2009 NFL Playoffs

[infrared41]

Why do I have this feeling Baltimore is going to blow this lead?

Man I hope you're right. But I'm not going to hold my breath.

I think that feeling is pretty easy to explain. Baltimore got up big but it was very early in the game. The Patriots are too good to panic. There's a lot of time left.

I'm calling it now. Baltimore loses this game...by ten.

[rams80]

Why do I have this feeling Baltimore is going to blow this lead?

Man I hope you're right. But I'm not going to hold my breath.

I think that feeling is pretty easy to explain. Baltimore got up big but it was very early in the game. The Patriots are too good to panic. There's a lot of time left.

I'm calling it now. Baltimore loses this game...by ten.

I don't think the Ravens will lose by 10, but I as much as I despise Brady, I am not going to think he can't stage a comeback in this game.

[NJTank]

If the Pats comeback get your barf bag as ESPN will call the greatest comeback of all time, and Harbaugh's decision to not challenge the fumbled punt will go down in history as one of the dumbest moves all time.

[Seadragon76]

Why do I hear a lot of squawking from a duo of fans whose team has only one postseason trip since they came back in 1999 and that was a one and done deal.

If anything, Cincinnati fans have the right to badmouth the Brownies because unlike the Brownies, the Bengals have done something as of late.

Oh, and infrared: I see your pick and call it... Baltimore wins by a field goal.

[Sport]

Cleveland: We take joy in the sorrows of others. Because...you know....we're the only organization in our division that has never played in a Super Bowl.

So true. Cleveland fans got nothing else to do except root against divisional opponents in the playoffs. Enjoy last place losers, you'll be there awhile. I'll take a first round playoff defeat over 5-11 any year.

You both realize that those two do not represent all Cleveland Browns fans right? I thought The Bengals had a great season. I'm a little surprised they lost to The Jets at home. The only problem I have with your team McCarthy is their uniforms.

My response was a little quick. The problem is that I've had a lot of Browns fans running their mouth in much the same way that Pittsburghsucks did. I'm just a little sick of it. You've got class, but a lot of your boys could learn a lesson from fans like you. I'm not going to let Browns fans get to me. A division championship and sweeping the AFC North is still quite the accomplishment. I'll allow that thought to tide me over until next season.

and I agree, the Bengals uniforms (save the helmet) SUCK. I can't wait until they change to something better.

[Sport]

Twas a good year for the Bengals. They won ten games and probably should have won more. They battled back after that fluky loss to Denver in week 1 and beat Green Bay in Green Bay the next game. They battled back after Mike Zimmer's wife died and they played admirably in San Diego after Chris Henry's death. They won all 6 of their division games including two wins over my arch-enemy in the Pittsburgh Steelers. I never thought I'd see that. I got to watch a playoff team and I guess I can't complain because I never would've expected a playoff appearance after last season's debacle. I very much enjoyed watching this team from Hard Knocks up until yesterday. They'll be getting a lot of guys back from injury next year too. The future is bright in Cincinnati. I'll see you next August, Bengals.

[floydnimrod]

Twas a good year for the Bengals. They won ten games and probably should have won more. They battled back after that fluky loss to Denver in week 1 and beat Green Bay in Green Bay the next game. They battled back after Mike Zimmer's wife died and they played admirably in San Diego after Chris Henry's death. They won all 6 of their division games including two wins over my arch-enemy in the Pittsburgh Steelers. I never thought I'd see that. I got to watch a playoff team and I guess I can't complain because I never would've expected a playoff appearance after last season's debacle. I very much enjoyed watching this team from Hard Knocks up until yesterday. They'll be getting a lot of guys back from injury next year too. The future is bright in Cincinnati. I'll see you next August, Bengals.

I wish this was the wat most of my friends, as well as other Bengals fans I know, would think. We made the playoffs, fighting the injury bug all year. And everyone wants Marvin Lewis fired, Carson Palmer cut, and Shayne Graham exiled. I wish some of these fans got the opportunity to run a team and then fail miserably because they control their team like a ten year old playing Madden on his PlayStation. I asked my dad earlier in the year who he wanted as the Bengals QB if he didn't want Palmer. And he said Brett Favre. He didn't have a response when I said, "Who do you want as our Quarterback next year?" Sure Carson Palmer didn't have an MVP season, but I don't believe J.T. O'Sullivan isn't leading us to those comeback, last drive victories early in the year, or to the playoffs.

[lordsketor]

3 INTs by Brady in a home playoff game...WOW

[Still MIGHTY]

3 INTs by Brady in a home playoff game...WOW

It's so... beautiful

[mania]

3 INTs by Brady in a home playoff game...WOW

It's so... beautiful

He's playing like Peyton Manning (in the postseason, that is).

[WJMorris3]

What the Eagles need to do for next year is go to an offense giving McCoy about 60 to 70 carries a game. I mean, when the other teams all know you're gonna pass, it's not going to be effective.

[Still MIGHTY]

3 INTs by Brady in a home playoff game...WOW

It's so... beautiful

He's playing like Peyton Manning (in the postseason, that is).

Specifically Peyton against San Diego and in Foxborough blizzards, but that's fine. I'll take it.

I just love seeing the Golden Boy Ass Clown get knocked around and failing. I take my victories in this regard when I can.

[STL FANATIC]

Does anybody know what the exact rule on going out of bounds is? I always thought it was where the ball was when the player officially STEPPED out of bounds. But during this challenge, they keep talking about where the player CROSSED out of bounds.

Anybody know which is correct?

[BlueSky]

Does anybody know what the exact rule on going out of bounds is? I always thought it was where the ball was when the player officially STEPPED out of bounds. But during this challenge, they keep talking about where the player CROSSED out of bounds.

Anybody know which is correct?

Do you mean the ball as opposed to the player? Pretty sure where the ball crosses the sideline. You see players fairly often now doing what Flacco did with reaching out.

And in other news, the curtain looks to be dropping soon on the Patriots' 2009 season.

[STL FANATIC]

The Ravens SHOULD win this 2-pt conversion challenge. It all depends on whether these refs take the NHL's view on this or not.

The NHL does not allow for common sense. If the only possible explanation is the puck is in the goal, but you can't see it go in the goal, then you're not allowed to call it a goal.

That's the same thing that's happening here. It's clear as day that the ball crosses the plane of the endzone, but because a Patriots player is blocking the ball from the camera, you can't physically see it go over.

And it looks like that's the approach these refs have taken. Brutal. Why isn't common sense allowed? It's not asking them to make a judgement. It's asking them to allow for the only possible explanation even though you can't physically see it.

[STL FANATIC]

Does anybody know what the exact rule on going out of bounds is? I always thought it was where the ball was when the player officially STEPPED out of bounds. But during this challenge, they keep talking about where the player CROSSED out of bounds.

Anybody know which is correct?

Do you mean the ball as opposed to the player? Pretty sure where the ball crosses the sideline. You see players fairly often now doing what Flacco did with reaching out.

And in other news, the curtain looks to be dropping soon on the Patriots' 2009 season.

Sort of. I always thought that the spot of the ball was supposed to be where the ball was when the play stepped out of bounds. I thought it did not matter whether the ball was across the out of bounds line or not. And further, I didn't think a player was considered to be out of bounds until his feet actually touched the white line.

But I don't know. And I also don't know if I'm being clear anymore, lol.

[Sport]

What the Eagles need to do for next year is go to an offense giving McCoy about 60 to 70 carries a game. I mean, when the other teams all know you're gonna pass, it's not going to be effective.

You can not be serious. If they run the ball 70 times in a game then everyone would know that they're going to run and it wouldn't be effective either. There's also a little thing called health. Give McCoy 70 carries a game and you're going to have a dead McCoy. Thirdly, the average number of plays in an NFL game is 125 so the Eagles will essentially not be passing with your offense. You know why they don't do this? Because it's dumb.

[WJMorris3]

What the Eagles need to do for next year is go to an offense giving McCoy about 60 to 70 carries a game. I mean, when the other teams all know you're gonna pass, it's not going to be effective.

You can not be serious. If they run the ball 70 times in a game then everyone would know that they're going to run and it wouldn't be effective either. There's also a little thing called health. Give McCoy 70 carries a game and you're going to have a dead McCoy. Thirdly, the average number of plays in an NFL game is 125 so the Eagles will essentially not be passing with your offense. You know why they don't do this? Because it's dumb.

First off, there are three things that can happen when you pass, and two of them are bad.

Second, McCoy can handle the load.

Third, if you have a good enough line, you can handle 8 in the box.

[chuckymack]

Palmer had a decent year, Benson went nuts, the defense keeps improving and Ochocinco got his mojo back. This was a very, VERY good year for a team that had so many things go wrong. As a lifelong Bengals fan, I consider 7-9 a good year. 10-6, a division title, a playoff appearance and sweeping the division was more than I ever thought possible.

The Bengals fans who are clamoring for Palmer, Graham and Lewis' collective expulsion need to shut the hell up. They evidently don't remember those fantastic teams of the '90s that featured luminaries such as Bruce Coslett, Dave Shula, Akili Smith, David Klingler, Neil O'Donnell or Scott Mitchell (David Akers gets a pass on this one, as he left Cincinnati as the league's all-time accuracy leader). Anybody else remember Elvis Grbac RETIRING instead of going to the Bengals?!

Carson Palmer has carried the Bengals for his entire career. When you consider the fact that his worst full-season record as a starter is 7-9, I hardly think that constitutes disappointing performance. That's a feat not even Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees or Donovan McNabb can claim?each one of them have had 10-loss seasons.

As for Marvin Lewis?how many times did the Bengals go to the playoffs in the ten years before he got there?

And sure, Shane Graham missed a couple of gimmes, but it's not like the guy's had the opportunity to make kicks in a game that matters very often. There were a lot of mistakes in that game?if Graham needs to go, so does Mike Zimmer and the entire defense, not to mention every wide receiver on the Bengals' roster, as they all dropped at least one pass. Just because a guy misfires doesn't mean he's not a serviceable player.

Like I said?those whiny Bengals fans need to shut he hell up. As we all know, it could be worse?just ask T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

[slightly shotgunned]

Twas a good year for the Bengals. They won ten games and probably should have won more. They battled back after that fluky loss to Denver in week 1 and beat Green Bay in Green Bay the next game. They battled back after Mike Zimmer's wife died and they played admirably in San Diego after Chris Henry's death. They won all 6 of their division games including two wins over my arch-enemy in the Pittsburgh Steelers. I never thought I'd see that. I got to watch a playoff team and I guess I can't complain because I never would've expected a playoff appearance after last season's debacle. I very much enjoyed watching this team from Hard Knocks up until yesterday. They'll be getting a lot of guys back from injury next year too. The future is bright in Cincinnati. I'll see you next August, Bengals.

I wish this was the wat most of my friends, as well as other Bengals fans I know, would think. We made the playoffs, fighting the injury bug all year. And everyone wants Marvin Lewis fired, Carson Palmer cut, and Shayne Graham exiled. I wish some of these fans got the opportunity to run a team and then fail miserably because they control their team like a ten year old playing Madden on his PlayStation. I asked my dad earlier in the year who he wanted as the Bengals QB if he didn't want Palmer. And he said Brett Favre. He didn't have a response when I said, "Who do you want as our Quarterback next year?" Sure Carson Palmer didn't have an MVP season, but I don't believe J.T. O'Sullivan isn't leading us to those comeback, last drive victories early in the year, or to the playoffs.

True of some fans of all teams in the NFL.

An old roomy used to play seasons of Madden with the Vikings right around the time they had traded Moss to the Raiders I think(the year eludes me at the moment)and based on the fact that he was able to dominate every team by throwing 60 yard bombs he couldn't understand why the Vikes kept losing games. He would always yell something about throwing it deep and throw his hat at the tv. So I changed the difficulty setting from Rookie to Madden and he stopped playing after the first deep ball he threw was a pick 6.