NFL Wild Card Thread: Cowboys? Check. Jets? Check. Steelers .... Steelers ....

Yes, it does.

 

Yes something explain that to me.

Patriots lose game, lose most productive skill player on offense.

But they are in better shape to go through the rigors of the playoffs than the Colts? How?

Again, there's no right way to do it...or everyone would do it that way.

 

The Colts were screwed either way. If they played all their guys and went for 16-0, and Reggie Wayne got hurt (like broken ankle hurt) in the first quarter against the Bills in the snow, the Cyber Lombardis of SportsJournalists.com Nation would have wanted Caldwell stoned to death. Everyone is an expert in hindsight in those situations. Are the same people who ripped the Colts cheering the Patriots for losing their most important receiver in a bullshit game? Because hey, if they hadn't played him, they would have lost "momentum."

 

Re: NFL Wild Card Thread: Cowboys? Check. Jets? Check. Steelers .... Steelers ..

If the NFL, and its team’s coaches, didn’t believe that time off and rest were beneficial then the league wouldn’t award a week off to the top two teams entering the playoffs. Coaches wouldn’t try to go through the rigors of the season trying to win every game to get the top seed.

 

Re: NFL Wild Card Thread: Cowboys? Check. Jets? Check. Steelers .... Steelers ..

No, it doesn't. He got hurt on what was essentially a non-contact play. If you're afraid of a player getting hurt without being touched by an opponent, you ought to make sure he stays in bed for 24 hours out of fear he's going to break a toe by stubbing it on a bedpost.

Stuff happens. Deal with it and let's go on.

 

But there hasn't been the huge outcry over the Welker injury like there was last week when the Colts shut it down. Folks will be much more likely in the future to say, 'Remember how the Colts blew it after resting their players' than 'Remember how Welker's injury cost the Pats the playoffs.'

It's not about which is right or wrong--it's the visibility of the Colt thing that might just impact how teams play out the end of the year in the future.

 

Also, in each loss the Colts had to the Chargers each of the last two years, Indianapolis had the lead late and couldn't hold on. The trouble wasn't that the Colts had started flat, but that they finished that way. I'm not sure what resting or not resting players has to do with that.

 

Bullshit game for the Pats? Yeah.

Texans? No.

 

I'm not sure about those without looking, but they definitely started out flat in 2005 against the Steelers.

 

I don't care about the rest for playoffs, don't rest for playoffs argument. When fans are shelling out for tickets to games, the best players should be playing. The NFL is a business. This is entertainment. If I go to a movie to see Julia Roberts I don't want to see Janeane Garofalo.

 

Flacco hasn't really regressed at all. His stats compared to last year are actually quite a bit better across the board (21TDs to 12 INTs this year, 14-12 last year; 3613 yards this year to 2971 last, and 88.9 rating this year to 80.3 last) against a much more challenging schedule. He's just been asked to do a lot more this year because Cam Cameron's trying to make him do more to aid his development. He hid him last year. Cameron's returned more to the running game in the last few weeks. Baltimore's somewhat limited at wideout after Mason.

What's really interesting is Flacco stats compared to Philip Rivers, who Cameron coordinated for in San Diego. He's bringing Flacco along at a pace that's very similar to Rivers and SD had more weapons than Baltimore.

 

A look at a QB with jerkface throughout the season:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-jay-cutler-chicago-bears-faces-photos,0,2112435.photogallery