American Football

[Calico]

peaking at the right time

They have a real knack for doing that.

[IanForbes]

Interesting games and times:

The Chargers are making another great late season run, having won eight in a row.

Make that 10 in a row now and they are doing it with conviction. I wouldn't want to meet the Chargers in the playoffs this year. The Colts keep winning, but just barely... same as the Saints. Philly will be difficult as well. The Broncos will go nowhere and Minnesota better get its act together soon or they won't last long either. The Viking's line has gone from awesome to just okay and hasn't given Peterson the room he needs to get past the line of scrimmage.

[zzdocxx]

Chargers now have a first-round bye with the win over Tennessee.

[qwunk89]

birds vs. cowboys for the division . . same as it was last year . . except the birds can actually secure the #2 seed with a win as well

OMR, are you ready for it? it's in that ridiculous thing you call your new stadium

[Calico]

Congratulations to all the teams that are or will be the playoffs, except Dallas.

My Panthers finally have the QB I was calling for when Testaverde got injured. I hope Moore doesn't start sucking.

And finally, I watched the 0-26 Bucs win their first game way back in 1977. Know who they beat? The Saints.

[patsfangr]

OK, let's talk about the important stuff. The Patriots are AFCE Champions again. The sun is shining, and the moon is back in it's correct orbit!

This year's Patriots team is not as talented as some have been in this, their decade. But BB and Brady are still in place; and Morris and Taylor are back to provide a consistent, if not spectacular, running attack for the playoffs. I surely wish we had a more effective #3 WR to complement Moss and Welker; but I'm hopeful that they'll use more passes to the TE and RB to make up for that.

This is the NFL; and the only thing that makes it impossible for a team to get to the Super Bowl is not making it to the playoffs. Anything can happen from here on. And, since the Colts seem perfectly willing to put it in neutral until their first playoff game, they just may have trouble getting back into gear. Bill Polian is an a$$!

Personally, I think the Chargers are more of a threat than the Colts right now. But, as I said, anything can happen in the playoffs. Let's get next week out of the way, and get it on!

Oh, speaking of next week ... GO EAGLES! (Sorry OMR; but you know how I feel about Jerry.)

[qwunk89]

does anyone know if ASN will show the eagles/cowboys game now that it has been moved to 4:15? on the ASN schedule, it is listed as being shown at 1am.

patsfarang, i am rooting for the pats (over indy and san diego) in the afc . . but unfortunately winning on the road at indy or san diego will be more than tough. i would rather play at san diego than at indy . . san diego's defense is suspect when there up against a big-time O.

go eagles . . and now that the week has started . . COWBOYS SUCK! but i must admit jay ratliff worries me since we lost our center (jamal jackson) to IR last week; key loss for us. NICK COLE AND MAX JEAN-GILLES, MAN UP!!

[patsfangr]

does anyone know if ASN will show the eagles/cowboys game now that it has been moved to 4:15? on the ASN schedule, it is listed as being shown at 1am.

patsfarang, i am rooting for the pats (over indy and san diego) in the afc . . but unfortunately winning on the road at indy or san diego will be more than tough. i would rather play at san diego than at indy . . san diego's defense is suspect when there up against a big-time O.

go eagles . . and now that the week has started . . COWBOYS SUCK! but i must admit jay ratliff worries me since we lost our center (jamal jackson) to IR last week; key loss for us. NICK COLE AND MAX JEAN-GILLES, MAN UP!!

Qwunk, I believe that ASN picks up the "national" game from networks. Therefore, I think it's very likely that they WILL broadcast the Eagles@Cowboys game at 4:15. Notice that the game they now list on their schedule at 4:15 is Packers@Cardinals. That's also an NFC/FOX game, and FOX is going to replace that as the "national" game with the Eagles@Cowboys game. Now, that's just my read on the change. I'm sure that ASN will update their schedule in the next day or two. Just keep checking it online.

As for the Patriots, I think they'd rather play the Colts in Indy. They have not had much success in San Diego, and have beaten, and nearly beaten, the Colts in Indy a few times. Add to that the fact that, in general, all the the teams on the coasts have a tougher time travelling coast-to-coast than they do coast-to-mid-America. I also think that, right now, the Chargers are a "hotter" team than the Colts. Both are obviously very good, well-rounded, offensive teams. Both have less than "shut down quality" defenses. They can be had by a good offense.

But a matchup with either of them is well down the road. First comes a home game against a Wild Card team. Whichever team that is will present a challenge to the Patriots. I'll worry about that one first; and be happy to have a chance to see the Patriots move on to whichever team they would have to play next!

GO PATRIOTS!

(go eagles)

[patsfangr]

Still no update to the online schedules of either ASN or TrueV for the 'live' broadcasts on Monday morning. They still show the Eagles@Cowboys game scheduled for 01:00. We may just have to wait until air time to actually know what we'll get at 01:00; and maybe until 04:15 to know whether or not we'll get the Eagles@Cowboys game.

I'll be watching the Patriots@Texans game, via PC, at 01:00 anyway. If the Eagles@Cowboys isn't on ASN, I'll just watch that the same way. I do want to see that one; so the rescheduling was a good thing for me. Nothing takes priority over the Patriots, of course. :-)

[qwunk89]

yeah, i got yahoo gamepass as backup . . but would much rather watch the game on asn. i hope they show it

[Old Man River]

go eagles . . and now that the week has started . . COWBOYS SUCK! but i must admit jay ratliff worries me since we lost our center (jamal jackson) to IR last week; key loss for us. NICK COLE AND MAX JEAN-GILLES, MAN UP!!

If the Cowboys suck, then what does that make the Eagles who lost 24 to 0?

Seriously, have you ever seen a wide receiver (Maclin) be so concerned about a closing defender (Hamlin) that he never takes his eyes off the defender? How do you catch a pass when you are too afraid to even look at the ball? How embarrassing.

[qwunk89]

go eagles . . and now that the week has started . . COWBOYS SUCK! but i must admit jay ratliff worries me since we lost our center (jamal jackson) to IR last week; key loss for us. NICK COLE AND MAX JEAN-GILLES, MAN UP!!

If the Cowboys suck, then what does that make the Eagles who lost 24 to 0?

Seriously, have you ever seen a wide receiver (Maclin) be so concerned about a closing defender (Hamlin) that he never takes his eyes off the defender? How do you catch a pass when you are too afraid to even look at the ball? How embarrassing.

fair enough . . but we get our shot at revenge this week. we embarrassed you last year in philly, you shut us out this year in dallas . . so next week should be the battle we all exoected. but won with a david akers 47-yard field goal just inside the left upright as the seconds tick off and jerry jones trades roy williams to the mexican drug cartel to dull the pain until he can again trade his first and third round pick for brandon marshall in the spring.

oh yeah, dallas and there ridiculous jumbotron stadium still suck!! football should be played outside!

[Old Man River]

go eagles . . and now that the week has started . . COWBOYS SUCK! but i must admit jay ratliff worries me since we lost our center (jamal jackson) to IR last week; key loss for us. NICK COLE AND MAX JEAN-GILLES, MAN UP!!

If the Cowboys suck, then what does that make the Eagles who lost 24 to 0?

Seriously, have you ever seen a wide receiver (Maclin) be so concerned about a closing defender (Hamlin) that he never takes his eyes off the defender? How do you catch a pass when you are too afraid to even look at the ball? How embarrassing.

fair enough . . but we get our shot at revenge this week. we embarrassed you last year in philly, you shut us out this year in dallas . . so next week should be the battle we all exoected. but won with a david akers 47-yard field goal just inside the left upright as the seconds tick off and jerry jones trades roy williams to the mexican drug cartel to dull the pain until he can again trade his first and third round pick for brandon marshall in the spring.

oh yeah, dallas and there ridiculous jumbotron stadium still suck!! football should be played outside!

You forgot to mention that the Cowboys have beaten the Eagles twice this year, first at Philadelphia (outside!) and then inside in Dallas.

Warren Sapp said he saw fear in the Eagles eyes after the first quarter. McNabb was caught looking up at Ratliff and fumbled a snap, Macklin was looking at a non existent defender when he let the ball go right through his hands and then later looking at Hamlin when he never even dared to look at the ball on the long pass. Fraction Jackson caught only 3 passes, one more than he caught when the Cowboys won outside in Philadelphia earlier this year.

Your offensive coordinator said the dropped passes were due to a lack of focus and concentration. They were focused and concentrating, but on the defenders and not on the ball. Sapp was right. They are gutless. Can the Eagles really grow a pair of balls in just 6 days?

[qwunk89]

go eagles . . and now that the week has started . . COWBOYS SUCK! but i must admit jay ratliff worries me since we lost our center (jamal jackson) to IR last week; key loss for us. NICK COLE AND MAX JEAN-GILLES, MAN UP!!

If the Cowboys suck, then what does that make the Eagles who lost 24 to 0?

Seriously, have you ever seen a wide receiver (Maclin) be so concerned about a closing defender (Hamlin) that he never takes his eyes off the defender? How do you catch a pass when you are too afraid to even look at the ball? How embarrassing.

fair enough . . but we get our shot at revenge this week. we embarrassed you last year in philly, you shut us out this year in dallas . . so next week should be the battle we all exoected. but won with a david akers 47-yard field goal just inside the left upright as the seconds tick off and jerry jones trades roy williams to the mexican drug cartel to dull the pain until he can again trade his first and third round pick for brandon marshall in the spring.

oh yeah, dallas and there ridiculous jumbotron stadium still suck!! football should be played outside!

You forgot to mention that the Cowboys have beaten the Eagles twice this year, first at Philadelphia (outside!) and then inside in Dallas.

Warren Sapp said he saw fear in the Eagles eyes after the first quarter. McNabb was caught looking up at Ratliff and fumbled a snap, Macklin was looking at a non existent defender when he let the ball go right through his hands and then later looking at Hamlin when he never even dared to look at the ball on the long pass. Fraction Jackson caught only 3 passes, one more than he caught when the Cowboys won outside in Philadelphia earlier this year.

Your offensive coordinator said the dropped passes were due to a lack of focus and concentration. They were focused and concentrating, but on the defenders and not on the ball. Sapp was right. They are gutless. Can the Eagles really grow a pair of balls in just 6 days?

gutless . . we'll see. i think the cowboys defined gutless with a 44-6 loss to close out the season last year. i'll give the cowboys credit for their victory, but if mcnabb doesn't over throw a wide open jackson we have a totally different game (or maclin doesn't drop that crossing route pass). i will give the cowboy's o-line props too; they played well.

oh yeah, how many playoff games did the cowboys win in the last decade? how many playoff wins for romo? do you think he can handle this game now that the pressure is really on?

gonna be a good one . . and oh yeah, the cowboys suck! 3 turnovers for romo saturday night . .

[Old Man River]

gutless . . we'll see. i think the cowboys defined gutless with a 44-6 loss to close out the season last year. i'll give the cowboys credit for their victory, but if mcnabb doesn't over throw a wide open jackson we have a totally different game (or maclin doesn't drop that crossing route pass). i will give the cowboy's o-line props too; they played well.

oh yeah, how many playoff games did the cowboys win in the last decade? how many playoff wins for romo? do you think he can handle this game now that the pressure is really on?

gonna be a good one . . and oh yeah, the cowboys suck! 3 turnovers for romo saturday night . .

Its funny. The Cowboys and Eagles have played twice this year, the Cowboys have won both and all you can talk about is previous years. I guess when you get embarrassed you talk about previous years.

By the way, if McNabb doesn't overthrow Jackson, the final score is Dallas 24 Eagles 7. If Romo doesn't trip over Free's foot, he hits Austin who was 10 yards in the clear and then the final is Dallas 31 Eagles 7. You get it? It doesn't matter. The game wasn't even close.

[goldmine]

Who is your favorite team in American Football?

[gotlost]

All NFL Play off games are on ASN live.

[Old Man River]

Nah nah nah nah, Nah nah nah nah, whoa oh oh, goodbye Eagles.

[Old Man River]

Q, did you write this?

http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2010/1/...wn-up?ref=yahoo

[losworld]

Okay here is my prediction for the Super Bowl: San Diego 21 Dallas 17

[Old Man River]

Okay here is my prediction for the Super Bowl: San Diego 21 Dallas 17

I don't think Dallas will get to the SB. They have no field goal kicker and Roy Williams should not be starting and wouldn't for any other team in the NFL. With a field goal kicker and Ogletree at WR instead, along with Romo, Austin, Crayton, Witten, Jones etc., plus their defense, then no team would pose too much of a problem for them. They are one year away from being dominant.

[lomatopo]

Congrats to the Cowboys; beating an excellent team like the Eagles three times in a season is impressive. I think this rivalry is eclipsing the one with the Redskins? Also well done to the Jets.

FWIW, the Truevisions on-line schedule indicates that the Sunday games will be on both ASN and TS4. The Saturday games are replaying on TS4 now (7:00 PM).

[patsfangr]

Thought I'd share with y'all the note that I sent to my Patriots fans email group this morning. It's been a long season for the once great Patriots. .....

I got up at noon today, having gone to bed at about 5 AM, just after the Patriots proved that this year's team did not belong in the playoffs by suffering a thorough beating at the hands of the Ravens. I want to present my summary of this season before I'm influenced by reading the thoughts of others than now have my inbox nearing overflow.

It's time to put this very mediocre season behind us, and look forward with hope to significant changes, beginning very soon with the coaching staff, during the off-season. I'm not going to discuss yesterday's game beyond a few scattered references herein, because I see no value in going over the details of what was, as I said earlier, a thorough beating by a clearly superior team that simply overpowered and outplayed the Patriots.

I do think it's important, however, to take a realistic look at the overall results of the season. Some will point to the Patriots 10-6 record, and say "Hey, they were well above average. There's no significant problem." I beg to differ.

Look at those 10 wins, folks. They beat a total of 3 teams with winning records in those 10 games; and all 3 of them were barely winners, at 9-7. All 3 of those wins came at home. They never beat a winning team on the road. The combined record of the 9 teams they beat (2 wins against the Bills) was 66-78. While the combined record of the teams to which they lost was 60-36. Only 2 of the teams they beat made the playoffs; and one of them just beat them senseless yesterday in the rematch. Their 6 losses included defeats by 4 teams that made the playoffs.

So, what does all that tell you? It tells me that they simply were not a very good team. They beat the "tomato cans" of the NFL, and some of them only by the skin of their teeth; while losing consistently to league's better teams.

Their offense was inconsistent, and very poorly coached. Many people, including some opponents, have pointed out that they were unimaginative, predictable, and lacking in the ability to make effective in-game adjustments throughout the season.

Tom Brady's play was clearly affected by some combination of rust, and concern for his recovering knee. That's not criticism. It's simply an observation of fairly obvious fact. His accuracy was off. His willingness to buy time in the pocket was less. And he all too frequently threw passes in what appeared to be near panic under pressure. Did you notice his inability or unwillingness to run the ball through an obvious open lane for a probable TD in the game yesterday? Both on the sidelines, and in the huddle, there has been little or no sign of the fire that made him a great leader in past seasons. We certainly saw none of it yesterday, as Kevin Faulk had to take the lead in trying to fire up the offense on the sidelines. We can only hope that a full off-season will restore the superb game management skills he had prior to his injury.

The offensive line was rarely able to provide consistent room for the running game against any opponent. Their tactic always seemed to be to simply stand in front of opponents, rather than blow them off the line; which usually resulted in opponents easily shedding blocks, and making the tackle. On passing downs, the over rated Matt Light continued to be good for at least one major whiff per game , exposing Brady to a big hit, as was the case again yesterday.

Lawrence Maroney, while having a few productive games, made several critical fumbles, and failed repeatedly to pick up blitzing LBs. That last fault got him benched for the balance of the game yesterday following such a whiff! And the rest of the RB corps is at the point in their careers where they are too fragile to be depended upon. Although here it is mandatory to once again praise the attitude and ability of Kevin Faulk; who was head and shoulders above everybody but, perhaps, Edelman, in his performance yesterday!

And, of course, we all know that the WR corps was woefully inadequate, with only 2 effective players for most of the season. Edelman did his part, when healthy, but, as a virtual Welker clone, didn't provide the kind of balance needed to be on the field with Welker and Moss.

Defensively, the story wasn't any better. The secondary was confused more often than is acceptable. And the lack of consistent pressure from the front 7, particularly in key moments, has been noted throughout the season. The LBs, with the sole exception of Mayo, had very pedestrian seasons. As for Mayo, while he has great physical skills, and will, IMO, develop into a great ILB, he currently lacks both the ability to read offenses, and the ability to lead, at levels required of the elite players at that position.

In short, there was no element of this year's team that performed at an exceptionally high level, either among the coaches or the players. It was a sad season that I, for one, am glad to see come to a close. I will be anxiously awaiting some near term coaching moves, to precede some much needed changes to the roster from the FA market and the Draft. If I don't see those coaching moves, I'm afraid that I will be entering next season with, at best, a very cautious opinion of our chances for a return to our former position as one of the elite teams in the NFL.

[Old Man River]

Thought I'd share with y'all the note that I sent to my Patriots fans email group this morning. It's been a long season for the once great Patriots. .....

I got up at noon today, having gone to bed at about 5 AM, just after the Patriots proved that this year's team did not belong in the playoffs by suffering a thorough beating at the hands of the Ravens. I want to present my summary of this season before I'm influenced by reading the thoughts of others than now have my inbox nearing overflow.

It's time to put this very mediocre season behind us, and look forward with hope to significant changes, beginning very soon with the coaching staff, during the off-season. I'm not going to discuss yesterday's game beyond a few scattered references herein, because I see no value in going over the details of what was, as I said earlier, a thorough beating by a clearly superior team that simply overpowered and outplayed the Patriots.

I do think it's important, however, to take a realistic look at the overall results of the season. Some will point to the Patriots 10-6 record, and say "Hey, they were well above average. There's no significant problem." I beg to differ.

Look at those 10 wins, folks. They beat a total of 3 teams with winning records in those 10 games; and all 3 of them were barely winners, at 9-7. All 3 of those wins came at home. They never beat a winning team on the road. The combined record of the 9 teams they beat (2 wins against the Bills) was 66-78. While the combined record of the teams to which they lost was 60-36. Only 2 of the teams they beat made the playoffs; and one of them just beat them senseless yesterday in the rematch. Their 6 losses included defeats by 4 teams that made the playoffs.

So, what does all that tell you? It tells me that they simply were not a very good team. They beat the "tomato cans" of the NFL, and some of them only by the skin of their teeth; while losing consistently to league's better teams.

Their offense was inconsistent, and very poorly coached. Many people, including some opponents, have pointed out that they were unimaginative, predictable, and lacking in the ability to make effective in-game adjustments throughout the season.

Tom Brady's play was clearly affected by some combination of rust, and concern for his recovering knee. That's not criticism. It's simply an observation of fairly obvious fact. His accuracy was off. His willingness to buy time in the pocket was less. And he all too frequently threw passes in what appeared to be near panic under pressure. Did you notice his inability or unwillingness to run the ball through an obvious open lane for a probable TD in the game yesterday? Both on the sidelines, and in the huddle, there has been little or no sign of the fire that made him a great leader in past seasons. We certainly saw none of it yesterday, as Kevin Faulk had to take the lead in trying to fire up the offense on the sidelines. We can only hope that a full off-season will restore the superb game management skills he had prior to his injury.

The offensive line was rarely able to provide consistent room for the running game against any opponent. Their tactic always seemed to be to simply stand in front of opponents, rather than blow them off the line; which usually resulted in opponents easily shedding blocks, and making the tackle. On passing downs, the over rated Matt Light continued to be good for at least one major whiff per game , exposing Brady to a big hit, as was the case again yesterday.

Lawrence Maroney, while having a few productive games, made several critical fumbles, and failed repeatedly to pick up blitzing LBs. That last fault got him benched for the balance of the game yesterday following such a whiff! And the rest of the RB corps is at the point in their careers where they are too fragile to be depended upon. Although here it is mandatory to once again praise the attitude and ability of Kevin Faulk; who was head and shoulders above everybody but, perhaps, Edelman, in his performance yesterday!

And, of course, we all know that the WR corps was woefully inadequate, with only 2 effective players for most of the season. Edelman did his part, when healthy, but, as a virtual Welker clone, didn't provide the kind of balance needed to be on the field with Welker and Moss.

Defensively, the story wasn't any better. The secondary was confused more often than is acceptable. And the lack of consistent pressure from the front 7, particularly in key moments, has been noted throughout the season. The LBs, with the sole exception of Mayo, had very pedestrian seasons. As for Mayo, while he has great physical skills, and will, IMO, develop into a great ILB, he currently lacks both the ability to read offenses, and the ability to lead, at levels required of the elite players at that position.

In short, there was no element of this year's team that performed at an exceptionally high level, either among the coaches or the players. It was a sad season that I, for one, am glad to see come to a close. I will be anxiously awaiting some near term coaching moves, to precede some much needed changes to the roster from the FA market and the Draft. If I don't see those coaching moves, I'm afraid that I will be entering next season with, at best, a very cautious opinion of our chances for a return to our former position as one of the elite teams in the NFL.

Other than the above, what didn't you like about them?

[lomatopo]

I got up at noon today, having gone to bed at about 5 AM,

You missed the best game of the weekend, Cardinals OT win over the Packers. An instant classic!

Agree the Pats looked unprepared for a playoff game, that Superbowl loss to the Giants continues to haunt the team. The defense appeared unable to stop the run or pass, or both, in just about every game this year. The away record was a definite red flag as was the record given an easy schedule. Finally, the one-dimensional offense made it easy for defenses. They were probably more of a playoff team last year?

[Old Man River]

So, in the Green Bay/Arizona game, what should have been the call? I recorded the game on my PVR and have replayed the last play multiple times.

Potential Penalty #1 - A clear grabbing of Rogers face mask and not letting go until Rogers was on the ground.

Clearly, this was a face mask penalty. The defensive player knocked the ball out of Rogers' hand while reaching for his face mask and he held onto Rogers' face mask until he had Rogers on the ground. The defensive player didn't know he had knocked the ball loose and never made any attempt to recover it. He was too busy locking on to Rogers' face mask and bringing him to the grown for what he thought was a sack. There was nothing inadvertent about this. He could have argued that, maybe, he didn't grab the face mask fully and instead just had his hands in the QB's face (also a penalty).

Potential Penalty #2 - Rogers, knowing the ball was out, tried to kick it and as he was being tackled by the face mask and being pushed backwards. As he as being tackled, the best he could do was brush the ball with his foot which popped it up in the air leading to the game winning interception. On a fumble, the offensive team cannot kick the ball and Rogers clearly was trying to do that and actually did, but not with the force he intended (to kick it out of bounds or to where his team could recover it).

Hence, There should have been two penalities on the play and the interception should not have been allowed to stand. So far, the only comments we have heard from the officials was that the face mask was unintentional which isn't a penalty. If that was unintentional, then every team now has the right to grab a QB's face mask and throw him to the ground without a penalty.

The officials blew that game and ended GB's season due to their incompetence. The least they can do is admit their mistake.

Edited January 13, 2010 by Old Man River

[Calico]

Admit their mistake? But what about face?

[lomatopo]

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is downplaying a potential face-mask penalty that wasn't called on the decisive play of Sunday's overtime playoff loss at Arizona.

Facing third-and-6 on the first series of overtime, Cardinals cornerback Michael Adams blitzed Rodgers and knocked the ball out. It bounced off Rodgers' foot and into the hands of linebacker Karlos Dansby, who ran for a touchdown to give Arizona a 51-45 victory.

Adams appeared to grab Rodgers' face mask on the play, but officials didn't throw a flag. Rodgers didn't complain Monday, saying he was more concerned about his own mistakes.

The NFL issued an explanation of the rule, noting that "twisting, turning or pulling" the facemask is a 15-yard penalty but the penalty for an "incidental" grab of the face mask was eliminated before the 2008 season.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

[Old Man River]

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is downplaying a potential face-mask penalty that wasn't called on the decisive play of Sunday's overtime playoff loss at Arizona.

Facing third-and-6 on the first series of overtime, Cardinals cornerback Michael Adams blitzed Rodgers and knocked the ball out. It bounced off Rodgers' foot and into the hands of linebacker Karlos Dansby, who ran for a touchdown to give Arizona a 51-45 victory.

Adams appeared to grab Rodgers' face mask on the play, but officials didn't throw a flag. Rodgers didn't complain Monday, saying he was more concerned about his own mistakes.

The NFL issued an explanation of the rule, noting that "twisting, turning or pulling" the facemask is a 15-yard penalty but the penalty for an "incidental" grab of the face mask was eliminated before the 2008 season.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

I had read that. The only problem with the league's explanation is that Adams grabbed onto the face mask and never let go until he had Rogers on the ground. Call it a face mask penalty or call it a penalty for hitting a QB in the face, it doesn't matter. It was a penalty in full view of everyone, but I can only guess all the officials were looking at the fumbled ball and not the rest of the play. Then again, if they were looking at the ball they would have seen Rogers kick at the ball which is also illegal. Maybe they were looking at the cheerleaders.

[patsfangr]

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is downplaying a potential face-mask penalty that wasn't called on the decisive play of Sunday's overtime playoff loss at Arizona.

Facing third-and-6 on the first series of overtime, Cardinals cornerback Michael Adams blitzed Rodgers and knocked the ball out. It bounced off Rodgers' foot and into the hands of linebacker Karlos Dansby, who ran for a touchdown to give Arizona a 51-45 victory.

Adams appeared to grab Rodgers' face mask on the play, but officials didn't throw a flag. Rodgers didn't complain Monday, saying he was more concerned about his own mistakes.

The NFL issued an explanation of the rule, noting that "twisting, turning or pulling" the facemask is a 15-yard penalty but the penalty for an "incidental" grab of the face mask was eliminated before the 2008 season.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

I had read that. The only problem with the league's explanation is that Adams grabbed onto the face mask and never let go until he had Rogers on the ground. Call it a face mask penalty or call it a penalty for hitting a QB in the face, it doesn't matter. It was a penalty in full view of everyone, but I can only guess all the officials were looking at the fumbled ball and not the rest of the play. Then again, if they were looking at the ball they would have seen Rogers kick at the ball which is also illegal. Maybe they were looking at the cheerleaders.

I'm sure that most here remember the infamous "tuck rule" call in the "Snow Bowl" game; when an apparent fumble by Tom Brady was over ruled, because he had made a forward motion with the ball, and not subsequently "tucked it" to his body, before it was knocked loose. Well, the fact is that, as Raiders' fans (and others) love to contend, the officials DID make an error on the play. But it wasn't in the "tuck rule" call. The fact is that there should have been a penalty called on Woodson, the Raider who hit him. Woodson's arm hit Brady's helmet BEFORE it came down on his arm, knocking the ball loose. Truly. If you see that play in slo-mo, from the camera angle in front of Brady, the hit to the helmet is clear. But that is rarely mentioned by anyone harking back to that play. The fumble or tuck rule should never have been an issue. It should have been a 15-yard "Roughing the passer" penalty on the Raiders! (A pet peeve of mine since the play occured!)