Thoughts on '90 NYG@SF MNF and upcoming KC@Rams

[RyanChristiansen]

Based on that rant/not a rant thread from earlier this season, I thought there would be a lot of bitterness and disgust over this Chiefs-Rams game.

The NFL is a business and the consumer will have the final word. I do believe the NFL will suffer in the long run if offense continues to escalate. Sure, the game was entertaining THIS time, or the games are entertaining THIS year, but if this becomes the norm, how will the NFL respond?

I understand that the days of punishing defenses and the entertainment value that went with them are over for the NFL, but the organization risks having a competitor that will bring back punishing defenses for their entertainment value. Then what? (This all feels analogous to boxing versus ultimate fighting.)

When everyone is a hero launching bombs, there are no more heroes.

[RyanChristiansen]

As for now, the key positions in football are, in no particular order, quarterback, wide receiver, pass rusher, and defensive back with ball skills. Just a few years ago, like as in, well, 2017 or 2016, I would not have listed wide receiver as a Mount Rushmore position. I believe it currently is one.

The Washington Post recently referred to a researcher who studied "the impact of players missing games and found that offensive talent affected a team’s performance more than defensive talent and that running backs were more valuable for myriad reasons than wide receivers but not as valuable as quarterbacks or linemen."

Running backs who can also catch the ball well may be more valuable than wide receivers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/r ... d8f0d44c47

[JWL]

Running backs who can also catch the ball well may be more valuable than wide receivers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/r ... d8f0d44c47

Thanks. I'll check out the article. Yeah, RBs who catch a lot of passes are very valuable. James White might be more valuable than Julian Edelman. There are always exceptions.

[Rupert Patrick]

Hard to see anyone coming out of the NFC but Saints/Rams. Saints have HFA right now, hard to pick against them in a dome.

Only thing going against them is they were last in the SB in 2009. Practically a dynasty in NFC. Rams have waited longer and moved to boot. Still, I'll stick with Saints.

AFC... Brady, Steelers, Andy Reid... what could go right? Steelers knock off Chiefs in divisional, lose to the Patriots in New England. Yawn. Saints beat Patriots in the SB in a close game of course.

Although I am tiring of these high-scoring shootouts, I thought it was a great game last night as there was great offense and big defensive plays.

I would be surprised if the Rams and Saints do not meet in the NFC Championship game.

In the AFC, the Texans are playing under the radar, do not overlook them. They lost their first three games by a total of 13 points and have reeled off seven straight wins and could very well run the table the rest of the regular season to go 13-3. Yes, they are tied at 7-3 with New England and lost to the Pats 27-20 on opening day, but the Pats still have to host the Vikings and have to travel to Pittsburgh, while the Texans have home games against their three division foes, a home game against Cleveland, and travel to the Jets and Eagles. Pittsburgh is 7-2-1 and still has to play the Chargers, Patriots, Saints and Bengals. Do not be surprised if the 13-3 Texans wind up the number two seed in the AFC and host New England in the Divisional game, which I think they can win. I'm not saying it can happen, but it very well could happen. The Texans are not a great team, but they are finding a way to win every week, and could surprise.

[JWL]

Based on that rant/not a rant thread from earlier this season, I thought there would be a lot of bitterness and disgust over this Chiefs-Rams game.

The NFL is a business and the consumer will have the final word. I do believe the NFL will suffer in the long run if offense continues to escalate. Sure, the game was entertaining THIS time, or the games are entertaining THIS year, but if this becomes the norm, how will the NFL respond?

I understand that the days of punishing defenses and the entertainment value that went with them are over for the NFL, but the organization risks having a competitor that will bring back punishing defenses for their entertainment value. Then what? (This all feels analogous to boxing versus ultimate fighting.)

When everyone is a hero launching bombs, there are no more heroes.

I agree that every game like this would become boring after a while.

"Oh, it is 28-28 at halftime. I know the other team is going to score at least three touchdowns in the second half. I just hope the team I root for scores four in the second half."

"Joe Mama scored a 87-yard touchdown. Big whoop. His team will easily score five more touchdowns later in this game."

"My team scores so many touchdowns per game that I truly forget about half of the touchdowns an hour after the games end."

Yeah. Some fans might stop watching football and switch to NASCAR or something.

****

This Chiefs-Rams game score was bloated because of excellent defensive plays. The score could have been 44-40 just like a Thanksgiving game from 1986.

[sheajets]

A game that exciting I think the NFL is lamenting they didn't get to showcase it in Mexico.

To me it was a bit too much. Just too much unrestrained offense and flags, however it was fun to see both teams throwing haymakers at each other and two exciting young QB's at their best. So much mayhem during this contest. And the atmosphere at the Coliseum gave it a big fight feel

[Rupert Patrick]

I did have a problem with the penalties, 21 in all. It was a sloppy game, mostly on the Chiefs part - the 13 penalties, the punt return out of the end zone by Hill
with a minute to play that cost them 18 yards, the block in the back which wiped out a 19-yard punt return by Hill and instead of starting at their 25, the Chiefs started at their 3-yard line, which was a moot point as they scored on the drive anyway. There were the three picks of Mahomes, who did play a great game I thought. I expect the Chiefs to work on these things and learn from this loss.

If these two teams were to meet again in the Super Bowl, or if turns out to be Chiefs-Saints, I expect an even better game than this one. Certainly not as high-scoring, but as exciting.

I'm still trying to soak it in from last night, but I'm trying to decide if last night's game was a game for the ages. Was it one of the three or four finest football games of this decade? I have to think about that.

[Jay Z]

There were some lower scoring games. Two I watched were Steelers-Jaguars and Cowboys-Falcons. Those were FG fests.

Other than last night, only 4 other teams scored over 30. Buccaneers and Giants both did in their game. Colts scored 38 against Titans, Saints 48 against Eagles. Eagles were the only one under 10.

I think it's gotten a lot harder to hold any team to single digits. Usually that was only the poorer teams anyway, of course, but even in these more defensive oriented games the kickers either make all of the FG or there is some late flurry of TDs, and the score winds up 22-21 anyway. Some of that is due to better field conditions, better kickers, better performance at "skill positions."

[Rupert Patrick]

There were some lower scoring games. Two I watched were Steelers-Jaguars and Cowboys-Falcons. Those were FG fests.

Other than last night, only 4 other teams scored over 30. Buccaneers and Giants both did in their game. Colts scored 38 against Titans, Saints 48 against Eagles. Eagles were the only one under 10.

I think it's gotten a lot harder to hold any team to single digits. Usually that was only the poorer teams anyway, of course, but even in these more defensive oriented games the kickers either make all of the FG or there is some late flurry of TDs, and the score winds up 22-21 anyway. Some of that is due to better field conditions, better kickers, better performance at "skill positions."

I for one have had an issue with the field goal kicking in the NFL for some time. For one thing, they need to get rid of the kicking ball and use the same ball they use for all other non-kicking plays. While I have come to like the 33-yard extra point, I think they need to make field goals more difficult as it seems every week somebody is nailing a 57-yard field goal. The three options, as I see it, are to (1) move the hash marks a couple feet each way toward each sideline; (2) make the goalposts narrower; (3) tack ten yards onto the spot of the kick when the opposing team takes over after a miss.

The NFL has hash marks at 18 feet 6 inches, while college football has theirs at 40 feet. This makes kicking a field goal in college football much trickier because of the angles. Perhaps the NFL needs to move the hash marks to 25 or 30 feet, which would change the game significantly. Would it help or hurt the offense? I don't know.

Shortening the distances between the goal posts would of course lower kicking percentages, but putting a ten-yard bonus added to the point where the field goal is kicked from would seriously reduce the number of field goal attempts.

I also think they need to rein in the offense somewhat, and there hasn't been a single rule change that has benefited the defense over the offense since the advent of the bump and run in 1978. Maybe go with a different ball that makes it harder to throw, and do away with Stickum gloves the receivers use.

[RRMarshall]

Rupert Patrick » Tue Nov 20, 2018 12:48 am

RRMarshall wrote:
Any chance this game breaks the all-time MNF record for points set by the 1983 Wash-GB game??


Looks like you nailed this one. The 105 points by both teams is now the third most of any game of all time behind the 113 between Giants and Redskins 1966 and the 106 between Browns and Bengals 2004. The 51 points scored by the Chiefs assures a record of the most points scored by a losing team ever, breaking the record of 49 by two teams, both in 52-49 games.
"Every time you lose, you die a little bit. You die inside. Not all your organs, maybe just your liver." - George Allen

As they say even a broken clock is right twice per day! I could not help but think after this one was over was despite all the offense and 3 defensive TDs this game still did not threaten the highest scoring game off all-time, the 1966 Giants at Redskins 72-41. Here we had a game currently involving the two highest scoring offensives in the NFL and the other game involving 2 middle-of-the road if not poor NFL squads combining for 113 points now over 50 years ago. If you want to treat yourself get the NFL GOW DVD of this game. Maybe this record will eventually fall with the emphasis on offense the way it is. Would make for a fascinating statistical study on the likelihood of its being broken if the scoring trends continue upwards like this?