Divisional Playoffs Discussion Thread

[dabears10]

Originally Posted by gpngc

The part where he scores in every single game.

And the part where his chances of making an impact decrease against the best kick covering unit in the NFL.

[HeavyLeggedWaistBender]

Originally Posted by gpngc

The part where he scores in every single game.

And the part where his chances of making an impact decrease against the best kick covering unit in the NFL.

A. He scores like every 20th time he touches one.
B. He scored one against Seattle this year
C. Sooo...

[edit] I did this solely out of curiosity. 113 kick returns with 4 tds. Thats 1 for every 28.25. And 178 punt returns for 10 tds. Thats 1 for 17.8. So combine those and get 1 td for every 20.8 special teams touches. But I was kinda right :)

[senormysterioso]

http://deadspin.com/5732917/

Wes Welker referenced feet 11 times in a 9 minute interview today, ******* awesome. How can you not like Welker?

[Shiver]

Wes Welker is my hero. When the Patriots take shots they do so in a smart, underhanded way. I love it.

[gpngc]

I'd just much rather come out and show confidence in my coverage unit by saying we'll kick to him than give up 10+ yards in field position with every punt by kicking away or ask my punter to do something different and get burned by it (a la DJax) especially when he's one of the best punters in the league.

Again, he scores about once every seven or eight games so the odds of him scoring aren't as high as you'd think.

[gpngc]

Originally Posted by HeavyLeggedWaistBender

A. He scores like every 20th time he touches one.
B. He scored one against Seattle this year
C. Sooo...

[edit] I did this solely out of curiosity. 113 kick returns with 4 tds. Thats 1 for every 28.25. And 178 punt returns for 10 tds. Thats 1 for 17.8. So combine those and get 1 td for every 20.8 special teams touches. But I was kinda right :)

So what is your point? That Hester is a great return man? Agreed. Who cares?

That he's going to score if we kick to him? We'll see.

You think Carroll is making a mistake by going after him, showing confidence in a great punter and coverage unit, rather than giving up 10+ yards a pop in field position?

I'd be willing to bet he doesn't get a TD. It's just not that frequent.

[CameronCropper]

Originally Posted by gpngc

I'd just much rather come out and show confidence in my coverage unit by saying we'll kick to him than give up 10+ yards in field position with every punt by kicking away or ask my punter to do something different and get burned by it (a la DJax) especially when he's one of the best punters in the league.

Again, he scores about once every seven or eight games so the odds of him scoring aren't as high as you'd think.

The odds of him scoring aren't as high as you'd think? Maybe not.

Just better than any other kick/punt returner in NFL history.

[gpngc]

^Agreed. Which still aren't that high...

I'm just defending Pete Carroll here.

A huge underdog on the road can't afford to be giving up 10+ yards of field position when it punts. That's all. Punt well and cover kicks effectively and any return man, including the great Devin Hester, can be neutralized. Carroll is showing confidence in his ST, which have been stellar all year for the most part.

[Shiver]

The Bears are intriguing to me. If Jay Cutler gets hot, like Jake Delhomme or Eli Manning did, then the Bears can win it all. I wonder how he will respond to the playoff atmosphere.

[GB12]

Originally Posted by HeavyLeggedWaistBender

A. He scores like every 20th time he touches one.
B. He scored one against Seattle this year
C. Sooo...

[edit] I did this solely out of curiosity. 113 kick returns with 4 tds. Thats 1 for every 28.25. And 178 punt returns for 10 tds. Thats 1 for 17.8. So combine those and get 1 td for every 20.8 special teams touches. But I was kinda right :)

I think there are certain situations where you don't kick to him, but generally you have to kick to him.

Like you said he only scores 1 out of every 18 returns. That might be really high compared to other returners, but it isn't anywhere close to a sure thing. Considering Seattle is only going to be punting about 5 times, odds are heavily in their favor that he won't take one to the house.

And it's not like he's returning it 20 yards every time. He has a 12 yard average, which while good, is likely less than you would give up by trying to kick away from him. And that average includes the ones he busts for a TD. On the returns he doesn't take back his average is surely below 10, as indicated in his 2008 and 2007 stats when he didn't have a single TD and averaged 7.8 and 6.2 per return. If he beats you, he beats you bad and takes it back to the house. If you don't let him score, you hold him to a modest amount.

Sure there's the chance that he makes you pay big time, but there's a much greater chance he doesn't. You have to kick to him. Even as the greatest punt returner ever he's scoring only once every 7.6 games. I'll take the 87% chance that it's not going to happen.

[luckyjackaubrey]

Originally Posted by senormysterioso

http://deadspin.com/5732917/

Wes Welker referenced feet 11 times in a 9 minute interview today, ******* awesome. How can you not like Welker?

This was a thing of beauty and made my day.

[senormysterioso]

Unless Jon Ryan became an exponentially better directional kicker since leaving Green Bay, I think Pete Carrol is right. They have to kick it to him and hope the coverage holds.

[nepg]

According to SportsBets.com, if I hit all 4 on my parlay for $1,000 I'd walk out with $30k. Soooo tempting. I'll just do it in pretend world.

[Razor]

This is awesome!

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/phot... l5a%2FJKkY%3D

[bigbluedefense]

What I don't get is how everyone says the Pittsburgh/Baltimore rivalry is so close.

How? The only times Baltimore has beaten Pitt is when Ben wasn't playing. Roethlisberger owns the Ravens right now, and until they can beat Roethlisberger, I'm putting my money on the Steelers every time.

I believe Ben has won the past 6 games he's played vs the Ravens. Ben owns them.

And I believe he'll beat them again. I just think Flacco is going to make 1 more mistake than Ben and that will be the difference of the game.

No one can fool Ed Reed more than Ben either. Ben is the best qb in the game at manipulating Ed Reed. Bc nobody can pump it better than Ben.

I seriously don't get why Ben isn't at the very worst, #4 on everyone's qb lists.

[Hines]

Originally Posted by bigbluedefense

What I don't get is how everyone says the Pittsburgh/Baltimore rivalry is so close.

How? The only times Baltimore has beaten Pitt is when Ben wasn't playing. Roethlisberger owns the Ravens right now, and until they can beat Roethlisberger, I'm putting my money on the Steelers every time.

I believe Ben has won the past 6 games he's played vs the Ravens. Ben owns them.

And I believe he'll beat them again. I just think Flacco is going to make 1 more mistake than Ben and that will be the difference of the game.

No one can fool Ed Reed more than Ben either. Ben is the best qb in the game at manipulating Ed Reed. Bc nobody can pump it better than Ben.

I seriously don't get why Ben isn't at the very worst, #4 on everyone's qb lists.

Ben is 8-3 in his career against Baltimore. Also, Flacco doesn't do well against the Steelers as well.

[bigbluedefense]

Originally Posted by HinesWardJr

Ben is 8-3 in his career against Baltimore. Also, Flacco doesn't do well against the Steelers as well.

There you go. 8-3 for his career. Baltimore needs to beat him more than 3 times in his career for me to say that this rivalry isn't one sided.

[Don Vito]

Epic NY Post cover. Fat Han Solo-Rex Ryan is awesome.

[Morton]

Originally Posted by Shiver

The Bears are intriguing to me. If Jay Cutler gets hot, like Jake Delhomme or Eli Manning did, then the Bears can win it all. I wonder how he will respond to the playoff atmosphere.

Even if they do make it to the Super Bowl, which is highly unlikely, I don't see how they can possibly beat the Patriots or the Steelers.

[The Unseen]

Originally Posted by Don Vito

Epic NY Post cover. Fat Han Solo-Rex Ryan is awesome.

That
is
AWESOME

[Don Vito]

Joe Namath Yoda ftw

[senormysterioso]

The Nick Mangold Ewok is a really nice touch.'

They should have had Rex as Jabba the Hut with his wife on a leash as Leia

edit: I can't get behind Revis as Obi Wan, he needs to be Lando, or maybe Boba Fett?

[The Unseen]

My question is...is Bill Belichick Mark Sanchez's father? THAT'S NOT TRUE! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!

[XxXdragonXxX]

[Hines]

I wonder if LaMarr Woodley continues his two sack a game performance in the playoffs.