Around the NFL, Week 15

by mgrex03 on Dec 16, 2008 3:50 PM EST in Analysis Comment 11 comments

A lot of this info is coming from the NFL.com blog "Inside the Numbers, Week 15"

Let's start with the hometown team. Peyton completed his 36th career game-winning drive in the 4th quarter/overtime. The pass to Reggie was a thing of beauty. He also passed Vinny Testaverde for 6th all-time in career completions, with 3,803. Vinny played for 21 seasons. Wow. He should also pass Drew Bledsoe before the end of the season, as he's only 36 behind him.
Staying with the Colts, Marvin Harrison moved into 3rd place on the all-time receptions list, with 1095, passing (Fighting Irish Heisman Trophy Winner) Tim Brown. He only needs 6 more to pass Cris Carter for #2. I'm hoping he passes him this year, which is a good possibility. He's really got no chance of catching Rice though. Nobody ever will.
One note on the Colts' opponent, the Lions. K Jason Hanson hit his 41st career FG over 50 yards, which is an NFL record. Hanson is an excellent kicker, that has been stuck in a bad franchise for many years. I'd trust him to make any kick for my team.
The Dolphins guaranteed themselves a winning record, which will only be the third time since the merger (1970) that a team that won only 1 game the previous year, came back the next year to have a winning record. The others? '97 Jets, and the '92 Colts. The two leading rushers for the Colts that year? Anthony Johnson and Rodney Culver, both from the University of Notre Dame (I just had to throw that in).
The Patriots have now won their last 40 games when they led at halftime, and last 39 when leading at the end of the 3rd. That's pretty amazing. Update: I looked it up, and the last game they lost after leading at halftime, and leading at the end of the third, was Dec. 20, 2004 against the Dolphins. It was the game immediately after Charlie Weis was named Head Coach at ND. Very Interesting. I feel dirty writing something that good about the Patriots...
So I'll add this about how bad the Patriots Defense has been in the Red Zone this year: They starting out 1 for 3, which is very good. Since? 41 for 41. That's right, the last 41 times an opponent has been in the red zone, they've scored points. By the way, the Colts are #1 on offense (70.5% TD), and #3 on defense (38.6% TD).
Lastly, my thoughts on the Ravens/Steelers game: I think they got it right. It was ironic, though, that I watched the replay of the "Tuck Rule" game on Saturday. Coleman got the call right there (I agree it is a stupid rule), and he got it right on Sunday. I wish they had the full rulebook online, but they don't. In what they do have, there are no words on what constitutes a touchdown. Is it "ball must cross the plane", or does having 2 feet in the endzone, with possession, count? I hope the head of officiating clarifies it this week.

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Just seems weird to me

Your feet (2) are inbounds with possession and the ball and your body leaning out of bounds – Catch
Your feet inbounds with possession leaning over the goal-line but your feet and body aren’t in – TD
Your feet in the end-zone with possession and the ball leaning into the field of play – TD

Sorry if that was a bit confusing..lol, I was never one that was really good with words.

I say you have to stand in the end-zone to have a TD. Enough of this “ball must cross the plane” crap. But that’s just me..

by yellowsnow on Dec 16, 2008 4:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

The difference is that field position in yards is determined by the position of the ball, but in/out of the field of play is determined by the position of the player. This makes perfect sense to me. And in cases where they’re judging whether a TD is scored right in the corner by the orange pylon, the plane of the goal line extends beyond the sidelines, meaning that a player can be in bounds (touches the pylon with a hand or foot) with the ball well out of bounds, but it can still be a touchdown if the ball is over the plane (ie, he’s reaching it out with his right hand while falling out on the right sideline). Which means there’s a very safe and fumble-proof way to lunge for the score if you’re running in on the sideline, because if you have it in your right hand which is out of bounds and drop it, it’s a fumble out of bounds, not a fumble through the end zone.

The reason I disagree with your last statement is that by that logic, then, you could say someone got a first down by diving back on a curl route from the sticks and catching a low Tarvaris Jackson-esque pass a solid two yards in front of it, but it’d then be a first down because he dragged his toe on the first down marker. That’s hardly fair. To get a first down – or a touchdown – the BALL has to cross that line, not the man.

by willyduer on Dec 16, 2008 6:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Wasn't concrete evidence

to overturn whatever the call was on the field, imo. If they had called TD, they couldn’t have changed it. If they called not TD, dont think they should have changed it.

THis is interesting because I remember Mike Periera saying earlier in the year (i’ll find the clip) that the standard for replay was not ‘super slow motion’, but rather ‘in normal speed for the eyes of the official’.

And now they (the nfl head office) is saying it was the right call ‘if you freeze it at just the right spot’.

by Nideak on Dec 16, 2008 4:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

lol

Good point about Periera. And I agree about the call – Not enough evidence. I was really surprised to see it overturned.

by yellowsnow on Dec 16, 2008 5:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Say what you will about the Pats, but they’re challenging for a division title and playoff spot after losing the second best quarterback in the league and with a defense that’s possibly the oldest thing on the earth after the Pyramids. Admitedly they’ve had an easy schedule, but I don’t see many other teams going 10-4 after losing their franchise, Hall of Fame QB.

That team is ready to play every week and they get the job done. And they’re [i]deep[/i].

Hopefully Matt Cassel takes Scott Pioli with him to Detroit next year and the Pats can start coming back to the pack.

by eltharion_doa on Dec 16, 2008 6:57 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yes, they deserve kudos.

by coltsfanawalt on Dec 16, 2008 7:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

ummm should we give any credit

to the bellicheat? i hate him plenty… but hes a top 3 coach of the year candidate…

by zkmavz on Dec 16, 2008 11:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It's difficult

to give any credit to a known cheater.

by Ayrshire on Dec 17, 2008 8:02 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Whoa there

It’s OK if you want to give them a little credit, but they’re 9-5, not 10-4 :)

by ctnyc on Dec 17, 2008 8:55 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Pats win streak when leading at the half...?

I suppose that was regular season…? I seem to recall a certain playoff game just two years ago when they held a commanding halftime lead, yet failed to slam the door. Actually, the Colts blew the door off the hinges in the 2nd half.

Good times.

Bobman

by Bobman on Dec 16, 2008 9:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

That's correct

If I had had more time, I would have found the last time for each where they lost.

I may look it up tonight to find out, but I know it is a regular season record. Usually with these kinds of streaks they don’t count the playoffs. They held the lead at halftime and at the end of 3 in the Super Bowl last year as well.

by mgrex03 on Dec 16, 2008 9:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs