[Letitroll98]

So Rob, the Eagles were the less meritorious team last night, the team that didn't work as hard?  Bullshit.  They out worked, out hustled, out coached, and out played the Vikings on every level.  The Patriots are a very good team that has been caught cheating several times, I do agree the PI calls were legit yesterday, but there's a lot of smoke for no fire.  The Eagles lost their starting quarterback who was in an MVP season, their starting middle linebacker, their all pro left tackle, and their playmaker running back all out for the season, and still made the Super Bowl in a dominate performance.  I hope they crush Brady and his band of cheaters.

I truly don't understand rooting for someone simply because they're less skilled and don't work as hard as their opponents.     Underdogs are underdogs because they're not as good- why do people actively hope for the less prepared team to defeat the better prepared team?  That's the opposite of meritocracy!  At any rate the Pats have been my favorite AFC team for many many years.  When you're a Vikings fan that's okay for the regular season but that leaves you needing something to do in the postseason!

If Brady and the boys win this one it will truly be something historic!  I'm pumped, hopefully they'll get it done.  Six Superbowl rings, wouldn't that be something to see!

[mcgsxr]

I will admit I was hoping to see the Vikings get to the Bowl just so their fans could have a rare hometown Bowl party.

However, the Eagles did indeed earn their spot.

I was frustrated with the Pats win.  Not that they did not play well and earn many points - but those 2 penalties late in the first half by the Jaguars defense lost the game for them.  If they had held on with the 14-3 lead into half time, no way the Pats come all the way back.

But, that's why they play the games.

Pulling for the Eagles, but expecting the Pats to take yet another trophy home. 

[macrojack]

OK. The NFL is comprised of 32 teams, all of whom are owned by big time investors who want the glory of winning a championship with all their hearts but who are much more concerned about protecting and growing their investment. There are literally billions of dollars at stake. Do you suppose they stand by and allow N.E. to cheat their way to glory year in and year out without saying or doing anything about it? If only they knew what the sports fans are privy to. Then they would join together and change the rules or have the rules better enforced  or do some cheating themselves similarly. Jerry Jones? No problem there. If he was aware of cheating, I'm sure he'd just have another drink, another blonde, or another cosmetic surgery. Apparently, despite the cheating that the public can see so clearly, Jerry just is too shy to speak out, to object.
What you should take away from this is that the Jags are just coming into their own. They have one of the most talent stacked teams in the league and the Patriots nemesis, Tom Coughlin. They will be a powerhouse for the foreseeable future. The Pats are aging out of the B&B era. There is an enormous shakeup in the offing as E. Manning, D. Brees, T. Brady, P. Rivers, B. Rothlisberger all approach retirement. Hard to picture the game without them. But it will all continue until ultimately the NFL falls victim to its own greed. Only then will the cheating accusations cease.

[JLM]

Just wish there was more focus on the game.  Tons of distractions: owners, league politics, players off field poor/criminal behavior, over or poor officiating, instant replay (which take forever), challenges, commercials (way too many), announcers who can't stop talking, interviews during the game (interruptions), 2 minute warnings (an excuse for more commercials), even plays (which take very little actual time during the 3 - 4 hour boardcast) get cut off to make room for all these distractions.

Even with commercials you could see all the "ball in play" of a football game in 10 minutes (Super Bowl 7 was reportedly less than 7 minutes), making the rest fluff.

[twitch54]

However, the Eagles did indeed earn their spot.

damn straight !

 

If they had held on with the 14-3 lead into half time, no way the Pats come all the way back.

LOL, you gotta be kidding ???

Pulling for the Eagles, but expecting the Pats to take yet another trophy home.

hope you're wrong !

[Letitroll98]

On ESPN just now Max Kellerman made a great argument against the pass interference call in the fourth quarter.  The receiver was out of bounds and the ball was uncatchable in addition to there being contact by both players.  I didn't catch all of that during the game, but he makes good points that it was the difference in the game, the Pats won by four and without that interference play they lose.  I also point to the recovered fumble that was blown dead when the Jags player was never touched and had a clear path to the endzone which would have made it 27-10 and out of touch for the Pats.  He acknowledged the Pats played great and the Jags didn't close the deal when they were still ahead, but noted you can't beat the Pats when the refs are on the Pats side as well.  The Patriots are a great team that took advantage of their breaks, but never would have won without the refs helping them out.

In the last five games the Pats had a 390 yard to 45 yard advantage in penalties.  Well coached team or something else, you decide.  The Jags claim Amendola head butted a Jag player in front of the ref and didn't get called.  The ref came over and congratulated Brady right after the game, that's not suppose to happen.  I have no evidence of anything and agree with macrojack's comments about the matter, but if there was that much smoke at my house I'd be calling the fire department.

[macrojack]

One of the knocks on Foles is his inconsistency. Although Wentz was not missed yesterday, I suspect he will be sorely missed in 13 days when the refs conspire with Putin to hand yet another Super Bowl to those cheating Pats.
Philadelphia's best chance lies in getting into Brady's attic and destroying that damn portrait. Of course, then Brian Hoyer would play the game of his life and send the Iggles crashing back to earth. Let's remember that the N.E. team, a the season began was the only one of the final four who was given a good chance of being in the post season at all. Nobody's calling the other three flukes, yet the Patriots have to have cheated to be in the final game. Bear in mind that the refs are highly fallible. Their calls are often bad but we have no evidence (just suspicions) that they are motivated by bad intentions.
Read JLM concerning many of the things we should be complaining about. Is it even possible to avoid perpetual badgering from advertisers anymore? Seems like it confronts me aggressively everywhere I turn. Does it get to you?

[rodge827]

Any officiating conspiracy will end up in Goodell’s office who is Kraft’s puppet! The battle is over before it can be fought.
Sucks that a game can be negatively impacted on a non reviewable judgement call!

[Letitroll98]

I agree with a lot of what is being said, Foles has been up and down with each game and could be in line for a bad game in two weeks.

Kellerman's point was the Pats are hard enough to beat with equal ref calls on both sides, with the bad calls they are impossible to beat.  I think it's most probable that the refs give the calls to the Pats much like LeBron and Durant get the benefit of the doubt, but they still get the calls.  My comments about the Patriots being cheaters refer to their public convictions for cheating, inflategate and videogate.

[macrojack]

Any officiating conspiracy will end up in Goodell’s office who is Kraft’s puppet! The battle is over before it can be fought.
Sucks that a game can be decided on a non reviewable judgement call!

That's right!!! I was there when Robert Kraft successfully sold Roger Goodell on the idea of initiating what became Deflategate. It wasn't easy getting Pagano and Irsay on board until they were informed that Kraft hated the idea. That wasn't true, of course, but it got the flattened ball rolling and created just the boost New England needed to come back in the second half with a decisive victory.
If Robert Kraft had not deceptively arranged for his team to be fined a million dollars and its first round draft pick revoked and its star QB to be suspended for 25% of the season, the Patriots would never have taken the Super Bowl. Right?

[macrojack]

I agree with a lot of what is being said, Foles has been up and down with each game and could be in line for a bad game in two weeks.

Kellerman's point was the Pats are hard enough to beat with equal ref calls on both sides, with the bad calls they are impossible to beat.  I think it's most probable that the refs give the calls to the Pats much like LeBron and Durant get the benefit of the doubt, but they still get the calls.  My comments about the Patriots being cheaters refer to their public convictions for cheating, inflategate and videogate.

The first half of the game in question seemed normal enough. The Pats ended the first half against the Colts with a 17-7 advantage. This was the half during which Brady supposedly enjoyed an overwhelming advantage due to under inflated footballs. In the second half of that game, Brady & Co. went on to a 28-0 advantage bringing the score to 45-7 finally.
So, according to the evidence, Brady led his team to a 10 point advantage at the half. After his overwhelming advantage was removed, he beat them by 4 touchdowns in the second half. You may recall that the Patriots play most teams pretty even in the first 2 quarters; half time scores are usually not lopsided. The thing to notice is what actually occurs. What could be, should be, or would be really can't be considered factors in the outcome. I can't prove that the Pats didn't mess with air pressure. I can only point out that it did not seem to help or  hamper them during what proved to be a pretty typical victory. Likewise, I feel compelled to mention that the balls are all turned over to the officiating crew for inspection and confirmation. If, perchance, they dropped the ball by failing to regulate ball inflation, why were the Patriots punished? What other teams have been called out for such shenanigans? Surely, with billions of dollars on the line, some other teams seek to acquire illicit advantages. Maybe they all do. Only one ever seems to attract this sort of attention. I wonder if this happens out of frustration or jealousy. If you can't beat them, frame them. Nothing lass has ever worked.

[ohenry]

... What other teams have been called out for such shenanigans? Surely, with billions of dollars on the line, some other teams seek to acquire illicit advantages. Maybe they all do...

"Gee Mom, all the guys are doing it!" (B. Cleaver, 1959) 

[ohenry]

JLM and macrojack, how much are you willing to pay for less advertising?

I don't want to pay to watch, but I don't want the ads either.  Unfortunately, unless your the Masters Golf Tournament, that just isn't going to happen.

[macrojack]

JLM and macrojack, how much are you willing to pay for less advertising?

I don't want to pay to watch, but I don't want the ads either.  Unfortunately, unless your the Masters Golf Tournament, that just isn't going to happen.

No one is complaining about the existence of advertising during NFL games. What you read, and apparently misinterpreted for your own purposes, was annoyance at the ever increasing preponderance of advertising. JLM indicated the possibility that rule changes have been added solely for the purpose of creating additional ad space.
Maybe so, I would not put it past them. It's a shame private parties are permitted sole use of the public airwaves. Could lead to a government propaganda network.

[Rob Babcock]

So Rob, the Eagles were the less meritorious team last night, the team that didn't work as hard?  Bullshit.  They out worked, out hustled, out coached, and out played the Vikings on every level.  The Patriots are a very good team that has been caught cheating several times, I do agree the PI calls were legit yesterday, but there's a lot of smoke for no fire.  The Eagles lost their starting quarterback who was in an MVP season, their starting middle linebacker, their all pro left tackle, and their playmaker running back all out for the season, and still made the Super Bowl in a dominate performance.  I hope they crush Brady and his band of cheaters.

That's the opposite of what of I said.  The Eagles outplayed and outworked the Vikes on every level, and they deserved to win.  As for the Pats cheating- that's mostly horseshit and everyone knows it.  But the haters cling to it to explain why their teams can't execute at the same level as NE.

[Rob Babcock]

No one is complaining about the existence of advertising during NFL games. What you read, and apparently misinterpreted for your own purposes, was annoyance at the ever increasing preponderance of advertising. JLM indicated the possibility that rule changes have been added solely for the purpose of creating additional ad space.
Maybe so, I would not put it past them. It's a shame private parties are permitted sole use of the public airwaves. Could lead to a government propaganda network.

Watch it online and you won't see any ads.  At least unless they are changing it this year.  The last couple years I've watched the SB online- when a commercial comes on they just black out/go to dead air.  Apparently you're "punished" by watching online so don't "get to" see the ads.  Suits me fine!  The inane advertising is one of the reasons I haven't watched a full football game from start to finish in five years.

[ohenry]

No one is complaining about the existence of advertising during NFL games. What you read, and apparently misinterpreted for your own purposes, was annoyance at the ever increasing preponderance of advertising. JLM indicated the possibility that rule changes have been added solely for the purpose of creating additional ad space.
Maybe so, I would not put it past them. It's a shame private parties are permitted sole use of the public airwaves. Could lead to a government propaganda network.

I don't care how you spin it, you guys are still complaining about ad frequency during the game. 

It isn't complicated.

[JerryM]

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

So we have a remake of the 2005 Superbowl. That's cool, I already have the shirt. 

Under the heading of "Defense wins Championships", I give the edge to Philly.

[Letitroll98]

I apologize if that's not what you meant Rob.  You being a Vikings fan and the way the post was written I assumed you meant both games, I'm glad we agree.  We have mad respect for the Vikings here in the Philly metro area.  Everybody likes Keenum and about half the fan base thought Foles couldn't handle the Vikes defense.  The two turnovers early were crucial, without them it's a different game.

[Letitroll98]

macrojack, I respect the opinions and logic displayed on your posts, so allow me to respectfully disagree.  Our difference is fundamental, but simple.  When the Colts handled the ball they immediately said it was soft and under inflated, without any pressure gauge there was enough difference in feel for the players to bring it to the refs attention.  It doesn't matter how Brady played in the second half, whether he played better or worse, he thought he played better with deflated balls.  He wasn't accused of playing better with deflated balls, he was accused of ordering the balls to be deflated so he could play better.  It's motive and evidence that determines intent.  The balls were deflated and people testified Brady liked them that way, nothing more needs to be proved, the Comish then makes his ruling.  The courts agreed.  Thanks for allowing me to express my side, I welcome any response.