Sharky's NFL play of the week

[Aslan]

I personally would not be surprised to find that Brady is guilty. Furthermore, I would not be surprised to find it common practice within the NFL to deflate balls to preferred pressures, except in cases where the QB likes the highly inflated ball, as in the case of Aaron Rodgers. Players would not be looking for it if they didn't do it themselves. Plus, anyone who touches the ball can do it with the simple insertion of a needle hidden in their hand. Hey, I have a conspiracy theory! The referee spotting balls did it because he wanted to hedge his friend's bet on the Patriots! Or was it because he wanted to frame the Patriots so that his beloved Colts might go to the Stupid Bowl. I'd say the butler did it, but he'd have trouble accessing the ball. Maybe the ball boy did it because he was betting on the game, too. But perhaps the best theory is maybe the officials did it when they first inflated the footballs because they didn't like something Belichick said at an NFL cocktail party days before the game. If Tthree is a truther, he knows what I am talking about, not to disparage truthers, as they are entitled to their opinion. If this has entered the arena of politics or other forbidden topic, it is not meant as such, but only as a comment said in passing and hoping to elicit a chuckle or two. As much as I love Tthree, I think he is obsessing about this issue. They all do it when they think it will help, and it does speak to integrity, the fact that in sports nowadays there is little to go around. In Deflatgate, in steroids, in other substances, in forbidden betting, in misleading injury reports, in spying on the other teams, in doing practically anything to win, I believe we have only seen, or will ever see, the tip of the iceberg. Those are not robots out on the field, they are flawed human beings with clay feet and deflated balls. While I would like to see a move (I refuse to say "return") toward integrity in sports and all other human endeavors, I will not hold my breath until this happens. Let the fines and penalties be imposed and get on with it! Maybe the Patriots did wrong, but back-rooming and rubber hosing them will not change anything. Let the team without sin stand up, and we can all stone those lying gangstas together! On with the game!

[Three]

I don't know what a truther is nor do I care. I am what I am and I am proud of it. It sounds like a truther is some kind of conspiracy nut. I am not a conspiracy nut. I just understand how things are and don't expect them to be different. I have always loved the game of football and think it is by far the best team sport out there. I was always impressed with the Pats ability to field a winning team in the salary cap era, their depth when dealing with players who must miss games or seasons. The ability to lose key receivers and RBs and still perform at a high level. When I find out tat they won SB because they had an unfair advantage or they are violating all the other rules to ensure a fair game in order to achieve a dynasty status I lose all the high degree of respect I had for them. For people that would cheat and lie it is easy to let it slide but I expect the same kind of integrity in every aspect of my life from others. While I know I most likely won't see it I give everyone the benefit of doubt until they prove they aren't like me. Obviously the Pats lost the benefit of doubt a long time ago. I always thought Brady was clean but now it seems he may be the worst one of all. Oddly the main thing that makes him look the novice follower in this rather than the ring leader is how tremendously bad he is at lying. I am not sure I ever saw anyone so bad at it.

The level of disappointment is proportional to the distance the one disappointing has fallen. i had the utmost respect for Brady even though I felt he was over rated by many. I felt he was one of the best but the fact that he got 3 tainted SB victories was more a coincidence than Brady himself. And years of team success was just that teams success. Brady was fortunate to be on a good team. Now we find out Brady knows about under inflating balls. He likes them that way. He knows his equipment guys will only give him exactly what he tells them. No equipment manager in the NFL would do this without their QB's knowledge. That means tis is an ongoing thing. The odds that they would do it for the first time in an AFC Championship game they should win easily anyway is nil. You look to stats to see anomalies that point to how long they have been doing it and they suggest 2-8 seasons. That makes the stats of almost all of Brady's career a fraud. It is not fair to other players that played fair to have the tainted stats as part of the record book. If Brady didn't have a remarkable history it would be no big deal. He would not have fraudulent stats all over the record book.

This situation p*sses me off on so many levels and it is a huge deal not a big deal. Add this to Spy-gate and Brady's entire career is tainted. Every game's stats must have an asterisk. Spy-gate taints 2000-2007, inflate-gate taints 2007 to present.

[Aslan]

What the game proved was that whoever deflated the footballs put the Pats at a clear disadvantage in the first half over the second half. Thank God they found it in time!

[Three]

When you watch things over often you find you missed something. I was up channel surfing Saturday Night and came across this video. Iy sheds new light on the issue of deflate-gate. It's pretty funny parody of what we watched while getting the spirit of what we saw in the interviews.


http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-li...d-open/2842425

[Aslan]

Even Pete Carroll admitted he didn't have a clue about the pressure of footballs. It's the concern of QBs and ball boys, but nothing could be further from the mind of a head coach. Carroll now says he knows everything there is to know about the balls before the game, but only because of the present issue. It is perfectly believable that Belichick knew nothing about football pressures and protocols. Anyone who says differently is another of the many of those who are jealous of Belichick's success as a head coach. It's as plain as day.


This is not to say someone did not have something to do with it, or maybe not. LOL

[Aslan]

Moving-animated-wobbling-football-spinning-in-the-air.gif Where she stops, nobody knows.

[tjr5259]

Does anyone know what Sherman and Thomas' status is for sunday. How injured are they? Can the pats take advantage of the secondary?

[muffdiver]

They both claim to be close to 100% but I don't buy it. Brady to Gron should be huge in this game.

[Gamblor]

NE -1 vs SEA - As mentioned, I like to take the good D in this situation, but this is not the same soft NE defenses of late, or the same as Den/Sea (Den has no inside run or a decent defense). Its basically the Gronk-Beastmode Bowl, one or both of them are going to go off and that will decide the game, who can say. This whole Deflategate "scandal" itself deflated, so I feel better about NE getting a lot more of the calls going there way. A weak pick, should be a close game.

Also feel the score is going to go over 47, both teams will probably get at least 20 something points.

[Aslan]

Unbelievable! The game is lost on a stupid play. Carroll calls it a miraculous play to intercept. What was really a miracle is that New England got one more chance to intercept, which was about their only hope. And what is mind boggling is not giving the ball to their best player who makes 5 yards even on a broken play. What ever happened to jumping over the pile, or a running play with Lynch and Russell as weapons? Unreal!

The fellow next to me said well before the end of the game, when the Pats took possession losing 24-21, that the Patriots would score a touchdown and win the game They got the touchdown, but it wasn't over yet. Then when the Seahawks got the ball back with 2:02 on the clock he told me the Patriots would intercept. Right again, but who'd a thought it would happen on the goal line?

[Blitzkrieg]

Unbelievable! The game is lost on a stupid play. Carroll calls it a miraculous play to intercept. What was really a miracle is that New England got one more chance to intercept, which was about their only hope. And what is mind boggling is not giving the ball to their best player who makes 5 yards even on a broken play. What ever happened to jumping over the pile, or a running play with Lynch and Russell as weapons? Unreal!

The fellow next to me said well before the end of the game, when the Pats took possession losing 24-21, that the Patriots would score a touchdown and win the game They got the touchdown, but it wasn't over yet. Then when the Seahawks got the ball back with 2:02 on the clock he told me the Patriots would intercept. Right again, but who'd a thought it would happen on the goal line?

If Wilson wanted to win the game bad enough then he should have took off running instead of passing toward the goal line and did an Elway helicopter spin near the endzone.

[moo321]

Brady is the best of all time, but I wouldn't hate on anyone who said Montana is better.

Bradshaw isn't in the discussion. His numbers don't merit it.

No question, Montana won a lot. But look at his teams. He had pro-bowlers/hall of famers at every offensive skill position. He had a defense.

[Aslan]

If NE folded up the tents when down 24-14 you could say his Super Bowl record was mediocre. Seems like he made some timely passes in that 4th q. The fact Brady put them back in the lead with 2.01 to play is actually quite spectacular. It was a fate type of catch (certainly not a great pass) that put Seattle on the 6 in the first place. If Pats would've waited to score after the 2 minute warning, they could have ran more time off the clock or forced Seattle to burn a timeout. Then it's unlikely Seattle would've ever been in a position to win period.

Are you saying the Pats could have played the clock better? Then you are blaming them for putting the game in jeopardy despite the champion caliber comeback staged by Brady? I don't remember the time management at the 2-minute warning, but if the Pats could have run down more clock, I agree they certainly should have.

I have to agree with both you and KJ. Brady, despite two picks, played like a champion, but his fate did turn on a Seattle mistake, even though the opportunity for Seattle to score did turn on a "lucky" catch, not to downplay the heads up play to keep the ball in play by the receiver. To even "go" to 6 super bowls is an incredible achievement, win or lose, and Brady's lifetime stats speak for themselves. But unless I am subject to selective memory, I don't remember a Montana SB victory that was decided by such a fortuitous event, albeit well prepared for as Exoter has pointed out, where sure defeat was otherwise all but guaranteed. While Brady did a stupendous job bringing back the Patriots, he did not win the game-- Seattle lost it. But as Moo points out, just look at the team supporting Montana's sucess compared to the Patriots. In the final analysis, I guess it's always apples and oranges when trying to compare champion quarterbacks, although I believe supporting cast had less to do with Brady and Montana's success than Bradshaw's. Put Elway in there, too, for sure.