This Raiders Chargers game is a lot of fun. They were never going to keep kneeling down in a 0-0 tie, like some conspiracy folks were suggesting. But, a 29-29 tie going to overtime, where both teams make the playoffs? Hmmm. Side note: I won my guillotine league!
Incredible. The final game of the first season with 17 games goes to OT, with implications for 3 different teams. And Indy is out after losing to Jacksonville. What a crazy day.
Do you think the Chargers screwed themselves by taking that timeout in OT. I.E., the Raiders were willing to settle for a tie until they did that? It was a great game, especially the 4th quarter. Herbert is an unreal talent.
I don't understand the point of that timeout. Were they trying to stop the clock in hopes of getting the ball back after a punt? Weren't the raiders in FG range anyway?
Unbelievable that the Colts lost to the Jags and missed the playoffs. Also, Dolphins fired Brian Flores. I don't understand that move at all. Dolphins looked like a team on the rise.
I think Flores is a casualty of a growing trend against defensive-minded coaches. The only issue with the Dolphins was how they are developing Tua, who is probably not going to be a starter for long. Sucks, dude deserves another chance elsewhere. That was a wild end to the season, though, holy shit.
if khan was smart, he'd hire Flores immediately. But he's a khlown, so it's probably gonna be zimmer.
Zimmer is the opposite side of that coin: dude built a monstrous defense in Cincy, and deserved his shot. I think a coach deserves at least 3-4 years to build something, and Zimmer's had more than enough time. He's also enjoyed above average QB play from Cousins, who is the poster child for "Yeah, but....wait, who?" among NFL quarterbacks. I'd be hesitant in case there was a brewing scandal with Flores, and I think he catches on as a DC somewhere competitive. Khan should fire himself. Also, this weekend's games were wild because both Jacksonville almost fucked themselves out of the first pick by winning, and the Chargers/Raiders could have tied, and both gone to the playoffs, bumping the Steelers, which...I think most of us wanted to happen anyway. Nagy is out, to no one's suprise. Anyone think Joe Judge simply won't answer the phone, so he can't learn he's fired?
I don’t understand why people are giving Staley shit for calling the time out. He wanted another package on the field, and waited until there was under 40 seconds left. The raiders were going to run it and kick a field goal if he didn’t call a time out, because they wanted to win the game and play the bengals instead of the chiefs. After the time out they ran it and kicked a field goal, because they wanted to win the game and play the bengals instead of the chiefs. The bad decision is where? Also, despite the heartbreaking loss, as a Chargers fan that was still one of the greatest comebacks I’ve ever seen. So excited to see what the team can do next year with the largest amount of cash for filling in holes in free agency- a little more o line depth, an interior d lineman, and another corner and I think the team can be favored to emerge out of the AFC. Herbert is a god.
It would have been a long FG from where they were at that point. Around 55 yards. After some time to think about it, I think @Evolution is correct about the timeout.
As a Dolphins fan, I'm stunned by this. I assume it's because he completely mishandled the OC and OL coaching positions, but who knows?
That is the issue. He called timeout to put a better package on the field and still gave up yardage on a play everyone knew was going to be a run. So I am giving him shit for what he did with the timeout.
This reeks of internal bickering that results in someone getting fired because of office politics. I mean, it's totally possible that Miami will land the next great head coach of the decade, but picking HCs seems like picking QBs; there are no sure things and a wrong move can set a franchise back a few years. Seemed to me like Flores was overachieving with a pretty limited roster, but then I don't watch many Dolphins games unless the Bills are playing them.
After thinking on this more, I think the real failure of the game was that those runs went for as long as they did. iirc there were several 10+ yard runs up the middle that normally should have netted just a few, especially with the defense knowing exactly what they were doing. So that's on the defense for failing. Amazing what Herbert did that game though. Had multiple justified opportunities for the game to be over, and he kept it going. What'd he make, like 5 fourth down throws in a row?
It's amazing that Herbert who is a top 3 QB in the AFC isn't in the playoffs, while Carr and Roethlisberger go through to next week.
I don't get the Carr hatred. He's not elite but they could do a lot worse (and I have feeling they are about to). Welcome to the qb's for the Chargers, embodied by the Brees curse: irrelevant but elite.
They've had one of the worst rush defenses the entire season, so if you have been paying any attention it wasn't exactly that surprising. The fact that they were even able to make it to OT was a testament to Herbert and just how good he was. He made MULTIPLE 4th down conversions just to keep them in the game.
That game was fucking nuts. I've never seen anything like the Chargers last drive of regulation. Herbert was a machine, I mean just incredible. OT the SO looks at me and asks, "Score to win or to tie?" Win of course. Question because he says one thing and I say another, could both have taken a knee and ended the game in a tie that way? In OT?
Supposedly, they could have "colluded" to end the game in a tie, but both coaches said they wouldn't do that, and the league might have penalized them. Certainly the Steelers would have been miffed.
You mean taking a knee out of the gate? OT will play out until one team wins or the time runs out, so that would have been a spectacularly boring 15 minutes. It'd be amazing to see what the league would try to do in that scenario, though. The refs can award anything up to and including a touchdown for what they consider to be unfair acts, so they could have awarded a winner, but I'm not sure what they'd do if both teams gave up. I'm guessing no matter what happened in that scenario, the outcome would be a tie. I was cheering hard for a tie because I think the Steelers are a bunch of assholes and I would have love to see them lose their playoff spot on such an unlikely scenario. As it played out, if they really wanted a tie, it would have been way easier to just convince the kicker to miss.