2024 Season Notes wks 11-13

[SeahawkFever]

Schottenheimer had an aging Montana for two seasons. He never had a talent afterward similar to Rodgers. Love has talent as well but I would take Marty over Lafleur as a HC. With their young weapons though, they could be a sleeper again in postseason. With the Vikings defense slipping and Detroit going through injuries, the Pack could still win the division ... Will get exciting by wk 14 ...

Their defense is a joke, they haven't beaten anybody worth a damn and Jordan Love is basically 2019 Jameis with better PR

Green Bay is the epitome of a team built for the regular season, not the postseason

Out of curiosity, if a team is built for the regular season, what does that mean? And what about Green Bay specifically makes them built for the regular season in your opinion?

[Citizen]

It seems to me that the epitome of a team built for the regular season would be one that has never won a championship and hasn't even played for one in five decades.

[Jay Z]

It seems to me that the epitome of a team built for the regular season would be one that has never won a championship and hasn't even played for one in five decades.

The Vikings?

So many teams have done this. They have the period of dominance. Then they come back and they're good, but not quite as good. So you get playoff losses and people expect more.

Vikings have been in playoffs a ton. But only year they really should have been in the SB was 1998. Other teams were good but not that good. Someone has to lose in the playoffs. I will ALWAYS take losing in the playoffs over going home without, so would every player in the league.

1970s Vikings won a single road playoff game in getting to their SBs. They also lost home playoff games in 1970, 1971, 1975. Hell, maybe they should have made it more than four times.

Steelers under Cowher had a bunch of failures. Then they finally won. Tomlin won one, has a losing playoff record now I think. Should he have done better? Every playoff game has a loser.

Packers this year have already lost to three teams with better records. It would be nice to go on a run but it probably won't happen. Still beats 5-12.

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

The Packers are last year's Dolphins- who have they REALLY beaten?

Texans was a good win but like you mentioned earlier, dangerously close to being .500. I didn't think they'd make the playoffs before the season started. They are in position to make it as the bottom seed again with the new format. But overall, sometimes games are lost rather than won - meaning with the Bears game for example, the Bears coaching staff helped lose that game more than the Packers won it. The Packers coaching staff - I've critiqued them enough that I think most people on this board know how I feel. But Lafleur just doesn't ever seem to have a plan for game situations.

I think the Packers will likely get the last seed if Jacobs stays healthy. They do play a few games against what I consider to be similar teams during the rest of the season - SF, Miami, and Seattle. I think those games will show if the Packers are better at being lucky or just a bit better than the average teams.

Josh Jacobs never played a meaningful game with the Raiders. What makes me think he’s going to be the missing piece?

I'm not saying that Jacobs is a "missing piece", but the Packers need somebody in the running back position who did similar to what Aaron Jones was capable of doing. Jacobs has played great this year. He's often been injury prone, but he's stayed healthy this year. Probably a career year for him, at least so far.

I'm not sure what you mean by a "meaningful" NFL game. He played in the playoffs for the Raiders. And he played in big games in college with Alabama. And don't be tricked into thinking that just because a player hasn't played a "meaningful" NFL game doesn't mean he can't excel in one. If a meaningful game is a conference championship or Super Bowl, many players have excelled in their first championship or Super Bowl. But he's played in a playoff game and games that determined whether a team made the playoffs.

I don't really know if the Packers can get to the conference championship this year - it would take a combination of luck and other teams making mistakes, IMHO.

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

And just kind of to comment on other Packer-based comments throughout this thread - every year there are teams that remind me what Bob Skoronski told me - "Success breeds confidence." The mental aspect of the game - this is often how teams that aren't necessarily great keep winning. A team goes in confident, a couple of things go right, they have a lead and that confidence grows. If they're playing a team that doesn't have that high level of confidence, or knows how to battle back from being down 10 points, that's going to work in teams like the Packers favor. The Steelers might be a bit like that this year also. Certain teams just build on the good things that happen.

Conversely, you get a situation like the Bengals, great players and games just seem to go wrong and keep going wrong. Those teams tend to do much better the next season, and I expect them to have a big turnaround provided they have similar personnel.

The way the NFL is set up now - and we've seen this in baseball recently with the Diamondbacks making the World Series - you get an average team or slightly better than average team a chance in a bracket - if they get the right matchups and things bounce their way - they can win 3 or 4 straight and get to the championship or Super Bowl. I'm not saying that's going to happen for the Packers or Steelers this year, but it could happen for somebody. And I guarantee it will happen for somebody at least once in the next few years. That's how the playoffs are set up now.

[Brian wolf]

Interesting stat line with Josh Allen throwing a TD pass AND catching a TD pass, despite no reception ... Only happened four other times with Mariota the last to do it.

With Tucker, I feel the Ravens just need to let him play through his slump. A huge miss in the playoffs, could spin the wheels, however?

The Titans suck but Westrook-Ikhine is playing well, catching 8 TDs off 20 catches ...

[conace21]

Interesting stat line with Josh Allen throwing a TD pass AND catching a TD pass, despite no reception ... Only happened four other times with Mariota the last to do it.

Not quite. Mariota and Brad Johnson both caught their own deflected passes, and scored. They get credit for the pass reception, the yards, and the touchdown. Allen (like Roy Zimmerman and Frank Ryan before him) completed a pass to the receiver. The receiver then lateralled back to the QB, who scored. As with any lateral, the player receiving the lateral does not get credit for the touch (reception/rushing attempt/interception), but he does get credit for the subsequent yardage and the touchdown.

Quick example off the top of my head.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... 210car.htm

Ed Reed intercepted a pass, and literally to Dawan Landry, who caught the lateral at the 23 yard line and took it in for a touchdown. Reed gets credit for the interception and 19 return yards. Landry doesn't have an interception, but he does get 23 return yards and a touchdown on interception return.

[SeahawkFever]

The way the NFL is set up now - and we've seen this in baseball recently with the Diamondbacks making the World Series - you get an average team or slightly better than average team a chance in a bracket - if they get the right matchups and things bounce their way - they can win 3 or 4 straight and get to the championship or Super Bowl. I'm not saying that's going to happen for the Packers or Steelers this year, but it could happen for somebody. And I guarantee it will happen for somebody at least once in the next few years. That's how the playoffs are set up now.

What about the NFL if anything do you think has led to playoff runs by teams that get hot at the right time being more common?

[CSKreager]

Texans was a good win but like you mentioned earlier, dangerously close to being .500. I didn't think they'd make the playoffs before the season started. They are in position to make it as the bottom seed again with the new format. But overall, sometimes games are lost rather than won - meaning with the Bears game for example, the Bears coaching staff helped lose that game more than the Packers won it. The Packers coaching staff - I've critiqued them enough that I think most people on this board know how I feel. But Lafleur just doesn't ever seem to have a plan for game situations.

I think the Packers will likely get the last seed if Jacobs stays healthy. They do play a few games against what I consider to be similar teams during the rest of the season - SF, Miami, and Seattle. I think those games will show if the Packers are better at being lucky or just a bit better than the average teams.

Josh Jacobs never played a meaningful game with the Raiders. What makes me think he’s going to be the missing piece?

I'm not saying that Jacobs is a "missing piece", but the Packers need somebody in the running back position who did similar to what Aaron Jones was capable of doing. Jacobs has played great this year. He's often been injury prone, but he's stayed healthy this year. Probably a career year for him, at least so far.

I'm not sure what you mean by a "meaningful" NFL game. He played in the playoffs for the Raiders. And he played in big games in college with Alabama. And don't be tricked into thinking that just because a player hasn't played a "meaningful" NFL game doesn't mean he can't excel in one. If a meaningful game is a conference championship or Super Bowl, many players have excelled in their first championship or Super Bowl. But he's played in a playoff game and games that determined whether a team made the playoffs.

I don't really know if the Packers can get to the conference championship this year - it would take a combination of luck and other teams making mistakes, IMHO.

They won't even win a playoff game

Death, taxes, and Green Bay choking under pressure in January

[Jay Z]

Josh Jacobs never played a meaningful game with the Raiders. What makes me think he’s going to be the missing piece?

I'm not saying that Jacobs is a "missing piece", but the Packers need somebody in the running back position who did similar to what Aaron Jones was capable of doing. Jacobs has played great this year. He's often been injury prone, but he's stayed healthy this year. Probably a career year for him, at least so far.

I'm not sure what you mean by a "meaningful" NFL game. He played in the playoffs for the Raiders. And he played in big games in college with Alabama. And don't be tricked into thinking that just because a player hasn't played a "meaningful" NFL game doesn't mean he can't excel in one. If a meaningful game is a conference championship or Super Bowl, many players have excelled in their first championship or Super Bowl. But he's played in a playoff game and games that determined whether a team made the playoffs.

I don't really know if the Packers can get to the conference championship this year - it would take a combination of luck and other teams making mistakes, IMHO.

They won't even win a playoff game

Death, taxes, and Green Bay choking under pressure in January

GB won a playoff game last year. On the road. By a lot.

Right now GB and MIN are slated to be matched up with the winners from the NFC South and/or West, both of whom are likely to have worse records.