The NFL Thread (with added College Football)

[DaveD]

Three miserable play-off defeats on the bounce for New England. All in games we started favourites.

Have a sore wrist this morning, may have punched Rex Ryan in the face at the end. You should see the state of the other guy...errrr...television.

[UK Redsox]

Three miserable play-off defeats on the bounce for New England. All in games we started favourites.

Have a sore wrist this morning, may have punched Rex Ryan in the face at the end. You should see the state of the other guy...errrr...television.

Well, if large sweaty men in tight trousers have that affect on you !!

[The Situation]

I've been in mourning last weekend.

Baltimore straight up LOST the game, Pittsburgh did not win it, it was our fuck ups which just gifted the Steelers. I was just completely stunned at how we managed to ruin it for ourselves. WHAT ON EARTH WAS GOING ON WITH OUR DEFENCE WITH 3RD AND 10 IN THE LAST FEW MINUTES!!!!!!! Even at that stage, despite all the turnovers we were still in there and would have probably won with a field goal. I felt sooooo depressed after the game, we kept finding ways to gift Pittsburgh. I'M SICK OF BEING THE 'NEARLY' TEAM... WHEN ARE WE GOING TO BREAK OUR DUCK AND MAKE IT ALL THE WAY AGAIN. IT'S JUST SO DEPRESSING BECAUSE I KNOW WE WOULD OF BEATEN EITHER JETS OR PATRIOTS, WHAT COULD OF BEEN! NOW WE'VE GOT TO START ALL OVER AGAIN NEXT SEASON

I thought I was depressed? THEN THOSE FUCKING JETS WIN. That really put the final nail in the coffin for me. If Baltimore didn't win I wanted the Pats into the Superbowl, how on earth did Jets beat Tom Brady at home? This is just the worst case scenario for me personally... and it happened!! I think I dislike the Jets as much as the Steelers (no hate).

Unfortunately, it looks like it's going to be a 3rd Superbowl for Pittsburgh in 6 years which would be very impressive. Good luck to the rest of the teams in the Championship games - I think it'll be a Packers-Steelers Superbowl.

(sorry for the angry caps - I'm still seething at what's happened - just in total shock still... Darren Bent has put a smile on my face though today to cheer me up no homo)

[usav]

Baltimore straight up LOST the game, Pittsburgh did not win it, it was our fuck ups which just gifted the Steelers. Unfortunately, it looks like it's going to be a 3rd Superbowl for Pittsburgh in 6 years which would be very impressive. Good luck to the rest of the teams in the Championship games - I think it'll be a Packers-Steelers Superbowl.

It was our fuck ups that let you in the game to begin with in the first half.  This game was always going to be won on turnovers or mistakes.  The Steelers won it fair and square because they were the better team, end of story.   Flacco shat his pants in the second half and couldn't deal with the pressure.   Don't get me wrong, he will be a good QB, he just has some growing up to do.

Now, before the weekend I wanted the Jets as I thought that was the better match up for the Steelers - especially at home so they didn't have to go to New England.  Now I'm not so sure, Ryan has got them really pumped up and   it should be a heck of a game. 

Steelers vs Packers would be a dream Superbowl for the country.

[The Situation]

Apart from the balls up from your players not realising Suggs knocked the ball out of Roethlisberger's hand that's all we got off you (oh, and some dodgy ref calls and a headbutt on TJ). You were only 7-0 within a few minutes so it's hardly the same as being 21-7 up with the Steelers looking lost - it was our massive mistakes that brought you back into the game.

The turning point was with the turnovers in the second-half... it made a massive impact on the game whereas that fumble in the first half was never going to impact the game in a major way.

Bottom line is very poor mistakes from our offense gave you the win, no way would our defense let you have it easy making 3 TD's from your offense averaging 70 yards each time did you have the ball lol.

Oh well, atleast I predicted Brady wouldn't be getting a 4th ring... the playoffs have just completely summed up this season in a nutshell - bizarre and unpredictable.

[usav]

It has been a pretty crazy season, I didn't expect the Steelers to be here, but here they are again......their ability to do this year after year without the flash names is really staggering.   Still, as I said, the Jets will be just as tough as Baltimore and I'm not taking anything for granted.

[Comrade Blitz]

(Darren Bent has put a smile on my face though today to cheer me up no homo)

After reading your rant, I'm sure the homos are relieved.

[DaveD]

The worst thing about this year's play-offs is, I'm going to have to root for the Steelers on Sunday. That's going to feel way wrong...

[ADVILLAFAN]

The worst thing about this year's play-offs is, I'm going to have to root for the Steelers on Sunday. That's going to feel way wrong...

No, you can support Da Bears to win it all.

[DaveD]

The worst thing about this year's play-offs is, I'm going to have to root for the Steelers on Sunday. That's going to feel way wrong...

No, you can support Da Bears to win it all.

I'm fairly agnostic as to who wins the NFC. But yes, whoever does is already guaranteed my support in the Superbowl. Hopefully at Superbash again...

[pmarachi]

Go Jets I guess.

I just want the Jets to win because I live in Giant's territory and the Giants fans have such a huge ego about how great they are and how bad the Jets are.

I'm an Eagles fan, but I have a soft spot for the Jets.

(I am just REALLY glad the Pats are out.  Talk about a Glory Hunting group of fans...)

[The Situation]

It has been a pretty crazy season, I didn't expect the Steelers to be here, but here they are again......their ability to do this year after year without the flash names is really staggering.   Still, as I said, the Jets will be just as tough as Baltimore and I'm not taking anything for granted.

The Steelers are this year's Man United. It just seems inevitable that you're going to win another Superbowl although you're right about the Jets... they really have thrown a spanner into the works, however Pittsburgh won't let them win again at Heinz Field.

As a neutral Packers vs Steelers would be a great match up. It's funny really, everyone was hyping up the Packers big time in pre-season and they flattered to decieve quite a bit losing 6 games and just scraping through to the playoffs as a WC... now they've stepped up in the playoffs and now everyone's talking about them again.

[ADVILLAFAN]

They never stop talking about the Packers - they are the Tottenham Hotspur of American Football.

Unfortunately like Spurs they are actually quite good not, I have to admit.

[DaveD]

I'm an Eagles fan, but I have a soft spot for the Jets.

(I am just REALLY glad the Pats are out.  Talk about a Glory Hunting group of fans...)

Well, at least as an Eagles fan, nobody can ever accuse you of being a glory hunter eh ? Unless dog-fighting is your thing...

[pmarachi]

True story about the Patriots and the fans.

I grew up and currently live in Southern Connecticut.  I live about 10-15 miles from the New York border, about 25 miles from Yankee Stadium, and about 60 miles from the Mass border, but about 180 miles from Gillete field.

Now my whole life I never knew anyone but Giant's and Jet's fans.  Never met a Patriots fan.  I had several friends who went to college in Boston and they will tell you, the Pat's had their fans, but it wasn't a big deal, certainly nothing like the Red sox.
To show how unpopular they were, every single year of my childhood there was a rumor that the Pats would be moving some 200 miles down into Connecticut, because they just weren't selling tickets in Mass.

Well what happened?
They won a SUPER BOWL!!
My friends in Boston said out of nowhere, there were TONS of DIEHARD pats fans in th streets, having parades, and wearing their new pats gear.

200 miles away, in Southern CT, the Pats became 50% of the fans you came across, who now said "Well, we are in between ny and ma here" (we aren't), and so "they are like the home team, always have been" (never were).

The fans are the WORST too.

You couldn't find a single one (literally not a single one) in the bar when the pats played the year Brady broke his leg, but they all showed up this year.  The ladies in pink jerseys, the men who couldn't name the kicker before A.V. (without the phone google of course).

It's really annoying.

This is way I will always consider anyone who literally doesn't live next door to that stadium and is a pat's fan a front runner.