NFL and College Football (American Football) Thread

[GuidoHunter_Toki]

Originally Posted by Kyuu

You people and your puny championships.

Spoiler:

Well they definitely had the most style.

[Mr. DJ]

I really don't buy into the whole momentum thing...it goes either way.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Mr. DJ

I really don't buy into the whole momentum thing...it goes either way.

It's really more of a confidence thing. Baltimore was railing them, and if it hadn't been for the blackout, their confidence would've been near a complete flat line after that kickoff return for a TD. However, they got a 34 minute reprieve to calm down and get themselves back in the game, mentally.

[cyberdemon]

The 49ers can complain about a single possible no-call (something BOTH teams were getting a lot of) but the only reason they even had that chance was because of the blackout. They would've likely continued to get stomped if that hadn't happened. It gave them too much time to re plan and regain their heads.

[Kyuu]

Originally Posted by cyberdemon

The 49ers can complain about a single possible no-call (something BOTH teams were getting a lot of) but the only reason they even had that chance was because of the blackout. They would've likely continued to get stomped if that hadn't happened. It gave them too much time to re plan and regain their heads.

If the Niners are gonna complain about a single play -- focus on the very first play. A 20-yard pass negated by illegal formation. What could have been a big gain -- led to a 3-and-out.

[cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by Kyuu

If the Niners are gonna complain about a single play -- focus on the very first play. A 20-yard pass negated by illegal formation. What could have been a big gain -- led to a 3-and-out.

That's their own fault. You expect that from highschoolers, not professional players. lol

[Samari]

Originally Posted by cyberdemon

The 49ers can complain about a single possible no-call (something BOTH teams were getting a lot of) but the only reason they even had that chance was because of the blackout. They would've likely continued to get stomped if that hadn't happened. It gave them too much time to re plan and regain their heads.

Or the team just started making plays like they have all season long. There wasn't a blackout in Atlanta with a 17 point deficit. What's the excuse for that?

[cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by Samari

Or the team just started making plays like they have all season long. There wasn't a blackout in Atlanta with a 17 point deficit. What's the excuse for that?

It's hard to tell though whether they would have managed it if it weren't for the blackout. That gave them a lot of time to calm their heads and reevaluate their situation especially after the kick off. That would've been hard on motivation otherwise. Also in the Falcons games, they came back much earlier in the game than here.

[Samari]

Originally Posted by cyberdemon

It's hard to tell though whether they would have managed it if it weren't for the blackout. That gave them a lot of time to calm their heads and reevaluate their situation especially after the kick off. That would've been hard on motivation otherwise. Also in the Falcons games, they came back much earlier in the game than here.

So the blackout magically made them do what they've been doing all season long. The blackout magically made Tarrell Brown force a fumble from Ray Rice.

And since the deficit in Atlanta was earlier in the game the blackout magic doesn't count. Okay.

Why didn't the blackout at Candlestick help the Steelers win the game the previous year against the 49ers?

Let's not make this more complex than it really is and add a divine intervention story just because it makes it sound like a better narrative. The 49ers simply started executing. This wasn't the first time they had started out slow. They did it against Atlanta the previous week and pulled it off and almost pulled it off in the Super Bowl. The game simply didn't go their way in the first half. Not complicated.

[cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by Samari

So the blackout magically made them do what they've been doing all season long. The blackout magically made Tarrell Brown force a fumble from Ray Rice.

And since the deficit in Atlanta was earlier in the game the blackout magic doesn't count. Okay.

Why didn't the blackout at Candlestick help the Steelers win the game the previous year against the 49ers?

Let's not make this more complex than it really is and add a divine intervention story just because it makes it sound like a better narrative. The 49ers simply started executing. This wasn't the first time they had started out slow. They did it against Atlanta the previous week and pulled it off and almost pulled it off in the Super Bowl. The game simply didn't go their way in the first half. Not complicated.

wasn't saying it was divine intervention. They came back early in the game against Atlanta so they were able to pull themselves together quickly. After halftime is a lot more difficult especially when the Ravens score immediately which would be a blow to morale for anybody. The blackout just gave them a LOT of time to calm down and pull themselves together. It gave them time to plan. That makes a load of difference. At the same time it cooled the Ravens down.

[sky black swordman]

Originally Posted by Samari

So the blackout magically made them do what they've been doing all season long. The blackout magically made Tarrell Brown force a fumble from Ray Rice.

And since the deficit in Atlanta was earlier in the game the blackout magic doesn't count. Okay

Why didn't the blackout at Candlestick help the Steelers win the game the previous year against the 49ers?

Let's not make this more complex than it really is and add a divine intervention story just because it makes it sound like a better narrative. The 49ers simply started executing. This wasn't the first time they had started out slow. They did it against Atlanta the previous week and pulled it off and almost pulled it off in the Super Bowl. The game simply didn't go their way in the first half. Not complicated.

No it didn't all that, but it did kill the momentum the Ravens had up to that point.

And in the game against the Steelers at Candlestick, that blackout didn't help the Steelers win the game, but then again what could. You may have forgotten that in the previous week, the Steelers played against Cleveland Browns and Ben Roethlisberger suffer a left high-ankle sprain near the end of the first half.
So the 49ers were up against a team that had their QB playing on one foot.

[Samari]

Originally Posted by sky black swordman

No it didn't all that, but it did kill the momentum the Ravens had up to that point.

And in the game against the Steelers at Candlestick, that blackout didn't help the Steelers win the game, but then again what could. You may have forgotten that in the previous week, the Steelers played against Cleveland Browns and Ben Roethlisberger suffer a left high-ankle sprain near the end of the first half.
So the 49ers were up against a team that had their QB playing on one foot.

The Steelers should have at least been in the game that night according to the logic established in this thread. Everyone is injured by the time the Super Bowl starts. Why are we making excuses for the Steelers not being able to captalize on the magic blackout when it apparently helped the 49ers? Justin Smith's torn triceps didn't magically heal itself. He didn't pull himself together after the blackout.

Again, how did the magic blackout help Tarrell Brown force the fumble?

Originally Posted by cyberdemon

wasn't saying it was divine intervention. They came back early in the game against Atlanta so they were able to pull themselves together quickly. After halftime is a lot more difficult especially when the Ravens score immediately which would be a blow to morale for anybody. The blackout just gave them a LOT of time to calm down and pull themselves together. It gave them time to plan. That makes a load of difference. At the same time it cooled the Ravens down.

Then why didn't it help the Steelers last season?

Why didn't it magically make their run game better? Why didn't it magically help their offensive line protect Roethlisberger from the fierce pass rush? Why didn't they calm down and pull themselves together? Why did they continue to get worse after the blackout? I mean they had time to plan too.

[Dilla]

Different teams and players react differently to various situations, dude. For example, you mentioned Atlanta. You forgot to mention that Atlanta nearly blew the game against Seattle the same way a week before.

Don't get me wrong, the blackout could've very well not have mattered, but momentum is a big thing in sports and after Jacoby Jones returned that TD on the opening 2nd half kickoff, the Ravens still had it. I believe the blackout was to the Niners' benefit.

[cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by Samari

The Steelers should have at least been in the game that night according to the logic established in this thread. Everyone is injured by the time the Super Bowl starts. Why are we making excuses for the Steelers not being able to captalize on the magic blackout when it apparently helped the 49ers? Justin Smith's torn triceps didn't magically heal itself. He didn't pull himself together after the blackout.

Again, how did the magic blackout help Tarrell Brown force the fumble?



Then why didn't it help the Steelers last season?

Why didn't it magically make their run game better? Why didn't it magically help their offensive line protect Roethlisberger from the fierce pass rush? Why didn't they calm down and pull themselves together? Why did they continue to get worse after the blackout? I mean they had time to plan too.

As Dilla said. Different teams react differently. The importance of the game is also on a much more massive scale so the 49ers would've put that time to much more use. This is a winner take all game. There is no second chance in the Super Bowl when compared to the regular season.

[Samari]

Originally Posted by Dilla

Different teams and players react differently to various situations, dude. For example, you mentioned Atlanta. You forgot to mention that Atlanta nearly blew the game against Seattle the same way a week before.

Don't get me wrong, the blackout could've very well not have mattered, but momentum is a big thing in sports and after Jacoby Jones returned that TD on the opening 2nd half kickoff, the Ravens still had it. I believe the blackout was to the Niners' benefit.

Well I wouldn't talk about the game before involving the Seahawks because we were talking about the 49ers. The entire debated turned into the workings of the magical blackout logic that was established in this thread. I was just calling out all the inconsistencies involving them.

[GDB]

There's nothing "magical" about it. It's psychological and physical. Psychologically, the Niners were having their confidence shattered and didn't have time to build it back. Even if they had gotten it back during half time, the return TD broke it again, as shown on their next series. The series after the blackout, 34 minutes later, they suddenly turn on the burners. This also leads to the physical aspect, which a writer on NFL.com pointed out. The two teams were doing different exercises during the blackout. The Niners were doing active exercises that kept the muscles in a manner similar to "game time". The Ravens were doing standing stretches, which are actually done after working out to cool muscles down.

Sure, you can put blame on the Ravens staff for not having them do the same exercises, but that wouldn't have even been an issue had it not been for the blackout. Basically, saying the blackout had absolutely no effect is being disingenuous at best.

[Samari]

Originally Posted by GDB

There's nothing "magical" about it. It's psychological and physical. Psychologically, the Niners were having their confidence shattered and didn't have time to build it back. Even if they had gotten it back during half time, the return TD broke it again, as shown on their next series. The series after the blackout, 34 minutes later, they suddenly turn on the burners. This also leads to the physical aspect, which a writer on NFL.com pointed out. The two teams were doing different exercises during the blackout. The Niners were doing active exercises that kept the muscles in a manner similar to "game time". The Ravens were doing standing stretches, which are actually done after working out to cool muscles down.

Sure, you can put blame on the Ravens staff for not having them do the same exercises, but that wouldn't have even been an issue had it not been for the blackout. Basically, saying the blackout had absolutely no effect is being disingenuous at best.

Okay, we'll just judge the psyche of 53 people we don't even know in a situation that none of us have ever been in before and make a conclusion with the basis of a stadium blackout to help guide us.

Matt Birk of the Ravens said the blackout had no effect on the 49ers and that they were just a good team that came back against him and the Ravens. Maybe he's lying though.

[GDB]

Okay, we'll just discredit what one source says, but accept what another source says, merely because it aligns with what we want to hear. And then let's be snarky about it.

Seriously, like you said, we don't know them, and we've never been in that situation before. We don't know one way or another, so you cannot make a claim either way. My only argument is that there are perfectly logical factors that could have allowed the blackout to have an effect, and thus debunk your claim that it was magic.

[Samari]

Originally Posted by GDB

Okay, we'll just discredit what one source says, but accept what another source says, merely because it aligns with what we want to hear. And then let's be snarky about it.

Seriously, like you said, we don't know them, and we've never been in that situation before. We don't know one way or another, so you cannot make a claim either way. My only argument is that there are perfectly logical factors that could have allowed the blackout to have an effect, and thus debunk your claim that it was magic.

Well I wasn't citing commentary of third parties into the discussion first. Even when I did, I used someone that actually played in the game, not someone who works for the press.

All of your "logical factors" are merely speculation and don't mean anything...especially since none of us have been in the situation. And especially since we're talking about behavior/psyche in a certain situation as a debating point. There is nothing logical about that at all. Even if you wanted to take a stab in the dark, which is that this is, a more plausible reason the 49ers had success to me is that they merely started executing like they had all year long. We live in a world where everyone wants to be a reality-television inspired narrative to every single thing. How about the team just started playing well and the blackout was a coincidence? Didn't help the Steelers (we'll make injury excuses for that though), but it helped San Francisco?

We'll have to agree to disagree then.

[Dilla]

You're making it seem like we're claiming that the blackout was a divine intervention that let the Niners back in the game. We're not; we're just saying that the Niners came out looser and better prepared than the Ravens did after an unexpected 34 minute hiatus. The Steelers game against the Niners last keeps getting brought like it proves a point. It really doesn't. Did last year's Steelers roster switch with this year's Ravens' roster? Was that the Super Bowl last year? Your counteracting our magic blackout (as you say) logic with simulation football.

Honestly, it just sounds like you just take everything you perceive as a slight against SF and regard it as an insult. Nobody is trying to demean the Niners or what they did this year.