******* The NFL Playoffs Thread *******

[TribalElder]

Who you got?

Saturday, January 3

Cardinals at Panthers 3:35 PM. ESPN. Panthers 27-16 - next stop Seattle
Ravens at Steelers 7:15 PM. NBC Ravens 30-17 - next stop Foxborough

Sunday, January 4

Bengals at Colts 12:05 PM. CBS Colts 26-10 - next stop Denver
Lions at Cowboys 3:40 PM. FOX Cowboys & Refs next stop Greenbay?

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

Give/take margin doesn't mean shit if those give aways don't lead to more than three points per turnover.

Sure, but that's not in his control so it can't be taken into account.

You could also look at how many points come off the board by a pick in the redzone and pick 6s.

Plus minus turnover margin is still highly predictive of win percent with enough data.

Luck is good, but we aren't or atleast I'm not arguing that. It's whether he's of the elites yet.

[Hootie]

Bengals are a joke. Try a no huddle maybe? Good Lord.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by Count Alex's Losses

Bowe didn't have one game this year where he dropped 3 passes.

If he dropped 3 passes in a playoff game people would be demanding he be cut, traded or drawn and quartered.

Bowe also didn't have one game this year where he had 100 yards.

[tk13]

Originally Posted by dls6501

I think this is the biggest thing that Alex homers dont understand. We all know Alex doesnt throw a lot of picks. But who cares? He doesn't produce a good passing offense. Not many TDs. Not many yards. Just boring, bleh football that requires the rest of our team to produce or we dont win?

If you take Alex's 2014 stats, next season I would take triple the interceptions if it meant double the touchdowns.

As John Maddenish as this is going to sound....

Touchdowns = points for us

Interceptions =/= points for them (Necessarily)

I'm not an Alex homer, I think he regressed this year, but I think the opposite. I think people way underrate turnovers. A lot of football fans would rather take the Martz approach and you can win games, but you can't sustain it. I think that's why Alex wins so many games consistently. ThaVirus is right, that's why Russell Wilson wins so many games. He doesn't put up big passing numbers, he just makes the key plays and doesn't make mistakes.

You have to a relatively well balanced team to win it all anyway. As much as people say it, the QB is not the only thing that matters. Winning the turnover battle usually leads to success much more than throwing for 400 yards does.

[Pepe Silvia]

Colts about to turn this assault into rape.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by dls6501

And where the rest of us are coming from is that Luck wouldnt need to take those risks if he had any sort of defense or running game to speak of.

How much worse does he make the defense look by putting them in bad situations?

It's not that easy, imo.

[dls6501]

Originally Posted by eDave

And you'd bitch and moan at every interception and call it another fail by Smith.

If Smith threw 36 touchdown passes, I would be perfectly fine with 18 interceptions. We have a good defense. People obsessed with Alex's low interceptions dont seem to understand that throwing a pick doesnt always lead to points.

[Why Not?]

Thank God for the Bengals. Their patheticness in the playoffs is even worse than KC's. I'd take Alex Smith a million times over Andy Dalton

[loce1959]

Originally Posted by Count Alex's Losses

3 drops by Hilton today

That's worse than Bowe.

It's hard to have three drops when you are only open twice.

[BigMeatballDave]

Very Alex-like game from Dalton.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by tk13

I'm not an Alex homer, I think he regressed this year, but I think the opposite. I think people way underrate turnovers. A lot of football fans would rather take the Martz approach and you can win games, but you can't sustain it. I think that's why Alex wins so many games consistently. ThaVirus is right, that's why Russell Wilson wins so many games. He doesn't put up big passing numbers, he just makes the key plays and doesn't make mistakes.

You have to a relatively well balanced team to win it all anyway. As much as people say it, the QB is not the only thing that matters.

Alex Smith's win loss record doesn't mean shit on its own. If he gets credit for wins, that's basically saying he's more important than the entire defense.

Stats with no context, crap.

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by Why Not?

Thank God for the Bengals. Their patheticness in the playoffs is even worse than KC's. I'd take Alex Smith a million times over Andy Dalton

Neither of them will win you a Super Bowl.

[Sandy Vagina]

Originally Posted by dls6501

I think this is the biggest thing that Alex homers dont understand. We all know Alex doesnt throw a lot of picks. But who cares? He doesn't produce a good passing offense. Not many TDs. Not many yards. Just boring, bleh football that requires the rest of our team to produce or we dont win?

I think everyone gets it.. and you can probably count on one hand how many Alex homers there still are here.

All of this you describe above are for reasons.. and it's the reasons that people can and will disagree over.

You see boring offense and blame the QB.

I see boring offense and blame a terrible OL and underwhelming downfield targets... but mainly the porous OL.

I think Andy recognized just how bad this OL is.. and so almost all of his playcalls and designs are for his QB to hit the shallow target quickly for YAC.

You can blame the QB until you are blue in the face. I suspect Andy and Dorsey will make upgrading the OL and WR spots a huge priority.. and only then will we truly see if you are right or wrong.

[BigMeatballDave]

Originally Posted by loce1959

It's hard to have three drops when you are only open twice.

Bowe not getting open is a ****ing myth.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by O.city

Alex Smith's win loss record doesn't mean shit on its own. If he gets credit for wins, that's basically saying he's more important than the entire defense.

Stats with no context, crap.

Yeah, but turnovers put the defense in terrible positions where they give up points even thought its not really their fault.