IT'S THE 2012-13 NFL WILDCARD ROUND THREAD

http://www.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1232912!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_235_300/image.jpg

I am so effin' psyched when both NY teams miss the playoffs

it is glorious yes

meanwhile, here is a summary of where things stand from the key perspective of a british socialized infotainment propaganda outlet: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/american-football/20907959

One to Watch: Justin Blalock, Guard
To be successful Atlanta must protect their quarterback, Matt Ryan. This is where Justin Blalock and his offensive line come in.

also, if we MUST talk about the wildcard weekend on the wildcard weekend thread, here are the basics:

NFL Wild Card Weekend schedule
(All times Eastern, suck it inferior timezones)

Saturday
4:30 p.m.: Bengals at Texans (NBC)
8 p.m.: Vikings at Packers (NBC)

Sunday
1 p.m.: Colts at Ravens (CBS)
4:30 p.m.: Seahawks at Redskins (Fox)

pioli out at kcc. his association with the patriots will be good enough coin to get him a job somewhere i suspect but the draft record at kansas during his spell is not too exciting:

Tyson Jackson
Alex Magee
Donald Washington
Colin Brown
Quinten Lawrence
Javarris Williams
Jake O'Connell
Ryan Succop
Eric Berry
Dexter McCluster (36th pick overall!)
Javier Arenas
Jon Asamoah
Tony Moeaki
Kendrick Lewis
Cameron Sheffield
Rodney Hudson
Justin Houston
Allen Bailey
Jalil Brown
Ricky Stanzi
Gabe Miller
Jerrell Powe
Shane Bannon
Dontari Poe
Jeff Allen
Donald Stephenson
Devon Wylie
DeQuan Menzie
Cyrus Gray
Jerome Long
Junior Hemingway

also, does this mean andy reid in?

meanwhile, here is a summary of where things stand from the key perspective of a british socialized infotainment propaganda outlet: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/american-football/20907959

― Roberto Spiralli, Friday, January 4, 2013 10:40 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

One to Watch: Justin Blalock, Guard
To be successful Atlanta must protect their quarterback, Matt Ryan. This is where Justin Blalock and his offensive line come in.

― Roberto Spiralli, Friday, January 4, 2013 10:40 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

lol

One to Watch: Justin Blalock, Guard
To be successful Atlanta must protect their quarterback, Matt Ryan. This is where Justin Blalock and his offensive line come in.

― Roberto Spiralli, Friday, January 4, 2013 10:40 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is pretty funny, but surprisingly accurate. BBC must have watched tape of last years playoff debacle. It was all about the failure of the Falcons O-line.

i love the idea of someone whose exposure to football is at a level where they check the bbc for the "one to watch" then deliberately watching out for justin blalock in a game.

also: http://www.atlantasymphony.org/About/Artists/Guest-Conductors/Justin-Blalock.aspx

this bbc preview is really solid!

Kaepernick does not need to emulate New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees or Green Bay Packers' slinger Aaron Rodgers.

imagining someone thinking "slinger" is a different position

...and may do enough to put pressure on the Skins defence which is supremely marshalled by London Fletcher. Expect a close one.

you know london got "supremely marshalled" because they like his name

has 'slinger' ever been used to describe a qb before??

i mean, not as a throwing style, but as a synonym for quarterback

only possibly by people who like brett favre and don't know that "gunslinger" is a compound word.

Brett Favre is having fun slinging patties on the grill

hey btw wild card sunday @ my place if u guys feel like it

that is extended to everyone who posts itt

awesome! with a couple non-football things going on i may not know until the day but i hope i can be there.

so, quick online thesaurus reference leads me to propose the following alternative names for qbs:
bombardier
hurler
heaver
launcher
lobber
discharger(!)
tosser...

lobber

just wanted to type that out

denver turned things around when they traded in scurrying tosser tim tebow for bombardier general peyton manning

"tosser Jay Cutler" sounds about right

ps cadcard Sunday sounds awes, hope I can swing by

pick6

amazing play by hall!

go bengals go

pretty much rooting for BJGE in this game

puppetmaster dalton planned that out

cincy needed that badly. Houston d has them locked down atm

maualuga out is bad 4 cincy

Ponder reportedly won't start because of his elbow. They're saying he's got bursitis, which would explain why the elbow got worse this week even though it seemed fine for the last few drives last game, after the injury. Vikings media had been speculating that Ponder's injury report was a smokescreen to force the Packers to prepare for Joe Webb.

Webb's fun to watch but he's very raw as a passer. It'll be hard for him to play a full game against the Packers secondary without getting picked off. His best hope is probably to throw deep to Wright off play action. Hope the running game is good enough and the score close enough to keep Capers from using the 4-2-5.

just getting this ready

man i like this joe webb guy *cues Phenomenon.mp3*

― get off my lawn (rockapads), Tuesday, December 28, 2010 9:53 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this joe webb

― BIG SANTA aka the sleighdriver (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, December 28, 2010 9:53 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

THIS JOE WEBB

― johnny crunch, Tuesday, December 28, 2010 9:53 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

did they just make a fishbone reference on the kickoff?

Schaub and dalton playing like they have bursitis.

mayock just sung daphne & celeste

Looks like every Who song is used for some tv show now. The Real Me

I like how mayock analyzes line play.

yeah, hes got a good appreciation for it for a former DB

Could've called helmet to helmet on the safety hitting Green in the end zone.

was going to say the same thing

bengals, you might need that time out later?

wow this is just terrible

Oh Dalton...

it is probably too late for this game, but for next season the bengals should investigate ways to gain yards on the first two downs.

I miss the andy dalton era, it was fun

JOE WEBB

ugh, i chose a terrible week to get a tattoo of leslie frazier's wife wearing a ponder jersey

I like how mayock analyzes line play.
--One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill)

I always complain nfl guys never explain plays and coverage and whatnot and this dude actually does

Frazier says they're resting Ponder for next week.

Just to make the Packers fans a little nervous...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wX-I7KZjRU

TBH it'll be a better game if Rodgers did the gentlemanly thing and made himself inactive too.

I picked the Packers to win, but Joe Webb is a badass and the Vikes are super-motivated and I wouldn't be surprised to see them win.

(Check back with me at halftime so I can either say "told you so!" or "oof!")

i wonder if, somewhere deep inside his christian heart, dungy hates rodney. i feel like he does.

ugh just have her sing the same song every week plz

that was pretty funny - dungy trying to explain how the vikings had a better chance to win going to lambeau without their starting QB
not sure i believe it.

Man, he looks relaxed.

Lots of Vikings fans were calling for Webb to come on in relief after Ponder fell apart in the second half last time at Lambeau. Two of Webb's best games last year were huge comebacks after Ponder went down with a hip injury. He didn't have nearly as much success as a starter but the theory was b/c defences had a chance to prepare for him.

thank you nbc, play all the prince songs during breaks in this game

what in the world

otm

KW was lined up across the line last down too, smh

Great play calling by the Packers.

well, this game was fun.

Webb's clearly scared to throw. Had Jarius Wright wide open on his left on second down.

If the Vikings defense doesn't make a play this will be over by halftime.

#41 on the vikings = stylin

lol @ dungy saying minn would score 4 tds

who is vikings 3rd string

the internet sez its this guyhttp://www.hornetsports.com/assets/sports/football/thumbs/6846.jpg

McLeod Bethel Thompson, a slow footed rookie drafted in the late rounds and therefore destined to be the next Tom Brady.

Not sure why the Vikings never went back to that option play that was working on the first drive. Webb is way over his head trying to run their usual offense.

how do you get a 12 man penalty on a fg? fuck this game

Vikes officially done now.

this? joe webb...smh

more boring than the last game.

@BrianDawkins
#CrazyThought
can u just hear Bevis & Butthead now laughing every time they hear "Butt Fumble"

this guy

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1959381/crazypacker.gif

Could've called helmet to helmet on the safety hitting Green in the end zone.

― Plasmon, Saturday, January 5, 2013 7:10 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Give me a break. No.

"Wheeew...all the way baby! All the way!"

Following up on the BBC preview up top, are the NFL games actually on TV live in UK?

How much football is broadcast there? I know the Superbowl is usually shown and from what I understood there was some weekly 'This week in the NFL' type shows on sports channels, but I haven't heard if there is much regular season or playoff games shown live.

And if there are some of the games shown live, are there actual fan bases of any kind there?

Following up, I do like Mike Mayock doing games as I like people that really get into the chess match in a real way.

Dude I hear interviewed that I think would be great as say a 3rd person in the booth for just that very thing, but it will never happen, is Greg Cosell.

I don't know who I want to face next week, hawks or redskins. Probably redskins.

I also love the dungy coaches' film breakdown. It's very in depth and reminds me of my college days.

Is Roberto spiralli a Brit? He has real nfl credentials.

what a shit day

joe webb totally looked like a real QB until he had to throw the ball any distance

not a good football day fer shur

Dude I hear interviewed that I think would be great as say a 3rd person in the booth for just that very thing, but it will never happen, is Greg Cosell.

― earlnash, Sunday, January 6, 2013 12:38 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

yeah, i love cosell. I don't think there's a better analyst around right now. it would never happen as long as he's working at NFL films, he just doesn't have the time during the season, but he'd be great in the booth.

i guess I'd prefer the falcons face the skins, though theoretically the seahawks should be beatable in the dome. mostly filled with dread re: divisional round tbh

nearly actually died laughing at packers guy!

i really hate that sbnation captions its gifs now. you and me sbnation, we're done professionally

Following up on the BBC preview up top, are the NFL games actually on TV live in UK?

How much football is broadcast there? I know the Superbowl is usually shown and from what I understood there was some weekly 'This week in the NFL' type shows on sports channels, but I haven't heard if there is much regular season or playoff games shown live.

And if there are some of the games shown live, are there actual fan bases of any kind there?

― earlnash, Sunday, January 6, 2013 5:35 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

All play-off games are live on Sky Sports, the biggest pay TV network in UK. They always show 2 of the Sunday games during the regular season live also, as well as the (usually garbage) Thurs night game.
BBC has been showing the Monday night game live all season as well.

it sounds like it is a lot better in the last few years, it used to be very variable. I watched the pack blow out the pats live but I had to listen to the pats rams super bowl on internet radio.

current facebook friend status updates: checked in at Ball So Hard University (located in downtown Baltimore obvs)

what is there to know about Doug Marrone??

he played for the london monarchs in the world league!

could watch endless pregame pieces/interviews w/ arian, <3

what is there to know about Doug Marrone??

He's as smart a hire as Chan Gailey was.

ok then!

this guy andrew luck has moxie

nice catch, ray

marrone's a better hire than gailey, at least he's not a retread

is it just me or is this game boring?

more excited for the Hawks game. Had no idea that the Cs had the 3rd highest +/ point differential in the league this year.

offenses are so conservative in the playoffs

is it just me or is this game boring?

― beard papa, Sunday, January 6, 2013 2:35 PM (26 minutes ago) Bookmark

yesterdays games sucked too

agreed. the second half of this one is looking up, though.

Colts need a score soon though

Ray Lewis' Last Dance

Teammates and players from around the NFL discuss the legacy of Ray Lewis' introductory dance.

Tags: Ray Lewis

welp

the resurrection of joe flacco

the resurrection of joe flacco by his receivers saving his ass

what the hell is up with these Colts receivers

Colts are starting a receiver who wasn't good enough for st. louis so...

nice energy in this game already. my hopes are high for this to be the one good football game this weekend.

Redskins zone blocking easily moving the Seahwaks off the line so far. Wouldn't be the first time a speedy D line got rolled over by a power running Redskins offence in the playoffs.

first time since 1983 tho

beard papa is a cool name

ty Hungry4Ass

They had 42 min possession against the Vikings in 1993: http://articles.latimes.com/1993-01-03/sports/sp-1008_1_super-bowl-xxvi

After surrendering an early touchdown, the Redskins held Minnesota scoreless for the final 55 minutes of the game, sacking Sean Salisbury four times and forcing two interceptions.

Against one of the best

Haha yeah. Salisbury won a Grey Cup for the Blue Bombers, at least.

Russell Wilson plays like a CFL QB (in a good way). Looks like a young Damon Allen.

well that was fun

c'mon shanny everyone wants to see some kirk cousins

sik

bad decision rusty

kirk cousins wouldn't have thrown that ball

Browner and garçon want to kill each other.

shoulda scored the play before

so skins need to stop seattle scoring for a quarter to win this game.

aw this is a sad business

Can't believe they left him in.

remember like 3 hours ago when troy aikman -- who suffered like 15 concussions in his career -- was all "i don't think mike shanahan would endanger the future of the franchise today"

pete carroll suckssssss

Awful weekend for football, rip rg3

lol shanahans

redskins have treated rj3 like trash what a reprehensible organization on every level

rg3 also they've treated poorly

press conference for shanny should be fun. also lol james andrews

beard papa is a cool name

― turds (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, January 6, 2013 4:48 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ty Hungry4Ass

― beard papa, Sunday, January 6, 2013 4:53 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's a japanese cream puff chain no, I got those a couple times, they were good

im angry abt this whole weekend of football

lol at players fighting in the post game mill about

wildcard weekend has the most entertaining football of the playoffs fyi

no kidding xp

every game went down as planned except for rg3 injury ruining what should have been a good one

yeah, pretty much. baltimore looked legit good today, also houston y'day. hard to say on green bay as i think minnesota had a guy who won a radio call-in contest at qb. but seattle wouldn't have won that game without rg3 getting hurt.

in vegas new england opened giving 9.5 to houston, which is utterly insane

balt d looked good but my god does flacco suck

i didn't see a lot of the game but i saw flacco make some decent throws downfield

flacco has this one weird throw he can make

Boldin made Flacco look good in that game

flacco threw one perfect bomb

bolden made an insane catch in the endzone, another flacco bomb was dece

yeah

nfl i love you but you're bringing me down

shanahan have anything to say about this from the ravens game? anyone ask him

Dr. James Andrews says he never cleared Robert Griffin III to go back into game after injury

http://i.imgur.com/hisPV.jpg

oof

the worst thing i've ever posted probably

rofl

can see squawks/9ers champ game

Russell Wilson has been pretty killer, but I have to bet he could be the next David Garrard as much as the next Drew Brees. Garrard had that one year or so in J-ville where with that good defense and run game, he looked pretty great too.

Falcons beat hawks by two touchdowns

can see squawks/9ers champ game

― johnny crunch, Sunday, January 6, 2013 9:21 PM (35 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I can't.

if the game were in seattle i would have no trouble believing, def still possible but maybe not that much

Falcons won't lose to that team I just saw play today. White/jones will torch browner. He could barely cover the clowns the skins rolled out there.

Beard Papa makes a hella good creampuff

what a lousy wildcard weekend; worst one I can remember

as usual it will depend on which version of the falcons shows up

early lines for Divisional round:

Broncos -8.5
Packers -3
Falcons -2
Patriots -9.5

interestingly enough this implies that Vegas thinks the Seahawks are better than the Falcons on a neutral field

i believe it

I think it's time to consider how good this Hawks team really is, they faced one of the league's toughest schedules and their second half numbers are really mind-boggling (#1 in offensive run AND pass DVOA). I can definitely see them winning a Super Bowl in the next few years if they can grab a 1 or 2 seed. I agree that it's hard to really say too much about Russ considering that he's really in a position to succeed. I wonder if his height causes him to miss open guys from time to time and scramble instead, though I guess that's fine since he's got incredible speed. If I were Atlanta I'd be scared right now.

he had that 25 yard scramble up the middle while rice was standing alone in the endzone waving. i can only believe that he just couldn't see him over the linesmen.

he had that 25 yard scramble up the middle while rice was standing alone in the endzone waving. i can only believe that he just couldn't see him over the linesmen.

― Roberto Spiralli, Monday, January 7, 2013 8:29 AM (38 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this was fuckin ridiculous on all levels. what was dangelo hall doing??

If I were Atlanta I'd be scared right now.

― frogbs, Monday, January 7, 2013 8:08 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

total bullshit. ive watched every play the falcons have played this season.

well that settles it

could see the hawks upset the falcons and then score 3 points in the conference title

well that settles it

― J0rdan S., Monday, January 7, 2013 9:46 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Actually it does.

http://www.periscopepost.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/WillyWonka-480x345.jpg

did you watch every seattle game too, bill?

As a person who currently lives in Atlanta, has always lived in Georgia border states, and grew up with the Falcons being the closest NFL team, I still find them a hard team to truly be excited about. Even when they're good, as they currently are, there's something mechanical about their wins that just doesn't really inspire a ton of enthusiasm. In me, at least. They may beat Seattle, but Seattle will be the more enjoyable of the two teams to watch imo.

Even the Patriots are more fun to watch than the Falcons.

even the patriots the highest scoring team in the legue featuring one of the greatest quarterbacks ever are more fun to watch

lol i mean really

the Pats aren't fun to watch if you hate them

well okay that's a lie

Ha! I just meant that you go into a Pats game expecting them to win and they almost always do. Not much drama.

did you watch every seattle game too, bill?

― J0rdan S., Monday, January 7, 2013 9:53 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Quite a few. Falcons by two touchdowns.

there's something mechanical about their wins....

^ trashing the World Champs 34-0 was not real mechanical. I was in the Dome that day, it was insane.

Quite a few. Falcons by two touchdowns.

― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill), Monday, January 7, 2013 11:36 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

duly noted

I watched the Falcons almost lose to the Raiders so I dunno.

YIKES

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2013/01/07/tom-joyner-on-rgiii-mike-shanahan-and-django/

sports radio dj's trying to incite controversy in DC? why i never

bill please stop trying to sabotage the falcons, i know what ur up to

is it true they already gave the falcons their superbowl rings and everyone is just heading to the pro bowl now

lol

Tom Joyner isn't sports radio & probably had no intention of drawing attention from sports radio listeners tbh

"Seattle will be the more enjoyable of the two teams to watch imo."

Two words- BEAST MODE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0WYsKYy0ag

he's gonna be Least Mode on sunday!!!

more like beast commode

it's just off-the-cuff talk radio. but if you're gonna make a 'mandingos fighting' argument you should start well before the playoffs

NEVER FORGET...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yke08SybJzU

I'd weigh in on this game but I haven't seen more than 22.3% of either team's plays, so I fear I'm ill-equipped to comment

get em!

rip rob ryan :(

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Zb9EXr9zL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

hahahahahahah