570 replies to this topic

[SonicAttack]

Carolina will be on their 4th head coach since the beginning of the 2022 season.  The owner seems to be following the vastly successful Cleveland model of changing everything every 1-2 years and hoping for different results.

David Tepper seems like a results NOW! guy.  Apparently has a photographic memory - impressive!  Made his billions in the stock market.

[Mackus]

Slump is my vote.

[Mike in STL]

The easy ones to call are the ones where the player is pretty stationary waiting to catch the punt and gets run into. Last night the guy kept drifting over toward the sideline. I think it was said that since the ball landed out of bounds it wasn't a penalty.

Not according to Terry McAuley, the broadcast ref. Said it was obvious interference, no idea why a flag wasn't thrown. 

 

He could also be wrong too. Some of these refs in the booth are just as full of crap sometimes. 

[BaltBird 24]

I figure the in booth officials are just as NFL shill as the ones on the field.

[PrimeTime]

Is Tucker starting to decline, or this just a bit of a slump?

I think he may be losing a bit of his power but this is the first kick under 50 he's missed in quite some time. Outside of last night, his misses this year have been from 59, 61, 53 and a block on a 55 yarder.

I guess after a decade of sheer dominance, his decline could be starting but he has a little ways to fall before he bumps into the next best kicker.

[PrimeTime]

Not according to Terry McAuley, the broadcast ref. Said it was obvious interference, no idea why a flag wasn't thrown.

He could also be wrong too. Some of these refs in the booth are just as full of crap sometimes.

The only ref worth a damn over the last 30 years is Gene Steratore.

[Mike in STL]

Is Tucker starting to decline, or this just a bit of a slump?

Not sure. He's still the best, he's just on par with his peers this year instead of head and shoulders above them. But I think guys like Tucker are making other kickers entering the league elevate their games. I've seen some FGs from 55+ that are going through near the top of the goal posts, like they'd be good from 70 easy. Tucker maybe doesn't have the leg of some others, but they rarely call on kickers to hit from 60+. I bet some guys could hit from 70, and Tucker isn't one of them, but it is once in a blue moon you would ever dial that up. He's half a rotation of the ball away from not having the 66 on his resume. I think after his attempt, the only longer attempt in the league was his own 67-yarder that he missed (well short) against Jacksonville.

 

But he doesn't need to hit from 60 to be effective.

 

He hasn't missed from inside 40 yards since 2020, and before that was 2016.

 

He's now 8 of 9 from 40-49 yards. He missed once from there last year, twice from there in 2021. Only been perfect in a season from that range 3 times. So, maybe he was due. Of 13 guys with at least 7 attempts from 40-49 yards, only 2 are perfect this year. Not too worried about that miss. It happens, even to him, once a year.

 

He's 1 of 5 from 50+. He's missed/blocked from 59, 61, 53, 55 (blocked). He missed 5 from that distance last year, albeit on 14 tries. Small sample size. 

 

He's had one PAT blocked. Made all the others. 

 

If he finishes the last 5 games going 10 for 10 on FGs, he'll be right at the 86% he made last year. 

 

He's fine, even if he's not going to be an All-Pro this year. He's still the GOAT, and his job should not be in jeopardy. Announcers have been trying to jinx him for a decade and he usually doesn't succumb to it. 

[Mike in STL]

And now they are going to call Koo the most accurate kicker among those with at least 100 attempts like they have to Tucker for the last 9 years. Koo has attempted 160 FG's. Tucker has MADE 384 FGs (out of 427). 

 

Maybe up that threshold a little?

[makoman]

Everyone loses strength as they start to get into their mid to late 30s, but I'm not sure how kickers age. It's also hard to compare to different eras but a lot kick into their 40s and remain successful. 

 

Vinatieri was only 10/22 from 50+ up to age 38, then 35/50 from 50+ from ages 39-47.

 

Gostkowski's last year (age 36) he was 7/8 from 50+, but only 5/10 from 40-49.

 

Jason Hanson was 27/40 from 50+ from age 35 on.

 

Jason Elam was only 5/16 though from 35 on.

 

Morten Anderson was 1/11 from 50+ at ages 33-34, then 8/9 at age 35. 18/31 from age 35-47.

 

Phil Dawson was 32/43 from 50+ ages 36-43.

 

We probably won't know until we have a year or three of hindsight if this is a blip or a trend. But I agree that if he's automatic under 50 and still decent over 50 you can do a lot worse, that's like a better Stover.

 

I think this year is just kinda amplified because the Colts miss would have won the game (while their kicker won them the game) and the Browns miss might have changed that outcome.

[Pedro Cerrano]

PEDRO'S CALIFORNIA RECAP

 

Spent the weekend on the West Coast. After finally getting home at 3 am last night (thanks, Southwest, for the delay) Some thoughts:

 

1) SoFi Stadium is gorgeous.  The concourses are VERY dark and almost 1/2 the bathrooms were closed for some reason, but overall it's an astounding stadium. For a Sunday night game, traffic/parking actually wasn't that bad.  The surrounding area isn't great but parking in a well lit area you felt fine with a ton of people around.

 

2)  There were more Charger fans than I thought.  I really would have sworn there were going to be more Ravens fans but I'd say the split was 60/40 Chargers.  They HATE their coach obviously.  

 

3) The game day experience is a bit silly.  They have a "hype man" (think DJ at an NBA game) who had to keep reminding the fans to get loud on third down (he actually said, pregame, "remember, when it's third down, we will play the horns and when we do, start cheering!").  Every stadium  I have gone to, M&T included, has those 3rd down prompts but this took it to the next level. They also said "and here comes Justin Herbert!" when the Chargers first took the field which made me laugh.

 

4) Not to get political, but MAN, is it expensive out there!  I saw gas over $6.00 in some places, happy hour "specials" at bars were something like $10 pints.  At the stadium, I bought two beers and a popcorn and it was $43.  We don't exactly live in a low cost area in the BMore Washington corridor, but the sticker shock was still eye popping.  I spent a lot more overall than I wanted to.  Also, the traffic is as bad as everyone says it is.

 

Overall, a fun trip, got to see some old friends who live out there and caught another W.  I have a fairly good record attending Ravens road games (only loss in the Lamar era, I think, was the Raiders game on MNF in the first game post COVID).  Maybe I should reach out to them and see if they'll subsidize my future trips!

[BaltBird 24]

Went to the game in Phoenix and I thought they had the most annoying "hype man" I'd ever heard.