2021 NFL Season

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

^^^
That comment can mean s lot of different things. It's not like the Raiders ran play action and gunned a 20 yard pass down the middle for the first down. They still ran a run play after the time out. No team lines up in a standard formation making calls to take a knee...you would get your O line killed.

For all we know Carr might have called one with a second left on the play clock if he felt the protection wasn't right.

If you look at their formation or 3rd down before and after the TO it is very different. Before everyone is in the middle because they are gonna run right up the gut IMO.(I can't read minds but I have watched nearly every minute of Carr's NFL career,) After the TO its more spread out because as it turns out Carr is gonna drop back and give it to Jacobs who wanting to bust it out on the left side.

Carr looks shocked by the TO I highly doubt he would call one though...honestly they were fried, wanted to get the game over.

[browna]

I think the Chargers coach probably didn't like what he saw from his defense and called the time out. He knew a stop or a loss on the next play and the Raiders have a 10 yard longer or more fg. Any sort of gain would've made the FG a lot more manageable and maybe the defense was too focused on a run when the coach thought the Raiders may pass.

What a wild game, I turned it off doing other things. After the FG to make it 15 points I had typed in a post here 8 and a 7 tie it. But considering some of the silly posts I made about getting a safety to make it 10 or 14 points a few mins before, 12 points, I didn't hit post.

Turned it on to see the FG by SD in OT.
Would've prefered a tie to see the Steelers on the sidelines.

[browna]

First question in the press conference Staley was asked about time out and said that he wanted his premium run defence in, and that's why he called time out to get those subs in. He wanted the longest FG possible and figured the Raiders were running.

Next question was asking about what Carr said how it changed the Raiders thinking. Staley said he didn't think it changes the plays they ran, they ran the ball before the time out and after the timeout.

After hearing that I believe him. Carr's "change of thinking" could well have been that the Raiders don't run another play there and settle to try the longer FG, but with LAC calling a time out, they figure the need to run another play to get the clock down lower, so if they miss the FG, LAC wouldn't have any time? That said LAC would've taken a knee if the Raiders missed the FG with however much time on the clock.

Chargers defense played too soft on that last drive. A stop earlier in the series may have just meant the Raiders didnt push and just let the clock run.

[transplant99]

To be fair, the Chargers D was completely gassed at the end of that game and it showed in their tackling on the last run.

I dont believe for a second that the Raiders were kicking a FG from 58 yards at that point and the TO changed all of it. It was obvious to me they were just running out the clock but when presented a chance to get closer and a muc more makeable kick, they took it.

Staley made several questionable calls yesterday, and in fact all season. He just might be to cavalier to be a HC. That 4th and 1 from their own 18 in the 3rd Q while being down 3 points was an absurd idea. Automatic FG at worst for the Raiders and look what the difference was at the end.

That being said, huge props to the whole Raider organization after what was an unprecedented season of off field screw ups, they still figured it out.

That game is why I love sports...just bananas. Glad I didnt have a dog in the fight, would have aged me a decade.

[GirlySports]

The Chargers mistake was not taking time off the clock when they got into FG range. A tie is the same as a win. So when the Raiders kicked to make it 32-29, you treat it like they are up by 2, not 3.

Team do this all the time at the end of 4th quarters when down by 2. Get into FG range, start killing the clock and kick the FG to win. Don't leave any time for the other team. So why were they launching balls into the end zone trying to win and then leaving 4 minutes for the Raiders?

[Senator Clay Davis]

If the Raiders wanted to run out the clock and take a tie they would have lined up to take a knee before the timeout. Why even risk anything if you want a tie? And not just a fumble, but also an injury which would be far worse than possibly giving the Chargers the ball back. Just inexcusable to let them even get the yards to consider going for a FG, they had them 2nd and 11 from the 46 with 1:20 left and you knew they weren't throwing the ball, yet you let them get 17 yards on two carries. Much easier to blame "the timeout changed their minds" than "we let them get 17 yards when 4 would have tied us the game". Chargers D wasn't good enough on that last drive, almost like they thought the Raiders wouldn't push for the win.

It is sad from the neutral point of view the Raiders didn't go for the tie, having to watch Ben's corpse for one more week (nevermind the awful media fawning) instead of Herbert electrifying things is pretty lame. But that's the Chargers fault for Chargering on those third downs.

[Erick Estrada]

I don't know how much more of a fight the Raiders would put up against the Chiefs given how Bradley insists on sticking with his Cover 3 defense against Mahomes. I will say that Steelers football this season has been really hard to watch and I'm not sure Ben's last game will be one he will want to remember as the Chiefs are going to steamroll them. Chargers suck. Always have, always will. I'm glad the Raiders eliminated them but it does suck that we have to watch the Steelers once more as Ben's sendoff is one of the worst I have ever seen from a once great QB.

[transplant99]

Early lines from Caesars sportsbook

Cincy -6.5
Buffalo -4.5
TB -9
Dallas -3
KC -12.5
Rams -4.5

[Dion]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1480425869260828674

[devo22]

Bears have fired Matt Nagy, per Rapoport.

Vikings have fired both Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman.

[transplant99]

Zimmer and Spielman both out in Minnesota.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by dino7c

I don't know what more you need...the Raiders coach himself said they "were certainly thinking about a tie and waiting to see what they would do timeout wise" I know the Raiders really well it looked to me like they were content to run VERY conservative run plays.

The timeout was a bit of an FU to the tie idea so the Raiders decided to be more aggressive. Its a message board, I call coaches and players idiots all the time lol

The coach and the QB has have come out and said the TO totally changed their strategy...what else could that possibly mean? IMO Raiders were gonna run another draw up the middle, kill the clock and try a long FG.

The Raiders snapped the ball on 3rd and 4 with 38 seconds left.

If no timeout, they snap the ball on 3rd and 4 with 36 seconds left.

The timeout meant nothing.

If the Chargers wanted to get the ball back and try and win the game they call a timeout long before the play clock gets to 3 seconds.

And if the Raiders were playing for a tie, they would kneel and not run plays.

[devo22]

Brian Flores out as Fins coach, wow

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by devo22

Brian Flores out as Fins coach, wow

That's kind of a shocker IMO. His defenses were really good and it's not like he had a lot to work with at the QB position.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Flores being canned either means they have someone like Harbaugh lined up, or he was against Deshaun and they are all-in for him. Otherwise that seems pretty extreme, maybe not an elite coach but he still did pretty well considering what a crappy owner Ross is.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Zimmer and Spielman both out in Minnesota.

Two seasons too late but finally. Zimmer fast tracked himself into Jeff Fisher territory with his antiquated mentality of playing not to lose football. He finally ran out of players and coaches to throw under the bus for his mediocre coaching.

[Erick Estrada]

If Harbaugh ends up backing out of Raiders job I would hope Davis interviews Flores.

[transplant99]

General manager Chris Grier will remain with the team in his current role, ESPN's Jeff Darlington reported.

Despite speculation that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross was interested in hiring Jim Harbaugh as coach, the Dolphins are not targeting the Michigan coach, sources told Darlington.

"I made a decision today to part ways with Brian Flores," Ross said in a statement released by the team. "After evaluating where we are as an organization and what we need going forward to improve, I determined that key dynamics of our football organization weren't functioning at a level I want it to be and felt that this decision was in the best interest of the Miami Dolphins. I believe we have a talented young roster in place and have the opportunity to be much better in 2022. I want to thank Brian for his hard work and wish him nothing but the best in his future."

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-three-seasons


Jeff Darlington
@JeffDarlington
·
24m
The decision to fire Flores can be summed up with one word: Relationships. His relationship with Grier and Tua had deteriorated to a pretty bad place. Along with constant staff changes, owner Steve Ross no longer saw Flores as a healthy fit in Miami.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

The Raiders snapped the ball on 3rd and 4 with 38 seconds left.

If no timeout, they snap the ball on 3rd and 4 with 36 seconds left.

The timeout meant nothing.

If the Chargers wanted to get the ball back and try and win the game they call a timeout long before the play clock gets to 3 seconds.

And if the Raiders were playing for a tie, they would kneel and not run plays.

The Raiders had already pushed into marginal field goal distance at that point. They weren't doing a wink-nudge let's play for a tie any more. If the Charger coach let that play run and they got 10 yards, he would have been rightfully roasted for not properly preparing his defense for such a big play and being accused of being caught off guard. The NBC crew acting flabbergasted that they called a TO changed the narrative anywhere. I think if they had just said he didn't like what he saw and wanted a timeout to set the defense, then no one would be questioning anything.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by transplant99

I dont believe for a second that the Raiders were kicking a FG from 58 yards at that point and the TO changed all of it. It was obvious to me they were just running out the clock but when presented a chance to get closer and a muc more makeable kick, they took it.

Staley made several questionable calls yesterday, and in fact all season. He just might be to cavalier to be a HC. That 4th and 1 from their own 18 in the 3rd Q while being down 3 points was an absurd idea. Automatic FG at worst for the Raiders and look what the difference was at the end.

The first part, I'm not so sure. It was 57 yards indoors and they have a really good kicker. I think they were going to run the ball, and bring the clock to like 3 seconds and try the kick to win. There's no guarantee the chargers could stop a run without the time out called.

The go for it from their own 18...it gave the Raiders the ball in the red zone. But there's no guarantee it cost them any extra points. You could argue that those two minutes that the Raiders would have used to drive the ball from their 30 to the Charger 20 would not have been there for that last drive. If the Raiders take the 1 at 26-14 to make it 27-14 the Chargers need to go for 2 to tie it up.

Really it was the penalties that did in the Chargers. They extended too many Raider drives. Even the PI before the controversial one in the end zone was needless. Ball is a prayer, they have 3 guts to 1, and the guy just bowls over the only Raider in the area. If he turns to look up, the Raiders likely punt from in their own territory. But that's the fine line between winners and losers. Looks like the Chargers need more winners on that defence or they will waste Herbert's rookie contract window.