The Good, the bad, and the ugly HAM@WPG

[TecnoGenius]

2 and 1 on the final drive, why do a streveler 1 yd dive? It was almost like a free play to go downfield

In any other situation, I fully agree with you: Strev needs to throw on the "free down".  But in the last 1.30 in no way do I want Strev throwing or running.

A) We needed to keep steadily bleeding clock.  A sneak does that.

B) We can't risk the sneak-out R being covered then Strev scrambles up the gut: what if a DT gets in the backfield and we get pushed back 2Y?  3rd & 3 is a much lower % than 2nd & 1.

C) Zach wins or loses the game for us, on his hand and head.  Not Strev's place to determine the outcome of the game.

[TecnoGenius]

Calling Techno....

We got a PI call to keep the last drive alive, but they only showed it on TSN once. It looked to me like our receiver pulled their DB down by the facemask and they got the penalty. Was I seeing things?

You rang?

They showed the only view of it after our winning TD.  Then they show a slow-mo, but it's an all-24, so not ideal (not zoomed in).  The actual live play is at 4Q1:00.

My take after some tricks is:

- jam each other about 3Y past LoS (legal)
- Pokey may have done a HTTF thing (legal), or a hand brush down his helmet (if short, never called) but I see zero proof of this
- there is no head jerk like a FM usually causes
- Pokey tries to get by
- Pokey's left hand/arm is stuck under Moxie's right arm!
- I think Moxey is sandwiching his arm between his arm/body basically holding him in place
- Moxey holds Pokey's left arm like this the whole rest of the time!
- they do a little circle dance and then Pokey tackles Moxey by the back jersey on the shoulder
- both fall down looking silly

Pokey is trying really hard to get free/open, he may have been the #1 read in a zone sit.

The whole FM area on Moxey is really a dark blur.  Black helmet, black arms, black gloves on both players.  Hard to tell what is going on.  But I don't see any unusual head jerks, etc.

The extremely blatant holding of Pokey's arm trumps anything Pokey might have done.  It was several seconds in duration and caused Pokey to flail and twist all over the place.  I don't see how they don't notice and flag that.

If they wanted to, if a FM really occurred, they could have done IC + FM, would have been 1st down back 5 (I think?), or maybe replay of down (back 5).  The former would have been just as good.  The latter, not great, but would have been 2nd & 12 in 3 down mode: doable.

I wouldn't put it past Moxey to just be making it all up, or embellishing the story to try to get a call.  HAM didn't have any more challenges and were in a bind there.

Also, it doesn't make sense for Pokey to FM there... who does that?  It's not a thing... unless your name is Duron Carter and you are nowhere near the carrier.  A counter-jam on the facemask, sure.  But a big/long full-on Carter FM yank down?  It's not on camera and it doesn't stand to reason.

[TecnoGenius]

I'm pretty sure the rule is players and coaches on the sidelines can't be past the 35 yard line.  I think it's a silly rule but it's been there a long time.

Rewatching for that IC, I noticed the sideline judge is also shooing the HAM guys back!  So it wasn't just MOS.  Refs were getting antsy about both sides wanting to watch up close!  LOL.  Go figure... critical nail-biting plays.

They seemed contented once they got back beyond the 30YL, so maybe that's the magic number.  Still, never seen refs pause games for this before!!  Crazy.  I wonder if there will be some fines/warnings or memos being issued this week.

[55StickCar]

Good

Brady
JA 27
Stanley Bryant
Defense on pass coverage.
That final drive!
We won!
Keeping pace in the West.
Sergio.

Bad

Injuries, especially to SB.
Our passing game,most of the contest.
No pressure on BLM.
Interceptions.
Throwing into coverage when others are wide open.
Waiting until the last play to sneak it out.

Ugly

More injuries.

[theaardvark]

Jones was 5 yards out onto the field most of the game, during live plays on D.

I get between the 35's is a joke, but 5 yards out onto the field is such an easy call. 

[Blueforlife]

The good
Run game and D for most part
Bad
Ints
Ugly
Injuries

[peg_city]

Great point.  I was screaming it at the game.  We have no OL and no TE and no jumbo and Buck is calling so many deep / slow-developing passes!?  What on earth is that?  Zach was holding onto the ball for 3, 4+ seconds... then SACK.

Randolph couldn't stop the outside rush if his life depended on it and Zach is just sitting there!

And look, lo and behold on that last drive we go exclusively short game (minus the 1st deep shot) and voila, TD!  Well duh!

And yes, rolling him out could have helped, though they had a psuedo-spy on his right most plays limiting his time.

I rewatched the game, and Randolph was really struggling. Hamilton was continuously getting to Collaros with three DL. 3 guys on the DL means another player dropped in coverage. Zach had no one to throw to as a result. Hamilton would play zone at the first down marker and the result was often an incomplete pass or a short pass to the running back (last option).



Riders have the best from 7 in the league. Should be a fun week. I'm expecting the Riders to put three on line and wait for Collaros to throw an interception because he has no one to throw to.

[Blue In BC]

We aren't getting enough productivity from Clercius, Johnson or Whitehead. Demski has more receptions than those 3 combined. Obviously the other 3 haven't been day 1 starters but our OC is not spreading the ball around enough IMO.

Woli had 26 catches in 8 games. Nobody has picked up that slack IMO.

Oliveria has nearly as many receptions this year than in all of 2024. Those are short passes and not downfield per se.