Sunday, January 20, 2002

Packers stumble in St. Louis. FOXSports.com Jan 20 2002 7:43PM ET [NFL: Green Bay Packers news] In just about any team sport, when one team has more talent than the other, the team without the talent usually makes more mistakes. Obviously, the Packers were their own worst enemy today, but that was because they went up against a more talented opponent. The Philadelphia/St. Louis game next week should be a good one. Imagine what it could be like if you had a Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh Super Bowl. 10:37:19 PM    [Macro error: Can't call the script because the name "liveTopicsSeeAlso" hasn't been defined.]

Regarding that "controversial" incomplete pass call in the New England game. I remember thinking to myself, the the ref didn't take much time reviewing that play, which led me to think it was going to be called a fumble. Given that he ruled that it was an incomplete pass that leads me to think that this was something not open to interpretation. I don't know the rule, but my guess is that if the quarterback's arm is moving at all, it is automatically considered an incomplete pass. Noone questioned whether Brady's arm was moving, we were all questioning his intention. However, it appears that the ref cannot take into consideration his intention. Kinda like in hockey where if the goalie shoots the puck out of the rink its automatically a penalty, and the ref is given no option to interpret what the goalie was trying to do. Something like this could lead to a rule change, but I think that would be difficult in this case. What they would have to do is determine at which point during the quarterback's motion is the ball fair game. For example, a quarterback can throw a shovel pass sideways that is below his shoulders, or even under handed. Any rule change in this area would change what the quarterback can do with the ball. 11:13:40 AM    [Macro error: Can't call the script because the name "liveTopicsSeeAlso" hasn't been defined.]

The visiting teams almost made a clean sweep yesterday, with the Bears losing to the Eagles and New England almost losing to Oakland. This is doubly good news for the Packers. First with the Bears losing that breaks the jinx that would be an all too perfect NFC championship game. Second, there might be good vibes flowing for visiting teams. 11:05:40 AM    [Macro error: Can't call the script because the name "liveTopicsSeeAlso" hasn't been defined.]