NFL playoff thread

"Peyton, please give us your thoughts on the game we just butchered for four hours."

Manning did stop by the Ravens' locker room for a photo op moment to talk to Ray Lewis.

 

A Seattle lineman caught it in the end zone.

 

Without those one-and-dones, he's 9-3!!!!!!!

[/ChoosingStatsThatSupportHisGreatness]

 

This talk belongs in the NFL Playoff Losers thread. The NFL Playoff thread should be saved for talk of those that won a playoff game.

 

What brought this on?

General bitterness, or did someone say something hurtful about the Texans?

 

Perhaps general bitterness.

The reality is that everyone keeps talking about what should have been and could have been with teams/QBs that have already lost in this year's playoffs.

This is the playoff thread. I want to talk about the teams that are still in the playoffs. If we want to regress over what wasn't with all the rest (Manning) do so some where else. Manning is no longer in the playoffs.

 

Also, there is a difference in Wilson and Manning this weekend, even though both lost.

Wilson lost a road game - as an underdog - after being down 20. Even with the loss, I respect his playoff acumen more.

Manning lost a home game - as a considerable favorite - with a killer pick in overtime *and* his team also had two special teams TDs in their pocket.

That's a sizable difference.

My penchant to mark "home playoff losses" is that those are devastating to the psyche of a franchise, both for the fan base and the players. Very rarely does a team lose a home playoff game and think "good season". It's still acceptable to lose on the road to a solid team in the playoffs and fly home without that cloud of disappointment.

In the playoffs, you are expected to win at home. Well, unless you're the Chiefs and you sneak in as a 4-seed, but still...

 

Playoff weekend isn't over yet.

There will be plenty of time to dissect the conference title games, and for Gee and Xan to influence our wagers.

 

Forget the psychic part of it. If you're at home in the playoffs, it's because you're the better team (or are supposed to be).

 

Manning is fun to talk about, win or lose. This cycle repeats itself every single year on SJ, save last year. I don't agree with BTE and never have on his annual Manning defenses, but I enjoy them because I feel more informed by reading them. It would be silly to say "Let's move on and not talk about him barely 24 hours after he lost."

BTW, I didn't follow this all that closely last night, but have the Alex Smith Truthers come to eat some crow? (This is not a reference to you, LTL. It's non-49er fans to insisted Harbaugh was committing a mortal sports sin.)

 

Talk away about him. But he is not in the playoffs.

There are four other Qbs playing in the playoffs.

Go Kaepernick.

 

Haha. I would say I was an Alex Smith Agnostic. Early on I thought there was a lot of worry in Kaepernick's game that wasn't being addressed.

But after the New England game all questions ceased from everyone in the Bay Area. It was clear we're now just dealing with a different human specimen. Even after the Seattle game there wasn't much Kaepernick backlash.

I had a big party last night and every time Kaep did something, good or bad, we had a running "Alex wouldn't have" comment. My brother-in-law hit it perfectly -- when it was 7-7 and Kaepernick had thrown a pick-six and then run for a score, he said, "See? They'd be in the same spot with Alex. 0-0."