Week 11 - Bumper week!

[kurtsimonw]

Looks like the Saints and Seahawks will be #1 and #2 in the NFC. What's a more important homefield advantage would you say, the Saints in their dome or the Seahawks with their loud fans?

[AVFCforever1991]

Saints in their dome

[BOF]

I'll say Seahawks for 2 reasons.

Firstly, noise is very difficult to work around. Secondly, if the Saints being a dome team had to go to a non-dome stadium with the fan noise AND the elements to deal with, IMV it's harder for a dome team to go outside than it is for a stadium team to go indoors into what is basically an environment with fewer variables to deal with.

Neither will be easy though as they're both so good at home. Both stadia are noisy enough to cause problems for the away side and the NFC representative in the Superbowl could easily come down to who had the better regular season record.

[Milfner]

As much as I love Kuechly, I've no idea what he's doing there. He's been sensational all season but he cost us on the last play of the game against Buffalo (pass interference on a ball that was intercepted - sounds familiar eh) and he's nearly done it again.

It's "one of them" to be honest, if it was the other way round I'd be screaming for it but the truth is that it's an underthrown ball that Gronk ain't getting to.

Let's not forget the leg roll on Charles Johnson on a 3rd down that was missed and the Patriots drove up the field for a TD after that missed call. What's goes around, comes around.

Edit: on the penalty flag obv

Edited November 19, 2013 by Milfner

[BOF]

And I know it's no guarantee because we've been burned before, but I do like us having home field advantage with the whole oxygen thing being a factor. I'd much rather welcome the visiting Tom Brady than go to Gilette Stadium.

[Milfner]

Seahawks 1, Saints 2.

Saints gotta play the Panthers twice yet though and with the ball we're playing currently, you never know.

[BOF]

Why do people think the dome is a bigger home field advantage than the noisy outdoors of the Pacific North West in the middle of January?

[kurtsimonw]

Seahawks 1, Saints 2.

Saints gotta play the Panthers twice yet though and with the ball we're playing currently, you never know.

That's true. Saints aside, all 4 other games are against teams who don't have a winning record too.

[leviramsey]

I don't think it was DPI, but there's a strong case for defensive holding, which doesn't require catchability.

[leviramsey]

QBs, rated by DYAR

1. Peyton Manning (191 pass, -12 rush, 179 DYAR)

It looks like Kansas City made some effective adjustments in halftime, and it took the Broncos a while to catch up. In the third quarter, Manning went just 4-of-10 (including four incompletions in a row to start the second half) for 55 yards, with his only first down coming on a 33-yard gain on third-and-3 with about 4 minutes left in the period.

2. Ben Roethlisberger (169 pass, 3 rush, 172 DYAR)

Despite his four touchdowns, Roethlisberger was actually below replacement level in the red zone, where he threw a whopping 14 passes. He went 5-of-12 inside the 20 for 46 yards with two touchdowns, a sack, and a zero-yard DPI. Average rate of touchdowns on passing plays in the red zone this year (including sacks and DPIs) is about 21 percent.

3. Tom Brady (168 pass, 4 rush, 172 DYAR)

4. Cam Newton (116 pass, 13 rush, 130 DYAR)

5. Russell Wilson (121 pass, 4 rush, 125 DYAR)

Wilson's first pass on the Minnesota side of the field was an incompletion on second-and-22. After that, every play across midfield resulted in a completion, and each of those completions resulted in a touchdown or first down. Once past the 50, Wilson finished 6-of-7 for 108 yards and two scores.

6. EJ Manuel (102 pass, 6 rush, 108 DYAR)

The Bills opened up with an awfully conservative game plan against the Jets. In the first half, they ran 11 times on first down, with just one pass, an incompletion. In the second half, though they never led by fewer than 13 points, they had three first-down passes: a 5-yard gain, a 40-yard gain, and a 43-yard touchdown.

7. Nick Foles (89 pass, 18 rush, 106 DYAR)

Throwing to his right, Foles went 8-of-10 for 150 yards with five first downs.

8. Philip Rivers (100 pass, -5 rush, 95 DYAR)

9. Mike Glennon (91 pass, -2 rush, 89 DYAR)

10. Ryan Fitzpatrick (84 pass, 1 rush, 86 DYAR)

11. Andrew Luck (67 pass, 16 rush, 83 DYAR)

12. Carson Palmer (75 pass DYAR)

13. Josh McCown (70 pass DYAR)

14. Matt Stafford (38 pass, 11 rush, 49 DYAR)

15. Matt Schaub (42 pass DYAR)

16. Drew Brees (41 pass DYAR)

17. Scott Tolzien (29 pass, 5 rush, 35 DYAR)

18. Matt Cassel (6 pass DYAR)

19. Matt McGloin (1 pass DYAR)

20. Alex Smith (-34 pass, 23 rush, -11 DYAR)

Throwing to his left, Smith went 6-of-16 for 26 yards and three first downs.

21. Colin Kaepernick (-14 pass, -2 rush, -16 DYAR)

Not counting passes to guys named "Anquan," Kaepernick went 11-of-22 for 71 yards with one touchdown and one other first down, with a 12-yard DPI, three sacks, and one interception.

22. Matt Ryan (-36 pass DYAR)

On Tampa Bay's half of the field, Ryan went 9-of-17 for 74 yards with three sacks and only three first downs, one of them a touchdown that came down by 20 points late in the fourth quarter.

23. Robert Griffin (-42 pass, 5 rush, -37 DYAR)

Inside the Philadelphia 40-yard line, Griffin went 2-of-6 for 21 yards with one first down, two sacks, one fumble (recovered by the Eagles), and one interception.

24. Ryan Tannehill (-45 pass DYAR)

Third-down passing: 5-of-8 for 34 yards with two first downs, one interception, and one sack.

25. Eli Manning (-47 pass, -2 rush, -49 DYAR)

After Brandon Jacobs' goal-line touchdown put the Giants up 20-6 late in the third quarter, Manning went into a deep freeze. From that point forward, over three drives, Manning went 2-of-3 for 21 yards with no first downs, plus three sacks.

26. Chad Henne (-50 pass DYAR)

Third-down passing: 4-of-10 for 37 yards and only one first down, plus two sacks. Bur forget about that! Let's talk about--nay, let's celebrate--Henne's performance on fourth downs, where he went 2-of-3 with a touchdown and another first down. Two of those throws came when down by two scores in the fourth quarter, but the other most certainly did not. The Jaguars had a fourth-and-1 at their own 38 in a scoreless game in the first quarter, when Henne threw to tight end Danny Noble 11 yards downfield. Noble caught the ball and kept on running into the end zone. It was a huge gamble, and the Jaguars were rewarded handsomely.

27. Case Keenum (-66 pass DYAR)

On his lone touchdown drive, Keenum went 2-for-2 for 76 yards. Obviously, he didn't do much before that, or especially after, when he went 7-of-15 for 47 yards with one first down, one sack, and no completion longer than 9 yards.

28. Christian Ponder (-38 pass, -33 rush, -71 DYAR)

The good news for Ponder is that he threw four deep balls, resulting in two completions for 58 yards and a touchdown, plus two DPIs for 51 more yards. The bad news is that in the second half, he went 4-of-9 for 15 yards with no first downs and two interceptions, including a pick-six.

29. Joe Flacco (-81 pass, 2 rush, -79 DYAR)

Second half: 6-of-14 for 61 yards with four first downs and one sack-fumble.

30. Andy Dalton (-111 pass, -8 rush, -119 DYAR)

On passes to A.J. Green, Dalton went 2-of-5 for 7 yards with no first downs, with two interceptions, including a pick-six. This is one of the more surprising write-ups I'll do all year.

31. Jason Campbell (-178 pass DYAR)

It was the night of a zillion checkdowns. Fifteen of Campbell's completions gained less than 10 yards. On third downs, he went 6-of-17 for 47 yards with three first downs, three sacks, one fumble, and one interception.

32. Geno Smith (-243 pass, -14 rush, -257 DYAR)

A 33-yard gain on first-and-10 in the first quarter; a 38-yard gain on third-and-13 in the third; and a 17-yard gain on first-and-10, also in the third. Those were the only first downs Smith threw for all game. Otherwise, he went 5-of-20 for 15 yards with three interceptions, four sacks, and a fumble. This was the worst passing DYAR in any game thus far in 2013, 65 DYAR worse than anyone else, and Smith didn't play a down in the fourth quarter.

[StefanAVFC]

Why do people think the dome is a bigger home field advantage than the noisy outdoors of the Pacific North West in the middle of January?

 

I think that they need HFA more than us. We can win on the road now.

[BOF]

Why do people think the dome is a bigger home field advantage than the noisy outdoors of the Pacific North West in the middle of January?

 

I think that they need HFA more than us. We can win on the road now.

Which is precisely my point. You can win in Nawleans. I think they'd have a much harder time winning in Seattle. Making Seattle the bigger home field advantage.

[maqroll]

I think the theory is that a dome traps the crowd noise whereas an open air stadium lets it loose...nonetheless, that stadium in Seattle is probably the best in the league. And those fans are starved for a trophy.