Its funny because the Kicker gets all the blame, but the kick he missed should have been the extra point to take a 27-23 lead... He just could have extended the game and give them a chance, but they should have won the game well before that. With that said, you get paid to kick, you need to make that kick
He never got that 2nd foot down. So it was in the end, a good call. That said, a mediocre QB with a good defense almost gets into the superbowl and probably should have save for a pro bowl kicker going Nate Kaeding on his team. Crazy stuff.
Not blaming the refs although they should have at least reviewed it, but Evans should have held on. If he did its 1999 super bowl rematch not a 2007 rematch Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Flacco silenced his critics, or should have. He knew what needed doing, game on the line, he did what needed doing. Only problem along the way was Evans. Evans holds on to the ball, game over and Cundiff would not be the *****. But it is a team game and any one player breakdown can lose it for you. In this case, it was 2 right at the end.
I have been pretty hard on Flacco. I said that he had elite potential coming out, but had never realized it. I thought he was even outplayed by Yates in that game against the Texans. But in yesterday's game he did play well IMO he played better than Brady. Unlike in the past, when he was pressured he actually made some plays, converted some first downs. The pattern had been that when he would escape from pressure, he would almost always just throw it away. That avoids the bad play, but the elite QBs are the ones that extend the plays and make the defense pay. He did that against NE. Hopefully for him, he's turned that corner and can finally be an elite QB.
That sounded like the NFC game for a second until I read kicker. Same with SF, they should have made the SB with an average QB (one that didn't covert one 3rd down all game) and a good defense, save for two ST turnovers.
I have never put Flacco way up there with the elite either. I've always placed him in the top third tier, more than adequate to win. he has done nothing no other has done and that is winning playoff games in his first 4 seasons. Granted, it by itself is far from the ultimate goal but he pushed it closer to that yesterday and by all rights, Evans catches that ball and they win the AFC, but like I said, it's a team gm, you win and die as a team. Point is, he is a more than capable QB to win it all and has stabilized the position in Balt for years to come. I was so hoping he would last to our 33rd pick in 08. If so, we would have been stable all this time. As it is, we know the history since Marino. Countless wasted 2 rnd picks, FA signings and the like and we're STILL looking for our guy.
It wasn't perfect but he played well enough to get them to the Super Bowl. He would be a hero right now if Lee Evans would have had a tighter grip on the football after that catch. The throw was perfect, nothing more he could have done there. I don't know that he'll ever be a top tier QB but I think he proved yesterday that you can go a long way with him.
I actually don't agree that he's been capable of winning it all prior to this game. I always said he could potentially reach that level, but he had not yet. This game was the first one where on a number of occassions he didn't just escape and throw it away. He actually made a play that wasn't just a timing play where everything went right. I've said all along that Baltimore was not a realistic SB contender until he did that. Up until now he's been no better than Ryan on Atlanta. A good QB on a good team, but not a QB who has shown the ability to carry a team.
Show me another QB who has won playoff games in all 4 of his first seasons and i might agree. I've never said he was flashy and all that but he gets his team to where it competes. think we would have had, what, 3 losing seasons in a row if we had him? Certainly we would not have been worse.