2025 Conference Championships

[SeahawkFever]

On a completely different note...

I wasn't able to see the game live and planned to watch the replay of NFL Channel at 12:30 am PST.
I carefully avoided all news and let friends know to not tell me the outcome of the game until after 3 am Monday.
I was really looking forward to watching the game "as if" it was live... I had no idea of the outcome when I sat down in front of my tv at 12:30.

And then...
18 minutes into the replay the NFL Channel ran a commercial for "get your Seahawks NFC Championship Merchandise Now!!"
I was/am really miffed...

I wonder how many other (tens of?) thousands of fans had their enjoyment of the game utterly ruined by that ad (it was run several times during the replay). Does the NFL not realize that there were many people seeing the game under the same (or similar) conditions that I was?? Sure, they made a few bucks off that commercial but they have to (should) know this will cost them many viewers in the future.
I'll sure as heck never plan to see a game under those conditions again.

Idiots.

(And yes, I've seen them run final scores on the "chyron" at the bottom of the screen before but I've been able to avoid seeing those by focusing elsewhere on the screen. This was a full screen ad that you couldn't miss even if you, as I do, mute the commercials.)

What did you think of both games ultimately?

[Brian wolf]

I remember recording NFL films, games on ESPN, Classic Sports Network and ESPN Classic. I used to hate it when they would run the scrawl at the bottom of the screen. I always tried to record stuff just on ESPN because they wouldnt have the scrawl when they were airing stuff for the first time. Then when the NFL channel came out would record alot of stuff on my first TiVo system. I was thrilled getting SB broadcasts before collecting games from Oldtimessports.net
Then the NFL Network would have scrawl at the bottom, haha

[JuggernautJ]

What did you think of both games ultimately?

Honestly, I don't watch and analyze current games like I used to.
In the 80's and 90's I'd sit and study games with a clipboard in my hand diagraming formations and plays and pattern combinations.
But the Rules Changes, Officiating and Over-Commercialization of the game have made it very difficult for me to care much about today's NFL.
There are networks I do not get and/or refuse to watch so I think I saw maybe 3 49ers games this regular season. There was a time when that number would've been 16.

What I did notice:
Broncos v Patriots: It's a shame Bo Nix was injured in the last regular season game. It kind of made the outcome a forgone conclusion. Denver did well, all things considered. I have to think Nix would've been worth 3 points and therefore might've changed the outcome.
Both defenses played well and that was a joy to watch.

I agree with Tony Romo that the orange jerseys for the Broncos were an advantage on the snow covered field of the second half.
It reminded me of why "my" team (The Juggernauts) wore optic yellow jerseys when everyone else chose fashionable black or dark blue... on a foggy San Francisco morning out on the Polo Fields (by the beach) it made a difference in visibility.

Rams v Seahawks: I have yet to watch the entire game (see above) but what I did see was excellent QB and WR play by both sides.
The play calling by Kubiak might've been the deciding factor (especially at the end) but the officiating also had an effect on the outcome.
Watching Kenneth Walker go "Beast Mode" and refusing to go down easy was good to see.
I'm always impressed by superior effort and he exhibited that on several runs.

Both finalists are complete teams (more or less) but I think it may be the Seahawks offense v the Patriots defense that will be the determining factor. The 'Hawks defense is probably going to contain the Pats offense much of the day but we'll have to see what Vrabel has up his sleeves.
Considering his stats as a receiver (10 TDs on 10 receptions) I wonder if we'll see a goal line pass to a "declared eligible" receiver from the Patriots next weekend.

The Juggernauts have our yearly reunion at one of our QB's houses every Superbowl Sunday so I will be in attendance for the game... but the last one I can remember really watching in earnest was the Falcons v Patriots. And, of course, the two 49ers games since then.
But even in those cases I don't watch like I once did, with clipboard in hand and my full attention on the game.

Nowadays I go mostly for the comradery from bygone years... and to find out which of us has, in the last year, passed on to the big stadium in the sky.
I hope you all enjoy the game... and the company of the people with whom you watch it.

[Brian wolf]

Thanks JJ ... I too felt Walker was channeling Lynch in that game. Once he established the line of scrimmage, it made it easier for Darnold. The Seahawks remind of the 2014 team and they better not be over-confident against NE. Those Patriots have weapons that McDaniels will utilize.

[RichardBak]

What did you think of both games ultimately?

But even in those cases I don't watch like I once did, with clipboard in hand and my full attention on the game.

I've always watched with a clipboard in one hand, though strangely it's shaped like a bottle of Labatts.

But to your larger point....my enthusiasm for the NFL also has cooled over the years, even with the Lions teasing us Detroit fans of late. I could go into all the reasons but what's the point.

I have a sense that Seattle will win, and pretty handily.

[Brian wolf]

I am curious Richard, just give me your best reason ... I want to see if its similar to mine?

[RichardBak]

I am curious Richard, just give me your best reason ... I want to see if its similar to mine?

I'm pretty sure it's exactly like yours....no naked cheerleaders being shot out of cannons at halftime.

[Brian wolf]

Haha ... what are you, psychic?

I still wonder how much NFL Films footage Steve Sabol authorized from the late 60s, KC Chiefs cheerleaders?

[JWL]

Jets Fan Pain Luck is virtually undefeated. Saquon Barkley winning with the Eagles was a huge blow to the Giants and their fans last year. Jets Fan Pain Luck liked that but had to top it. "That seems cool. We need something like that", said Jets Fan Pain Luck. Therefore, you get Sam Darnold in the Super Bowl. Darnold was the former Jets apparent franchise savior and then they dumped him for Zach Wilson. The Jets currently have no quarterback. Most Jets fans like Darnold as a person. Do most, however, want to see him win a Super Bowl with another team? Not sure most want that. The ones who definitely do not want that will say, "Well, I can root for Seattle's opponent at least." Well, maybe not when the opponent is the Patriots. I think the football gods are wondering how do Jets fans still exist. "Why haven't you people switched allegiances by now or given up following the sport?"

Yes, this is me quoting myself.

From what I have seen online, it looks like the majority of Jets fans are rooting for Sam Darnold. The Jets are so pathetic, and annoying with their patheticness, that for me to keep caring about the NFL at the same level I have cared about it, I need to divorce myself a bit from the Jets. They are trying to ruin football for me. Firing coaches left and right multiple weeks after the season? Asking the 1st-year OC to accept a lesser role and then days later firing him after he wasn't cool with a demotion? Tanner Engstrand was spotty (great Week 1, lost in Week 2 as one example) but it was his first year as an OC for a team with a lot of problems with QB play and a WR corps that was gutted once Garrett Wilson went down. I would not have been cool with a demotion if I was in his shoes. "You saddled me with Brady Cook while Tyrod Taylor was healthy enough to play down the stretch?"

I am a Jets fan who will root for Seattle and Sam Darnold. I do like this team more than the prior Seahawks Super Bowl teams in terms of cool players and the head coach. Mike Holmgren and Pete Carroll were certainly good coaches but Mike Macdonald is easier to like in my opinion.

[Brian wolf]

Like I had said at that time, Darnold simply didnt have weapons with the Jets. Their offensive line wasnt like the Steelers and Le'veon Bell wasnt going to tiptoe-thru-the-tulips like he could before. He kinda of mentally checked out once he got paid anyway. Robbie Chosen could make some plays but Thomas, Gore and Kearse were past their primes. Crowder was a possession receiver. Darnold actually had a winning record as starter his second year with the team and first with Gase, but his final year was a disaster.