Sunday action

[dolphins4life]

If the jets score and bills score holds up, then next week’s game will be for first place in the division

[Fau Teixeira]

i have the jets game as my local game here :/ .. and they're playing like hot garbage.. the fact that he score is 10-3 is only because pittsburgh also blows chunks

[EDGECRUSHER]

Ravens blow another game to the AFC East. In some ways, this was worse because Buffalo wasn't really storming back like we did, Baltimore just kept shooting themselves in the foot. 4th and Goal, tied game with 2 minutes left and you go for it over the FG? People get fired over stuff like that.

Harbaugh just signed a 3 year extension but if they miss the playoffs again after more collapses like this, kinda hard to keep him on. Especially if Lamar doesn't want him.

[Dave Gray]

I was rooting for the Jets to lose because FTJ but I kinda realized that it doesn't matter.  If we're struggling to surpass the Jets in division, this season is a wash anyway.  I thought the Browns loss was maybe the most significant.

It would've been nice to see the Bills lose, just to have some pressure on them.  The Raiders holding on to beat the Broncos will also be nice.

[dolphins4life]

If the packers had fair caught the punt, they could have tried a free kick, right?

[fyo]

If the packers had fair caught the punt, they could have tried a free kick, right?

You mean the punt at the end of regulation? The one where the ball was caught on Green Bay's 45-yard-line? Sure, they could have attempted a 72 yard field goal. With a 38 year old kicker. Whose longest kick is 58 yards.

And that free kick could have been returned, if it wasn't long enough. Which it wouldn't have been.

[EDGECRUSHER]

I was rooting for the Jets to lose because FTJ but I kinda realized that it doesn't matter.  If we're struggling to surpass the Jets in division, this season is a wash anyway.  I thought the Browns loss was maybe the most significant.

It would've been nice to see the Bills lose, just to have some pressure on them.  The Raiders holding on to beat the Broncos will also be nice.

Yeah, so far it seems like we are doing okay with our hypothetical playoff scenarios. AFC West is beating up each other, AFC North ain't looking too hot, although I still would've prefered a Ravens win. AFC South will have an improved Texan and Jaguar team but they ain't sniffing 8 wins and the Colts suck. All things considered, not a bad start for us.

[dolphins4life]

You mean the punt at the end of regulation? The one where the ball was caught on Green Bay's 45-yard-line? Sure, they could have attempted a 72 yard field goal. With a 38 year old kicker. Whose longest kick is 58 yards.

And that free kick could have been returned, if it wasn't long enough. Which it wouldn't have been.

It would have been 65 yards.  It would have been with a running start and no rush.  I don't think it would have been impossible.

[fyo]

It would have been 65 yards.  It would have been with a running start and no rush.  I don't think it would have been impossible.

Yes, the non-drop-kick-version would be 65 yards. And that would still be longer than his personal best. Oddly enough, Mason Crosby actually tried a free kick after fair catch back in 2008. A 69-yarder that was just short. That's one of just 5 attempts (all failed) since 2000. There were no attempts in the 90s and just 3 in the 80s (including post-season, all failed). The golden era of free kicks after fair catch was from the mid-60s to the 70s, a period which saw 16 attempts and 3 successes (!) - the most recent in '76, which at 45 yards also happened to be the longest.

There hasn't really been a short attempt for a long time (basically since the '76 45-yarder) and the reason is fairly obvious. Unless time has basically expired, the score means those points really make a difference, and the fair catch is close enough, it's almost always advantageous to try something else (usually get more yards and either try for a touchdown or kick a shorter field goal). Any chance at scoring also has to factor in the risk of a return.