Regular season vs. Playoffs performances

[Patler]

Well, this won't help Peyton Manning silence the critics who say he can't win in the playoffs:

He has made the playoffs 10 times.
In six of the 10 years he has gone 0-1, "one and done", however you care to phrase it. His "one and done" seasons have occurred when the Colts regular season records were: 13-3; 10-6; 10-6; 14-2; 13-3 and 12-4. In '04 after a 12-4 season they were 1-1 in the playoffs. In seven seasons, after winning 84 games, the Colts were 1-7 in the playoffs.

After wining the Super Bowl, and seemingly getting the monkey off his back, the Colts had back to back "one and done" playoffs after winning 13 and 12 games.

This year, after giving away an undefeated season, they seemed in control for the playoffs. But when the team needed their MVP quarterback the most, he didn't have it, throwing the most inopportune interception.

Playoffs are a different game, in all sports. Even some of the regular season greats become average players. Others thrive on the more frentic, less forgiving environment of playoffs. The game gets bigger, they get calmer.

I find it fascinating.

[Scott Campbell]

Re: Regular season vs. Playoffs performances

The game gets bigger, they get calmer.

I find it fascinating.

That's the thing I like most about Rodgers.

[pbmax]

The McGinn story on JSO points out that one o the reasons Polian dumped Mora Sr was that he would not let go of Vic Fangio and Polian thought Fangio's scheme would require too many expensive parts to be compatible with what was going to prove to be an expensive offense (Manning, Edge, Harrison).

Polian elsewhere states that the 3-4 is expensive because of the need for large DEs and OLBs. He thinks its cheaper to be 4-3 personnel. Today that is possibly true, but at the time of the Mora decision, so few teams ran a 3-4 that it could not have possibly been true from an expense standpoint.

Bill might need to re-allocate some resources to defense more than he need worry about Manning in the playoffs.

[Patler]

Re: Regular season vs. Playoffs performances

The game gets bigger, they get calmer.

I find it fascinating.

That's the thing I like most about Rodgers.

Not sure we know where Rodgers falls on the scale. He didn't look very calm to start the game. He didn't look very calm or in control during overtime. I thought he looked like the pressure of the situation was getting to him the complete overtime series.

[Scott Campbell]

Re: Regular season vs. Playoffs performances

The game gets bigger, they get calmer.

I find it fascinating.

That's the thing I like most about Rodgers.

Not sure we know where Rodgers falls on the scale. He didn't look very calm to start the game. He didn't look very calm or in control during overtime. I thought he looked like the pressure of the situation was getting to him the complete overtime series.

OT was only 3 plays. And in the first, he hung in the pocket forever before Jennings was able to make that double move and break free. He just missed him. The last play he got clobbered right away. I can't remember the 2nd play. Was it a Jones drop?

I think I'm seeing a budding superstar.

[Patler]

Re: Regular season vs. Playoffs performances

The game gets bigger, they get calmer.

I find it fascinating.

That's the thing I like most about Rodgers.

Not sure we know where Rodgers falls on the scale. He didn't look very calm to start the game. He didn't look very calm or in control during overtime. I thought he looked like the pressure of the situation was getting to him the complete overtime series.

OT was only 3 plays. And in the first, he hung in the pocket forever before Jennings was able to make that double move and break free. He just missed him. The last play he got clobbered right away. I can't remember the 2nd play. Was it a Jones drop?

I think I'm seeing a budding superstar.

I remember them a bit differently, especially the miss to Jennings. Missed by a lot as I recall. I thought Rodgers may have been a bit too anxious to make the throw. Jennings was breaking away from the defender and had a decent cushion. Rodgers didn't need to rifle the throw like he did.

I just remember commenting before the last play, that Rodgers looked antsy, as if he was trying to run a two-minute drill, when time wasn't an issue.

Maybe my recollection is wrong, and I sure don't have any desire to watch it again at this point!

[Scott Campbell]

Re: Regular season vs. Playoffs performances

The game gets bigger, they get calmer.

I find it fascinating.

That's the thing I like most about Rodgers.

Not sure we know where Rodgers falls on the scale. He didn't look very calm to start the game. He didn't look very calm or in control during overtime. I thought he looked like the pressure of the situation was getting to him the complete overtime series.

OT was only 3 plays. And in the first, he hung in the pocket forever before Jennings was able to make that double move and break free. He just missed him. The last play he got clobbered right away. I can't remember the 2nd play. Was it a Jones drop?

I think I'm seeing a budding superstar.

I remember them a bit differently, especially the miss to Jennings. Missed by a lot as I recall. I thought Rodgers may have been a bit too anxious to make the throw. Jennings was breaking away from the defender and had a decent cushion. Rodgers didn't need to rifle the throw like he did.

I just remember commenting before the last play, that Rodgers looked antsy, as if he was trying to run a two-minute drill, when time wasn't an issue.

Maybe my recollection is wrong, and I sure don't have any desire to watch it again at this point!

I'm remembering it as Jennings taking a more horizontal vector coming out of his second move, and Rodgers throwing it as if he was going to run the vector more vertical. Either way, he didn't make the right throw. Right patience. Right guy. But he missed the target.

And I'm not going to be watching it again anytime soon either.

[hawaii50]

from what i remember, rodgers' pass was about a (jennings) step or two away from being caught. in full speed it looked like it wasn't that close but when you actually looked at the play again it seemed like jennings would have got it if he had another step. Here's a youtube clip of it, watch the last ten seconds and you'll see he just needed a step and it would have been caught in stride.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT0Azj6YSu4

as for the OT drive, didn't rodgers actually get a first down on a dumpoff pass on the first or second play, which was called back by a holding call on colledge? Give us a first down on that play and who knows.

[RashanGary]

I have a feeling Rodgers will learn from that throw. I would have rather seen it a little short than too long because I think WR's get the advantage in the jump ball.


Rodgers talked about that throw after the game. Said it was against one of their better cover guys so he wanted to make sure it wasn't picked.

It was OT in his first playoff game. I think he could have had a little extra adrenaline when he threw. Also, we get used to seeing those throws completed by Rodgers and in highlight reels of other games, but Brees, Manning, Brady all miss that pass quite often. It's hard to put a ball on the numbers 50 yards down the field. It's just not as easy as we'd like to make it seem. Maybe it was just a missed ball, one that the greatest of great QB's miss because the difficulty is just so high.

With Rodgers season, the way he's played, I give him a pass. If he bombs playoff game after playoff game, I'll start to question him more.

[pbmax]

Rodgers also had to step up in the pocket. Think about the exact same throw from two hop steps deeper. Touchdown.

In truth he probably made a couple of adjustments, when he stepped up and when after moving he was later than expected getting the throw off.

[Fritz]

Everybody misses throws. Even a guy having the game of his life missed two or three.

But oh, if Rodgers had just thrown it about a yard and a half shorter...oh....

But then again he might've missed one the next week against NO, and we'd be dissecting that one...