So....forgetting the draft, are we a better team than that one exiting the playoffs?

I don't think either is always true.

However, this was a very close low scoring game. I don't think either teams' strategy changes all that much if Stills makes the catch.

 

Well, here's what we know are facts: Stills left 7 points on the field, and we lost by two points.

 

That's only part of the facts- we missed two field goals that day as well. If nothing else changed, any one of those three factors makes that one a W.

 

This thread has gotten ridiculous.

 

Im not going to get back into this conversation because it is circular and pointless, but what this comment is clearly insinuating is beyond a stupid comment, let alone the fact that the drop occurred what, in the 2nd quarter?

 

I'm not saying we definitely don't win if we don't score there (because that's silly). Our chances DEFINITELY increase because of that. Just saying, we can't say "he catches, we win." It was a monster drop those things definitely stay on top of mind for years.

 

Yeah, I don't agree this time.

Again that play doesn't change anything but the score in a low scoring game. Seattle wouldn't change their strategy at all at that point.

Then, you look at how much time must be left before you;'re comfortable saying it? 1 qtr? 2 seconds? 10 minutes?

 

I agree. I'd bet a lot of money that the Dolphins would have won that game if not for that drop.

I love Stills though. It really sucks that he dropped that perfect pass.

 

What's stupid and ridiculous is acting like that td wouldn't have won the game. It's stupid and ridiculous to disregard the facts of we lost by 2 and Stills dropped an easy td, in favor of suppositions and hypotheticals.

 

We just saw a team battle back from 28-3 in a little more than a quarter. You saw our own Tanny score two tds in a short time against LA.

If Stills catches that ball it would have been 7-3 in the 2nd quarter. It's absolutely silly to argue almost everything after that still happens if Stills catches that ball. It defies all logic. He catches that ball and you can throw everything that happens after out of the door.

The only thing that is certain is that Stills dropped a sure td that would have made it 7-3.

 

he started one game where he ran for a 7.1 ypc and a TD, 85 yards on 12 carries. NE scored 14, 10, 14 the first 3 quarters. You can imagine why Gillislee did not get more carries. Yes, we don't know if Gillislee can carry a full load, like nobody knew if Michael Turner would be any good when not behind LT. But Gillislee did not have a bad year. He had a very efficient one.

But as you mentioned in another thread, Ajayi was #1 in the league in getting stuffed at the line. The worst in the entire league. Is that his fault or the Oline's fault? I'm not making a judgment. But that stat is related to success rate.

So now, getting stuffed at the line is a BS stat, because Ajayi is the worst in the league. Throw it out. Useless.

 

You can hypothesize all you want that everything else would have changed, but, that is not a fact. What is fact, is we lost by two points, and Stills left 7 points on the field.

 

Why is it on this site our good players get maligned and minimized, while unproven guys and players from other teams get defended and propped up nonstop?

 

"Grass is greener.." etc. etc.

 

That especially seems true with our fanbase. I don't disagree with it given what's happened with this team in recent seasons prior to last. The reputation is our depth hasn't been great, our drafts haven't been great, our coaching has been terrible, our starters aren't as good, etc, etc. That thought process comes with the years of average results we've been seeing. You see guys with less talent, having more success, so the thought becomes our players suck. When the reality most of the time probably is less that they suck, more that everything around them has just been in disarray with poor organizational choices over the years. I think last year, if we were paying attention you should have started to see that trend reversing, where our depth guys, who've traditionally been thought of as crap, were able to come in, play starting minutes and still help contribute to the overall success of the team. To me, that's the sign of things changing around the team, that's the improvement of having competent coaching. It can make your average players, seem better than they are. I think that's alot of where this "grass is greener" thought comes from. We've just not been good enough for so long. There's probably alot more to it than that too, but generally speaking I think this might have alot to do with it.

 

I actually looked up the "Runs stuffed" stats and Ajayi was 6th in the league last season. Bad, yes, but not worst in the league.

And again, I liked Gilly when he was here and I was said to see him leave. However, I think there's a reason he's been a back-up on 2 different teams.

 

And again what different gameplan would Seattle have used if Stills makes the catch? Likely nothing as the game was still very, very close. That's the difference between that game and the SB. When down that far you change strategy.

 

What did Seattle do differently on one drive when they needed ONE TD to win it? When your back is against the wall, you change strategy. When you're down 17-6, your strategy changes much sooner than when you're up 6-3 and then give up a TD to the Dolphins with 4 minutes left.

Does that guarantee them a win? Absolutely not. But it changes. The ending score could very well still be 17-12. It could be 17-6. It could be anything, which is my point. With more than half a game left, a TD that early would completely change what happened after, that is such an elementary concept I'm not sure why I have to explain it.

 

You don't have to explain it. You act as if what you're saying is fact and the fact I disagree with it, means I don't get your very simple notion. I get it what you're saying, I just think you're wrong because my stance is also simple and logical, not sure why I have to explain it to you....

 

While no one knows what the outcome would have been if Stills catches that ball, we now have the facts of the game. The facts are Seattle won by 2 points. Yes, game plans tweak during the game, but overall, especially in tight games like that one, the game plans don't change much. It's not like Seattle scored only 12 points because Stills dropped that ball. And it's not like they went in to the game thinking, "We will only play kind of tough unless we get behind". Each team tweaked their game plans. And the Dolphins "D" played really well and held the Seachickens to 12 points.