Game Balls

Yeah. I can see groaning. You see any ball tipped, or sail, or bounce, and you're going to be unsure. The thing is, coming off a horrid game, fans can be gunshy. Jake wasn't, and I'm glad he wasn't.

As for this being about anything else? No. That you should be pissily mad about this? That's certainly not my call. You sure do flop about like a winged punter about it, though.

 

Of course not. You're not sore at all about getting humiliated by Gantt. :supergrin


And anytime you actually want to argue that Delhomme did deserve a game ball, go ahead and bring it. Until then, don't bother me with your sulking.

 

Maybe Jake can go 31-for-31 one day, so then he can get a game ball.

 

Well I was at the game and other than that one ball he had a solid game. 3 TDs is solid in "ANY" league

 

I did say, in this thread, that Jake/Smitty deserved one for their days. Jake made plays out there. That's what you give out game balls for, not angst over past balls thrown. I didn't single out Jake and say that he had the greatest day ever, or that he was perfect. You say he makes these throws all the time, and yet he had a hell of a day even if we look at it only in your interpretation of his ability - so that suggests his day was among his better efforts for what he can present.

I gave one to WW, and yet he took some bad angles out there, and I don't remember him having any coverage breakdowns, but he's usually good for some, so I wouldn't doubt it. "Game Ball" doesn't equal perfect, I interpret it as a reward for a hell of a game that made a difference.




Nope. Gantt and I don't agree. I didn't take it as humiliating, because it wasn't taken as I intended to have it meant. Of course, I don't know what this has to do with you, or why you brought it up, but I'm guessing it's the idea of trying to make someone else defensive to try to gain some sort of advantage over something that has nothing to do with any actual argument in progress. Right?

Or is it more of a "you disagreeing with me makes me mad, so I'm going to try to make you mad" thing? I don't get the reason to be mad in the first place, but sure.

 

I'm not even talking about past games, I'm talking about today. Jake threw three stupid passes into coverage that should have been intercepted, but weren't. As I noted, he also made some plays, but I don't think it's appropriate to ignore the fact that Jake continued to make stupid throws just because Minnesota didn't come down with them. It's not just a matter of Jake not being perfect, it's a matter of him doing many of the same exact things that have burned us in other games. I wanted to see improvement and I didn't. And judging by the crowd reaction, far more of them agree with me than with you.

Nope. It goes to why you're trying to argue with me again. Clearly from your reaction in the thread, Gantt's dismissal made you sore, so I assumed (perhaps incorrectly, but probably not) that you're taking out that embarrassment on other people (namely me) by disagreeing with me on something silly and saying stupid things while you're at it (like how "Colbert still should've had that ball").


And PP, I agree that he was solid. In fact, I'd say that Jake was good for the most part. He made some key plays, but my point was simply that people who didn't actually attend the game appear to be either ignoring the fact that Jake continued to force more than a few throws into coverage or else simply aren't aware of it.

 

It would seem, to me, that it would be terribly hard to be so down on a terribly errant trick throw, which still almost connected, without having remembered two INTs for TDs in the last game. Personally, I thought the throw that was most disappointing wasn't some ball careening off a LB or getting tipped at the line, it was not hitting Foster in stride in the left corner of the endzone when he had a step on a LB. And none of those singular mistakes add up to anything bad. He didn't actually make any inherently bad reads. He had a damn good day out there. That might just be my own opinion, but so is whether I'd give him a game ball.

Except for not really.

For one, Gantt has nothing to do with you. Two, I'm not sore at Gantt for a difference of opinion and him trying to pile me in with the "you probably wanted Beuerlein as a QBs coach, too" answer.

Two, it has nothing to do with me wanting to do anything to you. It has to do with the opinion itself. Nothing more. Just as the fact you had some people gasping around you doesn't change Jake's performance. Nor has a small consensus amongst average fans ever amounted to analysis.

 

I gasped, but I didn't see the attempt to Colbert as an awful throw or particularly bad decision. Yes, it was almost an int, but it wasn't far from a completion either. And I miss all those games where the QB plays a 100% perfect game without any bad throws so I can't really compare Jake's lack of perfection to others' perfection. And in the grand scheme of things when we say don't compare Jake to Favre, I'm sure glad we had the inferior Jake today over Favre who threw was it 5 ints? Ouch.

 

If that was his only bad throw, I certainly wouldn't be as concerned. The problem is that he had not one or even two, but at least three.

Not really. Harris was pretty much with him, and the throw would have needed to be perfect to have connected. I liked the idea and thought that both Foster and Delhomme did fine on the play, it just didn't work.

Pretend it was just a few people since you actually weren't there and are arguing this strictly because you want to be an ass tonight (as usual), but it was the entire stadium (or close enough to it). I'm not talking about a couple of people around me, I'm talking about a massive gasp, followed by grumbling and "Damn it, Jake"s.

Neither does this: "I think of all the games we can sit back and bitch about things Jake has done, this isn't the one. Yeah, the flea flicker was tossed up for grabs. They all are. The thing is, Colbert still should've had that ball, but I don't blame him for not getting it. That would've been a tough catch, but it was there. So the condescending "anyone who doesn't shit on Jake doesn't pay attention" stuff aside, I was happy with Jake's performance. All of our QBs have made mistakes in good and bad games, whether we loved said QB or tolerated him because he was on our team."

 

yeah. That's the thing. I'm missing where he didn't see the safety and tossed it right into his hands. He's made that mistake some. Not seeing that, or that type decision, is a big thing to me in the positive direction.

The flea flicker, if I remembered right, didn't look bad. It did sail some, and he did tip back some, so I assume that's somewhat how he wanted to throw, which I don't like. It's not his strength. But it got there. Colbert got position, he outmuscled. At no point was there another option, Colbert went up for it, and it's not like he went up to knock it away from the defender. He went up to get the ball, and almost got it.

Foster looked to have slowed down a bit, to adjust to the ball. You'd really rather see the ball get out quicker, so it's there right near the goal line, and Foster doesn't have to slow down to get it contested. But no, I don't consider it some horrible fault, either.

Well, I don't think that since you actually went to a game, that now suddenly being there is the only way to know what happened, or that what any random person thinks should change what you think (or reinforce it). Some fans saying "oh no" doesn't equal analysis. I do, however, think (to restate) that it's awfully hard to be concerned about a pass or two (to this level) and not have brought into mind past plays.