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From Simmons grantland article today:
Lesson No. 4: If I ever write another Playoff Gambling Manifesto, I need to convert last week's Suggestion No. 6, "Before You Pick A Team, Just Make Sure Marty Schottenheimer, Herm Edwards, Wade Phillips, Norv Turner, Andy Reid, Anyone Named Mike, Anyone Described As Andy Reid's Pupil And Anyone With The Last Name Mora Isn't Coaching Them," into an actual rule.
And Reid's name might have to be converted to 18-point font. Of all the soul-crushing playoff losses that involved Andy over the years, Saturday's colon-reamer in Indy was probably his most defensible performance; it featured two hours of brilliant play calling (much of it without Charles, no less) coupled with Alex Smith's out-of-body experience, and if their wide-open 19th-string running back had hauled in Smith's slightly overthrown, Charles-definitely-woulda-caught-it fourth-quarter pass down the right sideline, KC's offense could have dropped 50-plus in a road playoff game.
(Hold on, big "but" coming … )
BUT …
They also gave up five second-half touchdowns, blew their first two timeouts for indefensible reasons, and unleashed the incredible fourth-down sequence of "no timeout, run 20 seconds off for no reason to the two-minute warning, last timeout, receiver catches the season-saving catch out of bounds." They also couldn't score a game-clinching touchdown against a ravaged Indy secondary that included The Artist Formerly Known As LaRon Landry, a Hobbled Vontae Davis, The Guy Who Limped After Donnie Avery On That 79-Yard Touchdown Like He'd Just Been Shot From Behind, and a Playing-Out-Of-Position Patriots castoff Darius Butler.
And as their world collapsed over that last hour, Andy stood there staring down at some mysterious sheet of paper like he was trying to read a takeout menu. Jesus, even Art Shell and Jim Caldwell thought Andy needed to show a little more life.2 What a bizarre game in general. At some point during that fourth quarter, every Pats fan ran through an enticing "Which Opponent Do I Want To See Most In Round 2?" checklist that included …
A. Andy Dalton and Marvin Lewis
B. The aforementioned Colts secondary
C. Andy Reid and the injury-ravaged Chiefs
… then realized, "I'll take any of these teams! This is the greatest! We're going to another AFC title game!"
And then Andrew Luck completed that go-ahead bomb to T.Y. Hilton for the greatest gambling push of my lifetime … 3
And … well …
Lesson No. 5: There's a chance that "Don't Bet Against Andrew Luck" could end up in Playoff Gambling Manifesto 5.0 soon.
Lesson No. 4: If I ever write another Playoff Gambling Manifesto, I need to convert last week's Suggestion No. 6, "Before You Pick A Team, Just Make Sure Marty Schottenheimer, Herm Edwards, Wade Phillips, Norv Turner, Andy Reid, Anyone Named Mike, Anyone Described As Andy Reid's Pupil And Anyone With The Last Name Mora Isn't Coaching Them," into an actual rule.
And Reid's name might have to be converted to 18-point font. Of all the soul-crushing playoff losses that involved Andy over the years, Saturday's colon-reamer in Indy was probably his most defensible performance; it featured two hours of brilliant play calling (much of it without Charles, no less) coupled with Alex Smith's out-of-body experience, and if their wide-open 19th-string running back had hauled in Smith's slightly overthrown, Charles-definitely-woulda-caught-it fourth-quarter pass down the right sideline, KC's offense could have dropped 50-plus in a road playoff game.
(Hold on, big "but" coming … )
BUT …
They also gave up five second-half touchdowns, blew their first two timeouts for indefensible reasons, and unleashed the incredible fourth-down sequence of "no timeout, run 20 seconds off for no reason to the two-minute warning, last timeout, receiver catches the season-saving catch out of bounds." They also couldn't score a game-clinching touchdown against a ravaged Indy secondary that included The Artist Formerly Known As LaRon Landry, a Hobbled Vontae Davis, The Guy Who Limped After Donnie Avery On That 79-Yard Touchdown Like He'd Just Been Shot From Behind, and a Playing-Out-Of-Position Patriots castoff Darius Butler.
And as their world collapsed over that last hour, Andy stood there staring down at some mysterious sheet of paper like he was trying to read a takeout menu. Jesus, even Art Shell and Jim Caldwell thought Andy needed to show a little more life.2 What a bizarre game in general. At some point during that fourth quarter, every Pats fan ran through an enticing "Which Opponent Do I Want To See Most In Round 2?" checklist that included …
A. Andy Dalton and Marvin Lewis
B. The aforementioned Colts secondary
C. Andy Reid and the injury-ravaged Chiefs
… then realized, "I'll take any of these teams! This is the greatest! We're going to another AFC title game!"
And then Andrew Luck completed that go-ahead bomb to T.Y. Hilton for the greatest gambling push of my lifetime … 3
And … well …
Lesson No. 5: There's a chance that "Don't Bet Against Andrew Luck" could end up in Playoff Gambling Manifesto 5.0 soon.
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