Today's responses when Indy was down 21-3.

[Kangaroo]

Illustrates the fact that some people want to rush to some premature evaluation of what will happen. People here were already beginning the coronation of the Patriots as Super Bowl champions for the fourth time in six years. It shows how "ESPN-ized" sports culture has become in an era when we have ESPN analysts, fans, etc declaring so and so the best team in the AFC/NFC in Week 3.

There also is a sort of deterministic frame of mind that since certain events have occurred in the recent past, that these trends will continue. One of the lessons I have learned as a fan of the NFL for 19 seasons(where I got up every Sunday morning to watch the games)is that the NFL, like life, history, etc is no such thing.

This relates, of course, to our Cowboys as well. When we are losing in a game there is no shortage of fans rushing to proclaim our loss. Never mind that it's a 14-0 deficit in the first quarter or whatever, people feel the need to rush to judgement. Most recently we have people citing Parcells' 34-32 record as an indication that he cannot get this team to a championship level. I recall people saying similar things about Peyton, saying he'll never win the big one (I'm pretty sure vanquishing his career-long nemesis today qualifies) Anyway, the point is we just don't know.


Look at the teams in the NFC. They are not heads and shoulders above us. We beat the AFC champions. Something the Patriots, Jets, Ravens, Eagles Giants and Chiefs were unable to accomplish No small feat, I assure you.We make the right adjustments this offseason and with a fair amount of good fortune we may very well a year from now be preparing for an appearance in the Super Bowl. With BP as coach.

This is what I thought; I was like holy (insert a bad word). Yet I did not bail on the Colts thinking they still had a chance to win if two things happen. My feeling was their defense had to get a stop (Which Happened) and when Peyton got it back with 3:24 I said they had to get points on the board or it was over. A FG gives them a chance a TD would change the whole emotion of the game. They got the FG then I thought if they can come out after 1/2 and put points on the board on the 1st drive then game on.

 

[Seven]

:laugh2:

You are hereby charged 1 CZ point for name calling

But....but...I only had 1.

 

[DBoys]

That's irrelevant. The game ends after the fourth quarter, not at halftime.

There have been many comebacks from an 18 point deficit. Just because there hasn't been one previously in a championship game before doesn't mean poeple should assume the game's over. Bottom line is, people were beginning the coronation of the Patriots as Super Bowl champs befoe they even qualified for the game.

So history is irrelevant, thats some good logic. We were debating if they won and that is what you do on message boards. It was a silly thread.

 

[DBoys]

But....but...I only had 1.

 

[windward]

So history is irrelevant, thats some good logic. We were debating if they won and that is what you do on message boards. It was a silly thread.

I never said history is irrelevant. What is irrelevant is assuming that because something never occured before, that it will continue to not occur, especially when it is within the realm of possibility to occur.

Once again, teams have come back from 18 points down in an NFL game. It was a plausible scenario. It's not like we were discussing whether the sun will rise tomorrow.

 

[Kangaroo]

I never said history is irrelevant. What is irrelevant is assuming that because something never occured before, that it will continue to not occur, especially when it is within the realm of possibility to occur.

Once again, teams have come back from 18 points down in an NFL game. It was a plausible scenario. It's not like we were discussing whether the sun will rise tomorrow.

Plausible and probable are two different things; One can happen but the probability of it happening usually sucks the life out of people (especially fans who have had a few to many :beer2

 

[DBoys]

I never said history is irrelevant. What is irrelevant is assuming that because something never occured before, that it will continue to not occur, especially when it is within the realm of possibility to occur.

Once again, teams have come back from 18 points down in an NFL game. It was a plausible scenario. It's not like we were discussing whether the sun will rise tomorrow.

Did anyone say that it would never occur?? No yet you assume it. We wanted the Colts to win. It was more likely that the Colts were going to lose because history taught that no one else had done it. To criticize someone for playing the odds is silly.

 

[nc1054]

I think when it's all said and done, Addai will in fact be better than James, homie.

 

[SkinsandTerps]

I think when it's all said and done, Addai will in fact be better than James, homie.

WTH ?

Back to the topic at hand, I agree that many people just fold so quickly its amazing.

Just as easily as the Pats scored 21 in the first the Colts had the opportunity to do the same in the second half. Its not unlikely that a team with an offense like the Colts have are still in it at that point.

 

[parchy]

That was the biggest comeback in Championship Game history.

Excuse me for saying this, but you're an idiot if you're actually calling people out for saying a team that has proven it has ice water in its collective vains will *gasp* hold on to an 18-point lead against a team they've owned in the playoffs.

Nobody predicted that game would end that way, fine, but get off your high horse and realize that Indy just did something that no other team in football history has done and perhaps nobody will again.

 

[windward]

That was the biggest comeback in Championship Game history.

Excuse me for saying this, but you're an idiot if you're actually calling people out for saying a team that has proven it has ice water in its collective vains will *gasp* hold on to an 18-point lead against a team they've owned in the playoffs.

Nobody predicted that game would end that way, fine, but get off your high horse and realize that Indy just did something that no other team in football history has done and perhaps nobody will again.

oh. Great. ad hominem attacks.Calling someone an idiot is a sure sign of an effective argument.

Get rid of the particular circumstance being debated and examine the general premise of my argument for a brief moment here. I say that people often rush to judgement before things have fully developed. There have been cases when we are losing the game and some people post things like "game over" Obviously in this NE/IND case certain posters did so. To quote a poster one said "four out of six is a mere formality." Other statements to that effect were made.

My second premise is that it is foolhardy to jump to some conclusion especialy less than halfway through the game. It's not as if it was 21-3 with a few minutes left in the game. So it was the Patriots against a team they have "owned" in the playoffs and the Patriots are known for being as clutch a team as any. It doesn't matter if no one saw it coming (personally, I thought the Colts could always get back in it with Manning and that explosive O). Jumping to a conclusion when we have incomplete data makes you prone to such mistakes.

Now, can we have a counter argument without namecalling, please?

 

[windward]

Did anyone say that it would never occur?? No yet you assume it. We wanted the Colts to win. It was more likely that the Colts were going to lose because history taught that no one else had done it. To criticize someone for playing the odds is silly.

"Same ol ****, different day. .

This is gonna be a rout, just like the Super Bowl."

"if the Colts dont score a TD here its over..."posted when it was 14-3. Indy scored a FG. It wasn't over.

" haha well Manning will NEVER beat the Pats. damn!" after Samuel's pick 6.

" Turn out the lights...the party is over...all good things must come to an end...LOL

Geeze, what a freaking bunch of chokers!!!"

This is just a small sample of people saying that the game in fact was over with little less than half of the game transpiring at that point. The logical leap from here is to assume that by declaring the game over, thee is an implicit assumption that a comeback will not occur.

I'm not criticizing anyone for playing the odds. I'm being critical of jumping to a conclusion with more than half of the pertinent information unknown at that point in time. There's a difference.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

I guess that's my whole point. The beautiful thing about the NFL is that nothing is ever really set in stone. We may very well finish 9-7, one and done next year. We may have a season for the ages. I'm ready to just enjoy the journey and worry about the destination when we get there.

 

[superpunk]

After 4 years we go 9-8 with the defense completely falling apart and the team collapsing in December (again) I don't see how anyone could draw any other conclusion.

I'm gonna take a stab at this - and say that next year will be the 2007 season, which coincidentally, is not the 2005 or 2006 season, and therefore could have completely different results. You may not have much faith, but that doesn't change the fact that it could happen.

 

[Jarv]

Plausible and probable are two different things; One can happen but the probability of it happening usually sucks the life out of people (especially fans who have had a few to many :beer2

Yep and its plausible that Campo can come back and win us 5 Superbowls, not probable tho

 

[InmanRoshi]

In the world of a media tsunami, there is a phenomenon where something is believed to be truth simply because its been heard repeated over and over and over again. A recent example is Holmgren and the Seahawks. After his first 6 seasons with the Seahawks he was 52-48, with 0-3 playoff record. Everyone was saying he was washed up/overrated/can't do anything without Favre blah, blah, blah. And the next season he takes his steam to the Superbowl. Did he just get smarter or learn a lot more about football in the span of 8 months?

It wasn't an instant gratification rebuilding process, but he built his team the right way and and it looks like they'll be NFC contenders for a long time. I honestly wonder if people carry this same attitude towards other parts of their life. Do they sell off their entire portfolio, even if its providing modest to good gains overall, after a bad day on the Dow?

 

[WV Cowboy]

Everyone should have checked with chinch, I am sure he knew that the Colts were going to eventually win the game.

Afterall, he knew we would lose to Seattle when the opening KO went out of bounds.

Some people just know these things.