One more time, Packers/Seahawks game

[YarnAddict]

In the interests of full disclosure, I am a lifelong Green Bay Packers fan, and I am still grieving about the Packers snatching defeat from the jaws of victory two days ago.

But . . .

Russell Wilson got hit HARD by Clay Matthews, and didn't seem to recover well. He looked woozy. Any other player in any other game probably would have had a sideline concussion test. The Seattle coaching staff didn't do one, knowing that if he failed, he would have been out of the game, and without him, the outcome would probably have been competely different.

Here is video of the hit: http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2015/01/watch_seattle_seahawks_russell_wilson_takes_huge_i.html

Yes, he stayed in the game, the Seahawks won, they are going to the Super Bowl, and Seattle fans are happy.

But in the long run, they did Wilson no favors. Chances are that even if he begins drooling uncontrollably and doesn't know his own game he won't have a test or treatment until after the Super Bowl. The long term consequences could be dire.

Maybe the NFL should require concussion tests after any hard hit to the head. What does everyone else think?

[House of Roberts]

1. You'd have to have some form of G-force indicator on the helmet.

I'm not sure if that is technically feasible. Any impact above a regulated threshold would require the player undergo the test.

[benz380]

3. I can't wait for the new footballs with pressure gauges built in. n/t

[YarnAddict]

4. The video alone

should have triggered some kind of response by the officials--besides penalizing GB for what was an illegal hit. I think they should have at least as much concern for the well-being of the players as they do for the rules of the game.

[Act_of_Reparation]

17. The technology exists

Impact indicators

I don't think it would be difficult to fit one onto or into a helmet. The issues, I think, would be 1) cost, and 2) anatomical variations between players would make it difficult to pin down a minimum impact threshold.

[YarnAddict]

20. Intriguing idea . . .

I don't think the cost would be an issue--at least not at the NFL level. And probably not for the big-name college teams.

If it became a requirement, it would eliminate most high school teams.

Maybe the better option is to throw a player out of a game for the kind of hit Clay Matthews did.

[jmowreader]

31. It's more than technically feasible

Delicate freight is shipped with a "Shockwatch label" attached to the box. It contains a little glass tube designed to break when a predetermined force is applied to it. When they break, they show red. These are inexpensive.

Get one of our fine American medical universities to determine a level of impact that demands the player be removed from the field and sent through a brain scanner, then get Shockwatch to produce a shitload of those labels - enough to put one on every helmet in service. Anyone who activates his label is disqualified from the game in progress.

[fishwax]

56. that is an interesting idea, but might also backfire

Giving teams a guaranteed way to get a valuable opponent out of the game.

[jmowreader]

57. There's a guard around the tube

You have to hit those things REALLY hard to break them.

The problem of the other team intentionally breaking the tube is solvable in two ways.

First, put the tube (they're maybe half an inch long and 1mm in diameter) next to one of the player's ear pads, inside the face mask. You can't just reach inside a guy's facemask to crush something without getting thrown out of the game.

Second, automatic expulsion of all the offender's team's quarterbacks.

[Depaysement]

2. By contrast

In the AFCCG, the Patriots used the concussion protocol, employing six trainers/doctors, almost immediately after Darrell Revis banged his head on the turf in the first quarter.

[YarnAddict]

5. Good for them!

At the same time, I wonder if they would have done the same if it had been Brady.

[Depaysement]

22. Probably

Revis is almost as important.

[Nyc72dem]

6. Since we're talking about football

The story has come out that Indy did in fact complain about the football. Sore losers! It's on the Comcast website.

I saw in an earlier thread someone here saying Indy never brought it up. It was just the NFL refs. Wrong.

[YarnAddict]

8. Aren't the footballs the responsibility of

each team, and can't they be individualized for each quarterback's taste?

Haven't followed that controversy--too busy crying over the Packers.

[Nyc72dem]

14. It's all a laughable croc.

I'd be embarrassed to even say it.

"Yeah I lost 45 to 7 and it's the balls fault!!"

Indy is a disgrace.

[CincyDem]

19. Will we see headlines about "Ball-gate". I can't wait for the tv graphic on that one. n/t

[jmowreader]

32. There's an inflation range

The rule says 12.5 to 13.5 psi is required. All of them are supplied by the home team.

In theory the team's ball manager could go to each QB, get the pressure he likes and blow up half the balls to each QB's liking, then put a little colored dot on each one. The refs might go for "the balls with the silver dots are inflated to 12.8 pounds and they all go to the Panthers; the ones with the blue dots are inflated to 13.5 pounds and they go to the Seahawks." Or they might not.

[madinmaryland]

9. Belicheat is at least consistent. Nt

[sharp_stick]

27. You're certainly right about that

Sunday’s victory over the Colts in the AFC Championship gave Patriots coach Bill Belichick the NFL record for playoff coaching victories with 21.

Belichick now has an opportunity to tie Chuck Noll for the NFL record for Super Bowl victories by a coach.

Belichick holds the NFL lead for Super Bowl appearances as a coach with nine, including appearances as an assistant coach.

Belichick is tied for the NFL lead for Super Bowl appearances as a head coach with Don Shula at 6.

Under Belichick, the Patriots have gone 171–62–0 in 12 seasons.

Belichick-Brady tandem, won three Super Bowls in four seasons.

[Capt. Obvious]

29. Yup

[dilby]

7. If he would have been down on the field for any amount of time I think they would have checked.

He got up immediately and ran off the field and appeared completely fine so he probably was just fine.

[YarnAddict]

10. Did he really appear fine?

His playing didn't reflect that, at least until well into the 2nd half.

[dilby]

23. His playing was looking bad prior to that hit.

I believe that he had not even thrown a completion before that hit.

[YarnAddict]

25. True that.

It's still a mystery to me how they pulled off that win.

Everyone in my house agrees that it would have been easier to handle if the Pack had gotten blown out.

[LittleBlue]

11. I disagree

The decision should be made by the team doctor. The "concern" I've seen from Packers and Niners fans seem more out of bitterness with the outcome than concern for Russ.

He got up and was fine the rest of the game. Poor play doesn't indicate a concussion. Rodgers also struggled with the wind and the rain. In the final minutes, Russ looked great. So no, I disagree.

[YarnAddict]

15. Well,

the Packers' loss had a lot more to do with the Packers than with anything Seattle did. Still can't believe all the stupid decisions that led to that loss, what's-his-name trying (and failing) to recover the on-side kick, when Jordy Nelson was right there, etc., etc., etc.

It's just that with all the concern for players' health, and with all the publicity about concussions (at all levels) just seems that no game should be more important than the long-term consequences of a head injury.

Besides, Aaron Rodgers has had to sit out a few games with a concussion, which did not work out well for the Packers, so why shouldn't the same apply to the Seahawks?

[AgingAmerican]

12. Cept

...he doesn't have a concussion. Wilson gets hit all the time and doesn't get hurt. Nice try.

Face it, the Seahawks win had a mystical quality to it. On a good day, it's hard to pull off a fake field goal for a touchdown, or a two point conversion, or an onside kick. Seattle did all three and would have lost had any one of them failed.

It was a game for the ages, can't take nothin' away from them.

It was, dare I say, DIVINE INTERVENTION!!

[YarnAddict]

16. Maybe Wilson was right

in his post-game statements. Who knows?

[AgingAmerican]

21. Wilson knows

I was more worried about him turning his ankle than his head

http://streamable.com/7f4

[GusBob]

13. I dont know if there is a "concussion test" per se

although the King Davick research sounds interesting ( a test of eye saccades which can be affected by a concussion)

I mean, there is nothing that would show up on a cat scan or MRI or any objective medical test unless there was serious damage. The CTE slides you see of former players brain cells are from autopsy after death, it does not show up on imaging. Mostly it seems a concussion is diagnosed by the symptoms the player would report. I reckon if a player really wanted to play and didn't care about permanent damage, he would just say "I'm fine"

Otherwise the player does not play until he is cleared by a Dr. I think the general rule of thumb is one week of no contact and if there are no symptoms, in the game ya go.

[YarnAddict]

18. I thought they were

asked a series of questions, and if they couldn't respond correctly, they are out of the game until they can. Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks.

[brooklynite]

24. In the interest of full disclosure, I hate American football...

...and having worked on last year's Super Bowl, I feel I've done my penance.

[WolverineDG]

26. And Sherman played with one arm

I have to admit that, while I kept watching the game, I was resigned to a Green Bay win & saying "bye bye" to my Hawks for the season.

I think what happened was the Seahawks got incredibly lucky at the same time the Packers had mentally chalked up a "win" & quit playing for reals.

[R B Garr]

28. I would say it was more than just luck but coaching, as well.

That's Pete Carroll's will for his team and how he leads -- always compete. Leave no doubt. Those sort of sayings are more than sayings for him. Even in practice, the players are competing amongst themselves and even for their own starting position. Always compete. It has paid off for Carroll's teams.

[YarnAddict]

34. Yup.

The fans know it, too. The Pack wasn't supposed to win this one. After the first few plays, we dared to hope, and by the second half, we were thinking about ordering our new Super Bowl shirts. And, then . . .

As I said somewhere up-thread, it would have been easier to handle if they had gotten blown out.

[NCTraveler]

30. Not sure that would be possible without more technology in the helmets.

While that hit looks bad, and should have resulted in a sideline test, hits that often occur away from the quarterback are much harder to see. Numerous players in that game alone probably took shots to the head that could result in a concussion. With what the NFL is paying out in settlements it would be wise of them to upgrade helmet technology that instantly records and disseminates g-shock over a certain level. This information should immediately go to representatives of the team and procedures should be very clear about how they are to be handled. If the NFL requires test when big hit to the head is visually witnessed, they would be setting themselves up for even more lawsuits. That being said, each team should be doing it for moral and ethical reasons.

[YarnAddict]

35. Hadn't thought about lawsuits

I've watched that hit a number of times, and I can't believe Wilson was able to get up afterward. Football has always been a game of big plays and hard hits. The trouble is that the better the protective equipment has gotten, the harder the players hit. If they still had to wear leather helmets, I bet we'd see far fewer of those hits.

[nilesobek]

33. Matthews should have been ejected from the game.

If Brady took that hit from Matthews then people would be calling for his head on a platter.

Rodgers and the Packers stunk up the joint in the second half. Rodgers had only 60 yards passing and was 0-7 on third down. Its no mystery why the Packers lost. They didn't have the staying power.

[LordGlenconner]

36. Homer alert! Homer alert!

It was a clean hit.

[nilesobek]

37. I freely admit the homer part but stand by the rest of my post.

[YarnAddict]

39. If it was a clean hit

Packers wouldn't have been penalized.

[LordGlenconner]

47. You're basically saying officials never make mistakes

That when they call a penalty, 100 percent of the time, it is the right call, simply because they called it.

Obviously that's fantasyland stuff.

I do concede it wasn't very nice of Matthews to do what he did, however.

[YarnAddict]

38. Surprisingly, I agree with you

If the league came down really, really hard on those kind of dirty plays, they would end quickly.

Oh, and if Rodgers had been 100%, they wouldn't have lost that game. Just sayin'.

[nilesobek]

40. I'm just glad the game wasn't decided by a dirty hit

or an injury to Aaron Rodgers. And you might be right, Rodgers at full strength was unstoppable this year.

[YarnAddict]

41. He is good

We got over Brett Favre real quick!

(Good game, and congrats, BTW!)

[nilesobek]

43. Well Green Bay is "Titletown."

If Russell Wilson is one and done then it will be a lot harder for us to get over it than for Green Bay getting over Favre. You guys always have the tradition and the next title to look forward to.

I'd like to say that I think Aaron Rodgers is a better QB than Favre. If you just look at the interception vs. TD ratios.
Thank you for being so gracious. In all these struggling years being a Seattle fan I had my day last year and its all gravy from here on. Its time for me to be gracious.

[YarnAddict]

54. Hey, I lived through the '70's

I can remember my dad turning off the TV and sighing unhappily, "It's going to be a loooooong season." I can remember college players choosing not to play rather than being drafted by GB. I feel your pain.

I do have a soft spot for Russell Wilson, since we followed him when he played for Wisconsin. He is a class act. Hopefully, he will have a long, healthy career.

[Dreamer Tatum]

44. Oh brother. nt

[nilesobek]

45. Don't mind me. I'm full of character flaws.

I make mistakes all the time.

[Whiskeytide]

46. Pretty common that defensive players LOOK for ...

... the opposing QB on interceptions and hunt them to deliver a big hit as a "block".

[nilesobek]

48. Yeah right. Brett Favre suffered a horrible injury on a similar play.

Except this time the ref decided it was a dirty, targeted hit and flagged them for 15 yards.

[Whiskeytide]

49. It's usually legal, but not if you blindside them or...

... target the head. I'm not sure which Mathews was flagged for because I wasn't watching it. My Steelers are out of it at the hands of the "team who's name shall not be spoken in my house", and I'm still depressed.

[nilesobek]

50. That is the rule, you are correct.

Its just that he speared Wilson right in the back. I thought my comments about the chance this happening to Brady and the response that would generate were the most pertinent things I commented on. A double standard of enforcement and media hysteria would have ensued.

By saying that Russell Wilson might have had a concussion and should have been removed from the game just gives total credit to Russell Wilson for the victory and I think its a lot more complicated than that.

PS. (The Steelers were the only team we really feared this year.)

[Whiskeytide]

52. The media certainly loves Belichick and Brady. I don't...

...really get it. There has been nothing but cheating scandal after cheating scandal.

A Seahawks/Steelers SB would have been interesting in my house because I grew up in Pittsburgh, and my son (8) is a HUGE Seahawks fan. Santa hooked him up with a RW jersey for Christmas, and it's hard to get him to take it off.

But it's worked out. I dislike the Pats only slightly less than the "team who's name shall not be mentioned in my house", so my son and I can pull together.

[nilesobek]

55. My kids are grown and are not into pro sports.

My youngest son who is living here is amused at my contortions over the Seahawks. Sometimes he has to come and check me when I get a little loud or rowdy over it. He's into skateboarding and music.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

51. and getting field goals instead

of touchdowns is never a good thing

[Go Vols]

42. At least GB covered the spread

it could have been worse.

[ileus]

53. He seemed fine and dandy in post game interviews.