Let’s forget for a moment that the refs stole both Packer “losses” this year going into last night’s game with the bears, and that the refs gave the bears the “win” against Cincinnati. It is obvious that if the bears lost last night, their season would be in big trouble, and if the Packers won, they would control the division and be in great shape for the rest of the year. The bears also knew they had no chance of winning if Aaron Rodgers played. So, let’s see what happened.
How did McCarthy coach this very important game?
1. The Packers easily moved downfield on the opening drive, got to the 11, and then ran on first down. That not only stalled the drive, resulting in a FG, but resulted in the sack that hurt Rodgers. So, again, a first-down run hurt the team. The lost 4 points turned out to be very important, as it was a 4-point game until the end.
2. The bears got the winning TD as a result of punting to Hester, who returned it into Packer territory. I said prior to Hester’s first game that anyone who kicks or punts to him is foolish, and teams continue to do so. The only reason the bears beat a bad Vikings team was because they kept kicking and punting to Hester. McCarthy will not learn.
3. With about 4:30 left in the half, the Packers completed a 15-yard pass on third down for a first down at the bear 25, but the refs blew the call and called it incomplete. It was bad enough the call was blown, but McCarthy had plenty of time to challenge because the refs were discussing it, and didn’t. This not only cost the Packers at least 3 more points, and possibly 7, but gave the ball and momentum to the bears, who got a FG on the last play of the half. This was a critical call in the game, and was the fault of both the refs and McCarthy.
4. Failure to prepare a backup QB adequately. I won’t put this on McCarthy alone, as every other coach probably does the same thing, but I’ve said for years that backup QBs have to get reps and be ready. McCarthy obviously didn’t prepare Wallace, and that is his fault. There is no excuse in the NFL for a backup QB not to get enough reps to be prepared, even if the league limits reps. Wallace wasn’t even with the team in the preseason, so obviously needed the practice work.
The bears had two weeks to prepare their backup QB for this game, since of course they had a bye before the Packer game. McCown got all the reps for two weeks.
Now, let’s talk about another bad call. McClellin drove Rodgers into the turf, which is illegal and should have been penalized. The bears knew their season was in trouble if they lost this game, and the Packers would have control of the division, so McClellin drove him into the turf. We’ll see if the league reviews this, but Rodgers’ injury obviously determined the outcome of the game, and even bear writers and broadcasters admit that. Some players all but admitted it. The Packers “lost” by only 7, and played basically the entire game without a passing attack.
By the way, despite all of the injuries the Packers had coming into the game, here is what a very respected ESPN analyst said after the game regarding the impact of Aaron Rodgers’ shoulder injury: “This was a team on the verge of dominating the league,” Steve Young said.
There was NOTHING dirty about the play on which Rodgers got hurt–just another tackle/play.
Frank
Go to nfl.com and look at the replays. They show three angles of this, and the last one is the best, as it’s closest and the angle is the best. McClellin was going to spin him to the ground, then shifted to drive him into the ground while pushing all of his weight on Rodgers to drive his shoulder into the turf. This is a clear violation of the “driving into the ground” rule.
You, my friend, are seeing things. I watched it again–he tackled him, period. He did not drive him into the turf. If anything, Rodgers turned his body as he was being tackled, causing direct contact with the shoulder and ground. You are seeing what you want to see.
Larry,
I think I jinxed it by saying last week that the best players always seem to get hurt before a bear game. In this case it happened during the game. Matthew Stafford and Megatron will probably be in some freak accident by the end of the week. The play of Seneca Wallace was appalling. There has got to be someone out there more capable than this guy! But with a short week, it is likely that he will play again and since he can’t seem to pass, every down will be a run. Very disappointing.
Chris, thanks for your comment! I agree. Wallace better be able to throw after getting a week of reps. What concerned me is that he seemed to have no arm strength and looked like he hadn’t played in years. Sign Flynn and Favre!
Flynn might be a good choice. He has to be better than Wallace. Is Lynn Dickey available?