Once again, the refs stole the game from the Packers, preventing them from going to the Super Bowl. McCarthy continued to do everything I have continuously posted about and shown how these strategies have hurt the team game after game, year after year. He will never get it. In addition, the Packers made 3 terrible plays, but none of that would have mattered if not for the refs. Readers of this site will recognize these issues that I have brought up for decades. Let’s look at all three of these categories, one by one.
REFS
The game should have been in Green Bay, and it’s obvious the Packers would have won had it been there. If the refs don’t steal the Bills game from the Packers, the game is in Green Bay. In addition, the refs helped the Seahawks beat the Packers the opening game and helped them beat the 49ers.
The Packers took the opening kickoff, and were driving. They were at the Seattle 29, when Rodgers drew a defensive lineman offside. It was obvious and I commented on it during the play. The pass was intercepted, stopping a good drive and a chance for the Packers to score on their first drive and get momentum. After the game, Rodgers said he felt he had a free play on the first interception, and the center snapped the ball early once they drew the lineman offside. Of course there was no call, and the interception stood.
With under 8:00 left in the third quarter, the Packers were up 16-0 and the Seahhawks were going nowhere. On first-and-15, Matthews sacked Wilson for a big loss, making it second-and-31. An offensive lineman hit Matthews illegally after the play, as Matthews had already tackled Wilson and was laying on him on the ground when the lineman drove into his back. The refs called unnecessary roughness, and said the Packers declined the penalty. I might not know the rule, but how can this not be a dead-ball foul or at least still have the penalty marked off as a personal foul? The NFL rulebook states:
Dead Ball Declared. An official shall declare the ball dead and the down ended:
(a) when a runner is contacted by a defensive player and touches the ground with any part of his body other than his hands or feet. The ball is dead the instant the runner touches the ground.
Had they applied the 15-yard penalty, it would have been second-and-46 from the Seattle 27, and they would almost assuredly have punted. Instead, Seattle got the first down and went on to score a touchdown that put them back in the game. Had Seattle punted, they would have continued to have done nothing offensively, and the Packers would have had the ball with a chance to score again or at least give the ball back to Seattle late in the third quarter, with them having gone nowhere and having no momentum.
Again, I might not know the rule, but the Seahawks had second-and-six with 8:28 left in the third quarter, down 19-7, and a receiver dropped a pass that would have given them a first down. He picked up the ball and threw it out of bounds. Should that have been a delay-of-game penalty?
So, it’s obvious the refs prevented the Packers from advancing to the Super Bowl.
McCARTHY
For decades, I have talked about how first-down runs stall drives. The Packers have struggled in the red zone this year, due to this. In the New England game, they stalled 3 drives in the red zone and a drive at the 26 by running on first down. Would McCarthy learn? He had a chance to score 2 early TDs and go up 14-0, which would have been huge against a team like Seattle. What does McCarthy do?
- First drive: Stopped by the bad-call interception.
- Second drive: Have first-and-goal from the Seattle 7, run on first down, and kick a field goal.
- Third drive: Have first-and-goal from the Seattle 7, run on first down, and kick a field goal
I have written about being aggressive offensively, and when a team is passive, it frequently costs them. On the second drive, the Packers had third-and-goal from a foot away. I said before the play to run a QB sneak. They didn’t, and had no gain. I then said they had to go for it on fourth down. The odds of scoring a TD from a foot away are very high, and if you don’t, it’s likely you will get the ball back in field-goal range anyway. McCarthy kicked the field goal. On the third drive, the Packers had fourth-and-goal from the 1, and kicked a field goal. I said this would probably cost them. Of course, these decisions were costly.
McCarthy’s being conservative continues to cost the Packers games, and keeps other games unnecessarily close. The ESPN announcers said after the game the Packers “played it safe” when they needed to capitalize on opportunities and “should have won.” The post below this one talks about how finally opening up the offense allowed the Packers to come back and beat Dallas in last week’s playoff game, and what the Packers should have done in the first Seattle game (which is also what should have been done in this game), all of which I have been saying for decades.
- The Packers were up 13-0 in the second quarter, and had a third-and-3 from the Seattle 24. They ran for 2 yards and kicked the FG.
- Instead of being aggressive and trying to put the game away, he was very conservative in the fourth quarter, and it cost them the game. The Packers ran 13 offensive plays in the 4th quarter until they lost the lead with 1:25 left. 9 were runs and only 4 were passes. A few first downs would have ended the game, but McCarthy made no attempt to get them. He wanted to put the game in the hands of his tired defense against the Super Bowl champions who were were at home and extremely difficult to beat at home.
- In the fourth quarter, until losing the lead with 1:25 left, the Packers had 5 first-down plays, and ran on ALL of them. Readers of this website know that for decades, running on first down has stalled drives for the Packers. It was this completely conservative gameplan that prevented the Packers from having long drives and scoring, and cost them the game. In the last 1:25, the Packers had to pass, the Seahawks knew they had to pass, and they moved the ball downfield to kick the field goal to tie the game.
McCarthy continues to rush three (or less) on third-and-long, which continues to burn the Packers. Doing this gave the Giants their first TD and the Hail Mary TD at the end of the half in the home playoff game after the Packers’ 15-1 season, the year after winning the Super Bowl, and cost the Packers the game. Rushing three continues to hurt them. When the Packers were up 16-0 and were getting a good rush on Wilson, the Seahawks faced a third-and-19. The Packers rushed 2 men and had a “spy,” which gave Wilson all day to complete a pass for 29 yards and a first down, ultimately leading to their first TD to put them back in the game. How many times will the Packers get burned by this before he stops doing it? As pointed out in the Giant game’s blog post, I told people around me in the stands that McCarthy would rush 3 on the Hail Mary, and the Giants would score. Aside from the fact that the bad call kept this drive alive, this strategy also cost them the game.
I have continuously talked about how playing press coverage with no safety help has burned defensive backs continuously, and has hurt the Packers. Quarterbacks love to see that. In overtime, on third-and-7 from their own 30, the Seahawks completed a 35-yard pass because the Packers played press coverage with no safety help. On the next play, the Packers did the same thing, and the Seahawks threw a 35-yard TD pass for the “winning” TD. On the last play, Wilson said he “checked” to the play when he saw the coverage.
Richard Sherman hurt his elbow in the fourth quarter, I believe, and looked like he couldn’t use that arm. The Packers never went after him to see if he could make plays or tackles.
PLAYERS
Up 19-7 with 5:04 left, the Packers intercepted at the Packer 43, and the defensive back went down on his own. Had he run for another 10-or-more yards, the Packers might have gotten at least a FG, which would have put them in great position and probably won the game.
With 2:07 left, a Packer dropped an onside kick right to him that would have just about ended the game.
The 2-point conversion that put Seattle up by 3, allowing the Packers to only tie at the end, should have been easily knocked down, as it was basically thrown very high and up for grabs and defensive backs were there.
The Packers called timeout with 19 seconds left to try a field goal to tie the game. That gave Seattle some time to try to get into winning-FG position. Why didn’t McCarthy call timeout with 3 seconds left?