Refs, McCarthy (And Terrible Rule) Cost Packers Cardinal Playoff Game

In fairness, I will say that the Packers scored a touchdown in last week’s Wild Card Playoff game against the Redskins that should have been called back by penalty.  Though the Packers won the game 35-18, no one knows the impact the bad call had on the game.

Tonight’s Packer-Cardinal Divisional Playoff game was stolen from the Packers by the refs.  It would never have come to that without McCarthy’s terrible coaching, as usual.  In addition, one of the most unfair rules in sports also hurt them.

We will start with the refs.

1. Numerous times during the game, Peppers and Matthews came around the edge to rush Palmer, and the offensive lineman blocking them put his arm around their upper body to blatantly hold them in the open field near the quarterback to prevent them from getting to the quarterback, with no call.
2. Leading 13-10 in the fourth quarter, the Packers threw a third-and-10 pass from their 43 to Richard Rodgers for the first down and a big gain, which was correctly overturned and called incomplete.  Rodgers was clearly interfered with on the play, and Aaron Rodgers referenced this in his postgame press conference.  Had the interference been called, the Packers get a first down and keep driving, trying to add to their lead.  Due to the lack of calling pass interference, the Packers had to punt.
3. Up 13-10, the Cardinals had third-and-10 from the Packer 19.  Matthews was rushing from the right (Palmer’s left), and to prevent him from getting to Palmer, the offensive lineman wrapped his arm around Matthews’ upper body to blatantly hold him in the open field visible to all.  As a result, Palmer completed a pass for 10 yards and a first down to the 9.  Instead of probably having to go for a tying field goal, the Cardinals scored a touchdown to go up 17-13 with only 3:44 left in the fourth quarter.
4. How did the Cardinals score their touchdown?  A Cardinal receiver blocked a Packer defensive back all the way down the field into the endzone.  The announcers showed the replay, and said it was a blatant penalty and the TD shouldn’t have counted, as the receiver was setting a pick.  That TD resulted in the Packers deciding to go for it on fourth-and-5 from their 25, giving Arizona a field goal that put them up 20-13 with 1:55 left in the fourth quarter.
5. Prior to the long pass that set up the Hail Mary tying touchdown, there was blatant interference on a long pass to Janis, again in the open field, with no call.
6. Late in the third quarter, Larry Fitzgerald “caught” a 22-yard pass that was ruled a catch, and the Packers challenged the call.  On the replay it looked as if the ball hit the ground and Fitzgerald momentarily lost possession, but the catch was upheld on the review, and the Cardinals not only got the yardage, but the Packers lost an important timeout.

Now, McCarthy.  McCarthy made the same mistakes he continues to make and never understands.  First-down runs stalled the first three Packer drives.  Rather than being aggressive and trying to score early, he made no attempt to score, by running on first downs.  This kept Arizona in the game, and was the reason the Packer offense scored only 13 points all game until the Hail Mary on the last play.  In addition, the first-down run on the opening possession from their 12 resulted in a punt that gave Arizona the ball on the Packer 42, and helped the Cardinals score their first TD since they had a short field.  McCarthy continues to shut down the Packer offense with his establish-the-run gameplan.  Once the Packers lost Cobb early, they were playing without their top 4 receivers–Nelson, Cobb, Montgomery, and Adams.  They needed to throw to try to score points, as they were missing big-play receivers.

Now, the rule.  I have said for many years and posted here that the NFL overtime rule is blatantly unfair.  Defenses are tired at the end of games, and to not allow both teams to possess the ball means that the coin flip can play a major role in who wins.  As I’ve pointed out for many years, the fair way to do this is to give both teams possession, and if one team is not ahead after this, give both teams another possession, and continue until one team has the lead after an equal number of possessions.