What Cost Us The Game? [POLL]

[mongoosev]

and i'd like to mention the fake FG that pretty much gave seattle momentum in their favor especially at home for the fourth quarter. imagine if packer's were anticipating a fake they could have gone into the fourth with seahawks scoreless. how can you not anticipate a fake with a desperate team this good being scoreless in 3 quarters? they had nothing to lose, and a FG would not have won it for them. I suppose conservative coaching would have benefited them on that play. lol

 

[mongoosev]

All of the above. The main culprit was the Offense. With the D handing them the ball 4 times plus ST handing them the ball once the score should have been 30+ to 0 at the half. I kept getting a bad feeling that the lack of TD's off of those turn-overs would bite us in the rear.

The D play a solid 55 minutes of ball and put the O in great spots to seal the deal. The last 5 minute debacle should have just been the hawks playing for pride.

considering the points they had, they should still have closed out the game! and d didn't do that great in the 4th. a team should not have to rely on a great lead to secure a win. last just agree the last 5 minutes is by far the worse in NFL history playoff!

 

[Deleted member 6794]

NO, the guy who is responsible for losing the game yesterday is Offensive Coordinator Tom Clements, who twice refused to go for it on 4th Down and goal. Lacy is a great runner, but Seattle keyed in on him and shut him down. Clements, stubbornly refused to vary the offensive plays to spread out the Seattle defense, which would have made it easier for our offense to exploit gaps.

But there is something much more troubling about Tom Clements. He does not play to win. He plays not to lose. Is that the Lombardi winning tradition of the great Green Bay Packers? NEVER. Lombardi would have cringed at the gutless offensive play calling yesterday.

Mike McCarthy needs to take the off season to rethink his coaching philosophy, and his game strategy that he'll employ next season. We would be wise to consult the ghost of Vince Lombardi. After that, his first action should be to fire Tom Clements.

McCarth is calling the offensive plays, not Clements.

 

[Spike Mullin]

McCarth is calling the offensive plays, not Clements.

Then we're doomed. Thanks for the correction.

 

[Spike Mullin]

considering the points they had, they should still have closed out the game! and d didn't do that great in the 4th. a team should not have to rely on a great lead to secure a win. last just agree the last 5 minutes is by far the worse in NFL history playoff!

You don't ever sit on a 9 point lead against a team like Seattle.

 

[Vrill]

I wish we would have rolled the dice on one of those 4th and goals and not opened the game with two FG's. I think if one of our first two scores were a TD instead of a FG, that we wouldn't even be having this conversation.

 

[mongoosev]

You don't ever sit on a 9 point lead against a team like Seattle.

I agree. this was the mistake the packs made by being too conservative. however, with what we had the packers' should HAVE closed out that game. too many blunders and stupid decisions cost us that game. And if Burnett would have kept running, who knows if packs would have sealed it with a FG or TD. so many what IFs!

 

[HaHa'sRightGlove]

I think the conservative coaching can actually be linked to Burnett going down; he was under clear instruction to do so.

I went with the conservative coaching. The plays that were called...I just still do not understand. We have the best QB in the league, and yes we're playing the best defence in the league, but if you can't trust your QB to make a couple of plays with a possible check down option on 2nd-and-14 at least, or if not then 3rd-and-16, then when can you trust him? I can kind of understand the 3rd and 16 call...the chances of Rodgers making 16 yards is a risk, and you don't want to toss a pick then, but the 2nd-and-14 call is inexcusable...McCarthy had to run it on 3rd down on that play because of the terrible call on 2nd down. Also I've read a couple of posts saying "yeah but what if he took a sack and lost us territory?" - I didn't see us running the ball when on the Seakhawks 37-yard line when we were 3rd and whatever in the final 25 second of normal time, a sack or a pick there would have been way worse than a sack or a pick on 3rd and 16.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I voted "other". I see it as a confluence of events.

Once you set aside the late game dramatics and the disappointment, we're left with a poorly played football game by both teams.

Seattle delivered one unforced offensive error after another in the first half. The Packers returned the favor in the 4th. quarter with a series of mental errors. Neither team gave a conference championship performance.

 

[dbain21]

I voted "other". I see it as a confluence of events.

Once you set aside the late game dramatics and the disappointment, we're left with a poorly played football game by both teams.

Seattle delivered one unforced offensive error after another in the first half. The Packers returned the favor in the 4th. quarter with a series of mental errors. Neither team gave a conference championship performance.

Never thought about it that way but I totally agree. Neither team apparently REALLY wanted to win. Say what you want seattle fans about the end of the game but seattle played like they didn't want it for 55 minutes.

 

[Spike Mullin]

and i'd like to mention the fake FG that pretty much gave seattle momentum in their favor especially at home for the fourth quarter. imagine if packer's were anticipating a fake they could have gone into the fourth with seahawks scoreless. how can you not anticipate a fake with a desperate team this good being scoreless in 3 quarters? they had nothing to lose, and a FG would not have won it for them. I suppose conservative coaching would have benefited them on that play. lol

This team, as long as they're coached by Mike McCarthy, will always be a playoff team. But they ARE NOT, and NEVER WILL BE, a championship team. That will hold as long as Mike McCarthy is calling plays for the Packers. That's for eternity...unless McCarthy has an epiphany. Don't hold your breath.

 

[Sky King]

Never thought about it that way but I totally agree. Neither team apparently REALLY wanted to win. Say what you want seattle fans about the end of the game but seattle played like they didn't want it for 55 minutes.

The Packers were afraid to fail in the last five minutes and failed, anyway. Seattle was not afraid to try the near impossible and succeeded, anyway. Coincidence?

 

[dbain21]

The Packers were afraid to fail in the last five minutes and failed, anyway. Seattle was not afraid to try the near impossible and succeeded, anyway. Coincidence?

Yes you are correct. But for 55 minutes they played a terrible game. And the packers played terribly at the end (and other times as well). To go back to the original post I quoted, Neither team proved or showed anything to lead anyone to believe that they can go to Arizona and defeat the patriots. Not saying the Seahawks won't win they very well could. Anything can happen as we all saw yesterday.

 

[Raptorman]

The Packers were afraid to fail in the last five minutes and failed, anyway. Seattle was not afraid to try the near impossible and succeeded, anyway. Coincidence?

Rule #39. No such thing as a coincidence.

 

[ls1bob]

As was mentioned in another thread MM may hire a true OC to handle the play calling during the game and give up the play calling duties,which I think would be best. Being a HC is a very stressful and demanding job and while there maybe some coaches that can call their plays and be HC I think at times it may be overwhelming for him. Just like in my business I have to hire employees to the jobs I once did because I am stretched too thin and can't do it all and grow and succeed. When you get stretched too thin you get stressed and overwhelmed and can't think clearly,just like a HC is in a big moment yesterday. We need a OC that MM can trust and tell MM "I got this" and let MM inform his other coaches like ST and defense look for these tendencies and it may even let MM spot something his other coordinators missed. I like MM a lot but I think he has reached his limit as to what he can do trying to call plays this team and coach.

 

[Spike Mullin]

I voted "other". I see it as a confluence of events.

Once you set aside the late game dramatics and the disappointment, we're left with a poorly played football game by both teams.

Seattle delivered one unforced offensive error after another in the first half. The Packers returned the favor in the 4th. quarter with a series of mental errors. Neither team gave a conference championship performance.

The Pack played solidly for 56 minutes. I believe the Pack offense would have gained more yardage had not McCarthy not been more interested in achieving 20 ground carries than we was in winning the game (he admitted post-game that was his objective). By varying between down-filed passes, flats, screens, end runs, and sweeps, McCarthy would have spread out the Seattle Defense. The players were on the mark. This was a coaching error, on nearly every play, right from the opening kickoff.

 

[HardRightEdge]

The Pack played solidly for 56 minutes.

Did they, really? Bad passes and dropped balls by Seattle, their inexplicable non-use of read option in the first half (one of their staples), and a lucky bounce or two in the Packer's favor were reflected on the scoreboard early on.

It seems to me that when Seattle stopped shooting themselves in the foot the game began to turn; the Packers made several mental errors and Seattle managed to exploit them.

 

[Bagadeez04]

This is actually one of theose polls where there is no wrong answer because they were all responsible for the loss. If the Packers execute and prevent just ONE of those things from happening they win the game

Can't say it any better than that. Incredible to think that if just one of those things didn't happen they win that game. Depressing.

 

[Spike Mullin]

Did they, really? Bad passes and dropped balls by Seattle, their inexplicable non-use of read option in the first half (one of their staples), and a lucky bounce or two in the Packer's favor were reflected on the scoreboard early on.

It seems to me that when Seattle stopped shooting themselves in the foot the game began to turn; the Packers made several mental errors and Seattle managed to exploit them.

I didn't say they played perfectly. My point is that that the blame rests on McCarthy. The players gave it their best.

 

[Spike Mullin]

I can't say it any better than USA Today...

http://q.usatoday.com/2015/01/18/mike-mccarthy-at-fault-for-green-bay-packers-historic-collapse/

 

[NelsonsLongCatch]

This game was the ultimate kick in the nuts. To dominate a game for 56 minutes and lose is unacceptable.

McCarthy should not have kicked the first field goal. You do NOT kick field goals from the four-inch line in the NFC Championship game. You have Eddie Lacy and the best QB in football. Score the damn touchdown.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I didn't say they played perfectly. My point is that that the blame rests on McCarthy. The players gave it their best.

The only blame I'd lay at McCarthy's feet in this game was running the ball three times with 5 minutes on the clock.

 

[Packerlover]

I've only been following the Packers since 2009, you guys have forgotten more about football than I will ever know but I chose "Bostic onside kick miscue." What I've learned in my short time as a Packer fan and as a fan of the NFL in general, is that many things happen during the course of a game, penalties, bad play calling, turnovers, etc. Many times a game comes down to 1 or 2 plays at crucial points in the game, that's when players have to step up, MAKE those plays when they present themselves, that's the difference between champions and also rans. Bostic blew it when his team needed him most, that was THE most crucial play and THE most crucial point in the game. I feel bad for him and I know he wishes he could have made the play but the fact remains, that was the turning point in the game and the Packers came up short.

 

[Spike Mullin]

The only blame I'd lay at McCarthy's feet in this game was running the ball three times with 5 minutes on the clock.

I don't have the exact stats in front of me, but I recall a limited play book for the entire 2nd half, too much ground game, and not enough variety in the passing game. Not to mention two opportunities to go for it on fourth and goal.

 

[GhostofCurly]

All of the above. You could also add rushing 2 on 3rd and a mile and having no safeties back when the only thing that ends your season is getting beat over the top.

Your post is dead on the money. One or two plays or play calls did not lose this one. It was a perfect storm of several failures.