What Cost Us The Game? [POLL]

[MadCat]

We would have gotten another chunk of TOP if we hadn't quit on our second-to-last possession in regulation. It was time for the dagger, not for backing off and celebrating.

 

[PackerXLV]

Burnett or the 2pt debacle for me.

I wouldn't put Burnett over Bostick, but I didn't pick either as the main reason we lost the game.

To me, it's too many "things" to pin it on just one. The overall lack of will to win down the stretch by the entire organization is what did us in.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Look at MM's play calling on those drives. His pattern was different than it had been all season. He ran it up the middle with Kuhn and Lacy, whereas during the regular season, the Pack passed more in the red zone which had the affect of spreading the defense out, and kept the defense guessing. None of those elements were present on Sunday.

Last year vs. the Niners he didn´t run it with Lacy or Kuhn once on their last possession in the red zone and the same people criticizing him now for his playcalling where *****ing about not running it through the middle last season.

 

[Jdeed]

Your Crappy redzone Offense this game cost the packers the win.

Too many chances and not enough points.

Had the team played better they would not have been in the position for a miracle comeback by Seattle in the First Place.

5 turnovers......9 points. Several of them right there in scoring territory.

5 Field Goals....1 Touchdown.

You had Seattle on the Ropes big time and just let them hang around.....

 

[Sunshinepacker]

There´s no guarantee the Packers would have scored on any of the fourth downs from the 1. The Seahawks stopped us three times on such occasions. You would probably criticize McCarthy for going for it if the Packers ended up with zero points instead of six.

You really shouldn't put words in my mouth. If the Packerse had failed I would have been fine because the Seattle offense couldn't do anything in the first half and they would have had the ball at the ONE YARD LINE. Go for the TD. If you don't convert there's a very good chance that Seattle is punting from their own endzone and you're getting the ball with great field position and you can kick the field goal THEN if you can't drive for the touchdown.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

Last year vs. the Niners he didn´t run it with Lacy or Kuhn once on their last possession in the red zone and the same people criticizing him now for his playcalling where *****ing about not running it through the middle last season.

Why are we running Kuhn?! I get that the guy is a fan favorite but we have Eddie Lacy. What does Kuhn do that Eddie can't?

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Why are we running Kuhn?! I get that the guy is a fan favorite but we have Eddie Lacy. What does Kuhn do that Eddie can't?

Kuhn converts 67.9% of carries with one yard to go into a first down compared to Lacy´s 67.6%.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

Kuhn converts 67.9% of carries with one yard to go into a first down compared to Lacy´s 67.6%.

Over the past two years (only looking at those because olines were different before Lacy got here). Kuhn has converted 3-of-3 on fourth-and-one, all were last year and they were against the Vikings, Eagles and Bears. Those are all pretty terrible defenses.

Lacy was aked to convert three times this year and he converted only one. Against the Vikings (another poor defense) while failing against the Saints and Lions. Saints carry was after Rodgers got hurt and the Saints defense was smothering the Packers and the Lions have one of the best run defenses of the past decade.

None of this is to try and say it's definite that Lacy should have had the ball instead of Kuhn. I just don't understand the idea of running into the teeth of a good run defense minus a player on offense. Because that's all you're really doing. You're taking Lacy out of the play altogether and hoping you can surprise the defense. Seattle is a really good defense with terrific linebackers and the best run-stuffing safety in the NFL. What makes anyone think you're going to surprise that group? Maybe if the safeties were ten yards back but when you're at the one yard line the secondary players aren't that deep.

 

[PackerDNA]

Well, for what it's worth, Mikey is winning this poll in a landslide.

 

[Spike Mullin]

Last year vs. the Niners he didn´t run it with Lacy or Kuhn once on their last possession in the red zone and the same people criticizing him now for his playcalling where *****ing about not running it through the middle last season.

And that's precisely the problem with MM. Last year he was afraid of the Niners' run defense. This year MM was afraid of Seattle's pass defense, and ran the ball. But a champion coach is never afraid of his opponent, and would rather say, "I've got one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and you won't know what we're going to do, but we're coming after you." A champion coach does not count on his opponent's weaknesses to win games. Instead, a champion offensive coach attacks every corner of the defense's field, exploits gaps, penetrates weak zones, and catches the defense where they can't defend.

 

[Packers Boston]

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

Agree. I was assuming all along that the Seahawks would wake up and pile up a bunch of points at the end of the game. To win you need to beat them down relentlessly.

 

[Mondio]

And that's precisely the problem with MM. Last year he was afraid of the Niners' run defense. This year MM was afraid of Seattle's pass defense, and ran the ball. But a champion coach is never afraid of his opponent, and would rather say, "I've got one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and you won't know what we're going to do, but we're coming after you." A champion coach does not count on his opponent's weaknesses to win games. Instead, a champion offensive coach attacks every corner of the defense's field, exploits gaps, penetrates weak zones, and catches the defense where they can't defend.

I guess you missed the Kuhn rushes and Lacy runs in the redzone on sunday, you must have also missed the TD pass to Cobb, the pass to Cobb that ended short at the goal line, the pass to Rodgers that missed Jordy inside the 5 too. You seem too emotional to even know what you watched on Sunday. either that or you didn't really watch and are just spouting what you think sounds good.

 

[Spike Mullin]

I guess you missed the Kuhn rushes and Lacy runs in the redzone on sunday, you must have also missed the TD pass to Cobb, the pass to Cobb that ended short at the goal line, the pass to Rodgers that missed Jordy inside the 5 too. You seem too emotional to even know what you watched on Sunday. either that or you didn't really watch and are just spouting what you think sounds good.

You missed my point. I saw very few long down field completions, screens to the flats, 15 yard passes down the center. How many of those plays did you see? Do you have the stats? How many bombs? I didn't see a single attempt. I didn't see them mix it up. On 3rd and goal I saw them run it up the middle, when a play action option would have opened up the field. You EXPLOIT the defense's weakness, you don't count on them to win the game for you. What I'm trying to illustrate here is the distinct difference between a winning football team, and a championship football team. I see many Pack fans who seem satisfied just to have been invited to the party.

 

[Spike Mullin]

Why are we running Kuhn?! I get that the guy is a fan favorite but we have Eddie Lacy. What does Kuhn do that Eddie can't?

I think the idea is to have an alternate RB to use as a blocker and decoy to keep the defense guessing.

 

[Packerlifer]

http://www.packersnews.com/story/sp.../21/blame-packers-loss-slocum-fired/22141019/

 

[longtimefan]

Your Crappy redzone Offense this game cost the packers the win.

Too many chances and not enough points.

Had the team played better they would not have been in the position for a miracle comeback by Seattle in the First Place.

5 turnovers......9 points. Several of them right there in scoring territory.

5 Field Goals....1 Touchdown.

You had Seattle on the Ropes big time and just let them hang around.....

cant explain it better thant that

 

[longtimefan]

my order of importance


red zone---go for it 1st time down there, next time kick the fg

coaching at end---they did go afer sherman and jordy caught one at end..but 2nd and long should have thrown, not run
*** where is rodgers poor showing?***

haha's no play on 2pt attp

Bostick

then burnett

 

[Jay Z]

I went back to the Dallas game and noticed the formations and plays that were used to run out the clock. One of the plays used the two tight end, one receiver formation that was used against the Seahawks and lost four yards. Dallas employed a similar defense against it, just one safety and 10 men near the line. The play gained yardage against the Cowboys. To me they seemed to use the same formations, similar plays, the Cowboys played them with similar defenses. Maybe the Seahawks defense is better than the Cowboys?

Another thing people have mentioned is not trying to run at Sherman. They did at least once, a sweep the series prior. Nelson wound up blocking Sherman and the Seahawks rolled the defense so Sherman didn't have to make a tackle. The play didn't gain very much either.

 

[longtimefan]

I went back to the Dallas game and noticed the formations and plays that were used to run out the clock. One of the plays used the two tight end, one receiver formation that was used against the Seahawks and lost four yards. Dallas employed a similar defense against it, just one safety and 10 men near the line. The play gained yardage against the Cowboys. To me they seemed to use the same formations, similar plays, the Cowboys played them with similar defenses. Maybe the Seahawks defense is better than the Cowboys?

Another thing people have mentioned is not trying to run at Sherman. They did at least once, a sweep the series prior. Nelson wound up blocking Sherman and the Seahawks rolled the defense so Sherman didn't have to make a tackle. The play didn't gain very much either.

Sherman did tackle jordy on his catch near the end with one arm..

something occured to me reading your compairisions to the Dallas game--

Since your saying they did use same formations, with very different resutls...Knowing the game was 99% won, could have the o-l just "mailed" it in and not give hard effort?

I would really like to think that isnt the case as they shouldnt slack off at any time really..

but they did their job vs Dallas and it worked..

For a lot of the Seattle game they did their job....So why after the Burnett int did they have issues...Not trying real hard, believe they were going to win, or was Seattle's momentum to much?

Then with the 1:20 left they did good again knowing they had to do their job..So that really baffles me..

 

[DMANDTM]

Our defense played a great game. When the defensive strategy went from aggressively attacking Wilson to more of a prevent type defense and hanging back to try to avoid big plays, that's when it went to ****. I'm guessing that the coaches made that decision and need to take the blame for the last few minutes.

To me they seemed to use the same formations, similar plays, the Cowboys played them with similar defenses. Maybe the Seahawks defense is better than the Cowboys?

Yes, and maybe they watched the game film from the Cowboys game and were ready for our "run out the clock" game.

 

[MadCat]

Our defense played a great game. When the defensive strategy went from aggressively attacking Wilson to more of a prevent type defense and hanging back to try to avoid big plays, that's when it went to ****. I'm guessing that the coaches made that decision and need to take the blame for the last few minutes.

How else can anyone explain our defense giving up over 200 yds. in the final five minutes plus OT, when they had given up less than that for the first 55 minutes? We shouldn't need to have a 3, 4, or 5 score lead in the fourth quarter in order to win.

 

[Jay Z]

Our defense played a great game. When the defensive strategy went from aggressively attacking Wilson to more of a prevent type defense and hanging back to try to avoid big plays, that's when it went to ****. I'm guessing that the coaches made that decision and need to take the blame for the last few minutes.

Mainly it was just a meltdown, back execution all the way around. They did not rush more than four, but a lot of blown assignments.

On the Seahawks' first drive, they probably were in a bit of a prevent on the first play where Lynch ran 12 yards or so. One time there was an overrun after a reception which allowed the receiver to get some more yardage, that is not something that should happen using a prevent. Players shouldn't run free against a prevent after a reception. The pass to Lynch where he would have scored if he hadn't stepped out, that seemed to be blown by multiple players. Williams had good coverage on the one incompletion to Kearse. The first two goal to go plays were defensed fairly well, then I think Neal overran again on the Wilson run for the TD. That was actually a couple cases of players overrunning and not keeping their assignments.

On the onside kick again in real time Bostick is breaking his assignment and trying to catch the ball right in front of Nelson. Again a player breaking off and not doing the assignment.

On the second drive Wilson did a planned run for about 15 yards. Matthews was out of the game at the time which made that easier. Other big play was the Lynch TD run. I don't know that they were playing prevent at that point, the team just played bad defense.

In overtime they were better again, forced a third down. Then Hayward doesn't get the jam on Baldwin and gets beat by a couple of steps. Bad coverage there. Williams actually had fairly good coverage on the TD but in that case the defensive call is questionable I think. One of the questionable coaching decisions, leaving the middle deep open when a TD will beat you.

Mainly I see more breakdowns, not conservatism or lack of effort. Maybe when Peppers signalled Burnett to go down they started thinking too much about the clock and everything and should have just kept playing. To me it looks like they started overthinking, losing track of assignments.

Yes, and maybe they watched the game film from the Cowboys game and were ready for our "run out the clock" game.

Game film has been around forever. If that was a factor, if the Packers were so predictable, they would be getting schooled on that issue every week.

 

[Bignutz]

We scored one TD all day and I believe we punted only 3 times while getting 5 Seattle turnovers. With the field position we had and the way the offense was moving the chains in the first half we should have had a 27-0 half time lead. Game should have been over.

This +1

 

[ExpatPacker]

Kuhn converts 67.9% of carries with one yard to go into a first down compared to Lacy´s 67.6%.

A-ha! The ugly truth has been revealed. that's .3% cost us the season!

I think there are just too many things that happened to pick out one that cost us the game. Most of all, Bestick's screw-up, but really this game should have never been that close in the end.

 

[Bignutz]

A football game, particularly a championship game, is the sum of all its parts and events. But there's usually one moment or play in these kinds of games that it all wins or loses on. For Sunday it was the on-side kick failure.

In the New Orleans-Minnesota NFC title game 5 years ago the Vikings turned the ball over 6 times total. Any one of them could have made the difference but it was the Brett Favre cross-body interception that was the daggering play of the game.

All else being equal, if the Packers make the recovery on that on-side kick they deny Seattle a possession and time in the final two minutes to get the go-ahead score. Then there's no overtime. And no Super Bowl for the Seahawks.

The Packers knew the on-side kick was coming. They had assignments in place for it. Brandon Bostick decided to play it his way and played it wrong. In a team game one man going rogue can destroy it for the entire team.

Disagree, you can't blame a loss on one player or one play. Did Bostick screw up? YES! But the game should never have been at that point. We had the ball in the redzone 3 times in the first quarter and came away with 13 pts. This game should have been over at the half 27 -0.

If you want to split hairs, if Jordy catches a ball in the endzone at Buffalo, we would have played this game at Lambeau. No way we would have lost there.