Postgame thoughts - Week 5 - Bears
Posted: Mon Oct 8, 2007 3:50 pm
So on Saturday night I watched my brother play against the number 2 ranked D-II team in the country. Mid-way through the 4th quarter my brother's team was up ten points and had looked like the better team the entire ball game. Then something happened.
My brother's team was moving the ball at mid-field with just over 6 minutes left. It was 2nd and 3. All they had to do was continue to use up every second of the clock that they could and methodically pick up first downs. They'd done it then entire game. Only they panicked. You could see it when they went with an empty backfield on 2nd and 3. Incomplete pass, then a penalty, then a punt. It took North Dakota two minutes to go on a 80 play drive, aided by a stupid 15 yard personal foul late hit on a play that would have made it 3rd and 11. Instead they had 1st and 10 and kept on rolling.
Next drive, with Minnesota State protecting a three point lead and about three minutes left, they still didn't run the ball. Not once. Hell, they were going four wide. Another punt. South Dakota scored in under 30 seconds to go up four points and the whole stadium was thinking, "this can't be happening". It's how the game ended. Six minutes left in the ball game, up 10 point on the #2 ranked team in the country, and Minnesota State did just about everything wrong. Ridiculous play calling, missed tackles, stupid penalties. Only one thing really stuck out: Minnesota state didn't know how to play with the lead in a close game. They panicked.
Last night it was like deja' vu. The Packers were making the exact same mistakes I saw my brother's team make the night before. Putrid play calling (three straight runs when Chicago had already started to stop it), dumb penalties (Barnett inexplicably grabbing the tiny Wolfe's facemask to get him down on a 3rd down), Williams catching the ball on the final kickoff instead of letting it go into the endzone for a touch back (he does this and we get a play to run before the two minute warning), McCarthy taking the timeout instead of letting Favre spike the ball.
The Packers choked. Like Michaels and Madden repeatedly said, they went conservative and played not to lose. By the time they decided to get back into moving the ball, it was too late. But even the play calling and clock management doesn't excuse some of the penalties, to say nothing of Favre's turnover.
Ugh.
Anyway, this is a tough loss to put in perspective. I don't think the better team won. But it was still a divisional rival and on national TV none the less. But if you're asking me whether I'd rather be a Packer fan or Seahawk fan, I'd rather be cheering for the Green and Gold.
The good:
Favre again looked good in my opinion. I think the playcalling in the second half lead to the sluggish offense, not players (at least for the most part). The offensive line played well. Was Favre sacked? I didn't count one. They also opened holes on the ground. They started to close in the second half, but they still looked light years better than they had all season.
I think Morency and Wynn did a nice job. The only time they were really bottled up was when Green Bay went into their 'prevent offense' in the third and fourth quarter and everyone in the stadium knew they were running.
I thought the front seven, with the exception of Poppinga, did a nice job. Pops looked out of position on few of Chicago's bigger gains, including the TD run. He also struggled in coverage.
The corners played a hell of a game. So did Bigby.
The bad:
Playcalling was the one that stuck out the most. Going conservative in the second took the crowd out of the game, kept the defense on the field to have to bail us out and didn't allow Favre and the WRs to ever get in a rhythm.
Jones with those two fumbles. One was inexcusable but I thought another was just a real nice play by Tillman. Still, if we score on either of those two possessions it's a different ball game. I hope this makes him a better player.
Favre played a good, solid game. I didn't even think his managing of the game at the end was poor; the called timeout was. But you saw the old Favre in the fourth quarter with the underhand bull and the toss right into the arms of Urlacher.
Collins has his worst game as a pro. Blew the swing pass to Peterson, blew the coverage on the TD to Clark, blew the long gain to Olsen.
Overall I can't be incredibly upset or down about this game. This one was sloppy but it's not like the Packers were manhandled. They stopped the run all night. They got to Griese for the most part. The running game was there until they ran out of gas in the fourth. Even the passing game worked until they went away from it.
This was just one of those games. I'd rather go through a loss like this than just get beaten up and down the field like we did against NY and NE last season. The Packers got into a close game with an experience team and choked. I'm hoping they learn from it.
My brother's team was moving the ball at mid-field with just over 6 minutes left. It was 2nd and 3. All they had to do was continue to use up every second of the clock that they could and methodically pick up first downs. They'd done it then entire game. Only they panicked. You could see it when they went with an empty backfield on 2nd and 3. Incomplete pass, then a penalty, then a punt. It took North Dakota two minutes to go on a 80 play drive, aided by a stupid 15 yard personal foul late hit on a play that would have made it 3rd and 11. Instead they had 1st and 10 and kept on rolling.
Next drive, with Minnesota State protecting a three point lead and about three minutes left, they still didn't run the ball. Not once. Hell, they were going four wide. Another punt. South Dakota scored in under 30 seconds to go up four points and the whole stadium was thinking, "this can't be happening". It's how the game ended. Six minutes left in the ball game, up 10 point on the #2 ranked team in the country, and Minnesota State did just about everything wrong. Ridiculous play calling, missed tackles, stupid penalties. Only one thing really stuck out: Minnesota state didn't know how to play with the lead in a close game. They panicked.
Last night it was like deja' vu. The Packers were making the exact same mistakes I saw my brother's team make the night before. Putrid play calling (three straight runs when Chicago had already started to stop it), dumb penalties (Barnett inexplicably grabbing the tiny Wolfe's facemask to get him down on a 3rd down), Williams catching the ball on the final kickoff instead of letting it go into the endzone for a touch back (he does this and we get a play to run before the two minute warning), McCarthy taking the timeout instead of letting Favre spike the ball.
The Packers choked. Like Michaels and Madden repeatedly said, they went conservative and played not to lose. By the time they decided to get back into moving the ball, it was too late. But even the play calling and clock management doesn't excuse some of the penalties, to say nothing of Favre's turnover.
Ugh.
Anyway, this is a tough loss to put in perspective. I don't think the better team won. But it was still a divisional rival and on national TV none the less. But if you're asking me whether I'd rather be a Packer fan or Seahawk fan, I'd rather be cheering for the Green and Gold.
The good:
Favre again looked good in my opinion. I think the playcalling in the second half lead to the sluggish offense, not players (at least for the most part). The offensive line played well. Was Favre sacked? I didn't count one. They also opened holes on the ground. They started to close in the second half, but they still looked light years better than they had all season.
I think Morency and Wynn did a nice job. The only time they were really bottled up was when Green Bay went into their 'prevent offense' in the third and fourth quarter and everyone in the stadium knew they were running.
I thought the front seven, with the exception of Poppinga, did a nice job. Pops looked out of position on few of Chicago's bigger gains, including the TD run. He also struggled in coverage.
The corners played a hell of a game. So did Bigby.
The bad:
Playcalling was the one that stuck out the most. Going conservative in the second took the crowd out of the game, kept the defense on the field to have to bail us out and didn't allow Favre and the WRs to ever get in a rhythm.
Jones with those two fumbles. One was inexcusable but I thought another was just a real nice play by Tillman. Still, if we score on either of those two possessions it's a different ball game. I hope this makes him a better player.
Favre played a good, solid game. I didn't even think his managing of the game at the end was poor; the called timeout was. But you saw the old Favre in the fourth quarter with the underhand bull and the toss right into the arms of Urlacher.
Collins has his worst game as a pro. Blew the swing pass to Peterson, blew the coverage on the TD to Clark, blew the long gain to Olsen.
Overall I can't be incredibly upset or down about this game. This one was sloppy but it's not like the Packers were manhandled. They stopped the run all night. They got to Griese for the most part. The running game was there until they ran out of gas in the fourth. Even the passing game worked until they went away from it.
This was just one of those games. I'd rather go through a loss like this than just get beaten up and down the field like we did against NY and NE last season. The Packers got into a close game with an experience team and choked. I'm hoping they learn from it.
