Another implosion for GB

[Zorn76]

The Packers have now lost 4 out of their last 5, including 2 divisional losses - at Lambeau - to Detroit and Chicago.

Their season gets really interesting now, because they are nowhere near the lock they were to make the playoffs. They also play 3 or their final 5 on the road (@Lions, vs Cowboys, @Oakland, @AZ, vs Minn). Gotta say, I'm really surprised how bad they've played with plenty riding on the line lately. For 6 weeks they were in the running for HFA, now they're just trying to secure a playoff spot.

And even if they win the division, they've demonstrated that a home game is no guaranteed win.

Falcons also have some pretty tough matchups to close the year (vs Vikings, vs Bucs, @Panthers, @Jags, vs Panthers, vs Saints).

Then there's Minnesota (@Falcons, vs Seahawks, @AZ, vs Bears, vs Giants, @GB)

Obviously, we gotta take care of our business, starting Sunday vs Pitt.

But getting some needed help isn't out of the question, as long as we hold up our end.

Beyond that, gotta give Carolina credit for keeping the momentum going. 11-0 is no joke, no matter what their schedule has been.

[RiverDog]

At the start of the year, a lot of us thought that our loss to the Packers would result in losing a tiebreaker for HFA. Now it's looking more like that it could be a tiebreaker as to who gets a wild card.

You're right about Carolina. They're proving everyone wrong, with an MVP candidate in Cam Newton, a Defensive Player of the Year in Luke Kuechly, and a good chance to become the first NFC team since the merger to go a perfect 16-0 in the regular season. They are who we were two years ago.

I wonder what the odds are that an 18-0 Carolina team will face an 18-0 Patriots team in the Super Bowl?

[NorthHawk]

Two undefeated teams would be real interesting.
The Panthers are what we would look like if we had a good Offense.

[burrrton]

The Panthers are what we would look like if we had a good Offense-ive line.

Fixed.

[Hawktawk]

The Green Bay collapse and the decline in Rodgers game is shocking. I saw that team as the one to beat after 3 weeks. Now its Carolina without a doubt.
I hate to say it but coming back in Seattle changed the trajectory of both teams seasons. Cam is confident now. The D is lights out. They are the fave right now to represent the NFC. AZ second. Beyond that its a crap shoot. When Tampa bay is in the hunt it tells you what kind of year its been so far.

[Seahawks4Ever]

If two undefeated teams play in the Super Bowl it would guarantee that the 1972 Dolphins will have sipped champaign for the last time. One more time to toast the team that broke their record. It would be the end of an era, and I would be rooting for Carolina the whole way. No way I want the Hoodie and Tom Brady to knock the Dolphins off of their pedastal.

[RiverDog]

If two undefeated teams play in the Super Bowl it would guarantee that the 1972 Dolphins will have sipped champaign for the last time. One more time to toast the team that broke their record. It would be the end of an era, and I would be rooting for Carolina the whole way. No way I want the Hoodie and Tom Brady to knock the Dolphins off of their pedastal.

Me, too. I don't have as much vitriol for Hoody as others do, but I can't stand that smug prick Tom Brady. I'll be rooting for Denver tonight.

[Hawkstar]

If two undefeated teams play in the Super Bowl it would guarantee that the 1972 Dolphins will have sipped champaign for the last time. One more time to toast the team that broke their record. It would be the end of an era, and I would be rooting for Carolina the whole way. No way I want the Hoodie and Tom Brady to knock the Dolphins off of their pedastal.

Man I would have such a hard time cheering for Cam ~ I want to vomit with his first down celebrations, let alone the chit he does in the end zone. but... the media gushing all over the Patriots would be unbearable if they went undefeated.

I would be praying hard for Tie!

[Hawktawk]

Me, too. I don't have as much vitriol for Hoody as others do, but I can't stand that smug prick Tom Brady. I'll be rooting for Denver tonight.

I hear ya RD. Except I hate Billacheat just as bad. Id hold my nose and root Carolina.
Screw that though. Neither of those teams is going undefeated IMO. Lots of ball left to play.

[Zorn76]

Atlanta has also been in the implosion club for several weeks now, losing 5/6.

They are 3-1 on the road this year, but now embark on a three game road trip that looks a whole lot different than it did awhile back (@TB, @Car, @Jax). Falcons are capable of winning 2/3, but it's far from certain.

I straight up question their collective mental toughness at this point.

[Hawktawk]

Green Bay is looking for the flight data recorder because they have crashed and burned short of a miraculous comeback tonight. Rodgers looks like the incredible shrinking QB right now.
I wonder if he is out of shape?
He looks a little soft, not real cut. I dunno?

Its a weird change for he and this team for sure. I love it.

[Hawktawk]

Well never mind.I'm the kiss of death. I promise to root for Minn this weekend.

[Zorn76]

lol, don't sweat it, Hawktawk.

The Packers...got lucky. And a Huge assist goes to the lowly Lions who, once again, revert back to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

It was asking a lot for Detroit to sweep GB, yet they should've done it.

That said, GB is still in trouble moving forward. They are 8-4, and likely make the playoffs. But I still see no real indication that they've turned the corner.

[jshawaii22]

Some teams just get boned a lot. Detroit is one of them. Last year's playoff against Dallas... the "Batting" against our Hawks and now the phantom facemask that gave the Packers a freebie at the end of the game. It's just hard to explain, but it's really true.

js

[Hawkstar]

Some teams just get boned a lot. Detroit is one of them. Last year's playoff against Dallas... the "Batting" against our Hawks and now the phantom facemask that gave the Packers a freebie at the end of the game. It's just hard to explain, but it's really true.

js

It's definitely true. Can you imagine if you actually cared about the Lions? Every week would be worse than the previous...

[Seahawkfan80]

I was in their talky forum during the game. What I saw was mentioned and verified by one of their people too. If you see the interview after the game, Erin is all about I did this I did that and Johnny caught my ball that I did this to. That is not TEAM sport, nor is it TEAM atmosphere. We won the game with the effort put forth by our receivers, and our refs. oops where did that one come from??? On his run in for touchdown, surprised he was not called for grounding in the endzone.

But after that play, he never went to his TEAM MATES and got high fivers or any kind of support. That is an arrogant pompus bootycall. You easily lose a team that way...and I see it that way myself. They may make the playoffs, but I see them going no where with this type of lack of team reaction and interaction.

Just my uneducated humble opinion.

[RiverDog]

I was in their talky forum during the game. What I saw was mentioned and verified by one of their people too. If you see the interview after the game, Erin is all about I did this I did that and Johnny caught my ball that I did this to. That is not TEAM sport, nor is it TEAM atmosphere. We won the game with the effort put forth by our receivers, and our refs. oops where did that one come from??? On his run in for touchdown, surprised he was not called for grounding in the endzone.

But after that play, he never went to his TEAM MATES and got high fivers or any kind of support. That is an arrogant pompus bootycall. You easily lose a team that way...and I see it that way myself. They may make the playoffs, but I see them going no where with this type of lack of team reaction and interaction.

Just my uneducated humble opinion.

Welcome to The Shack, seahawkfan80!

[burrrton]

Some teams just get boned a lot... the "Batting" against our Hawks

They do seem to get boned a lot, but let's be clear- the ref refusing to bail them out of their failure in that game was *not* them getting boned. They didn't 'deserve' to be handed another play, nor did they do anything to earn it. They were merely hoping for another play based on a technicality.

Further, that rule is a judgment call (ref has to judge intent- it's not a penalty merely for touching the player), and while I agree he popped it out, it's not an automatic whistle. It strikes me as being like holding- there is no play that takes place in which the o-linemen are not grabbing and holding the defensive player- they typically don't call it, though, if it has no impact on the play, or wasn't *that* egregious, etc.

[Hawktawk]

The call of facemask was a bad call but I understand how it could happen. I had more problem with a PI call bailing out Rodgers on a wild throw into triple coverage earlier in the game. Looked more like an OPI to me and extended a scoring drive from a 3rd and forever.
Detroit didn't help themselves though. The Hail Mary couldn't have been defended any worse. They only rushed 3 which allowed Rodgers to escape and launch the throw and still with 8 defenders in the endzone had nobody in a position to contest the catch. It looked like any of 3 Packers had a better chance than any Lions player.

Brutal. Between Detroit and Cleveland I don't know how they have any fans left.
At least Rodgers can quit whining about getting beat on the Golden hail Mary now. He got a bigger gift than Seattle

[NorthHawk]

Maybe I'm one of the few non GB fans who think it was a face mask penalty.
From what I saw, the Defender hooked both the jersey and face mask.
Had he just wrapped Rodgers up and let go of the jersey at the front while tackling him, I'd probably be on the other side of the issue.
However, he threw Rodgers to the ground while still hooking the face mask. In my mind, that's a penalty.

[HumanCockroach]

You need to Rewatch the play North. He never grasped the facemask. Meaning no penalty is even possible. Brushing the mask without grasping it, never has been, and never will be a penalty. Even if he had grasped it(.which simply did not happen), he "immediately" released it, which by rule is "incidental in the process of a tackle. Nah, thats a "it's Aaron Rodgers" ref moment at it's finest.

Ah well at least they can shut up about a game three years ago, guess not as both Rodgers and McCarthy mentioned the Golden Reception, despit benefitting from a call that by rule was wrong, while "suffering" a play that by rule was right.

[HumanCockroach]

"Dragged him to the ground" nope not even close.

FB_IMG_1449256663513.jpg (44.84 KiB) Viewed 686 times

[Mo the Toe]

Looks like he got his finger around the chin strap to me.

[jshawaii22]

It's called the "Brady" rule. Just come close and it's a penalty every time.

js

[HumanCockroach]

Looks like he got his finger around the chin strap to me.

Huh?

[mykc14]

Looks like he got his finger around the chin strap to me.

I can sort of see what you are saying, it does look like that a little, maybe, but if you look a little closer you can see he's not touching the chin-strap. It sort of looks like it because the strap and his undershirt are both white, maybe?

[Mo the Toe]

I'm wrong on the chinstap grab on 4th and 5th look. Its still firmly against his chin. At first I thought his index finger was underneath.

[mykc14]

Just read a quote from Jim Caldwell saying he was expecting the Packs to do a shorter pass and laterals and that is the way his D was set up. Crazy, I thought 'Hail Mary' all day long. 60 yards is clearly within Rogers, and most NFL QB's, range. I guess it explains a little why it was so open and why he only sent 3 rushers. I was thinking, blitz, at least send 4 because Rodgers needed so much time for the receivers to get down the field, but if he was thinking of the short throw then it makes sense to rush 3.

[mykc14]

oops.

[Mo the Toe]

I'm starting to question the premise of running the ball 3 times to run the clock down and punting when not being up by a touchdown. Always seem to look back at a last second loss thinking we or the Lions in this case only needed another 1st down to run out the clock.

[Seahawkfan80]

Welcome to The Shack, seahawkfan80!

Thank you sir Riverdog.

[Hawktawk]

Just read a quote from Jim Caldwell saying he was expecting the Packs to do a shorter pass and laterals and that is the way his D was set up. Crazy, I thought 'Hail Mary' all day long. 60 yards is clearly within Rogers, and most NFL QB's, range. I guess it explains a little why it was so open and why he only sent 3 rushers. I was thinking, blitz, at least send 4 because Rodgers needed so much time for the receivers to get down the field, but if he was thinking of the short throw then it makes sense to rush 3.

Hindsight is 20-20.With no time on the clock and 60 yards to go it doesn't matter what they run as long as everyone is behind it. Instead the QB and reciever were basically left clean as a whistle, pitch and catch.

It was the worst job of defending a hail mary I have ever seen in over 45 years as a fan. Hence they are Detroit....

[mykc14]

Hindsight is 20-20.With no time on the clock and 60 yards to go it doesn't matter what they run as long as everyone is behind it. Instead the QB and reciever were basically left clean as a whistle, pitch and catch.

It was the worst job of defending a hail mary I have ever seen in over 45 years as a fan. Hence they are Detroit....

Hindsight is 20/20 and I really don't like second guessing coaches as there usually are much more to these types of decisions then we as fans are privy to, but this was really bad. GB sent everybody deep, to they end zone, yet the lions had 2 defenders defending both sidelines at the 40, there was no time left, why defend the sideline 20 yards downfield on an un-timed play? You have the best highball receiver in the game, even if you are pretty sure they were going to do a shorter play with laterals you have to put him in there just in case they try the Hail Mary. Lastly, I still don't see how on the world you don't completely defend for the Hail Mary there. It is by far a higher percentage play then a bunch of laterals, so you have to think the offense is going to run that. Also, if you are defending the Hail Mary and they throw it short at least most of your defenders on the right side of the ball, between the receiver and the end zone. The way they had it set up they wasted at least 2 defenders, and I would argue 3 more because there is very little chance the 3 down lineman were going to get to Rodgers by themselves.

[HumanCockroach]

In a perfect world not only Johnson, but Tate are in on that last gift play, with Tate going up, catching the ball in the air, only to have a GB receiver come up a little behind, get a hand around the ball, secure it, land first, maintain it, and then have it ruled an interception....

[mykc14]

In a perfect world not only Johnson, but Tate are in on that last gift play, with Tate going up, catching the ball in the air, only to have a GB receiver come up a little behind, get a hand around the ball, secure it, land first, maintain it, and then have it ruled an interception....

That would have been perfect!!

[Hawktawk]

In a perfect world not only Johnson, but Tate are in on that last gift play, with Tate going up, catching the ball in the air, only to have a GB receiver come up a little behind, get a hand around the ball, secure it, land first, maintain it, and then have it ruled an interception....

LOL yeah I didn't even think about it. The Golden Hail Mary was and forever shall be simultaneous possession and hence TD Seahawks BTW. No apologies necessary.

But why wouldn't the Lions have any number of offensive skill players in there? And if I was keeping 5 in the field of play they would have all been rushing the QB.They nearly got home with 3.
It was just brutal. Has the D coordinator been fired yet?

[mykc14]

LOL yeah I didn't even think about it. The Golden Hail Mary was and forever shall be simultaneous possession and hence TD Seahawks BTW. No apologies necessary.

But why wouldn't the Lions have any number of offensive skill players in there? And if I was keeping 5 in the field of play they would have all been rushing the QB.They nearly got home with 3.
It was just brutal. Has the D coordinator been fired yet?

Agree with everything in this post.