Football Outsiders

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

As I said above, even if the Tuck Rule applied, it wouldn't matter. It would have been an interception instead of a fumble recovery because the ball never hit the ground.

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

I'd like to know why grabbing a hold of and tackling someone by their facemask is not a penalty

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

I blame Mason Crosby.

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

Rackers, the Cards kicker can sleep now.

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

That was insane. Great game, though. Very reminiscent of last year's Pack: go behind early, mount a comeback, defense folds, QB has late turnover, lose. Pack now 0-8 in close games since the start of 2008. Troubling.

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

Will Warner have the highest single game DYAR ever in the postseason? 5 TDs, 4 incompletions against a highly regarded defense. It was a great game, but Green Bay was oddly really helped out by an advantage in special teams, else Arizona would've won more easily.

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

What don't you get??
IF the tuck rule was legit - everyone would be saying game decided by "interception" return. They're not. Official stats all say "fumble."

It DOES matter. Just wait until someone says "Oh, Yeah" and that miraculously becomes an interception sometime between now and tomorrow at 10 am.

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

That game was everything you need to know about Aaron Rodgers in one package.

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

Sigh. If Rodgers hits Jennings in OT all else is superfluous.

Now we have to read about how AZ was "disrepected. And the gloating from AZ fans.

C'est la vie.....

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

Yeah Rodgers choked on missing the pass to Jennings although in all fairness he was probably not expecting to be dragged to the ground by his facemask on the last play

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

Just saw another replay of the Rodgers fumble on NFL Network. Looks like Dansby wouldn't have been able to get it before it hit the ground if Rodgers didn't kick at it. Maybe the Tuck Rule is a little bit relevant here after all. Ah well.

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

Green is the same ref who missed the pass interference call in the SF/NY game on the missed field goal that the league office called the worst officiating blunder of the past twenty years.

Just sharing that fact.

For the record I pin this loss on the coaching staff who clearly did NOT think AZ would actually prepare for the game. Which is a disgrace.

Mike McCarthy can really bury the needle on stupid at times.

Of course, not as much as anyone who pins this loss on Rodgers. He contributed sure. But I think other areas share more of the blame.

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

Right now He Who Shall Not Be Named is snickering. As if he would have done any better.

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

The really need to change the overtime rules. It's simply not fair that half the time, the losing team never even touches the ball.......oh wait.

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

Well, just to vent a little, it does stink that the last two plays had an uncalled helmet-helmet hit on Rodgers (exactly the play the rule is trying to prevent) and an uncalled facemask. Not sure, if a penalty happens after loss of possession but before the other team regains it, is that before change of possession? And is that something that can be reviewed? In real time I didn't see it, but on a replay it was glaring.

That's not why the Packers lost the game, except that it is... still, they "responded to adversity" a heck of a lot better than the Pats did, it is hard to feel too bad about the loss. The secondary was just too thin to lose another player... ah well.

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

I just watched the replay, and that was a pretty obvious facemask. I don't think there was an official in position to see it, though.

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

I thought this game was poorly officiated overall, missing glaring calls both ways. On GB's first TD it really looked like Rodgers didn't cross the plain, and on their second scoring drive Finley got away with a huge push-off on a big play. Factor in Green Bays usual assortment of missed DPI and Illegal contact penalties and lots of holding both ways, and to say I was unimpressed with the refs would be an understatement.

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

The facemask on the last play was missed because the official in position to see it instead followed the ball after it was knocked from Rodgers' hand. This is bad luck for the Packers, but that is what the official is trained to do on that sort of play; keep his eye on the ball, for obvious reasons.

Look, I don't mean to sell short what the qbs did (Warner much more so than Rodgers) or the several good catches made by the receivers, but that was a HORRIBLY played game by the defenses. Mostly mediocre pass rushing, awful, hideous tackling, and poor coverage performance. Toss is some awful special teams play, and it was a game for the Don Coryell in all of us, not the Chuck Noll.

Gee, ya' think Sean Payton and Drew Brees might have some inkling about who to pick on in the Cardinals secondary next Saturday?

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

Facemask or not, the last play WAS a foul. The NFL rules:

Section 2 Personal Fouls
Article 1 All players are prohibited from:
( a) striking with the fists;
( b) kicking or kneeing; or... See More
(c) striking, swinging, or clubbing to the head, neck, or face with the heel, back, or side of the
hand, wrist, arm, elbow, or clasped hands. See 12-2-3.

Note 1: If in doubt about a roughness call or potentially dangerous tactic on the quarterback, the
Referee should always call roughing the passer

It is clearcut

Re: Sunday Wild Card Discussion

Perhaps someday the NFL will aim two cameras at each player (four on quarterbacks), and review each action of each play. The time spent will lead to the glory of unimpeachable accuracy, which, let's face it, is why we watch the game.