No - 1st down run - 2 minute warning. 2nd down run - TO. 3rd down run, 1:20. Punt. Seattle gets ball, scores on two plays in 25 seconds, onside recovery, TD in 25 seconds, onside recovery, TD in 25 seconds, onside recovery, victory formation.
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I mentioned this in the other thread. I've never seen a db make a pick and slide immediately with 5 minutes left in the game. It was a 12 point game, the pick alone didn't seal shit(obviously). I don't care if he would have scored or not, you force some fat lineman to make a tackle. Any extra yardage there is incredibly significant, and maybe he scores. Incredibly stupid play.
There was 2:09 left. If we had recovered the onside kick, it would have been another 1 or 2 sec on the clock. One running play would not have taken more than 6 - 7 seconds. Timeout, then the 2 min warming, run play and potentially punting at about the 1:15 mark. They still would have had time, but not much, we still needed a first down to clinch it.
"I think what bothered me the most is that the mentality of the team went the way of that kneel down. At that point, I think too many Packers thought the game was over."
Yep!
sliding was stupid. you take it as far as you can.
He absolutely needs to try to extend the play and possibly score. If Peppers was motioning to go down....he was wrong as well. He looked to catch in near full stride. No O Lineman or QB going to stop him.
Don't agree it was boneheaded, or even in the Top 5. Boneheaded would have been to keep running and losing the ball, or retreating trying to gain more yardage. There is nothing wrong with possession in that case. It wasn't ideal, but wasn't catastrophic.
But when have you ever seen a db slide immediately after a pick with that much time left? We were only up 12 and they had all three timeouts. I would call it pretty boneheaded and extremely vaginal. You can't be THAT afraid of fumbling the ball after an interception
Um, yeah. We would've easily been in Crosby's FG range.
That said...I don't mind him sliding. It is up to McCarthy and the offense to make sure Seattle doesn't get the ball back with the capacity to win the game. McCarthy apparently felt that meant running the ball and getting blown up repeatedly for losses simply in an effort to eat up clock and avoid a turnover. It was conservative...and it gave Seattle a chance. I don't like the conservative call when you have the best QB in the NFL on your squad and a bunch of beat up Seahawk secondary players. If you are the Bengals...hell, yeah, be conservative. If you have Rodgers, you try whatever you think is necessary to ENSURE you win the game.
run-run-run-punt wasn't it.
Went down on the Packer 43. 25 yards gets you to the Seahawk 32. That's a 49 yarder.
Seriously? Every bit of yardage has the potential to change the game, especially 25 yds. And maybe he scores. Maybe we kick a field goal after he returns it to the 30. Maybe even if we punt after the pick the extra yards he picks up allows us to pin them deeper. You just don't know. I gauge how stupid something was, based on the fact that I've never seen it before. You don't slide in that spot unless you have enough time to kneel the clock out. Otherwise guys would always just slide after making picks if there was any chance of being tackled on the return and fumbling.
That is the problem...the Packers DID think they only had to take a knee to win the game. It was a tragic and flawed decision to put the result of the game on the shoulders of your prevent defense and error-prone special teams...instead of your $20M QB and vaunted offense.
Herm got it right...you play to WIN the game. Run-run-run-punt with 5 min left in the game and only up 12 on the road is not playing to win, but playing not to lose.