Official Packers-Cowboys Winners and Losers

[pbmax]

Loser, Slocum for taking forever to remove Cobb from punt return.

Loser Slocum, for risking the team's fortune on Cobb's butter fingers KO returns.

[KYPack]

My take...

Winners
1. A Rodgers...the guy came out on one good leg. As Clint Eastwood once famously said in a movie..."A man's gotta know his limitations." Rodgers did not seem to know his during the first 35-40 minutes of this game. Then, he just said "Aw, fuck it" and decided to start to being the guy who won the MVP this year (because he did) and carried the offense on his back in the 4th quarter.
2. D Adams...for the second time this season, the rookie decided to show up and make a meaningful impact. When he does this, he shows signs of being a true #1 caliber WR. The sky is the limit for this kid if he puts his nose to the grindstone this offseason and embraces learning every inch of the playbook. He has the physicality that is missing in Jordy's game...and the size that is missing in Cobb's game.
3. J Peppers...while it wasn't a complete game for him, he made the impact plays when needed. He came out early and set a tone with some big pressures and a forced fumble on Romo. His strip of Murray potentially saved a scoring drive by the Cowboys, because Murray was running for 30+ or more on the play if Pepper's paws don't get in there. At times, he got obliterated in the run game...but he's one win away from his goal of getting back to the Super Bowl.
4. A Quarless. Whoever said that Quarless is a loser clearly did NOT watch the same game this afternoon that I did. For starters, when Randall Cobb fumbled on that kickoff return, it was Quarless who somehow got to the bottom of that pile and got the ball when it looked like there was no way in hell a Packer would come up with it. That alone gets him a winner in my book...because we were down 8 already, and it would've been at least another 3 if Q doesn't get that ball. Throw in a TD reception and 3 other catches, and he had a very good game.

Loser
1. Brad Fucking Jones...how the hell does this guy still have a job? No one...I mean NO ONE...screws up more than this guy, and I don't understand how a guy like Thompson can stand watching him play without wanting to take out a sword and chopping his head off. Whoever in the game thread said that Jones is now to the point where he has surpassed Bush at his low water mark is absolutely correct. If Jones steps on the field, a major fuck up is about to occur. It is virtually on par with death and taxes at this point.
2. Tramontana...several pitiful tackling attempts...several plays where he was burnt more than toast at Denny's...and it wasn't like he was covering Dez Bryant. He was covering some mediocre receivers much of the time. The guy is clearly hitting the downside of his career. He is not the player he used to be.
3. TJ Lang...while I understand why he did what he did on the play where he was flagged, it was an incredibly DUMB move. Your team is about to score a TD to take the lead and swing momentum in the game. Coming in and delivering some monster hit to an unsuspecting defensive player at the whistle is NOT a good idea anytime, but especially then. That penalty could have been the thing we are all pointing tonight as costing us the 4 points we needed to win the game if the replay doesn't go our way.
4. The Cowboys. And in the end, that is all that matters.

Great post. Covers the fact that we did have a great D Gameplan. We had four sacks, fer crissakes. The odd made tackle and tipped ball here or there and we beat 'em handily. The fluke Dallas plays that "should have" been successful, falls under the "if you cut off your Uncle's balls, he'd be your Aunt" category. IF didn't happen, WIN did.

For this game, you've got a team (us) that hung in there on the road with the Champs and almost pulled out a win. With our young guys playing key rolls. Now they've got a season under their belts. they have a much better understanding of their (in some cases new) roles. We will go in there with a "show 'em" attitude. And a ton of anger, the NFL approved emotion.

We are the trap team that is hot and has something to prove. I think we do prove out and go to the SB as the hot team.

Wist and the other naysayers be damned!

[HarveyWallbangers]

Quarless was a big time winner. He scored the 1st touchdown and probably saved a touchdown when he recovered Cobb's fumbled kickoff. Yes, I wanted to strangle him for his false start penalty late, but if he doesn't recover that fumble, the Packers could have been down 28-13. That would have been disastrous.

Winner and loser. Two false starts (one in Dallas territory on 3rd down and another when we were trying to run out the clock late) and a pathetic attempt to get the ball on the two-point conversion. You're right that his big plays offset this, for the most part. However, it's hard for me to give a TE with two false starts. A TE should false start about twice/year.

[smuggler]

I can't ever be mad at Quarless. He's just all heart. We'll be drafting a TE again this year, undoubtedly, but Quarless will always be a Packer.

[George Cumby]

Kentucky's on fire!!

[pbmax]

I can be mad at Quarless enough for both of us. That second false start was spectacularly dumb. Had the clock been corrected to add 30 seconds, could have made the end of the game extra dicey. Although I read somewhere that as it turned out, it wouldn't have mattered (maybe Packers zeroed the clock after the second down kneel?).

Also, while I agree Aaron took the game over in the second half and he did start to move more in the pocket. But it was clear he wasn't going to take off and run, only slide. It does make it easier to play 2-Man against him.

[Patler]

I can't be upset more with Quarless than I am with Matthews, Cobb, Jones, House or Williams for the penalties they had. Particularly Matthews and House, who had pre-snap penalties resulting from like of control similar to Quarless. A 5 yard penalty or two doesn't negate his otherwise very good game any more than Adams being out to lunch on the first throw to him negates his otherwise fine performance.

[pbmax]

Did anyone else do it twice?

[Patler]

Did anyone else do it twice?

Williams had two PIs, Jones had two holding penalties, all more significant than false starts.

False starts are not something to be happy about, and certainly should be eliminated as much as possible, but athletes are humans and make mistakes. Nelson had one drop for sure and probably two that can be considered drops. In the long run, I don't think Quarless' two false starts had any greater impact than Nelson's two drops that didn't lose yardage but did lose the down, unlike the false starts that only increased yardage without loss of down.

[pbmax]

Williams had two PIs, Jones had two holding penalties, all more significant than false starts.

False starts are not something to be happy about, and certainly should be eliminated as much as possible, but athletes are humans and make mistakes. Nelson had one drop for sure and probably two that can be considered drops. In the long run, I don't think Quarless' two false starts had any greater impact than Nelson's two drops that didn't lose yardage but did lose the down, unlike the false starts that only increased yardage without loss of down.

Holding and PI are related to physically performing your job. All players can be beat and in Jones' case, he was going to get roasted if he didn't get Murray knocked off course.

Quarless beat himself mentally. Far easier to avoid. The only opponent is yourself, so to speak.

[Patler]

Holding and PI are related to physically performing your job. All players can be beat and in Jones' case, he was going to get roasted if he didn't get Murray knocked off course.

Quarless beat himself mentally. Far easier to avoid. The only opponent is yourself, so to speak.

Yes, but encroachment and offside are the same as a false start, the player beating himself, to use your description. Matthews and House each did it once, Quarless twice.

While there is a distinction between physical and mental errors, I'm not sure I agree it exonerates one and indicts the other. The physical error can be the result of mental laxity, panic so to speak, so PI and holding can be as much the result of a mental error as a physical one. So long as the physical error relates to a task well within a players ability, the error is often a mental one, failure to concentrate on the task. In this way, a dropped pass can be little different then the failure to control ones body when firing off in a false start. The receiver fails to focus on the catch before addressing the next task. He moves too quickly to taks two from task one, not unlike the player who moves too quickly into his route or blocking assignment.

[mraynrand]

Ya know, on one of those false starts by Q, I think he was really, crazy excited because he was the primary receiver and he twitched. I think I will gather a team of scientists to dissect his body in an effort to find the 'excitement twitch neuronal relay circuit.' Then I will develop a very specific, no-side-effect drug that will suppress such a circuit and sell it to the NFL, colleges, and high schools, to suppress the 'excitement twitch response' thus eliminating it forever and preventing any debate of this subject on any forum in the foreseeable future.

[pbmax]

Ya know, on one of those false starts by Q, I think he was really, crazy excited because he was the primary receiver and he twitched. I think I will gather a team of scientists to dissect his body in an effort to find the 'excitement twitch neuronal relay circuit.' Then I will develop a very specific, no-side-effect drug that will suppress such a circuit and sell it to the NFL, colleges, and high schools, to suppress the 'excitement twitch response' thus eliminating it forever and preventing any debate of this subject on any forum in the foreseeable future.

They could just stop snorting Adderall.

But I mainly object to the bolded statement.

[pbmax]

Yes, but encroachment and offside are the same as a false start, the player beating himself, to use your description. Matthews and House each did it once, Quarless twice.

While there is a distinction between physical and mental errors, I'm not sure I agree it exonerates one and indicts the other. The physical error can be the result of mental laxity, panic so to speak, so PI and holding can be as much the result of a mental error as a physical one. So long as the physical error relates to a task well within a players ability, the error is often a mental one, failure to concentrate on the task. In this way, a dropped pass can be little different then the failure to control ones body when firing off in a false start. The receiver fails to focus on the catch before addressing the next task. He moves too quickly to taks two from task one, not unlike the player who moves too quickly into his route or blocking assignment.

We are just dancing around the same two loci tied together with a string longer than the distance between us (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipse).

If we wish to distinguish between unforced and forced (contested) errors, I am all for more and better info. But that is hard to come by for receptions.

What we do know is that false starts are almost entirely preventable (Linsley's bad snap, also egregious, aside). In fact, while if you look at a table of penalties it looks more common than almost any foul (http://nflsavant.com/apps/penaltyCompare.php), I would wager it is among the most avoidable.

False starts are routinely caught, though its never perfect, an they have to be among the fewest missed calls over a season. Holding or DPI, as many have said, could be called on any pass. But there are only 9 players who will be watched for holding (5 or 6 on a pass) and DPI has to occur on a pass play.

But a false start is possible by 11 players every snap of the game. There are at least 3 officials watching for it. If we were able to add opportunity to the table, I bet false start isn't committed as often, as a percentage of possible incidents, as several other penalties. As a TE, with the exception WR, Quarless has less excuse than most (even if he forgets the call, he can watch the ball or his tackle) and this is especially true for a home game.

[King Friday]

Did anyone else do it twice?

Did anyone else go to the bottom of a fumble scrum and pull out the ball when not doing so would likely give the Cowboys a distinct advantage in the game?

That ALONE is enough to make him a winner in my book. I could give a rat's ass about a couple false starts.