Penalties

[HarveyWallbangers]

Interesting stat on ESPN:

Referee Ron Winter and crew are assessing 16.3 penalties per game this season, most in the league. That includes 9.5 per game against visiting teams, most in the league. Winter's crew has assessed 2.7 additional penalties against visiting teams this season, the second-largest disparity among the 17 crews. There were 13 penalties against the Packers, nine against Denver.

[woodbuck27]

Re: Penalties

Interesting stat on ESPN:

Referee Ron Winter and crew are assessing 16.3 penalties per game this season, most in the league. That includes 9.5 per game against visiting teams, most in the league. Winter's crew has assessed 2.7 additional penalties against visiting teams this season, the second-largest disparity among the 17 crews. There were 13 penalties against the Packers, nine against Denver.

Brutal.

[HarveyWallbangers]

BTW, the 82 yarder was the second longest pass play in NFL history in OT. Jaws has the record on a 99 yarder to Mike Quick.

More from ESPN's blog:

The Packers' 82- and 79-yard touchdown passes are the 13th- and 14th-longest against Denver in Broncos history. ...

Greg Jennings broke into a big smile after initially telling reporters he would take no questions about his game-winning touchdown reception. Jennings then proceeded to break down the 82-yard score:

"It was zero double-go. (Dre Bly) was in bump. They hadn't played us bump-and-run all night. They were playing off with vision. When I saw the bump-and-run, I just beat him off the line and he stayed vertical. We were tugging for about 10 yards, and I was trying to get his hands off me. Once I got his hands off me, initially I looked up at the ball and thought, 'I'm not going to get the ball.' I kept running, and the ball just landed in my hands. After that, it was just history. I'm just glad we came out on top."

Brett Favre broke down the winning 82-yard touchdown play, with some bonus analysis of the 79-yard touchdown pass early in the game:

"It was just a double-go. Actually, we had three guys. Donald Lee, the tight end, was in motion. It was more designed for a Cover 2 the way they were playing Cover 2. We were going to try to get Donald up the seam, do a little play-action fake, try to get them to bite up.

"We had practiced all week that if we played this against a single-safety look, we would check out to a different play. It was the first time we ran it in the game. Not that Dre Bly was a better pick vs. Champ Bailey, we had thrown an out-route vs. Dre three or four times during the game. Not that he was sitting on an out route; he had good coverage until the end. The ball stayed up there a long time.

"That particular play, unlike the first go-route that I hit James (Jones) on, that was designed for single safety. Had we got a two-deep look, I would have probably checked to a run on the first one. This was almost the total opposite. We don't see a lot of single safety, and we saw it more tonight."

One of our readers brought up a very good point that got lost amid Brett Favre's heroics: Ryan Grant's decisive running made a big difference for the Packers. Grant put the Packers in favorable down-and-distances by hitting holes right away. Sometimes there was nothing there, and Grant went nowhere. But he wasn't out there losing yardage very often. Some backs hunt and peck back there. Grant did not do that. He finished with 22 carries for 104 yards and his production made the Broncos defend Green Bay honestly at times.

John Clayton is back from the Packers' locker room. I was down in the Broncos' locker room. From piecing together information, here's what we can say about the Packers' 82-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime: Green Bay was anticipating a Cover 2 look with two deep safeties splitting the field. The original play called for Brett Favre to find tight end Donald Lee up the middle. But when Favre saw the Cover 3 look with a deep safety in the middle of the field, he knew the safety would have to cover a lot of ground on a deep pass to the sideline. And so he decided to take a shot. Good decision.

Broncos cornerback Dre Bly on the game-winning, 82-yard touchdown pass he allowed to Greg Jennings: "We were expecting these guys to take shots. A couple times they ran curls and we were expecting them to take shots. That has been what they've been doing, taking shots and running inside routes. Brett was able to make a play. I feel like I had good enough coverage to make a play, but Jennings was able to adjust to the ball. Even though I'm sad that I made it and we lost the game, it was a great throw and catch."

A reporter noted that not many quarterbacks can throw the ball that far, that accurately. To which Bly said, "Some guys are lucky, too. Like I said, Brett just happened to make a great throw on that one play. He's thrown some balls this year that have been short and been intercepted, but on that one play, just like any good quarterback, he made a great throw and it happened to be for the winning touchdown. Brett is a Hall of Famer. I'm not surprised he made plays like that."

Broncos cornerback Dre Bly said he couldn't find the ball in the air on Brett Favre's 82-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings on the first play of overtime."It seemed like he threw it 90 yards," Bly said. "I looked up and couldn't find the ball." Fellow corner Champ Bailey said the coverage was deep thirds. Bly said the safety in the middle of the field had to play both sides. Even with a good break on the ball, Bly said he was the only defender with a realistic shot at making a play. As things turned out, Bly was the only man in coverage.

Brett Favre still has the magic. Plenty of arm strength, too. His 82-yard strike to Greg Jennings in overtime has lifted the Packers to 6-1. Favre had time to throw. Jennings got behind Dre Bly deep along the left sideline. There wasn't a safety in sight. Unbelievable. The Broncos are in trouble. Can't stop the run ... or the pass. The Packers are riding something special. They win, 19-13. Wow. With that I'm heading down to the locker rooms.