When the Buccaneers marched down the field on the opening drive, I was a little worried. When the Packers went five plays and punted, I went oh shit. But the defense held up and then the Packers tie it up. Okay the butterflies are relaxing a bit. Then the Packers get the ball towards end of 2nd quarter and I'm thinking get at least 3 points here and come out in second half and drop 7 on them and start rolling.
Then Aaron Rodgers gets sacked and then the interception on 2nd and 17. I was dismayed. I thought Lazad was held, but figured hey, it's football, let them play!
Buccaneers looked like they were going to tack on a FG, but Brate didn't pull down the pass and here comes 4th down. Arians sends his offense back on the field, they convert. It's 1st and 10 on the 39 with no timeouts left. I'm thinking easy, you protect the end zone. Nope. The defense made that TD easy.
At that moment, I had no more hope. I was feeling the Giants game in the 2011 season kind of negativity.
Packers come out and three players later Aaron Jones fumbles it away. Next play, Buccaneers TD. The Packers won the coin toss and deferred with the hopes of doing the double up. Instead, somehow, the Buccaneers were basically able to double up and make it 28 - 10.
Then the Packers march down and make it 28 - 17, then Brady throws interception and the Packers offense makes it 28 -23. I understood the two point conversion try, I just wouldn't have done it myself. Anyway, I started thinking thoughts of hope.
Packers would get two more interceptions off Brady and the offense did absolutely nothing with the opportunities. The 2nd pick the offense went 3 plays and -5 yards and punted. The 3rd pick the offense went 3 plays 0 yards. Then the defense gave up a FG to make it 31 - 23.
The Packers final drive has been highly talked about. The Packers moved the ball down to the 8 yard line with 2:22 left in the game. First play was a pass to Lazard, 2nd play was a pas to Adams as was the 3rd down play. Three plays and not a single yard. If you watch the 3rd down play, you'll see Rodgers could have ran for at least half the needed yards. When boasting that Rodgers should have ran it in for the "easy score", keep in mind, Rodgers is not fast and the Buccaneers LB's are fast. However, had Rodgers ran, I think he gets at least 4 yards and then the clock stops at 2 minute warning. Does coach go for it on fourth down then? We won't ever know. What bothers me is that Rodgers didn't know if they didn't get any yards that the FG was in play. That maybe changes things a bit -- to me anyway.
Scenario A - Kick FG.
You need two scores to win the game, so after three plays, zero yards so you kick the FG and use the 2 minute warning as an extra clock stoppage. The mindset here is similar to the Panthers game middle of December. You get the easy 3 points and then hope your defense gets you the ball back. If Kevin King doesn't tug on the jersey on 3rd and 4 on what was an uncatchable ball, the Packers offense gets the ball back with just under 90 seconds and one timeout.
Think about that. Aaron Rodgers with 90 seconds, one time out and has 70-80 yards to go to win the game and send the Packers to the Super Bowl. You're telling me you're not taking that every single time?
Scenario B - Score TD and 2 Point Conversion.
Let's say the Packers score a TD and convert the two points and tie it up. The game is tied at 31 and Tom Brady has the ball with just under two minutes left in the game with all three timeouts. The offensive mindset is very different going for the win vs eating up clock. Does Brady throw up a 4th pick or does he methodically move the ball down the field and they kick the game winning FG? Or does the game go into overtime? I don't like Packers and overtime.
I like decision to kick the FG. I do NOT like that the Aaron Rodgers wasn't aware that kicking a FG was an option. I think if Rodgers knows they will kick a FG, I think he calls a different play or executes it differently.