Recap: No Big Plays, But Don't Blame The Packers Defense

If I remember right, the Packers did not challenge any plays during this game. You cannot count on receiving or needing challenge #3. If coaches had that mindset, they would only challenge sure things and hardly ever throw the red flag.

And, ATL didn’t switch to the hurry up, they were running it for much of the day. I’m not saying MM should have seen their hurrying as a sign that the pass was incomplete and baited into a challenge. I’m saying that it was a good time to slow down the tempo anyway, so there is an added benefit to throwing the flag.

I’m not sure how you saw it hit the ground because I didn’t see anything close to that… and in the initial replays Gonzo’s body blocked the angle pretty well… secondly, if the nose hit the ground like the Shincoe catch… then it’s a completion from that angle (Remember, the league told Childress that it should’ve been a catch)… Also, not ONE of the announcers thought it was incomplete until 2 plays later either, and they get paid to notice those kinds of things.

The nose of the football hit the ground on the initial shot. I agree that’s not enough to turn it over, but don’t you think it’s enough to Challenge it? Or at least call a timeout and take a longer look on the part of the Packers?

And you’re wrong about the announcers. Billick expressed doubt about it being a catch prior to the snap. I agree it all happened quickly, but that’s why you use a timeout.

As for why you don’t call Timeouts on defense in the 2 minute drill… a timeout gives the your defense a chance to catch their breath… but it does the same for the Falcons offense… number 2, if we use our timeouts, then the Falcons don’t use there’s… if they have timeouts left then they can run/throw to the sidelines/throw it down the middle… it gives them more options as to where to put the ball to move it… Finally, that close to the end of the half, you make them use up as much of the clock as they can and hope they run out of time and settle for a FG instead of giving them more time to knock it into the end-zone.

Why would we care if the Falcons’ used a timeout or didn’t? I simply didn’t understand that while the Falcons were driving and eating clock to close out the half, that McCarthy didn’t use his timeouts to give Rodgers time to potentially score prior to the end of the first half.

As for the end of the game management… just over a minute left on 4th and goal… what would you like them to do in this case? Have Aaron run around in the backfield for 50 seconds or so…. hope to get some form of Defensive penalty that results in an automatic first down… I mean seriously, it’s 4th and goal… the ball HAS to go into the end-zone or it’s game over anyways, so I’m not at all sure how you can blame MM for poor time management in either of those situations

You’re arguing with yourself here. I’m not referring to the 4th and goal play, but about 3 plays earlier when the Pack had a first down in the red zone with about 2:30-2:40 left and I said to my Dad “I’d let the clock run down to the 2 minute warning here. How many times have we seen this team score too soon just to watch the other team have plenty of time to kick a game winner.” I can certainly blame McCarthy for poor management of the clock at the end of that game. The Packers had a ton of time and were in complete control offensively (seriously, Atlanta had no answer for Rodgers), but still they were flailing around like it was desperation time with :14 seconds left. Let the clock run down to the two minute warning and take a break. It’s not that hard to manage your playcalling with the overall time remaining in mind.

Nobody else- not the broad cast crew, coaching staffs, anyone else, saw it touch the ground during live action.

Wrong. Billick expressed doubt about it being a catch prior to the snap. I saw the nose of the ball hit the turf. As I said to Goldenarmadillo above, that’s not enough to reverse, but it sure the hell was enough to call a timeout and take a closer look. Hell, I wouldn’t have minded McCarthy just saying “fuck it, let’s challenge it anyway because there’s too much at stake.” That would have been consistent with the guy who threw the challenge flag on that Shincoe catch that no one really doubted either. Why not challenge here? There’s just no rational explanation.

I disagree that the call would’ve been challenged by the refs. The refs do not have magical camera angles upstairs- they get what the broadcast team has. If it took the people in the camera truck a minute and a half to find the incriminating angle, the refs aren’t seeing it in the 35 seconds that elapsed between plays either.

That’s fine, that’s your opinion. I think you’re wrong, but we’ll never know either way. And there’s no need to belittle my point of view by accusing me of magical thinking. The second angle clearly showed the ball was juggled and was not firmly under control. Of course the refs aren’t going to look at “it in the 35 seconds that elapsed between plays”, I never said they would have. But if it were within the last two minutes of the half, I have no reason to doubt they would’ve taken a closer look from all angles and likely overruled the call on the field because I’ve seen refs do that every freaking week. Within two minutes seemingly anything that is remotely borderline is reviewed, no matter what.

is NOT the only guy that saw it. Think about it. A guy, even a HOF guy, has to lay out to catch the ball. It’s almost certain the ball will move when he hits the ground. A very similar play on MNF. Keep your eye on the ball from now on when a receiver lays out. I’m sure MM is aware of it, so that red flag has to be somewhat instinctual. Especially given the situation was 4th down. It’s not like they were on their own 10 yd line and it was 1st down. Given MM’s penchant for throwing the flag on really stupid challenges, like JJ fumble at Chi. and he had lots of time to look but didn’t, it’s odd that he didn’t this time. There’s 2 schools of thought on this, we will agree to disagree.

Yes and no. I mean, their opinion is certainly more valuable than mine. Grain of salt and all, it’s a conversation piece.

I can’t say that I keep up with what Ginn’s doing on the yr. But, he’s always been a decent return man, something we haven’t had lately. I did watch some of the 49er game Sunday and he did pretty well. He has speed and can be a 4-5 receiver.

We’ve shown in the past that we can stop the run when we put our minds to it. Up until now, we had not shown that with the pass.

Therefore, although it sucks to lose (and winning this one would have been HUGE!), still… Lots of important positives to build off here.

…including Masthay’s punting, as the poster pointed out. Y’know, that’s important, and the kid is starting to string together some good games here. Like the Beatles said, “I have to admit it’s getting better, a little better all the time.”