Game Ball Of The Week: Aaron Rodgers
by Brandon on Sep 28, 2010 2:00 PM CDT
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Even as we hand out the first Game Ball of the Week to Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, I should point out that he did play his part in the penalty-fest and was flagged for intentional grounding on the play before WR James Jones's fumble.
Otherwise his stat line was fantastic. And you can forget about including the INT, since it was a Hail Mary at the end of the first half and not some bad decision.
| Comp. | Att. | Yds. | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | 45 | 316 | 2 (1 rushing) |
There's nothing good about penalties, but it also disrupts the offensive flow. The players get frustrated, and the play book becomes limited as they need to gain more yardage quicker. Despite the avalanche of penalties for movement and holding, Rodgers kept the team together and led them on three drives that ate up huge chunks of time. The Packers held the ball for nearly 10 minutes longer then the Bears.
It wasn't an exciting night passing, but Rodgers did what he had to do: take what the defense gives you. A lot of passes to WR Donald Driver, who was always open on short routes, and dump off passes to RB Brandon Jackson. The Bears two deep coverage took away the deep part of the field, and eliminated WR Greg Jennings as an option on most plays.
And his usual well timed runs, one for a first down and another for a TD.
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I like that description of how he took what the Defense gave him. It was such a mature game, as compared to the Tampa game last year where he hit James Jones deep early for a TD and it was like he was only looking to go deep all game afterwards. This one, he utilized the back out of the backfield, short and medium passes. It was nice…
I wish we let them score a TD with under 1 minute left. I would have love to has seen Rodgers take the ball down field against them. He could have done it.
That was the worst part, we lost the game with our best weapon sitting on the sidelines. Next time, let them score and let’s live or die with the ball in Rodger’s hands.
Rodgers *was* doing that prior to the last Bears possession
until James Jones decided to go Ahman Green
I was thinking...
before he decided to go Adrian Peterson on us and fumble. That’s THREE fumbles in 3 prime time games against Chicago for Jones, if memory serves. (Two fumbles one game his rookie year)
I remember that, Mike was steaming pissed
benched him and shouted at him
Thome Walks-Off Sox, Twists Knife, Continues To Make Sox Brass Look REALLY Stupid - White Sox Season Recap
Yeah, it was deja vu all over again. I believe he fumbled a couple in the redzone in 2007. Really, was the reason we ended up losing those games.
by packallday555 on Sep 29, 2010 10:05 AM CDT up reply actions
I still say some penalties were bs
Like that grounding call! And they need to be consistent with roughing calls. To me, hussel fouls are ok.
We've had this convo all over the place today
Can’t blame the refs on a loss. Out of the 18 penalties, 2 or 3 were maybe iffy calls, the rest were right on. We set ourselves to get flagged late by committing so many penalties early that we were going to lose every close call possible, just cause we had set the precedence of committing penalties.
by Goldenarmadillo4 on Sep 28, 2010 6:17 PM CDT up reply actions
The ratio of bad penalties was 2:1
12 were legit, the others were plain BS.
I hope the Pack have learned just how badly the special teams need to improve, and that they cannot put their defense back on the field after a drive that will not only run out the clock but could also win the game. It’s a horrible loss, but the Pack will learn from it and move forward.
Maybe Koa Misi and Jared Odrick would be Patriots if Bill Parcells wasn't Comedic.Sans's father...
"I looked at BN once. I got banned." -the immortal words of JShufelt
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 29, 2010 12:13 AM CDT up reply actions
I see what you did there.
Are you TRYING to give me an embolism? Won’t work.
If you watched that game, you’d know that poor officiating + bad special teams play never mix well. Ever.
Maybe Koa Misi and Jared Odrick would be Patriots if Bill Parcells wasn't Comedic.Sans's father...
"I looked at BN once. I got banned." -the immortal words of JShufelt
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 29, 2010 7:45 AM CDT up reply actions
I see what you're doing there too
Overly broad statements without fact. If you’ve ever posted on a blog and tried to be taken seriously you’d know you need facts. Always.
All right then...
The second Tauscher false start inside the one (where Julius Peppers was hopelessly in the backfield) could easily have been called an offsetting blatant offsides (which should have been turned ON) with Peppers.
The hit Zombo laid on Cutler that destroyed the Barnett INT was unnecessary, but if Cutler’s getting hit as he’s throwing, then it is difficult if not impossible to call roughing the passer. The fact that Zombo hit Cutler in the helmet drew the flag.
The illegal laterals were just illegal, officials definitely got THAT right…
The first Woodson PI was too close to call. The final PI of the game (the one on 2nd and 8) could have been called OFFENSIVE pass interference (nice little shove there).
In the end, there is no way on earth an 18:5 penalty distribution is good officiating, unless you have the Colts playing the Ravens or something. That being said, the Packers played really poorly last night and I think if they’d won that game that we’d still be unhappy about it.
Maybe Koa Misi and Jared Odrick would be Patriots if Bill Parcells wasn't Comedic.Sans's father...
"I looked at BN once. I got banned." -the immortal words of JShufelt
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 29, 2010 8:12 AM CDT up reply actions
So, of these six 'BS' penalties, I see you've listed 2-3 of them here
And that’s giving you the benefit of the doubt on the Tauscher false start, which I don’t remember as being a possible encroachment penalty (though I could be remembering the first one rather than the second one).
The refs seemed to make fairly consistent calls (for example ignoring obvious holds on both Matthews and Peppers). One team was more disciplined than the other and deserved better than 2/3 of those penalties.
I don’t have a problem with complaining about having bad calls go against us, but to say that the refs screwed up 1/3 of the time, you’d better have evidence to back that up.
Towlieppan: "You wanna throw high?"
by GoGregGo on Sep 29, 2010 10:50 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
This isn’t the NBA…there is no ratio BS…in fact that is one of the things I hate the most about the NBA and its fans, whining about how penalties should be equalized. PLAY A CLEAN GAME and the penalties will be in your favor.
A false start is a false start. The one you referred to they said it was a delayed reaction meaning that while Peppers jumped and that might have caused Tauscher to jump…his reaction was so late that it was either him deciding to jump to try to get the penalty on Peppers or old man syndrome was going on red alert for him. If that is how slow his reactions are, we are all in HUGE trouble.
I didn’t like the call on Zombo either but you know for a fact that if the roles were reversed you would have been SCREAMING for a flag there.
The Packers are to blame for this…not the refs. The refs did a pretty good job in my book. They actually missed holds on both sides of the ladder that could have really made the numbers even more inflated.
The grounding call was textbook
In the pocket, nobody within 10 yards of where the pass went.
Barely in the pocket
And it looked like a miscommunication with his receiver, who cut in as Rodgers was releasing the ball toward the sideline. Rodgers argued that one fairly vociferously.
"Who ever heard of the Cubs losing a game they had to have?" -Frank Chance
"If [Ruth] had [called his shot], I would have knocked him down with the next pitch." -Charlie Root
Not only was the grounding call legit (barely in the pocket is still in the pocket), but
it wasn’t even the first time that he had done it.
It just didn’t get called the first time.
-
The glass is way, way, way more than half-full.
Rodgers was superb
Intentional grounding be damned, to complete over 75 pct of your throws with that stat sheet and no running game whatsoever in that hostile stadium is flat out superb. This kid is ready to carry us to the Superbowl, now TT better get on the phone and call the Bills cause I was the one who believed in BJax and I don’t anymore. This team needs a legit RB, not an AP or CJ type, but a legit one.
I don’t worry about the division. The Bears have no chance with that QB. The Vikes have no chance with that team and no Sidney Rice. The NFC North is ours, we should be able to go 4-2 or 5-1 into our bye and and go 5-2 the rest of the way. 11 or 12 wins should be good for the division.
by Rodgers_for_MVP on Sep 28, 2010 8:22 PM CDT reply actions
He also made some pretty awesome throws downfield to Finely.
It’s a real shame Tausch was holding on that bullet of a td to Finely.
All is vanity.
I'm starting to feel the same way
But I trust TT. I don’t want to jump a little fast here in condemning the guy for not getting a RB. Maybe he sees something in James Starks, IDK. We’ll see. If Starks does prove to be legit, then I’m happy in the end for not giving up a draft pick.
Clifton and Tauscher are the biggest issues in the running game though. They are struggling mightily in run blocking and are not that good in pass blocking anymore either. The question is: How long do we wait before putting Bulaga in?
"No player is greater than a team."
-Vince Lombardi
I don’t think we can afford to wait for Starks. Sure he MIGHT come in and be great. He also might get injured again. He also might not be ready to start yet. He also might take a couple of weeks to get in sync with the offense and learn the blocking, etc. I would be tremendously nervous to see us wait for him mostly cause he’s a rookie. It was Grant coming off the PUP, then I might be singing a different tune.
Intentional grounding
The rule was created so that someone can’t throw the ball away to avoid a sack. Rodgers obviously wasn’t trying to avoid a sack, he just had a miscommunication with his receiver. If he was really trying to avoid a sack he had room to run in front of him. Technically, I guess he committed the penalty, but that was by no means “intentional grounding.”
I guess none of this matters though because of the fumble, but I think this is another case of a the specifics of a rule going against common sense like the Calvin Johnson situation or the tuck rule.
The rule does not specify intent as a criteria
It is a “Robot Rule”.
1. QB In pocket? Check
2. Nobody eligible in the area? Check
Flag.
While I agree with this
I counted multiple times over the weekend (non-Packer games) where a very similar play occurred and nothing was called.
Towlieppan: "You wanna throw high?"
Then there needs to be equal enforcement of the rule
Which I agree, it’s a problem, but that still doesn’t make it a bad call. It instead makes all of the misses in the other game bad calls.
Agreed, Rodger's penalty was intentional grounding and the correct call
Towlieppan: "You wanna throw high?"
Not trying to blame the officials
But just mentioning how silly it is that a rule based on the intent of the passer (INTENTional grounding) doesn’t actually require intent to be called.
Meh
If you’re hang up is on the name of the rule then start a petition to rename it to something like “Forward Pass Infraction”. Heck, I’ll be your first signature.
I’m only bringing up the title of the foul simply because it was created so that quarterbacks couldn’t intentionally make an incomplete pass to avoid a sack, not to penalize someone who had a miscommunication with his receiver.
This is why I think it’s similar to the Calvin Johnson touchdown catch / non-catch. Common sense tells you it’s a reception, but the specifics in the rulebook tell you it’s not.
It’s the NFL’s responsibility to make sure that each and every rule makes sense; they do a pretty good job of it considering the difficulties, but this is just one of those situations where the rule perhaps oversteps its purpose.
Not that the call significantly affected the game compared to the million other crazy things that happened, or that I have the answer to how the rule can be tweaked; i just thought it was kind of a funny call.
I don't like what we did to end the game...
The lateral thing has NEVER worked since Trinity v Millsaps. It’s too gimmicky, and we HAVE a proven offense. The same can NOT be said of the special teams.
That being said, it’s a tough loss, but there’s no way on earth the Bears are going undefeated with their OL issues and the Vikings on their schedule. Last time they managed a sweep in that series was the 06 season, and both of those games were too close for comfort.
Then again, for all I know, Farve could throw 10 INTs in his 2 games against the Bears if he doesn’t get benched for horrific performance beforehand. I doubt that’ll happen, but it’s a remote possibility.
One can hope the Packers have learned discipline from this horrible loss, and also pray that the officials sit on the borderline/BS calls against Detroit next week. They’ve beaten Chicago recently. Same can’t be said of Green Bay…
Maybe Koa Misi and Jared Odrick would be Patriots if Bill Parcells wasn't Comedic.Sans's father...
"I looked at BN once. I got banned." -the immortal words of JShufelt
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 28, 2010 11:33 PM CDT reply actions
I was unaware Aaron was a 2 second drill quarterback
Thome Walks-Off Sox, Twists Knife, Continues To Make Sox Brass Look REALLY Stupid - White Sox Season Recap
by blackoutsox on Sep 28, 2010 11:42 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
The important thing is...
You give Rodgers a chance to win, rather than try a gimmicky special teams play that wasted everyone’s time and energy.
Maybe Koa Misi and Jared Odrick would be Patriots if Bill Parcells wasn't Comedic.Sans's father...
"I looked at BN once. I got banned." -the immortal words of JShufelt
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 28, 2010 11:45 PM CDT up reply actions
Theres nothing wrong with trying something like that that "wastes time and energy" on the last play of the game
compared to a 80 yard hail mary. I certainly thought they had decent chance at it especially with Jennings and Driver out there.
Thome Walks-Off Sox, Twists Knife, Continues To Make Sox Brass Look REALLY Stupid - White Sox Season Recap
by blackoutsox on Sep 29, 2010 12:32 AM CDT up reply actions
I am with you. Dive on the ball or kick it out of bounds or something. Those laterals NEVER EVER work and they make the team doing it look REALLY stupid. Maybe you have a second left for a 60 yard bomb…I like those chances more than some gimmick play.
Last time it worked was Millsaps v Trinity.
It just doesn’t work in the final seconds of the pro level. Ever.
The hook and lateral, on the other hand, could have worked spectacularly. Shame we never got to use it.
Maybe Koa Misi and Jared Odrick would be Patriots if Bill Parcells wasn't Comedic.Sans's father...
"I looked at BN once. I got banned." -the immortal words of JShufelt
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 29, 2010 2:14 PM CDT up reply actions
The refs
They were too worried about getting jumped and spat on after the game…
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