#582 Packers Unscripted: Abrupt ending

to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at lambeau Field. And compared to the other two that you and I have covered together here on with Packers dot Com, I know we also both covered the one in Seattle six years ago. Um in uh when you had a different job. But um, this one, this one hurts. This one, Uh, this one really hurts everybody in the organization because it was all lined up. The Packers got the first on by the only team to get one. They're playing in January at home.

It's everything that they wanted and the combination of too many mistakes early, not quite enough of a comeback late, and they come up short once again. Yeah, it was really frustrating game on so many levels. And I think

you can ask anybody in the locker room. I mean We heard a lot of guys talk about it after the game, just how disappointing this was, because this was as as Taylor made and set up for green Bay to make a Super Bowl run as any season that I've covered, certainly you were there for two thousand ten and and also seeing the run in two thousand and seven, the last hurrah there Brett Farve. And it's difficult because, Okay, in fourteen, green Bay got off to a good start.

They didn't finish drives, but they did get off to good start, got all those picks off of Russell Wilson. But the Seahawks were the lead dog. They were the team that was sort of the team to beat, especially in that stadium where they had been on a big undefeated streaks, so there was sort of that aura around it. Six team was run the table was really fun, a huge emotional victory against the Dallas Cowboys that got them there. But once they got there, they had so many injuries.

You know, Jordy Nelson playing with a flak jacket on. I mean, like those it was just a bizarre game San Francisco they lost to him earlier in the season. They went back pretty much the same recipe really weren't in that game. This game, they were in it until the bitter end. And that's what makes these losses difficult. And the fact that you know, and you and I talked about it, Mike, more than we could ever uh really describe. They had to play clean football. They didn't.

They couldn't turn over the football. They need to run the football. That there were all these things that needed to happen. They need to pressure Tom Brady, and it

just didn't happen consistently enough. And you know, there's there's when you have a loss like this and there's so many eyeballs on it, people point to specific coaches and specific players and they try to make scapegoats, but the reality is the Packers didn't do enough as a football team to win this game and unfortunately for them, for

the fourth straight time falling in an NFC Championship matchup. Yeah, I think the thing that gets the most frustrating when you look at it, and when you look at it in the larger context of these last couple of trips to the NFC Championship game is in two thousand sixteen, when the Atlanta Falcons were the better team, they played like it in two thousand and nineteen when the San Francisco forty Niners were the better team, they played like it.

I believe the Green Bay Packers were the better team going into Sunday. I think the Packers are a better team than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But the Packers didn't play like it. And you have to play like it

to do that to to win it. And we had talked heading into the postseason West this was all about for the Green Bay Packers, this was all about b who you are right, And they did that against the Los Angeles Ramps because they converted on third down, they converted in the red zone, they didn't turn the ball over. All of those things. Well, what happened against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gold to go possessions that came up short. You had a couple of turnovers that led to fourteen points.

The other way, they didn't stay balanced on offense. Matt Lafleur admitted to getting away from the running game at some at some crucial moments, you know in goal to go after Jayre Alexander got a couple interceptions that were part of the comeback. Just all these things that you point to and say, you know, the Packers didn't follow the be who you are mantra in in order to win the game. And uh and unfortunately that's that's what happens.

It was looking like they might pull off a miracle comeback down to ten early third quarter after the second turnover gave the Tampa Bay Buccaneers another touchdown. The Packers get back within five points three possessions in the fourth quarter, two of them down by five, another one down by eight,

three possessions needing a touchdown, couldn't get it. And uh and unfortunately it's the second straight year where where the Packers and and Matt Lafleur in his very successful tenure here early on as the Green Bay Packers head coach, it ends at the same painful stage. Yeah. And it was funny to the games in which Tampa Bay won this year, it was what fourteen of them or something like that, something crazy. Uh. Tom Brady had thrown three

interceptions in those games. He throws three interceptions in this game alone, all in the second half. And if you would have told me back to back to back interceptions by Amos by jyr Alexander, by jyr Alexander again. Uh, and in Green Bay would still come up on the

losing end. I don't know if I would have believed you, But you know, the biggest moment there one they got off to a slow start again, um, which was actually kind of turned on its head from the first matchup with Tampa Bay where they actually got off to pretty fast start, but then the second quarter was was a grind.

And then I mean, ultimately, Mike, you can get takeaways, you can get turnovers, but when the Buccaneers get two of them and convert those into fourteen points and Green Bake gets three and only gets six out of it,

that ultimately was the difference in this game. And and and I tweeted it when they got the ball back with too fourteen, I believe it us who are to seventeen to go in the in the half, I'm like, well, this is their chance to double up, and unfortunately, through a series of events there it ends up being the Buccaneers who doubled up on them, and and we're able to to get that eight team point lead that wasn't insurmountable. I was saying that the entire time I saw Aaron

Eagler mentioned it too. There was a lot of ballgame left. There's a lot of time left. There's twenty seven minutes left at that point. Uh, and Green Bay did get their offense back on the tracks a little bit. But with a game like this, it's the NFC title game, you're playing a really good competition, regardless of how they got there. Uh. Yeah, you can't put yourself in those positions.

And for good to Green Bay Packers, it was just enough of uh, you know, I don't want to not errors, but I mean it just it was enough mistakes that ultimately lead to them coming up one game short of of their ultimate goal. Yeah. I mean, you couldn't ask for more of a nightmare sequence than what happened at the end of the first half and beginning of the

second half. As you mentioned, the Packers win the coin toss and her because you like to have that opportunity to potentially double up, well, it ends up backfiring twice on them because the Buccaneers take the opening kickoff, go down and score and have a lead. Um. But then when you do have the chance to double up on either side a halftime it it it burns you both

ways because Rogers throws an interception. Unfortunately, then the Buccaneers hit the touchdown over the top on the last play of the first half, than Aaron Jones fumbles and they get a goal to ghost situation and they and they punch it in. I believe it was only about seventy five seconds of clock time between those two touchdowns. And uh. And when a team gets fourteen points off of two turnovers that quickly and you end up losing the game by five, that just that just makes it that much

harder to swallow. It really does. Yeah, And it's that and again getting back to my original premise when we open the show, it's it isn't just one specific player. All the eyes are gonna be on Scottie Miller's touchdown, the ridge that was involved with that, Kevin King being in in in coverage against him. But you also think about a couple of plays earlier where Will Redman has a chance at you know, just a lob ball that

Brady throws and could have easily been picked off. It looked like you see the replay, would have been picked off and it goes through his hands. It's that decision from the buck side, because there are two teams on the field. It's the decision for the Bucks to go back to the sideline and decide, you know what, we're gonna try for this thing. Um. And then certainly coming out of the second half, the hit that Jordan Whitehead laid on Aaron Jones legal hit, good hit, Uh, pops

the ball out. Jones unfortunately gets injured on the play. They get the ball at the eight yard line, and you just I I just kept going back through my head over and over again that it's like that was fourteen points. Uh, those two instances in a game in which um, the Buccaneers only ended up scoring thirty one. So uh again, It's just it's a disappointing end to a special year. And I think that's what makes these more and more difficult. When you put together a team

like they did. And obviously there were a lot more injuries this year than there were in but you have a team that you feel can compete for Super Bowl. I know the New Orleans Saints had teams like that the past few years, Minnesota Vikings, There's been some good squads, but that margin for error, that that thin line of greatness is so so thin. And for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it's a huge opportunity that they have now going up against Kansas City for the Super Bowl Championship. Actually, but

that one too, um serious. X M NFL Radio channel is the only radio outlet dedicated to the National Football League seven days a week, three d sixty five days a year. Um. Well, it wouldn't be a an NFL playoff game and a close game without some controversy involved,

and we're gonna go there. Huh Well, I'll just I'll just say there's there's been there's a lot of discussion obviously about the past interference call at end when it looks like the Packers are going to get a defensive stop and Rodgers is maybe going to get another shot down by five points, the flag comes out for d p I when lots of stuff had been let go throughout the course of the game, including on the ball that what that Um Murphy bunting for the Buccaneers intercepted

Um where it looked like he had held Alan Lazard. The Bucaneers get an interception which then they turned into the Scotty Miller touchdown. So you have all of that, you have, um, the discussion about Matt Lafleur's decision on fourth and goal to kick the field goal and send his defense back out there rather than go for it

on fourth and eight. There was some miscommunication or I should say more of an opportunity an opportunity a lack of opportunity to communicate between the quarterback and the head coach there, because they were clearly on different pages in terms of what the decision was going to be UM in that situation. And uh and and you know, Packers kind of get caught because yeah, it'd be great to call time out and think about it, but then you want your time outs for when you go back on defense.

So all of that, you know, ultimately lead to Packers put their defense back on the field, and it looked like the strategy was going to work. UM, But then the flag comes out. UM. The only other than the I believe, other than the helmet shot on Davante Adams, that was the only flag on anybody in a defensive secondary the entire game. And it comes with it. It comes with a minute and a half, a minute and a half left in the game. And look, I'm I'm not one to say I'm just gonna say this. You

look at you look at the replay. It was a penalty. UM, But it was the type of penalty that hadn't been called all game long. And I think that's what makes it, that's what makes it tough from from the Green Bay side. And that's why you saw Matt Lafleur as upset as he was. That's why you heard what Aaron Rodgers said after the game, just just said, Hey, the way the game had been, the way the game had been called,

you know, they were letting them play. But as we as we always say, the Packers shouldn't have let it come down to that. And uh, and you know, you put the game in the referees hands and and you just have to you have to take whatever is delivered. And the Packers didn't like what was delivered. Yeah, that's a good way of putting it, Mike. And and it's I hate talking about officiating because there you can't you can't win because you know, we're wearing g's and everything.

We sound like Homer's and you know, and and so our grapes and whatnot. But I mean, I can tell you it was a poorly officiated game. I can tell you that clip Blakman's crew. I don't think at any point in that game had any real command over the action on the field. UH six to go on the third quarter was the first time a flag was thrown the Lazard play. Alan did everything right. When he talked to the media on Monday, did not say one thing

I owed about it. I think the closest we came to someone actually discussing it was just Kenny Clark saying, well, whether you're great with it or don't agree with it, it was the call in the field. And then for Paul Pleas Lusni or whatever that back judge's name was um whatever, Perry Paganelli. Yeah, um, I mean take a picture. I'll last longer and it's just way twelve minutes and

then throw the flag. It is what is. You could have made your job a lot easier, You could have made everything a lot easier on you if you just instantaneously react to it. Was the only flag to this day, I still think that was thrown on that play. He missed the call earlier in the game. What I felt was probably defensive holding on Lazard ends up being a pivotal moment because not only does Murphy Bunting get the pick,

it ultimately is what sets up the past. To Scottie Miller, all that being said, the Green Bay Packers had countless opportunities to win this game. They had countless opportunities to bounce back from it. They didn't do that. But in that juncture, after calling it the way that they did the entire game, that is a difficult moment on a third down to make the decision that now is the time to do my job it. Yeah. Well, and you could hear after the game, and not just in the

comments about the officiating. We can move on from that, but whether you're talking about, um, Matt Lafleur's voice, Aaron Rodgers voice, the the pain, the disappointment, UM, the shock in a lot of ways, not that the Packers, not that anybody was assuming, Um, you know, the Packers are gonna win the game. They were just gonna, you know, go out there and win because it was at lambeau Field.

But when you're having the type of season the Packers are having and things are falling into place, you are planning on winning that game, and you are planning on going to the super Bowl, and um, the you know, as Rogers said, the suddenness, the abruptness of the ending like that. When when that's the mindset that you're in and even when you're down eighteen points and you start rallying that whole sideline believe they were coming back to win that game. They they believe they had it and

they had the opportunities to do it. Um, it's a it's it's difficult, it's gonna make it's gonna make for a long off season or for everybody involved, it's going to be, you know, scrutinized up one side and down the other, just like everything with Seattle was six years ago. But um, but at the end of the day, the Packers have had back to back trips to the NFC Title Game. There's a lot to hang your hat on there, and unfortunately you're just gonna have to keep waiting and

keep fighting to try to get back to a super Bowl. Yeah, no question, And that is the tough thing because it's not just exclusive to the Packers. There's a lot of questions. I know Sean McDermott and the Buffalo Bills have had an answer this week. It always happens this week this way. I mean, whoever loses in the Super Bowl is going to have a lot of questions and lingering things that

they're gonna have to address. But I'm guessing just listening to Matt Lafloor and the hurt and his voice on Sunday night, it really is going to come back to not running the ball enough down the stretch. You get the two takeaways, it just leads to three straight passes and in two three and notes and then getting down to the four you know, between um that to the

eight yard line. Obviously the decision to go for two same Brown not being able to catch that ball, and then maybe that ultimately affected the way they approached the end of that drive where they get down to the eight yard line. But Mike, you and I have seen it so much. We saw it, especially in the Rams game when they get inside the tent, how you can kind of chip away with the run. Jamal Williams did a really solid job of that against the Rams down

the stretch. Uh, they didn't, they didn't. They didn't go that direction here, they went with the passes. It is what it is, and ultimately made the decision go for the field goal. I think if you saw the statistics I've seen a lot of the analysts mentioning, you know, might have been ten percent either way in terms of win probability there. It's just it's a difficult spot to

be in. Things will be questioned. But at the end of the day, the Green Bay Packers, which just came up five points short there of of being able to figure out a way to way back down to Tampa. Yeah, it's interesting, I think, and I think you and I share the same perspective and that you know, we we watch everything that goes on with this team. We we remember moments and games and and you know, seasons, especially when you're in the midst to them. You remember all

kinds of things inside and out. And you could just tell certainly as as that first half was unfolding, and certainly the way the first half ended, in the way the second half began, it just felt like this completely out of character game for the Green Bay Packers. It's like the Packers are not This is not the two thousand twenty Packers we're seeing out there. And it can

happen to anybody at any time. But when you get into that out of character type of game in the playoffs, when it's a do or die, you know, win or go home situation, it's really really hard to It's it's hard to recover from that, and the Packers tried, uh, they fought, I mean to to be down eighteen points against Tom Brady and intercept three passes and get a couple of touchdowns and and keep that a one score game throughout the fourth quarter and give yourself a chance.

It doesn't make it, it doesn't make it any easier, but it's it's just an even greater reflection in my mind of how out of character so many other things were that we're going on. Whether it's whether it is a ending run, you know, not staying balanced on offense when you know when you're in gold go or when you have a when you have a chance to settle the game down. Just all of those things that the Packers didn't look like the Packers in in a game

that that you need to be. You need to be playing your best, and unfortunately they just they just didn't bring their best on Sunday Now, And you feel for the guys in the locker room, is is Aaron Rodgers said afterwards. You feel for Mercedes Lewis and and these guys that were trying to make a run at this thing, make a run of the ring, make a run at playing in a Super Bowl. I mean even you know Corey Linsley mentioned on Monday when he spoke to the media.

You know, him and David Baktari have talked for six seven years now about wanting to to be able to go to a Super Bowl together and and be part

of an offensive line that plays in that environment. And also, uh, you do feel for the fan base because Wisconsin sport fans, like you've seen a lot of those graphics here, They've had a lot of heartache the last ten years, especially since the Packers won Super Bowl forty five, and whether it was the Brewers, whether it's of Bucks two years ago, what there was a Bucks last year, um in the semifinals.

I mean, it's just it hurts for these moments because there's so much emotion involved and it's been building up now after a lot of disappointments. So all you can do is point to the future, point to the fact that on February seven, the sixth, they're going to crown

a new Super Bowl champion. The seventh, everything swings back over and Hope springs eternal and the Green Bay Packers will put their best foot forward and trying to finally bring that elusive championship back home in this an upcoming season. Yeah alrighty well, we'll uh perhaps talk about the Super Bowl fifty five matchup on our next show, but for now, we're going to call it a wrap on this edition

of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to continue following all of our coverage of the team here on Packers dot com. For Wes, I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. We will see you next time.