STAMFORD, CT – J-Blabs called me the Tuesday Morning QB yesterday, so let’s go with that. It’s tough to be original when you’re writing about football two days after the games and Junior already hit the key points on Monday. I kid… when has Junior ever hit a key point? Well, a wise ringleader once said, “fortune favors the bold,” and the intrepid teams are headed to Tampa to play for a Chip and the timid ones are headed home to pick up the pieces. The teams that won had the bigger *ficking balls, it’s as simple as that.
Spineless LaFleur and Rodgers Blow It, GOAT vs The Kid in Big Game LV
I once read an interesting piece that made a convincing mathematical argument that hockey coaches should pull their goalies much sooner than they generally do. The writer speculated a bit at the end as to why they don’t. It’s much worse optically if you pull the goalie with five minutes left and the other team scores immediately, than if you do it with 90 seconds left. A loss is a loss, but it’s easier for the fans and owners to stomach it when they’re in it until the end. For whatever reason, LaFleur and McDermott coached like scaredy-cats on Sunday.
LeFleur’s Knees Go Weak
I could not believe my eyes when I saw Mason Crosby running on to the field. It was an indefensible decision. Still, it almost worked out until a ref remembered he had a yellow thing in his pocket at the worst possible time. Sure it was a penalty, so were the other 26 they didn’t call.
Say what you want about Tom Brady, but the man is not afraid to fail. They were set up to punt in the first half and Brady was all “Hold up Big Bruce, I got this. Let’s pick up the first down and then go deep.”
If they didn’t pick up that first down, Rodgers would have been in position to get a free FG and Arians would have been in position to answer questions from a ton of smug reporters. But TB12 connected with a haymaker and the Packers struggled to recover the rest of the game.
The Packers were afraid to fail. That FG was sheer lunacy. It might have made sense if they had Trent Dilfer under center and the 2000 Ravens defense.
The only benefit from the FG is they don’t need the two pointer. But they still needed to 3 and out Tom Brady. I’d rather take the 4th and 8 with Rodgers. If they don’t make it, the Bucs are pinned pretty deep and they still need to get the ball back. How many times have we seen this movie? You give the ball to Brady and you don’t get the ball back. I hate when a stupid coaching decision ruins a great game.
If you’re Aaron, don’t you drop_kick Crosby back to the sideline? And Rodgers, who had a lane to the end zone on third down but probably feared getting chased down from behind by JPP or Shaq Barrett, threw one into the ground. Come on Rodgers, you want to be great. Make a great play on fourth down with all the chips on the table.
The Packers could have used one more DB, eh? Who was their first round pick again?
McDermott Settles for Three
The Chiefs were able to flick the switch on and make easy work of the Bills. I doubt many Chiefs fans were nervous when they were down 9.
Patty Mahomes was faced with a Super Bowl-on-the-line 3rd and 17 last year. He calmly told Andy Reid what play he wanted to run and backpedaled until Tyreek got open. Suddenly The Walrus had a ring. If Donovan McNabb had balls like that, Reid might have already had one.
The Steelers and/or Titans might’ve lasted a little longer if not for spineless punts. Where are the analytics guys lately?
Kicking FGs is not how you become great. Disappointing performances by Rodgers and LaFleur.
Super Bowl LV
It should be a pretty good game and there are plenty of sub-plots. The Goat vs The Kid (TM: that’s what you call a baby goat). Even though I find myself hating Tampa Tom a lot less now, I still would prefer that he refrain from participating in the Super Bowl from heretofore. And hey, he now has as many NFC Championships as Rodgers and Brees. Ouchie.
That’s it for me. And speaking of disappointment, Angry Ward will be here tomorrow. Follow us on Twitter at @BenWhit8, @MeetTheMatts, @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
*Edited by MTM Censors
