Final thoughts on most consequential and controversial moments from NFC Championship Game

The Green Bay Packers’ 31-26 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday at Lambeau Field featured a number of highly consequential and controversial plays and decisions from players, coaches and officials.

With three days to digest and ponder, here are my final thoughts on the biggest moments from Sunday:

Scotty Miller touchdown

It’s hard to imagine a more calamitous series of mistakes from both players and coaches, especially in such a big moment and in such a big game. First, Will Redmond’s whiff of a gift-wrapped interception two players earlier was a ridiculously important play in the game. The result of the missed interception had ripple effects that touched the entire rest of the game, starting with this backbreaking touchdown. Second, there’s no excuse for Matt LaFleur not using a timeout before the snap in this specific situation. He had one to burn. Use it, get the defensive call exactly right, make sure every player knows the situation and what to do, and then go prevent something crazy with 39 yards of the field to defend and only six seconds left. Third, Mike Pettine running that coverage call was inexcusable. LaFleur even said so post-game. The Packers covered the middle of the field excessively, where the Buccaneers couldn’t throw the ball because they didn’t have any timeouts left, and left themselves vulnerable deep and one-on-one on the outside. Finally, Kevin King played the coverage responsibility about as poorly as it could have been played. Eyes in the backfield, letting a receiver run right past him, not recovering in time. He did everything wrong. Redmond, LaFleur, Pettine and King all deserve blame. Maybe not equally, but they were all at fault.

Aaron Rodgers avoids the scramble

I’ve looked at every angle of this play, watched every replay, looked at every screenshot and contemplated many different opinions. I still don’t think Aaron Rodgers scores on the scramble on 3rd-and-goal from the 8-yard line late in the fourth quarter. He hesitated for a split second, Jason Pierre-Paul was closing in and had the angle, and both Devin White and a defensive back were lurking near with their eyes on Rodgers. He’s a good athlete for 37 years old, but he would have needed an incredible individual effort to overcome all those variables against him. Now, does he probably gain 3-4 yards and change the calculus on the fourth down decision? Absolutely. From inside the 5-yard line, and after using a timeout or at the two-minute warning, I think LaFleur goes for it. You can imagine the alarm clock in Rodgers’ head was going off, and he felt pressure from behind, so it’s hard to blame him for getting rid of the ball when he did.

Kicking the field goal

During the live viewing, I was in utter shock when the Packers kicked the field goal down eight points. Even now, I still think I would’ve gone for it, but I totally understand LaFleur’s decision and do not fault him for it one bit. He picked from two bad options, both with terribly low win probabilities. He almost certainly considered the three incompletions prior and the earlier red-zone failure featuring three straight incompletions when deciding to kick it. Confidence in getting the touchdown and the two-point was likely low, and his defense was both stopping the run exceedingly well and disrupting Tom Brady. I also think he wanted to win the game in regulation. Why go for the tie? Let’s say the Packers would have scored the touchdown on fourth down. Well, they’d still the two-point conversion and a stop on Brady in the two-minute drill just to get to overtime, and then they’d have to win the game in overtime. That’s a lot to ask for. Of course, so is getting a stop and driving the field for a touchdown. As I said, he picked one of two very bad options. The only gripe: We will now never know if Rodgers could have pulled it off.

Kevin King penalty

Consistency in officiating is very important. Calling blatant penalties is also important. Did officials almost certainly miss holding penalties against Allen Lazard earlier in the game, including on Aaron Rodgers’ interception in the first half? Yes. Should those misses have stopped the back judge from penalizing King on third down on the final drive? No. Every angle shows a clear and prolonged hold from King on Tyler Johnson’s jersey. The official waited to throw the flag until after he signaled incomplete, but the guess here is that he ruled on the outcome of the play, weighed all the information he had just gathered visually, and made the decision to throw the flag. It was late, but it all happened in a second’s time. He’s a human being. Was it pass interference? No. Johnson sold the hell out of it. Was it holding? Absolutely. The process might have been flawed, but the end result was fair. King got beat clean, reached out and held on for dear life, and affected Johnson’s route. Of this, there is no doubt. King forced the official’s hand.

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