Packers got jobbed on that last play...FACEMASK all the way

[Hards Alumni]

If the situation was reversed and a Packers' game-winning TD was called back due to a questionable facemask penalty, I highly doubt that you would all be on here talking about how it was the correct call.

Face it, the Packers got beat by a better team. Deal with it, you bunch of whiners. 

agree to disagree, troll.

[Josey Wales]

If the situation was reversed and a Packers' game-winning TD was called back due to a questionable facemask penalty, I highly doubt that you would all be on here talking about how it was the correct call.

True

Face it, the Packers got beat by a better team. Deal with it, you bunch of whiners. 

False

[RawdogDX]

It looked to me like he had it for at least 2 seconds, I'd call that enough for a face mask.

Waa waaa! Please.  As if the refs are going to pay attention to if some guy is holding onto a face mask for 1 or 2 seconds while another player is streaking towards the end zone in the other direction.  I can't believe that the packers defence sucked that bad and the main topic of conversation is one marginal no call at the end.

[foreverwarriors]

I believe the Packers had a top 3 defense per the rankings.

Packers ended up with the number 2 defense in the NFL (284.4 YPG) - 5th in Passing D, 1st in Rushing D.

In my opinion though, their Defensive unit was probably the most overrated unit in all of football. 10 of their games were played against teams ranked 21-32 in Off YPG (and seeing as how Arizona only played their starters a few series in the last regular season game, it could be argued that they played 11 of their games against subpar offenses.)

Of the 6 (or 5) games they played against top 20 offenses, their defense was average at best, allowing 334 (Minn), 355 (Minn), 278 (Dal), 185 (Bal), 537 (Pit), and 187 (Ari) yards. Below is the Packers schedule. Off YPG rank is before the name, yards the Packers allowed is after.

23 Chi 352
24 Cin 319
29 Stl 336
5 Min 334
26 Det 149
32 Cle 139
5 Min 355
28 TB 279
2 Dal 278
27 Sf 284
26 Det 272
13 Bal 185
23 Chi 264
7 Pit 537
21 Sea 291
14 Ari 187
14 Ari 531 (not included in stats)

[ChicosBailBonds]

Waa waaa! Please.  As if the refs are going to pay attention to if some guy is holding onto a face mask for 1 or 2 seconds while another player is streaking towards the end zone in the other direction.  I can't believe that the packers defence sucked that bad and the main topic of conversation is one marginal no call at the end.

I'm not a Packers fan, I'm a Cowboys crazed fan....no question the Packers defense was awful but so was the Cardinals.  Both teams defenses were a joke.  I'm anything but a Packers fan, but I thought they got jobbed on that call and several others.

Believe me, as a Cowboys fan I'd rather see Arizona advance because I think Green Bay is the better team.

[Jay Bee]

Believe me, as a Cowboys fan I'd rather see Arizona advance because I think Green Bay is the better team.

  You've got far bigger problems than Arizona or Green Bay, potna.  Season ends for you on Sunday.  Are you coming back to Minneapolis for the game? 

  Good thing for the Packers that Boldin was out yesterday - if he had played, Arizona might have been able to gain some yardage through the air.

[spiral97]

I love to read Peter King's "Monday Morning Quarterback" column on SI.com.  He's a very knowledgeable and well-reasoned writer.  I don't always agree with him but I find myself doing so more often than not.  He seems to be slightly partial to New England and Indianapolis so I take what he says about them with a grain of salt but he's still usually close to fair overall.

In today's column (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/peter_king/01/10/mmqb/index.html?eref=sihp) he commented exactly on this play in question.  He makes the point many here do that you have to show more than incidental contact to warrant the penalty.  Was that more?  Tough call and one that belongs to the ref.  He also makes the following interesting observation:

But what complicates matters is this: The referee, Scott Green, is the official on the crew with the responsibility of watching plays involving the quarterback. Once the ball has been dislodged, Green has to watch the ball, not the contact on the quarterback. He has to see if the ball hits the ground and judge if it's a forward pass or a fumble, then he has to follow the live ball until the end of the play. So Green could not -- at least, he should not -- have seen the contact on the mask of Rodgers.

Still don't know whether it was a blown call one way or another but the fact of the matter is the game is over and my Packers lost.  I am a firm believer that if a call like that can make or break a game then you didn't truly deserve to win it in the first place - in other words, there are most likely many other things you could have done that you didn't and the blame rests squarely on you if you didn't win.

A coworker asked me if next year the Packers were going to buy plane tickets for their defense to show up too.  To me, that was the key of the game.  O-line allowed Rodgers to have a career game and special teams was OK (you cannot blame a kicker for missing a 50+ yard field goal.. that's a gamble in and of itself).  Bottom line is you have to be able to stop the other team's offense too.

I remember after a GB game a few years ago (versus St. Louis maybe?) Brett said it got to the point where we were gonna have to score every possession to keep up and that is was nearly impossible.  Same thing here and that is major kudos to Warner (who had more TD's - 5 - than incomplete passes - 4!!!).

Now I'm just trying to figure out who to root for the rest of the way.  Dallas looks darned impressive.  Don't know that I believe Arizona can repeatedly play  perfect offensively like they need to continue winning but we'll see.  Minnesota looks like a house of cards and who knows what's going on with New Orleans.  Can't root for the AFC no matter what so I don't really have many options.  Anyone have a good sized bucket of sand for me to bury my head in for a few weeks?

[ChicosBailBonds]

  You've got far bigger problems than Arizona or Green Bay, potna.  Season ends for you on Sunday.  Are you coming back to Minneapolis for the game? 

  Good thing for the Packers that Boldin was out yesterday - if he had played, Arizona might have been able to gain some yardage through the air.

I will not be there, but if the Cowboys are fortunate enough to win, then I will be at the NFC title game in either Dallas or New Orleans.

This week will be a big challenge, thankfully Favre is 2-9 against the Cowboys all-time.  I'm hoping that trend continues.

[MUEng92]

But what complicates matters is this: The referee, Scott Green, is the official on the crew with the responsibility of watching plays involving the quarterback. Once the ball has been dislodged, Green has to watch the ball, not the contact on the quarterback. He has to see if the ball hits the ground and judge if it's a forward pass or a fumble, then he has to follow the live ball until the end of the play. So Green could not -- at least, he should not -- have seen the contact on the mask of Rodgers.

I heard that on the radio this morning and found it laughable.  If you look at the photo on the front of the Journal sports section (and all over the Internet), the Cardinal's player's fingers are on Rodger's facemask while the ball is less than 5 inches from his fingertips.  In real time, the ball would have to have been in his hand not more than one second before photo was taken.  It isn't like the facemask took place 3 seconds after he dropped the ball and the ref had already turned his head.  The two actions are happening virtually simultaniously.

Missing the call is a mistake by the ref (a painful one in Packers fan's minds).  Everyone makes mistakes.  But, don't try to pass off this BS to make it sound like the ref was correct to not see it.  That almost pissed me off more than the play itself.  Okay, not as much as the play, but still quite a bit.

[spiral97]

good point.. and in pictures it looks close like that.. but in real time a lot becomes missed when your focus changes.. i dunno.. regardless I don't blame the refs but rather the team.  It's a young team so hopefully it's a learning experience.. only "older" player on the team in a critical position is woodson and that position has been a tough one to keep quality at for a few years so hopefully he's around for a while. liking what I see for next year (yes, I'm a cubs fan too if you couldn't tell )

[MUEng92]

(yes, I'm a cubs fan too if you couldn't tell )

Oh good lord, there is another one!  I thought I was the only one cursed with the Cub/Packer affliction.  God be with you!

[spiral97]

Oh good lord, there is another one!  I thought I was the only one cursed with the Cub/Packer affliction.  God be with you!

yeah we can sure pick em eh?  Just once would I like one of my teams to outright dominate for a season.. just once and it only has to be one of my teams.. is that too much to ask?! LOL