Green Bay gave the game away?? Phhhhht

Dear Mr. Aaron Rodgers,

Yesterday you and your team were beaten in the NFC Championship game by the Seattle Seahawks. You were quoted after the game saying "We were the better team today and we played well enough to win and we can't blame anybody but ourselves."

A cursory glance at the score and the statistics tell a different story, however. Sure, I'll give it to you that you 'won' the first half. Heck, I'll even posit that you won the 3rd quarter. But, as you well know, a game isn't over till....well, till it's over.

The fact of the matter is, you were not the better team. Let's take a closer look.

First off, the score: to wit - after 60 minutes of football, which is when the regular game officially end, the score was tied at 22-22. You, therefore, did not win anything. After a few moment in overtime, the score was decidedly in Seattle's favor 28-22. Game over. You were not the better team.

Second off, the Stats:
1st Half
Packers 193 yards to Seattle 49 yards = Packers
3rd quarter
Packers 73 yards to Seattle 86 yards = Seattle
4th quarter
Packers 50 yards to Seattle 156 yards = Seattle
OT
Packers 0 yards to Seattle 87 Yards = Seattle.

Team Stats:
First Downs
GB - 19 Seahawks - 20 = Seattle
3rd down conversions
GB - 3-14 (21%) Seahawks - 8-16 (50%) = Seattle
Total plays
GB - 65 Seahawks 70 = Seattle
Total Yards per play
GB - 4.7 Seattle - 5.7 = Seattle
Total Yards
GB - 306 Seattle - 397 = Seattle
Passing yards
GB - 171 Seattle - 203 = Seattle
Completion %
GB 19-34 (56%) Seattle 15-30 (50%) = GB (barely)
Yards per pass
GB - 4.5 Seattle - 5.8 = Seattle
Rushing Yards
GB - 135 Seattle - 194 = Seattle
Time of possession
GB - 32.15 Seattle 31.04 = GB

So basically Mr. Rodgers, you really were not the better team yesterday on the whole, for the entire game. You didn't give the game away, you had it forcefully taken away from you by the team that played better when it truly mattered. By Champions. By the Seattle Seahawks.

:0190l: :th2thumbs:

Numbers don't tell the whole story, but when a team leaves the door open you have to be good enough to make the most of that opportunity. In my opinion the only play that Green Bay gave away was Morgan Burnett's slide. All the other plays have to be made and Seattle made them.

But I thought the better team lost? How can the stats possibly show the Seahawks were the better team then? Phhhhhhht

We spotted them 5 turnovers. And they couldn't put us away. Our TEAM is better than their team. We played 4 qrtrs and beat them in OT.

The game was lost by the Packers because when the Seahawks got their business together, the Pack wasn't composed enough to respond. There were key Pack mistakes that lost the game for them, but these are mistakes made by a team that is pressing too hard. I think the Seahawks made that happen with their resiliency and toughness and never-say-die attitude. The Packers expected them to go quietly, and the Hawks refused.

The Pack lost because the game became bigger than they were able to handle. HC opting for kicking FG's from inside the 1. Gifted 5 turnovers that turned into how many points exactly. Safety sliding down with yards of green in front of him. Third string TE forgetting to block and attempting to make a play on the ball instead of just doing his job. All marks of a poorly coached and prepared team.

To sum up, after halftime we outscored them 28 to 6.

We also put up 328 yards to 123 during that time.

Not sure I'd characterize it as being dominated for 55 minutes. They did virtually nothing on offense after halftime.

I don't see how anybody could say with a straight face that Green Bay did not blow that football game.

They choked. Flat out choked. And the Seahawks took advantage, as a great team is supposed to do.

It felt like they were the better team. That's all he has to go on, though.

The Packers were ahead on the scoreboard longer than the Seahawks...that's winning for them.

If it weren't for a couple of lucky bounces off Kearse's hands and an inexplicable fumble by Baldwin when barely getting touched this would have been a rout. Green Bay did almost nothing with a litany of opportunities deep in our territory. In the 2nd half their offense was a dangerous as Jacksonville's.

marko358":ogxvis4y said:

If it weren't for a couple of lucky bounces off Kearse's hands and an inexplicable fumble by Baldwin when barely getting touched this would have been a rout. Green Bay did almost nothing with a litany of opportunities deep in our territory. In the 2nd half their offense was a dangerous as Jacksonville's.

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It may have been very likely they don't score at all.

Russell just wanted to see what it felt like coming back in the last 3 minutes.

early, green bay failed to build a big enough lead. then they self-destructed later on.

marko358":ztl4p3e7 said:

To sum up, after halftime we outscored them 28 to 6.

We also put up 328 yards to 123 during that time.

Not sure I'd characterize it as being dominated for 55 minutes. They did virtually nothing on offense after halftime.

Click to expand...

Indeed.

StorytellerMatt":1e6vndu3 said:

The game was lost by the Packers because when the Seahawks got their business together, the Pack wasn't composed enough to respond. There were key Pack mistakes that lost the game for them, but these are mistakes made by a team that is pressing too hard. I think the Seahawks made that happen with their resiliency and toughness and never-say-die attitude. The Packers expected them to go quietly, and the Hawks refused.

Click to expand...

You hit the nail right on the head. Green Bay has been quite good for many years. This year, especially, they got used to other teams rolling over and giving up. Because those other teams had no chance. GB really was the better team most games.

They have no experience with a team capable of overcoming a deficit that big.