My aunt and uncle own stock in the Green Pay Packers. Growing up if I was at their house during a game, they'd be decked out in yellow & green jerseys and my aunt jumped out of her seat at things I wasn't paying attention to. I didn't follow football but I knew the name Brett Favre and, later, Aaron Rodgers. I remember the party they hosted when Rodgers and coach Mike McCarthy led them to a Super Bowl victory. It makes me nostalgic, even as a Bears fan, and yesterday I sent them a text to let them know I'd be cheering on the Packers from my living room.
But I wouldn't have bet a dime of my money against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Actually, both of my predictions for yesterday came true. Despite the well-deserved hype around Buffalo, I believe unequivocally in Patrick Mahomes - especially when combined with Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill - and I was happy to root for them with my sister, a hardcore Chiefs fan. Please don't take this to mean I'm good at calling games, though; I had the Steelers, Titans, and Colts all going to AFC's Divisional Round. I said we'd have a Saints vs Chiefs Super Bowl. No, my bracket's not okay.
The NFC Championships were held yesterday at Lambeau Field, with the 11-5 Bucs taking on the 13-3 Packers. The Packers hosted for the first time in 13 years.
I am not that guy who blames officiators for the way a game turns out and I'm not about to start now. When someone's literal profession is to meticulously watch every play and weigh it against game regulation, I'm not gonna think I know better from where I sit on the couch.
HOWEVER.
The first half of the game saw obvious holding and downfield contact from both teams and the refs just let it slide, for reasons unaccounted. Six total penalties in the whole game wasn't accurate to how many rules were broken. At times I wondered if all the refs huddled up before kick-off and said "Let's make this old-fashioned - no rules, no flags, let 'em goooooo." But I also know that's ridiculous (and rude) of me, so I'll move on from my inconsequential and unprofessional frustration. If a Hall-of-Fame QB like Troy Aikman can say "They are letting them play" and leave it at that, I should shut my big mouth.
What I really want to talk about is yesterday's superstar: defense. Defense, defense, defense. Sure, the hype was around Tom Brady & the best receiving corp in the league VS Aaron Rodgers & the best overall offense in the NFC; but neither of these outshined their defensive lines. 3 of Tom Brady's passes were picked off by Green Bay (Adrian Amons, Jaire Alexander, and Darnell Savage), giving the Packers unprecedented chances for new conversions. He also encountered a sack from GB defensive tackle Kenny Clark.
Rodgers was intercepted once (Sean Murphy-Bunting) and sacked 5 times (Shaquil Barrette and Jason Pierre-Paul), while RB Aaron Jones was forced into a fumble by Tampa Bay's Jordan Whitehead, who would later be pulled out due to a shoulder injury. As they say, "defenses win championships," and a quick glance at both QBs' performances yesterday will show that stats aren't everything when it comes to winning:
Rodgers and Brady each threw 3 TDs.
Rodgers had 346 passing yards with a completion percentage of 68.75, Brady had 280 passing yards with a percentage of 55.6.
Rodgers had 1 interception, Brady had 3.
In other words, Rodgers statistically outplayed Tom Brady at Lambeau yesterday. This doesn't come as much of a surprise considering GB's main man just tied Drew Brees' 2011 record for sixth-most touchdowns in a season (46, a team record), but it doesn't mean that he's guaranteed to win games. When passing yards and completions are combined with turnovers (or decisions to go for a field goal instead of playing a 4th down), those yards don't translate to points. And only points can translate to wins.
Packers HC Matt LaFleur said that while he regrets his decision to call a field goal kick instead of a 4th down conversion just before the 2-minute warning (the score was 31-23 Bucs), it felt like the right decision. He was staking a lot on the hope that GB would get the ball back quickly, but a call on pass interference shook up their chances. LaFleur's approach hugely contrasted with a decision made earlier in the game by Buccaneers HC Bruce Arians, who told Brady to go for a touchdown on 4th & 3 just before halftime. Arians' motto, "No risk it, no biscuit," secured their 11-point lead going into the second half.
"I think anytime something doesn't work out, do you regret it? Sure," LaFleur said about the game-ending call he'd made, "but we're always going to be process-driven here, and the way our defense was battling, the way our defense was playing, it felt like it was the right decision to do. It just didn't work out."
With a final score of 31-26, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are conference champions and will play Super Bowl LV as the first team in NFL history with home field advantage. “I couldn’t be any more elated for these guys,” Arians said, “We’re coming home, and we’re coming home to win.”
