Too easy to pin Green Bay Packers’ collapse on Brandon Bostick
By Phil Watson
Brandon Bostick, a second-year backup tight end for the Green Bay Packers, bore the brunt of the wrath that poured out after Sunday’s inexplicable come-from-ahead loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship.
Bostick, in on the onside kickoff return team, was supposed to block on the fateful kick. Instead, he thought he saw an opportunity to catch the ball and tried to. The ball slipped through his hands and was recovered by Seahawks’ receiver Chris Matthews at midfield.
If anything, Bostick’s play is a great teaching moment for anyone involved in coaching football at any level, as in, “See what happens when you try to be a hero instead of just doing your job?”
The Seahawks scored a second touchdown in a span of 44 seconds to take a 20-19 lead. But that set the stage for another one of those moments when the game could have changed.
January 18, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks tight end Luke Willson (82) catches a pass for a two point conversion against the defense of Green Bay Packers free safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (21) during the second half in the NFC Championship game at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Russell Wilson rolled to his right as Seattle tried to get the 2-point conversion for a three-point lead. With nothing open on that side of the field, Wilson got away with the cardinal sin of quarterbacking—he lobbed a pass with absolutely nothing on it about 70 yards to the other side of the field in the direction of tight end Luke Willson.
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, the Packers rookie safety with two interceptions to his credit on the day, never reacted.
He remained behind Willson, despite having time to prepare a nine-course dinner for eight and still get in front of the receiver.
Willson caught the ball in front of Clinton-Dix, stepped through one of those stupid “let me hit the guy who outweighs me by 50 pounds in the shoulder and act surprised when he doesn’t go down” tackles and gave Seattle a 22-19 lead.
Jan 18, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Green Bay Packers strong safety Morgan Burnett (42) celebrates his fourth quarter interception with Tramon Williams (38) against the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
But you can backpedal from there. When Morgan Burnett intercepted Wilson earlier in the fourth quarter—Wilson’s fourth of the day—he went down to the turf as if there were five seconds left in the game, rather than five minutes.
I took a look at the all-22 tape of the play to confirm the suspicions I had when I saw the play live. In front of Burnett were about six potential Packers blockers, two offensive linemen and Wilson.
One, maybe two blocks, and Burnett has a dagger pick six. Instead he fell down, the Packers went three-and-out and the stage was set for 15 points in 44 seconds.
January 18, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby (2) kicks a field goal against the Seattle Seahawks during the first quarter in the NFC Championship game at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
But let’s fast forward all the way back to the first quarter, when Green Bay had three red-zone possessions in the first quarter and left eight points on the field—getting two field goals from inside the two-point conversion line and Aaron Rodgers’ 13-yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb for a 13-0 lead.
Those would be Green Bay’s only red-zone possessions of the day, by the way, and they couldn’t score on six offensive snaps inside the Seattle 7.
When you are trying for a road upset, you must take advantage of every opportunity and the Packers simply didn’t.
Jan 18, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks punter Jon Ryan (9) throws a 19 yard touchdown pass on a fake field goal past Green Bay Packers defensive end Datone Jones (95) and Davon House (31) during the third quarter in the NFC Championship Game at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
For all of special teams coach Shawn Slocum’s anger at Bostick after the onside kick, the Packer special teams got burned as badly as a unit can get burned on a fake field goal when former Green Bay punter Jon Ryan lobbed a touchdown pass to gigantic offensive lineman Garry Gilliam.
It’s 16-0. Didn’t the idea of a fake even cross anyone’s mind? Strategically, there is almost no difference between 16-0 and 16-3—it’s still a two-touchdown game. But 16-7 is a very different dynamic.
And when it mattered the most late in the game, a Packer defense that was exceptional for 56 minutes vanished in the final four minutes and overtime.
From the point of Burnett’s interception and Tim Masthay’s horrid 30-yard punt after Green Bay went three-and-out, it was as if the Seattle offense flipped a switch.
January 18, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (24) runs the ball against the defense of Green Bay Packers free safety Micah Hyde (33) and strong safety Morgan Burnett (42) during the second half in the NFC Championship game at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Wilson, to that point in the game, was 8-for-22 for 75 yards with four interceptions and the Seahawks offense had produced zero points.
From that point on, Wilson went 6-for-7 for 134 yards and a touchdown.
The Seahawks also ran nine times for 73 yards and two touchdowns in the final 3:52 of regulation plus the 3:19 of overtime—a seven-minute stretch that will forever live in the nightmares of defensive coordinator Dom Capers and a legion of Packer fans.
In all, Green Bay surrendered 21 points and 206 yards of total offense in the final seven minutes of the game after surrendering 191 yards and zero points in the first 56.
January 18, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jermaine Kearse (15) catches a 35 yard pass from quarterback Russell Wilson (not pictured) for the game winning touchdown ahead of Green Bay Packers cornerback Tramon Williams (38) during the overtime period in the NFC Championship game at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Mason Crosby did end up tying an NFL postseason record with five field goals, joining Chuck Nelson of the 1987 Minnesota Vikings, Brad Daluiso of the 1997 New York Giants, John Kasay of the 2003 Carolina Panthers and Adam Vinatieri (twice) as the only kickers since 1960 to go 5-for-5 on field goals.
But he also joined Daluiso and Jeff Wilkins of the 2003 St. Louis Rams as the only kickers to knock home five field goals in a playoff game in a losing cause.
No, there were many chances for Green Bay to ice the game and they made the biggest mistake in the book—they let a good team having a bad day cling to life for too long … and got burned.