Packers Blew Chance to Put Colts Away at End of 1st Half

ALLGBP.com All Green Bay Packers All the Time
Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers and the Packers should have put Sunday’s game against the Colts away at the end of the first half.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers gets annoyed when people ask him about not having many fourth quarter comeback wins on his resume. Rodgers usually points out that he’s won a lot of games in the second and third quarter, making any type of late comeback unnecessary.

The Packers had one of those game-clinching opportunities late in the second quarter on Sunday against the Colts. Instead of putting the game away, the Packers went three-and-out and everything unraveled from there.

After Adam Vinatieri missed a 53-yard field goal, the Packers had the ball on their own 43 with 1 minute, 17 seconds left in the first half. The offense was rolling, the Colts were reeling, and another score — even a field goal — would have probably been the deciding blow.

Time to end this one early, right? Unfortunately, the Packers did just the opposite.

Rodgers hit John Kuhn for six yards on the drive’s first play, then missed Jordy Nelson, then saw Jermichael Finley drop another pass (the drop was bad, but it was also a weird play call, Finley likely would not have reached the first-down marker even if he caught it).

We’ve seen some pathetic efforts from the Packers offense this season, but that drive might have been the worst.

We can complain about the bad defense, we can pound our fists about the dropped passes, we can curse Mike McCarthy for not running the ball or being more imaginative on offense, we can wonder what happened to the 2011 version of Rodgers, and we can shake our heads at Mason Crosby’s choke job at the end of the game. All of those criticisms are valid.

But it all comes back to that pathetic drive, in my opinion.

Make it 28-3 at halftime and there’s no way the Colts mount any sort of comeback. Score on that drive and Rodgers can go on his Tuesday radio show and tell everyone how he won another game well before the fourth quarter, no comeback necessary.

Instead Rodgers has to spend Tuesday’s show explaining how the Packers lost despite leading  by 18 at halftime, their largest blown halftime lead since November of 1957.

The quarterback could make his explanation simple by just talking about that terrible drive at the end of the first half.

That segment would probably take about five minutes, which would leave about 50 minutes for Rodgers to talk Packers fans off the ledge.

——————

Adam Czech is a a freelance sports reporter living in the Twin Cities and a proud supporter of American corn farmers. When not working, Adam is usually writing about, thinking about or worrying about the Packers. Follow Adam on Twitter. Twitter .

——————

20 thoughts on “Packers Blew Chance to Put Colts Away at End of 1st Half

  1. When are people going to just admit that the Packers just aren’t a very good team. As much as I hate to say it I no longer am willing to make excuses. T.T. blew it by bringing back Capers for another year. As everybody knows thought Capers ENTIRE coaching career his defense’s rank near the bottom by his 3rd or 4th year. M.M. has failed to make adjustments since last year in K.C. The Packers have become so predictable it’s pathetic.

  2. I disagree…even if the Packers were able to get a TD or even just a FG on that last 1st half drive that wasn’t….this team came out in the 2nd half so dead the ‘flatline screen had no line showing’ and I don’t believe for a second it would have been presented differently.

    You cannot justify ‘ifs’ when facts are plain as day….A Jekyll and Hyde team from half to half and I don’t know which should start or end the games for the rest of the season.

    1. If I might add…please don’t say ‘if’ Benson didn’t get hurt……

      If last years’explosive’offense has become so reliant on Benson to just be a ‘good’offense…we have lost much more than a game today.

      Please rise…I think I hear ‘TAPS’

  3. This offense just isn’t anywhere near as good without Jennings on the field. Jordy Nelson is a good wr, but he’s not a #1. When Cobb and Jones get to go against 3rd and 4th cb’s, that’s when the offense is explosive. Cobb may be the only wr out there today that was capable of getting open on a consistent basis AND that was against a Colts secondary that was missing players.

    1. Probably true, but Jennings is proving he can no longer stay on the field. The Colts were missing their best DB also. The receivers have not getting separation. Go back and read McGinn’s stuff on the WRs

  4. The Packers are getting very little from their older veterans right now – especially Woodson and Driver. I would like them to sit next week and let the young guys see what they can do. Give their snaps to House, Hayward, and Boykin.

  5. Tony Dungy said it best…he knew he had a good team when his team would beat the teams they were suppose beat by putting them away and not letting the other team have a chance to win. Obviously , the pack is no longer an elite team, and by the looks of things, thier not even a good team. The Packers have to beat Houston next week to erase a lot of what’s wrong ,and to get thier confidence back.

  6. 1. Rodgers is holding the ball too long again, and his pocket presence is terrible right now. If he gets sacked once, the rest of the game for him is terrible.

    2. Benson is a good back…not great…Green had a 40 yard run.

    3. I’m sick of waiting for Finley to develop, when was the last time he had a game WITHOUT a drop?

    4. The DB’s dropped about 6 Interceptions. Tramon had one thrown right to him when Luck went across his body in the endzone….to drop that is inexcusable.

    5. MM has not adjusted to what the Chiefs did to them, and now it’s the script on how to beat the Packers. 2-Deep, Man Under.

    6. We have nobody to compliment CM3 yet….and we have dedicated a lot of picks. Worthy has been a disappointment. WHY THE HELL ISN’T DANIELS GETTING MORE REPS?

    7. Crosby, you were in a dome….GOOD kickers make those most of the time, GREAT kickers never miss those. You weren’t even close.

    8. 27 points in the 2nd half to the Colts?? Our defense is just what it was last year. 57 points in the last two games….vs. an 0-5 Saints team, and a rookie-led Colts Team.

    9. The timeout used at the end of the game by Rodgers is inexcusable. MVP’s don’t make those mistakes. Get the call and give yourself one more play to get about 5 yards….that was a joke.

    10. The rules and officiating in the NFL is terrible now. The Pass Interference on Shields and the Personal Foul on Perry are laughable. The league has thrown too much at the refs, it’s a coverup for future lawsuits regarding concussions, watching these games are like watching WWF….just waiting for the refs to make a terrible call. Don’t tell me that Perry led with the crown of his helmet…it hit Luck’s SHOULDER….let the players play and put away the flags for a while….it’s ruining the NFL.

    1. Perry hit Luck so hard that his neck snapped back and then forward causing the helmet to helmet. It was a face-up clean hit to the shoulder by Perry. If Perry doesn’t get fined, the the NFL will be saying it was (another) bad call. And that was a game changer.

  7. FireMMNow is currently on the road driving home from his Grandma’s 90th BDay Party. I am his brother, and I know more than him anyway….you may direct your questions to me.

    Please Begin…

  8. There are just no excuses for what happened today. Good coaching does not let this happen and players with character and heart do not let this happen. The rest of the league not only has the KC formula to beat Green Bay they have now seen that the team has no heart. At least we won’t have high expectations for next week against Houston.

  9. This team is mediocre right now – at best. But the 2010 Packers were mediocre at this point in the season. Remember losing to the Redskins, Bears, and Dolphins in 3 consecutive weeks?

    We have to win at least 1 of the 2 next ones. Otherwise we’re going to sink the ship.

    Still time. But AR and MM and Capers need to pull their collective heads out of their butts.

  10. The Packers need to start adjusting their game plan more. This team is still darn good and very capable of recovering from 2-3.
    A. commit to the run for the whole game.
    B. take what defenses are giving us. go down the field five yards at a time. teams are challenging us to do so.
    C. plug Hayward in and test him more. it’s not like he can do much worse than the others. he was a second round pick for a reason.
    D. what has happened to Kuhn? third and short has been a nightmare so far this year.
    E. use Cobb relentlessly. the vikings do it with Harvin and the season isn’t getting any longer.
    Sorry, got a little carried away and I’m by no means a coach but it feels good to vent a little.

  11. I also agree with tundra, The packers have to change thier offensive philosophy. Teams have clamped down on the free-for-all pass happy ways of MMs O. Time to commit to the run all game long and dink and dunk thier way down the field. Get Benson, Starks and Green going in the running game and short passing game, and get creative with Cobb . Use short underneath routes with the WRs then take a few shots down field when the D adjusts to the short game. Use a more traditional west coast O.

    Next week is a must win game as far as I’m concerned. If the pack goes 2-4 after next week, it would mean having to finish 8-2, which I don’t think will happen. (10-6 will prob be required to make the P offs in a tuff NFC)

  12. Ugly lose’s are worse than ugly wins!

    Trade Greased hands, slow feet Finley for whatever you can get TT. Time to move on. Unless he agrees to immediately restructer his 8 million for next year.

    If the other RB’s are not ready to play than get some RB’s that can and run the dang ball.

    Woodson and Driver are both costing the team valuable playing time – time to cut (or trade) if anyone is interested. Get the younger guys onto the field.

    We need one more big man on D line to complement Raji.

  13. You could see it in their eyes the second half, they flat out gave up. There was no way the Colts were going to lose that game. WTF these are professionals getting paid millions, it was as if they were paid off. They just had to contain for a half and couldn’t do it. Sucks to suck….

Comments are closed.