Friday, February 5, 2021

By The Pigskin Of Our Teeth: Old Problems

Not only are both of these games rematches, they both happened in Week 6 AND the other team was the home team both times. Carly Pearce sings the anthem from what appears to be the White Lodge. 8500 at Lambeau. Packers win the toss and defer. "Good luck, gentlemen," Clete Blakeman says to no one, as both captains have already left. This is Brady's 14th conference championship start, which is absolutely wild. Brady goes deep to Evans on third down and he makes the catch for 23 yards.


Brady hits Godwin on the sideline for another first down. He lofts one to Evans for a touchdown. Why DID the Packers waste a first-rounder on Jordan Love? Rodgers has plenty of time and finds Marcedes Lewis for a first down. Bucs force a punt. Buck and Aikman muse that this is Brady's first wild card team. Quick pass to Godwin, who follows his blockers and converts another third down. Ball is too high for Tyler Johnson and King makes a play on it. Kenny Clark sacks Brady to force a punt. JPP gets to Rodgers on second down. Rodgers rolls out of the end zone and finds Lazard for 23 on 3rd and 15. First quarter ends. The Packers' running game hasn't done much so far. Rodgers drops one in to MVS's basket on the sideline, he breaks away, and that's it. Touchdown.


Brady throws deep to Godwin, who has to slow down to get under it, juggles it, and still makes the catch for 52 yards. Fournette breaks two tackles, pulls a nifty spin move, and he scores. The kickoff dies at the goal line and Jamal Williams gets buried at the 13. The Packers challenge, believing that this should be a touchback. It pretty clearly did hit the goal line and the Packers win the challenge. Williams gets blocks and crosses midfield.


Jones finally gets a big run. Jones fumbles after a short pass but Tonyan falls right on it. They send Jones up the middle on 3rd and 2 and he picks it up. Lavonte David knocks down a second-down pass. Adams goes too far on third down and goes out of the end zone. Packers settle for a field goal. Brady lobs one to a wide-open Godwin on play action and gets 19 yards on 3rd and 2. Packers hold and force a punt. Rodgers finds Lazard for 23, but they then waste about 20 seconds before Rodgers gets sacked on the next play. THEN they call time out. Murphy-Bunting gets away with a hold and picks off a pass intended for Lazard. So that drive was a complete waste. Bucs line up to go for it on 4th and 3 from their own 45. Brady THROWS DEEP and finds Scottie Miller for a touchdown! Aikman is stunned. I'm not sure Kevin King had any idea where Miller was.


21-10 Buccaneers at halftime after a disastrous last two minutes for the Packers.


Jones fumbles ANOTHER pass and this time the Bucs recover! Devin White returns it to the 9. Touchdown Cameron Brate on the first play. No one near him. This might be over.


Adams catches a slant for a first down. Rodgers finds MVS outside for 20. Buck relays that Aaron Jones, who was hurt on his fumble, is questionable with a chest injury, and that Jordan Whitehead, who caused the fumble, is still in the medical tent. Touchdown to Tonyan. Buck notes that no penalties have been called yet. Adrian Amos intercepts Brady. Bucs jump offsides but Rodgers can't capitalize on the free play for once. Rodgers gets pressure in his face but finds Tonyan for a first down. Adams takes a helmet shot that gets called. Rodgers wanted Adams, but it wasn't there, so he throws it out of the end zone. Adams then beats Davis on the next play for a touchdown! Two-point pass is deflected and incomplete. Mickens with a good kickoff return, starting the Bucs at their own 45. Deep ball for Evans goes off his hands. Brady finds Tyler Johnson for a first down to start the fourth quarter. Another pass is too high for Evans, and this time Jaire Alexander picks it off! Rodgers gets sacked again. Brady gets pressured and throws up a lob and Alexander gets another interception!


Barrett comes across untouched and gets to Rodgers for what feels like the fourth time. Five sacks for the Bucs, actually. Rodgers misses MVS down the sideline on the play they hit for a touchdown earlier. Lazard and Rodgers both look for an interference flag on their third-down incompletion but none comes. Tight end screen to... Gronk? First we've heard from him today, and he gets 29 yards. Bucs at the Green Bay 30. Brady misses Godwin badly on second down, and the third down pass goes right into the grass. Succop hits from 46. Packers get a pretty good kickoff return too.


Another big catch by MVS. Refs aren't throwing flags. Adams wide open on 3rd and 1, and it's first and goal at the 8. Lazard doesn't see the ball heading his way on first down. Rodgers had running room on third down, but he passes to Adams and it's low. Packers send Crosby out with 2:08 left. I don't know about this.



The kick's good. The Packers do have all of their time outs.


Evans makes a nine-yard catch. The Packers jump offsides, and Aikman says they did it on purpose? Oh, to save a time out, he explains. Buck notes that the Buccaneers could have declined it. Third and 4. Brady throws it and it's incomplete. Late flag! NOW they throw it? They get King, who's been lit up all day, for DPI NOW? Seriously? I mean, it's the right call, but NOW?



Now they're reviewing the next play, not that it matters in the grand scheme of things. The Packers had 12 men on the field, again, like that matters now. Godwin takes a sweep for a first down and slides. The Packers aren't going to get the ball back. Wasn't firing Mike McCarthy supposed to put a stop to this kind of stuff?


Not only are the Bucs going home for the Super Bowl, they'll actually be the home team. Meanwhile, this is going to haunt the Packers for a while. (Buccaneers 31, Packers 26)

Also, that means no State Farm Super Bowl. I'll leave whether that's good or bad to you, the reader.

Guitar anthems are ALWAYS dicey. Brandon Neiderauer is this man's name. Bills get the ball first. Allen finds Beasley in the middle of the field. Diggs gets pushed out of bounds at midfield short of the sticks. Allen passes to Knox and the Bills convert. Thornhill's there and Beasley can't come up with it. Bass kicks a 50-yarder. After a Chiefs three and out (!) Allen scrambles for 18 yards. He then loses most of it on a sack two plays later. Bills punt OH NO HARDMAN CAN'T HANDLE IT. Bills fall on it! They spot it at the 3. Allen finds Knox around a corner for a touchdown! Extra point hits the top of the upright and is no good. 9-0 Bills. Mahomes goes to Hardman for a short pass play for a first down. They send Kelce deep and he picks up 16. Chiefs facing 4th and 1. They pass it to Darrell Williams and he picks it up. Romo notes that we've seen them do this before — and here's a package of times they've done that before. Touchdown Hardman! Man, good for him. Chiefs get the ball back almost immediately and Hardman with a BIG gain on a jet sweep. Good block again from Kelce. That went for 50. Kelce with a catch. Touchdown... Darrell Williams? Sure. Yeah, it is, I guess. Chiefs lead. Bills receivers getting the yips on this drive — Diggs let a sure first down on 3rd and 3 slip through his hands. Mahomes gets twisted around by Matt Milano but still finds Kelce for a first down. How do you let Hill get that open in space? Does Kelce get to the pylon? Refs say no. First and goal at the 1. Edwards-Helaire takes it in. Beasley gets free on a catch-and-run. T.J. Yeldon out here catching passes. Is this Earth-11? Allen scrambles but gets pushed out of bounds for a loss. He threw the ball but he was clearly out of bounds when he did. The booth reviews it and gets it wrong, calling it an incomplete pass. Bills line up for a field goal? You're not beating the Chiefs with field goals, McDermott. 21-12 Chiefs at halftime.



Hill zigs and zags past Tre'Davious White twice. Bills challenge that he stepped out of bounds before he was ruled down. They win the challenge, making the play 15 yards shorter. Poyer with a big defensive stop that may have saved this game, at least temporarily. Field goal makes it 24-12. Beasley again. Allen's throw to Diggs is off target on third and 4. You're not beating the Chiefs with field goals, McDermott. AND THIS IS WHY. Hill is leaving everyone behind and cutting all the way across the field. Poyer got his heel which may have slowed him down.


That's 71 yards. Shovel pass to Kelce for a touchdown! And here's a bunch of shovel passes to Kelce for touchdowns. Pass for Diggs is broken up. I haven't heard his name much tonight, which is likely a big reason the Bills are down 15. He picks up 11 on a short pass. Frank Clark gets to Allen. Bills start the fourth in 4th and 1. Inside handoff to McKenzie gets three.


Allen misses Diggs AGAIN. Fenton comes up with the interception! Did Breeland deflect that pass or get a hand on it somehow? Eric Fisher is down but we don't see him. Mahomes on a keeper for nine. Touchdown Kelce! I'd tell the Bills to cover him but it's probably too late at this point.


Okafor gets incorrectly (?) called for roughing on Allen (should have been a face mask). That leads to a touchdown pass to McKenzie. Two-point pass is picked off by Breeland. The Bills recover the onside kick after it gets knocked out of a Chiefs player's hands. Is Allen in the grasp here? Then he flings the ball at Okafor as payback for the earlier hit. Then Dion Dawkins hits Okafor while he's on the ground. Refs have been talking for a few minutes. Someone might get run here. Oh, Feliciano got him before Dawkins did. I didn't see that initially. After all that, four guys get flagged (Allen, Okafor, Feliciano, Dawkins), all penalties offset and everyone stays in the game, which is the most surprising part of this whole thing to me.



Recap of this game's shenanigans (Chris Jones punching Feliciano earlier; Watkins getting suplexed) and now they're getting into it again after the next play.


And the Bills kick another field goal. Come on, guys. Nantz wonders if Reid should pull Mahomes for his own safety. Things finally settle down. And now we'll have another rematch, this time of a Week 12 game. In Tampa. That the Chiefs won. (Chiefs 38, Bills 24)

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