"Chips Report" From NFC Championship Win Vs. Bears
Sam Shields had an impeccable performance while Andrew Quarless had below average outing, but who else earned our weekly distinctions from the Packers win in the NFC Championship game?
Our weekly designations from the Green Bay Packers' 21-14 win over the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship game...
Blue Chips
- Sam Shields–To simply make a team's 53-man roster would be a success for most undrafted rookies in the NFL. To do what Sam Shields has done this season is almost unheard of. He quietly had a very solid season all of 2010, almost too quiet. He probably doesn't get the credit he deserves for shutting down opposing receivers and getting two interceptions during the regular season. He then matched that number with two interceptions in the NFC Championship game on the biggest stage he's seen his entire life. Add his first-half sack to the mix, and Sam Shields is your MVP of the day.
- B.J. Raji–His 18-yard interception for a touchdown may not have sealed the win in the way that Shields' fourth-quarter interception did, but it sure felt like it at the time. With the Packers up by only seven points with just over six minutes remaining in the game, Raji's interception of Bears quarterback Caleb Hanie sure felt like "the dagger" the Packers needed, even though they'd go on to give up one more score before the end of the game. His contributions on offense shouldn't go overlooked on a play in which the defense was expecting him to lead block for John Kuhn on the goal line. Instead the Packers ran a naked bootleg and score the first touchdown of the game.
Red Chips
- Greg Jennings–Jennings might have been the only player on offense to play consistently well all game long. With eight catches for 130 yards, he led the team in both receptions and yards. More importantly, he kept the chains moving for the Packers finding holes in the zones of the Bears defense. Jennings helped atone for his fumble in the divisional round against the Falcons with a big day on offense.
- Tim Masthay–The unheralded performance of the day goes to Mathay who punted eight times for a 41.8-yard gross average. But thanks to him and the rest of the punt squad with their coverage, they were able to render Devin Hester ineffective. Hester only had three returns for 16 yards on the day, which is pretty impressive from a Packers standpoint considering Hester might be the best return specialist in the history of the game.
Cow Chips
- Andrew Quarless–His most egregious mistake came in the fourth quarter when he allowed a ball thrown by Aaron Rodgers to go through his hands on a third-and-1 situation. But to add to his mistake, the Packers went back to him the very next possession on a first down rollout bootleg from Rodgers. The pass wasn't exactly on target, but it was still the type of pass you would have thought Jermichael Finley would make.
- Nick Collins–Collins certainly wasn't terrible the whole game. But his over-pursuit on Hanie's touchdown throw to Earl Bennett in the fourth quarter with under five minutes remaining following the Raji interception allowed Chicago to unnecessarily get back in the game. Collins looked foolish on that play, a black mark on an otherwise solid day from the defense.
Comments (64)
January 23, 2011 at 08:27 pm
Thank you the entire organization....this is the result of effort.
January 23, 2011 at 08:33 pm
Jordy looked good tonight too! Dallastexassuperbowlbaby!
January 23, 2011 at 08:35 pm
Bring on the Steelers!!!
January 23, 2011 at 08:37 pm
On to Pittsburgh ..... Er .... Dallas ....
Your 'cow chips' are weak ..... You could have just left them blank ......
January 23, 2011 at 10:04 pm
nah. quarless deserves to be in there. you just can't count on the guy in clutch situations right now.
January 23, 2011 at 10:47 pm
Completely agree. You need to make those catches.
January 24, 2011 at 08:38 am
He's a rookie. MM shouldn't depend on him in the clutch. Next year Finley will be crying about not getting enough looks.
January 24, 2011 at 09:51 am
I'd like to agree with you, but other rookies have stepped up so much this year, and played such crucial roles, that I just can't. Heck, I'd expect Crabtree to make that catch. The 3rd and 1 should have been caught, even by a rookie. For that matter, he's got a full season under his belt now, and then some.
January 24, 2011 at 11:16 am
ROOKIE. Cut him some slack. Wow.
January 24, 2011 at 11:50 am
just like finley in his 1st year
January 23, 2011 at 08:41 pm
I've got some critics to make, but I'm gonna keep them to myself.
This Packers team played with such hearth, it would be really unfair for me to talk negatively about anything they did today.
They weren't perfect. They had some big flaws. They got it done.
January 23, 2011 at 08:47 pm
Another patented "MM Lull," on offense and another patented "Dom Capers last minute INT" for the win.
Anything can and does happen against the Bears. A great win, and one for the ages.
January 23, 2011 at 08:47 pm
Blue chip to McCarthy, setting up the naked bootleg by putting Raji in the backfield last week. The Bears thought they knew what was coming, and they were completely fooled. Rodgers even added to this by rolling out and back somewhat casually, almost too much so as he barely made the end zone. That's some great play calling against a tough defense to run against on the goal line.
January 23, 2011 at 08:51 pm
Y'know, i was expecting it. I thought that the last thing they'd do on that play was run it behind Raji.
January 24, 2011 at 11:18 am
Seems to me the Bears are stealing plays-or is their D really thaaatt good?
The way they covered that 1st and 10 play action roll out to Quarless...a great call- the Bears seemed like they knew it was coming.
January 23, 2011 at 08:48 pm
Love it, mah bruthas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 23, 2011 at 08:55 pm
Awesome game.
Hopefully, this keeps the coaches in place when other teams become too impatient to wait to interview our guys.
January 23, 2011 at 09:06 pm
Who would have thought 2 undrafted rookie FA's in Mathsay and Shields would deserve gameballs? Flippin' wow!
January 23, 2011 at 09:08 pm
Who would have thought 2 undrafted rookie FA's in Mathsay and Shields would deserve gameballs? Flippin' wow! Do they even comprehend what they just did on that big of a stage?
January 23, 2011 at 09:09 pm
It is terrific the Packers have a chance to bring home their 13th World Championship. However, this game could've been put away much sooner. McCarthy went in to Marty Ball mode again. Great play calling in the 1st half but he all but mailed it in in the late 3rd and 4th quarters. He didn't run any boot pass action until the 4th quarter and it was set up going in on that red zone opportunity when Rodgers threw the pick. Very disappointed that he didn't vary the launch point in the second half to change the rush angles for the Bears and give Rodgers a little extra time and give him the run pass option, thus limiting the shots he would be taking. The Packers won but made this closer than it needed to be.
January 23, 2011 at 10:09 pm
agreed. didn't it feel like the score was way too close considering the fact that we dominated that team in the 1st half? that said, i'm proud of this team! it's amazing that they've come this far considering all of the adveristy they went through. look at a team like the colts. they had about the same number of injuries but folded like a wet blanket a few weeks ago! big props to ted thompson for putting a very deep and solid team together.
January 24, 2011 at 09:57 am
It felt very familiar. I was so pleased during the Atlanta game, because they came out in the second half, got the score, and demoralized the Falcons. Just didn't do that in this game. I'm hoping on the fast track in Dallas we'll see the Packers execute again.
POC - love your posts.
January 23, 2011 at 09:27 pm
Great win....however way to close than what it should have been...Rogers didn't have a good game,...look at his QB rating. I like that we won by only 7 with the game on the line in the final minutes. To me that's gives one message to everyone.....THIS WAS A WAKE UP CALL!!!
January 23, 2011 at 09:30 pm
No, no it wasn't....
January 23, 2011 at 10:11 pm
it hasn't been a wake up call all year and it isn't now. this is the way mccarthy calls it and they won the game.
January 23, 2011 at 10:38 pm
Well, that and you just won 3 in a row, on the road in NFL playoffs. Against a team that knows you inside-out.
Oh ya, with that, Rodgers already had equaled Favres road playoffs wins as a career.
Wake-up call? Perspective man, you radically understate the difficulty of road playoff wins, let alone playing elimination ball do 5 straight weeks.
Hate the Bears all you want, their defense is championship caliber.
January 23, 2011 at 09:47 pm
Let me be the first to say: Interception off the receiver's foot = not a huge concern going forward.
January 23, 2011 at 10:58 pm
Not only that, but Arodge ran for a TD, which doesn't apparently show up on his QB rating like a passing TD would.
Arodge did have one bad INT, but his QB rating is artificially low by quite a bit.
January 23, 2011 at 10:10 pm
Tim Masthay should have Blue chip and MVP... or are we so use to such a bad punter he looks like God? I see Kapinos is on the steelers punted like crap during the Jets game... GO Pack Go
January 23, 2011 at 10:58 pm
YES! our special teams were excellent today with masthay just doing some lights-out punting
January 23, 2011 at 10:44 pm
No one will ever confirm it but I think Rodgers was concussed by the Peppers hit because every throw he made after that was low or off target.
Willnever forget the Raji INT, that was a thing of beauty, he made it look easy. The Freezer!!!!
January 23, 2011 at 11:01 pm
He had the bad INT, but Quarless dropped a third down right in his hands and DD was interfered with on one play too. Then that one to Jones was another interference play. He may have been off, but not by as much as it seems.
January 23, 2011 at 11:01 pm
hmmm... i'm not sure about a concussion on that play. i don't think they would've let him go back in. a-rod better get ready for a physical game because the steelers have the best D in the NFL right now. thank god they have 2 weeks to rest up.
January 23, 2011 at 11:18 pm
Don't know about concussed but he definitely saw stars for a bit and it seemed the game might've been moving faster for him. He made a few throws after that quicker than he needed to which led to incompletions.
January 23, 2011 at 11:47 pm
Something happened there. It may have been a borderline concussion. Maybe just an old fashioned, woozy hit. Not really sure that any of us know the difference. It's a good thing our D closed down the day because A-Rod was kind of a shadow of himself at the end.
He'll be back for Dallas though!
January 24, 2011 at 08:45 am
He displayed leadership by staying in the game; not like quitter Cutler! For Cutler, it wouldn't have mattered, though. He was ineffective anyway.
Lovie: Jay, you have one series after the half; if you don't produce you're out. Would you like us to say you're hurt, or just bad?
Cutler: I'll take injured. Coach, can I go to the locker room early before half?....
January 24, 2011 at 09:59 am
I won't dog him until the medical tests are reported, but he could have been more of a cheerleader than he was on the sidelines.
January 24, 2011 at 10:55 am
I don't think it's fair to call Cutler a quitter, whatever his tests reveal. If he's unable to play on his knee, that's for him and the medical staff to say (though I agree that the knee injury gave Lovie the opportunity to yank him for being ineffective).
If I stunk up the field in the biggest game of my career, then had to leave the game, I wouldn't feel much like cheering either.
Can't believe I'm defending Cutler.
January 24, 2011 at 11:24 am
Cutler never changes his countenance but Bear's fans change their reactions to it.
January 24, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Cutler has a torn MCL. However, he mailed it in and quit. His toughness has every right to be questioned.....his mental toughness. This notion that just because he got back up in previous games after all the hits means nothing. Every football player takes hits....it is, after all, the very nature of the game. No one is questioning that it was an injury. No one is questioning that it hurt. It most likely did. When people question his toughness they are questioning his mental toughness. He showed absolutely NO DESIRE to re-enter the game and give it a go. Ask yourself this question: If it would have been Favre, Brady, or Manning do you think they would've given it a go just to see? The answer is pretty clear. Philip Rivers even played in a playoff game with a torn ACL...a ligament that has more to do with the overall stability of the knee than an MCL. Did anyone see Rodgers cash it in after the Peppers head shot? Nope. People get hit and hurt all the time in this game. Had this been week 4 of the season I could understand it, but this was the NFC Championship game. His mental toughness needs to be questioned all day long.
January 24, 2011 at 01:38 pm
"Cutler has a torn MCL. However, he mailed it in and quit."
Paul Ott, I encourage you to reread the first line of your own post.
I'm not trying to start a flame war. And I wish Cutler had stayed in the game too, because he was playing badly, which was good for the Pack.
But I just don't see how--from the comfort of your couch at home--you're in a position to judge Cutler's desire or mental toughness. How's he supposed to act in that situation? What sort of behavior would have been satisfying to you? Should he have fallen to his knees and wailed?
January 24, 2011 at 06:51 pm
POC,
It was my understanding he did attempt to play on it after he injured it, and after two or three snaps, he realized he wasn't able to plant that leg and throw off of it.
In all honesty, it seems that some people would rather have a player who selfishly keeps himself in a game even if they are fully aware they are not able to perform (ooohh, what a warrior! He refuses to sit down even though he can't play effectively), as opposed to a player who acknowledges that they are unable to perform at a high enough level to be competitive and realizes it may be best for the TEAM to allow the back up to perform.
I get it, I get it, he should have been screaming tooth and nail about needing to be on the field- fans want to see that- but that doesn't make it an action that is in the best interests of the team.
For that matter, Cutler clearly did do the right thing- the 3rd stringer moved the ball far better than Cutler did.
January 24, 2011 at 09:05 pm
Thought the same thing, for the same reasons. I've been surprised at how little it's been discussed.
January 24, 2011 at 09:28 pm
Thought the same thing regarding a possible Rodgers concussion, and for the same reasons. I've been surprised at how little it's been discussed.
Also, POC is on the money. I'm normally the guy advocating player safety, but not this time. Head/neck/spine injuries: don't fuck around. A sprained MCL? For a QB that just needs to hand-off and hang around in the pocket, it's just a matter of whether your desire to win is greater than the pain. Clearly, it was not for Cutler. He looked like he checked out before that injury anyway.
Seriously, everyone in the NFL plays hurt. Most just want to win and won't let pain stop them from trying. Look at Matt Stafford last year during that Lions game where he dislocated his shoulder. They could not keep him off the field. Look at all of our guys who played through injuries for just regular season games. This was for all the marbles, though. Sure, if Cutler is injured his is welcome to bench himself *cough* Sidney Rice *cough*. He just needs to realize why he lost respect in Denver, and why he is losing respect now in Chicago.
January 23, 2011 at 10:51 pm
So good to hear all these guys giving each other credit after a win like this. So nice to hear the star WR Jennings giving the punter praise after the win.
January 23, 2011 at 11:01 pm
Slocum has been ripped a lot and has deserved a lot of it. But, he had his guys playing today and they beat the best Special Teams Unit in the NFC.
January 23, 2011 at 11:03 pm
the special teams were outstanding in the last 2 bares games
January 23, 2011 at 11:09 pm
Pack special teams skunked the Bears ST units in week 17 as well.
And, if I'm not mistaken, both of these games featured two punts downed inside the 5 yard line- I'd have to look it up to be sure.
That's pretty F'in lights-out ST play against what is considered one of, if not the, premiere ST units in the game.
January 24, 2011 at 01:52 am
You're right Oppy, and that doesn't include the one where Bush missed downing it by about half a foot. If at the beginning of the playoffs someone had told me we'd get into the super bowl with Defense and Special teams, I would have said you're crazy
January 23, 2011 at 11:20 pm
After Rogers took that first hit he missed some throws he should make, first pick was a fluke....wake up call...can't miss those throws agaisnt a Pitt D in the SB, need to play like we did in Atlanta. Great win still! Masthay and the ST were rock solid.
January 23, 2011 at 11:40 pm
Let's not forget the much-maligned Jarrett Bush. He was terrific again on special teams.
January 24, 2011 at 09:13 am
Yes he sure was. Maybe I'm being unfair but I think Bush needs better field presence on the punt when he touched the goal line before knocking it back. All-in-all, Bushie has been great on ST lately.
January 24, 2011 at 07:48 am
Masthay has gotten better as the season went along and over the past 6 or 7 games has looked awesome. I think after going through BJ Sander, Jon Ryan, Derrick Frost and Jeremy Kapinos, the Packers finally have a good punter.
January 24, 2011 at 08:28 am
Kapinos now kicking for Pittsburgh = Advantage Packers!
January 24, 2011 at 12:01 pm
TED THOMPSON FOR PRESIDENT....MIKE MCCARTHY FOR VICE PRESIDENT, DOM CAPERS FOR SEC.OF DEFENSE,AND ARRON RODGERS ATTN GENERAL......PACK WINS 31-17.....THE BEST YEAR EVER TO BE A PACKERS FAN
January 24, 2011 at 01:20 pm
Definitely would have had Jordy in the Red or Blue chips. Love him to death and he had another great game, overall. But all good list there, Brian!
January 24, 2011 at 07:15 pm
This is in response to Oppy and Timbo: I don't buy Cutler's and the Bear organization response one bit. I'm sorry, but champions suck it up in these games. Do you think for one second Favre would have given way to a 1st year Rodgers if the situation would have been the same? I don't believe for one second that the Bears or Cutler believed "giving Todd a shot" was the best route to go. The bottom line is that Cutler could have still been functional. He is often lauded for his strong arm but poor footwork. It would appear that this wouldn't have affected his ability to throw short to intermediate routes. Would play selection have to be changed? Yes. I'm sorry gentlemen but even from the comfort of my own recliner I could tell he cashed it in. Great players will sacrifice for the team if they believe they are the best even when they're wounded. Many players in this game have done it before...I know...I've seen it. The question ultimately becomes this: Is an injuried Jay Cutler better than a healthy Todd Collins? Apparently Jay and the Bears felt so in the biggest game of the season to this point and that spells trouble for the foreseeable future for Jay and the Bears. When you don't have mental toughness all the physical skills mean nothing.
January 24, 2011 at 08:03 pm
I meant to say..."apparently they felt not" as in, an injured Cutler was not better than a healthy Collins.
January 24, 2011 at 09:45 pm
+50 points. Absolutely agree. I give props to Oppy and Timbo for emphasizing sportsmanship, but the crticism is not about what is prudent for an average player to do when injured. It's about the measure of a when the chips are down. A man the Bears paid a very high price for. A man Chicago fans had pinned their hopes for a SB on. That man cowered on the sideline. Seriously, even my mom commented on it when we talked after the game. She's a smart Packer fan, but not a homer or a hater (she always suspected Bart Starr did the same thing whenever he felt the game was out of reach, though she would never say that in public. ; )
January 24, 2011 at 11:31 pm
Sorry, but bringing up Bert was about the last thing you could do to help me see the light.
All I can think about is that thumb injury that he played with that resulted in how many turn overs where the hand went forward and the ball went straight up into the air.
The bottom line, from my point of view, is that every starter in the NFL can think they are the best option even when they are hurt. That doesn't make it so.
You can talk all you want about not being a competitor, but maybe, just maybe, Cutler is a guy who's smart enough, and honest enough with himself, to realize he wasn't going to be able do his team any good with a bum knee.
Let's face it: There isn't a Packer fan, or player, who could tell you with a straight face that Cutler with a bad knee is going to be effective vs. the Packers secondary and pass rush. Anyone care to argue that point? No? Okay. Good. But yet, when the player is smart enough to acknowledge that fact, we are supposed to belittle and demean him? Sorry, I'm not in that camp.
January 25, 2011 at 08:09 am
Oppy, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. However I would urge you to look at the sequence of events with this entire injury. There were two possible spots in the game in which this could have happened. The first was when Chicago had the ball on their own 4 yard line backed up. Cutler was hit by Green and Walden. According to most reports, this is when it most likely happened. If this is the case, then I would remind you that Cutler continued to play 3 more series after the injury, throwing passes of 24, 12, 13, and scrambling for a 9 yard run. This was the series in which the Bears punted from the Green Bay 31. Now, using logic, does that sound like he wasn't functional if he had the injury? The answer is clear. If it is true he tore the MCL and was performing like this, I would call that toughness.....BUT it doesn't explain his attitude to start the 2nd half. How could he be fine for 3 series AFTER the injury and then not functional to come out at half time? Doesn't pass the smell test Oppy.
The other possible place where he might have been injured would have been on the Shield's blitz and sack. But again, what did Cutler do? He went out there with 49 seconds to play and threw a 17 yard passs to Forte and then took a 40 yard shot at Knox which Shields intercepted. Does that sound like a non-functioning QB to you?
I'm not going to try and convince you otherwise....like I said, you're entitled to your opinion. However, I look at the sequencing of this whole thing and it doesn't add up. He either tore it and continued to be functional but then decided to take his 38 QB rating and go home after a horrible series to start the 3rd quarter or he tore the darn thing at while walking to the locker room. I'll stick with the first option.
January 25, 2011 at 07:37 pm
POC,
As far as the legitimacy of the injury, and when it "Could have Occurred", I urge you to consider that when Morgan Burnett blew out his ACL, he played on it for what he guesses must be a series or two.
Burnett stated that he felt "Something" sort of pop, but just thought he tweaked it until much later. Even when watching film, Burnett could not pin down exactly when or what caused his injury.. Only that he didn't think it was anything substantial until a series or two later, when it became too much to deal with...
January 25, 2011 at 08:20 pm
Not questioning the legitimacy of the injury. I'm not going to doubt a medical professional and an MRI. I'm simply saying the man peformed well enough to continue after the injury to start the 2nd quarter. That was a full 15 minutes on the clock, almost 30 in real time. Far different than Burnett's situation. Again, he was functional for the entire 2nd quarter...3 subsequent series. He wasn't being asked to cut and plant and tackle like a safety. He was mobile enough to function in their system. Everyone has a different pain tolerance. You would think he would increase his during a championship game.
January 24, 2011 at 11:54 pm
What more would Masthay have to do to get a blue chip? One touchback, and everything else was inside the 20. Hester and the Bears special teams were completely neutralized, and the Chicago offense was pinned deep in their own territory after each and every punt.