Yes, the OL and Edduh putting up a buck fifty vs. #1 rush D in the league is as loud a statement as you can make.

I have watched a lot of football over the years.  I'm pretty certain I have NEVER seen a team recover a botched free kick/punt after a dafety.  I don't think I've ever seen it live, have seen a replay of it or even heard of it happening at ANY level of football.   Does the receiving team even have to field the ball (like on a KO) or can they just let is bounce and be downed by the kicking team? 

 

Anyway, I was astounded by that play.  Complete and total ineptness by the special teams.

Actually saw him make a nice play on a delayed blitz where Stafford had to get rid of the ball quicker than he wanted to... but even a blind squirrel finds a nut on occasion.

I remember Don Beebe getting really close once for the Pack.

The Packers looked so casual on that kick after the safety. 

Like they all just sat back and expected to automatically get the ball back at midfield.

Easy answer on free kicks that are punted. Signal fair catch immediately. In the case of tonight's game if Green Bay simply got away from the ball it's theirs after its whistled dead. Only time the ball is live on a safety free kick is if the kick attempt is clearly an onsides attempt. Which a punt clearly is not. 

 

GB looked completely lost on that attempt. I'm sure many teams would have done the same thing. 

 

Link

The running game and the front 7 (except Brad Jones) deserve the biggest pluses of the night. Their QB was hurt so the OL and RBs put the O on their backs and dominated the Lions from 7. That totally changed their defensive gameplan IMO because rather than play that Cover 2 that has frustrated Rodgers at times in the past, they had to bring a Safety up and gave Rodgers the looks he wanted vs. a single high Safety. Rodgers and the WRs/TEs had a much easier time finding the gaps/holes vs. the coverage with that threat of the running game. The defensive front 7 frustrated Stafford and forced a ton of bad throws. He wanted to throw quick like Matt Ryan did, but the DL was in his face so fast that he really had to rush even the quick throws and he couldn't make it work. 

 

Biggest negative was mental lapses. Brad Jones continues to hurt more than help. I think he's a practice warrior who seems to play hard and probably knows WHAT to do, but knowing what to do and doing it are two very different things. I understand guys like Barrington and Hawk need a break for a couple plays here and there, but there has to be a better option. They had some other misses like on the onside kicks...the Hands Team is supposed to be players with good hands, not players who misjudge the ball and let it bounce around. Can't have those kinds of lapses in the playoffs. 

 

It's a good thing they have an extra week to work on the negatives!!!!!!!!!

@ChilliJon

 

In the five minutes before the kick, a special teams coach who's job it is to know such things, just might want to go over that with his squad.

 

Just sayn'.

CostCo had a 50-year aged The Glenlivet for $500 available for the Christmas season.  The wife said that was just too good for us to afford.

Bummer.  That would have been a smashing hit with the kiddos, eh?

well, I had kids late in life...the oldest is only 14.

 

@GD. The option besides Jones is Richardson.  Jones plays the dime LB, are you losing that much in run supportand pass rush by playing Richardson in that role?  I don't think so.  

 

So they could have just ran off the field and still gotten it?  The only way the Loins get the ball is if the Packers attempted to field it and fumble?

 

@BK  

 

Youre assuming the special teams coach who's job it is to know such things, knew such things. 

I thought Aikboy said that it's a live ball like a Kick-Off....unless a fair catch is called and caught.  It looked like #11 Boykin jumped at it and touched it before Cobb could get to it.

 

In fact, I'm not sure Cobb could've gotten to it anyway after his fair catch because all the other Packers had no clue how to block for it or what to do.

 

A la Leon Lett on the blocked FG?

+  Hopefully the fact that Suh expressed his hope to be on a different team (outside the NFC North) next year will

be honored by the Lions and we won't have to see this P.O.S. twice a year any more!

I was just saying the same thing.

The right thing to do there is to signal fair catch based on how short the punt was. Detroit would have had to allow the catch to take place. 

agree....but, I am sure on the replay Boykin came over and tried to field it...and touched it...then, it was a free-for-all...but it sure seemed like the entire Packer team had no clue what was going on and panicked.

 

If a fair catch is permissible, why don't we see it during onside kicks?

Oh I agree. I actually think playing Richardson instead of Jones is a big positive. The difference in size that you're giving up can't be more than 1"/20 lbs? When we're talking about giving Barrington/Hawk a couple plays off here and there, it can't make that big of a difference. I'm not an NFL DC though.

not sure....I know you can do it in High School football, not sure about the NFL...or maybe you have to catch it and take a knee (give yourself up)

 

I think that happened in a Viking-Packer Monday nighter many years ago....the Hovan attack on Favre game....the Vikings took a knee to give themselves up to stop the clock...and some Packer came and clobbered the guy...it turned out the play was dead upon the player "giving himself up" by taking a knee...

 

We may have a replacement for Finley!   Great effort on the 3rd down conversion and also fighting for yards inside the 10 yd line.

 

I'm older than dirt and have never seen nor heard of an "onside" free kick.   I wonder if the players even knew that was possible.

 

Hey, let's not forget about Peppers!   He was rushing a lot of Stafford's throws near the end with his pressures.   Stafford even had his hand run into Pep's, which ruined his follow-through.

Again, here's the link. If anyone wants to go down the free kick rabbit hole grab a miners hat and a bag lunch. No sense posting random speculation about what if's. 

 

If it comes up again. Fair catch. If it's an onside attempt. Cover it. 

quote:

I'm older than dirt and have never seen nor heard of an "onside" free kick.   I wonder if the players even knew that was possible.

It's their (and the coaches' and referees') job to know it's possible.

Then again, it was also the refs' job to know the down by contact rules, and they nearly got that one wrong on the play where Caldwell wasted a challenge.

The Packers recovered a free kick against the Rams in 97 or 98.  Travis Jervey (predecessor to Jarret Bush) recovered it.

I have really liked R. Rodgers progress the last few weeks. He's still a rookie and I think he's playing better than Jermichael Finley did his rookie year. I won't be surprised if we draft another TE on day 1 or 2 to pair with Rodgers for the future. Quarless is a reliable player (for the most part I think), but he's not a gamebreaker. I think Rodgers could be very good TE in this offense. He's different than Finley though, Finley was more of a traditional receiving TE whereas Rodgers, to me, is more of a TE/H-Back in the mold of Dallas Clark or Marcus Pollard. 

Would love to see that putz suspended too.  What a pathetic team.   Comish should really send a message. 

The part that makes the intent clear is when the second foot steps on Rodgers, he very slowly lifts his other foot to put all the weight on Rodgers. If he had just stepped on him the second time and bounced off I suppose he would have an easier time arguing it was an accident, but that extra move made it obvious. He's a real POS. Hope good Goodell makes an example of him, but I'm not confident he has the balls.

Caldwell should do what the commish may not. And that is suspend him anyway.  If Caldwell is going to preach how he has the team under control and that he won't tolerate what Schwartz did than that is what he should do, playoff game not withstanding. Other wise Caldwell = Schwartz. 

 

Admit it Grave Digger, you know I was right last week. 

If you accidentally step on any player once, let alone twice, you look surprised and (generally) tell the opponent it was an accident, sorry.

 

Nothing of the kind from Donkey Kong. He nonchalantly walks off as if nothing happened,, even after Rodgers swings at and hits his leg and ass. Of course the douche knew what he was doing.

If a punter is holding the ball for a free kick you know it will be in the air.  (no fair catch allowed if the kicker kicks it, because the ball hits the gound first before bounding into the air--no fair catch allowed in that situation.)

 

The best play for a special teams on a onsides free kick that is punted is to have the second line call for a fair catch.  You know the ball will be in the air, at least 10 yards (to be recovered by the kicking team)  And, if the fair catch is called for the opposing team has to give you a chance to catch it.   (Also, strangely, there isn't a limit on how many players can call for a fair catch in the rule book, it just says any receiver--so have everybody in the second line make the call.  Just make sure somebody catches it, because if not caught it is a live ball)

I've wondered why a team, after a safety, wouldn't try a short punt free kick as an onside attempt...?

 

If I understand the rules, you can fair catch a punt, kick-off or free kick as long as the ball hasn't touched the ground after the kick.   i.e. leaves the kickers foot and is in the air, you can call for and attempt a fair catch without restriction from the kicking team.

 

In the case of the free-kick today, DET has every right to the ball once it has gone 10 yards. The Packers could have called for and attempted a fair catch, but I never saw anyone raise their hand.

 

 

I don't think he's a douche like Schwartz, I think he's an idiot like Mike Singletary. Schwartz had that sh*t eating smirk all the time and I think, much like others from the Jeff Fisher line, actually encouraged dirty play. I think Caldwell is having to deal with dirty players he can't control, but is handling these situations in the worst possible way.

I need a week off. 

 

Rodgers is next level.

"What you said was very intelligent."

Watched the replay.  Nelson and Williams were the second line. Nelson on the left side of the field, and Williams on the right shaded to the middle.  Cobb was deep.

 

Nelson came running over with a fair catch signal, but never made it to the area of the play because of the logjam of players.  Williams, on the other hand, was right in position to make a fair catch signal and the catch, but sort of lifted his hand as if to signal but did not make a clear signal, which has to be over his head.

 

Then Boykin screwed everything up by retreating and then trying to catch the ball running back, like a centerfielder going for a ball over his head.  He touched the ball, it caromed away, and the rest is history.

 

Again, a competent special teams coach who  has one limited and simple job would simply have told the team in a punted free kick...first line, don't retreat, just block.  Second line, signal for and make the fair catch.  Had this been competently explained, Williams makes an easy fair catch and we avoid the drama.  

 

It shouldn't be too much for a special teams coach to know, understand, and explain the onside kick possibilities to his team.