In just his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Brady proved that he still has what... Start every day with our most popular content waiting in your inbox. After the Mickens slide, Tom Brady hit Mike Evans for a nine-yard gain, and the clock stopped with 1:56 left in the game for the two minute warning. Green Bay’s offense couldn’t find the end zone in the fourth quarter, often stalling in three-and-outs. This season, Vrabel used the strategy to try and conserve time, helping Tennessee to a comeback win over the Texans. So many players came through in this one and that’s a credit to Bowles. In addition, the NFL rule book does have a clause where teams who try and take intentional penalties for the purposes of conserving time get penalized for doing so. Date Winner Loser Score Home Team; Jan. 24, 2021: Tampa Bay Buccaneers: What also probably factored into his decision was the fact that the Packers had just sputtered on two plays near the goal line, and the touchdown was by no means a sure thing, nor was the two-point conversion they would need. Section 7, Article 1 of the NFL Rule Book states as follows: A team is not permitted to conserve time after the two-minute warning of either half by committing any of these acts: (a) a foul by either team that prevents the snap (i.e., false start, encroachment, etc. Out of all the intriguing storylines that Super Bowl LV offers, there is perhaps none bigger than the matchup of quarterbacks. January 24, 2021 10:35 pm Several times over the course of Sunday’s NFC Championship Game, the Green Bay Packers’ No. If not for the interception, Aaron Rodgers likely moves the offense downfield and sets up a score before halftime. Buccaneers defense continues to make plays, setting up another Tom Brady TD. Vrabel took what seemed to be an intentional 12 men on the field penalty when the Texans had the football and faced a 2nd-and-1. The reaction on social media, as it always is, was swift and furious. The first thing to consider is this: The Buccaneers played for a potential onside kick. A week after picking off Drew Brees and returning it 36 yards to set up a touchdown, Murphy-Bunting came through once again by picking off another future Hall of Famer. Touchdown Wire is no different, as yesterday I tried yet again to craft a game plan for slowing down Patrick Mahomes and the rest of their talented offense. nfc championship game RADIO.COM Sports NFL Championship Round expert picks. The Packers trailed by eight, 31-23, and had all three timeouts remaining, plus the two-minute warning. Summers is listed at 240 pounds. If he stepped up and made a big play, he would send his team to Super Bowl LV and become a hero for one of the NFL’s most storied franchises. Carolina receiver Steve Smith caught 12 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns, the first coming 55 seconds into the contest, and rushed for 26 yards. Brady and Co. started cooking early. Take the points, trust your defense to get a stop, and now you just need a touchdown to win and not a two-point conversion. Tom Brady is headed back to the Super Bowl, this time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a wild NFC Championship Game victory over the Green Bay Packers. It is hard to flag that on one instance of an offsides penalty. The bottom line is that LaFleur took the ball away from Aaron Rodgers and gave it to Tom Brady. Instead, Crosby put his foot to the ball and lofted it deep, dropping the kick just inside the ten-yard line. A matchup between two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks delivered on the hype, coming down to the final minutes in a wild finish. How in the world can you take Rodgers off the field and put the game in the hands of your defense? 2007, Giants 23, Packers 20 (OT) It seemed like fate that Brett Favre … The table below lists all previous NFC Championship Game results. It was Brady who made the call to throw the last-second Hail Mary instead of punting before halftime. The Packers still have all three timeouts. Top Three Takeaways from the NFC Championship The Buccaneers sailed into the Frozen Tundra and came away with a victory over the Green Bay Packers, earning the right to … Mickens? The end of the NFC Championship game offers football fans a few different scenarios and decisions that are going to be debated throughout the offseason. First, retaining defensive coordinator Mike Pettine. The post What The Weather Will Look Like In Green Bay For NFC Championship Game appeared first on The Spun. It pairs the two best teams in the NFC in a winner-take-all match-up, played at the home stadium of the team with the higher seed. Aaron Jones is one of the best running backs in the NFL. We perhaps have Mike Vrabel to thank for this discussion. Jaire Alexander with the pick of Tom Brady. ET tomorrow on FOX. The first NFC Championship Game was played following the 1970 regular season after the merger between the NFL and the American Football League. The Packers lost in the NFC championship game for the fourth time in the last seven seasons. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be without a key member for their defense for Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers. Jamaal Williams is a good running back and A.J. After seeing this defense get gashed in the last NFC Championship Game, retaining the same defensive play-caller is asking for history to repeat itself. January 21, 2021 Skip Bayless: Belichick 'exposed' without Brady. Yet, for whatever reason, Green Bay stopped running the football and it set the passing attack up for failure. After this performance, it’s hard to see him cashing in this offseason or returning to Green Bay. After all, you want to get first downs in this situation. GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Tom Brady has a new team, in a new town. Then, when Arians’ offense stopped working, Todd Bowles’ defense saved the day. Box score, stats, odds, highlights, play-by-play, social & more Why? But by accepting this penalty you accelerate the timeline for Green Bay to get the football back. Green Bay Packers HC Matt LaFleur blasted for kicking field goal down by eight points, waved the white flag in the NFC Championship Game. But the Packers are also better than league average. pic.twitter.com/VMLqvXriPI. Of all the end-game decisions, this is the one that is going to be debated the most. NFL free agency: Top 25 NFL free agents in 2021. The Packers beat the Bears but lost to the Seahawks, Falcons and 49ers, robbing Rodgers of a … Once that hands team was put on the field, Mickens’ job was clear: One you are threatened, get down. Brady’s throw to Mike Evans was too high, allowing Alexander to snag it in the air, taking away potential points for the Buccaneers. https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/lists/nfc-championship-coaching-packers-bucs-lafleur-arians/, Jaydon Mickens slides to the turf on the kickoff return, Bruce Arians accepts the intentional offsides penalty, https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/2021/01/MickensSlideVideo.mp4, How flexible scheduling will work in the 2021 NFL season, NFL 2021 season to kick off with mega-matchups in Week 1, JJ Watt the turtle has been set free into the wild, Former Hawaii star, Washington draft pick Colt Brennan dies at 37, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. If you decline the penalty, in essence you give yourself a shot at running four plays: The second down you currently face and the three downs you’ll get after converting. Hoping for a new contract, he went into Sunday with a shot to shine on the biggest stage. From Bruce Arians accepting a deliberate offsides penalty, Tampa Bay Buccaneers kick returner sliding down inbounds on a kickoff prior to the two minute warning, and of course Matt LaFleur’s decision to kick a field goal in the final minutes, fans are going to be arguing over these moments for weeks to come. For one, after riding an excellent running game to reach this point, LaFleur abandoned it in the second half. LaFleur had seen his offense on two previous possessions, but his defense step up. Even if your offense forces a stop and gets the football back, it still needs to drive down the field for another touchdown. The NFC Championship Game will kick off at 3:05 p.m. Those 40 seconds made a huge difference, as the Titans ended up scoring the game-tying touchdown with four seconds left, and then winning the game in overtime. Rookie safety Antoine Winfield Jr. will be inactive for Sunday's game after suffering an ankle injury in practice earlier this week. Yes, it is hard to turn down free yards and a free first down, but in this situation it might have been the right call. Instead, he likely sealed his fate with the team. Then, with everyone in the country expecting a last-second deep shot from Brady, King let Scotty Miller burn past him for a game-changing score. Trailing by eight points with Brady waiting to get the football back, making it a five-point deficit does nothing. Mickens is behind a hodgepodge of players who are on the field for their hands, not their blocking skills. LaFleur had also seen his offense fail on the previous two plays, with Rodgers passing attempts falling incomplete on both second and third downs. Arians might have been smart to decline the penalty. NEW: Way-too-early 2021 Fantasy Football Mock Draft. Unsurprisingly, even for the greatest quarterback in NFL history, things didn’t work out. It is hard to defend this decision, especially given the evidence available as well as the outcome we all saw, but as a former lawyer, I am going to do my best. This could have been the game for Jones to show the Packers why they need to pay him. 1 receivers and taking away his side of the field. Atlanta Falcons 30 at Minnesota Vikings 27 on January 17th, 1999 - Full team and player stats and box score “I remember the atmosphere was electric,” Harris said. If he gives up ground in an effort to milk the clock, you might gift the Packers better field position if you are eventually forced to punt. Let’s dive into each of the decisions, breaking down the three critical decisions at the end of the NFC Championship game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers. It sure looks bad when you put it that way. A look back at NFC Championship Game results. While this defense looked a lot better in the second half, Brady is also the greatest quarterback in NFL history for a reason. He previously played in Chicago (2010), in Seattle (2014), in Atlanta (2016) and in San Francisco (2019). On one sideline stands Tom Brady, arguably the greatest quarterback of all time. There are stories about formulas, blueprints and more. It also marks the first time since 1996-’97 that Green Bay has appeared in consecutive NFC Championship Games. It turns out, Brady isn’t the only one on Tampa Bay’s roster who carries the clutch gene. Matt LaFleur has done a lot of things right as head coach, but a few inexplicable decisions cost the Green Bay Packers a trip to Super Bowl LV. Vrabel saved about 40 seconds with the penalty. He played at an All-Pro level throughout the regular season, shutting down No. So he sent his field goal unit into the game. Sean Murphy-Bunting continuing his dominant play in the postseason. Of course, two other decisions proved even more costly on Sunday. Kevin King had an opportunity to create his legacy in Green Bay and to write himself a blank check. This will be Rodgers’ fifth NFC Championship Game appearance. As you can see when Mickens starts upfield he has an inside linebacker bearing down on him with a free shot, untouched by the members of the hands team. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are the league's last repeat champions, and now Brady is with a new team. The game is presented by American Family Insurance. While the Packers looked flat with their season on the line, every single player on Tampa Bay’s defense executed, flew to the football and did the little things right. With just over two minutes remaining and the Packers facing a 4th-and-goal from the Tampa Bay eight yard line, LaFleur faced a critical decision. In just three years as a starting quarterback Mahomes is in his second-straight Super Bowl, looking to go back-to-back. pic.twitter.com/upf05RiP2j, — 4th down decision bot (@ben_bot_baldwin) January 24, 2021. On one sideline stands Patrick Mahomes, a transcendent talent at QB who is just beginning what could be a legendary career. Unless you’re expecting players like Chris Godwin, Tyler Johnson, Justin Watson, Cameron Brate and Sean Murphy-Bunting to set a strong wedge for him. Tampa Bay isn’t going to Super Bowl LV because of head coach Bruce Arians. Playing in his tenth Super Bowl, Brady has a chance to win his seventh Lombardi Trophy, a phenomenal accomplishment. Instead, Brady got the football back and stuck it into the end zone for a score of his own. I tried. We preferred go, but more narrowly than I would have thought. Instead, King was burned by the Buccaneers and social media. Here is what Mickens was working with when he fielded the football: Given that the Buccaneers had their hands team in the game, and aligned 10 of Mickens’ teammates well upfield in expectation for an onside kick, the returner cannot expect that blocks are going to set up well for him. Now let’s return to the NFC Championship game. Just as Green Bay started to respond, cutting the deficit to four points, Tampa Bay’s defense gave Brady another opportunity to prove why he is the best to ever do it. Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are heading to Super Bowl … You'll now receive the top Touchdown Wire stories each day directly in your inbox. Finally, the moment when Matt LaFleur waved the white flag in the NFC Championship Game. Former Cal star Rodgers had the better individual passing statistics, but Brady had the big win. Buccaneers and Chiefs vs. Bills A look ahead at Sunday's forecasts He’s proven it throughout the regular season, delivering incredible performance and highlight plays with regularity. There is no logical reason to kick the field goal in that situation. Instead, Bowles rallied his defense and dialed up the right blitzes and coverages to take away everything the Packers wanted to do. League average is 23%. It will be the third time that Lambeau Field will host the NFC Championship. Second INT for GOAT today. He coughed the ball up in the first half, but was saved by Robert Tonyan covering it up. A stout 170. Tom Brady had thrown three-straight interceptions earlier in the second half, and there was no  guarantee that the Buccaneers would be able to salt the game away. Things looked over when the Buccaneers took a 28-10 lead, but Aaron Rodgers wasn’t ready to surrender quite yet. One of the most popular football columns in the media space this week, and perhaps every week since 2018, has been a variation on this theme: How do you beat the Kansas City Chiefs? Catch the ball, get to the ground, and hope that Tom Brady and company can ice the game away. Over the course of around thirty minutes of real time, the NFC Championship game was decided. Only twice in the game did either team find the end zone. Dillon can be a punisher in the fourth quarter. The Panthers recorded 434 yards of total offense, and avenged a 13–3 regular season defeat by the Bears, to advance to their third NFC Championship Game in their eleven-year existence. After each of Brady’s two interceptions, it felt like Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl hopes were sinking fast. On Jan. 20, 2008, the Packers hosted the Giants at Lambeau Field for the NFC Championship Game, playing for the right to face the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Back in Week 6, the Chiefs beat the Bills 26-17, but I'm not really sure what we learned from that game… But if the Packers were to try it again after you declined the penalty to put this same scenario in play, you might force the referees to enforce this rule, putting either a time out in jeopardy or starting the clock again. A pending free agent this offseason, King was going to be challenged by Brady. Flags went flying. With a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, Brady uncharacteristically struggled. Prior to Mason Crosby’s right foot hitting the football, there were two minutes and five seconds remaining in the game, and the Packers had all three timeouts remaining. While both the Rams and the Buccaneers boasted excellent offenses, the '79 NFC Championship showcased the teams' defenses. sooner... Super Bowl LV offers a tremendous matchup at the quarterback position. 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