NFL Week 5 Analysis: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
October 10th, 2007 8:40 am
by Pro Set
As was correctly identified by Al Michaels and John Madden on NBC, the key play was the third quarter INT thrown by QB Brett Favre.
For the Packers, 5 turnovers and a dozen penalties were too much to overcome. The standout penalty in the first half kept a Bears drive alive when the Packers were deemed to have lined up over the centre on a CHI FG attempt. In the second half, however, penalties on early downs killed GB drives. Even when GB seemed to have recovered impetus with the tipped 4th quarter INT off an underthrown QB Brian Griese pass, a penalty contributed to a 3 & out. A truly amateurish final drive made a joke of the 2 minute drill and never gave the Packers a chance.
For the Bears, they executed the classic NFL road strategy of hanging around until the home team ran out of steam. It also helped that the Packers gave up two fumbles on long drives early in the game. RB Cedric Benson had a serviceable game, despite his low YPC figure. I also thought that the Bears did well in picking up GB blitzes. Griese was always looking for the unmarked swing pass and this prevented him from locking on downfield and giving his reads away.
One moment, in a game splattered with huge plays, was the TE Greg Olsen TD rec off the MLB Brian Urlacher INT. the TD was awarded under the “force-out” judgment of one official. In my opinion, the “force-out” provision is a terrible rule that places an impossible burden on the field judge, side judge, line judge and head linesman.
It is simply not right that an official is required to judge whether a player would have come down in bounds with two feet unless contacted. It seems to me as if the slightest contact now justifies a force out ruling when the receiver simply did not get two feet in bounds. The rule is a clear and unwarranted artifice to increase scoring. Subjective judgments from officials should not decide games.
If a receiver cannot catch a pass and get two feet in bounds, why does he deserve a touchdown? What is so wrong about a defender preventing a receiver from landing in bounds? How much contact is required? Does the receiver have to make a “best effort” to get his feet in? In the even world of the NFL, it’s time to let the players decide the outcomes of games.
Roger Goodell should stop focusing on players’ private lives and continue to address his primary concern: the games themselves.
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