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LOS ANGELES – Jared Goff removed his helmet, donned a baseball cap and stared at the LA Coliseum. He feels as helpless as a quarterback with an almost flawless match in the books and a two-point lead in the final minutes. feel.
Aaron Rodgers was an idolatrous quarterback of a young Cal fan, whose parents are proud alum. Another, that he would later mimic as a Golden Bears star, would become an outstanding player in the NFL – a notorious dream kidnapper whose Green Bay The Packers were late on Goff's Los Angeles Rams, 29 -27, while it remained 2:05 of Sunday match and that they were about to receive the ball.
In other words, it goes without saying that the last undefeated team of the NFL was about to be served.
"It was scary," Goff said later, as he celebrated with friends and family members outside the stadium in the twilight of Southern California. "All our work on the offensive was over, and the ball was going to be in his hands." I put on my hat and think, That's his show now. It was not a very good feeling. "
And then, in a surrealistic sequence, Goff and the Rams might consider the miracle before Halloween – and Rodgers and virtually every member of the Packers organization would likely present a language unfit for the press – a player from Green Bay made an executive decision that stifled Rodgers' Hollywood ending before she could begin, and left the Packers in a bitter and frustrated group as they left Tinseltown.
While Greg Zuerlein's send-off was in the end zone, Rodgers was really expecting Ty Montgomery, back, to kneel for a touchdown, knowing that both of them coaches had ordered the half-offensive to do so. Instead, Montgomery grabbed the ball to a depth of 2 yards and ran up to midfield, crossing the 20 before being tackled by Rams' Ramik Wilson. And then, a green and gold nightmare: the heavy blow worn by Wilson in Montgomery dislodged the football, which the linebacker would recover under a pile.
The revival caused loud applause from about half of the 75,822 fans and the other half's dismayed groans (hey, the Packers well– and, according to witnesses, a very visible show of anger on the part of the quarterback to whom the type of opportunity for which he was living was denied.
"Aaron was hot"said a Packers coach. And he had the right to be. He shouted, "Take a f —— knee! He was very very angry. "
In the eyes of many Rodgers teammates, his anger was justifiable. According to more than half a dozen Packers players and coaches who witnessed this, Montgomery proved himself in the previous Green Bay offensive series, becoming more and more furious after having been removed from the match. At least one player thought that there was a postponement of this incident on Montgomery's decision to disregard his coach's instructions and dismiss the kickoff.
"They took him (the previous training) for a game and he slammed his helmet and threw a fit," said a Packers player. "Then (before the kickoff), they told him to take a knee, and he exhausted it anyway.You know what it was? It's him who said, "I'm going to do myself. "It's a f —— joke.
"I mean, what are you doing? We have Aaron Rodgers, the best I've ever seen, and you'll take that risk? I mean, it's 12 #! All you have to do is give him the ball and you know what will happen. "
The Rodgers' magic had saved the Packers (3-3-1) in their previous game, a 33-30 win against the San Francisco 49ers on "Monday Night Football", just like at the opening of the season Sunday night. victory over the Chicago Bears when the quarterback came back from what appeared to be a serious knee injury to trigger a sublime return in the second half.
Beat the Rams (8-0) would have been another epic level. Despite a 10-0 lead until the end of the last three minutes of the first half, and despite a return from Rodgers after a 10-point deficit that allowed Green Bay to score 27-26 thanks to a 40-yard pass to rookie receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling at 8:50 am from the end, this was the obvious case of a team that failed to capitalize on its opportunities – a familiar story for those who believe the franchise has missed his shot at several championships under the Rodgers era.
As he was coming out of the tunnel outside the locker room of the Coliseum and was heading towards the team bus Sunday night, Rodgers (18 for 30 286 yards, a touchdown, no interception) n & # 39; He did not hesitate to think that the lack of aggression had returned. burn the Packers.
"Our defense played very well and stopped them again and again," Rodgers said. "We have to get more than 10 points while that happens, and then ending the situation that way is obviously frustrating."
The Rams' vaunted attack did not start until the finals of the first half, when Goff (19 for 35 miles, 295 yards, three touchdowns and no interception) came close to Josh Reynolds with a touchdown pass of 1 meter to cut the ball from Green Bay. lead to 10-8.
The game that changed the game for Los Angeles was held at 2:54 of the half, after Johnny Hekker's kickoff was crushed by the former half-corner of the Packers, Sam Shields at Green Bay 1. Critics of coach Mike McCarthy will undoubtedly see Aaron Jones (12 litters, 86 yards, one touchdown), symbolically stale, made a deep transfer and was met in the Goal area by linebacker Mark Barron, who stuffed him for his safety.
"It hurt us," said another Packers player. "This game was a bunch of little bulls – which piled up and caught us in the end – and (Montgomery's decision to kick back) – I do not even know what c & # 39; was. I am still in shock. "
A day earlier, while he was preparing to face Rodgers for the first time, Goff was not quite shocked by the possibility of dealing with one of his heroes. # 39; childhood – but he certainly appreciated the magnitude of the moment. As a child while growing up in Novato, California, Goff frequently attended Cal's games with his parents and fondly remembered Rodgers' series of hits during the 2003 and 2004 seasons, which included 23 consecutive records. during the NCAA in a close defeat. future USC national champion at the Coliseum 14 years earlier.
Sitting in the lobby of the Rams' downtown hotel on Saturday night while he was watching live game-tying game stretched between Cal and Washington on an iPhone, Goff said he had gained greater satisfaction for Rodgers after entering the NFL as first choice in 2016. Draft.
"At the beginning of my career, in particular, we were watching the movie of a defense that we were about to play and when we would see Aaron counter that defense, I would see things that would surprise me," he said. Goff said. "You are watching the defense and your eyes are starting to wander on the offensive side.It does things so unconventional that you sometimes have to rewind the tape and say: & # 39; this? How did he do that? "
Goff then set out his version of a feeling that is more common in NFL circles – especially among talented players, coaches and evaluators – that most outsiders might imagine. Although Tom Brady is clearly one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, and Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger are guaranteed to play in the first ballot Hall of Fame, Rodgers, among cool kids, is often seen as being at another level.
"Physically, I do not think it's even close – it's the best of all time," said Goff. "Just his arm talent and what he does, I know Tom is amazing, and Joe Montana is incredible, but in terms of absolute physical fitness – and this is my third year in the league, age 24. Perspective, so take that for what you want – it's not even a fight – his control of the hand, his power on the arm, where he puts the ball … it's weird . "
For the record, Sean McVay, the head coach of Wunderkind, is not ready to argue. Shortly before leaving the stadium, McVay expressed relief for being spared by the prospect of a potential Rodgers drive. He said, "I mean – Aaron Rodgers, he's made for that, and that's why he's one of the best." Some of his throws today … He's so good, he's a joke. It's not real life. The way he's able to speed up and get the ball out of his hand is like a deceptive video. You have the impression of looking at an optical illusion. "
Yet one can summarize Rodgers Sunday in L.A .: Clear eyes, a full heart, have lost. And no, he was not amused.
As he headed for the bus on Sunday, he did his best to overcome his frustration, evoking 12-10 Cal's surprise against the Huskies of the previous afternoon.
"What about these bears?" said Rodgers, who is close to Cal's head coach, Justin Wilcox, Jeff Tedford's staff assistant while in Berkeley. "He's the best, big win."
A few hours before the match, Rodgers and Goff had been talking near the midfield during their warm-up sessions, a conversation flooded with blue and gold pride. It was the first meeting of the first-round quarterbacks who attended the same school since Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets beat his compatriot Carson Palmer and the USC Cincinnati Bengals in 2010, and that did not disappoint – at least until Montgomery made his ill-advised decision to challenge his coaches and pull that ball out of the end zone.
And, to give Cal alun a tasty look, Montgomery attended college at … well, we'll let a Packers coach tell us: "What do you expect from a Stanford guy? " joked the coach who, for the record, did not attend any rival universities in the Bay Area.
Rodgers was not in the mood to joke about the fumble, but he was optimistic shortly before leaving the stadium. The Packers, who will travel to Foxborough to face Brady and the Patriots Sunday night, are still within reach of the Bears (4-3) and Vikings (4-3-1) as they enter the heart of their season. The leader left the Coliseum convinced to compete with anyone.
"I do not stress," Rodgers insisted. "There are a lot of good things that happened today, I feel better about our defense, the Rams are a good team, we knew they would score a few points." J & # 39; said, "If we reach 30 (points), we win the game." We have 27 and we gave them two. So this is it. "
Then Rodgers returned to Wisconsin – still, like many of his teammates, stunned by the chain of events that deprived him of the opportunity to do magic and determined to find a way to overcome it at the end.
Follow Michael Silver on Twitter @mikesilver.
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