[ad_1]
Ty Montgomery gets the Bonehead Award for Week 8 Aaron Rodgers on the sideline.
Todd Gurley gets the Egghead Award for Week 8 Aaron Rodgers on the sideline.
Ensuring Green Bay's clutch quarterback stayed off the field after Greg Zuerlein hit a 34-yard field goal with 2:05 left the Los Angeles Rams to win the league's unbeaten team with a 29-27 win Sunday.
Rodgers never got a shot at his career because Montgomery ignored instructions to take a knee for a touchback and instead took the kickoff out of the end zone.
That was a bad move as far as clock management goes, and it quickly turned into a downright destructive decision when Ramik Wilson linebacker blew him up at the 20-yard line, jarring the loose ball and smothering it.
'' That play did not lose the game, '' Rodgers said, '' but it's an opportunity to win. ''
Moments later, Gurley, cognizant that a missed extra point would leave Green Bay within striking distance, stopping the way to the end zone.
"That's the situational awareness we talk about," Rams coach Sean McVay said. '' Unselfishness. ''
Both Gurley and Montgomery had been told exactly what to do in the very situations in which they found themselves.
"'Sean told me to remind everyone we do not want to score, just get down if we get a chance to score,' 'Rams quarterback Jared Goff said.
"That's something we're talking about, but Todd would probably have done that on his own," McVay said. '' But when we send it in we say, '' All right, this is a situation where we get going first, we do not want to score. '' But smart players find a way to make it happen when it comes down to it.
Gurley said, '' We go over this stuff every week. We know what to do in what situations. That's what we do, we are: unselfish players, situation masters. "
For the Packers then, which was a selfish player and a situational disaster.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Montgomery was leaving the ball out of the end zone, leaving Green Bay with the chance to stop the clock as Rodgers drove the Packers downfield for a chance to retake the lead.
"The plan is to stay in the end zone," McCarthy said.
And can the ball back in Rodgers' able hands, the game on his broad shoulders.
Montgomery left L.A. without speaking to reporters but he had plenty to say.
Montgomery, now a third-string running back and kick returner, denied the accusations in an NFL.com story in which an unidentified teammate said he had thrown a tantrum when he was taken out of the game on the previous series and '' ran it out anyway '' because he was upset.
'' It's very frustrating that the perception in the media is nowhere. I'm insubordinate. I'm a cancer, whatever is out there, '' Montgomery said, adding that he has gotten threats online.
He said he made a split-second decision to defy his coaches' orders to take a touchback when he caught the kickoff 2 yards deep and worried he could be too close to the line to take a knee.
McCarthy gave no indication that the packers were planning to cut Montgomery, who also said he's unsure of his role in the team with fellow running backs Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams getting more snaps.
'' I do not fully understand what my role is right now, what I'm supposed to be doing, '' Montgomery said, '' how I'm supposed to help this team. ''
He sure found a way to hurt his team.
Other takeaways from Week 8 included a 22-yard shank that Denver's rookie punter blamed a blown whistle that apparently came from the stands, a double firing in Cleveland and the Jacksonville Jaguars living in London in the wee hours before losing again.
SHRILL SHANK
Colby Wadman might be the second one in Denver this season. Wadman blamed a whistle on his 22-yard shank that gave Kansas City the ball at the Broncos 32 and led to Kareem Hunt's TD that put the Chiefs ahead 30-14 in the third quarter Sunday.
'' He heard a whistle somewhere, but he's gotten to follow through with the kick, '' Broncos coach Vance Joseph lamented. '' That short field killed us. ''
Joseph said he did not hear a whistle.
"I did not like the players heard whistles," said Joseph. '' And again, come on! Whatever! Kick the ball! ''
In this game, the Broncos had a beef with several flags that were thrown – negating three 20-yard-plus gains – and some that were not – like the ones when the guards were blocking 5 yards downfield only to see Patrick Mahomes throw to a wide-open Travis Kelce.
Reggie Ragland's sack of Case Keenum Reggie Ragland's linebacker was not so bad, but it was a textbook example of the '' body weight '' rule that's been such a hubbub this season.
BROWNS BREAKUP
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam thought hiring a high-profile offensive coordinator like Todd Haley would help Hue Jackson.
It did not get helped.
"Sometimes the best plans do not work out," said Haslam said Monday after firing both Jackson and Haley hours after the pair went public, threatening to turn into a turnaround of Cleveland's disasters.
Jackson won just three of the games over two-plus seasons after the Browns (3-5-1) lost their 25th consecutive road game, one shy of the NFL record.
JAGUARS JUSTICE
Jaguars strong safety Barry Church said his arrest, along with that of three teammates, at a London nightclub early Saturday morning was a big misunderstanding.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that the four men were arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation, but did not clarify the details. The Jaguars said in a statement that the players were detained because they did not pay their bill, but would not comment further.
Their 24-18 loss to the Eagles ends at Wembley Stadium, their home away from home, left last-place the Jaguars at 3-5.
—
More NFL AP: https://apnews.com/tag/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP-NFL
—
With contributions from AP Sports writer Tom Withers.
—
Follow Arnie Melendra Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton
[ad_2]
Source link
