It’s hard to blame a guy for wanting to make a play, but sometimes the smart play is better than a potential big play. Ty Montgomery’s boneheaded return to seal the Los Angeles Rams’ win over the Green Bay Packers, for example.
Guess what? You’ll surely be surprised.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Montgomery wasn’t supposed to return the kick if it went into the end zone. It did. He returned it anyway.
And you know how that ended.
Here’s McCarthy’s full quote.
#Packers coach Mike McCarthy on the fumble by Ty Montgomery: pic.twitter.com/Cb8FrvTLeN
— Michael Cohen (@Michael_Cohen13) October 29, 2018
Just trying to make a play. Just losing the game.
Of course you want the ball in Aaron Rodgers’ hands. He’s already led two game-winning drives this season. Of course you want the clock north of two minutes. It would have been there if Montgomery had downed the ball.
The Packers would have had their final timeout to burn on offense and they could have gotten a play off before the two-minute warning.
Montgomery has 10 returns this season. He’s averaging 21 yards per return. When you down the ball in the end zone, you get it at the 25. So not even the law of averages stands up on this one.
Montgomery obviously wasn’t thinking of any of that. This seems like a guy who’s pressing.
He’s clearly the team’s third running back now. He has the fewest rushing yards on the team, including Rodgers. He’s sixth in receiving yards. Montgomery has been the Packers primary kick returner, but the results haven’t been great.
This is not to suggest the Packers will cut Montgomery after this gaffe, but it would come as no surprise if they start the process of activating Trevor Davis from the physically unable to perform list. Davis was the team’s primary return man in 2017.
When you’re 3-3-1, which the Packers now are, you can’t afford shit like this.
It may not be terribly noteworthy, but Montgomery left the locker room without talking to reporters after the game. So we don’t even know what his excuse is.
Excuse? None. Blew it big time. Game over.
You forgot to address the chance of a holding or block in the back penalty forcing the team to start a drive at approximately the 10. That was the biggest concern even over starting a drive with a little less than 2 minutes on the clock.
I don’t know the stats, but the Packers have had several penalties on returns this year.
Why is it that some players on this team never follow directions? Montgomery, Bostick, HHCD, Brad Jones, just to name a few. Or maybe they don’t know what to do because it wasn’t drilled into their heads enough. I don’t know, but the game-time decision making on this team needs to improve, and that comes down from the coaching staff.
Just cut the P O S. Totally useless.
A real coach would not play him again. Not activate him again. We’ll see if McCarthy is a real coach. Parcells, Beluchik, would cut him today.
Did anyone see the look on McCarthys face when Rodgers called that TO late in the 4th? The FOX camera caught Rodgers running to the sideline after that drive and McCarthy is in the background of the shot just staring at Rodgers like “what the fuck are you doin.”
McCarthy do anything but make excuses to cover his sizable ass. RIGHT! But howdy doody will do something.LOL!
MM did not say they told Ty to not return that specific kickoff. All MM said they have talked about that situation as a team. The team may have discussed not returning kickoffs in certain situations in training camp or practice. I doubt it was discussed before that specific kickoff with Ty.
That does not mean Ty is not guilty. It does mean that Zook and MM did not specifically discuss the situation before this specific kickoff. Just read the way MM answered the question. There is several reasons Ty did not answer any questions. One being Ty does not want to contradict MM if asked the correct question(s) by a reporter.
On second thought I could be very wrong. I think a reporter at today’s press conference should specifically ask MM, if MM or Zook specifically addressed NOT returning the kickoff in question with Ty just prior to the said kickoff? I think the answer is going to be no, or you need to ask Zook.
Coaches need to reinforce the things they have taught at critical times. I don’t think that happened in this case.
Good point, Howard. It is clear from what Montgomery did and this style of avoidance comment from Gravyhead that no one specifically told Montgomery not to take it out. No one at all. Coaches are the ones who are supposed to understand the overall situation and give direction to players. They clearly failed.
Yeah, Montgomery still messed up. But it is at least a shared fault with the coaches. Zook should have stated it specifically time of and Gravyhead should have fast-walked over there to make sure that exact conversation took place.
If they had specifically told him not to take it out and he still did, they would say as much and they would punish him, perhaps even cut him.
They did tell him to knee it apparently. Several players have said as much.
I want to hear MM say for that specific kickoff they told Ty to down it. If they did and Ty rejected that specific direction then Gutekunst will be trying to trade Ty for something this AM or sooner, and if he gets no bites Ty will be cut by later today or tomorrow.
I saw that article. I’m not sure about players saying those sort of things. And to think Jerry Kramer was not well liked for writing books about what happened in the locker room. How far the team has fallen if that story is true.
Ty lost a prime chance for a Packer win, and I emphasize chance. If several players are saying that stuff to the media then the team is lost. If players said Ty was told to kneel that is one thing. The other stuff if true would be a bunch of bullshit to say to the media.
I would guess there will be strong pushback from MM on that story to both the media and the player(s).
Just read what Howard said and add some pissed-offedness and you’d have my post. Nicely done taking the emotion out of it Howard.
Skinny brings up a good point that has been a major point of frustration for me with Aaron Rodgers. His time management hasnt been great at times, and it seems like at least once a game there is a timeout taken that seemed entirely unnecessary. Especially yesterday at that juncture of the game. Timeouts are so important
Holy shit. Just read that Montgomery was pissed off at being taken out of the game on the previous drive and that carried over to him disobeying coaches orders on the kickoff
Montgomery’s decision to run out the kickoff was related in part to his having been pulled from Green Bay’s previous offensive series, several players told Silver. “They took him out for a play and he slammed his helmet and threw a fit,” one Packers player said. “Then [before the kickoff] they told him to take a knee, and he ran it out anyway. You know what that was? That was him saying, ‘I’m gonna do me.’ It’s a f—– joke.
Take his helmet away permanently. As Bill Parcells said…NOBODY is worth fumbles. They are not a worse team without him, that is for sure.
As Howard stated, the truth or lack of truth shall be revealed:
Howard: “If they did and Ty rejected that specific direction then Gutekunst will be trying to trade Ty for something this AM or sooner, and if he gets no bites Ty will be cut by later today or tomorrow.”
Exactly.
No trade and no placement on waivers? Then the story is not true. He was then not specifically told and it is at least partially on the coaches.
Montgomery really fucked up, no doubt about it….how the hell will the Packers get to the Super Bowl now?
In other words, relax, ya’ll will get your pound of flesh when Montgomery is gone, now or after the season. He fucked up, should we stone him to death?
Mistakes (fuck-ups) are measured by their consequence, If this is the Packers biggest problem, we are Super Bowl bound for sure.
See you in Atlanta.