The Game Goat Thread: Wk. 4 @ Green Bay

SeoulSoxFan

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You have to think that with Mac at QB, NE most likely won today.

Thus, my only goats are the injuries.

1-3 but this team will get better as the season continues.
 

Arroyoyo

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I don’t know, the offense looked better for much of today than it did in several of Mac’s starts.

*ducks*

Goat: Just Matt P for not being more aggressive in OT on the GB side of the field. You’re playing with house money at the point, go for the big play to get in FG position.
 

Ale Xander

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Myles Bryant
Myles Bryant
Myles Bryant

HM: Lack of aggressiveness with ball in OT in GB territory
 

axx

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Lost the game when the DBs played off on what was probably going to be another run.
 

Harry Hooper

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No viable alternative to playing Myles Bryant seems more goat-worthy than the player himself.
 

Ralphwiggum

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No goats. Played a good NFL team on the road to OT with a rookie third string QB forced into action. Sucks to lose and they left some plays on the field, but no goats for me.
 

heavyde050

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I don’t know, the offense looked better for much of today than it did in several of Mac’s starts.

*ducks*

Goat: Just Matt P for not being more aggressive in OT on the GB side of the field. You’re playing with house money at the point, go for the big play to get in FG position.
I mean Mac has definitely had way too many turnovers but he moves the ball.
I did like the mix of running game and play action.

My only Goat is whoever was responsible for the OT drive. I mean the defense forced Rodgers and the Pack to punt. They had the win in their grasp.
 

luckiestman

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Pats should have thrown on second down in OT if I’m second guessing but it’s nuts to me that they almost won this game.
 

IdiotKicker

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Jake Bailey
Miles Bryant
Isaiah Wynn

I thought even Tavai had redeeming moment in 2H and OT, but Bailey cost them field position on a number of punts, Bryant is consistently bad, and Wynn had two penalties and two sacks allowed before being moved to the swing tackle.

Other than that, the offense was decent with great OL work otherwise. Run defense was bad. Not a great team by any means, but they do battle.
 

AlNipper49

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I agree. No goats. We all know the Pats are not winning the Super Bowl this year and that was about as fun as a game stacked against you could go.
 

88 MVP

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Maybe “goat” isn’t fair, because he had a backup and third-string QB to work with today…

But egads, Patricia, that OT drive. With the ball at midfield needing ~15 yards to win the game, you’ve got to come up with something more creative than 2 runs into the line and a 3rd down pass. 15 yards! Call the best, most creative play in your bag. A WR pass. A Philly special. Even play action on first or second down! I miss Josh.
 

Preacher

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The refs. That’s my pick. Some atrocious calls. I guess I’m also kind of getting sick of Bailey sucking (the punter not the QB).

Realistically, to have your third string rookie QB have to come in the game unexpectedly and end up taking the Packers to OT in Green Bay says a lot about this team. Mac probably wins this game but I think Hoyer might have been able to win it as well. The defense was understandably pretty vanilla with Zappe in.
 

streeter88

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How is Wynn not the biggest of Goats? Hoyer out with concussion, Zappe sacked and fumbles.

I was left wanting more in OT as well, but not as well qualified to comment as others on the playcalling. Just very disappointing to not quite win. Moral victory be damned.

I mean, it kind of has to be Isaiah Wynn, doesn’t it?
Edit: Thank you!
 

NickEsasky

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The Patriots played tough. That said…

Wynn
Bryant
Timid play calling down the stretch and OT. Zappe might have fallen flat on his face but damn let the kid try to make a play.
 

BaseballJones

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Maybe “goat” isn’t fair, because he had a backup and third-string QB to work with today…

But egads, Patricia, that OT drive. With the ball at midfield needing ~15 yards to win the game, you’ve got to come up with something more creative than 2 runs into the line and a 3rd down pass. 15 yards! Call the best, most creative play in your bag. A WR pass. A Philly special. Even play action on first or second down! I miss Josh.
Why "more creative"? They'd been running the ball very, very effectively all game long. They ran for 167 yards and a 5.1 ypc average. The possession before the one at the end of regulation they tried two pass plays. One ended in a sack and the other a short 6 yard gain on 3rd and 15 (which GB was more than happy to allow). Their two previous possessions (both touchdowns), they did this on the ground:

+5
+14
+7
+4
+12
+5
+17
+2
+4
+5

That's 10 carries for 75 yards, and only one of the ten carries went for fewer than 4 yards.

I would have liked to have seen that Henry play on second down, but who knows if GB gives it up.

They just needed to do it better.
 

Ed Hillel

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Nobody. Great effort. Bryant isn’t very good, I already knew that, not feeling like it’s something to point out after that effort.
 

streeter88

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Bit of ref ball in OT at the most critical moment, but surprised and pleased that they did stick with their incomplete call despite heavy pressure from the home crowd (and maybe from New York).

Home game for Green Bay would be a recipe for home cookin’ by the refs…
 

OurF'ingCity

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Jake Bailey
Miles Bryant
Isaiah Wynn

I thought even Tavai had redeeming moment in 2H and OT, but Bailey cost them field position on a number of punts, Bryant is consistently bad, and Wynn had two penalties and two sacks allowed before being moved to the swing tackle.

Other than that, the offense was decent with great OL work otherwise. Run defense was bad. Not a great team by any means, but they do battle.
This is my list too. Honorably mention for the defensive playcalling on the final drive, I don't really understand why they were just giving the 5-yard screen pass to GB. Play press coverage and if Rodgers beats you deep you tip your hat.
 

Bowhemian

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There can be no goat for this one. It was an incredibly gutsy performance by the entire team, players and *gasp* even the coaches too. Starting a not very good second string QB, who goes down early forcing the rookie into action. Zappe wasn’t even good, that’s not the point. The point is that he went in there, at Lambeau Field, and didn’t exactly give the game away. I was impressed with his composure. I think we all know this could have been a 30 point GB victory. The fact that this team hung in there for 4+ quarters Impressed the shit out of me.
 

Helmet Head

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I really thought the game was well played for the most part but I think Wynn deserves mention.

They had no business even being in that game and they were: That said, I was really upset live with the 2nd and 5 call in OT because I thought it was the perfect time for a play action with a rookie QB.

Would have been a great win.
 

54thMA

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I agree. No goats. We all know the Pats are not winning the Super Bowl this year and that was about as fun as a game stacked against you could go.
I'm right there as well, although for the second week in a row, the defense played very good in the first half and wilted in the second half.

Also as others have said, after they forced GB to punt in OT, be aggressive there, play action on 2nd down specifically, this is what happens when you don't employ an actual OC.

The last place AFC East New England Patriots.

Been a long time since you could say that.

Spoiled rotten from 2001 through 2019, I've said it countless times, but what a ride.

They are just good enough hang tough but still lose at this point, it is what it is, the roster is void of talent for the most part.
 

BaseballJones

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I really thought the game was well played for the most part but I think Wynn deserves mention.

They had no business even being in that game and they were: That said, I was really upset live with the 2nd and 5 call in OT because I thought it was the perfect time for a play action with a rookie QB.

Would have been a great win.
They tried the play action on 2nd and 6 from the NE 29 on their penultimate drive in regulation, but that led to a sack of Zappe. I'm guessing BB figured they could get 3 yards and then maybe have two shots to pick up the last 2 yards.
 

brandonchristensen

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Overall - not really worth a goat thread because it was a fun game that we almost stole. The only bad part is that we could have won if we were more aggressive.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Before getting into the Pats goats, need to shout out the gawdawful officiating. The crew seemed to not have the game under control leading to more BB screaming at the officials than usual. Once the messed up officiating seemed to work in the Pats favor with a missed delay of game call on the Zappe to Parker touchdown. But they also called an absurd "horse caller" personal foul on Schooler, ruining what was a great, great special teams play by him. Schooler grabbed the jersey below the nameplate, not the fucking shoulder pads between the shoulder blades. Anyway, these officials were not ready for prime time.

On to the Pats.

1. Coaching/offensive playcalling. They were not prepared for Bailey Zappe to have to play in this game. All things considered, Zappe did a heck of a job in difficult circumstances. But, with the game on the line, they had nothing but vanilla stuff that Zappe sucks at, at least for now. His pocket presence in this game was awful, but when given time back there, or on play action, he made some plays. But he's also the most mobile QB on the team and they had no rollout or designed run plays for him. In OT, given a golden opportunity to win the game by their defense, they had nothing but 2 predictable runs up the middle and then a typical dropback pass. They should have a few plays designed to take advantage of what Zappe can do, they clearly don't, and it probably cost them a win. On top of that, does anyone track the stat "passes completed for negative yards" - if I had to guess I would say that the Pats lead the league in those. They had one misdirection reverse play that Kendrick Bourne ran for 15 yards. But, otherwise, these type of plays have virtually vanished from the offense. Bourne's run was only the second time in four games a WR run play was called - Meyers ran a jet sweep for 7 yards in one of the other games. It's vanilla, boring, and predictable all the way down.

2. Myles Bryant. Simply overmatched as a slot corner. Rodgers and Cobb owned him on several key plays in the second half. For some reason BB loves this guy, and he is a liability.

3T. Isaiah Wynn. I always thought he was supposed to be a smaller, more mobile tackle, but he seems to get beaten easily to the outside these days.

3T. Jake Bailey. Didn't this guy used to be an excellent punter? He shanked a punt at the end of the 4th and nearly gave GB a chance to win in regulation. He put a couple of short field punts into the end zone for touchbacks.

There were good things in this game:

1. Jack Jones had a great pick-6. Read the QB and jumped the route. He did it on another play, too, an overthrown deep ball the fell incomplete - Jones, running downfield away from the QB, looked like he was running the route with a step on the WR. Jones had some problems tackling in this game. He's small and he seems to tackle high, which led to a couple of bad missed tackles. But as far as playing CB, this kid looks like he has some great natural ability.

2. Marcus Jones returned all kicks and punts in this game, and he did it well. Averaged 27.8 yards on 4 kickoff returns (long 37) and had 2 punt returns for 29 and 20 yards. He looks like he can be a real threat to break returns. The second, 20 yard, return was in OT and should have put them in position to drive 15 yards and win it with a FG, but all the Pats offense had was standard vanilla stuff that GB was ready for and Zappe cannot do, so they went three and out. Jones had one mistake - instead of fair catching a punt, he let one fall and get downed at the 2 yard line. But you can see why they drafted him, he could be a ST difference maker.

3. Despite the obnixious officiating call (horse tackle), Schooler actually made an incredible (and legal) tackle on that play - he deserves a shoult out.

4. Harris and Stevenson had a strong running game, carring 32 times between them for 152 yards. They did not get it done on the Pats final two drives, when every person on the field, in the stadium, or watching from home knew exactly what was coming, but Pats staff obviously did not have a play they trusted Zappe to run.

5. Zappe was a mixed back but made some plays that kept the Pats in the game and gave them a chance to win. Pluses: he got a few balls downfield, and he has some mobility. On a couple of occasions when he saw the rush, he was able to move and complete passes. Minuses: no pocket presence. He had no clue an outside rusher was coming free on the strip sack. On a play action pass where he had all day but finally got sacked, he didn't see (or look for?) his wide open outlet. On some of the plays where he scrambled, his throws on the run were off target, which is hopefully a machanical issue he can fix. Picked up a delay of game in a critical spot, and might have picked up 2 in a row but for a fuckup by the officials. Hard to say because it seemed like the officials game management was a mess. It kills me that the Pats didn;t have a designed run for him in the playbook (or had it and preferred to go three and out with the game on the line).

6. The Patriots defense seemed to have Rodgers stymied in the first half. Of course, he more or less figured out whatever it was they were doing in the second half, but to almost completly shut Rodgers down for a ahlf is something I did not expect.

7. Judon got some important pressures.

8. Cole Strange seemed to make some key plays in run blocking.

This was a good game in many ways, but it feels like the Pats let this slip away, which they can't afford this season.
 

OurF'ingCity

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The last place AFC East New England Patriots.

Been a long time since you could say that.
Technically this is true but they also started 1-3 last year and managed to make the playoffs. They probably won't this year because of Mac's injury, but I don't really feel like last year's start was any better than this year.
 

Garshaparra

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I had predicted 27-13 GB, so I was half right...

Bryant and Wynn as goats, of course. Gambling Jack Jones (which I intend to call him going forward) can't assume he can jump every route and punch out every ball. He essentially single-handedly put the Pats in a position to win with the fumble+recovery and TD pick, but he also gave up on tackling often and just went for punchouts, giving GB receivers extra yardage. By no means would I call him a goat, but it's something for him to work on. The game was very entertaining though, and I'll take that. We're on to Detroit.
 

4 6 3 DP

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Would have liked 38 to be the running back in overtime. The explosiveness might not have mattered but we needed the extra burst.

Past that it's wynn and Bryant.
 

54thMA

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I had predicted 27-13 GB, so I was half right...

Bryant and Wynn as goats, of course. Gambling Jack Jones (which I intend to call him going forward) can't assume he can jump every route and punch out every ball. He essentially single-handedly put the Pats in a position to win with the fumble+recovery and TD pick, but he also gave up on tackling often and just went for punchouts, giving GB receivers extra yardage. By no means would I call him a goat, but it's something for him to work on. The game was very entertaining though, and I'll take that. We're on to Detroit.
That's the way the kid plays, he is what he is, I'll take him on this team, a nice find in the draft.
 

54thMA

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Technically this is true but they also started 1-3 last year and managed to make the playoffs. They probably won't this year because of Mac's injury, but I don't really feel like last year's start was any better than this year.
No, they will not.

They aren't a very good football team on either side of the ball and this organization has a lot of work to do to get back to being good, not to mention they have a tough road to travel within the division.
 

BaseballJones

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Last season through 4 games (3 home, 1 road): 1-3, scoring 17.8 points, allowing 17.5 points
This season through 4 games (1 home, 3 road): 1-3, scoring 18.5 points, allowing 24.5 points

Record of opponents played in first four games through four games in 2021:
Mia: 1-3
NYJ: 1-3
NO: 2-2
TB: 3-1
TOT: 7-9

Record of opponents played in first four games through four games in 2022:
Mia: 3-1
Pit: 1-3
Bal: 2-2
GB: 3-1
TOT: 9-7
 

steveluck7

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Not really anything to do with the goat but I laughed at the sequence of Bill losing his mind about the play lock being reset after the dropped TD by GB only to have them take an intentional delay of game.
 
Apr 24, 2019
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Like others here, I don’t feel like giving out a “GOAT,” BUT:

Wynn has become an abomination and almost got TWO QB’s knocked out of the game. It’s especially annoying given the rumblings in training camp that he was unhappy to be moved to the right side of the line in a walk year. Now he’s got a lot of penalties - four pre-snap, including Bailey’s FIRST ever regular season snap (EDIT: while deep in his own end) - and keeps giving up pressures and sacks. Unreal how much he’s regressed.