Bonehead Plays Make For A Rough Football Weekend
First of all, let me clear one thing up. I realize that my favorite teams aren't always going to win the football games they play. Undefeated seasons rarely happen. All you can ask your favorite team to do is not shoot themselves in the foot, and give themselves the best possible chance to win any given game. That's it. Just give me a chance! Football this weekend just didn't work out for me. My Hawkeyes and my Packers both lost. And BOTH should've had a real chance to win.
The Iowa Hawkeyes didn't play their best at Penn State on Saturday. The offense sputtered for most of the game. But in the second half, Nate Stanley got things rolling. Iowa had pulled within 30-24 and were knocking on the door for more. Stanely had trouble changing the play at the line of scrimmage all day Saturday. The Penn State fans made it tough for other Iowa players to hear. With the ball on the Penn State 2 yard line, Stanley looked to change the play late again. The play clock was winding down. Instead of calling a timeout, Stanley went ahead with the play. His receivers were confused and Penn State intercepted the pass, all but ending the game.
Fast forward to Sunday. Green Bay was a huge underdog to the undefeated L.A. Rams. But here was Aaron Rodgers and the Packers hanging around late in the game. The defense held the Rams to a field goal and L.A. led 29-27 with just over 2 minutes left in the game. The Packers and Rodgers would have one more chance. What more could a Packer fan ask for? On the ensuing kickoff, Ty Montgomery was told to kneel if the kick reached the end zone. The kick did. Montgomery did not. He reached the 20-yard line and then fumbled the ball away to the Rams. Game over.
So what if Iowa had called timeout and run a play without any confusions? What if Montgomery downed the ball and the Packers got the ball at the 25 with two minutes left? Perhaps both teams still would have lost. It's just tough to watch a team go down due to a mistake that was preventable. But that's sports. That's why we watch. That's why I yell at my TV.