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Why they lost: Green Bay Packers fall to Arizona in OT

By Kenn Korb

Jan 16, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd (15) catches a pass for a touchdown against Green Bay Packers cornerback Casey Hayward (29) during the fourth quarter in a NFC Divisional round playoff game at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 16, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd (15) catches a pass for a touchdown against Green Bay Packers cornerback Casey Hayward (29) during the fourth quarter in a NFC Divisional round playoff game at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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January 16, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Green Bay Packers cornerback Sam Shields (37) misses intercepting a pass against Arizona Cardinals during the second half in a NFC Divisional round playoff game at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
January 16, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Green Bay Packers cornerback Sam Shields (37) misses intercepting a pass against Arizona Cardinals during the second half in a NFC Divisional round playoff game at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

Dropped INTs

During this season, Carson Palmer was one of the top MVP candidates due to his excellent play. This game was not one of his better performances, with Palmer putting up plenty of shaky throws and showing questionable decision-making at times.

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Those shaky throws put the ball up for grabs far too often for the Cardinals, and Green Bay took advantage on a couple of them; first slowing the momentum after an interception by Rodgers to open the second half, then to halt what appeared to be a surefire touchdown drive.

The fact that he didn’t throw more lies in the matter of sheer dumb luck in his favor…but on that note, there’s another side to the story.

On at least three of those shaky throws, there likely should have been an interception, and Sam Shields should have been the guy to make it happen.

I specifically said three throws because that is the number that many of us watching would say Shields could have grabbed that would have likely helped seal the game in Green Bay’s favor far before the Hail Mary heroics of Rodgers and Janis had to be relied on just to give the Packers a shot at overtime.

But of course, Shields couldn’t come away with those chances; the rest is history.

Green Bay Packers cornerback Sam Shields (37) misses intercepting a pass against Arizona Cardinals during the second half in a NFC Divisional round playoff game at University of Phoenix Stadium. Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Green Bay Packers cornerback Sam Shields (37) misses intercepting a pass against Arizona Cardinals during the second half in a NFC Divisional round playoff game at University of Phoenix Stadium. Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

Due to not forcing those turnovers, we saw Arizona given extra chances; for an offense that is usually highly potent such as theirs has been all season, that kind of charity can be the death knell to your team’s hopes (and, more or less, it was).

I’m not going to throw a fit about Shields’ play though; in fact, he was the highest-graded player on either team for the game (+3.9)*. This is especially impressive, considering Shields just returned from an extended absence due to a concussion. His return also allowed Dom Capers to call a drastically different style of game-plan — one that worked exceedingly well all night, outside of some unlucky breaks (more on those later).

While it is somewhat unappreciative to look past all that good and only harp on what he wasn’t able to do, the dropped INTs definitely still played a major factor in the eventual outcome.

I’m sure he would admit the same.

*as per Pro Football Focus’ grading system

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