Lang On If Packers Wanted To Kill Bostick After Onside Kick: 'For A Split-Second, Yeah'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - When the Green Bay Packers lost to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC championship, many fans blamed second-year tight end Brandon Bostick, who tried to corral a crucial onside kick and failed. Green Bay led at the time, and Seattle scored on the following possession, taking the lead and eventually winning the game and advancing to the Super Bowl.
Bostick was not supposed to try to catch the ball; his job was to block so that wide receiver Jordy Nelson could catch it. When he saw the ball coming right to him, however, he made the natural move; he reached out and tried to catch it. Obviously, the mistake proved costly.
Asked if any of the Packers wanted to kill Bostick after that play, Green Bay guard T.J. Lang admitted he did have such a reaction in that moment.
"For a split-second, yeah," Lang told Valenti and Foster of 97.1 The Ticket. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't, just looking at him after that play, after they scored. Gosh, you just find something you want to blame for that loss, but when you come to terms with it in the locker room afterwards - I talked to the guy, for quite a while, actually, and really tried to tell him that that one play didn't lose us the game. It certainly didn't help, but there was many more plays that happened in that game, especially on offense the way we just couldn't get enough points on the board to pull away there, especially in the first half."
While Lang did not completely agree with criticism of Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, he acknowledged that he and other players would probably have rather gone for first downs versus settling for field goals.
"I'm always a fan for being smart, football-wise," Lang said. "I didn't have a problem kicking the field goals there early in the game, especially the first one to get on the board, 3-nothing.
"As a player, you like to think that you can get one yard, but they stopped us the previous drive on third-and-one," Lang added. "We had two chances from the 1-yard line that we got stuffed, so I guess that kind of played into the decision that we didn't score the first time."
As far as why the Packers did not throw more in the fourth quarter, Lang said it made sense to try and eat some clock because the team had a lead late in the game. Plus, as an offensive lineman, he takes pride in allowing the running back to be successful even when everyone knows a run is coming.
However, Lang acknowledged that perhaps the team should have relied more on quarterback Aaron Rodgers, considered by many to be one of the best in the NFL. Lang also implied that Rodgers was not a fan of all the running plays.
"He's a guy who, he's got a pretty good opinion on everything," Rodgers said. "Which quarterback would [like those calls?] He's obviously - he feels like we have the best chance to win when the ball's in his hand, which is understandable. It is true.
"But four-minute offense, when you've got a two-score lead, try to run the ball and get some time off the clock, and just didn't get it done," Lang continued. "The whole team kind of fell apart those last five minutes, not just one person or one aspect of the team. It was just a total collapse."