USA TODAY Sports
Kevin King did not have his best game on Sunday. The Packers cornerback, who played after being questioned with a back injury, gave Scotty Miller a 39-yard touchdown in the penultimate first-half play and scored a penalty for defensive pass interference on Tyler Johnson at the end of the fourth quarter.
But King doesn’t have as much responsibility as defensive coordinator Mike Pettine for the play before the break, which frankly was overshadowed by the final 2 and a half minutes of the game.
The day after one of the most disappointing losses in the Packers’ long history, tire tracks are everywhere, including on Pettine’s back.
Matt LaFleur’s comments immediately after the game raise a question as to whether Pettine’s future is already decided.
“It was the man’s coverage. It’s definitely not the right decision for the situation, and you can’t do things like that against a good football team and hope to win, ”said LaFleur, through Jason Wilde, from Wisconsin State Journal. “When you look at it, there were 120 strange moves on both sides of the ball, in addition to all the special teams. There were many moves in that game that could have been made, that could have changed the outcome of the game.
“But what hurt us the most was that move, and then going out to start the second half, [Aaron Jones] had the fumble and they scored for 28-10. That really was the big difference in the football game. You just cannot do these things.
“I blame us, as coaches, for putting our boys in this situation. This is inexcusable. This should not have happened. So we have to take a look at this, do some self-reflection and try to figure out ways that it can’t happen again. “
The Bucs were ready to hit Green Bay 45’s fourth-to-four before rethinking after a timeout. They got a first down on a throw from Tom Brady to Leonard Fournette at 39 and called their final timeout with eight seconds remaining.
Brady saw Miller take a step over King, who was in one-on-one coverage, resulting in a touchdown one second from the end of the break and a 21-10 lead in the break.
Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy was among the critics of the Packers’ coverage in that situation, writing: “It could be the worst defensive design I’ve seen it with 8 seconds and no time limit left. Green Bay – I’m not sure how you play the man-to-man technique and [not] just play zone and protect the sideline and the end zone? Amazing.”
Pettine’s mistake can cost you the job.