Longtime NFL head coach Tony Dungy is not a guy who likes to be excessively critical of his peers, so the comments he made about the Green Bay Packers’ defensive setup to end the first half of the NFC Championship are certainly notable.
With eight seconds left and the Buccaneers 39 yards away from the end zone and out of timeouts, it seemed the Packers simply had to keep them away from the sideline to run out the clock on the first half. However, Tom Brady managed to find Scotty Miller for a 39-yard touchdown after Packers cornerback Kevin King got torched on the play.
Dungy seemed to lay blame at the feet of Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, calling Green Bay’s defensive setup on the play “the worst defensive design I’ve ever seen with 8 seconds and no timeouts left.”
That may be the worst defensive design I’ve ever seen with 8 seconds and no timeouts left. Green Bay—I’m not sure how you play inside technique man to man and nit just play zone and protect the sideline and the end zone? Amazing.
— Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) January 24, 2021
Brutal, but there’s not much to argue with here. The Buccaneers were out of timeouts. They basically had to either score or find someone right by the sideline. The Packers should have been able to take both of those strategies off the table with a better defensive strategy.
We just wonder if Brady will like this Dungy take more than this one from last month.
