Tony Dungy Appalled By Packers’ Choices
January 25th, 2021
It’s always a great and empowering feeling when you know your head coach was smarter than the other team’s head coach.
Bucco Bruce Arians’ former roommate, a man some now might call the third-best coach in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history, Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy, took to Twitter last night to deliver harsh criticism for the Packers’ coaching staff.
That’s uncommon for Father Dungy, who is a man of love and tranquility.
Father Dungy, however, let it rip after Green Bay didn’t drop back and play centerfield/zone defense at the close of the first half. That’s when Tom Brady, with eight seconds remaining and no timeouts, unleashed a touchdown bomb to Scotty Miller, 50-plus yards in the air. The Bucs marched into halftime with a 21-10 lead.
Joe will let Father Dungy say the rest.
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
And Father Dungy was not finished.
The truly moronic decision by the Packers to kick a field goal on fourth-and-goal with just over two minutes remaining and trailing by eight points left Dungy dumbfounded.
4th and goal at the 8. Trailing by 8 with 2:12 to play. If you kick a FG you still have to stop Tampa and score a TD. You take away the two point necessity but you still have to stop them and score a TD. I don’t see the downside to going for it on 4th down??
— Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) January 24, 2021
Joe still can’t believe the Packers didn’t go for a touchdown there. If they fail, the Bucs are backed up deep and Green Bay had all its timeouts and the 2-minute warning.
Of course, none of this mattered. The Bucs clinched their second trip to the Super Bowl when Tyler Johnson drew a pass-interference flag on third down with 1:41 remaining.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:11 am
I’m beginning to like him less and less. When is Tony gonna start praising Tampa and stop talking like its just on the other team guy acts like a butt hurt ex gf
January 25th, 2021 at 9:12 am
HAHA – Who decided not to worry about offense at all during an NFC championship game?
January 25th, 2021 at 9:12 am
Chiefs are going to have a hard time keeping JPP and Shaq away from Patrick Mahomes. Pro-Bolw LT Eric Fisher tore his Achilles last night vs. the Bills. This is the Chiefs second starting tackle to go on down this season. They lost Right Tackle Mitchell Schwartz in week 11 with a back injury. Not sure if he will heal up to start the Super bowl.
In last night’s game, Mike Remmers moved from right tackle to left tackle, Andrew Wylie shifted to right tackle and Stefen Wisniewski ended the game at right guard. Nick Allegretti remained at left guard and center Austin Reiter remained at center. Most likely, this will be the line-up vs. the Bucs.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:13 am
It was nice to not be outcoached for once. I told my wife they were going to Scotty on that play and BOOM. I was like how darn stupid are they???
And then when they didn’t go for TD at the end of the game. just WOW.
How do you not go for that. penalties this and that….those plays were the difference!
January 25th, 2021 at 9:14 am
Bad choices indeed. Why does it seem like Dungy is mad GB made dumb choices?
January 25th, 2021 at 9:15 am
Yup I was filled with glee when they kicked the FG… Somehow teams always seem to get those 4th down desperation attempts and hard enough to keep them out 3 times let alone 4. And whether it’s deflated defensive players or momentum teams who score there often seem to make the 2. Was worried we’d have to hope Brady could snap out of it and drive us down field quickly for a fg
January 25th, 2021 at 9:15 am
I thought it was a great call. But then again I’m a Bucs fan. Thanks for the gift coach LaFleur. 🙂
January 25th, 2021 at 9:16 am
I had no idea a FG would even be an option there. I would’ve been screaming at my TV if the Bucs had done that. Stunned they kicked the FG.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:18 am
All Brady’s INTs probably set them up to be tricked into overconfidence on defense.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:18 am
Decades ago, the Bus used to be in the same division as Green Bay. They kicked out butts almost every year. Winning twice this year to them was sweat justice.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:23 am
The whole town called in sick today… I hope you don’t live in Green Bay and have a root canal scheduled this morning 😉
January 25th, 2021 at 9:24 am
dungy has praised the bucs several times….he’s simply stating the obvious…BOTH were stupid decisions….
when they kicked the FG i could literary smell VICTORY!!!!…lol…
GO BUCS!!!!!
January 25th, 2021 at 9:25 am
No need to dislike Dungy. He’s right and he’s still a Bucs fan. Integrity means calling it like you see it and Dungy has always been that guy.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:26 am
My Company has cleaned Tony Dungy’s roof twice. I can assure you, he still has plenty of Love for the Bucs.
I too was quite puzzled, but happy with the Packers choices.
On the TD Pass to Scotty Miller, they sold out for a run, and we fooled them.
But going for a field goal was THE stupidest decision of all.
Believe me, the Green Bay Media is all over the Packers coaching staff today!
January 25th, 2021 at 9:27 am
Amazing to win an NFC championship game with our QB throwing 3 picks………..
January 25th, 2021 at 9:29 am
I with joe…. i could not believe they kick an fg. 3 and 8 should have been treated as 4 down territory. How good was the d in the redzone for us!
January 25th, 2021 at 9:30 am
He’s absolutely correct.
All the Buccaneer fans who constantly whine and moan like a little biotches… ***Newsflash***
Todd Bowles and Byron Leftwich and Bruce Arians have outcoached everyone they have face so far in the playoffs. Including the great Sean Payton
January 25th, 2021 at 9:31 am
Brady told Rodgers at the end of the game that he wanted the packers to make the game more interesting in the second half. However, Rodgers choked and did not capitalized on those 3 opportunities…. 😛
January 25th, 2021 at 9:33 am
Picks were more on the WRs than on the QB, IMHO
January 25th, 2021 at 9:35 am
When GB brought out the kicker, reality set in. We are going to win this thing. I could not believe they decided to kick it. I seriously thought GB was going to run some crazy trick play or something lol.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:36 am
I also agree about the decision to kick a field goal. That is one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen in a big game.
There was a little over two minutes left.
He tried to justify it by saying he essentially had four timeouts…
So what!?!?
1- After the kick off the two minute warning might be gone
2- their defense had to stop Tampa Bay, which they did not do that often in the game. The Buccaneers stopped themselves in the second half.
3- so then they were counting on getting the ball back , probably with no timeouts and very little time on the clock m, going all the way back down the field from wherever they get the ball and still having to score a touchdown.
4- and for what? Simply so they don’t have to go for two points if the stars align and all those other things actually take place?
Unbelievably bad call
January 25th, 2021 at 9:37 am
Even Greg Williams thought that was bad defense…
January 25th, 2021 at 9:39 am
Chesapeake….
😂 no. Not even close.
The interception he threw down the sideline was a horrendous throw and a very bad decision in to double coverage.
The interception he threw over the middle off of Evans fingertips was just a horrible throw.
Evans was wide open with space in front of him and Brady had all day to throw it. He threw it way too high – it touched Evans’ fingertips but he had no chance of catching that
The third and two heave while falling backwards in the face of a blitz doesn’t bother me. It was basically a punt. He tried to give Evans a chance. Unfortunately Evans didn’t know he was under pressure and never saw the ball.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:45 am
Yah. Whats up with Dungy?
He gets worked up for the other team when playing bucs
Obviously has some bad blood for being fired
He gave so much praise for washington qb when playing bucs in playoffs. It was so disgusting the bias.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:46 am
Brady told Rogers at the end of the game, I can’t believe you couldn’t win a fixed game!!! I gifted you 3 interceptions!
January 25th, 2021 at 9:56 am
@David:
good assessment of those ints…
def on point…
3 ints can be quite costly, but these 3 somehow had minimal affect on the games outcome…
maybe tom needed to get these out of his system again, to sharpen up for kc
January 25th, 2021 at 10:01 am
i don’t think tony eats enough food 🙂
#HitUpThatBuffetOnceThePandemicIsOver
January 25th, 2021 at 10:03 am
They also didn’t onside kick after the field goal, it wasn’t like Bucs were going to pass the ball. It was apparent he had no faith in Roger’s he was shell shocked. Adam’s & Roger’s are big babies, except the loss and move on.
January 25th, 2021 at 10:03 am
You’ll remember with about 5 minutes left in the first half, we forced GB to kick a field goal when they were first & goal….I think that stuck in their coach’s head…
Wrong call for sure….you trust your HOF QB on 4th down.
One thing that really surprised me last night is that Rodgers didn’t run…..I guess it was FODW………”fear of Devin White”…..Savior Grisly
January 25th, 2021 at 10:09 am
Anyone that’s played or watched football was shocked when GB went for the FG at the end of the game. A TD and 2-point conversion ties the game. Then you hope your D can hold the Bucs to a 3-and-out and try to drive down the field for a winning FG. Worst case scenario you take the game to OT. A FG gives you nothing. You still have to hold the Bucs to a 3-and-out and hope you can score a TD.
January 25th, 2021 at 10:10 am
I don’t know about Evans vs good corners, they really seem to get in his head. The first interception Brady threw to Evans he was completely covered, that one was definitely on Brady. The one down the middle was on Brady for the high throw but Evans did get both hands on the ball at the top of his jump. It was a tough catch but superstar receivers can come down with that ball. The last interception Brady was bailing out from the pressure, he just threw it up and thought Evans would be aware it was coming.
Teams with shut down corners can take Evans out of a game because he doesn’t have the quickness and the elusive cutting ability to shake these corners loose.
Other than that first drive, Evans was a non factor in the game. But at least they won without him getting 100 yards and Godwin, Miller, Gronk, Brate and Fornette stepped up to help Brady.
January 25th, 2021 at 10:17 am
David Says:
January 25th, 2021 at 9:30 am
He’s absolutely correct.
All the Buccaneer fans who constantly whine and moan like a little biotches… ***Newsflash***
Todd Bowles and Byron Leftwich and Bruce Arians have outcoached everyone they have face so far in the playoffs. Including the great Sean Payton
BINGO!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!
January 25th, 2021 at 10:18 am
I’m probably going to upset a few, and I’ll preface that I’m thankful for what Dungy did for our team… it bothers me that he criticized the GB game play decisions which back in the day he would have kicked it too just like Green Bay did. I’m proud of my Bucs!!!
January 25th, 2021 at 10:20 am
Boy if Mr Conservative Tony Dungy says you should have went for it….
I wish there would be more focus on BA going for the 1st down at midfield at the end of the half. That was a pretty ballsy call in my mind. But he went for it, got it, and then Brady to Scooter for 7. That was a big, big call!!!
January 25th, 2021 at 10:21 am
Wait… the man who never saw a FG opportunity he didn’t like is criticizing another coach about kicking a FG???? Lol I agree Lafleur should have gone for it but for Dungy to criticize about kicking FG’s is the height of hypocrisy! He lost his job here for kicking too many FG’s! We are talking about a coach that was trying to win the NFC Championship 6-5! This should be our 3rd Super Bowl appearance but thanks to the FG king it is our 2nd…
January 25th, 2021 at 10:21 am
You damn right he would have! Joe fully remembers the game at Green Bay late in the season where Father Dungy had Shaun King back up and take a three-yard loss on third down with the clock winding down. Grammatica just missed the field goal by a hair. If they tried to get a couple of yards, he likely makes that field goal.
(Yeah, Arians is guilty of the very same thing last year with Matt Gay against the Giants).
January 25th, 2021 at 10:44 am
That is rich from a guy who in the Colts SB playoff year, late in the game and trailing, sent his punt team out. Manning over-rode Dungy’s decision and waived them back… made the first down and ultimately scored the winning
This guy straight up wasted the HOF careers of our best players. Honestly, he is in no position to be critical of anyone
January 25th, 2021 at 10:54 am
Everyone acts like eh packer would have score on fourth down and got a 2 point conversion. they had first and goal on the previous 3 plays and did not manage to get it. Packers did not lose because of that call. They lost because of the first half beating they took!
So tired of hearing everyone with the excuses about how the Bucs opponents , bad coaching, holding not being called….Bottom line is all the NFC division winner got beat by the bucs! Keep on underrating them and watch what happens against the Chiefs. I am sure they will have another reason why the chiefs failed to execute .
January 25th, 2021 at 10:55 am
“(Yeah, Arians is guilty of the very same thing last year with Matt Gay against the Giants).”
Looks like Arians learned from that experience.
…and they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks 🙂
January 25th, 2021 at 11:05 am
It was an exciting game between two excellent teams.
Why do we feel the need to use the term “choke” for any player? Rodgers? Really? Perhaps our ferocious pass rush and the memory of the last game kept him off of his spot. He did bring his team back. No?
Brady’s three int’s…at least one was on ME13 who turned a terrific bomb into a tipped ball that was easily picked off. Was it high? Yes but ME13 easily got two hands on it with no defender hassling him. He makes that catch 9 out of 10 times and Brady only has two ints…one of which was a Hail Mary that replaced the punt that would have followed if it was incomplete. By my calculation Brady threw two horrible balls…the one where he missed a wide open CG14 and the one he forced while falling backwards because of the Pack defender in his face and was clearly a horrible decision. Brady normally eats the ball. He’s the GOAT not the PAT..perfect at all times. Meanwhile how many great throws did he make. Same for Rodgers.
As for the coaching “choke”. Perhaps…I would have probably gone for it and not kicked that FG…but understand the rest of the story as Paul Harvey used to say. IF the pack got the TD…and then converted the two pointer..something they failed to do earlier in the game…they would have TIED the game but with slightly more than 2 minutes and the Bucs with 3 TO’s and the Two minute warning. Do we really think the Pack defense was going to stop Brady with 2 minutes left needing to simply get in FG range for a very dependable kicker!
Bottom line it’s ALL GOOD.
D.R. was correct before the game. He said don’t worry we got it. We have the best team. I think no matter how you game out all the various plays the best TEAM won yesterday.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:08 am
Fatherless Dungy is an effin asshole. Hey Mr. asshole how many super bowls were you in? You let your alligator mouth overload your tadpole ass.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:38 am
3 ints . 1 was basically a punt . 1 bad throw . The one over the middle was high but Mike didn’t even get off the ground . Watch the replay. Got caught between steps and didn’t elevate. With his vertical he catches that easily most times. It is what it is.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:38 am
Lmao Tony Dungy telling someone else not to kick FGs is the definition of the pot calling the kettle black.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:59 am
That field goal instead of one more TD try shows how the “pressure cooker” can get to an otherwise quality NFL coach. The snap decision might have cost Rodgers a last Super Bowl chance. It is easy to see in retrospect that leaving the Bucs backed up near their own goal would have given them a chance.
I’m sure there is a firestorm raging in in Green Bay today melting all of the snow as a results of that call.
Our defense pulled this one out of the fire this time! Go Bucs!
January 25th, 2021 at 12:01 pm
Yeah, you know you messed up when Dungy is telling you to go for it
😂
January 25th, 2021 at 12:04 pm
Adam…
The reason the interceptions were not costly was because the defense, and Todd Bowles, have been exceptional.
After those INT’s I believe they were held to two
3 & outs and a fg.
I don’t want to see one pass dropped in the Super Bowl and I don’t want to see any bad decisions or throws to wide-open guys from Brady. They can’t afford that against KC.
That said, KC is going to be the weakest defense they are facing in this playoff run
January 25th, 2021 at 12:17 pm
why is dungy even IN the hall? its supposed to be the hall of FAME not the hall of very good. the guy had TWO Super Bowl caliber teams and could only come away with ONE? cmon thats not great stats! Great man mediocre coach.
January 25th, 2021 at 12:17 pm
Surprised Tony even knows what a two point conversion is.
January 25th, 2021 at 12:20 pm
And that was riding the backs of one of the greatest defenses in NFL history and then arguably the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
(Dungy won with Sam Wyche’s team.)
And how Dungy got in before Jimmy Johnson just blows Joe’s mind.
George Halas, Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells, Chuck Noll, Tom Landry, Joe Gibbs, Tony Dungy.
Which name doesn’t fit?
January 25th, 2021 at 12:28 pm
i can tell you why he is in before Jimmy Johnson….. political correctness.
January 25th, 2021 at 12:44 pm
And Aaron Rodgers went along with all of it!
He could of called a timeout and had a one to one with coach La Fleur and talked him into going for it. Along with that on 3rd and goal, a running lane opened up but Aaron the MVP (!) decided to throw it into triple coverage which as we know did not work. So enough talk about one bad call. Bad coaching decisions that were left uncontested by the league MVP is what led to GB loss and of course great play by the Buccaneers!
January 25th, 2021 at 1:02 pm
Dungy is in the HOF due to skin tone and because he is a nice guy. Voters had nothing negative to say about him.
Him being in the Hall cheapens it for every other coach. Political correctness, plain and simple. Wasted the prime years of Brooks, Sapp, Barber, Lynch and countless others.
January 25th, 2021 at 1:40 pm
Just like the Washington playoff game where Dungy openly rooted for The WFT and showed the QB much love…he desperately wants The Bucs and Brady to lose. He was more conservative than Pat Buchanan while the Bucs coach and may have punted on 4th and Goal from the 8th. 😉
January 25th, 2021 at 1:40 pm
Well I guess Im the only one who didnt think the FG was a terrible call. I did think they would go for it on 4th and shoulda but just dont think the call was a bad as most are acting like.
The way I see it they had to get 2 scores to win no matter what.
January 25th, 2021 at 1:47 pm
Wow I cant believe the seething hatred towards Dungy.
Dear Lord forgive these fans…..for they have sinned.
January 25th, 2021 at 1:54 pm
I repent to Father Dungy and his alter boy JimmyJacked. But he does want the Bucs & Brady to go down…I’m certain of that.
January 25th, 2021 at 3:25 pm
Someone’s worse at game management decisions than Klueless. That’s the kinda call that gets you fired. Still can’t believe they kicked it. Thank you from all the Bucs fans tho!
January 25th, 2021 at 4:34 pm
Hearing Dungy criticize another coaches offensive play calling is rich. Does he not remember the horrible offenses we were forced to endure during his reign. His buccaneer defense deserved at least 2 more Super Bowls had it not been for his offensive offense.
January 25th, 2021 at 5:02 pm
dungy is a HOF because he knows football and has the jewelry to prove it….end of story…manning didnt win a SB until dungy showed up….thats a fact…
jon won with tonys team…and when jon tried to build and win with his own team he failed and got ran outta town….lol…
GO BUCS!!!!!
January 25th, 2021 at 5:16 pm
If that is true then Dungy never would have been fired.
Check yo roster sheet.
January 25th, 2021 at 6:11 pm
if you are down by 8 and get a touchdown, you have a 50% of getting the 2 pt and tying, and if you go to overtime, a 50% chance of winning from there. So down by 8, you have only a 25% chance of winning.
Less than that given that there was enough time for the Buccaneers to win a tie ballgame.
Still not sure it was a good choice to kick a field goal, but it’s hardly clear-cut that it was a terrible decision.
January 25th, 2021 at 6:31 pm
So yall talk bad Dungy but up lift and made excuses for Dirk last week when he retired. Man yall a joke Dungy is the guy who took a team that was straight trash for 15 years in a row and made them a winning team . Dungy changed the culture of this team and one of the reasons I became a bucs fan after my oliers left Houston in 1995 . Then after he built the team they brought in another coach to win the superbowl . The 2002 Bucs will always be Dungy team. Dirk Kotter was a joke and a trash coach look at RoJO a prime example . Some of yall in this fan base is trash lol lol lol !!!! Big respect for Dungy !!!
January 25th, 2021 at 6:53 pm
Dungy got into the HOF before Johnson and others due to the current whackjob pc culture without a doubt, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t belong there. Our team was absolutely pathetic and a sad sack franchise for years until Dungy came along and righted the ship. Winning a Superbowl and turning around the worst franchise (I love my team, but I have to be honest) in the history of sports makes you worthy of he HOF all day long. He’s still only the 3rd best coach that we’ve had, but he was still damn good and I appreciate everything that he did for us.