Green Bay Packers: Ty Montgomery blunder was rebellious act

Needless to say, the Green Bay Packers were livid at how the game in Los Angeles against the Rams ended. Not just at the loss, but how they lost.

For 59 minutes they’d gone toe to toe with the best team in the NFL. The defense frustrated that vaunted Sean McVay offense most of the way while Aaron Rodgers and the offense scored 27 points and expected a chance to add more with over two minutes left. All they needed was a field goal to win. It was basically a replay of the San Francisco game all over again. Rodgers would get the ball, go down the field and Mason Crosby would hit the kick to win it.

Except replays can be tricky things in the NFL. On the ensuing kickoff, running back Ty Montgomery made the bizarre decision to run the ball out of the end zone rather than just take a knee and preserve time. It proved a fateful decision as Rams linebacker Ramik Wilson hit him, forced a fumble and recovered it, snuffing out the Packers game-winning drive before it ever got started.

To say there were many players and coaches outraged on the sidelines would be an understatement. It wasn’t the fumble they were furious about the most though. It was Montgomery’s decision to come out at all, and some believe it was a choice made out of selfish rebellion due to circumstances earlier in the game.

Ty Montgomery was outraged at being take off field earlier in game

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Mike Silver of NFL.com caught up with some of the players in the Packers locker room after the game. They had plenty to say regarding what happened on the Montgomery debacle. One of them even went so far as to say his decision was an act of selfish rebellion brought about by his being removed from the field on offense earlier in the game.

"According to more than a half-dozen Packers players and coaches who witnessed it, Montgomery had thrown a tantrum of his own on Green Bay’s previous offensive series, becoming noticeably enraged on the sideline after being removed from the game. At least one player believed there was carryover from that incident to Montgomery’s decision to disregard his coaches’ instruction and return the kickoff.“They took him out (the previous drive) for a play and he slammed his helmet and threw a fit,” one Packers player said. “Then (before the kickoff) they told him to take a knee, and he ran it out anyway. You know what that was? That was him saying, ‘I’m gonna do me.’ It’s a f—– joke.“I mean, what the f— are you doing? We’ve got Aaron Rodgers, the best I’ve ever seen, and you’re gonna take that risk? I mean, it’s ’12’! All you gotta do is give him the ball, and you know what’s gonna happen.”"

Montgomery’s frustration must stem from his lack of usage this season. Last year he carried the ball 71 times in eight games. So far this year through seven games he’s only carried it 26 times. As a competitor, he wants to play but the Packers have a running back-by-committee approach they’ve stuck with this season and he’s clearly unhappy with it.

It would seem that anger finally boiled over into a fit of desperation. Rather than do as he was told, he decided to freelance and prove he could be a playmaker in a big moment. Instead he gave the game away, which ironically could lead to even fewer touches moving forward.

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