Dud No. 3 – David Bruton
I don’t want to fault David Bruton for hitting Aaron Rodgers high on a third down play. After all, it was a judgement call by the referees and the play had fans and analysts from both sides disagreeing with whether or not it was legal.
Nonetheless, on third-and-six at midfield, Bruton got to Rodgers on a safety blitz and made contact above the neck. The result was a roughing the passer penalty and a first down for Green Bay. He’ll likely be unofficially lauded in the locker room, but it did set up Green Bay’s first score on the night when a “smarter” play would have resulted in a punt.
Hindsight being 20/20, we now know that the Broncos cornerbacks were blanketing the Green Bay receivers all night and Rodgers had few downfield options, so the hit was largely unnecessary. In the moment, though, many fans (and perhaps Broncos coaches) would trade the penalty for ringing Rodgers’ bell.
Bruton wasn’t the only Broncos defender to move the chains due to infractions. On the night, Green Bay earned four of their 14 first downs via penalty.
Our first official studs were part of the reason Bruton got flagged.
