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PD Packer Review: Week 11 1/2/Lions
This is the madness that is the Green Bay Packers.
The Packers came into Detroit on Thursday having won their previous two games but losing two of their defensive starters in the last one. Since their recent resurgence has been fueled largely by defense, there was some concern about how the Packers would go about replacing injured cornerback Al Harris and linebacker Aaron Kampman.
The Lions, who traditionally save their best performances for Thanksgiving Day, were coming off an inspirational comeback victory last Sunday over the Cleveland Browns. Detroit got an emotional boost when quarterback Matthew Stafford and receiver Calvin Johnson, who were both listed as ‘doubtful’ for this game, began the game in the starting lineup. The Packers shaky special teams immediately fed into that with Jordy Nelson fumbling the opening kickoff. Detroit recovered the ball on the Green Bay 20 yard line and had the Packers on their heels early when Stafford hit Johnson with a 1 yard touchdown pass five plays later.
For their part, the Packers continued their season long inability to finish long drives. Three of their first four possessions resulted in field goal attempts by kicker Mason Crosby, one missed from 43 yards and two others made from 20 and 25 yards out. In between, they did manage to score a touchdown from the 7 yard line with tight end Donald Lee diving over defenders into the end zone. That score was set up by a long completion in which quarterback Aaron Rodgers uncharacteristically had forever to find Donald Driver 68 yards downfield. But those failures, combined with more special teams letdowns, allowed Detroit to remain in this game far longer than they should have.
One bright spot was that the offensive line kept Rodgers clean for the most part, allowing only one sack on Rodgers when left tackle Chad Clifton failed to pick up blitzing linebacker Julian Peterson. Clifton later had to leave the game with a hamstring injury but at least the schedule will provide him a few extra days to recover before the Packers game next Monday. Ryan Grant also had a few nice runs though his efforts only resulted in just over 3 yards a carry.
The defense sustained it’s stellar play led by all-everything defensive back Charles Woodson who intercepted two passes, one of which he returned for a touchdown. Though the D registered only two sacks on Stafford, they pressured him into two other INTs; one each by Tramon Williams and Nick Collins. On this day against this team, the absence of Harris and Kampman didn’t seem to matter as coordinator Dom Capers still called an assortment of blitzes. As expected, Harris’ void meant more of DB (and PocketDoppler “favorite”) Jarrett Bush. While he didn’t hurt them today, he did appear to be burned a couple more times; against a better team his gaffs could come back to haunt them.
The Packers now have eleven days to get healthy and ready for the Ravens a week from Monday. With three consecutive victories, they have reestablished themselves as a playoff contender but they’ll still need to play better to make it four in a row against Baltimore.
5 Comments
You’re right, Bush is gonna hurt us. Out of position on two big plays and flattens out when he turns his head to look for the ball. I was wishing him an interception for Thanksgiving and the Lions handed him one…and he dropped it. The guy just doesn’t improve. I hope Al coaches him up or something but when teams see tape of this guy, they are going to want him on the field.
I think our play calling has settled in to where “shot” plays are predicated upon defensive adjustments to the run and short outs and screens. The plays we are running feel more natural now. The team is more relaxed and of course, winning helps that a lot.
I’m hopeful that the extra time before the next game will allow them to get Josh Bell and Trevor Ford up to speed so they don’t have to rely on Bush as much, if at all. Chillar might be back by then, too, giving them a LB option on the TE or RB.
As for the play calling, I still believe they need a better mix of run to pass. Over two possessions in the third quarter, 9 out of 12 plays were passes. That’s ridiculous when you’re sitting on a lead.
The next three games will tell the tale…cannot go 0-3 against Baltimore, at Pittsburgh, and at Chicago. The way things are looking, one win over the next three may get them in the playoffs.
The way I see it, they figure to lose at Pittsburgh and maybe AZ; the others are ‘toss-ups’. I believe the Baltimore game will be the key to the rest of the season.
Sadly, based on the comments I’ve read, it looks like Bush is going to be the nickle for the foreseeable future. I have a bad feeling about this, but am willing to see how it plays out before I go off the deep end.