Another week at Lambeau and another laugher for the Green Bay Packers. This time it was the Philadelphia Eagles that took the whipping before catching the first plane out of town.
First of all, the Packers are in their blue-and-gold pool ball jerseys with the plain gold helmets. The Packers were undefeated in 1929 with these uniforms, and I am pretty sure they are invincible while wearing them. It is quite possible that the Eagles saw the unis and gave up hope from the start.
The Packers started with the ball, which is bad news for the opposition as of late. The Packers opened in their standard three-receiver set with Andrew Quarless typically staying in tight with the formation. After a couple short passes picked up a first down, the Eagles decided to pressure with five and keep one safety deep. Aaron Rodgers looked the safety off to his left and then threw it to Jordy Effin Nelson on the go route up the right sideline. The coverage by Bradley Fletcher wasn’t terrible, but the pass was perfect, to the outside and hit Nelson in stride. Nelson accelerated away from the defense and only a diving tackle by Fletcher tripped Nelson up at the 9-yard line.
The Packers went three and out from there and kicked a field goal to make it 3-0. On first down, Rodgers wanted Randall Cobb on the out, but the pass was wide and high. On second down, the Eagles blitzed. Cobb ran right into the area vacated by the blitz, but Rodgers decided ahead of time that it was going to be a back-shoulder pass to Nelson. The timing was off, perhaps because Rodgers threw it sooner than he wanted to and it went incomplete.
On 3rd and goal, Rodgers had a lot of time. Cobb’s man fell down and he was free across the middle of the field. Plus, by the time Rodgers threw it, Eddie Lacy had slipped out of the backfield and no one was within 15 yards of him. None of that mattered because Rodgers was watching Nelson on the corner route the entire time. Nelson was actually double-covered on the play. Nelson threw on the breaks rather than finish the route and Rodgers tried to hit him at the back of the end zone. Nelson couldn’t collect the ball inbounds and it was fourth down.
The Packers defense started in their nickel, which is the defense they’d play for most the game. As expected, Clay Matthews and A.J. Hawk are the inside linebackers. After Mark Sanchez found Jeremy Maclin for 20 yards on a deep cross, the Eagles advanced to the Green Bay 40-yard line. However, the drive would end abruptly when Letroy Guion beat his man inside and sacked Sanchez for a 7-yard loss on second down. On the following 3rd and 13, Sanchez was pressured by Matthews and Julius Peppers and threw it incomplete. Punt.
3:35, 1st Quarter – The Packers complete a 13-play, 88-yard drive to go ahead 10-0.
The Packers faced a 3rd and 9 from their 13 right off the bat. Rodgers got plenty of time, rolled to his right and found Cobb on the corner route for 22 yards. Cobb’s defender, Brandon Boykin, fell down. After a pass to Quarless got another first down, the snap from Corey Linsley was a rising fastball and got by Rodgers. Rodgers did well to recover, but it was a 14-yard loss. Facing 3rd and 23, the Packers looked to be about to punt. However, after an offsides call made it 3rd and 18, Rodgers threw a nice touch pass to Quarless on the cross from the near slot, between the linebackers and safety, that was good for 24 yards.
Rodgers then picked up a 3rd and 10 by throwing a cross to Richard Rodgers for 19. After a Lacy rumble around the right side moved the ball to the Philly 6, Rodgers threw the quick slant to Davante Adams for the touchdown.
2:00, 1st Quarter – Micah Hyde takes it to the house after the defense forced a three and out.
The Eagles ran twice and faced 3rd and 6, curiously after Mike McCarthy chose to decline a holding call that would have made it 2nd and 17. It worked. The penalty allowed the Packers to put their amoeba defense on the field. With all pass rushers on the line on the attack, Mike Neal discarded a block and crushed Sanchez for another sack. On both sacks, high approaches by the defenders combined with last second ducks by Sanchez led to blows to the head on the quarterback. This was the crew to call something, as this particular officiating crew led the league in penalties called.
But, hey, you should know the drill by now. It doesn’t matter. This is a Packers game and hence the referees DON’T CALL ANYTHING, which works to the Packers’ favor here.
On the punt, if battles are won before they are fought, then a punt return is probably determined in the first five steps by the returner. Eagle Josh Huff pulled up before Hyde rather than risk hitting him before the catch. Hyde stepped right by him and took off straight up the field, angling towards the right sideline. The Packers’ return team, for once, blocked a lane wide enough for a police escort to drive through. Hyde had only the punter to outrun and he avoided the pain of tape day by doing so. Tuddy. That makes it 17-0 in the first quarter and I am sensing a trend here.
10:40, 2nd Quarter – After the Eagles waste all of our time with a drive for a field goal, the Packers go 80 yards in six plays to make it 24-3. Aaron Rodgers and I are starting to laugh at the Eagles.
The Eagles desperately needed to score some points to show some life. They moved down the field thanks mostly to short passes, including an 18-yard screen to Darren Sproles and a 20-yard swing pass to LeSean McCoy when the Eagles caught the Packers blitzing both their inside linebackers. The drive short-circuited inside the 10 when a second down screen to Sproles was dragged down 2 yards short of the first down by Guion. On 3rd and 2, the Eagles ran the play fake and throw it to the tight end on the drag that never works for the Packers, but usually works against them. It didn’t work this time because Clay Matthews lined up on the right end and didn’t care about no fake to the running back. It’s all about sacking the quarterback, yo! Matthews did so and the Eagles had to kick a field goal to get on the board.
Aaron Rodgers remained red hot and diced up the Eagles on the following drive. On second down, he got the Eagles to jump offsides and then found Cobb for 14 yards on the square in. He then play-faked, looked deep and settled for Cobb across the middle again for 22 yards. Cobb is flat killing people right now. Rodgers found Cobb again two plays later for 11 yards. The Eagles thought they could stem the onslaught with a blitz, but all that did was force Rodgers to fling it to Nelson on the go. The ball was perfectly placed to the outside, once again, and Nelson caught it and did his sideline thing. Touchdown.
2:00, 2nd Quarter – The Packers then go 80 yards in 10 plays to go ahead 30-3. The Eagles scurry for another meaningless field goal to make the first half embarrassment 30-6.
After the Eagles punted, again the Packers offense overcame near disaster. On the second play of the drive, Bryan Bulaga decided to leave Richard Rodgers alone on defensive end Vinny Curry. Curry eventually got to Aaron Rodgers and knocked the ball loose. Richard Rodgers at least stayed in the play enough to recover the fumble. The Packers then converted the 3rd and 7 when Rodgers found Cobb again on a short out from the slot. Cobb juked Bradley Fletcher and picked up 13 yards. On the next play, Rodgers scrambled up the middle for 16 yards, sliding past midfield.
Rodgers then used quick passes out of the slot to Cobb and then Nelson to pick up 11 and 10 yards, moving the ball to the Eagles’ 19. From there, Rodgers tried Nelson on the go again, but sooner than Tim Jennings did, Bradley Fletcher has decided that Nelson is not going to score another touchdown on his watch. He grabs onto Nelson’s left arm and keeps him from getting two hands on the football. That is an obvious penalty and the Packers were awarded the football at the 1-yard line. Eddie Lacy bashed his way in over the right side from the inverted wishbone, following John Kuhn into the end zone. The score ended up being 30-3 when Tim Masthay, perhaps a little unhappy with how he is being used, dropped the snap on the extra point.
The Eagles had a chance to end the half with a touchdown after rookie receiver Jordan Matthews made a really nice catch over Micah Hyde for 40 yards. That put the ball on the Packers’ 15-yard line with 23 seconds left in the half. Unfortunately for the Eagles, Sanchez tried three times for the end zone instead of taking the underneath pass that was more likely. On third down, Sanchez threw it away as Matthews took him down. The Eagles then showed their lack of seriousness by kicking a field goal.
7:55, 3rd Quarter – The Packers got the first points of the second half with a field goal, making the score 33-6.
The Eagles needed points on their first drive of the half. Instead they just go past midfield and then fumbled the ball away. McCoy and Sanchez screwed up a handoff and Nick Perry fell on it for the Packers.
No worries because the opponent may not be able to stop the Packers offense, but the first drive of the second half sure can. A Packers punt was pretty much guaranteed when Rodgers was called for grounding the football on second down.
The Eagles followed with a three and out of their own. Matthews batted the ball down on first down. Sanchez tried two more passes and completed neither. Punt.
A poor punt gave the Packers the ball at their 37. On the first play of the drive, Rodgers escaped to his left and then decided to just take off upfield. He got 16 yards. A couple plays later, Rodgers scrambled straight ahead and tossed Cobb the ball on the cross right in front of him. Cobb went up the left sideline for 20 yards.
The Packers got no further. After two runs by James Starks got just a couple yards, Rodgers just barely missed Cobb in the end zone when Fletcher managed to knock the ball out of Cobb’s hands. Crosby came in and made a 33-yard field goal.
5:56, 3rd Quarter – Game over.
The Eagles picked up a couple first downs and advanced to midfield on their next possession. From there, on a 2nd and 10 after Josh Huff flat dropped a pass, Sanchez dropped back and attempted to hit Brent Celek on a curl. Julius Peppers dropped back into coverage instead of rushing the passer. I’m not sure how you don’t see a man that big, but Sanchez apparently did not. Peppers plucked the ball out of the air and took off upfield. Holding the ball in one hand, he stiff-armed and then comically shed the tackle of Jordan Matthews. That is Peppers’ second pick six of the season, and yeah, he might make a pretty decent tight end after all.
The touchdown makes it 39-6 Packers and this is officially another laugher. The Eagles managed to block the extra point, which is just crazy.
14:40, 4th Quarter – Eddie Lacy rumbled over and through the Eagles for another touchdown, making the score 46-13.
The Eagles asked to keep Rodgers in the game for at least another series by managing to finally drive the field and score a touchdown. Sanchez managed to string together some successful short passes and even got a couple good runs from McCoy. Matthews finished the drive off by bitching Morgan Burnett and getting into the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown reception.
The Eagles got their wish. Rodgers stayed in the game and the Packers offense rolled down the field one final time. The entire 80-yard drive was courtesy of Eddie Lacy. After two hard Lacy runs (is their another kind?) netted 11 yards, Lacy had probably his best run of the season. It was a zone left play and again there wasn’t necessarily a lot there. But this time, Lacy read the line surging to the left and cut off the block of Richard Rodgers straight up the middle of the field. He spun out of two tackles and accelerated toward the left sideline, finally being forced out of bounds after a 37-yard gain.
That is the longest run of the season and that fact illustrates the Packer difficulties with running the football this season. Last year, James Starks, Eddie Lacy and Johnathan Franklin all had longer runs than that within the first five games.
On the following 3rd and 10, Rodgers dumped it to Lacy, who ran over Nate Allen, spun off Vinny Curry, leaving him on the ground, and bulled his way into the end zone with a little final help from Quarless. That’s 32 yards of hell for the Eagles defense. Touchdown.
The Eagles managed to score once more and give the Packers one more hilarious highlight when Sanchez failed to handle a snap and then doubled-down on his error by failing to pick up the football. Casey Hayward had no such issues and returned the fumble for a 49-yard touchdown. Darren Sharper thinks Casey Hayward is opportunistic. The Eagles entered the game with nine touchdowns off returns. They got none and gave up three returns for touchdowns by the Packers.
Hayward’s fumble return made the score a comical 53-13. If not for the fact that the Packers botched two PATs in the same game, they would have repeated the 55-point score against the Bears. As it is, it was the first time in the Packers’ 94-season history that they scored over 50 points in consecutive weeks.
The Eagles scored one more time to make the final tally 53-20. The Eagles also blocked a punt and had a chance for one last touchdown, but the Packers defense stood up and forced a turnover on downs.
Though it is no longer the case, the Packers’ play at home this season was not getting the attention that it deserved. Everyone wanted to talk about the fact that the Packers hadn’t beaten a really good team at home. Sure, but beating lesser teams and absolutely destroying them by half are two different things. As I’ve been saying for a while now, the Packers’ toughest games in the second half are at home; so if they can continue to play like this, then they are in great shape to not only win the division but to also get a high seed in the playoffs, thus guaranteeing playoff games at home.
Aaron Rodgers is playing at an MVP level right now and he is greatly assisted by a solid offensive line and a pair of wideouts who are terrorizing teams right now. With Cobb working the middle of the field and Nelson on the sideline, teams have a real conundrum on how to handle this offense. What I probably loved most about Rodgers’ performance in this game were the touch passes that he threw. If he can bring that into his game to go along with the accuracy of his hard-thrown passes, then he’ll truly become a quarterback that is virtually impossible to stop.
The Eagles have a pretty good edge rusher in Trent Cole, who has given the Packers issues before. Could you tell he played? Yeah, that’s called David Bakhtiari once again. The game against Minnesota was actually Bakhtiari’s worst of the season. So, we’ll see how he does this next week.
The Packers defense had the kind of day typical of a Dom Capers’ unit. They gave up yards, but they got off the field on third down or forced turnovers to break the back of the offense. The Eagles discovered that the Bears’ blueprint of punting in the first half followed by turning it over in the second leads to sure disaster and embarrassment.
This defense is still a work in progress that needs to keep growing and improving. I am hoping we finally get less of the nickel against the Vikings. It will be interesting to see where Matthews lines up when the Packers go to their base defense. The Packers played some base in this game and Matthews stayed mostly on the inside. Sam Barrington got some reps in the second half and actually flashed on a couple plays, including covering backs out of the backfield. He also was the man that shot a gap on the Eagles’ final play and took down the ball carrier to mercifully end the game.
The Viking game isn’t really about the opponent. The Packers need to focus on themselves. This is the time of the season when you want to be playing your best ball and continuing to build momentum and confidence. As long as the Packers play their game, they should bring their momentum back to Lambeau Field to face the Patriots.