There are a lot of things we could say about the Green Bay Packers eighth win of the season and, what the hell, we’ll say most of them, but the bottom line is the San Diego Chargers just aren’t that good.
The Chargers and Phil “My Vagina Hurts” Rivers had every opportunity to win Sunday’s contest, but they just couldn’t do it.
The Packers put up 45 points. Until the fourth quarter, the offense was more or less unstoppable, save for the sieve-like offensive line that let Aaron Rodgers get sacked four times and pressured into shitty plays numerous others. Certainly, we could sit here and nitpick — the offensive line played like shit — but the Packers put up 45 fucking points, so it’s hard to complain.
Those 45 points came courtesy of four Rodgers’ touchdowns — Jordy Nelson, James Jones, Greg Jennings and Jermichael Finley — two pick sixes — Tramon Williams and Charlie Peprah — and a Mason Crosby field goal.
If you didn’t know anything else about the game, you’d probably assume it was a Packers rout, but the Chargers managed to put up 38 points and had a shot to tie the game on their last drive. Of course, they were thwarted by Peprah’s second interception of the game.
Rivers threw three picks on the day. Again, based on that fact alone you’d think the Packers would have won by 20. Not the case.
While Rodgers & Co. were doing their thing, the Packers’ defense was doing theirs. That is to say, not a hell of a lot. If it weren’t for a few great individual plays, the Packers would have lost to the Chargers.
Certainly, Rivers had a say. Jimmy Walker’s lips could have intercepted the last pass he threw. Instead, Peprah nabbed it. I think we can safely say Rivers isn’t what he used to be.
Neither is the Packers defense, though. They can’t tackle, they get zero pressure on the quarterback most of the time and either no one communicates in the secondary or everyone is just inept.
We’re done bitching though. A win is a win.
The Packers win over the Chargers made a couple things abundantly clear, though.
They may be the best team in the NFL by a wide margin, but the Green Bay Packers are beatable. They’ll get beat on the day the defense doesn’t come up with those opportunistic turnovers. The unit as a whole is a joke.
Hopefully it won’t happen in the playoffs.
Couldnt agree more monty. I love the Packers but watch all the homies come in here and defend the defense and the Packers. Our defense HAS to improve or we WILL LOSE in the playoffs.
Aaron will have a bad game eventually.
Capers needs to get this shit figured out.
What the hell is the difference between this year’s D and last? Other than Collins being out, and he was in there when Brees shredded it, why is basically the same unit as last year so inept? Are they just not as good as we think? Or have teams figured our Capers’ schemes and adjusted? Jenkins wasn’t that good. I swear the only sacks we get are coverage or missed blocking assignment. I haven’t seen a Packers defender BEAT a blocker and get to the QB yet.
Let me spell it out for you.
C-U-L-L-E-N J-E-N-K-I-N-S
Jenkins is gone, yes, but also, Matthews switched sides this year; maybe that’s not it, but lets call it a failed experiment, move him back, and see what happens.
actually jenkins was that good. He had he most sacks hes ever had in a season despite missing 5 games. He had the second most sacks on the team. I doubt thats the whole problem. As a whole, the corners arnt playing as good this year. But I believe the defense would be a lot better if they still had jenkins
I think there might be a dirty secret here, that perhaps SOME of the Packers key guys didn’t keep in top physical condition. I’ve been lying to myself, saying that they’ve been playing with big leads and just playing soft, but its definitely something more as we almost blew yet another big lead. We have 8 games to get our D back to where it was last year’s playoffs, and if we do, with our offense as good as it is now, we’re crushing the field and going down like the 85 Bears.
We cant blame capers for this. The players just arent concentrating, it looks as though the defense has never seen the playbook before!
It is time for the whole D-fence to MAN UP and earn all those millions they are getting paid, this includes Capers TOO! It sure appears to me that Capers is not calling or planning a good game plan either???
It makes me wonder if the opposing teams have figured out our signals??? Capers should change these just to be safe. Our opponents seem to know right where to go on every play. In other words, our D always seems to be out of position on almost every play. When we play run, they pass and visa-versa.
The coaching staff should look into this. No body calls that many plays right and it sure appears to me that is what is going on. I have seen so many plays where the secondary is confused or they don’t know who they are going to cover.
the inexcuseable parts are the missed tackles and the lack of communication in the secondary. I think the lockout and the new CBA are rearing their heads for both of those. Things will change dramatically if Mike Neal can be the contributer that we all hope he can be (and stays healthy). Clay or BJ will be getting less double teams.
Once again special teams made a critical error that allowed the game to be close. that onside kick went through Ryan Taylor’s legs and I’d bet that is what screwed up Nelson’s attempt to cleanly field it.
Once again, Rodgers and our O is unstoppable. Wow are we getting spoiled witnessing a QB clinic week in and week out. I love it!
I’m not worried… yet. We hit our stride REALLY late last season, so as long as we keep winning now, I can’t really blame them for not giving a shit all the time yet. Then again, if I was Capers, I wouldn’t be unleashing the entire playbook yet either if every QB we play against is gonna pretty much beat themselves… I hope it’s all not indicative of a bigger problem and maybe I’m just having some wishful thinking here, but I’d like to think by the end of the season and playoff time, we’ll see a whole different defense out there…
“Rivers had every opportunity to win Sunday’s contest, but they just couldn’t do it.”
Huh!? The only reason that Rodgers led the Pack to only 31 offensive points was because they weren’t on the field much the first half bc Rivers kept tossing pick-sixes. If he doesn’t throw those, I think the Packers at least answer any points Rivers puts on the board.
I agree the Chargers weren’t very good, except for slipping Jordy some drug to induce his seizure on that onside kick. But saying Rivers had “every opportunity to win” in a duel with the NFL’s best offense is a huge overstatement.
The Steelers played great defense all game, and then allowed the Ravens to drive the field and win the game on their final drive.
The Packers played poorly on defense all game, but the Chargers had two tries to drive for a tying score. The Packers defense stopped them both times. Game over.
Which was better? One was a win, and one was a loss, which is all that matter.
The Packers are 8-0 have their next two games at home. They are 5-0 on the road.
Yes, Maddening at times. I think what bugs me the most is when both Bishop and Hawk blitz and no one gets to the QB. The pass rush is sub-par and the DBs miscommunicate frequently…so far this season. Let’s not forget to mention that other teams DO make plays on occasion.
But 8-0? How can I bitch about that? It’s just nice to have room for improvement within that record.
Agree. The “blitzes” this year look like a giant clusterfuck, where everyone crashes the line at the same time and smash into each other like some fuckin chase scene in a bad Laurel and Hardy movie.
Anyone else out there notice how often the D is out of position, looking around, yelling at each other, pointing all over the place, and just starting to get in their stances when the ball is snapped?
What the fuck is up with that?
I’m not sure how often I see that happening before the snap, although we certainly seem to find ourselves out of position once the ball is in the air.
But that did definitely happen yesterday on that play late in the game. Matthews/Hawk looked like they were trying to audible and then everyone was changing their position right as the Chargers snapped the ball. And then Rivers found someone open for a huge gain when Clay was trying to cover two guys! (And he almost tipped it too!)
I hope this game serves as a wake up call to all involved in the defense. Luckily, we were still able to get the win. There was a lot of waving going on in the defense and running around as the ball was snapped. I think Capers is probably going to get tired about hearing about the bad defensive performance this past weekend and will in turn make the defense tired about hearing about it. I think they rebound this weekend and make poor Christian Ponder wish he never crossed the border into Wisconsin!!!
We is best in centril davision. Us Minisoda fans is beter then Wesconsen fan is. We is smarter to. You is so below us and Packers is less good as Viking is. Ponders is way bedder then Rogers is. I represent Minnasoda fans.
Hahaha, Savage, good stuff. A “giant clusterfuck” is the perfect description for our mad dog blitzes this season. As for all the pointing and yelling before the snap, our defenders are just making sure they know where they are going out afterwards to celebrate another win after the offense scores a couple more times.
Fortunately, based off the post game interviews, the Charger defenders were more interested in getting A-Rodge’s autograph than they were in playing defense.
HAHAHA… Jay Cutler looks completely hungover. I can’t believe this guy is some franchise’s QB. How is anyone supposed to stand Jaws and Gruden talking about Vick all game?? UGGGHHH!!!
Our defense doesn’t look pretty now, but I don’t think it’s that far off from being competent. What we need is:
A) An improved pass rush. It’s not too much of a stretch to believe that Walden, Zombo, So’oto or Neal will step up or that Capers will adjust the defense a bit and get pressure that way. Even if there’s a modest improvement over the second half of the season, the whole unit will look much better.
B) Fewer mix-ups and blown coverages in the secondary. I’m willing to bet that we have one of the most complicated defensive schemes in the NFL, and with the lost offseason and reduced amount of contact in practice I have no doubt that some of our younger guys still have a lot to learn. When the playoffs roll around everyone will be more sure of their assignments. Even one fewer blown assignment per game would make a noticeable difference.
If we had a shitty coordinator, major injuries, or a lack of talent I’d be worried. But those aren’t issues. The solution to the defense’s problems could be as easy as Neal getting healthy and the secondary getting a few more weeks of practice.
I go back and forth on our D, most of the time it looks like they’re playing with 7 guys on the field, and almost every catch is in open field with no one around.
On the other side of the coin is that every game the opponet has their back to the wall and almost always the D makes the plays to close out the game. Look at this unbeaten streak going back through the playoffs and last few games of last year, D has come up with the game killing pick every time. Not many teams have that ability
It also appears with all the turnovers the Packers D creates by the 2nd half they are exhausted from being on the field. Damn offense scores so quick as well.lol.
They will get it together. No worries.
Three players are the reason the defense has struggled…Raji, Woodson, and Peprah…Nick Collins could be listed as 3b.
Raji is the #1 difference. He’s not getting pressure, he’s not plugging running holes, and he’s grading out near the bottom of the team in the last 5 games. Last year he graded out near the top in just about every game and interestingly he was near the top in Week 1-3 of this year. After week 3 though, there is an inexplicable drop in Raji’s play.
Either he has an undisclosed injury, or his snap count needs to decrease dramatically to be effective. Hopefully Mike Neal is ready to come in and take some pressure off him and even though he was invisible last night versus the Bears, the loss of Cullen Jenkins has to be at least a part of the problem.
Does anyone recall Raji going down from an injury around week 3 and re-entering the game? The grade drop is so staggering there almost HAS to be something wrong with him. In fact the night-and-day drop in grades is very reminiscent to Clay Matthews last year…when he was playing on an undisclosed broken leg.
Charles Woodson has made some big plays and had one of his better games this year versus San Diego, but those big plays have come at a cost in the plays he gives up. This week withstanding, Woodson has graded out near the bottom with Raji all year long and even though he will lure quarterbacks into bad throws, he also lures plenty of good throws and completions. Most surprisingly though is Woodson’s decline in tackling…he’s just not finishing plays like he did last year. Hopefully he can build off Sunday’s performance.
Charlie Peprah had his best game of the year…and there were still plenty of flaws. We miss Nick Collins though….no doubt about it.
On a positive note…Erik Walden, another player who typically grades out poorly, had easily his best game of the year versus San Diego…scoring a very high grade and easily the highest on the defensive side for the Packers.