Cue NFL Films voice… the undefeated Houston Texans hosted the desperate Green Bay Packers at Reliant Stadium.
The 2-3 Packers were plagued by mental errors and unfulfilled promise in their disappointing start. Meanwhile, the 4-0 Texans were taking the league by storm.
Cue my voice… there’s only two ways this game could have gone. Either the Packers were going to come in and let all the bullshit come to the forefront and get dominated by the best team in the league or they were going to band together and turn their season around and make a statement.
They did the latter.
The Packers made a statement in the important aspects of the game, to the tune of a 42-24 asskicking of the best team in the NFL on their home field.
The out-of-sync offense?
Showed up and then showed up again. And then showed up again.
The inaccurate MVP, Aaron Rodgers — accurate. Rodgers threw for over 300 yards and six touchdowns.
Six!
That’s one off the NFL record for a single game. Had he actually played meaningful minutes in the fourth quarter, Rodgers could have thrown for eight. Rodgers found the rhythm he didn’t have with his receivers so far this season.
Jordy Nelson?
Boss!
We’ve all been waiting for that jackwagon to show up and apparently, he was just waiting around for the big game. Jordache hauled in three touchdowns and had 138 yards receiving.
Randall Cobb did the rest, basically carrying the Packers offense when it needed to be carried. Cobb had seven catches for 102, but more importantly, he was the guy Rodgers went to when he needed a play.
Tonight’s game was a watershed moment. Mark it down. This was Randall Cobb‘s coming out as a receiver. He may not officially be ahead of James Jones on the depth chart, but he’s ahead of James Jones. He’s probably also ahead of Jordache, who’s much more comfortable being a badass No. 2.
So the passing game is back. What of the running game that was supposed to be dead?
Alex Green was much better than anyone thought. The tally says 22 for 65 yards, which is a crappy average, but Green moved the ball and allowed the Packers to legitimately run play-action.
More importantly, that defense that couldn’t stop anyone the past couple games didn’t allow Houston’s offense to get going.
The Packers defense stuffed Arian Foster before he ever got going. Even though he didn’t have any sacks, Clay Matthews was stellar against the run.
Most people thought the absence of B.J. Raji and his little girl ankles would hurt the Packers. It did not.
Ryan Pickett played the nose like Ryan Pickett plays the nose — like it’s his natural position, before he got moved over to DE to make room for the overrated Raji.
Tramon Williams held his own against Andre Johnson. Sam Shields drew the obligatory phantom penalty, but even that wasn’t bringing the Green Bay Packers down Sunday night.
Even though they were great for a moment, the Packers are .500. Let’s all keep that in mind.
They need to string together a few solid performances before anyone gets too excited. However, the Packers probably saved their season from certain disaster Sunday night.
They also proved that, for at least a few hours, they’re the best team in the NFL. The question is, will they carry that forward?
24 Comments
You forgot to mention Finley! Talk about overrated. I can think of 2 plays back to back where he dropped an easy catch on the 1st play, and then made no effort for the ball on the 2nd play.
Overall though this is the Packers team we’re accustomed to seeing. Both Nelson and Jones made some ridiculously nice catches tonight.
I’ve tried to stay positive on Finley, hoping he would live up to his potential, man up and shut up. Last night he was a liability. Dropping balls, getting penalized, not a factor at all. Keep this up and he definitely should be gone after this year.
I’m real glad we won but the cost was great. More and more injuries piled up on a team that already had too many of them. We can only hope that some of these guys get healed up and soon. With such a crippled defense, how can we hope to hold other teams down going forward? I can’t make a list of all the crucial players down with injuries and I’d hate to see the list if I could.
We’re lucky Rodgers didn’t get more severely hurt last night; still too many sacks/knockdowns for my taste!
Really? 2 sacks and 3 or 4 QB hits vs. one of the best defenses in football (granted sans Cushing) is too much? I think the o-line played pretty damn well last night.
I seem to remember a season, oh about 2 years back, in which the Packers lost a number of players, including a much better Finley facsimile; I think that season ended alright.
All the rookies made an impact in this game the defense certainly has a future with those players
It was a great game, hopefully the injuries are not too bad.
Apparently the chemistry was off again with Rodgers & Finley…can we trade him PLEASE???
Nothing but pride today & NO HANG OVER!
GO PACK GO!
Crabtree is taking that #1 TE spot! All Hail Rock & Roll!!!
I think you mean Celine Dion.
James Jones takes a lot of heat from everybody, and rightly so at times. His drops are maddening!! But the dude showed up at Houston. Two incredible TD catches. He earned his keep last night!
Dude is playing on a whole ‘nother level this season.
That’s what I’m talkin about….
Q : Who’s record for most TDs. in a game did ARodg tie ?
The Seacocks backup QB’s…..
Other than the couple sacks, the O line kept AA Rod upright for most of the night, which was huge against that D-line.
And Jones has had two TD receptions each of the last three games. That’s doing work right there.
And at least 3 incredible catches.
Had the Packers D showed up against the Lions Flynn wouldn’t have had those 6 td passes.
That was enjoyable watching the packers we know dismantle the new darling best team in the nfl. The texans were exposed as having an average passing game by the packers of all people.
I think the recieving core needs an extra weapon, driver isnt getting on the field so he is expensive dead weight. I think we’ll be fine with jones cobb and nelson for the time being, but having a forth option will be key down the stretch.
Green showed alot both this week and last. He doesnt have to do much, if a-rod is winging it about, he just has to keep the plays positive. 60 yards a game is more than enough for this offence.
I think we have a gamer in hayward; showed some attitude and made some plays. Not sure where he’s sitting on the depth chart, but his snaps should go up.
Hopefully Boykin will be good when he takes over for driver next season.
One Thing: PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS! Offensively, we should be in the shotgun EVERY PLAY!
We can run with Green out of that formation & Rodgers & the O-Line alike both seem to be more comfortable in that formation. GPG
Like probably most Packer fans, I was not expecting the 2011 Packers to show up, but they did.
The Packers reminded everyone, including hopefully their own fans, that they are still one of the best teams in the NFL.
Aaron Rodgers is still the best QB in football when he is on his game, and this is still a WR core that can dominate, even with Jennings on the sideline and Finley on the permanent slide.
The defense is what it is. The pass rush is definitely improved from last year. The secondary is still vulnerable and especially the LB core in pass coverage, but as long as they can stop the run and rush the passer, they can make some stops.
I never make too big a deal about injuries because it depends on how the replacement players perform. Personally, I don’t think DJ Smith was playing that well in the first place. Brandon Saine should have been cut, and Nick Perry and Sam Shields were not seriously injured.
Oh, one last thing I forgot, lose to the Rams and this doesn’t matter.
5-0 Texans, not 4-0.
Wait, where are all the the TT and MM bashers this week?
This blog even wrote an entire post about how MM is clearly not doing his job. Please! He had this team ready to play.
No play calling complaints? Come on! Oh wait, that game was called almost perfectly.
No personal complaints? Please! Oh wait, the backups did a good job filling the shoes of the starters and our rookie defensive class is starting to show up. (Casey Hayword, especially.)