The good version of the Green Bay Packers showed up for the second Sunday in a row. That was bad news for the St. Louis Rams, who were 3-0 at home before the Packers overwhelmed them 30-20.
I say overwhelmed because, let’s be honest, the Packers should have won this game on talent alone. Even with four key starters out, they have more playmakers than the Rams.
More importantly, this was more of what we saw last week from Green Bay, when they crushed the previously undefeated Texans.
Aaron Rodgers was on, missing on only seven passes all day. He finished 30-of-37 for 342, three touchdowns and no picks. Jordy Nelson was a man among boys again, catching eight balls for 122 yards and touchdown. Randall Cobb also continued to be a featured weapon, catching eight for 89 and two touchdowns and rushing once for 19.
The Packers also featured Alex Green for a second week in a row. Although it didn’t pay off in rushing yards — Green averaged only 1.75 per carry (20 for 35) — it at least kept the Rams honest.
On defense, the Packers were lackluster at times. Wwe’ve been throwing the overrated label around when we talk about B.J. Raji, the Packers D is definitely better with him in the lineup.
Although he isn’t a game-changing force, Raji gives the defensive line depth. When the Packers lost Mike Neal to injury on Sunday, they didn’t have much depth, couldn’t substitute and the few guys they had were getting pushed around because they were on the field sucking wind.
The defense did enough though.
They sacked Sam Bradford three times (Clay Matthews, Erik Walden, Dezman Moses) and Casey Hayward came up with an opportune interception — his fourth of the season — in his first start of the year.
We should also point out that Davon House looked good in his first action of the season.
Despite how well the Packers offense is playing, special teams might be the team’s top unit.
Outside of the first half punt return he was pushed totally out of bounds on and never came back in before tackling the returner, Jarrett Bush is a special teams stud. Not only did he make up for that play by cutting the Rams kick returner down short of the 20 late in the game, but he was also responsible for the Packers on-side kick recovery earlier in the game.
On that play, Bush completely trucked the guy going up for the ball. That guy landed on his head (and hopefully will walk again), had no shot to make the play and the Packers were all over the loose ball at that point.
It only took him six years to figure it out, but Shawn Slocum finally has a top-tier special teams unit. Three years ago, the Packers wouldn’t have thought about trying a fake field goal or an onside kick early in the game. This year they not only try those things, they execute them perfectly.
So what now?
At 4-3 the Packers are finally starting to look like the team everyone expected them to at the beginning of the season. They should thrash Jacksonville next week in their return to Lambeau. They should throttle Arizona the week after and go into their bye at a healthy 6-3.
Things are finally starting to get back to normal.
On a final note, this has to be asked.
Cortland Finnegan, does your mother even like you?
We highly fucking doubt it.
Way too many rushes with Al Green today. WAY, WAY, WAY too many. 20 carries for 35 yards!!? What the hell are we doing McCarthy? Okay, I understand running to keep the defense off balance but yet again, this game could have gotten out of hand if it wasn’t (yet again) for Rodgers. His play calling forces Rodgers into 3rd and long situations and crucial downs. If it wasn’t for Randall Cobb and Jordy today this game could have very well have gone the other way.
But the real question is why are we running 20+ times then forcing 3rd and long situations on Rodgers? This is why this offense doesn’t stay in sync and crisp, running the ball this much and consistently on 1st and 10 (nearly every possession!) — We cannot continue to do this and get away with it. Especially within this Division. Those faggot viking losers have the EASIEST fucking schedule in the NFL this year, playing absolute scrub teams and picking up easy W’s while GB plays much stiffer competition. You can’t afford to lose anymore games and you can’t afford to screw around with this non-existent running game. Sooner or later its going to result in another loss.
You’re aware the Pack had the 2nd easiest strength of schedule going into the season?
If you were to update that to reflect the standing prior to today, Minnesota has the 3rd toughest schedule in the NFL, while GB has the 10th.
Everyone in our division has a tougher strength of schedule than us.
Coming into the season? That’s a big fucking difference then compared to what it is today.
I wouldn’t say that MN playing Tennessee (worst fucking team in the NFL), AZ (awful), Detroit (worst in the NFC North), Washington, Jax (2nd worst team in the NFL) and next week they get Tampa Bay (another bottom feeder in the NFC) is comparable to GB playing the toughest team defenses in the NFL in Seattle, SF, Chicago, Houston and now St. Louis. Where are you seeing this toughest schedule coming into the season BS or are you just pulling this outta your ass b/c your a vikings closest fan? How is that schedule by any means difficult? They’ve played 5 of their first fucking 8 games at Home! And that’s tough!!!!
It really doesn’t matter b/c now they get Chicago and GB twice, they get Seattle next week and will have to play St. Louis and Houston.
I’d love to see that “stellar” vikings D take on Rodgers. Lets see how fucking good that secondary is against Rodgers. Considering they’ve played such a “tough” schedule. So far in that “top tier schedule” of theirs, I see Alex Smith, RG3 and Andrew Luck as being the best QB amongst the best of their competition. Two fucking rookies and Alex fucking Smith!!! And the two rookies both beat them, so what the fuck does that say about them?
Sounds like your pulling this BS outta your BS MN ass.
1) Way to read the first sentence and not the rest.
2) Fuck the Vikings. I’m Pack all the way. Simply pointing out the holes in your argument.
Also, LOL for assuming I’m a Viqueens fan. C’mon now.
Let’s see: SF, Seattle at home, Houston, Bears and Lions twice, NO, and the G-Men-where’s the easy?
Packers run the ball despite the lack of yards because like you said they have to keep it balance. I saw a stat that said (and I’m ballparking here because I cant remember it exactly) that the Packers win 75% of the time when the MM runs the back 20 times or more. His record i dog shit when its less than that. MM isn’t worried about the yards picked up…just that he hits that magic number.
Look at this season. The only games we have been in or won have been games that we run the ball in. The games lost have abandoned the run game. Monty wrote a post stating the same thing earlier this year.
And I blasted Monty’s article. Teams that are winning typically run the ball, and teams that are losing pass. That explains those stats.
That being said, I would have ran the ball a couple more times today, regardless of how productive it was.
What the final statline ignores is that the clock kept running on every one of those runs. The Packers were leading all game. You want to run the ball and keep the clock running.
Plus, this offense just seems to operate that much better on 3rd and 7 versus 3rd and 10. Screw the average. Run the football.
On other note, Casey Heyward looked good. Pack D was better today.
Greg Jennings and Raji need to step it up this week. I’m sick of Jennings sitting on the sidelines nursing a groin injury.
This team needs to hit the BYE in two weeks rolling on all cylinders before hitting it hard.
The Packer offense showed up in the 2nd half, and that meant game over. Once Rodgers appeared to understand that we needed quick passes, he was money and so was the Packer offense.
Jordy Nelson was a stud on 3rd down, and Randall Cobb gave them fits all over the field. Rodgers seems to have adapted to Greg Jennings being off the field and Jermichael Finley being non-existent.
The Packer D struggled against the run this game, which allowed the Rams to have some offensive success. Still, they did enough and Craig Hayward continues to be a beast.
Nice to Davon House out there making plays as well.
Monty had said MM would be outcoached in this game, but clearly not. The two biggest calls were MM’s successful onside kick and Fischer’s foolish 4th down try that failed.
Packers looking good, but the AZ game is not a given.
Casey Hayward
Strength of schedule is immaterial. The Vikings have the exact same schedule as the Packers with the exception of two games ( MN vs TB & WAS) ( GB vs NO & NYG) If anything the Vikes have an easier schedule. NO>TB and NYG>WAS. Not to mention MN plays 4 games outside. The only thing that makes GB’s schedule easier is the fact that Rodgers is a fucking animal.
Let’s not get to critical on the amount of carries or the total (or lack thereof) rushing yards. Gotta remember this line is Swiss cheese & is still learning to gel together to stop the pass rush & open up rushing lanes. I think the Pack is evolving nicely considering their initial limitations entering the season & given their current adaptation, they still can potentially sweep the division. I will even go so far as to say they can win out (with the possible exception of NYG). Either way, the possibility of making the playoffs & going on the road is very real & appeals to me. They play more hungry on the road in clutch time anyways & that’s that!
I hate I have to wait to decemeber to watch the pack destroy those pretenders in purple. Their schedule is brutal the last half of the season. See alot of losses coming for the queens
PackAttack, put down the Xbox controller and realize that you have to run the football 15-20+ times regardless of yards acquired in the NFL.. You did have the sense to agree that running the ball keeps the defense honest, so what’s your problem with the run/pass ratio? Look at the games they are winning and see how many running plays they call compared to the losses. And even further break it down to the run/pass ratio by half against Seattle and Indy and see which half they were more successful in moving the football. Each and every time you call for less running plays and more predictable passing plays makes you lose credibility…they have to run to keep Rodgers off his ass. When they don’t run, the defense get to tee off on his ass.. What’s worse for you 20+ rushes for 50 yards and 3 sacks or 12 rushes for 30 yards and 8 sacks with a concussion?
READ THE WHOLE fucking post before running your mouth guy. You have no idea what your talking about b/c the stats I’m going to throw at you completely blow your point out of the water. It’s not running the football but WHEN they run the football that’s problem. CONSISTENTLY running the ball on 1st down. GB is leading the NFL in 1st down rushing att nearly running at 77% clip. THAT’S PREDICTABLE! You wanna grind the clock down and control the pace of the game, that’s fine. But when your rushing like this and your play calling is predictable and your forcing Rodgers to consistently make plays on 3rd and long, your going to have results like you did versus Indy and Seattle.
Are you aware of the fact that GB is among the top 7 in the NFL in rushing att per/game but in the bottom five in yards per/carry and yards per/game? Their rushing totals are pathetic, they simply don’t produce when they run. It’s not effective especially when it consistently leads to negative gains. And it’s not so much the running as it is the play calling. McCarthy running broke screens and roll outs that don’t materialize. Running twice in the Red Zone only to get into another 3rd and long? WTF is that?
This game almost got out of control and if it wasn’t for Rodgers it would have. St. Louis absolutely destroyed the pathetic GB running game, it did nothing except grind the clock down. And where the hell is James Starks!?? Where is he? If your QB is completing 80% of his passes, than whats wrong with going to 4-5 wide sets and throwing on 1st and 10 4-5 more times today!?
We all think Rodgers throws a ton, by comparing him to rest of the NFL QB’s, he’s fucking 12th in the NFL in attempts per/game…FUCKING 12th!!!!! And you think we don’t run enough!!! And you wonder why this offense was sputtering? I’ll give you the formula for losing, put the ball in Cedric fucking Benson and Al Green’s hands 20 fucking times and make your play calling predictable = 4-3 record. Most efficient QB in the league and McCarthy has managed to limit him to 12th in the league in attempts per/game. And for running to grind the clock down and keep defenses honest — to be honest, it would fucking stop Rodgers regardless, no team has been able to.
This team won the whole fucking thing 2 years ago doing nothing but throwing the ball. I remember seeing James Starks touch the ball 11 times that day. You don’t need a fucking running back in this offense with this QB, I’m sorry the numbers prove you don’t, there’s almost 4 years worth of them now.
I’m afriad, PackAttack, that the stats DON’T support your argument.
The Packers ranked 25th in the NFL in rushing attempts per game. Look it up on NFL.com. It is right there.
Where did the Packers rank in rushing attempts when they were 15-1 and scored the 2nd most points in NFL history? 26th.
Your hysterics over Rodgers ranking 12th in passing attempts is especially hilarious. In 2011 Aaron Rodgers had perhaps the greatest season for a QB in NFL history and was league MVP. Where did he rank in pass attempts? 16th.
Rodgers typically does not rank in the top ten in pass attempts because 1) his yards per attempt is too high, 2) the Packers typically have the lead, and 3) the defense spends too much time on the field, which limits possessions for the Packers.
I was calling for two runs near the endzone yesterday. It kept the clock running, and I completely trusted Rodgers to get it done on 3rd down.
BTW, I HATED that Holmgren always ran the ball on 2nd and 10. Fortunately for him, he had a QB capable of converting a lot of 3rd and longs. If you want to run the football, do it on FIRST DOWN!
Believe in the G, baby, the Packers oval G!
I just want our injured players to get healthy and back in the game–at least some of them. I don’t see how any team could survive so many serious injuries to key players, esp. on defense. Here’s hoping a few of them at least are on the field Sunday.
I think they are running the ball more than before because they want to figure out which running lanes Green can actually get positive yards. Couple that with the screen/shuttle pass game to Green, Kuhn, Cobb and Crabtree and you’ve got your ‘running game’.
Pack Attack is 100% right on this. “I completely trusted Rodgers to get it done on 3rd down”???”- Iltarion.
LOL holy shit are you serious dude? Hey, how about let rodgers throw on 1st, 2nd and 3rd down so they can SCORE and not have to worry about milking the clock and “trusting” Rodgers with 1 try. You guys are fucking clueless.
Bottom line, if St Louis doesn’t jump offsides and give Rodgers a free play, they probably don’t convert and punt. Rams with the ball and a chance to tie the game with Rodgers and co sitting on the sideline.
This offense is a joke. Its slow and boring to watch considering the amount of talent it has. If this keeps up this team will get smoked by CHI for the division.
20 fucking carries for 35 yards??????? MY GOD. Do something. Anything. This team is playing the conservative game, trying to manage clock, sneaking around by the skin of their teeth and it’s already cost them games. Mccarthy is a dipshit and needs to get in touch with Sean Payton.
Oh, and those running stats you dummy’s are digging up, most of them came in the 4th QTR when the pack were up 20. Rodgers threw for 3 quarters and called it a day.
Who is writing these articles?? Ty Sjostrom??
“The Packers also featured Alex Green for a second week in a row. Although it didn’t pay off in rushing yards — Green averaged only 1.75 per carry (20 for 35) — it at least kept the Rams honest.”
Kept the Rams honest??? BWAHWHAHHAHA what a homer. More like, it almost cost them the game.
Get a new writer who knows what’s going on, you guys are arrogant fans walking aimlessly toward another early playoff exit with this playcalling.
ha ha PackAttack you faggot you got OWNED!
Pack looked good. Get them healthy and its ugly.
I find it funny how bear fans talk shit about Rodgers…Fucken hilarious when they got fucktard cutler. Even urlacker has said he would love to have arod as his qb.
I don’t understand how Packers fans are being so vicious towards other Packers fans… especially after a win.