Five More Thoughts on Packers Win Over Ravens
The Green Bay Packers gutted out what proved to be a costly 19-17 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. It was costly in that the Packers lost both Nick Perry and Randall Cobb with broken bones.
They also lost James Jones, but it looks like Jones will be back sooner rather than later. We’ve talked enough about the injuries for now, though. Here are five more thoughts on the game that was played.
Micah Hyde should be back on your radar.
The Packers rookie corner looked impressive during training camp and then had a rough start to the season. That allowed Davon House to move back in front of Hyde on the depth chart. House was pretty good on Sunday, knocking down three passes, but then he disappeared. Word is, House asked for a break because he was gassed from playing defense and special teams. That gave Hyde a chance and he did so much with it, the Packers couldn’t take him off the field. Hyde put up seven tackles — good for third on the team — and had a sack. He also averaged 13.6 yards on five punt returns.
Jamari Lattimore can play.
He wasn’t spectacular, but Jamari Lattimore played well enough filling in for Brad Jones on Sunday. Lattimore had three tackles, but two of those went for a loss. What’s probably even more telling is the Ravens couldn’t get their running game established at all. Ray Rice finished with just 34 yards, averaging 2.4 yards per carry. That shows Lattimore is no liability.
Jarrett Boykin needs to step up.
Understatement alert. Jarrett Boykin was the Packers No. 4 receiver on Sunday, but became their No. 2 after Jones and Cobb went down. Boykin had an awesome catch and run for 43 yards on his only reception of the day. While that was swell, it was what he did before that that was troubling. Namely letting balls him him in the hands and then watching as they harmlessly fell to the ground. Boykin was targeted six times and made just that one catch. With Cobb out an extended period, Boykin is going to get a lot of targets. He better work on his concentration.
The secondary seemed like they took a step back on Sunday.
There’s been some stuff to like in the Packers secondary so far this season. Sam Shields and Morgan Burnett are primary among those things. The first guy was invisible on Sunday, though. Just one tackle and one pass knocked down. Burnett, meanwhile, was solid with nine tackles. However, the Packers didn’t have any picks and Joe Flacco torched them for 342 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged a pretty stout 10.1 yards per pass, too. The Packers did do pretty well against Torrey Smith — just one catch for 12 yards — but they let guys like Tandon Doss (99 yards), Dallas Clark (81) and Marlon Brown (71) beat them for big plays.
All these field goals are getting old.
Great for Mason Crosby that he kicked four field goals on Sunday, but this shit is getting old. Crosby kicked five field goals last week and that’s super too. However, that also means the Packers aren’t finishing drives or converting third downs when they cross into the opponent’s territory. That’s going to come back to haunt them when their defense has an off day.
Hyde was outstanding. The guy takes great angles and can tackle. His best series was when they stopped them at the goal line – on third down he hit the ball carrier so hard that he jarred the ball loose. On 4th down he was right at the goal line to make the hit. He knocked the ball loose on his sack in the 4th too; his form was outstanding. He was completely unblocked running full speed, and I think you’d see a lot of rookies either lead with their head committing a penalty, or run past the quarterback trying to tackle with their arms. Hyde put his head on the ball and wrapped up, which jarred the ball loose.
Umm Jamari Lattimore WAS outstanding…repeatedly and all day.
Pretty much on the money Monty, though I would contend not hearing Shields’ name is a positive indicator of his play (the TD play in which he spontaneously “crashed to desktop” notwithstanding); Torrey Smith’s game stats lend credence to that conclusion.
Also AJ Hawk has stepped his shit up this year. I’ve been a hater on AJ for a long time but he finally looks like a servicable player in the MLB role. Perry is a loss but I think Neil can step it up and fill in until clay comes back in a week or 2. I think we will be seeing more packers a la 2001-2002 strong running sets and allowing lacy to wear down the def for arod tp pick apart.
Micah Hyde can tackle and blitz, yeah thats great and stuff… but cornerbacks primary function is to be in coverage or so i thought. hyde is not spectacular in that category. i would not say he played great because of that. shields did decent. williams had a bad game and so did mcmillian. lattimore i think you didnt give enough credit to, i thought he and house were spectacular.
in my opinion, mcmillian isnt going to be the option at safety, and jennings is adequate. hence why i think the time is now to see if hyde can make a contribution there considering that house has done well and shields is the clear #1
Good read Monty. I have to say though that NOT hearing or seeing Sam means hes doing his job. The guy is shut down all day long.
Is Hyde the next Leroy? Maybe. I mean Leroy wasnt the fastest guy in the world man, but he could smell a football a mile away and he just had a knack for the game. Hyde seems to have all the natural instincts.
WIlliams is going to cost us a game this year, I wish I knew what happened to that guy. Lost the passion? Took up drugs? Alcohol? I just dont get it.
Im not a Jones fan so im not heart broken over his loss, id much rather Cobb was back next week and Jones out. The loss of Perry sucks though, the guy was FINALLY showing us why TT thought so highly of him when they drafted him.
Williams already cost the Packers a game in Week 1; either his shoulder nerves haven’t fully healed (which they may never), he no longer has the drive, or Chuck made him that much better.
Williams played well in Week 1. Was the Packers best corner.
Shields was their best corner that game, and that was a game in which the defense gave up 400 yards passing-no one in the secondary was very good. Williams gave up the winning TD and 4th down conversion.
If our defensive backfield is ever all healthy this year, this is what I would like to see:
Shields and House outside with Hayward in the slot and William as the dime db. Burnett and Jennings at safety.
It would be interesting to see if Hyde could surpass Jennings at safety.
That Hawk kid looks like a great addition to the team.
Haaaaa!