Well, thanks to the ineptness of the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions, who both managed to lose on Sunday, the Green Bay Packers are still in the NFC North race, even after a 26-26 tie with the Minnesota Vikings.
The Packers haven’t won in a month and sit at 5-5-1. But hey, at least they didn’t lose on Sunday. Here are five more thoughts on the game.
Maybe Matt Flynn is the answer
It would be swell to get Aaron Rodgers back on the field, but if he doesn’t return soon, then at least Matt Flynn showed on Sunday he can still be effective. Flynn relieved Scott Tolzien in the middle of the third quarter because Tolzien just wasn’t moving the ball. He proceeded to put up 218 yards and a touchdown in that limited action. Tolzien only had 98 yards when he got yanked. The interesting thing is Detroit is next on the schedule. Flynn had the biggest game of his career against the Lions in 2011, throwing for 480 yards and six touchdowns.
Eddie Lacy is a beast
We figured Lacy would have a tough time finding running room on Sunday. The Vikings predictably stacked the box to stop Lacy. Didn’t matter. He ran through them for 110 yards on 25 carries anyway. Lacy also had 48 yards on six receptions. How do you stop this guy? I don’t know. It’s starting to look like you don’t. Glad he’s on our side.
The Packers run defense is bad again
The Packers defense looked pretty promising at the beginning of the season, particularly the run defense. On Sunday, they were awful. The Packers gave up 232 yards on the ground. Adrian Peterson got 146 of those yards. Then the Vikings brought Toby Gerhart in and he gashed Green Bay. Gerhard had 91 yards on just eight carries. That’s 11.4 yards per. Talk about regressing. You don’t have to look any further than the run defense.
Where were the big plays?
Against the Giants, Tolzien looked great throwing the deep ball. Before he got pulled, I don’t recall the Packers airing out the football at all. All the pass plays were short and underneath. Even coach Mike McCarthy praised Tolzien’s accuracy on the deep ball last week. And then they come out and dink and dunk. So, why didn’t the Packers try to take advantage of big passes on Sunday? It’s not like the Vikings have a good secondary. There have been some real questionable elements to the game plan lately.
Clay Matthews is back
I think it’s safe to say the Clay Matthews is back at full speed. Last week we saw flashes of the old Matthews, who broke his thumb earlier this season. Against Minnesota he was back to dominating. Four tackles, two sacks and three QB hits. Overall, the Packers had six sacks on the day. The defense may not be playing well overall, but at least they can get after the quarterback. That’s in no small part thanks to a healthy Clay Matthews.