Well, that was refreshing.
The Green Bay Packers finally beat the Seattle Seahawks. Their 27-17 win changed the narrative and helped exorcise some of the demons of the NFC Championship game.
It also gives the Packers command of the NFC.
Yes, we’re talking about playoffs.
How does having the NFC Championship game back in Green Bay where it belongs sound?
Sounds pretty good to us.
Here are five more thoughts on the win.
It’s about time for Jayrone
We’ve been clamoring for more Jayrone Elliott for a while now. Elliott has torn it up two preseasons in a row now, but the Packers rarely use him on defense during the regular season. Well, they used him in some key spots Sunday night and he delivered. Elliott’s one-handed interception of Russell Wilson in the fourth quarter sealed the win. He also had a forced fumble and a pass defended. So like we’ve been saying, how about some more PT for this guy?
The good and bad of the defense
A really solid effort by the defense in the win. There are a lot of guys who played great. We really like what we saw from B.J. Raji, who’s looking better than he has in years and is once again disrupting plays in the backfield. Backup safety Sean Richardson did a nice job covering Jimmy Graham, who had only one catch for 11 yards. Backup defensive end Datone Jones, one of our favorite whipping boys, actually made an impact in his return from suspension. Jones had two tackles, one for loss, and two QB hits. Cornerback Sam Shields made up for that suck game he had in week 1. Morgan Burnett was solid in his return from a calf injury. Outside linebacker Mike Neal, who we expect pretty much nothing from, looked disruptive and finished with four tackles, including one for loss. Nate Palmer looked more than capable as Sam Barrington’s replacement at inside linebacker. Defensive end Mike Daniels had his best game in longer than we can remember with five tackles, a sack and a QB hit. Defensive back Micah Hyde was solid with seven tackles. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix maybe finally figured out how to tackle. He finished with a team-leading nine. So, some guys really elevated their games. You know who didn’t? Julius Peppers. Where the hell was that guy on Sunday night? Oh, and this guy…
We’ve seen enough of Casey Hayward
As a whole, the defense played great, even with Julie M.I.A. Except for Hayward. He was the one guy who we just kept saying, man, this guy doesn’t belong on the field. We would really like to see someone from the law firm of Randall, Rollins and Gunter move into that starting cornerback spot. You drafted these guys — two of them anyway. You did that so you could stash them on the bench or the inactive list every week? The upside is higher with any one of those three rookies than it is with Hayward. Let’s get them some playing time. Casey Hayward isn’t the player he was during his rookie season. Let’s stop pretending that guy is going to show up.
Top Jimmy
Nice to have a backup running back that could probably be a starter elsewhere in the NFL, huh? Eddie Lacy goes down with an ankle injury and in comes James Starks and totes 20 times for 95 yards. That’s a 4.8 yard average. And that’s damn good, especially against one the league’s better run defenses. That says something about the offensive line too. They opened up some nice holes for Starks to run through.
Speaking of the offensive line…
Don Barclay. Great game, buddy! Your Jesus tattoo is pretty stupid, but we did not notice once that Bryan Bulaga wasn’t out there. Whatever rust Barclay had from that ACL injury certainly appears to be gone. Now, on the other side, we have some issues. David Bakhtiari. Remove head from ass, you sonofabitch! We used to think Bakhtiari had the makings of a dominant left tackle. We do not think that anymore. We kind of think Bakhtiari is the weak link on the offensive line. That dick got rag dolled on at least a couple of occasions against Seattle. Just pushed straight back into Aaron Rodgers’ grill. So, we’ve got an idea. How about when Bulaga comes back, Barclay remains in the lineup at right tackle and Bulaga replaces Bakhtiari at left?