The Green Bay Packers defense got torched by Philip Rivers all day, but they came up huge on the one play they really needed to.
With the score 27-20, the San Diego Chargers waltzed right down the field to the Green Bay 3. On fourth down, with 20 seconds remaining, Rivers tried for Danny Woodhead in the end zone. Woodhead looked open, but rookie corner Damarious Randall closed quickly to knock the ball away.
In the process, Randall preserved the win and the Packers’ undefeated start.
They’ll head into the bye at 6-0, but not without plenty of questions.
Those questions start with the Packers defense, which went from looking dominant to looking awful in the span of week.
The Packers came into this one with a top 10 ranking against the pass, giving up 189 yards per game. Well, that’s totally down the shitter.
Rivers threw for 503 yards, going 43-of-65. Those are all Chargers’ single-game records.
Dan Fouts is not pleased.
San Diego didn’t even try to establish the run, rushing only 21 times for 60 yards on the day.
The Packers defense, meanwhile, just kept doing the same thing over and over again. Man-to-man coverage and blitz, blitz, blitz.
They did tally three sacks on the day, but that certainly wasn’t enough to deter the Chargers from throwing.
Rivers was able to get the ball out quickly and, unlike the Packers’ receivers, the Chargers actually have a couple guys who can get separation. We speak of Keenan Allen (14 for 157) and Antonio Gates (nine for 95). The only thing that stopped Allen was an injury that caused him to miss the fourth quarter.
The Packers had no answer for him.
Ironically, Rivers demonstrated the sort of pinpoint accuracy that Aaron Rodgers is known for. Often times, the coverage was decent, but Rivers just placed the ball in the perfect spot.
Fortunately for the Packers, the Chargers just couldn’t punch it into the end zone often enough.
Meanwhile, who the hell knows what was going on with the Packers’ offensive game plan.
Eddie Lacy must be in the doghouse because he wasn’t part of it. Lacy had just five total touches. Instead, the Packers running game was almost entirely James Starks, who carried 10 times for 112 yards.
Why is a guy averaging 11 yards per carry getting only 10 carries?
Perhaps you’d like to explain, Tom Clements?
As usual, the Packers’ receivers couldn’t get open. The big plays in the passing game came courtesy of little-used Jeff Janis, who had receptions of 46 and 33.
Every other pass catcher looked like a bum, but somehow Rodgers still managed to turn in a decent stat line (16-of-29, 255 yards, two touchdowns, no picks). He did so by throwing to nine different receivers.
Not every win is going to be pretty and this one would certainly fall into that category.
The Packers faced an overmatched team and frankly, got outplayed by them. The Chargers’ inability to score touchdowns, especially early, killed them.
San Diego outgunned the Packers 548 to 370, converted 50 percent of their third downs to 33 percent for the Packers, and held a 16 minute advantage in time of possession. That’s domination.
Luckily for the Packers, it just didn’t translate to the scoreboard.
44 Comments
The refs certainly helped us out this game.
What do you say about “disappointing win” now my friend PhatG ….
We’re 6-0, 2.5 games ahead of second place. Arizona, Atlanta, and Seattle all lost so we’re now tied with the Panthers for HFA. Jeff Janis made some plays. Despite a pretty shitty performance, around 40 minutes of time on the field, and Phillip Rivers and his receivers just being ON, the defense somehow held the Chargers to 20 points and yet again won the game, this time on a walk of.
Now tell me, which of these situations is disappointing?
I’m not really worried about Arizona, Atlanta or Seattle. I’m more worried that the Giants have won 3 games in a row and are likely to win their division. Even if the GIants come to Green Bay in January, they will be supremely confident, and the Packers have yet to show they can beat the Giants in the playoffs.
Good point. Hopefully they can stumble enough along the way to allow the Cowgirls a chance. Even still, this is not the same Giants team (especially on D) that gave us problems in the past.
Spot on, concerning the Giants defense. Much the same as the Seahawks defense if we were drawing parallels.
Haha. Here we go…
“Fire Capers!”
“Uninspiring win!”
“Couldn’t win without refs help!”
“Packers look like shit!”
“Etc, etc, etc”
I can’t think of another 6-0 team that worries and bitches as much as Packer fans. I’ve said it a million times, stop thinking about the Superbowl and just enjoy the game. So what if they gave up 500 passing yards. Stats are for losers.
You expect them to blowout every game, every Sunday, win the Superbowl, every year, and if they don’t, FIRE ‘EM ALL and RIP THEIR NUTS OFF!!
You’re missing out on some great football games.
Never said that, Bob, just pointing out that no one can bitch about the rzebs this game-we got a couple calls that we don’t usually get and quite frankly could go either way, they also missed a pretty slick push off by JJ on that last TD.
It looks like the offensive game plan every week is to rely on snap count shenenigans and backyard run around plays. They look like shit.
I agree, the snap count stuff is becoming comical. I feel like they are doing it just for the hell of it now, like they are probably spending a half hour of practice figuring out a way to draw guys offsides instead of working on runnin the actual offense, which by the way looks like horse shit the last three weeks.
I also hate the “let’s try the snap count shenenigans on this play and if it doesn’t work burn a timeout” that is dumb stuff. I am glad they got the win. I worry that Rodgers is holding the ball to long and risks injury in taking the sacks. What happened to the quick slant as a option in man D for short yardage?
I think Lacy is just too dam fat. Eaten his way to that second contract. Fumbling like Ryan Grant in a playoff game & shit.
Datone Jones is playing well.
We’ll be better once the reinforcements of Burnett, Raji & Adams come back.
R.I.P Seahawks fans 2012-2015
500+ yards passing = WTF
They read the blitz like they knew it was coming every single time …..
Great save by Randall !!!
Good to see Janis get some action, but still hoping Montgomery and Adams are back after Bye….
Only gets tougher from here on out !
That was an embarrassment
We won.
hey Clements, did you see how teams can move the ball with short stuff….quick plays…take note please…your getting stale..
Rivers career stats are going to be insane. Like, holy shit this guy was great type stats.
It was very frustrating to watch, but how the hell would you feel right now if you were a Chargers fan? Happy I’m a Packers fan!
great point.
i didnt like McCarthy whining to the reporter at half time about the refs…i think they sure got enough calls go the Packers way today….instead go kick Clements in the ass to change things up with the personnel that they have to work with…still…HUGE win before break….gotta win the ragged games…
At least the tight ends were dominant again today. Not.
Ive siad this a million times. Starks cant catch but lacy can. Get lacy to catch out of backfield. He has great hands and picks up huge chunks of yac. Rodgers needs a good checkdown option when he’s getting crazy pressure. We also did not jam the receivers. That’s the whole point of press and blitz. Jones was a stud. The light turned on and now his power and quickness comes to life. That’s what we drafting him for
Not like James Starks had a touchdown catch or anything…
Packer Bob, my thoughts exactly!! How can a win be anything but awesome?
No need to freak, this was the Chargers best shot. They needed a win to stay in the playoff hunt but they are likely out of it now. Glad Keenan Allen got hurt if he was in it would have gone into OT. Plus Seattle lost :)
Packer Bob, you are my inspiration to keep my hopes up for our football team to go all the way this season. Great game, and Go Pack Go…
You can say all you want about the packers defense being dominant the past couple of games, but as I’ve told people, look at who was passing the ball. I’ve always thought the corners were suspect this year and it took the first decent qb to make them look like fools.
Better get hunkered down in a bunker somewhere, Chicken Little, bec ause this season’s ust getting started.
Nelson cobb adams ty jones quarless are all injure to one extent or another. Hard to play defense when we re on the field th whole game. Pretty soon rodgers has to throw himself the ball.
There is nothing disappointing about being 6-0.
You can’t be “dominated” in a game you never trailed.
Trailing on the stat sheet means zero. Losers look to the stat sheet. Winners don’t give a shit.
At times, I thought the defense was an embarrassment, and I hope so, I hope they are embarrassed, but they probably won’t be. You know why? Because at the end of the day they gave up 20 points. That’s it. 20 points. Doesn’t matter how it happens. I can’t call giving up 20 points to the 3rd ranked offense an embarrassment. I don’t give a shit what the yards were. They don’t go on the scoreboard.
Phillip Rivers, hey, great game, best game I’ve probably ever seen from you, but you and Matt Stafford and Drew Brees can get together when you are home for the playoffs and talk about all the yards you threw for. You talked some shit to our sideline after throwing the TD to Ledarius Green. And hey, you had the right to. But I tell you what, you can take your 500 yards and your L and fly back to San Diego or LA or wherever you are gonna play football next season. We’ll take the W.
Seem fair? You get 500 yards, and we get the W. Good? Good.
Fucking. Eh. It took him 65 passes to throw all those yards as well-that’s 2-3 games worth of throws, so that’s essentially 2-3 games worth of yards. the Chargers couldn’t run and while the total yards given up was bad, it wasn’t the worst I’ve ever seen.
Best post EVER on this board. Rivers had a career day, I mean I have seen him plenty in his career and I have NEVER seen him that sharp. I was actually glad when they tied the game after half. I remember saying to my Wife “now its a game”, sitting up closer on my chair and finally really getting into a Packer game.
I was pumped up on that last play in regulation and even more pumped after the big defensive stand.
Rivers can take his stat sheet and go home and wipe his ass with it; or put it in a golden fucking frame and put it on his mantle in his plush LA mansion. I dont fucking care. Just give us the W and see you with a healthier Pack in 2 weeks!
Lacy is hurt, it’s easy to see. Can’t cut-back and is brought down fast in the gap. Makes no sense to grind his ankle into hamburger right now and have him at 30% going down the stretch.
As I said, at the beginning of the season, losing Nelson, was and is, a big deal for this offense. Without him, opposing D’s are able to shut down Cobb. Nelson’s loss effectively killed our #1 and #2 receiver spots. Our receivers aren’t getting open because we’ve gone deep into the depth chart now.
TE Rodgers is getting better. He made some nice plays he couldn’t of made last season.
The Chargers’ offense was on fire. Rivers had a career day, their O-Line was great and so was their receiving corp. The combination of those three factors made them almost unstoppable.
I see it as a testament to the great defense we have, that they were able to hold them to 20 points. If the D had quit, or been a little worse the Chargers would have easily put that score into the high 40s or low 50s.
Defensive players are at a distinct disadvantage in football because they don’t know where the ball is going.
This makes them work twice as hard and tire twice as fast than their offensive counterparts. With the time on the field they played and all the blitzing that was going on, it was amazing that they were able to close out this game and win it.
Anybody that says this was an embarrassing defensive effort, is ignorant of the sport and has their head up their arse.
Great win for the Pack.
Awesome.
“Ironically, Rivers demonstrated the sort of pinpoint accuracy that Aaron Rodgers is known for.”
There is nothing ironic about this.
Rodgers is not the only QB in the league who is capable of pinpoint accuracy. It is well within the possible, that other QBs can have great games with pinpoint accuracy against the Packers.
against the Packers.
Ugly wins build character for December and January games and gives coaches shit to work on during the week. Let’s hope MM and friends figure out o-line protection (AR has no time in the pocket) and our starters get healthy. Go Pack Go.
Rodgers had plenty of time to throw, yet again no one was open and he got panicky in the pocket and got himself sacked by moving into the rush twice.
Did he have plenty of time to find an open receiver?
Not generally, unfortunately at this point that would require possession of a DeLorean so he could replay each down about 5 times and find the one moment when a single receiver had more than 2 millimeters of separation.
6-0 going into a bye week, not to shabby. Rest those guys that are nicked up, re focus and come out swinging.
Capers kept blitzing, so Phillips kept going to 2 step drops, getting the ball out as quick as possible. The Packers linebackers can’t defend passes, so this was going to work all day for the Chargers between the 20s.
For the most part it wasn’t our LBs getting beat (save CMIII on that TD) it was the DBs, namely Micah Hyde and Quintin Rollins, and often on perfect passes. Shields covered great this game and yet he got burned twice by absolutely perfect passes and catches that Rodgers and Jordy couldn’t have executed better. Randall had good coverage most of the game as well. The other guys get paid the big bucks to ply as well, and sometimes you just have to tip your hat to them. It didn’t help that we dropped at least 2 picks as well.
At some point early in the game, the O-lineup was Starks, Janis, Jones and R.Rodgers I think. That tells you all you need to know. Every major weapon is injured and they’re trotting guys out. 12 and Clemens just doing what they can.
Agreed.