When asked why he was benched in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears, Damarious Randall replied, “Ask the coach.” When coach Mike McCarthy was asked the same question, the great communicator’s response was: “Performance and some things.”
So what actually happened? A review of the game film made even clearer what most fans could easily see throughout the game: Randall was playing about 10 yards off his receiver throughout the game, and then he would drift back further as his receiver would come off the line.
He played so far off Chicago’s receivers that he wasn’t even in position to make tackles after several catches. His biggest embarrassment came with just over two minutes to go in the half. Receiver Joshua Bellamy took a routine pass behind the line of scrimmage in the right flat. By the time Randall came up to make the tackle, Bellamy had a five-yard head of steam, and his stiff arm propelled Randall right into the end zone with him for Chicago’s first touchdown.
Randall’s passive play continued in the second half when Cameron Meredith turned another very short pass into a 17-yard completion. Randall was again so far off the receiver that he fanned on making the tackle.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Bears exploited things further by lining up Alshon Jeffery opposite Randall. On the first play of the quarter, Jeffery faked and went deep, drawing a holding penalty. On the next play, Jeffery broke to the middle of the field, with Randall trailing badly – a 23-yard catch. On the next nearly identical play Jeffrey, picked up by Quentin Rollins, gained 27. Shortly thereafter, and facing a 2nd and goal, Jeffery delayed a bit at the line, then ran a simple slant and, with Randall mostly watching, caught the easiest touchdown pass you’ll ever see — 27-17.
That was enough even for McCarthy and defensive coordinator Dom Capers. Quentin Rollins, relieving Randall, didn’t stop the leakage, but Jeffery and company at least earned their yards the rest of the way. Randall finished the game playing 42 out of 66 defensive snaps.
Chicago’s next drive began at their 33 with 11 minutes left. Jeffery again was the dominant player, but this time he earned his yards via short throws in every direction. Jordan Howard capped off the impressive nine-play, 79-yard drive with a 9-yard run up the middle — 27-24.
After a three-and-out by the reeling Packers, Chicago took possession on its 21-yard line with just under six minutes to go. With Randall on the sideline, Chicago executed a brilliant 14-play drive. Saving the day was Micah Hyde, who knocked down a 3rd and goal pass from four yards out. The ensuing Chicago field goal made it 27-27, setting up the Aaron Rodgers-Jordy Nelson heroics. Though the Green Bay defense was made to look bad in the fourth quarter, the Bears were by then playing inspired football.
It was obvious what Randall was doing wrong, but I don’t have a clue why he repeatedly played so far off the Bears’ receivers – and why it wasn’t remedied by the coaching staff for three quarters.
Randall is now ranked 119th among NFL cornerbacks by Pro Football Focus, slightly above two lower-rated players.
While he missed six games earlier due to a groin injury, Randall played without apparent distress against the Seahawks a week before and had two interceptions that he returned for 47 yards.
Assuming he gets to play on Saturday against the Vikings, can Randall get his head back on straight in time for the critical contest? If not, look for Rollins to move to the outside, as he did on Sunday. Kentrell Brice might also get some opportunities, but he doesn’t appear ready yet, especially for a game of this magnitude.
The ONLY chance the packers have at succeeding on defense is get the pass rush going. The giants defensive backs were about as talented as this group is in 2011 and they won a championship with a ferocious pass rush. Otherwise it’s 1 and done.
Rob this is a lot more productive discussion of Randall than Mordecia’s article about Randall. I will guess that Mordecia’s article will get more hits.
Except for the Int. by Randall in the end zone against Seattle I thought Randall was still not 100%. That Int. showed some good burst. Randall has always appeared to avoid being a physical corner. That goes for jamming receivers at the line or making the tough tackles. In fact there were a couple of times last year Randall appeared to go out of his way to avoid tackles resulting in long runs by the opponents receivers. Sure Randall will get physical at times but the norm appears to be Randall will not stick his nose into action. In Randall’s defense there may be concern by him or the medical staff that a quick change in direction could aggravate his groin injury causing more caution on a slick field.
The problem is when you have a slow or slick field and are playing a good offensive line the pass rush is going to be slower getting to the QB. In that case to me you need your corners to slow down the receivers by getting in their face. That can be dangerous if your corner looses footing, but with two deep safeties I think it would help throw timing off between receiver and QB. Maybe Randall isn’t capable of getting in the opponents face, however playing so far off also is not working.
The Vikings o-line sucks so maybe the pass rush this week can get to the QB. The Vikings will throw quick timing passes and bubble screens to compensate for their line. The Corners need to be in the receivers faces to throw of that timing and be near the action on the bubble screens. The defense cannot let Bradford get comfortable.
My comment at Mordecai’s article disappeared . In short I said I thought I was bitching about him since his second game for the packers and said before he can’t cover and losing his footing to often ( hence that second interception against the Seahawks. ) Could he tackle he might be a saftety.
Rob puts together the best articles on TotalPackers. Thanks for the close observations (I don’t have time to review games in that detail) and what seems to be valid evaluation of the situations. Like I have said before, I am just a dummy who watches the game from my recliner. I could see that the defense wasn’t playing nearly as well as they did against Seattle (any dummy could see that), but I couldn’t tell you exactly why. Really appreciate Rob helping to show us where the problem was at.
I was in the US Navy, so I am qualified to curse like a sailor, but I also know that there are times when it doesn’t advance the discussion in a meaningful way.
A Navy vet also, that makes 2 of us qualified to curse like a sailor. Thank you for your service.
Same to you!
The Packers have very good safety`s(Ha-Ha and Morgan) but their cornerbacks are basically terrible. Losing Sam was huge. Randall and Rollins should watch film of Charles Woodson and Al Harris on how to play cornerback. You don`t play 10 yds plus off receivers!
Dmarious Randall sucks. Bottom line. He is a lazy player. Mike McCarthy will be we win another championship when he coddles his players and let’s the defense play soft. What happened to the Packers? They used to play with energy and passion and now it just seems like they’ve lost it. The defense will be the reason the Packers bkw out of the Playoffs again. Ditch Randall and Rollins. They both suck.