That comeback made me giddy. Thankfully, there were plenty of Chicago Bears fans in the bar I was in to talk shit to. Aaron Rodgers, man. Legendary.
I think it’s safe to say the Bears are better than we perhaps estimated. That said, maybe the Packers just weren’t quite ready at the start of the game.
146 of the Bears' 294 total yards came on the first two possessions. Chicago had only 148 the next eight series #Packers
— Wes Hodkiewicz (@WesHod) September 10, 2018
Not much pretty in that first half. That’s for sure. But let’s get on with it.
How About Those Receivers?
I certainly want to give Aaron Rodgers all the credit, but he didn’t do it alone. Randall Cobb had his biggest game in… ? Cobb caught nine for 142 and the game-winning touchdown, which went 75 yards. Let’s remember that again.
Randall Cobb goes 75 YARDS!!!!!! 😱@packers have the lead! #CHIvsGB #GoPackGo
📺: NBC https://t.co/S3trWF5UoY
— NFL (@NFL) September 10, 2018
It wasn’t just Cobb, though. Davante Adams had five for 88 and a touch. Geronimo Allison had five for 69 and a touch. I wasn’t totally sold on Allison as the No. 3, but it looks like he’s going to be just fine.
Two other things I found interesting here. Tight end Jimmy Graham, not really involved. Two catches for eight yards on four targets. Secondly, of the Packers seven active receivers, only four got snaps. Nothing new under Mike McCarthy. However, the No. 4 was Marquez Valdes-Scantling. He got two snaps.
Jamaal Williams — Meh
I’m really not sure why McCarthy or anyone for that matter is so in love with Jamaal Williams. Much like 2017, when he averaged a fairly pedestrian 3.6 yards per carry, Williams delivered similar results in week 1. Fifteen carries for 47 yards, a 3.1 yard average. The Packers gave Ty Montgomery just two carries. Aaron Jones is suspended for another week, but McCarthy needs to give him the rock when he returns.
The Khalil Mack Effect
Well, we know what the Packers missed out on when they weren’t able to trade for Khalil Mack. Dude is a game-changer. Three tackles, one for loss, a sack, a fumble recovery, a pass defended, a QB hit and a goddam touchdown to boot. He did that in 42 snaps. Bryan Bulaga could not handle Mack and the Packers left him out there one-on-one most of the time. PFF graded Mack at 93.3 for the game, the highest rating for any edge defender. Bulaga got a 58.8.
But if you’re into the PFF grades, there is good news. David Bakhtiari got the highest grade for a tackle at 84.1. I don’t know who the best tackle in the game is, but Bakhtiari has got to be right there if he isn’t at the top of the list.
Josh Jackson Is In
It seemed like second-round pick Josh Jackson was going to be buried on the depth chart and not get many snaps coming into the season. That is not the case. Jackson, at least based on Sunday night, appears to be entrenched as the Packers No. 4 corner. He got 46 snaps. Davon House got none.
The snap breakdown for the corners are as follows. Kevin King and Tramon Williams with 70. Jaire Alexander with 49 and Jackson’s 46. Of the four, Jackson graded out highest at 78.6. King was the worst at 53.0.
Nay, Clay
If Clay Matthews is looking for another big-money deal after his contract expires following the season, he’s not off to a good start. Matthews’ stat line in week 1 consists of one frickin’ tackle. Was he near the quarterback? Not that I can recall. Nick Perry was. Mike Daniels was. Kenny Clark was. Hell, even safety Kentrell Brice was. Not Clay, though. PFF gave Matthews a 29.8 grade on the night.
Why Is Trevor Davis Around?
Yes, I know this is six, but I have to say it. Davis was inactive for the game. He apparently aggravated the hamstring injury that kept him out most of the preseason at some point in the past week. He was healthy enough to play in week 4 of the preseason, but then not healthy enough to play in week 1 of the regular. Davis was supposedly kept around for his prowess as a return man. In his absence, Ty Montgomery and Marquez Valdes-Scantling returned kicks. They averaged 23.5 and 21.0, respectively. Randall Cobb returned punts. He took the one he returned for 17 yards. So the Packers need Trevor Davis why?
Last updated on January 24th, 2019 at 03:50 am
That’s not a totally fair analysis of J Williams. His blocking was huge, including one on a touchdown pass. He’s the superior pass blocker, and the guards are shit right now, so as long as 12 is back there, he’s getting the majority of the snaps.
So the word on the street is that Mordi called a meeting at Packer headquarters. Someone allegedly heard a barrage of gun fire and…..here we are.
Sometimes you just never know, even though the signs were there.
Clay Matthews is on my shitlist after that game. That was possibly the worst game I have seen him play. Corey Linsley also played a pretty poor game. He was abused in the first half of the game. Definitely didnt earn his paycheck
9th highest paid center based on average salary. Lol
Not only did he play like shit by missing tackles and getting run over by his own guy, that roughing the passer was terrible. Pull your head out of your ass Clay. The game was pretty much over and you blatantly hit Trubisky after he clearly threw the ball, only to give them 4 more tries to get into field goal range. Fucking idiot. Thank God the defense was able to stop them otherwise we wouldn’t be singing the same tune today.
Matthews was terrible the entire game. He looked like absolutely nothing out there. I think he got one pressure. Gilbert looked better. It’s not like he’s coming off an ACL like Bulaga. I kept thinking we should have just cut Matthews and signed Mack, although the Bears picks looked better than the Packers and that probably wasn’t going to happen no matter how much money the Packers could spend.
Bulaga had a terrible first half, as did the entire right side of the line, but did better in the second half.
“Williams – Meh”
I get that Jamaal Williams isn’t the explosive, dynamic, game-changing spark plug that Aaron Jones is, but do you remember that perfectly floated pass to Davante that went for 51 yards in the 4th quarter and set up the second touchdown? It doesn’t happen without Jamaal because he picked up the middle blitz PERFECTLY. Rodger’s was dead to rights, get’s sacked on 2nd and 10, and that drive probably stalls if Jamaal doesn’t make that block.
Aaron Jones is far and away the more athletically gifted halfback, but in a game like last night with Rodger’s non-existent mobility, Jamaal was the perfect option to have back there.
It was a great block that’s for sure.
1) Yes, how about those receivers. They seemed to play with some real purpose after the injury.
2) Williams. Yes a couple others mentioned it, the block. The yardage wasn’t great but when he stayed home to help, he helped. If his biggest contribution this year is 3.1 yards per carry but also keeping AR upright, he’ll be doing his job. Because it ain’t like the o-line got help from this year’s draft.
3) Mack is weapon. He is a difference maker. Wait until Roquan Smith gets going too. The Bears might just have some real threats in their pass rush besides Mack. It will be interesting to see how this develops for them.
4) Josh Jackson is really going to help remind everyone, you could have had TJ Watt.
5) Good gawd. You are all correct about Matthews. Whiffing on some many plays and then that bone-headed penalty on that 4th down play. Ugh.
6) Around for one more week, then gone. Make room for Aaron Jones.
In other news, Jordy Nelson had only 3 catches for 23 yards.
No surprise there. Carr is being exposed for what he is. Not a very good QB.
Yeah, and his replacement only had 2 for 8. Meh. I am not one of the people going crazy over that. This offense was going to function fine as long as the offensive line held up.
I still however think he made a huge mistake not getting Mack. His impact was huge Sunday night.
…and Cook had 180 yds receiving. Should have kept him and then utilize him properly; the Graham FA money could have went to OLB and OL
Good job, Monti!
Mordecai or Monty at this point what difference does it make?
Hehe… Meant Mordi, for writing something without involving Olivia Munn or the funny hat Rodgers got to wear at some event. For him this is definitely an improvement. He threw in some stats and everything.
I think Monty and Mordi may be one and the same. You might even throw Joseph in. Monty use to write several articles the same day with different subjects. Mordi and Joseph articles can have a very similar style and language as some of Monty’s articles. I’m probably very wrong, but I would be suprised if we ever see a picture of the three together that has not been photoshopped.
I think this one was by Monty even though it is attributed to Mordi, but at this point who knows if there is a difference? With Shawn, Andrew, Rob, or E Wolf, you could almost always tell who had wrote the article before you saw the author.
You pretty much said everything I was thinking Howard. We wouldn’t even know if it was a picture of all three of them because we don’t even know what they look like. Joseph and Mordi have images of John Bonham, the drummer from Led Zeppelin, and an actor from the Royal Tenenbaums. Mordicai Jones is also an old rock and roll album from the 70’s similar to Zeppelin. Take that however you will. Maybe Monty digs himself some good ol’ rock and roll.
It’s also a bit strange that you can’t look at past articles other than the ones on the main page. The search feature won’t work and the blog link comes up blank. Maybe the site is being goofy, or maybe they’re being made off limits for a reason. Who knows, who cares… as long as we get quality Packer articles.
All that being said, where the hell is Robster. I miss Rob Born articles. Not dissin’ on the guys who are keeping this going right now but, there was a better diversity in the site.
Spot on guys…Mordi and Montys articles have many similarities with the crude tone occasionally. I wouldn’t be shocked whatsoever if they were the same. Shawn use to write as a guy posting under the name Iltarion, that i know for sure. But the rest is educated guessing, mostly based on common sense.
E. Wolfe…no one cares.
I’m with Mitch on Rob. He was a fresh face who i didn’t always agree with, but he was all football, all the time. He was very committed to writing, he did an insane amount of research to write a lot of his articles.
I feel like this is a Eulogy of sorts. Which leads me to this….
In case someday soon this site goes lights out, i want to say i appreciated reading well articulated and thought out comments from guys like Howard, Cheese, Ice, Mitch, Adam, MJ, Gort, Empacador, cd4packers and all the rest i can’t recall off the top of my head.
Like i said…just in case…..Godspeed through your travels in life. It’s been a slice.
Same to you PF4L. Something just seems “off” here right now. God knows it will be tough to find someplace where you can say what you feel without being censored.
Most other sites didn’t care for my “say what i’m thinking philosophy”…lol.
Needless to say i’ve been “punished” (banned) more than once including here, and didn’t GAF each time :)
My old chat site was for real time chats, NFL.com use to have it. But at least here, you can speak freely, which is the only format that works for me. Hence why i’ve stuck around here.
Thanks for that comment PF4L. As Empacador stated same back at you, with you at the top of my list.
No, thank you. You are of the rare small handful who, when reading your post i’d learn things looking at it in a different lens, or you saw something i didn’t. I especially appreciated the chat about Super Bowl LI when you and i nailed it on how the Falcons let that one slip through their hands. Not even the talking heads on tv caught it, but you did, with me trailing right beside you.
Thanks, PF. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but in case the site fades away, I must say that it has been a pleasure to exchange ideas with you, guys. To the list of regulars PF named I can add Ferris, and heck, even Killer the crazy Viking. My respect to you all, guys. Yes, we do not always agree, but that is part of the point, to widen our own perspectives.
I wish you well in whatever projects you have in life.
I am also a regular commenter in PackersWire with the same name (MJ), so if you happen to drop by, I would like to read your contributions. Some of you may need to use a less colorful language, as I think there is sime mild moderation (can’t say for sure, since I rarely curse or go insult heavy), but again, if you don’t find that too restrictive your football insights may be valuable.
While the site provided the meat and potatoes with some very well researched articles (Rob, Shawn, Monty, sometimes Joseph), it gave ample space for us to fuel the discussions. And a few times there was some direct feedback from the authors in follow up articles or even in the comment section. All that without any censoring that I was aware of. Therefore I would like to thank the site owners and authors for their past work. I hope it does not come to an end, but just in case, there were my thoughts.
” Something just seems “off” here right now. ”
Yeah the front page opens much quicker lately.
Eh, it always opened about the same for me. UBlock Orgin was a godsend for a place like this. Currently showing 31 requests blocked and only 8 domains connected of the 19 requested.
Yea….i couldn’t come in here without it.
requests blocked
on this page
69 or 56%
since install
3,777,476 or 13%
One final thought on the bear game. Everyone is focused on the 2nd half, great 4th quarter.
But, even with Rodgers, wtf was that 1st half all about? Nice adjustments made in the second half, but what are the Packers going to do, play a 2 minute offense the whole game from now on?
Good comments all around, but is anyone else still scratching their head why Haha CD is still a starting safety in this league? I’ll give him credit (which I never do) he made a great play on the 4th(?) down to stop a drive. But where was he the rest of the game? The only other time I noticed him was the cutback run by Howard at the end of the game that gave Chicago 3rd and 1 at the GB 15ish. Haha wanted NO part of making that tackle! It’s like he was avoiding it! Tired of him, but kinda enjoyed watching Bryce fly around the field and the rookie corners being in the right place. Like everyone else on Matthews, I’m over him. Anyone could play the position as good as he’s playing it. And you can’t count on him to make smart plays, with that roughing the passer penalty.
All that said, I’ll never forget the ending to this game! And I wish I could forget the beginning.