Matt LaFleur has to be feeling really great right now starting his first season as Packers head coach with two wins against division rivals Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. While slightly less ugly than week 1, it was still an ugly win. But a win against a divisional rival is always a wonderful sight, I suppose.
It was a beautiful day at Lambeau as Favre was in the house and so was Bart Starr’s lovely widow, Cherry Starr. After a brief, yet awkward at times, hug and kiss between the two, it was officially kickoff time.
The opening drive of the game, which started with a case study in how to execute a play action pass in the very first play, led to a TD by Jamaal Williams with barely more than two minutes burned off the clock since the start of the game. In 2 minutes and 10 seconds, the Pack went 75-yards in four plays. It was the Aaron Rodgers of yore and Davante Adams was the superstar receiver we all know and love. In fact, Adams averaged 15.1 yards with 7 receptions for a total of 106 yards. Aaron Jones also reminded us why he is the man. Keep in mind this was against a pretty tough Vikings defense(at times). I also noticed TE Jimmy Graham with a few useful blocks so there is no doubt this team has improved since last season.
The first quarter of the game was the opposite of the first quarter of week 1 against the Bears — unfortunately, it went downhill from there, offensively.
What a start!
15-yard TD from @AaronRodgers12 to @jswaggdaddy on the opening drive! #MINvsGB | #GoPackGo https://t.co/8id7sRqFEK
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) September 15, 2019
Packers MVP of the Game: Kirk Cousins
Thank you, Kirk, you magnificent overpaid and apparently colorblind prince. Bless your throwing into triple coverage heart. It was like late-career Favre all over again.
CB Kevin King with a critical late-game interception:
Kevin King will take that! @King_kevvoo #GoPackGo #MINvsGB
📺: FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app
Watch on mobile: https://t.co/y8YLGKmeTf pic.twitter.com/rBT0QHU3oH— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2019
One vital turnover for the Packers early on was Geronimo Allison losing the ball after deciding slamming into three defenders was better than going out of bounds. Oops. He’s a young guy so I would like to think he learned his lesson. Earlier in the game, Allison also made a leaping catch in the end zone for the second Packers TD.
Also, once again, Punter JK Scott pulled his weight this week with 8 punts and the longest being 59 yards. We could easily be 1-1 or 0-2 if not for this guy.
Full game stats per NFL.com:
Vikings – Packers
First Down 15 20
By Rushing 8 7
By Passing 6 12
Total Yards 421 335
Avg Per Play 7.0 4.9
Rushing Yards 198 144
Rushing Plays 27 33
Avg Per Rush 7.3 4.4
Passing Yards 223 191
Sacked (Yards) 1 (7) 2 (18)
Pass Comp-Att-Int 14-32-2 22-34-0
Avg Per Pass 6.8 5.3
Penalty (Yards) 8 (100) 6 (35)
Turnovers 4 2
Punts (Avg) 6 (44.0) 8 (47.6)
Net Punting Avg 44.0 42.0
Time Of Possession 25:54 34:06
While the Packers defense did allow 421 yards and logged a single sack by Kenny Clark, they forced turnovers when it mattered the most and that’s how you win championships. The Smiths were at it again with Preston Smith intercepting Cousins on 3rd down after a pass was swatted by S Darnell Savage.
Once again, Dalvin Cook showed signs of being the next Adrian Peterson with a 75-yard TD run early in the game. If this guy can stay healthy, which I kind of doubt, he is going to be trouble for the Packers in the near future.
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In site related news, starting next week, I’ll create a post just before the game to give everyone a convenient place to discuss it until I roll out of bed and put up a summary.
These defensive poses for a picture every game…………………………………I like it………….its about fucking time
Bart Starr’s Old Lady?….Really?
It’s a southern thing.
I think Cousins was pissed off after reading my previous post about Zimmer making him a game manager and his job was not to lose the game.
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I guess he showed me.
I hope he reads posts better than defenders
Overall…i thought the defense against the bears was much better. I’m not so sure giving up 412 yards is reason to throw a party, Especially considering the queens had the ball for almost 11 minutes less than the Packers.
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The Packers offense scored enough early on to secure a win. But make no mistake about it, the Packer defense got rolled by the queens running game. The last few times they gave up that many yards rushing was twice to A.P. and once to Kaepernick. The real reason we won that game imo (with an assist from the defense)….is the incompetence of a QB who threw for a 43% completion percentage and two dumbshit picks (YOU LIKE THAT!).
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Maybe Kirk Cousins biggest fan will come in here and enlighten us on Cousins performance and tell us once again why Cousins is a better QB than Rodgers. If he isn’t already back in County lock up.
Savage showed typical rookie play for a player with lots of potential. Several great plays, then one terrible play that allowed a huge run.
I’m more concerned about what happened to the offense. Lafleurs scripted plays worked great. Can he not call a good game after a defense makes adjustments?
Yea deep, i thought the exact same thing about LeFleur. But then i thought, we let McCarthy make mistake after mistake for over a decade as he learned on the go. Surely we can give LaFleur a little rope.
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In somewhat related news….i could be wrong, but is LaFleur the only Packer head coach to start his career 2-0 since Vince Lombardi?
Deepsky, One concern is Savage was limping badly on the final lateral play. Savage and Diggs hit feet together fairly hard and Savage immediately started hopping off the field on one foot and would not put weight on the other.
I put that long TD run on Goodson not maintaining gap control. Sure Savage should have made a tackle, but that play should have been stopped at the line or slowed down. F. Brown crashed, Lancaster looped and one of the ILBs should have filled that gap. Goodson looked to be that guy. Goodson appeared confused at times pre snap, and appeared to not be hitting the proper gaps in the run game. First game, new system, I guess.
I said it last week, a smaller athletic front like that can be run on, especially when every snap is played in a sub package. I had concerns about it, and it showed up yesterday.
Don’t know if you guys read other teams’ subreddits after they lose, but you should. It’s incredibly enjoyable.
That being said, Vikings fans are well aware of their horrible fate with Cousins, and I’m reveling in it.
I find most of the discussion on reddit to be shallow, but those nerds are great for a laugh or two.
According to Vikings media and fans, the Vikings have the greatest players in the NFL on the field, the best coaches in the game, and were it not for bad officiating and one Cousins throw, the Packers would have lost.
Well….i guess since i’m still being paid my salary, i suppose i could go into work, sit at my desk for 2-3 hours and pretend i’m still relevant.
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Then later on, i might be motivated to re-watch the game and get my Rashan Gary weekly update, and look over the O line’s performance.
Sounds like my days. I would not bother looking for Gary. On the offensive line you made a comment on a different post about Jenkins and who drafted him. I don’t think the Packers will keep Jenkins out of the starting lineup much longer. I believe Jenkins was a product of Gutekunst bringing in Milt Hendrickson. Hendrickson was a national scout for the Ravens and was, in part, in charge of scouting offensive linemen for the Ravens. The Ravens to me have always drafted good to very good offensive linemen. Jenkins fits the mold. I’m waiting for LaFleur on some of the 3rd and ones to put Jenkins in as a TE until he is a full time starter.
Well…maybe the first thing they can teach him is not just stand there, go find someone, or help someone else. Instead of just looking around and then,turning his back to the defense to see what Rodgers was doing, Rodgers was about to be sacked. At the same time were pretty far outside the Ravens circle and we really have no idea who Hendrickson endorsed, or didn’t. even if he did, that doesn’t automatically make Jenkins gold. but as things sit now for the Packers, they can’t afford to keep missing. It would be nice for one of our top 3 picks of 2019 to be a player. I was making a one play observation albeit harshly, hence why i wanted to go back and watch some game tape. As usual, time always brings out the truth eventually.
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As far as Gary, i saw him in the game early, but next thing i knew was i never saw him again, or i wasn’t paying attention.
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Usually when i watch the game i follow the ball, unless i want to rewind and watch the play over, which i do often. I usually save my critique to after i’ve watched it again isolating on segments of the team (unless it just stood out). It really doesn’t take too long when you can ff up to 60X.
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Some fans seem shy to critique when a team is winning. I’m not wired like that, i always call it the way i see it, good or bad.
All I can say is you are being very harsh on Jenkins. I would respectfully suggest you watch the entire game film of Jenkins and we can discuss. I remember Sitton and Lang missing blocks also as veterans. Did either Sitton or Lang even get to play when they were rookies? All offensive linemen get beat at times. I don’t care who they are or how long they have been in the league.
I guess it is not O.K to bring up why I think the Packers drafted Jenkins? I thought you were serious, but I guess sarcasm does not play well in writing. Won’t make that mistake again. When did I say Jenkins was gold???
I admitted i was being harsh.based on one play didn’t i?
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I didn’t say you said he was gold….
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Are you drinking again?
Here are my thoughts. Cousins had an awful game obviously. He had two great legendary ones vs. the Packers last year and this awful one this year. Most game she does great. I could, of course, point to many games where Rodgers or Brady or Brees or Goff or whoever do quite poorly. It’s the NFL. It happens.
Anyone who watched this game saw that Cousins gave it away to an inferior team. It was obvious to anyone (with football acumen and the ability to understand the word acumen) the Vikings are the better team. You guys won and you jumped out to a great start, no doubt. No doubt Cousins had an awful game.
What else did we see? The Vikings defense, after the poor start, absolutely dominated. The Vikings run game is dominant. Aaron Rodgers looked really bad. Not as bad as Kirk Cousins, very true, but he looked BAAAAAAAD.
I truly believe Cousins will have more yards, more TDS, a higher completion %, and more wins than Rodgers by the end of the year. Of course, I’ve been quite wrong before!
Also, though, keep in mind the Vikings were obviously the better team despite the Packers having home field advantage, 3 extra days of rest, 3 extra days of preparation, and the refs giving them all sorts of insane calls that directly impacted the game. If you look at it the refs and Cousins each gave the game to the Packers. Packers did not win it for themselves.
I know you guys like to get all arrogant but you really don’t have much to crow over on this one.
See you guys in Minnesota!
You lost all credibility when you called your QB a She.
*long deep chuckle
I though Mr. Legendary was a completion machine…43.75% Fun facts about Mr. Legendary…
Since 2017, Cousins ranks 27th out of 27 qualifying QBs in passer rating (76.5) from the opponents’ 10-yard line and in. He’s completed just 44.6 percent of his passes under these conditions, averaging the lowest yards per attempt (1.6) among qualifying signal-callers.
It is not just 1 game, it is a career of futility.
I live near D.C. there was a reason they wanted him out of D.C/ Landover MD. Now after an $84M contract Viking fans also see why. Nice contract Spielman, I’ll bet after next year you can get him at a discount.
Dalvin Cook is scary though.
Maybe if Cousins has better stats at the end of the year over Rodgers, the Lonely Boy can then make a banner with the stats on it and hang it on his concrete wall in his room. Right next to the vikings team picture of the 1976 NFC Champion vikings.
Most readers made it too…….
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KILLER September 16, 2019
Here are my thoughts.
Packers sucked in the second half, still cant put it all together, yet. I mean alot of shit was happening before the game and at halftime with the Starr stuff but still thats no excuse. Something i never understood. Paul Hornung never gets the ovation he should when hes back in Green Bay. Its fucking Paul Hornung! Notre Dame, Packer, football legend! People act like hes just some guy from the old days. Dude is one of the last great players still alive from that era. But fuck getting old is a bitch. Its depressing as hell seeing Kramer limp out there with a cane and guys getting carted out there by their personal nurses. God damn i hope im dead before i get to that point, lol.
Looks like Raven Greene is out indefinitely
I enjoyed watching the game from my beach chair on the beach….yes I live in Myrtle Beach where I have to listen to a handful of Panther fans bemoan the wonderous QB that is Cam Newton. Look things could be worse, the Pack have played 2 division rivals which we know are always the hardest games. The Pack have to steamroll the Broncos to get street cred, otherwise I will be worried. Who is on the Broncos? I can’t name one player, I think they signed a QB in the off season? PF I hope you are healing up.
Thanks…after 4 weeks, finally starting to see some mobility progress. Gonna take a few months at least.