If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the Packers were a team with a first-year coach because that’s how they played in San Francisco last night. Among the cheers from 49ers fans throughout the game you could hear the hopes and dreams of a Super Bowl LIV visit for the Packers go up in smoke. Playing a (surprisingly) top-tier team like San Francisco coming off a bye week and almost a fully healthy roster is about as fair as a match as Green Bay could ask for being a road game. It was an ugly game in Santa Clara, California and the Packers have very few excuses to be able to use to explain it.
Even going into this game, it would be difficult for one to argue that the 49ers are not a good team. The problem is that the Packers made them look like a GOAT team for the history books. While I am confident of the 49ers’ abilities, I still know they are not as talented as the Packers helped make them look on Sunday night.
Offensively for San Francisco, it was TE George Kittle that was the star of the night with 129-yards receiving and a touchdown despite having an ankle injury. He served as a strong contrast to our own TE Jimmy Graham — who could have magic bionic ankles and still not put up those kind of numbers, it seems. The 49ers were up 23 points before Green Bay even managed to score at all.
STRIP SACK.
The @49ers defense swarms and Nick Bosa recovers! #GoNiners
📺: #GBvsSF on NBC
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Watch free on mobile: https://t.co/oTTol2dlYz pic.twitter.com/XV25bmx5TF— NFL (@NFL) November 25, 2019
With 104 yards, Aaron Rodgers had the worst game of his career with at least 30 passing attempts.
On a positive note, The Smiths did claim more sacks yesterday — 1.5 for Za’Darius Smith and 0.5 for Preston Smith. Defensively, it was still a massive disappointment as the Packers gave up 339 total yards and claimed no interceptions.
Not going to call for anyone’s job but one thing is certain: the Packers will not go far in the playoffs playing how they did last night. At this point, their primary focus should be on the Monday Night Football game against the Minnesota Vikings in week 16 and at least take the division.
The most frustrating part about last night is that their worst game of the season, even coming off a bye, just happened to be — arguably — the most important one.
I need a drink.
The Packers — 0-for-13 on third downs so far tonight — haven't had an 0-for game on third downs since 1999, according to ESPN Stats & Information. They went 0-for-8 on third downs in a 31-10 loss at the Broncos on Oct. 17, 1999. https://t.co/jcXBDdM4GF
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) November 25, 2019
Last night reminded me of a previous debacle (e.g., Chargers game). Our offensive line was almost non-existent and when Rodgers would break free for 3 to 4 seconds untouched in the backfield, not a single receiver could get separation and become a target….the days of Jordy Nelson and Randal Cobb coming back to towards Rodgers to provide an option while he scrambles and extends the play is a distant memory.
Bulaga is too frail and is always tapping out in the biggest games. Drafting a solid right tackle is paramount for next year. The offensive line coach was of no help to Corey Linsley as he was out maneuvered all game.
Some of this feels like coaching as well. This is LaFleur’s first season as head coach and we need to cut him a little slack on this, however, patience is wearing thin. He got out coached last night. Big Time.
It’s unfortunate that Madison had to go on I R, he was a right tackle in college. I’m not sure how Alex Light got ahead of him on the depth chart.
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I’ll agree LeFleur got out coached, but remember, even the best jockey needs a fast horse or he won’t win. Still…i don’t care who was coaching, with that line getting their asses handed to them their fate was sealed.
I don’t know why i didn’t mention it before (Dude)….but excellent comments and perspective.
Maybe…..it might be refreshing to focus on the positives.
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As was discussed by some, the defense looked ok. They kept Garoppolo to a passer rating under 146.
They also kept the 9ers average yards per pass under 10.
Not to mention holding them to 3 of 9 on 3rd down conversions.
They also kept them under 40 points.
Rashan Gary got some valuable snaps in garbage time. Always nice when the 12th pick can make an appearence.
T Willys mentoring of Kevin King is finally starting to bear fruit. How did a writer here describe Kings coverage skills….glue? So, we got that going for us.
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See…it’s not all doom and gloom people.
After my fury of watching last night’s game, I have come to terms with what this team is. Just a good team. I thought playcalling was overall ok, I saw some of the things I wanted to see with misdirection plays and screens. There were some nice plays there. I don’t know if this is a LaFleur problem or a Rodgers problem, but the ball needs to be getting out quicker. Rodgers has a history of this, LaFleur needs/needed to emphasize this. The offensive line is catching a lot of crap. I seriously don’t think they are that bad. I still maintain they are top 10. However, I said before the season if they lose a tackle, they are in for a world of hurt. Of course Bulaga got hurt in the game where we were facing the best defensive line in the league. I still felt like they played ok considering. I don’t know what you people want, a solid 4-5 second pocket every dropback isn’t remotely realistic in the NFL.
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I think Rodgers holding onto the ball was probably one of the bigger issues here. Maybe scheming but I haven’t seen the coaches tape yet. I get the feeling that there were a number of shorter routes designed to be a quick dump that were passed on though.
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Years and years of poor defensive play also has led to an offensive that just isn’t all that explosive. Perhaps that’s Rodgers biggest problem in this offense. He has always flourished in offenses that push the ball down the field on big plays or the receivers would put up big YAC. He has never been one to dink and dunk and methodically pick a defense apart. Anyways, point is with the constant trying to improve the defense, there have not been any offensive skill position players drafted in the third round or earlier since Davante Adams in the 2014 second round. Those failures reverberations are showing their head on offense. In Rodgers defense, the receivers are below average as a group. I am second guessing the decision made to let Cobb walk, he has looked pretty good with the cowboys. For whatever reason, these other receivers aren’t getting involved in the offense.
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Someone might want to ask JK Scott what his deal is, and he might want to correct it soon.
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I have laid off the defense for the most part because I have beat on them quite a bit recently. But Kevin King, dude….. What in the f*** were you doing on that big play to Kittle? Like, what were you looking at, was someone flashing in the stands? Not that it wholly mattered at that point, the offense wasn’t going to score 20 points anyway. The defense held on for the most part, they were put behind the 8 ball a few times between Rodgers inexcusable fumble, and a few poor punts, and basically had been on the field the entire first half due to the offenses incompetence. But still, at some point they are going to have to help bail out the offense and make plays. They didn’t force a turnover last night, or do a whole lot of anything that would rally the team besides a few sacks.
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I am sure the coaches could have put together a better game plan, but this more falls on the players just seeming unprepared to play football. They are paid to make plays, they were few and far between
Rodgers has less fumbles than Tom Brady and Russell Wilson. But that isn’t good enough is it.
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Inexcusable!!! It’s high time Rodgers plays and makes zero mistakes.
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BTW….The O line played like shit when Bulaga was in. It didn’t just happen after Bulaga got hurt. But it’s your world, paint the sky any color you’d like.
Avoiding turnovers only goes so far when you are the 20th ranked offense in the NFL. Also, this offensive line was going against the best defensive line in the NFL. They have made a lot of offensive lines look bad. Name ten offensive lines better than the Packers
Name a source, whose job is is to rank (grade) O lines, and show me where they are ranked in the top 10. This season, present day. You are the one who said they were top ten….show me.
https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol/2019
This is from week 8, but still probably a fair representation for half the season
https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-offensive-line-rankings-week-8
The O line is top ten like i have a 10 inch……just sayin
On the bright side, this Aaron Jones for MVP will be silenced for a week at least
Jones was a silly candidate for MVP. I like him, he’s great, he’s having a great year but, still. First, it is basically impossible for an RB to win MVP. MVP is pretty much just plain MVQB. Jones is clearly well below McCaffrey, Fournette, Cook, Chubb, Henry, Jacobs, or Barkley. He is not a Top 10 RB… and he’s an RB!… so why would anyone think he’d win the MVQB???
Silly as his “candidacy” is, there is an even more silly one from the Green Bay Packers. As recently as last week (LAST WEEK!?!) more than one member of the media actually had Aaron Rodgers (Aaron Rodgers?!?!?) as somehow being in the running for NFL MVP. Boggles the mind! Here is a link to one:
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/dak-prescott-belongs-in-nfl-mvp-race-a-deep-dive-into-the-advanced-stats-prove-it/
See who isn’t mentioned? Yeah, the #1 QB is not listed among the 7 in the running for MVP! Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers, the 12th best, is in the running! Wha-wha-wha-WHAT? This is a double example.
One, people letting their perceptions rule over facts. Even though Cousins has a better win % over winning teams than Rodgers has over winning and .500 teams (last several years) and even though Cousins has a higher QB rating vs. winning teams than vs. losing teams thus showing he actually performs better and raises in performance in such games, there is a perception out there, sold over and over, than Rodgers beats winning teams a lot and Cousins rarely. So, just doesn’t matter which one is #1 and which one is #12.
Two, the NFL and its affiliates and members of the media who wish to prosper play up to, favor, and assist in PR the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers due to their wealth of fair-weather bandwagon fans. You saw who else was on that list for MVP right? Dak (6-4) Prescott is who. Why? Most yards. Ridiculous.
Rodgers isn’t an MVP and never will be again. He should not even be in that conversation among adults.
Now, before you go on to read Piffle’s following post claiming I’m bitter or work in fast food (hey, we should all respect fast food workers, that is hard miserable ugly work but oh so needed) or whatever insult of the day he needs to copy form elsewhere (he can’t come up with his own), just think for a minute if Aaron Rodgers had the #1 overall QB rating and was not listed as one of the Top 7 candidates for the MVQB award. You’d be OK with that?
As per last night’s game, I loved it, tons of fun to watch. Not at all surprising. That said, even without the ref help likely in the pipeline the schedule does favor the Packers in the next 5 games. The Packers only face one winning team and, if they lose to the Vikings but go 4-1, they will still take the division if the Vikings lose even one game even if they beat the Packers. Big uphill battle for the Vikings starting with the Seahawks in Seattle.
Man….if he could spend the same amount of time learning to make a Egg Mcmuffin correctly, as he does writing his novels, my mornings would be much happier.
WHAT THE FUCK is with linsley snapping every goddamn shotgun snap in to the dirt. I seriously think that fucked up their timing big time last night. It was fucking awful. His shitty snaps lower a metaphor for that entire cluster fuck of a team last night.
Glad I went to see Tool last night and didn’t watch this shit show…what a fucking mess.
Hell yeah. I’m seeing them at end of January in Atlanta. They put on a hell of a show
ESTABLISH THE RUNNING GAME. I mean shit, all the games we have lost this year is where we do not establish the run. We abandoned it early for no reason.
Hey, man, it’s not like it was working and we abandoned it. You can’t establish anything if you have to punt after your third play. Besides that, when you are two scores down you have to move downfield fast or die trying. The latter was actually the case: we fell trying.
When you are down by twenty in the fourth quarter maybe think about no huddle? with 10-11 minutes left we were still snapping the ball with 5 seconds on the play clock
It’s the same old thing, coaching can’t make adjustments, with the exception this year of a somewhat running game, the game plan as was with Mcfatso, her Aaron throw the ball, and when Aaron is having an off game, the adjustment is Aaron throw the ball!!! How can you not come up with a 3rd and 4th and short play!! This organization has wasted the career of a talented quarterback. If they could have figured a way to keep Holmgren, this would be matching the Patriots super bowl appearances. This team as the past 10 years maybe a divion winner, but that’s all folks.