At least the Green Bay Packers are back in the win column. They did what the Minnesota Vikings couldn’t do the week before and dispatched the Buffalo Bills.
They did so in convincing fashion, 22-0. The defense was the key, as the offense continued to struggle at times. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers actually called out Gravy Head after the game. That was a sweet development in and of itself.
But hey, let’s get on with it.
Tale Of Two Running Games
Coming in, you’d probably have figured the team with LeSean McCoy would outrush the one with Jamaal Williams. Totally the opposite happened. The Packers’ defense held the Bills’ rushing attack in check. They gave up a total of just 58 yards and the Bills collectively averaged just 3.6 per carry. Meanwhile, the Packers ran for 141 yards and averaged 4.4 yards per carry.
Keeping Clean
The loss of guard Justin McCray didn’t really seem to affect the Packers. His replacement, Byron Bell, isn’t great, but the Packers kept Aaron Rodgers upright for most of the day. Rodgers was sacked just two times. I’m never going to be crazy about right tackle Bryan Bulaga. He’s not a good run blocker, but he’s good enough in pass protection.
Working In The Rookies
With Randall Cobb sidelined, the Packers had to turn to a couple of their rookie receivers. Marquez Valdes-Scantling got a season-high 54 snaps. He caught one pass for 38 yards, but was targeted three times. J’Mon Moore got his first snaps of the season, finishing with 11. He was not targeted. Moore doesn’t seem ready yet, but you can see Valdes-Scantling has plenty of potential to stretch the field.
Where’s Mike Daniels?
You would think that as well as Kenny Clark has been playing, it would create more operating room for Mike Daniels. That hasn’t really been the case. Daniels had just a single tackle on Sunday. He has just six tackles on the season to go along with a sack. Daniels’ only multiple-tackle game of the season was week 1, when he had three. So that’s three consecutive games with a single tackle. Clark has a 90.1 grade so far this season. That’s seventh among defensive linemen. Daniels is at 69.7.
Big Blake
We pointed out how well linebacker Blake Martinez played yesterday. However, he’s been outstanding all season long. He’s currently PFF’s second-highest graded linebacker at 84.9. Here was Martinez’s line on Sunday: nine tackles, two for loss, a sack and two QB hits. He’s ninth in the NFL in tackles with 33. He’s probably not going to lead the league in tackles like he did last year, but he’s playing better football this year.