Gut Reactions: Divisional Round
By Aaron Nagler on Jan 12, 2013 with 118 Comments
- Congratulations to the San Francisco 49ers. They played one hell of a game.
- One hell of a year. Disappointing, but still better than 2011.
- The Packers looked like they prepared for Alex Smith at quarterback tonight.
- Aaron Rodgers’ deep interception was beyond brutal. Just a terrible decision and throw.
- Tramon Williams played better than people think, but still didn’t play as well as the Packers needed him to.
- Why McCarthy got away from DuJuan Harris, I’ll never know.
- It’s damn near criminal that it took until halftime for Cobb to get involved.
- Ryan Pickett going down early was just heartbreaking.
- Sam Shields made himself a ton of money all year and in this game.
- Jermichael Finely should have been more involved in the passing game.
- This team needs to get tougher. Not nearly enough “nasty” on either side of the ball.
- Brad Jones quietly had one hell of a game.
- I guess I understand why McCarthy punted on the 4th down after Rodgers barely missed Jennings on third down. But I hate the decision.
- THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is why you don’t take Randall Cobb off of returns. I have no doubt Ross will be a fine return man down the line, but in the playoffs, everything goes up a notch in intensity.
- I know a lot of Packers fans want Dom fired after this game – hell, they probably wanted him fired at halftime – but I have a hard time seeing McCarthy pulling the plug on Capers. That said – he deserves to be fired for the complete lack of a gameplan for Kaepernick.
- I know this stings. I know this sucks. I am still proud as hell of this team.
- Look forward to seeing what the offseason brings. Jennings, Driver, Finley and Woodson are most likely gone. The Packers are going to look very different in 2013.
- Go Pack Go.
Filed Under: Featured • Gut Reactions
It’s going to be real tough to see those players go in the offseason. Grown to really love Finley, always loved Jennings, and Woodson is a key playmaker. It’s going to be tough…
I have to admit, I wanted Ross on PRs for this game so he could give us a boost but in that particular situation; up by 7 and recieving the punt deep in your own territory, Id like to think that even I would have made a better choice there and used Cobb.
I can’t help but feel a little guilty just for writing the words suggesting it, can’t imagine how bad MM or Slocum felt, whoever acually made the decision to use Ross instead of Cobb.
That was obviously a huge turning point in the game, I know it will be the play that sticks with me the longest this offseason. Ugggh.
Look forward to seeing what the offseason brings. Jennings, Driver, Finley and Woodson are most likely gone. The Packers are going to look very different in 2013.
——————–
yes yes they will. Every LB not named Matthews or Moses needs to go
I’m ok to keep Bishop. He would have been nice to have this year.
The loss of Bishop was huge!
Not if they’re named Bishop.
this doesn’t count guys already on IR
So pretty much just Walden Hawk and Zombo? I could get with that. Hawk’s worth keeping if he’ll take a pay cut; they seem to have finally found the best way to make use of the things he can do. Walden and Zombo can take a hike. We’ve bargained ourselves down quite a bit from ‘everyone but Clay and Dezman,’ lol.
And Brad Jones surprised me with his solid play today. I’d rather have him at ILB than Hawk. At the very least, keep him around as a proven backup.
Agreed. Solid backup.
OMG buy Walden a dictionary so he can look up the word CONTAIN…they taught us that in 9th grade football
Pretty good breakdown.
Until Mccarthy and Capers stop getting out-classed and out-coached expect more of the same. We had our chances and the back to back turnovers put us in a bind we never recovered from. Funny how I called it early in the 2nd half and was bounced from chat for calling it like I saw it.
It was stupid early to try and call that game that early, especially when at the end of the half only a field goal separated the two team score wise.
Predictions on who stays and goes: Woody, Driver, and Jennings gone. Kuhn actually looked old and slow tonight. Hopefully Dom.
I don’t think Finley is cut. We don’t know what we have yet in Quarless and Williams and Taylor aren’t exactly making MM play them more.
I’d like to see some young juice injected at LB come draft time.
I can’t even express how strongly I’m hoping they fire Capers. The dude seems to have a pretty low ceiling and from a quick glance over his defenses in the past, they always seem to start strong and then fade quickly. It’s hard for me to believe that they can’t find someone else to call a 3-man rush on important downs if that’s what they really want, y’know?
Rob Ryan’s available… wouldn’t that be something. Rob Ryan and Kevin Greene potentially on the same staff? Hairgasm! Probably just a pipe dream.
Ryan signed with the Rams…Lovie
I posted about Ryan earlier too, hadn’t heard he signed with the Rams. Crazy if Lovie comes to GB as a cooridnator. I think he did enough in Chicago to get another HC job somewhere.
Makes me wonder if they watched any film on Kaepernick. Couldnt they find anything that other teams have done to limit him. You cant stop him, but you should be able to gameplan better than what Capers and the defensive staff showed. And for all those people who said that with Webb playing last week will help prepare them for Kaepernick, do not watch enough football. Webb is NOWHERE close to Kaepernick.
Why the hell did they abandon the run game 100%? That last drive when they were down 14, I can’t seem to recall a single run called to DuJuan Harris. Kid was playing lights out and McCarthy decides to just keep throwing.
Also, can we draft a defensive coordinator?
I was wondering the same thing. After the first drive of the 2nd half, Harris did not carry the ball again.
I really think the Packers need to look for a new defensive coordinator. Kaepernick was incredible tonight, but that was embarrassing.
Completely dominated on all sides of the ball tonight, congrats 49ers. Lots of things to look at this off season for the Packers.
Hate to play the ‘what if’ game, but what if this game is played in Lambeau because the Fail Mary was called correctly. Would the 49ers have made it past the Vikings, probably, but would that extra week mattered to prepare for the 49ers differently.
Sadly, I think the Fail Mary saved us from another home playoff loss.
sorry but they would’ve beat us at home too
Which is exactly what the post you’re responding to says.
niners would have been facing the bears not the vikings.. so who knows maybe we dont even face niners IF the fail marry game was called correctly OR if we beat the vikings in week 17… too many iFs we didnt show up tonight.. which is sad bc we got beat by a college style offense and a running qb who couldnt have started the game any worse… smfh
You just saw the future of the NFL tonight. Get a QB who can pass and run a 4.5 40. Vick was one of the first, but he couldn’t make you pay with the pass. It’s no coincidence that both the 49′er and Seahawks are SB contenders with QB’s who can run and throw. The game has changed before our eyes.
That said, I believe with a good draft the Packers will win the SB next year. Rodgers can definitely pass and he runs well enough. This team is in much better shape than most of the posters tonight will believe. Don’t worry, the window is still wide open.
MEH, people will figure out the running QB within the next couple of years. This is a fad that usually doesn’t last all that long
All 4 of the new breed QBs got their teams to the playoffs: Kaepernick, Luck, Wilson, and RG3.
all 4 are rookies. Look at Cam Newton. Teams figure these guys out really quick and I would not consider Luck a running QB
Andrew Luck??? Isn’t he pretty much the old prototype pocket passer?
Luck’s a 4.6 guy. Physically he’s kinda teetering on the edge between pocket passer and athletic, but his game is somewhere in the Rodgers/Romo/Roethlisberger area. He has great pocket presence, escapability, big dude who’s hard to take down (as we saw when Matthews bounced off him this season), some scrambling, but few big explosive runs if any.
How did the running/passing-QB work out for RG3? Eventually they get injured or figured out. I’d rather have stability on my team by having a superb “mobile” pocket passer (like Rodgers); the rules of the NFL are titled in their favor. This season the Packers’ receivers appeared to be aging very quickly — couldn’t seem to get open fast enough. And the offensive line, partly through injuries, appeared mediocre. The defense was hot and cold, and obviously played poorly last night. Ted has a lot of work to do, probably needing both a great draft AND free agency signings. If they fire Dom Capers, please don’t bring in Rob Ryan. Methinks the 49ers will be good for quite some time. Damn the intensity of Harbough and here’s to hoping if at least one of his key players doesn’t break his leg, he does.
+1
Running QBs do’nt last in the long run
Dom Capers gonna get a lot of criticism and I won’t be surprised if some start asking for him to be fired. I think thats just wrong.
Capers had a Charles Wolfson that was playing in his prime, Nick Collins and Cullen Jenkins in 2010. All he has now is Clay Matthews and a crapload of rookies.
If Capers had even one more playmaker, like say JJ Watt, that defense wouldn’t look nearly as bad as it does now.
In fact, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that he would command the best Defense in the NFL, if he had just one more player like that.
The problem is that Capers’ strategy often seems so baffling – like tonight when they seemed completely unprepared for a running QB and had no discipline on the option and frequently left the middle of the field wide open. I’m not usually a “Fire Everyone” type every time we don’t win the Super Bowl, but I’m about done with Capers. Honestly, three out of his four years have been sub-par. And wouldn’t everybody love to have another JJ Watt.
Hahahaha seriously. “If we just had the best defensive player in the NFL on our team, we’d be SOOO much better!!”
That’s why I think McCarthy shouldn’t be blamed for getting away from the run. If we just had say, Adrian Peterson, we’d be a much better offense
There were zero halftime adjustments. That’s not a personnel issue. How many more defensive players do we need to draft before Capers is held accountable? He came up with absolutely nothing to contain Kaep. A Brad Jones spy doesn’t do the job. Sending a corner blitz with man coverage on 3rd down doesn’t do the job.
mccarthy said that there were halftime adjustments that were made but i guess they just didn’t work
You’re on crack. Dom and his… See if I can type this without laughing… “gameplan” sucked scrote tonight.
He’s too old, the game has passed him by. 4 years, and tonight was the culmination? 4 years of practice brought us to THIS? We can’t afford to piss another of #12′s years away with Dom. Gotta go.
If u think they’ll be a contender next year with no Finley and jennings and a generally similar D, you are an optimist. The whole character of the defense needs to be overhauled. Years in the making.
terrible end to the year. uphill battle after the MNF fail marry game..
but the team fought every step of the way and battled injuries..
dom capers gameplan for #7 was BEYOND WORDS… for this game alone he should be fired but prolly wont be.
jennings is gone(sadly), driver will prolly retire,
idk im torn on finley doesnt he have another yr on the contract left? id prefer to keep him if were losing jennings..
i really dont want woodson gone either he needs to stay.. ppl dont talk bout how much nick collins is missed on this team.. nick allowed woodson to roam and make plays so cant lose woodson as well… Rodgers didnt show up when he was really needed but damn that D was horrible just horrible no adjustments all game long.. they ran the same thing over and over and over again..
the ross fumble HURT i mean REALLY hurt and he knew it thats y he was laying on the ground that long.. could have been 21-7 or 17-7 if he holds on at worse were still up a TD.. but thats coaches fault for having him back there thats cobbs job.
even more pissed off about the O game plan. too many LONG routes in the plays when it wasnt needed… we had 2 good drives where we got 17 points and it was effective as the niners couldnt stop us otherwise rodgers held the ball too long bc of the routes.. macarthy is better than that.. just pissed we lost to a college offensive style running type qb thats jus effing SAD … but still gopackgo
The history on Capers is his schemes are good for two or three years but opposing teams learn how to utilize their personnel to attack his predictable tendencies, like allowing all DBs to be pulled by receivers running near the sideline, leaving the middle of the field open. And the defense continues to lack fundamentals in contain and tackling. He is not a coach whose teams win with smash-mouth, disciplined football.
I’ll bet ya 50 bucks Jermike is with the team next year
Why wouldn’t he? He’s been catching balls and trying to keep his mouth (mostly) shut. Perhaps he is emulating Mr. James Jones?
Also, his contract isn’t going to bust the bank. I still have not seen another breakout TE on this team.
Because he wants his $$$ and some team out there may give him more than he’s worth. And that’s not TT’s style. We will see. I think its 50/50.
And I’d like to see him be back. We don’t have anything close to a dynamic TE waiting in the winds. Although Quarless healthy would help.
Remember this name…Brandon Bostick, 6’3′/245 reciever and basketball player in college.
Packers signed TE Brandon Bostick, QB B.J. Coleman, OT Andrew Datko, C Garth Gerhart, OG Joe Gibbs, LB Micah Johnson, CB James Nixon and S Chaz Powell to reserve/future contracts.
Jan 14 – 5:06 PM
Woodson will still be around… They wouldn’t have re-integrated him so much of he was done. Finley may still be around too.
I think Woodson costs something like $12 million or $14 million next year. The only way he stays is with a massive pay cut.
“This team needs to get tougher. Not nearly enough “nasty” on either side of the ball.”
I agree. Someone once wrote that the lack of toughness or nastiness is a reflection of the kind of leadership the Packers have–specifically McCarthy and Thompson. Don’t know that I agree with that, but those two fellows definitely set the tone for the organization. Maybe we need an a**hole for a coach.
Well how the hell is D gonna be tougher with Capers?Capers normally has one good year with new team then its downhill from there.You waiit until your league mvp qb is beatup and past his prime before you finally make a change,its now
Yessir.
Sadly, ARod’s career (career I say not play) is starting to resemble old #4′s. Super Bowl victory early in career and the team goes on a slight, but noticeably downward tilt.
I love Rodgers, but truthfully, outside of Clay who are the other playmakers on this squad? Cobb if his body holds up but no one else that I see.
And Woodson, Finley, and Jennings (still the best WR on the team) are all likely gone. TT can draft 6 more defensive rookies and we will still will get killed by a more physical squad with Dom at the helm.
Oh, and if AJ Hawk is on the team for $7M next season (more than Patrick Willis people), then that says all you need to know about whether GB is serious about winning another Super Bowl.
Agreed. Rodgers played fairly pedestrian all year, save for the Houston game. I know that point has been overlooked this season, but we all know what he’s capable of. It’s probably a combination of a mediocre, unstable offensive line, a lack of commitment to the run and an unstable running game, and their receivers not playing better. Let’s hope Rodgers and the Pack can win another Super Bowl.
If “fairly pedestrian” means leading the NFL in passer rating and throwing 39 TD’s and over 4,000 yards than yes, he played fairly pedestrian.
Really?
If by pedestrian you mean compared to last year A-Rod, yes. Compared to the rest of the league, no.
Above comment meant as a reply to Lenny smalls. iPad = harder to do stuff on.
The problem with finding extraordinarily mobile, accurate quarterbacks is that there aren’t that many of them…think about how many hits it takes to finish a RB’s career, and those guys are probably tougher than most QB’s.
As one example, Michael Vick was dominant (ran like the wind, passed adequately) for much of his career but injuries eventually ended it…he sat with a broken collarbone and for several years always had broken ribs. Now he’s old, losing his speed, broken down, and still isn’t a dominant passer. He’ll be running a kennel long before Rodgers (mobile enough, but a hell of a traditional passer) is out of the league.
Play the best players at their positions – it was criminal to use Ross early on returns.
I think the first six draft picks should once again be defensive players.
Interesting you can pull someone down to the turf by the facemask and have it deemed ‘incidental’.
Yeah, that non-call on the face mask was asinine.
Isn’t an “incidental” face mask still a penalty?
Cow was right.
Well had we had decent coaching the game was ours to take.Need to rid our selves of Capers and the 3-4,we will face 9ers in playoffs the next several years and 3-4 defense is not designed to stop Frisco offense.Soft up the middle,linebackers cant grasp concept of contain for whatever reason
Nice name. We all know your his mom… Now go run him some pizza rolls down to the basement.
*you’re*
Pull the history on Capers. Always great 1-2 years then Sucks. You have Raji and Mathews. Morph the defense into one that uses both as playmakers.
Aaron, don’t mean to pick on you, but do you care to comment on “why run, when you can pass to win?” mantra?
I don’t believe that running qb’s last long enough make a lasting impression but they sure do seem to inflict pain while they’re playing!
Can anyone tell me why Ross was in on punt returns? He played really well against the Vikings, but they didn’t even use him on punt returns last week. Now all of a sudden he’s back on punt returns? I just don’t understand why.
I agree. Seems like kickoffs would be less stressful and safer, if that has something to do with it.
Need an ass kicking center
How did the Packers’ 2012 draft class fare in 2012-2013?
Let’s take a quick, subjective look (I don’t have a PFF subscription!).
I realize players will develop as they gain more experience. This is an evaluation of this year only.
I’ll update this same post in future years to get a year-by-year progression of the players.
A grade of C is an average NFL player. No incompletes here my friends.
Is it fair to comapare rookies to multi-year vets? No. This post is just for fun and future reference.
Nick Perry: Made a few plays but looked outmatched at times. Ended the year on IR. You can’t make plays while injured!
Grade: D
Jerel Worthy: Invisible for a good portion of the year. For every big play he made, he commited an offsides penalty.
Grade: D-
Casey Hayward: Incredible in the slot. Great in coverage but didn’t get home on blitzes. Deserved pro bowl consideration as a rookie!
Grade: A-
Mike Daniels: Played as well as Worthy, without the penalties.
Grade: D
Jerron McMillian: Solid in coverage. Didn’t make any highlight reel plays. Disappeared as the season went on.
Grade: D
Terrell Manning: Special teams player. He performed his role well. Unfortunately it was a role of minor significance to the team.
Grade: D-
Andrew Datko: Didn’t play a snap.
Grade: F
B.J. Coleman: Stayed on the practice squad the entire year.
Grade: F
Don Barclay: Did an adequate at best job late in the year. Struggled with penalties.
Grade: D+
Dezman Moses: Has playmaking ability but is inconsistent in pass rushing.
Grade: D+
Jeremy Ross: Had a couple big returns in the punt game. Also contributed in a huge way to the Packers’ playoff loss.
Grade: D-
Jarrett Boykin: Limited receptions. Performed well in special teams play.
Grade: D-
Greg Van Roten: Blocked on a few plays. Minimal impact.
Grade: F
Sean Richardson: Almost all of his playing time came on special teams. Another player who made a minimal impact.
Grade: F
these grades are terrible
just plain “terrrble”
these grades get an F
Yikes! This from GB P-G:
When asked what adjustments Capers made, Woodson said: “We didn’t make any adjustments.”
WTF does that mean? Capers just let ‘em go? Stay the course??
I am shocked and not shocked at the same time.
Ok, I’m commenting too much – must go to bed…
Dude, I do it all the time. I couldn’t care less. We’re GREEN BAY PACKER fans… We care. Comment on Garth.
I thought Barclay did almost heroic work stepping in the way he did as a UDFA.
Oops, meant to respond to BrianD.
Per the draft–I’m thinking draft needs are another big D lineman (Pickett out for a bit hurt us), MLB (need some better playmakers), and a WR (Possibly Jennings and Driver gone).
Packers need another pass rusher. Don’t know if Perry is the one since he only played in about 6 games, with a broken wrist, no less. I thought the o-line pass protected well tonight. They’re not far away from being the best team in the NFL.
I’m not a big fan of the 3-4 defense. Seems if you don’t have a least two stud OLB’s, who put constent pressure on the QB, you’re screwed. We have one right now. Otherwise, you’re susceptible to not making outside contain. Killed the Pack tonight. That said, the team that’s hungier has the advantage. And tonight that wasn’t the Packers.
Exactly!!! The 3-4 is worthless with subpar linebackers running it. Get a guy opposite of Matthews and it could be a different story. I know Perry was supposed to be that guy and maybe he will be. I say have him drop another 15 lbs in the offseason and let’s see what he can do. We already know he is a freak with his current size and speed, can’t imagine what he could do with a lighter frame.
In all fairness, they went into the season with Matthews, Bishop, Hawk and Perry as starters, DJ Smith and Brad Jones as solid backups, and a promising rookie in Dezman Moses, who really stood out in camp and was a cult hero by preseason. Not like they planned to have subpar linebackers, injuries just decimated that unit. Three of their top five ended up on IR. Brutal. At that point, you’re starting Walden and calling Frank Zombo.
“They’re not far away from being the best team in the NFL.”
What team did you watch all year?
Let’s face it, Walden was god awful, but not as bad as Capers. The veteran mantra needs to be used here: better to cut ties a year early than a year late. How Hayward or Woodson wasn’t used to spy is beyond pathetic. We had them on the ropes and Capers crumbled. Almost 600 yards, come one…any other coach would be fired if we hadn’t of won a SB two years ago.
Woodson, yes, Hayward, no way. The kid played well all year, but faded come playoff time. I mean, that free-run blitz where he could have just nailed Kaepernick and instead basically slapped his ass on his way by…. that was ugly. You gotta make that play. Waaayyy too much of that crap this year.
How many times must we see marginal Qb’s look like HOF’s? Kaep is good but he’s not THAT good. Most rushing yards ever by a Qb in a game? That’s like blowing a million dollars for your employer because you weren’t prepared for something you had a whole week to prepare for. An abomination. Sad part is that if we had found a way to win, I think we beat anyone else left in the field.
Out played. Out coached. Niners were the better team this year. On to the draft.
GBP 4 LIFE
yup
If Capers isn’t fired then McCarthy should be. Think of all the amazing 9er teams over the years of non-salary capness and then realize tonight they shattered every statistical mark ever, even the SB where they put like 60 on the chargers.
Keep perspective when you lose. Lose perspective when you win. And always: Go Pack Go!
Tons of LOVE for #80. Go Pack Go.
Whichever guys were pretending to be Cobb, Finley and Nelson at practice for the 49ers must have done one hell of a job. Those guys were taken completely out of the game.
Nothing more frustrating than a running QB like that. We just had no answers for him. Here’s hoping for a tougher, healthier 2013.
I will say I was very impressed how the o-line played, especially in pass protection.
We do need to get nastier. I was calling for Burfict before the draft, wasn’t a popular name. But I wanted him… Because he’s mean. Had a great year too. We need nasty.
Can you imagine him next to Bishop? Oh man….
We do need nasty. I agree with that completely.
We also need speed and specifically from our LB corps not named Mathews. Our outside contain from our LB’s was beyond dreadful this year.
WTF?
-31 points should win a game folks.
-Rodgers years are being wasted.
-Ross- HUGE mistake by slocum and mccarthy.
-Dujan is still running if not for that “incidental” Facemask.
-Lots of noncalls – I guess this is the playoffs
-I feel like rodgers was just throwing it away on his long pick.
-Capers HAS to go- AR is being wasted and the game is changing cant just sit around and hope to make a play. Hell, look at capers last 3 playoff losses. Maybe 1600 yards of offense and 150 points? WOW, just WOW.
Time to get a young fresh mean defense.
I wonder if capers even showed them film on kaepernick?
Hard to pull emotion out of thinking about a game/loss like this.
Dujan may be a stud?
Defense just sucked…
the pack will be ok, but NOT with Capers.
go pack go…
Rodgers has to be frustrated as hell. In the prime of his career and it feels like it is being wasted by big time defense mistakes.
But what about His play, how many times did he try to run, 1or 2, got to try to freeze the backs a little, he stays in the pocket too long at times, then fumbles, he is a good quarterback, but until he takes the reigns of the game, how he sees it at that point, and lets fat ass on the sideline run the show into the ground, he`ll only be a good quarterback
Don’t forget Rodgers didn’t play that well either. We are terrible on 3rd and 6 or less. With such a great qb, those downs should be manageable. It happened again, how many key 3rd and shorts did we miss where Rodgers hold the ball too long. The long pass to Jones was luck on 3rd and short. Was double covered and Rodgers throws up a prayer. Third and manageable is key to this team next year
The Ross fumble lost the game in my opinion. That’s why the left Tramon in last year right? To not have that happen? Should have done the same with Cobb. Dumb ass fucks.
DD and Jennings are surely gone, but is it all but certain that Finley and Woodson are too?
The 2010 superbowl looks more and more a fluke. I doubt we will ever get to another Superbowl (let alone winning one) in the McCarthy era. Packers are not big/strong/physical on both sides of the line. There is only so much you can make up for those deficiencies with speed. The lack of size directly impacts our running game and also may be a contributing factor to all the injuries. Teddy T has had too many busts in the first round – time to bring in free agents who can play NOW.
Winning a Super Bowl was a fluke, so we need to start signing a bunch of free agents?
Yeah, that’s it.
Pure genius. Most concise and accurate comment of the year..
To win another superbowl the hard way (and not by fluke), replyig on Teddy T’s drafting genius will not be enough. Did I make the logical connection clear enough for you, Mr Ruppert? or should I draw a picture to make it more clear?
Oh yeah, the Daniel Snyder Redskins model. That’s been real successful the last few years. Good idea. I bet no one has thought of that.
PointPacker: No, the Ron Wolf model. You may know him – He built a Superbowl team right here, through Free Agency. Look at the 49ers – who is their best player? Undoubtedly it is Justin Smith. Who do you think drafted him and developed him – not the 49ers, it was the Cincinnati Bengals. I am not saying that Draft should be ignored, but if you are going to live by the Draft then you better hit homeruns in the first round every single time (this was the key reason the Steelers had so much success in the last decade and also the reason they are NOT having much success lately)
Why would people blame Capers or the defense? McCarthy’s offense put up 17 points. Surely people don’t count Shields pick six and the garbage time TD when they add up the 31 points on the scoreboard. Do people really think that the Packer’s offense really scored 31 points?
The Packers defense is designed to play with a lead. The Packers defense gave the team points right off the bat, and the packers offense and special teams hurt the team effort.
When you combine that with a heck of a game by Kaepernic, you lose. It wasn’t just Kaepernic’s running that killed the packers…….he made some incredible throws too.
You just have to tip your hat to the 49ers.
So if McCarthy’s offense put up 17 points and the offense and special teams gave up 14 points in blunders…….that’s a net positive 3 points for the whole game. Which aint real good.
- Brandon Bostick, remember this name. A practice squad TE that will be a starter next year.
- Unless the Packers and Jennings work some sort of miracle deal, he will be gone. And he did enough after coming back from his injury to warrant a big pay day.
- I can understand the argument of being “out coached” when its a close game, but giving up almost 600 yards of offense and 45 points is getting your ass handed to you.
- I lost count how many times SF converted on 3rd down, and if its frustrating for the fans to watch it, you’d think it would be even more so for the guys in the booth calling the plays. It was sickening.
- Not quite sure why they went away from Dujuan harris so fast. he was keeping the game balanced for the most part, and was equally puzzled whey they didn’t try and pass to him more. He missed one pass, and that was because Rodgers completely overthrew him.
- I would like to see an OC come in and take over complete control of the offense. I think losing Philbin was a bigger loss than most want to give credit for.
- If you want to run the no huddle offense, you need to run it with perfection. Going 3 and out in the first series set the tone for the Packers offense for the entire game. 17 offensive points isn’t going to win you many games, let alone a playoff game.
- The Ross fumble certainly changed the momentum of the game, but he’s not completely to blame.
- What burns me, is it took that happening before Cobb was even involved in the game. How you have a WR who almost had 1000 yds REC during the year, not having a bigger role until the 2nd half is beyond me. It almost seemed like MM was “saving” him for the right moment, as if he was the Packers “secret play”.
I looke forward to the offseason, and the potential changes that are looming…should be interesting.
GO PACK GO!!
Packers signed TE Brandon Bostick, QB B.J. Coleman, OT Andrew Datko, C Garth Gerhart, OG Joe Gibbs, LB Micah Johnson, CB James Nixon and S Chaz Powell to reserve/future contracts.
ProFootballWeekly.com reported in December that the Packers consider Bostick the “X-factor” of their 2013 tight end corps.
Jan 14 – 5:06 PM
Why wasn’t he the x-factor of our 2012 TE corps?
Fantastic question.
Because he was not a high draft pick (Bostick was UDFA pickup). The official line will be that “he is RAW” or “not yet primetime ready” until an injury to the starter forces him to suddenly start one gameday and lo behold what a surprise. We have seen this story played out many times now – Des Bishop (over Hawk), Marshall Newhouse (over Sherrod), Barclay (over Bulaga), Alex Green (over Dujuan)
This isn’t some new revelation, I was following this guy during the season hoping he’d get a shot. If you have a player like Driver who is rarely on the field and often not active, what makes you think that a rookie TE would be any different. Teams hold on to players and mold them for following seasons all the time.
It stings and it hurt to be so outplayed Just goes to show what one dropped punt or kick (I can not remember which can turn into. Add an injury where you need it most Pickett and then bad coaching, WHY ? No Harris, and No D adjustments????.
But the answer is really simple two players
I have watched and said this for years, we need an o line monster or two to drive other team’s d back, Pure and simple everything with this type of team has to be based on this . Anything else is a waste of the great Offense talent we are lucky to have now.
So in the draft that is where it must begin. And with Hawk and other salaries coming off go get a sure thing free agent and pay the price. Rodgers is not getting younger.
One or two players will benefit the team most by keeping our offense on the field and on the Offensive!!! Not to mention we would then have a running game, play action, Cobb and the deep wrs and Finley too!
D this year improved a lot but over the course of the year had to deal with one man down one man up, but their are a lot of bright spots.Neal,Worthy,Hayward,Perry,Daniels.
At the same time it is some guys do not want to hit or tackle, that is a coaching issue . Like losing Collins the yer before and this year Bishop we are not deep enough to lose that one key player that if all goes right and we do not lose anyone else we can be great. But that is always a big if so go spend the rest of the draft on that.
But O must come first before the next worse thing happens Rodgers gets hurt!!!!
As for Capers, Maybe he should be on the sidelines and show his face and get in their faces. Isnt that what a D coach is supposed to do? When did that stop being the norm. Make Kevin the D Coach?????