Gut Reactions: Week Six
By Aaron Nagler on Oct 16, 2011 with 57 Comments
- I am running out of words to express how well Aaron Rodgers is playing. It can not be overstated – he is the best player in the NFL right now.
- There was a “palpable malaise” over this game. (Thanks to Jeff Blumb for the perfect description)
- Great game from Clay Matthews.
- Sam Shields needs to learn to get down in the endzone after interceptions.
- The Rams did a good job of moving the football by following the script teams like the Panthers and Falcons have used – keep guys in to protect, send out a minimum number of guys in routes, protect the QB and have him make high percentage throws. Capers is content to let teams do this until the offense builds a lead – then he starts bringing heat. I’d question it – except the Packers are 6-0.
- Speaking of covering guys – how much better did Tramon Williams look? And by “better” I mean “healthier”…
- Excellent work from the two tackles, Newhouse and Bulaga. Newhouse especially looked stout in both the run and pass game. Should be a great matchup watching him take on Jared Allen next week.
- No – I have no idea who A.J. Hawk was flipping off after his sack.
- As great as the offense looked in the second quarter, it looked lethargic for much of the game.
- I can not stand that 3rd and short call to Kuhn out of the shotgun where they toss it to the fullback wide. I know McCarthy has his reasons for calling it. I still hate it.
- Good to see Zombo back out there. Looked good setting the edge in the running game.
- Yeoman’s work from Morgan Burnett playing with that cast on his hand. It sure didn’t seem to curb his aggressiveness in any way.
- Bring on the Vikings.
Filed Under: Gut Reactions • Packers News
Playcaling was headscratchingly dumb.
6-0 feels nice, though.
+1
Agree with everything you said! The 2 big things I was saying during the game that you said almost word for word were, Shields has to get down. If he is out for any period of time b/c he didn’t just kneel down would suck. Also besides the 2nd quarter, offense just didn’t look right but 6-0 is a good way to be! Go Pack Go! Bring on the Vikings!
I think they just kept it vanilla in the second half. No need to pile on against a bad team
Shields had a 50 yard return the last time he intercepted the ball in the endzone. I’m not one bit surprised he looked for an opening while he was deep in the endzone this time. Sure, he should have run out of the back of the endzone instead of taking a hit after failing to see any running lanes but I do like him at least trying to look for a runback opportunity.
Hate to beat a dead horse, but….where was Vic So’oto this week??!
on the inactive list?
Inactive.
He’s a backup dude. A quality backup, but a backup none the less. We probably won’t see much of him, nor should we want to.
How do you know he’s quality? Just curious.
TT signed him.
I like your style.
Thanks.
According to Packers.com commentators he still needs work on his coverage skills.
Then stop beating the horse if you “hate” it. So’oto was inactive because he’s third-string and not nearly the ST’s player lattimore is. Frankie Zombo, as Nagler mentioned, instantly improves the “edge” and isn’t too bad rushing the passer, either. He had 5 sacks last year despite missing over a month w/injuries.
Shields = stupid. What’s wrong w/him? Yes, take a look, but then give up.
Vanilla is the flavor for the Packers until they need more. Works for me.
Wanted to see Flynn, though.
Agreed. With 4:00 or so left, all I said for the rest of the game was “where are the backups?”
“Whole fourth quarter.
Totally agree with Aaron, that play call on 3rd and 2 was beyond stupid. Last I checked, we have the best QB in the NFL. Dumb call. Against better teams, that may have been a game changer.
Vanilla offense, play it close to the vest. I had no problem with the call.
Injury?
6-0 is great. no one else is. this is quite an impressive run
But the soft underbelly of this team is glaringly obvious. There is very seldom any real pressure on the quarterback. average quarterbacks look very comfortable against the front 7.
Mike Neal better be ready to go in 3 weeks and make a difference. or an acquisition needs to be made. This team will get beat against a good team with a solid o-line and a good QB and there are a number in this league. I hope Ted doesn’t think he can get by without making a move this year. Cullen is sorely missed
so you’re predicting a loss this year by an average QB behind a solid o-line, and they dont go 16-0.
They’ll lose games because of a lack of a pass rush. If this team doesn’t win it all, it won’t be because of the offense. it will be because some team manhandles the front 7
“But the soft underbelly of this team is glaringly obvious.”
Someone’s been listening to Bill Johnson…
thats who the finger was for…
l.o.l.
Sucks to be a Detroit fan this weekend. The lions were an overrated team all along GO PACK GO BREW CREW!!!!!
I don’t consider the Lions overrated, even after the loss. The 49ers have been doing very well this year. They do only have one loss…
Likewise. They’re young, and last I checked going 16-0 doesn’t happen very often. The Niners are also pretty damn scrappy this year, even though Alex Smith (yet again) doesn’t seem to be the answer at QB. He’s had his high moments, but he always seems to come crashing back to earth.
That said, with the MLB Detroit Kittehs getting the ol’ spray bottle in the face, and the NFL Detroit Kittehs losing their first game of the season, it does indeed suck to be a Detroit fan. Go Red Wings (if only WI had a pro hockey team; can’t bring myself to cheer for the Wild or any FIB teams).
Aj Hawks new celebration was nice, let the bird fly. Glad to see him playing with some fire in his belly for a change.
Shields played physical in this game at least, too bad he got hurt on his pick.
As for So’oto, with Zombo back I didn’t expect to see him in this game anyway. Hopefully hes our secret weapon for the playoffs like Starks was last year.
6-0 baby.
-Shields likes to display his speed. Sammy, we know you’re fast. It’s cool if you wanna run it out, but if there’s no daylight, just get down. You’ll get another one.
-I like Newhouse better from a running standpoint.
-The second half was what I call the patented MM “Lull.” Usually the whole team goes into the tank from week 4- week 10. I think it’s still sort of happening this year, but we’re still winning, so I haven’t been bitching about it.
-I’ve never questioned Capers at all, but if you start relying on the “bend but don’t break” philosophy, it’ll start to break at times. Did we really give up over 400 yards to the Rams!? I know all the defenses are struggling, but it scares me a little to see this week after week.
RE: “Capers is content to let teams do this until the offense builds a lead”
I am starting to see this pattern too. The offense could have put up 40 on the Rams D today, but why try when you’ve got the game in the bag?
I am still a little concerned with out lack of pass rush – but so far, so good. Capers has called it well. Bend but don’t break isn’t as good as domination, but it’s better than just breaking…
Oh, and ARod just might be a lesser deity. He . Is. Incredible.
I think it’s time to give Crosby some credit for his play. He has become a much more consistant player.
Yeah that (I think) south endzone looked brutal on the Rams’ miss and one other one.
I’ll take the win but gotta say it’s the least impressive 24-3 win I’ve ever seen. Yeah, I’m spoiled, but when the bar is set as high as it is with this team, I expect more. But I guess I’d take 10 more disappointing wins like this, then three more in the playoffs.
I guess I don’t know the rule, but I expected since Shields tried to return the ball that could have ended up a safety. I guess he would have needed to come out of the end zone and gone back in for it to be a safety, but given that he was trying to return it I was expecting a safety. Doing that in a blowout is one thing, but doing it in a close game (and I recall he did that last year, not in the end zone but when the game was just won against Chicago last year, when a fumble could happen) might come back to bite him.
Peter King?
Letdowns happen … just like they did last year against the Fins and the Skins. The difference this year? When this team has a letdown game against an inferior opponent they win by 21.
After all of the emotion of the Atlanta game a slight “setback” (Christ is that what we’re going to call it?) where the team isn’t firing on all cylinders isn’t all that surprising.
Next week we play the Queens and even though their record sucks, it’s an important divisional game that I’m almost sure the Pack will be fired up to play against.
Gotta love convincingly winning the games we are supposed to.
Although our receivers are great, there were a few drops that we shouldn’t have dropped. The INT off Jennings hands was painful to watch, Greg owes Rodgers a few spectacular catches for that drop.
Another busted coverage on punt team for a big return, what’s Slocum’s excuse this time? One of these games a special teams breakdown could be the difference between XX-0 vs XX-1.
That punt return was all on Masthay. No hang time and the cover team was still miles away when the returner caught the ball. But that could have been the wind too I guess, it was nuts out there. Was nice to see Masthay clean up his mess with the tackle.
I’m still in the fire Slocum camp though.
Sam Shields is a playmaker. – Rather have play makers making agressive mistakes than non playmakers never touching the pig.
Won’t argue being aggressive; just keep the brain going.
Kind of reminds me of the home win over Tampa during BLF’s only run to a Super Bowl ring. Clearly the better team. Won easily. Kind of a lousy outing. Great when you can get wins like that in the NFL.
For the 2nd week in a row Driver dropped a pass on a route that has kept him in the league and starting lineup for 13 years, just something I noticed. Great win.
GBP 4 LIFE
Jermichael had another drop. Looks like his poor showing last week carried over to this week. Jennings accounted for Rodgers’ interception and even Nelson dropped a catch he’s made on a routine basis. Drops happens to every NFL team though.
Well aware drops happen, it’s just two weeks in a row he dropped his bread and butter, not talking about the other guys. Cobb is going to get increased playing time at DD’s expense, frankly I think that’s a good thing.
A fired up Hawk is a good Hawk. Does anyone still think he was playing for his contract and is shutting down???
And so much for the leaky defense. Said all along, yards don’t mean anything, specially regarding the passing game, QB rating is all there is.
All the problems were correctable. Too much talent not to.
Packers
Everyone else
Vikings
Don’t mean to rain on the parade here, but the Rams offense has been pitiful this year. True, it was Jackson’s first game, and he looked healthy. This game said a lot more about the Rams’ O than the Packers’ D.
Still lowest Rams scoring for the season, and their schedule hasn’t exactly been easy, facing the Eagles, Giants, Ravens and Redskins D’s.
We’re now situated at the #7 spot in PPG with 19, and #10 in QB rating. Hardly a porous defense as people were portraiting it.
Oh make no mistake. They’re porous between the twenties, but they do stiffen up when their backs are against the goal-line.
The real “problem” seems to be getting the secondary on the same page and without Collins in there to stabilize things and Tramon just now getting healthy it’s probably going to be a “problem” most of the year.
The one saving grace might (big maybe IMO) would be getting Neal back healthy and then having him provide some interior push alongside Raji and maybe freeing up Clay a little more on the edge … but that’s still a pretty big maybe.
The Cheese Stands Alone. 6-0.
What a glorious autumn!
Yup, we’re 6-0 grumble grumble. We’re playing the SB winners schedule, and doing pretty well with the one statistic that means anything (win – lose). Surprisingly the teams we are playing against try to win, and play some decent football. most readers and commentators here take that as an indication that the Packers are a weak team. I think it is an indication that the teams we’re playing want to beat us, but can’t. There are 10 plus 3 (or 4) games left this year. I hope they are all wins that don’t satisfy everyone. I’d certainly prefer that to moral victories, or well played losses.
Actually, we’re playing the schedule of the #2 team in the NFC North. Not that I think it matters much.
I’m not going to bellyache about a 6-0 team. But it seemed obvious to me McCarthy was opting for a very conservative approach to what was supposed (and was) to be a cake game: get in, get out, win and try not to get hurt. (Too bad Shields didn’t get that memo.)
It doesn’t make for exciting football but it won the game. And, seriously, who has the right to be complaining? After the Lions lost, we can all be proud that the Cheese Stands Alone!
AJ’s bird may have been directed at his position coach who isn’t Hawk’s “#1″ fan. When AJ let Stephen Jackson release over the middle and instead took a bee-line to the QB, he may have heard some screaming in his helmet about not covering his man. AJ could have been replying “Cover this!” after getting the sack.
…except that the radio in his helmet is turned off before the snap of the ball….