Titans 27 Packers 17: Game Balls & Lame Calls
Titans execute, Packers self destruct.
By KenLass
Trying to pinpoint the singular reason for the Green Bay Packers Thursday night loss to the Tennessee Titans is a futile exercise. It would be so much easier if one could just thrust all the blame on one lacking aspect of the team. At least then you would feel as though you had a handle on it.
But I think the most disappointing thing about this year’s edition of the Packers is that everything is bad. Where do you start? The quarterback, receivers that often can’t get open or run the wrong route, a defense that can’t rush the passer and can’t cover and constantly gives up the big play, special teams that are inconsistent at best, a coaching staff that constantly seems to get out maneuvered, injuries, inopportune penalties, this game had all of that.
How did this team, which retained so much talent from the squads that won 39 regular season games in the last three seasons, get so thoroughly and broadly bad? Sure, the loss of Davante Adams didn’t help, but come on. Davante’s trade to the Raiders has nothing to do with the across-the-board decline in everything this team tries to do on the field.
Give due credit to the Titans. They came in with a game plan and executed it perfectly. Ryan Tannehill was masterful. The great Derrick Henry? Tennessee didn’t need Derrick Henry. With virtually no pressure to disrupt him, and receivers running wide open through the secondary all night, Tannehill made all the big plays through the air. He finished with the incredible stat line of 22 of 27 for 333 yards, two scores and a 127.3 QB rating. Those are Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen type numbers. The defense made Tannehill look like the second coming of Peyton Manning.
Aaron Rodgers flashed a few great plays, but mostly missed open targets. His injured thumb must be affecting his accuracy. I just don’t see how he could go this far off the cliff so quickly. He looks thoroughly frustrated, and the attitude is now becoming contagious to the rest of the offense, to the point where even hard-working Allen Lazard seemed to give up on a deep 4th down pass route.
So the Packers’ resurgence into the playoff picture lasted four days. It’s back to the drawing board, and quite frankly, I don’t even know where the coaches should start to fix this mess.
GAME BALLS
Quay Walker
The rookie inside linebacker led the defense with twelve tackles, and was given credit for half a sack before leaving the game with a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter. But his most important and most impressive play was the tackle on Henry, stopping him cold on fourth and goal from the four yard line. It should have been a much more important play in the game, but it was all but nullified by a miserable three and out by the offense, featuring a near intentional grounding in his own end zone by Rodgers.
Krys Barnes
Playing for the injured De’Vondre Campbell, Barnes shared the team lead with twelve stops, including a sensational third and one tackle of Tannehill, who had escaped the pocket and seemed sure to be able to run for the first down. Barnes also had a sack and a quarterback hit. He made a statement that he wants more playing time ahead of Isaiah McDuffie on the inside.
Preston Smith
Five tackles and one and a half sacks. He provided the closest thing to pressure the defense was able to come up with, which wasn’t much.
Keisean Nixon
I give him this game ball based on his kick returning, not on his secondary play. He returned two kickoffs past the thirty yard line (one was called back for holding), and had punt returns of 24 and 13 yards. He looks comfortable and smooth back there. I don’t think we’ll be regretting the departure of Amari Rodgers any time soon.
Honorable mentions to Christian Watson who had two more touchdown catches, one of which was a terrific contested grab, high pointing the ball over the defender, and Randall Cobb, who came back off of injured reserve to lead the team with six receptions for 73 yards.
LAME CALLS
Terrible Hurry Up Offense
Plenty to choose from in the lame call category, but let’s start here. The Packers have the slowest and most lethargic hurry up offense I’ve ever seen. The players just seem to slog back into place after each play while precious seconds drip off the clock. Settling for those silly three yard checkdowns makes no sense, and Rodgers holding the ball and taking a sack makes even less sense. And with the entire Titans defense expecting pass on fourth and one, Green Bay couldn’t even pick up one yard running into the middle.
Pass defense
It’s not as though Joe Barry didn’t try to get pressure on Tannehill. He actually brought extra pass rushers on several occasions. They just couldn’t get home. On the back end, Green Bay’s corners were smoked in man coverage. Rookie Treylon Burks beat Nixon for 44 yards on the first series, and even Jaire Alexander fell asleep and gave up a 51 yarder to Burks at the end of the game. We finally found out why Rudy Ford and Nixon haven’t been starting until they were forced into the line up by injuries. Their struggles to cover were exposed on third down all night.
Crosby’s Kickoffs
Maybe the wind had something to do with it, but Mason Crosby’s short kickoffs gave the Titan kick returners running starts from around the ten yard line all night. The result was often starting position well past the thirty yard line. Last week Green Bay activated Ramiz Ahmed to handle kickoffs and may have to do that again. Crosby also had a low kick on an extra point attempt and had it blocked.
THREE AND OUT
-- Titans play caller Todd Downing was one step ahead of Joe Barry all night. Having Derrick Henry fake a plunge toward the goal line and instead throw a jump pass to a tight end in the end zone was brilliant. Downing also fooled Barry by calling a screen pass at the perfect time which ruptured for a 42 yard pick up.
-- A very emotional halftime, so great to see Leroy Butler get his unveiling on the stadium wall. If only he could have suited up. Maybe he could have actually covered some of those Titan receivers on third down.
-- On to a Sunday night meeting with the Eagles in Philadelphia. The ridiculous thing is, the Packers are still not out of the playoff picture because the NFC is so mediocre. Someone who is not deserving will make the playoffs in this conference. Why not us?
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Ken Lass is a former Green Bay television sports anchor and 43 year media veteran, a lifelong Packers fan, and a shareholder.
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Comments (93)
Coach Cleve Steamer
November 18, 2022 at 07:21 am
But those white uniforms looked so cool!
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 08:08 am
I’m hoping that’s sarcasm.
Coach Cleve Steamer
November 18, 2022 at 05:47 pm
Yup
mrtundra
November 18, 2022 at 08:39 am
They can wear those uniforms when they go sledding on Murphy's sledding hill.
jannesbjornson
November 18, 2022 at 10:40 am
In some cultures, White is the color of mourning.
LambeauPlain
November 18, 2022 at 11:48 am
For this Packers team it is the color of melted vanilla ice cream soaking into the turf.
MainePackFan
November 18, 2022 at 02:53 pm
Cool if you are into ballet. I hope I never see those uniforms again.
fthisJack
November 18, 2022 at 04:35 pm
They would be more appropriate if they had pink helmets and pink fringe around the waist.
RCPackerFan
November 18, 2022 at 07:23 am
Game Balls:
Watson - Catching 2 more TD's just shows his abilities. 5 TD catches in 2 games. Crazy. He has such a high upside.
Walker - He has been a really good pick. He made a number of plays that our previous LB's wouldn't have made. He should have gotten a holding call as well on that long screen to Henry. I don't know how the hell the refs missed that. But his speed he would have put the pressure on Tannenhill and who knows what happens. Huge blown call by the refs.
Run Defense - They did a tremendous job stopping Henry. Holding Henry under 100 yards is a great job in the run defense.
Lame Calls:
Packers passing game - How many times did we see WR's stopping run routes? Just a pathetic looking group as a whole.
Lazard - Did Lazard know there was a game being played? He had probably his worst game as a Packer. Just was not good.
Whoever is having the CB's playing off the ball - I hope that guy is fired today. I don't know if its the DC, the DB's coach, or anyone. I don't care. I'm sick of seeing this. This shit is ridiculous. 3rd and 3, they play 10 yards off the ball. 3rd and 6, they play 10 yards off the ball. 3rd and 20 they play 15 yards off the ball. I hope that guy doesn't have a job.
Three and Out:
- Why was Nixon not our PR all season? I don't get why they kept trying to use Rodgers out there as a PR.
- I know it won't happen. But I would love to see them make a change at DC this week. With the mini bye make the change. Probably go with Jerry Gray. I'd love to see what this defense would look like with someone else calling the plays.
- Whatever. We Beat the Cowboys.
rstain99
November 18, 2022 at 08:23 am
Watson is certainly the guy now they thought they were getting, stay healthy and seems to be great pick.
3rd down defense is too conservative pitch and catch is right there for teams.
Rasul has comeback to earth a bit, looked lost last night.
Savage, plain sucks no ball skills, no head for the game. Had an old coach once describe it as "body by Fisher, brain by Mattel. Please do not resign him, I know playing slot corner now but he is in a dark closet.
Really starting to hate those bubble screens, punch an Judy offense ugly.
MLF time to make some easy decisions, DC gotta go, new kicker sorry Mason kicking it to 15 yard line is a gift, FG are just barley making it.
Time outs again, you never leave your offense with any
Game balls, Watson, Cobb welcome back, Quay Walker always around the ball
Lame calls, Defense needs to be jacked up more, too conservative hell bring back Kevin KIng if you want to continue with these schemes. Soft coverage
T7Steve
November 18, 2022 at 09:11 am
What's with the defensive time outs? How many in the last two weeks that weren't for clock management? Unreal!
Razer
November 18, 2022 at 08:39 am
...Probably go with Jerry Gray...
Our secondary plays with confusion and inconsistency and Gray is the secondary/pass game defensive coordinator. He was fired from Minnesota, famous for a secondary that generally underachieved. Surely, we could find a better candidate.
If we are going to move ahead we don't want to take more temporary steps and we don't need to recycle coaches who haven't shown results
...I'd love to see what this defense would look like with someone else calling the plays...
Totally agree. I still think that we don't have enough strength on the D-line to move the needle for this defense.
RCPackerFan
November 18, 2022 at 09:33 am
This is where I wish we could find out the behind the scene stuff. Does Gray do what he is told? Is he teaching the techniques based on how Barry wants them to be? I just wonder with Gray for example how much leeway he has in this defense. While the DB's may not look great, is it because of the style of defense they are playing?
For next year absolutely we could find a better candidate. But my thinking is if we got a different DC in for the rest of the year we could figure out more of what players we need to keep and see how they react to a different style of defense. Maybe they could figure out what kind of roles each player would be better in.
Its just time for a different voice in the room.
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 10:25 am
In my view that was 6 weeks ago or never. There’s really no point now. The whole team is in need of new leadership.
Spock
November 18, 2022 at 08:42 am
"Watson - Catching 2 more TD's just shows his abilities. 5 TD catches in 2 games. Crazy. He has such a high upside." I just read that this is the first time in 68 years (I'm 68!) that a rookie made multiple TD's in back-to-back games in GB, In 1954 that rookie was Max Magee!
RCPackerFan
November 18, 2022 at 09:33 am
That is some good company to be in with.
davekenya
November 18, 2022 at 12:17 pm
...agreed. I'd say maybe not copy the 'all night partying' aspect though
mrtundra
November 18, 2022 at 08:46 am
I'd add Watkins to our WR misery, but two throws to him from Rodgers were way off and on one he was double covered. Reminiscent of ARod to Davante in the SF playoff game. Amari as our PR never made sense to anyone, but the coaches. He rarely showed us anything as a PR. Nixon, is night and day, better there. Yes, A change at DC is warranted, IMO. The soft coverage is DC's responsibility, no matter who called it. Crap rolls up hill.
RCPackerFan
November 18, 2022 at 09:37 am
At this point I would rather see Toure out there then Watkins. Why not get the kid more snaps and start building for the future. Watkins is just about done. He doesn't get any separation.
The soft coverage is not what LaFleur wanted for a defense. And yet, week after week that is what we end up with. Its time for a change.
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 10:27 am
And the fact that LaFleur couldn’t get that corrected by Barry or Pettine suggests that he shouldn’t be around to make it. He blew that last chance over a month ago
barutanseijin
November 18, 2022 at 04:13 pm
Let’s stop with the “Amari Rodgers was miscast as a return man” nonsense. Amari Rodgers is miscast as a pro football player. He couldn’t run routes, couldn’t hang on to the ball, couldn’t play special teams. He was terrible in all aspects of the pro game. The reason you rarely saw him as a receiver was because there were a whole bunch of guys who could do it better. How many teams need a No 9-10 receiver?
He sucks. Totally. Period.
murf7777
November 18, 2022 at 07:27 am
“What’s that? Ah - Playoffs? Don’t talk about - playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game!”
The best thing about last night was Leroy Butler, one of my fav Packer is now enshrined onto the facade of Lambeau Field.
Lastly, I’m eating crow about Watson, the kid can ball! Just stay healthy Christian and you’ll be a pro bowler someday.
mrtundra
November 18, 2022 at 08:51 am
Too bad Amazon Prime only showed about three seconds of the LeRoy presentation. Later, they did show him doing his mini Lambeau Leap, however. I hope someone has the presentation on youtube. Watson and all our receivers need to finish their routes. Lazard gave up on a few and Watkins looked bewildered, at times. Surprised they didn't have Toure in the game.
jannesbjornson
November 18, 2022 at 10:48 am
Watkins needs a pink slip--enough of this lost in the clouds guy. Watson is the #1, use him. Lazard has been playing half-ass for the past five weeks.
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 10:33 am
When he learns he’s looking like being the steal of the year once he adds technique and polish.
NickPerry
November 18, 2022 at 07:28 am
Game Balls...Watson... He has 8 catches on 14 targets and 5 TDs in the last two games. With Doubs, Toure, maybe another WR or TE in the upcoming draft and the Packers could really have a nice pass catching group moving forward.
Hmmm...That's all I got for Game Balls...+
Lame Calls... There's just to many to name so I'll say this which I mentioned this morning in Gut Reactions.
For the first time in 31 or 32 years, I'll be REALLY sorry the Packers don't have an owner. An owner would not keep Joe Barry around and he'd probably fire him this morning since the Packers season will probably be over mathematically next weekend.
BUT...We do have a Mark Murphy, a meddling boob who has undone all the good Bob Harlon and Ron Wolf started when Harlon brought in Wolf in 1991. I don't know if Gute is the man to rebuild this thing quickly, but until Murphy is GONE, until the BOD step in and force retirement on him NOW, I'm really worried about the Packers future. The Packers need another Bob Harlon. They need that guy who is only worried about getting the RIGHT General Manager in place, and not a meddling team President who has to have his hands in EVERYTHING.
One last lame call... Seems the Packers only have a one week reprieve from a top 10 draft pick.
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 08:11 am
LaFleur deserves as much ire as Barry. The offensive plan was as bad. At least Barry did handle the run. Half measures don’t cut it. It starts with Murphy and LaFleur. This is not a position salvageable by tinkering. It’s one that needs a thorough clean out and culture and leadership enema.
T7Steve
November 18, 2022 at 09:19 am
"or TE"? Come on Nick. That room has to be upgraded. I bet our oldest blocker will retire too.
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 10:29 am
The only one I’d keep is Deguara.
jannesbjornson
November 18, 2022 at 10:53 am
The H back they do not use. The Fullback they seldom use. The only TE with some speed. Indeed, why use a talented guy. I watched him for three years playing for the Bearcats. He has playmaking ability. The Pack lacks coaching ability.
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 03:56 pm
“They” are done. It’s merely a question of when and how ugly it has to get and how many reputations publicly tarnished. If the player can play, keep him unless you can get notably more value in trade. Murphy, LaFleur are dead men walking. Alm their denials won’t change that.
barutanseijin
November 18, 2022 at 06:55 pm
Owner = no more Green Bay Packers. You can have one or the other, but not both.
baldski
November 18, 2022 at 10:17 pm
I agree. Murphy's management by committee does not work either. Why does the BOD let him get away with it?
MarkinMadison
November 18, 2022 at 07:29 am
Crosby has been having trouble finding the end zone on kick offs for a while now. He hits it once or twice in the first half, maybe once in the second half, and then he doesn't have the gas for it.
The pass defense this year has been the #1 disappointment and the #1 surprise. Less surprising, but equally critical to the season, has been the chaos on the OL. I trusted the coaching staff to put the right OL on the field. I was wrong. And you would think ANY coaching staff would look competent with all of the talent the Packers had in the defensive backfield, but I was wrong.
Rodgers and Devante both got paid. And they both got themselves on underperforming teams. Go figure. Here's a figure for you: If the Packers cut #12 in the offseason he will count just a hair under $100M against the cap in 2023. It's like the scene in Goodfellas with the restaurant: "Fuck you, pay me." The only thing left to do is burn down the restaurant.
Game Balls: Watson (for stacking success); Smith (for being rock in this game); and Walker (for stepping up and being more physical against the biggest battering ram in the NFL).
Lame Calls: #12, and every coach on this team. Some people (that I respect) say: "It doesn't matter that #12 didn't show up for the voluntary off-season stuff." OK. But then you can't complain about the bad practice habits of other players because you weren't there to set the tone and show them what it takes to be a champion. And shame on the coaching staff for not getting the respect of the players and correcting the problem in July. And shame on the coaching staff for not figuring out how to make the offense productive and how to make the DBs productive throughout the entire season. Right now, this looks like a team where #12 is here to cash big paychecks and pad his legacy, and everyone else is trying to figure out how to survive in the NFL for another year. This is not a group of men being led by a men with the will to win and the attitude that this is a team sport.
mrtundra
November 18, 2022 at 08:55 am
I think this may be Crosby's last year, as a Packer. I said that last year, too, though. He cannot kick the ball deep and if the snap and hold on FGs, PATs are not perfect, bad things happen. Sad to see a really good guy have struggles like this.
jurp
November 18, 2022 at 09:14 am
Whether it's Crosby's last year or not depends on A) Crosby and B) AR, if Crosby does not want to retire. I expect we'll see Cobb on the team next year, too.
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 10:31 am
Crosby needs to be gone. It’s got to the point of being obvious. I know why you say it, but if that proves correct the self harm has only just started.
croatpackfan
November 18, 2022 at 12:43 pm
I was writing that already in the TC. He can't be expected that he will field a goal from 35+ yards. He lost his leg strength, so he is kicking long FG lower to compensate less strength. From that point comes blocked FG.
I know he gave a lot to the Packers and he will be, for sure, added in Packers HOF, but for sake of memory of Mason, please convince him to retire immediatelly. I like him a lot. He was always calm and concetrate and help Packers in many games, but father time catched him last year and this year is just torture, for fans and for Mason.
I do not believe that ACR will make any problems about that move, if Mason retires by himself. It might even help ACR to follow that path after the season.
davekenya
November 18, 2022 at 12:24 pm
I'm not saying whether he is or isn't, but shouldn't Jordan Love (who's been in the system long enough by now) be able to set the off-season tone to rookies (practice habits, running routes correctly, etc.) if AR's not there?
NickPerry
November 18, 2022 at 07:39 am
"-- On to a Sunday night meeting with the Eagles in Philadelphia. The ridiculous thing is, the Packers are still not out of the playoff picture because the NFC is so mediocre. Someone who is not deserving will make the playoffs in this conference. Why not us?"
WHY Ken, just WHY? This isn't the 2010 Green Bay Packers team who never lost a game that season by more than 4 points. A team so loaded at the WR position they actually could put more WR's on the field who could get OPEN, than an opposing defense could defend. They had the best Defensive Player in the NFL in Charles Woodson, and an OLB who when the team absolutely positively needed a sack or forced fumble could deliver in Clay Matthews.
Nope, this is a team who has lost to the Commanders and Lions. This is a team who needed OT to beat a guy named Zappie. This is a team SO SCREWED for the foreseeable future cap wise they can't even think about a free agent.
THIS is the state of the Packers until Mark Murphy is removed. One who will compete for Top 5 or 10 draft picks until the mess left by Murphy is cleaned up which won't start until Murphy is removed
#CLEANHOUSE!
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 08:19 am
The playoff contention canard is merely a means to avoid facing the reality that this isn’t an unlucky team it’s a bad one built on a premise that had no foundation even in sand. Making the playoffs is not only not actually going to happen, it would solve nothing and just make next year worse for an ignominious out.
There is no President who can step in and inject reality. Thank you Murohy for that predictable outcome of your hubris. These buffoons will spin anything they can how hoping to blind us to the obvious. The thinking in this article is exactly what they will hope for. For shame! Open eyes and face reality and do something to start making it better.
croatpackfan
November 18, 2022 at 12:46 pm
I believe you are talking about The Idiot who try to sell us that he is not.
MainePackFan
November 18, 2022 at 02:28 pm
Congrats CW. You managed to get canard and hubris in your reply. You're too smart for most of us :)
Coach Cleve Steamer
November 18, 2022 at 05:59 pm
I believe they have a plethora of them at hand.
T7Steve
November 18, 2022 at 09:31 am
Nick and CW, what do you think Gute would do with a high first rounder? Think he'll trade back to the second round? I so worried! I think I'd give Murphy a one-year pass if he cleans up the house before the draft.
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 10:38 am
Murphy built this. If I had a magic wand he’d be gone today and his replacement in place by December to oversee the Head Coach search. That’s really what it will take to root out this rotten culture and get us moving positively.
packerbackerjim
November 18, 2022 at 10:14 am
Curious if you have some candidates in mind for those positions.
jannesbjornson
November 18, 2022 at 11:00 am
To start with, Andrew Brandt to head the show
PackerGravy
November 18, 2022 at 07:44 am
Lame
Watson-Walker-Cobb-Nixon-Barnes-Douglass all came to play
Rodgers-Dillon-Watkins-Pass Defense we’re Bad
Another blocked kick?! WTF?!
This team is a mess
Packers1985
November 18, 2022 at 02:17 pm
Agreed to your Bad list. I would add Lazard too to the bad list. Looks like he hasn't been himself from last game. It could becoz Watson being targetted more has effected him. He didn't finish many of his routes yesterday and again dropped a catch or two.
PackerGravy
November 18, 2022 at 07:45 am
MLF inspires no confidence!
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 08:19 am
Well that means he inspires something.
mrtundra
November 18, 2022 at 08:58 am
LMAO!!!
Philarod
November 18, 2022 at 07:49 am
I don't have much to add as far as new nominations for either category.
P Smith, Q Walker, and I suppose Watson for "Game", and...
For Lame - in no order: Crippling penalties; blocked xtra point attempt, pass defense (using "defense loosely"...as if they had 9 or 10 in the box, at times) and the 4th Q offense.
The O actually looked pretty good for the first three quarters, especially considering how few possessions they had, but when they needed to turn it up a notch in the 4th, it just wasn't there.
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 08:22 am
The O looked futile throughout. Apart from the flag play improvisation to Watson, we never threatened at all till a brief flash in the second score. Then it just fell apart.
Philarod
November 18, 2022 at 02:03 pm
We agree on the 4th Q -- through three quarters, they were pretty good, especially when you consider how long some of those Titans possessions were and where they started from.
1st drive: 3-and-out
Second Drive: 13 plays, 78 yards TD (xtra point blocked)
Third Drive: 3-and-out
(last drive of the half, they didn't have time to move...so they scored a TD out of only 3 drives in the first half
...
3rd Quarter:
1st Drive (just the fourth of the game): 13 plays, 51 yards, FG
2nd Drive: 7 plays, 69 yards TD
...So thru 3 quarters, they had 5 drives (not counting the last 30 seconds of the first half) and scored three times: 2 TDs (including a two-point conversion) and a FG.
...
When the Titans scored immediately to take the lead to 27-17, that proved to be too much to overcome, as the Packers' O was bad the first three possessions of the 4th Q. But until then, again, they played well.
jannesbjornson
November 18, 2022 at 05:35 pm
Agree, the Offense had some mojo going up until the non-call of PI against Watson. The FG has to be a TD. Lucky A Jones fumble was recovered.
Packers0808
November 18, 2022 at 08:00 am
Rodgers is just not right, attitude, drugs, age, thumb something is adrift and time to pull the plug and give Love a look see.!
dobber
November 18, 2022 at 08:10 am
I think what we're seeing at this point is just how much of a front-runner 12 has become. The Packers gave in to 12 with that monster contract and they're married to him until he quits, is cut, or dealt. He's the one in control--and management made it that way. I can only imagine that for LaF, it's like being middle-management and having the company owner's kid in your sector...it's a no-win situation. Unless he gets hurt, they're not going to sit that $50M contract.
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 08:29 am
I bought that for a bit, but when you see what LaFleur brings it’s nothing we should want. Rodgers input is better, and neither are good enough. Had we had a decent Coach I think we get at least one more Super Bowl visit in the last three years. It’s not that I disagree with the diagnosis but that I thoroughly trash the wisdom in letting that happen and believing it would succeed. Terrible leadership from Murphy.
croatpackfan
November 18, 2022 at 12:56 pm
dobber, he is (I supose) hurt. Thumb on his throwing hand!
People here say that ACR plays because Jordan Love is the Bust. But I believe differently. ACR is pushing to play because he knows Jordan Love is the real QB and if he takes his position, only way he will play again is to be traded to another team. That is why all those shows happens. And the Idiot gave ACR that authority, so he can chose will he or will not play. Where are those highly conservative medical staff of the Packers? Why nobody declares that ACR should be put on bench because of thumb injury, because if it is that bad, it will become more problem in the future and even 2 weeks (at time of free bye week) will not be enough for thumb to heal.
We forgetting that he has the last decision what will be done with his playing time. Nobody else.
Packers1985
November 18, 2022 at 02:20 pm
Lol then the team would've already traded him(when he threatened them by retiring some blah blah blah) last yr or this year when they had that Chance with Denver. Gutey didn't do it becoz he is not confident in Love
croatpackfan
November 19, 2022 at 02:58 am
It is interesting how ACR appologists try to avoid facts. Huge ACR contract is will of Mark Murphy, Not BG. He also had support from MLF. MM & MLF wanted SB ring connected with their names. They were greedy.
Rare people saw what was coming. There are numerous signs ACR capabilities started to vane. Plus, from 2014 ACR is very eager to win another SB that become overly nervous when chance shows up. Prove? Bad playing in all postseasons (2014, 2019, 2020, 2021) in games vs good teams when win could put him in the SB.
All those mistakes made by others in those games (2 NFCCG, 2 divisionals) was just a product of his bad playing. Look at his stats in those games - garbage!
stockholder
November 18, 2022 at 08:17 am
Did you notice the passes were better to Cobb than anyone else? He's frustrated no doubt about it.
Lazard and Watkins just are not on the same page with him.
Lphill
November 18, 2022 at 08:02 am
multiple issues only mean one thing, awful coaching.
Starrbrite
November 18, 2022 at 10:06 am
Yep
dobber
November 18, 2022 at 08:04 am
"Barnes---including a sensational third and one tackle of Tannehill, who had escaped the pocket and seemed sure to be able to run for the first down. "
Krys Barnes plays hard and is fun to watch, it's just that his body can't cash all the checks his game play is writing. I didn't know if Tannehill was going to get up after that one, but you notice he had teammates on either shoulder as he headed for the sideline.
"P Smith"
Underrated and worth every penny they're paying him. He's not a tremendous athlete, but he competes and does anything they ask him to do.
"K. Nixon"
Plays like his hair is on fire with the ball in his hands. One of the few guys who has been fun to watch the last couple weeks, but you get the feeling that his style will lead to an epic fail or two before it's all done.
"Pass defense"
Packers did what I think we all expected, which was load up the line, play to contain Henry, and make Tannehill beat them. Well, all of those things happened. When you're selling out that hard to try to stop the run, it kills your ability to get pressure--even on obvious passing downs (because Henry is always a threat)--which is complicated by the fact that Gary's injury robs them of a guy who can win in the pass rush. It seemed like the Packers went away from the man concepts they'd been playing in coverage a little more over the last couple weeks, and went back to the soft zones that generated big gaps in the secondary. Maybe the idea was run support. IDK. Fully expect more of the same against Philly.
Lame call--TEs
Cobb is activated and this team that was trending toward multi-TE sets immediately becomes an 11 personnel team again. Tonyan should be allowed to walk: the Packers shouldn't pay Tonyan or any other TE any significant coin until they can show they know how to use one. Whether it's 12 or the coaching staff, this team has no clue how to utilize the position and hasn't for many years.
RCPackerFan
November 18, 2022 at 08:31 am
"Tonyan should be allowed to walk: the Packers shouldn't pay Tonyan or any other TE any significant coin until they can show they know how to use one. Whether it's 12 or the coaching staff, this team has no clue how to utilize the position and hasn't for many years."
They knew how to use Tonyan before his injury. Tonyan just lacks explosion right now. I don't know if he will ever get it back or not. It would be hard paying him with what we have seen. They simply don't have any explosiveness at TE. They don't have a guy who can take a 5 yard pass, make a guy miss and pick up 10 more yards. Tonyan was that guy, but he isn't this year.
PhantomII
November 18, 2022 at 01:31 pm
He wasn't doing anything before injury.
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 08:36 am
We should only retain talent that will be with us for 4 years realistically on merit or is still young and cheap. All else should be traded or allowed to walk. That includes guys who are OK but not the future like Tonyan and Lowry. Build around youth while we are in cap hell. The misses will come, but the loss is marginal and the process inevitable. We can’t settle for OK for whole units. No big contracts for the likes of Tonyan and Lazard.
In my opinion it’s time to shut Crosby down now and see what Ahmed can do. Crosby should not have been out there kicking off and I don’t think he’s going to be good from beyond 40 yards either. Now it’s over, just shut him down. Do the same with Watkins. There no reason to see them other than to support the facade of normality the organization is going to try and spin.
Starrbrite
November 18, 2022 at 10:14 am
Good points CW.
I mistakenly gave credit to O’Donnell last week for kicking it in the endzone when it was Ahmed.
In any case, had we needed a game winning FG from more than 40 yds last night (or going forward), Crosby was likely lacking the distance required.
zoellner25
November 18, 2022 at 08:21 am
This team is dismal clusterfudge of embarrassment
stockholder
November 18, 2022 at 08:26 am
Game Balls- Walker!
Lame calls - Too many mistakes and No calls by the officials. Pass int. should have been called at least 3 times more. Also the ruled catch on the sidelines. How could that official not see the point of the football was trapped.
Matt LeFluer. - Rodgers has a Bitch!
jurp
November 18, 2022 at 09:20 am
"No calls by the officials. Pass int. should have been called at least 3 times more. Also the ruled catch on the sidelines. How could that official not see the point of the football was trapped."
Written like a true Vikings fan.
No, the officials didn't cause the Packers the game.
jannesbjornson
November 18, 2022 at 05:29 pm
The PI on the long ball to Watson was an obvious miss. Lost field position and on their Home Field. The holds on Kenny Clark prevented the sack while Tannehill completes the 3rd and long.
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 08:46 am
The good: Not much save for youth and future potential.
The Bad: Coaching from top to bottom.
The Ugly: Murphy’s legacy.
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 08:56 am
“Yeah, I mean, they whipped us in pretty much every phase. We didn’t compliment each other good enough. It’s extremely disappointing, especially coming off a few days ago and then to come back and play like that, it’s extremely disappointing.”
From a coach of a team in a must win season these words should be his last. Integrity would require the addition of “and that’s why, in the best interests of this franchise, I am resigning.”
Razer
November 18, 2022 at 09:14 am
True and sad. Matt Lafleur is a nice guy who is in over his head. I question whether he could even be a viable OC in this league - not because his isn't smart but rather because he can't seem to organize/inspire his resources in a coherent manner. To date, all leadership on this team has come from number 12 and his 2 MVP seasons and we are not seeing a lot of 'team' from QB1
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 10:43 am
I don’t think he is capable of being one either. He’s a supporting role personality who needs a leader to get him to back himself.
croatpackfan
November 18, 2022 at 01:08 pm
Or neither the leader can beat Father Time. From time to time, you can see good game from ACR (like Dallas), some bad games (like Detroit) or so-so games in which you can see ~30% his passes on spot, others are either not good throws or badly thrown balls.
Razer
November 18, 2022 at 09:00 am
I had to leave at halftime but I did get a chance to see the Titans convert a 3rd and 7 where we were giving them a 10 yard buffer. While there isn't enough talent in the trenches to collapse the pocket or enough depth at linebacker to rush the passer the least you can do is put your guys in a position to make plays in the situation. Of course, you need to teach the players a workable system and that will take coaching.
Our Super Bowl was beating the Cowboys. The season ended on that high - it took everything that we could muster. If there weren't so many mistakes and lack of cohesion in all aspects of this team, I might buy Ken's hope but this is not a winning group in any form. Yes we need players (who we can't afford) but we first need to flush the confusion that is our coaching staff.
I will never watch another TNF presentation again. Herbstreit is awful and Al Michaels is simply collecting a cheque. They sprinkled in a shitty game between more advertising than I thought possible.
RCPackerFan
November 18, 2022 at 09:45 am
"I will never watch another TNF presentation again. Herbstreit is awful and Al Michaels is simply collecting a cheque"
I am fine with them as a pair honestly. But Michaels definitely isn't the Michaels of old. I noticed a number of times he says a player gets 3 yards when he got 5. Or he got 4 yards and only got 2. Not major things but it is kind of annoying when you hear they got 4 yards and then its 2nd and 8.
My biggest issue was watching the game. I have a 4K tv. I have great internet. And my stream was none stop buffering and would come back in standard def. It was awful to watch. My parents messaged me about it cuz their tv was doing the exact same thing. Amazon Prime better get their crap together! I have had this issue on other games, but i stopped watching them and didn't care. Last night I cared about the game and was forced to watch it.
Starrbrite
November 18, 2022 at 10:28 am
Herbstriet is a dunce. I’d rather be waterboarded than listen to him. The audio on Primetime is pathetic, although my picture quality was ok.
I hope primetime is finished after this season.
coolhand
November 18, 2022 at 09:43 am
I felt, when the Titans blocked that extra point attempt the Packers were going too lose the game.
jlc1
November 18, 2022 at 09:44 am
Playoffs? Why not us?
Well when your game balls are a struggle to find worthy individual performances and one of those, Nixon, is qualified and then you go on to lame calls and cite the offense and defense units well there's your answer. The team, as a whole, is somewhere between bad and mediocre.
Razer
November 18, 2022 at 10:06 am
...The team, as a whole, is somewhere between bad and mediocre....
Very true. But why?
jlc1
November 18, 2022 at 10:11 am
coaching.
Grimm
November 18, 2022 at 10:28 am
One thing no one seems to mention is all the restrictions that are put on practicing. Some by the players union and some by owners not wanting their property (players) getting hurt. There are only so many contact practices and the players as a whole want to reduce that always. Voluntary practice, vets like to skip those.
This is why drafting projects can be detrimental. Its hard to teach tackling or ball skills on a pro level. Perhaps they need to draft more players that have great basic skills. A project here and there.
Every team has the same things to deal with, but NFL ready players and good coaching can really help. I question if we have been grabbing too many project guys.
Coldworld
November 18, 2022 at 10:45 am
As coaches, yes.
THESZOTMAN1
November 18, 2022 at 04:56 pm
Can't wait for this week's "3 Plays That Make You Go Hmm."
Here are my 2 already:
1st half: We get HUGE goal-line stand by D. Time to turn the tables? No. 3 and out. Gotta AT LEAST pick up a couple 1st downs there and punt them deep.
2nd half: We get HUGE pick by Rasul and decent field position. Time to flip the script? No.
Punt.
To be a winning football team, you have to convert opportunities like these into points.
And we just haven't.
All season.
The Szotman
Since'61
November 18, 2022 at 07:54 pm
Game Balls: Preston Smith, Quay Walker, Kris Barnes.
Lame Calls: Pass defense was a joke! Rodgers in the 4th quarter. Coaching staff for not getting the team motivated or giving them a sense or urgency.
ST penalties on returns that left the offense will terrible field position. WRs stopping on routes!!??
I don't know if it was the short week, or Rodger's thumb injury, or just a lack of a sense of urgency but the Packers were once again out coached, out prepared and out played. Preston Smith, Quay Walker and Barnes came to play after them the team looked like they were going through the motions.
Thanks, Since '61
veteranviewer
November 19, 2022 at 12:58 am
Time to cut Crosby.
SinceLombardi
November 21, 2022 at 08:14 pm
As long as MLF is the head coach this team is in deep trouble. Aaron Rodgers can’t carry him anymore and we are seeing the result.
Along with his 40 something wins MLF has blown two #1 seeds, stood by Kevin King, Mo Drayton and Joe Barry.