"Chips Report" From the Week 11 Packers Win vs. Buccaneers
Jordy Nelson had another phenomenal game, while Sam Shields had his share of struggles in the secondary. But who else earned our weekly distinctions in the Packers victory over Tampa Bay?
Our weekly "Chips Report" will always include two blue chippers (outstanding, exceptional play), two red chippers (good, though maybe not great) and two cow chips (dud performances). From the Week 11 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers...
Blue Chips
- Jordy Nelson––Not only has Nelson asserted himself as the team's No. 2 wide receiver this year, when Greg Jennings went out with an injury, Nelson played like a No. 1 wide receiver. Not that he was playing poorly before Jennings' injury. Nelson is the complete package. He can beat defenders with his strength like he did on his first touchdown taking a slant from Aaron Rodgers and plowing his way into the endzone. And he can also beat opposing cornerbacks with his speed like he did on the 40-yard stutter and go on his second touchdown. He had a six receptions for a team-leading 123 yards and two touchdowns.
- Donald Driver––Driver had legitimately fallen behind Jennings, Nelson and Jermichael Finley as the team's fourth option at best (some might argue fifth or sixth behind James Jones and Randall Cobb) earlier this season. But on Sunday, he showed he was still a threat. He grabbed four balls for 72 yards, an eye-catching 18.0 yards per catch. He still showed some wiggle making defenders miss, which helped in the yards after the catch department. He showed nice hands catching away from the body as well.
Red Chips
- James Starks––Before exiting with a knee sprain, Starks was giving a workmanlike effort making contributions in both the running and passing game. On the fourth-quarter drive culminating in a John Kuhn touchdown, Starks put the team on his back with four catches for 47 and two carries for 26 yards. The way things were going, Ryan Grant may not have played in the fourth quarter had Starks not gotten injured. He ended the day with 11 carries for 38 yards and six catches 53 yards.
- Tramon Williams––The second of his two interceptions was just a case of being in the right place in the right time, but the first interception was scintillating. To pick off Josh Freeman by coming all the way across the field and stepping in front of intended receiver Mike Williams was a work of art. He also had a team-leading nine tackles and was perhaps a couple missed tackles away from being in the "blue chip" category. Two turnovers more than made up for any missed tackles.
Cow Chips
- James Jones––Not a good day for Jones. First he dropped an early pass from Rodgers (he had zero receptions on three targets on the day). Then he had a blocking in the back penalty on what should have been a 60-yard return on a fourth-quarter Randall Cobb punt return. Finally he allowed Elvin Mack to get up after the defender intercepted Rodgers. Jones simply could have touched him down. Because Jones doesn't play that many snaps on offense, he has to pull his weight on special teams.
- Sam Shields––Shields didn't play poorly until the fourth quarter, and that was an inopportune time in a close game. He gave up a late touchdown pass to Mike Williams. Later, Shields gave up a deep 37-yard pass to Arrelious Benn for which he was flagged for illegal contact. It set up the Bucs' last touchdown of the game that pulled them within two points of the Packers' lead.
Comments (37)
November 20, 2011 at 05:59 pm
Shift Driver for Williams and we got a deal. Matthews, without re-watching the game, was a non-factor, and he had plenty of 1-on-1 opportunities.
November 20, 2011 at 06:09 pm
I would like to nominate Charlie Peprah for a cow chip. If you can't cover you don't belong in a NFL secondary. He can't and he doesn't.
November 20, 2011 at 06:26 pm
This is beyond shortsighted. We won a SB with him starting and will win another one. Sure tackler, assignment sure, smart, physical.
Remember that the opposite S has a cast in his hand...
November 20, 2011 at 06:41 pm
Don't forget slow RS. That is one thing Mr. Peprah has in abundance.
November 20, 2011 at 06:45 pm
So you wanted our backup safety to be pro-bowl caliber?
Sometimes I think Packer fans are just a bunch of spoiled children... Getting riled up because the game got competitive...
November 21, 2011 at 11:50 am
+1
November 20, 2011 at 06:54 pm
You can't possibly believe that all 22 starters on all 45 Super Bowl winning teams are good. The truth is some of them suck. Charlie Peprah is one of them. You can't possibly believe that Peprah has been a sure tackler and assignment sure. He hasn't. Charlie Peprah has been a liability since he stepped into our line up and continues to be.
The NFL is changing and Strong Safeties that can't cover are both a liability and a dying breed. You HAVE to be able to cover now especially in our defense when teams are going to have to be pass happy in order to keep up with our offense.
This isn't something I've come up with today as a knee-jerk response. I've said it numerous times and I've said it for years. I respect your opinion but that is a fundamental belief I hold to be true.
November 20, 2011 at 07:27 pm
Charlie Peprah, last season, was VERY highly rated at safety by FO. In fact, he was right at the very top...
Just sayin'.
November 20, 2011 at 08:47 pm
...As a support player with Collins in charge. On his own without that security blanket - exposed.
November 20, 2011 at 08:53 pm
Al, he's being exposed because the safety next to him can't tackle nor play the ball effectively.
When the cast comes off and Burnett goes back to his normal role, Peprah won't be as exposed.
November 20, 2011 at 08:51 pm
No, I don't expect all 45 players to be good, and that's exactly why I don't understand people getting riled up about Peprah.
Peprah is a good player that has some serious flaws. Man coverage is one of them. He's not counted to be the future of the position.
But saying he can't play in the NFL is way beyond absurd. Read what Oppy eloquently said.
I'll just finish with this: people need to stop looking at a single player as the reason why the team is not playing to their ridiculous high standards. That goes for Peprah, Woodson, Matthews, Finley... The ONLY player that can make a sizeable impact in a game by himself is the QB, and even that "sizeable" impact is smaller than a lot of people think.
November 20, 2011 at 06:47 pm
gotta agree on Peprah--just a step or three behind all day...regardless of the other safety. I'm not saying he shouldn't be playing...just sayin...
November 20, 2011 at 06:50 pm
Here's my stance on the Peprah can't cover hate:
He's a safety, not a Corner.
Think about this: Why is it, every sunday, when the Packers are moving Jermichael Finley all over the field, the analysts always talk about how the Packers are trying to get him matched up on a linebacker or a safety?
The same is true when teams try to motion WR's- they are often looking to get a LB or a Safety matched up one on one.
What do they always say? "That's a favorable match up for the offense."
He's a safety, not a corner. You never really want your safeties forced into one on ones with athletic TE's and certainly not WRs. There is a reason they are safeties and not cornerbacks.
I think Packer nation may be a bit spoiled with the years we had such an athletic freak of nature for the position in Nick Collins, and now Morgan Burnett. These are RARE athletes at the safety position.
Just my big fat two cents worth.
November 20, 2011 at 07:06 pm
That is almost entirely my point Oppy. Safeties that can't cover are always mismatches. That's why in the "new NFL" you have to have safeties that can cover (Collins, Burnett, and Jennings are all converted CBs) and CBs that are big enough to cover those guys (the reason for TT's "size requirement" IMO).
That OCs specifically gameplan to take advantage of that "proves" (at least in my eyes) that there is no longer a place in the secondary for those who can't cover. You're a liability and the other team is going to attack you because of it.
November 20, 2011 at 07:41 pm
Morgan Burnett was ranked as a top ten SAFETY prospect coming out of highschool... He played QB previously in his high school career. He played Safety at Georgia Tech.
Nick Collins in Highschool played QB, RB and "DB" (don't know whether it was at CB or S) in highschool. He played as a reserve LB for Bethune-cookman in 2002; starting the last two games as the starting SS. He was a full time starter at either SS or FS position the rest of his college career.
M.D. Jennings- played WR and "DB" in highschool (Again, unclear as to CB or S). was a reserve in 2007 at S after his redshirt freshman year; started all games in 2008 at S, and also started 11 of twelve games at S in 2009 until injury sidelined him for the final game.
These guys are all safeties....for what it's worth.
BTW, I regard Nick Collins and Morgan Burnett as two of only three safeties in the entire NFL with the range and ball skills they possess, the third being Troy Palomalu. talking mostly about their athleticism, which is what separates them from most S's and affords them the ability to actually cover WR's one on one if need be. Burnett needs to mature but he's got the physical tool set to succeed.
November 21, 2011 at 11:45 am
Collins played mostly CB at Bethune-Cookman. Also some S.
November 20, 2011 at 07:49 pm
Let me add this: I don't think Peprah is the long term answer at S for the Packers. But he should not be the whipping boy everyone attempts to make him out to be. He's a good, but limited, football player.
November 20, 2011 at 09:09 pm
Collins was listed as a CB throughout the draft process. I don't see many Bethune Cookman games so I assumed it was correct. Doesn't look like it is. I know for a fact Burnett played in the slot frequently at GT as I saw it. Don't know where I got the idea Jennings was converted. Regardless those three can cover. Don't really want to turn this into a bash Peprah thing or a state of safeties rant.
I will say this about the CB/S thing. Many of the highly regarded young safeties...Jairus Byrd, Eric Berry, Michael Griffin, Malcolm Jenkins, and Antrel Rolle all are converted corners. It's truly what I believe is needed to stop OCs from forcing mismatches on safeties.
November 21, 2011 at 05:03 pm
We also probably wouldn't have beaten the Chargers if not for Peprah.
November 20, 2011 at 07:14 pm
Well, at least we're not having to read any nonsense from the James Jones fan club about how much better he is than Jordy. Take a seat Mr. Jones---this is why you are a superfluous 5th stringer.
Randall Cobb is the real deal re: KR's. Great fun to actually have a threat there for a change.
November 20, 2011 at 08:10 pm
Cow Chip to the Ref that called that bogus block in th back on Jones. Not a Jones fan, but it was a poor call.
Many missed holding calls as well.
November 20, 2011 at 08:22 pm
It WAS push in the back from Jones, and completely unnecessary one at that (he pushed the guy into Cobb, who was on his way out of bounds anyway). Lucky it was at the end of the run rather than the beginning or it would have negated the whole return.
Agree on the missed holding calls, especially the one where Brad Jones was held by the right tackle, in plain view on the edge. No excuse for missing that one.
November 21, 2011 at 04:00 am
He literally placed his hand on his back. Horrible call after the play was basically over.
November 21, 2011 at 09:14 am
From the replay, it looked like the guy was already falling forward and Jones simply placed his hand on his back. I call BS on it. But whatever. We got a few ticky-tack PI calls in our favor.
November 21, 2011 at 05:04 pm
+1
November 20, 2011 at 08:15 pm
Peprah is fine for a backup safety. Safeties don't grow on trees. He's better than every safety on Minnesota's roster, and he's better than every Lions safety except Delmas.
Safeties can't cover as good as corners. He's fine for a backup.
November 20, 2011 at 08:25 pm
What Ruppert said
November 20, 2011 at 11:22 pm
what oppy said
November 21, 2011 at 11:54 am
what aussiepacker said
although I'd like to see what our defensive backfield would look like with MD Jennings in place of Peprah back there once Burnett gets the cast off.
November 20, 2011 at 08:38 pm
WOW! Where are the O-Line and D-Line, both groups played very poorly today? What about about the LB's did any of them play well today (taskling drills tomorrow!!)How about Tramon Williams, he was beaten often today. What about the drops by Finley? As for Shields he was in good postion on the long pass, the receiver made a great play. The pass to Jones was a tough pass and the block in the back was a joke, wathc the replay. Seems to me you are hung up on Shields and Jones. I don't know if they stole your girlfriend or pissed in your Wheaties. You have no credibility with me. GO PACK GO
November 20, 2011 at 09:46 pm
I've been a staunch supporter of James Jones, and I still believe the guy is more talented than people give him credit for. That said, I was pretty disappointed in him today. The fact that he didn't touch that guy down bothered me. I think the guy can be a stud, but DAMN he just can't get out of his own way.
November 20, 2011 at 10:23 pm
cow chip---coaching staff !
Watch out for the Lions!
November 21, 2011 at 07:47 am
I laughed my head off at that block in the back call against jones. He put a single hand on the Buc rate when he dove to tackle Cobb
November 21, 2011 at 10:20 am
I was at the game and here are a few things I noticed:
After James Jones dropped that pass at the beginning of the game, it appeared as if he was taken out of the game. He had only a few offensive snaps the entire game. I was very surprised to see Cobb so active on the field. It seemed on every 4 WR set and even som 3 WR sets, he was out there. So this was another clue which made me think that Jones was being punished by dropping that ball. Jones not touching Mack after the interception was nothing but frustration.
It appeared to me that Williams was picked on all day. Many passes it seemed were thrown at him as if they game planned for it. On Blount's touchdown run, it was hard to see live and on the stadium screens, but it appeared Williams was the only guy that really tried to wrap up and I thought he did a good job stopping him as long as he could. Good blocking on that play and Blount is much bigger and stronger than Williams. He is a beast. You can't blame Williams for that.
There was absolutely zero push coming from our O-Line in the running game.
51 is an idiot.
It was $%&#ing cold there!! Rodgers is not superman. You can't expect him to throw perfect balls every time in freezing weather.
The Packers are the undefeated super bowl champions. So of course every team is going to give their best to dethrone at least the undefeated status. So you can bet our defense is going to struggle every game as every team's offense will be giving them their best shot. It's like watching an un-ranked college team trading punches with a much more talented ranked team.
November 21, 2011 at 11:57 am
Surely A-Rod's performance will diminish as the weather gets worse. Hate to say it but with the current make up of this explosive and wonderful team we may be earning home field disadvantage.
PackerAaron
November 21, 2011 at 03:07 pm
Absurd. On all fronts.
November 21, 2011 at 07:38 pm
If bad weather is bad for our passing game, it's 10x worse for the opponent.
And it's GREAT for our defense.