Good article as usual, Al.
It’s really a shame about MVS. Rodgers finally, FINALLY, throws a good pass to him, (you know, one where he doesn’t have to give up the 2 steps he has on the defender), and he drops it.

Good Bet: MM coaches the Lions next year. MVS: Let him redeem himself! If he can't track the ball better, Cut him. Lazard isn't a threat. Future TE! Rodgers decesions are the start of dementia. Not concerned yet? Run game vs the bears/blitz. Use to be a draw/screen pass worked. Sullivan has played well! But Summers should have played before Burks. Like that Ha Ha missed. But Kumerow isn't going to change anything. Common it was Ha Ha!

You may be right, MVS could still develop and its hard to develop when you only get 1 pass opportunity and it being a deep ball. A few quick short throws is often the recipe to get a WR back in the groove for even studs who experience a lapse. It would have served him well to have more targets previously. While MVS may have become overwhelmed by being started into the #2 receiver spot too soon, well, he shown flashes enough to get that opportunity....so it was his golden chance.

You absolutely right on the running game not yielding due to bear's Dline strength, and should have neutralized that with AJones on passes out of backfield.

Great foresight on Chandon Sullivan earlier and bringing him to our attention.

A “project” shouldn’t be your #2 receiver, just saying..

For sure, I think they were really banking on Graham being their de facto #2 receiver this year and it just hasn't happened. Now they're left relying on too many projects to produce right now.

Still, I think the solution is to give more snaps to the guys you think are best of the group, and hope that those additional reps produce more consistency.

Donald Driver was

" I thought first down on the final drive would have been a perfect time for a nice simple safe pass to Jones instead of running into the middle of the line where they achieved nothing all day. "

One of those things that drive you crazy. I thought great this is that play, where let's make it interesting and give the ball back to the other team even if it means maybe losing the game. Let's just give the momentum,,no matter how hard fought or fortunate (Lowry interception, right back!

Yeesh.

" My question: Why not have a script planned for the start of the second half? And you would have halftime to tweak it based on things you saw in the first half. Is this s dumb question?"

And an excellent one, and I'm full of sarcasm today.

So let me get this straight let's have a plan for the first quarter but no plan for the second we'll just wing it. Is that even logical?

The sequence on offense to end the 1st half was even worse than that one play.

They wasted so much time despite having 2 timeouts left and the pass to Jimmy Graham was 100% detrimental.
That was the worst clock management I've seen in a long time in the NFL.

MLF said the other day that Rodgers has carte blanche to change any play call at any time. When the offense goes ultra conservative & ineffective for stretches during games I'm just wondering if MLF is calling those plays or if Rodgers is?

MVS: Let's
I'm not giving up on MVS. Honestly right now what I think MVS needs is a couple of 'easy' plays. Maybe do a designed screen to him. Something to get his confidence up and get him in the flow of a game. A couple of plays like that could make all the differences and turn this around for him. Right now it feels like a bad golf outing. He just needs that one hit to feel comfortable again.

Running game:
If I could take one player from every team, the player I would take from the Bears is Hicks. That guy is a warrior and is a load in the middle.
I agree that they need to get Jones especially involved in the passing game more when the running game isn't working. And that is getting the running backs on routes from the backfield. They can definitely do more with Jones out of the backfield.

Chandon Sullivan:
Sullivan has been a great find! He has been really, really good. He has been really good in coverage. That throw down the sideline he played that as good as anyone can play it.

Scripting plays:
Not a dumb question. What my question is though why is it that when the script runs out the offense bogs down? If plays worked in the first few drives, are they simply going away from what worked, has the defense adjusted and we haven't had a counter punch? Why do the scripted plays look great and the rest of the offense look iffy.
So my follow up question is why can't they have a few scripted plays using various personnel? So if the defenses adjust they have a 'go to' for a change of pace?

Allen Lazard:
While his blocking is a big reason he has earned more playing time, his receiving skills deserve more targets. He simply catches just about everything his way. He was targeted 3 times and had 2 catches against the Bears. He needs to get the ball thrown his way a little more. He has size and speed. Time to start using it!
Speaking of Targets are some of the struggles in this offense the fact that they are simply targeting Adams to much? Now some of the targets are not truly targeting a specific player if they are just trying to throw it away. But look at the last 4 games. Adams has been targeted 41 times and has 24 receptions. Allison has been targeted 12 times and has 8 receptions. Lazard has been targeted 11 times and has 8 receptions. Looking at the production Adams has 251 yards and 4 TD's in that stretch. Allison has 59 yards and 0 TD's. Lazard has 143 yards and 1 TD.
Its time to get Lazard the ball more!

Decisions, Decisions:
Yeah, I have no clue what happened at the end of half. That was messed up. I just don't get the thinking in that. The only thing I could think of was that Rodgers thought they had a timeout left. But that should have been LaFleur in his ear telling him that they have nothing left.

The Ghost of Mike McCarthy:
When LaFleur said all gas no brakes, I was just wondering if he forgot to fill the tank up? You can't go all gas if you have no gas.
Overall I was 'Ok' with play calling. But that last 3rd down play I hated. Its 3rd and 5. Bears have the box loaded. Why not spread them out and see how the Bears line up then. Rodgers may be able to do a simple pass to gain 5 yards. He may be able to hand it off, Or he might be able to scramble. But the line up was telling that it was going to be a simple handoff. The Bears run defense all day was really, really good. We were not running on them for 5 yards. And they were disciplined enough to stop Rodgers on the roll out.
I would have much rather have seen them being aggressive going for the first down and ending the game.

The Joke's on you, Chicago: And finally, let's all have a good laugh. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha... to infinity.
Well said! As much trash as they talked all offseason. We can enjoy this lol.

Interesting to see Fuller let up on Kumerow as he thought HaHa would make the tackle.

Great article Al
I agree on all points

With the playoffs and a possible bye week looming with just 2 regular season games left, I want to see the most reliable and productive players on the field.

MVS has potential okay, then send him out long and let him spread and loosen the field and draw coverage away from plays to Williams or Jones out of the backfield, or to Lazard or Kumerow on a 8 - 10 yard routes, or similar.

Play calls to more reliable and productive players right now beats out plays to potential playmakers.

Agree 100 % with your scripting analysis, would like to believe that going forward the Packers open their second half series with plays called that attack their opponent's D play as seen in the first half.

Sullivan deservedly earned his praises against the Bears, yes you were right about him and yes, a great find by the GM.

One question does bother me greatly, "What is really going on with Rodgers'? Any ideas out there?

As armchair quarterbacks I believe there are some really good observations on these posts
Why the hell cant the head coach see these common sense fixes?

I agree that MVS needs another year, but I am concerned about his lack of progress this year. I recall ESB passing MVS in production and playing time during the last four games of last season and that may be a harbinger of next season. Regardless, the Packers need to find a quick slot receiver either in free agency or the draft.

So, Mike McCarthy lives in Aaron Rodgers head. Polluted Mindset indeed......

Agree that the Rodgers pass at the end of the first half made absolutely no sense. You'd expect to see that out of a rookie QB. I thought his head first slide on third down, with 10+ yards to go to get to the first down line, was equally baffling. He's got to be smarter than that.

I love this column by Jersey Al-Thanks Al!
Now I have two thoughts, first Lazard is a beast, but a hybrid beast. He's TE size with a wideout skills. He's pretty rare in the NFL and the Packers should use him like a TE so he's on a safety or LB verses a CB on longer routes and against CBs on those short routes where they don't have time to cover him. Another NFL team had a hybrid receiver like Lazard and that was Marques Colston of the Saints. MLF should figure a better way to utilize Lazard in both the running and passing game like the Saints did with Colston.

I agree with Jersey Al on MVS. Packers took two developmental receivers in that draft and Moore from MO. was the other. MVS had a bigger upside and more polish so he stuck and Moore has recently signed with another team. Another year will do wonders for both guys.

I hope the Packers start drafting QBs because we are seeing age winning the battle against Rodgers. He can still have those 300+ yard games, but the sharpness he had for years is no longer consistent in his play. A quality QB is just so hard to find...it may take a few swipes of draft picks just to get a decent starter. Maybe Tua will be available at the end of the 1st round.

Al, Still one of my favorite (if not THE favorite) article to read on CHTV. My wife asked me why I was laughing so hard after the Ha-Ha "Swan Dive" tackle and I had to explain, lol. It's nice that at this time of year we can laugh at stuff and still know we are 11-3 and the Bears still suck.

Maybe the best article on this site in a while!

D is not perfect but they have been the reason we have won - holding teams to low scores - most games, even though I hate the bend but don't break concept.
The O, despite adding a pretty good running game, has been dissappointing. This is a combination or MLF, AR and receivers. AR is getting paid the very big bucks and he simply needs to play smarter if he no longer make the throws he used to.

When Adams had the dropsies in his 2nd year, I was ready to cut him. So MM was right on that one. I don't know how you judge when a player will get better or not. They eventually gave up on Janis even though he had those 2 great hail mary catches. So just keep MVS running deep and taking 1 or 2 defenders with him until we get another speedster. This is why it would be great to go up by 2+ scores. Then you could practice plays you might not otherwise risk.

Really good article. What's annoying with Rodgers is that at 36 years old, i tought the decline would be physical and not about decision making. But on the positive side, he still has an amazing arm, enough mobility and experience. Up to him!

Al - scripted plays for the second half makes sense and maybe the Packers did that for the Bears game. They did come out and score 2 TDs in the 3rd quarter. Maybe those drives were scripted and maybe not but the offense looked pretty sharp during those drives.
I just don't get a sense of what the game plan is after the Packers opening drive or two in the first quarter. It almost looks like let's try this and see what happens.

IMO the Packers need to go more up tempo. Stop trying to get the defense to jump offsides and stop looking for defensive holding on pass plays. Come up to LOS snap the ball and execute the play. If this is actually done for 3 quarters it will make the hard count much more effective later in the game when you are trying to keep a time consuming drive going. Right now it looks like we come up to the LOS try the hard count, run the clock down to zero and then hope for defensive holding before Rodgers throws the ball. MLF needs to get this corrected and quite frankly he should have done so by now. Create a game plan, execute it, adjust as necessary and stop playing for penalties. In fact playing in Minnesota forget the hard count, just go with all scripted and up tempo because of the crowd noise. The last thing the Vikings defense will be expecting is for the Packers offense to come up to the LOS and snap the ball quickly.
Thanks, Since '61

Lazard and Touchdown Jesus have to see more snaps over G-Mo and MVS, Stevie Wonder could even see that they are clearly better receivers than the other 2 .

As far as scripting goes and the start of the game, I think it's best to analyze why the beginning script works. Is it because

- Everyone knows and understands the plays being run
- Better planning and play calling
--- Then as an aside note, no adjustments made by opposing team

I kind of wonder if Rodgers still doesn't fully grasp the new offense or if teams make adjustments and the packers do not adjust to the adjustments. Packers come out with a new wrinkle in the offense through scripted plays, then the other team makes adjustments, and the packers are lost with the same game plan for the rest of the game.

Good stuff in general, Jersey Al.
As has been pointed out here at CHTV, even when he isn't targeted, MVS is the kind of speedster who stretches the defense and opens up opportunities for other receivers.
Plus, I don't remember him dropping many, if any, other balls this season.
I predict MVS will catch a long one against the Vikes. It may be better to have him crossing the field at least a little bit on a soft slant in order to make it easier for him to track the ball.

amazing how inbred this site is

try the Chicago Tribune reviews of the game and you believe nobody in WI or IL watched the same game. The praise for Rodgers (which is actually spot on) and how the packer play calling/scheme stopped MACK from being a game changer to opportunities for other bears like Hicks (who was really good) and 44 and others to step up and win. they did not
Example Mack on the field for 20 run plays. only 3 were remotely at him, following the RAM pattern

In all serious the Rodgers trolls need to shut up and go see what other teams and what other team reporters find in their review of coaches film

The Packers and Rodgers are one of, if not the best 1st Quarter teams in the NFL. #12 has a passer rating 140 + in the first quarter. It plummets to 80 something for Qtrs 2, 3, and 4. Matt, Aaron and Coach Hackett are excellent play writes scripting the first drives.

However, I like Al's suggestion to have a script ready to start the 2nd half. Maybe they did on Sunday because they were on fire in the 3rd Quarter for a change.

I would think Coach Hackett could be doing just that up in the booth as he analyzed the D's vulnerabilities in the first half.

One thing has to change...Pettine's desire to play prevent, zone D as soon as the team has a lead. I know the D is very good in the red zone but why he does not trust his players to get stops between the 20"s is strange. His Caper's like tendencies to bend is frustrating. Unlike Capers whose defenses also usually broke...at least Pettine's tend to hold. But they are pretty good playing man and bringing the pressure.

How is nobody talking about how high Alexander got up there to try and make the catch?

Is there a doctor in the house? Oh wait seems like there are several on here that want to pretend they can now diagnose a mental issue. Same ones that know more than coaches and HOF players.

I logged onto CHTV very early and saw one comment for this article. I logged in at 7:00 pm and couldn't find this article.

CHTV shouldn't have articles 1 through 4 be the same as the Latest Buzz. It is redundant, and too many articles are getting buried.