Gut Reactions Week 12

  • Directly after the Bears game I wrote: Rodgers had a good game, but he simply has to stop staring guys down - it’s gonna cost him ... Well, tonight was Exhibit A.
  • I also wrote: A.J. Hawk played an excellent game in the middle, but let’s hold off on the ‘move him to the middle next year’ calls until the Packers play a more dynamic offense - like next week ... Yes, I'm doing this to make myself feel better
  • This is the game that makes me start questioning McCarthy as a gameplanner/play-caller - Ryan Grant was woefully underused, long before things got out of hand in the 3rd Quarter. And why does it always take his team being down multiple scores for him to call a vertical route? And could we PLEASE scrap the red-zone screen play which has never, ever worked since McCarthy started calling it? But these are small things - why he didn't come out in his multiple tight end sets and pound the ball, I'll never know.
  • Bob Sanders tried to do way too much from the get-go. Why all the zone? And why were the corners playing 5 yards off on almost every play?
  • The lack of talent on the defensive line is criminal. Ted Thompson needs to get off his ass this offseason and navigate the "dangerous waters" of free agency to get some immediate help. His draft picks are not ready and/or not talented.
  • Can someone, for the love of GOD, please tell me why Frost still has a job? There are guys playing Saturday morning in Central Park that can punt better.
  • Rodgers is going through all the same things Favre went through with the West Coast Offense and playing away games in domes. It will get better, but wow is it hard to watch.
  • Whatever Bigby had at the end of last season - he's completely lost it.
  • It's really hard to watch a Packers team that has no heart.
  • Believe it or not, the season is not over - but this team is not winning a championship, which makes it feel like it is.

 

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Comments (9)

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Andrew in Atlanta's picture

November 25, 2008 at 12:04 am

Is it 2008 or 2004? I was watching the defense and lost all track of time.
Maybe it was because I was so impressed with our halftime adjustments that I just got confused.
Yeah, it must be confusion because I was sure I was watching the Maui Basketball Invitational at one point. Then I realized that while the Saints looked like they would score 100 pts, the players had helmets on.
Did I really just see the game I think I saw?
Nurse, please, give me my damn medication!!!!

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Donald's Designated Driver's picture

November 25, 2008 at 12:16 am

I hate to always be "that guy." But...

Grant touched the ball on 17 of 39 plays in the first half. Should the Packers have fed him the ball more? Maybe. I think its a bit of hyperbole to say he was woefully underused. Plus, you have to look at the game situation. There was one drive where Grant lost five yards on first down (not Grant's fault---the play was blown up). In any event, you lose five yards on first down, you are probably passing on second and third down.

There are a lot of problems with this team. I don't think play calling is one of them. The play calling was just fine until the team fell behind by 17. In fact, I think in many respects, McCarthy has improved his play calling this year. Particularly in short yardage. I am a huge huge fan of the fullback dive (not so much a fan of the empty back field on third and short like we used to see almost exclusively in previous seasons).

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DaveK's picture

November 25, 2008 at 12:19 am

If you can't play defense better then that you ain't going to win anything this year. If the defense makes one stand in the 2nd quarter and it relieves pressure and lets the Packer's control the game better. The defense tonight forced the offense to be perfect and it fell apart in the 3rd quarter.

Two home games next are must wins.

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PackerAaron's picture

November 25, 2008 at 12:31 am

DDD - that's why I designated it "gameplanning/playcalling" Where was the power game that we saw just last week? Where were the tight ends? Why on Earth did we see so many multiple receiver sets in the first half? Makes no sense to me. And for the record, I love the fullback dive. ;)

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LACHEEZ's picture

November 25, 2008 at 12:34 am

shoot! finally someone exposes our (dare i say) over-rated secondary! this was probably the biggest test this year against one of the best QB's in the league - each time the pack has played a decent quarterback this year it has resulted in a loss (with the exception of the colts and peyton manning, who were a little out-of-sync) - all our wins this year have come from teams with crappy QB's. our secondary is decent but with ZERO pass rush, any decent QB can pick us apart. i'm nauseous from how many times (6) my heart has been broken this year...

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Keith's picture

November 25, 2008 at 12:52 am

This team came out flat from the get-go on defense and that was all she wrote. Our D-Line sucks and our LBs are not playmakers. I think our secondary is very good, but you can't cover forever, or when you're playing 20 yards off.

This game pisses me off because this team is better than this. I'm going to question McCarthy, not for his playcalling, but for not having his team ready to play.

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IronMan's picture

November 25, 2008 at 04:03 am

"Can someone, for the love of GOD, please tell me why Frost still has a job? "

All I can come up with, is Frost must have naked pictures of Ted Thompson. How he got them, I don 't know.

And yes, that is a bad visual.

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nc packer backer's picture

November 25, 2008 at 09:12 am

OUCH, that game really hurt.
A lot can be said about the Packers offense, or maybe I should say not a lot can be said, but the Defense is AWFUL. D-line has no up field charge. The best Line Backer is free agent pick up who wasn't a starter at the beginning of the season. Hawk is not the player everyone thought and Poppinga is strictly a special teams guy, not a starter. The Safety's are anything but safe, Bigby is always out of position, takes bad angles to the ball carrier and needs to loose 15lbs, and to top it all off they are poorly coached. Just Pathetic.

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Franklin Hillside's picture

November 25, 2008 at 09:46 am

Rouse's angle on the Colston TD was embarrassing, even more so than Woodson getting burned on the play.

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