Packers: 22 Lions: 9
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly from the Packers win over the Lions
By PackerAaron
 |
|||
Mason Crosby, A.J. Hawk, James Jones |
|||
|
The Bad |
|||
Execution In the Red Zone |
|||
|
The Bad |
|||
Ryan Taylor |
BrokenTV |
||
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHEESEHEAD NATION WEEKLY NEWSLETTER HERE.
__________________________
Comments (60)
October 07, 2013 at 12:37 am
I don't disagree with any of these selections, but if I may add a couple of my own...
Good: Morgan Burnett (great tip to save a TD)
Bad: TE play. Finley and Taylor both with drops, Finley didn't look good in run blocking.
Ugly: Jim Schwartz timeout with 20 seconds left. C'mon man.
October 07, 2013 at 01:58 am
I think the injury to Francois and Jones may pave the way for Bostick to be active on gameday
October 07, 2013 at 11:12 am
They'll need backup LB active. I doubt this allows Bostick to be active yet.
October 07, 2013 at 02:28 pm
However, Taylor dropping the ball might.
October 07, 2013 at 03:48 am
"The good" carries zero credibility if Jordy isn't at, or near the top of the list. Dude just bails #12 out, time, and time again. Sideline ASSASSIN.
Nick Perry could easily be in the good, yo... Corner turned? Possibly? Hopefully?
Lacy looks good for playing in only his 3rd game (some Nimrods forget that), he's only gonna improve, same with Franklin. Franklin just needs to work on ball security, and he will, he will be a stud for us... Big letters.
UGLY = CM3's thumb.
October 07, 2013 at 02:03 pm
Nimrods..nice..haven't heard that one in a while
October 07, 2013 at 04:14 pm
Receivers are supposed to catch the ball. To many drops yesterday. Packers should have buried the Lions early. And why take Lacy out on 3rd and 1 and go empty backfield?
October 07, 2013 at 04:59 am
I would have included Randall Cobb in the good. Two plays he made stood out as sparks for the offense. In lions games past, it was Woodson doing the lion taming.
Ryan Taylor in the bad, not ugly. Just a drop and there were others.
Ugly was the officiating in the lions defensive backfield. It seems like opponents have studied film and just go ahead and clutch at the point of breaks. The packers receivers have to counter with their own physicality or adjust routes. Or have they come to rely on getting PI calls? It's something that derails this offense when AR throws the ball late and the receivers are in jailbreak.
October 07, 2013 at 05:50 am
That drop by Taylor was hard to watch, but I too would just say that the TE play all together was ugly.
October 07, 2013 at 06:48 am
What about Neal? Guy is a stud at linebacker.
October 07, 2013 at 07:22 am
Nick Perry deserves to be in the Good.
Lacy to me deserves to be in the Good as well. People forget that the Lions have a very good run defense. And Lacy ran it right up the middle on them all day. 99 yards is very good against a pair really good DT's. Possibly the best pair of DT's in the league.
Also, for good. Jordy Nelson's catches on the sidelines. He is just freaking amazing on those.
Bad for me is the Ref's for not knowing what Pass interference, or Defensive holding is.
Ugly. yeah you can't get any uglier then Taylor's attempt to catch a pass... Brings back the days of Ed West...
October 07, 2013 at 07:25 am
I'd like to add one for the bad category:
Play calling on 3rd and 1. We gave it to Kuhn for years with mixed results, now we have Lacy and we go for the bubble screens? Maybe I change my tune if it was successful but I wish the Packers would go for the first down on short situations instead of the bling plays.
October 07, 2013 at 08:12 am
I'll add one to that... The 2nd and goal from the 9 yard line? and Rodgers pulls up and throws a quick pass to Jones where he picks up what 1 yard?
That to me was a play that if they go towards the endzone they make it easier to get a TD on 3rd down.
That 2nd down play I think prevented them from getting a TD.
I don't like to criticize play calling. That one I put on Rodgers.
But when your in the redzone you have to go towards the redzone. Not throws at the line of scrimmage.
October 07, 2013 at 09:39 am
I don't love that play call either, but the Packer receivers have been killing it in YAC so far this year, and the Lions don't have great corners, so there was decent reason to expect better than a one-yard gain.
October 07, 2013 at 11:11 am
I don't mind the play if they are on the 50 yard line or even down to the 20-25. I don't mind it as much if it was on 1st down where they were at. But not 2nd and goal from about the 10. To many defenders in a short area. Even if he breaks 1 tackle odds are that he will get tackled before the end zone.
I don't like the play because it left them with 1 throw into the endzone.
I prefer taking a shot into the end zone or anyways a pass with the WR running towards the end zone in that situation.
October 07, 2013 at 10:13 am
Teams are really starting to watch for those bubble screens. I also saw that SF is running a very similar screen with their receivers. The announcers in that game even referred to it as a Green Bay Style screen. This play is no longer a secret or a surprise and it is getting more and more risky as defenders are getting their hands on the ball with no one between them and the end zone.
October 07, 2013 at 11:06 am
It can still work if Bahktiari does his job. He's got to get engaged w/ the DE better to prevent him from jumping up and getting his hands up. Now in this instance a LB happened to knock it down but the DE was also free to get after the ball. But the point still stands. Its like in the Cincy game he didn't perform his cut block. He's simply got to do a better job and adjust his sets when he needs to cut the DL or at least engage him faster so he can't get in the air.
October 07, 2013 at 01:11 pm
I think it's a little bit of cat-and-mouse out there. Defenders are starting to creep up on those plays, and before too long, somebody will creep up too much, and Rodgers is going to give Jordy the "go long" stare.
October 07, 2013 at 08:27 am
Bad:
Lions tripping tactics. The refs caught Suh in the 1st quarter, but it happened again, in the 3rd, after the Bakhtiari penalty backed us up. Rodgers was in our end zone, and there was another tripping attempt by a Lions DL (cant remember who it was). I thought it was blatantly obvious, but none of the FOX guys pointed it out.
October 07, 2013 at 10:04 am
Idonije... but he missed, so there wasn't a call. Bogus though. Totally bogus.
October 07, 2013 at 10:17 am
They play pretty dirty, and you cant just blame Suh, I think the coaches encourage these kinds of tactics. I think the NFL has to find more significant ways to punish the teams for dirty play.
Both kicks were intentional, and could have cost us Rodgers for the season had they landed differently.
October 07, 2013 at 12:06 pm
I thought the Suh one was a gift, but the second one was blatant and intentional.
October 07, 2013 at 08:30 am
What was Detroit trying to do when they called a time out when the Packers were taking a knee? I think McCarthy was wondering the same thing, especially when Detroit took a knee when they got the ball back.
October 07, 2013 at 08:34 am
I'd love an explanation on that one. I think Schwartz was just being a baby, and didnt want the game to end on our victory formation.
October 07, 2013 at 10:37 am
With complete sincerity, why is Ryan Taylor on this team and Tom Crabtree isn't?
Crabtree would have made that catch. Ryan Taylor looked like he's never even seen and/or caught a football. And without digging into the tape, Taylor seems to be a sub-par blocker.
October 07, 2013 at 12:01 pm
that may all be true, but Taylor is by far the best ST player of all TEs. And that included Crabtree when he was here. Finley is the receiving TE, Bostick is purely a receiver at this point. Quarless is supposed to be the best combination of blocking and receiving TE, but he had his share of badly run routes and drops this year already. And he is not good on ST. Taylor is your 3rd TE, and his main objective when everybody is healthy is playing ST, that's why. It would be great if he could catch a ball, and maybe he will get the chance again, as nobody was paying any attention to him on that route (they probably knew he can't catch a ball), but Taylor also helped on ST to limit the Lions into not doing anything special on ST.
October 07, 2013 at 12:03 pm
Salary.
October 07, 2013 at 12:37 pm
Fair enough, thanks for the answer.
Outstanding character aside, Crabtree was worth keeping. If salary was the issue, than why did we sign Mulligan for essentially the same amount of coin?
October 07, 2013 at 02:39 pm
Let us not forget, the legend of Crabtree was 80% based on his cult following. He wasn't that great of a run blocker. Mulligan is/was.
Calling Crabtree our best run blocker meant he was the shiniest turd (at run blocking).
October 07, 2013 at 02:17 pm
Ah Crabtree wanted money. That's why he left on his own to collect some real money and not be lo balled by the Pack.
October 07, 2013 at 10:38 am
UGLY: Schwartz, and Raiola for yelling at the band members during warm-ups...
what a sorry bunch of losers.
October 07, 2013 at 11:10 am
Schwartz, Jim Harbaugh, Schiano...are all a bunch of losers
October 07, 2013 at 12:19 pm
As bad as Raiola is for his actions, its inconceivable Schwartz would have joined in. Could you imagine MM doing something like that? Keep those two away from babies & puppies. God only knows what they might do.
October 07, 2013 at 11:47 am
Ugly: MM's playcalling again. the long TD to Jones was a Rodger's audible. So MM's play calling produced no TDs.
October 07, 2013 at 12:40 pm
I agree, who calls a play where the QB takes a 5 step drop on 1st and 10 on the 3 yard line?
October 07, 2013 at 12:42 pm
Agreed. I've been an MM supporter since day one, but his play-calling is beyond predictable at this point. Rodgers role should be expanded on this front.
Still bewildered that we struggle so much on 3rd and short. Would have thought that after two years of its being a glaring weakness, the coaching staff would have put together a suite of short yardage plays for that situation. Nope.
October 07, 2013 at 01:35 pm
I wrote that because how many times did we try that quick pass to a WR at the line of scrimmage and it got stopped for oss or batted down? We never threw the ball to the middle of the field with a TE mismatch like Finley is. All throws to the perimeter, like they are scared of losing guys to hits. MM's plays just aren't working. and on short yardage, we don't use Kuhn as a blocker, or even Raji, just a hand off or pitch and alot of finger crossing.
October 07, 2013 at 01:48 pm
I recommend you guys read Paul Ott Caruth's comment on the Gut Reactions post. Very thoughtful and informed.
October 07, 2013 at 04:56 pm
Good post. Most of my griping has/is do to his play calling on 3rd and short. To that, I agree with Paul's thoughts:
"Some head scratchers though….3rd and 1 and they run a quick screen (smoke pass) to the outside vs. press coverage? That was puzzling."
We've been bad/predictable on 3rd and <3 for at least last season and the first four games of this year. I have no stats to back that up, however.
October 08, 2013 at 08:36 am
Yeah, third and short has been an issue for a couple years now. And I'm not sure if that's MM or if Rodgers is the one who keeps changing it to long bombs.
October 08, 2013 at 09:59 pm
I'll take the long bomb over the FB dive any day. Or in the context of last game, the WR bubble screen in press coverage.
October 07, 2013 at 12:11 pm
Ugly, when the coaching staff doesn't know the rules for the football being held for the kicker on kick offs.!
October 07, 2013 at 12:48 pm
Good: Perry, Nelson and Lacy.
Bad: Red zone offense.
I know this was not a pretty game to watch, but I enjoyed watching the Packers control the clock for once. Lacy was a big part of it. Perry finally stepped up and had a great game. Nelson continues to amaze.
I won't second-guess specific play calls, but with all of the weapons this offense has at its disposal, there is no excuse for this team not finding the end zone more often than they did against the Lions. Red zone efficiency has to be down this year, but they have put up so many points in other weeks that maybe this has been overlookied.
October 07, 2013 at 01:30 pm
Can't say I agree with the AJ Hawk "Good" selection. Perry and Neal were both more deserving.
If anyone is a believer in the scouting of PPF they gave Hawk a -2.6 grade vs Detroit stating, "Of his seven tackles, only two were stops (and one of those was unblocked) while in coverage he allowed six of seven balls thrown at him to be completed for 68 yards with the odd one out being the interception, thrown straight at him, which he dropped."
PackerAaron
October 07, 2013 at 02:34 pm
This is why PFF is so hit and miss with me. None of their "grading" takes into account the force plays he makes, the successful diagnosing of screen plays, etc. Look at the film. Not PFF.
October 07, 2013 at 03:48 pm
i can't even count how often i said in the past "gosh if Hawk was one step faster...". he often diagnoses plays absolutely correctly, but he seems athletically quite limited and slow. which is surprising giving his workout numbers of when he was drafted. but there is a reason he was a no 5 overall. he has trouble getting off a OL block when trying to blitz, but other than that his weakness is his athletic limitation. If he was a freak of nature as Mike Neal is, he'd be a superstar in the NFL.
October 07, 2013 at 08:38 pm
Do you think PFF is more consistent with observations for certain positions?
October 07, 2013 at 03:48 pm
+1
October 07, 2013 at 03:50 pm
+1 idgafkurt
October 07, 2013 at 02:12 pm
How in the hell does a Taylor or Ross (no longer with us) even make the team in the first place. Neither has shown a lick of talent on the field.
I mean the move or lack of that Taylor made is high school play at best.
House looked awful. Yes the receivers he was playing against were twice his size but hey that's the mold TT wants and they come cheap. The 6'2 defensive backs who can run and tackle come at a premium price.
October 07, 2013 at 06:21 pm
Uhh house is like 6'1 and is known to be physical
October 07, 2013 at 02:22 pm
Cudo's to the O line. I thought those guys would eat Rogers for breakfast all day long but not really.
1. Great job to MM. He finally let someone else play running back instead of using just one guy. OK, the guy you put in scewed up but you did try something new. He also had some short dink passes in the playbook. Manning lives by those.
2. I think we need to get some milk cartons out for when Jones needs to jump into the stands. I for one thought I was going to lose it yesterday. By the way it was a great catch regardless if it was out of bounds or not. Way to go Jones. Hell of a game.
October 07, 2013 at 02:44 pm
Oh, that reminds me.
Ugly: the shithead Detroit fan who pushed Jones down when he tried to do his leap on the second/nullified TD.
October 07, 2013 at 05:39 pm
I wanted to drive 21 hours to GB and beat that dudes ass
October 07, 2013 at 06:31 pm
Playcalling is insane. In trying too hard not to be predictable it IS predictable and at times mind boggling, Red zone plays were especially bad. Field position and point in the game score demand you do not call certain plays no matter what. Its seems like the playbook is so large and full of plays that along with Rodgers talents MM makes it too complex and to me some plays miss the obvious call. He picks some great ones but a lot of clunkers that's for sure. What is the old saying that when you find the play that works you keeping doing it and make the other team try to stop you. Stop going away from that just to show how smart you are and innovative. Seems like forever since they were so in sync that it was a thing of beauty to watch. Drives have been grinds and if not for all the clutch amazing plays by Jones , Cobb and Nelson we'd be in deep ,,,,,
October 08, 2013 at 02:02 am
AR (and MM) is always going to be very careful about throwing the ball between the numbers, at least at certain depths. AR hates interceptions (as well he should) there was an article about it in the GBPG a few years ago. Passes in the middle encounter more congestion, increasing the chances of an interception from a sneaky safety, a tipped ball, and a hard hit, among other things. AR excels with the perimeter intermediate and deep passes, where there's not as much traffic. GB will attack the middle when clear opportunities exist, but probably not with the frequency that most fans would like to see.
October 07, 2013 at 11:42 pm
I agree with "Derek Co"'s comments about the play calling. GB has stopped throwing the ball over the middle almost completely, WHY. Has MM never seen Brady or Peyton play a game? That is how they mostly march down the field to score nearly every time. GB certainly has the rcvers and backs to catch short passes 5-8 yds past the LOS and make the def make a tackle. I guess after Finley and Lacey got hurt he doesn't want to subject them to hard hits. Every pass is out to the edge of the field where the def is waiting to make an immediate tackle or lately the ball is batted down. Just 2 yrs ago AR was unstoppable inside the 10 yd line with quick slants or dumps into the EZ. What happened to passes to the FB?? Another thing is Caper's def call for a 3 man rush on long yardage plays when pressure has put the enemy in a hole, but with no pass rush they nearly always pickup 10-20 yds and a first down, it's maddening.
October 08, 2013 at 02:09 am
Oops, my reply above was meant for this comment, not tundraboy's. Sorry about that.
October 10, 2013 at 10:57 am
No problem. I have done the same. Here's looking to a weekend with no injuries and some surprise plays!!
October 09, 2013 at 03:27 pm
Hawk wasn't good according to PFF. Terrible at defending the pass,no matter how many chase and grab tackles he racks up ten yards down field.
But, let's pick on Ryan Taylor by all means, because he dropped a pass and ignore his solid run blocking.