The morning after each game is a good time to blow off some steam after a big loss or huzzah a big 
win. What do the Packers need to work on? What did they do well? Each game has its share of little victories and little gripes…let’s call it R&R…”Rant” and “Rave”. So here is my take on the game…
Rant
The Packers played almost two full quarters looking just like they did against the Seahawks. There was no run game so the Packers were forced to pass. Aaron Rodgers was out of rhythm and there was another miscue between the center and quarterback. The defense was not getting pressure on Geno Smith, the middle of the field was soft, and Sam Shields gave up a big touchdown.
How many in Packernation were happy with the bulk of the first two quarters of this game? If you were, please let me know why in the comments below. Aaron Rodgers was lucky to walk away from this game alive, much less uninjured. Thank you, football gods, wherever you are.
But this game was a tale of two halves…
Rave
The Packers showed resilience in this game and they WON the game…nuff said. After letting the Jets score 21 points, the Packers responded by putting up 13 points with barely more than five minutes left in the half. Then the defense came onto the field for the beginning of the third because the Jets had won the toss and deferred and capitalized on a Jets mistake (stepping out of bounds) and began to take over. Mike Daniels ripped off his Clark Kent gear and became Superman and the Packers’ Tramon Williams got his first pick of the year. And…well…Jordy Nelson had 209 yards and Randall Cobb had two TD’s, pretty impressive.
There was finally pressure…consistent pressure…and did anyone else think Julius Peppers looked like a giant sized cornerback when he went up after that interception in the 4th quarter?
Conclusion
Well those are my Monday morning rants and raves. What do you want to talk about? Who do you think were the heroes and zeros of the game against the Jets? Let me know in the comments section below.
Finally, here is the real question about the Packers’ game versus the Jets…The turnaround we saw from 5:42 to go in the second half could be one of two things:
- The beginning of an offense and defense that is beginning to gel and reach their potential or:
- The result of a few players making plays in a little over two quarters with no consistency on the horizon.
If what we saw yesterday afternoon was the former, look for good things out of this Packers team and expect them to take care of the Lions, Bears, and Vikings in the coming weeks. In the meantime, always remember that we learn more from our failures than your successes. There is plenty for this team to grow on in what Mike Davidsen has termed a “sloppy victory”. And it was a sloppy victory but like Mike also says, “a win is a win”. Packers get the “W” and plenty of tape on what needs improvement.
GO PACK!!!
Hero no s on the end of this one was Daniels he was the only player that showed up to play 60 minutes the rest played for 30.
Zero’sssssss lots of ‘s in this one starting at the top with McCarthy’s play calling right on down the ladder to the water boy
When will we see Capers all new and improved defense play like they said they were going to? Granted they played a pretty good second half but I think a lot of that had to do with the offense putting up points to get Smith into a passing QB instead of sticking to the run game! If they had we might be sitting here saying the Packers run D still sucks! And it does!
Daniels was NOT the hero of this game. NOPE!
Ok who do you think played for 60 minutes then Brady?
Easily Jordy Nelson in my opinion. He made unbelievable catches all game long to keep drives alive and bailed out Rodgers on some poorly thrown balls.
Oh I made a mistake there was one more besides Daniels and that is Crosby he won this game without a doubt!
Crosby definitely had a huge impact as well with some clutch kicks. Still think Jordy got him in position to make those kicks though.
time on the clock doesn’t matter…without his points we lose. And he was the ONLY player who was reliable in the first half. Take him off the field…loss. The kickers get no love. I understand that because I played the game. But points are what determine the outcome and Aaron himself called out Mason in this game.
I had a feeling that this game would be difficult. The Jets are no push over. I give credit to our players for not giving up early. I can’t give much credit to our coaches though, who were directly responsible for putting our backs to the wall in the 1st quarter.
Not sure who’s fault the fumbled exchange was, but Rodgers has to do better. It’s his responsibility to secure the football during the exchange.
I believe we’re seeing the D start to gel. They seemed to get better and better as the game went on. They seemed off-balance for the 1st quarter, but recovered well. They can’t start out that way and win many games. I’d hoped for more early – especially after looking so bad vs Seattle. Players or coaches? I think they’re both at fault to some extent. It seems there’s too much thinking and not enough reacting. I’ll never be a fan of ILBs lining up 5-7 yards off the line against run first teams. Penetration stuffs runs. Lining up so deep guarantees tackles occurring past the line of scrimmage. They did tighten it up later in the game, so hopefully that adjustment sticks for the rest of the season.
On offense, I agree that a lot of this has to fall on McCarthy and his play calling. He started out predictable and vanilla, and ended up predictable and vanilla. It was only for a while in between when we were desperate for points that he opened up the offensive play book – and Rodgers did a lot of that on his own with audibles and extending plays with his legs. Once we got a lead, MM went back to his old vanilla ways, failing to get first downs, let alone scores. He has no killer instinct for putting teams away, always playing down to his opponent. This game ended up being closer than it should have been on the score board. He puts too much pressure on our D late in games to stop opposing offenses. There is no guess work for opposing Ds about whether our plays are runs or passes – and that’s a huge problem. Handing off to a flat footed Lacy in the backfield leaves him no choice but to run east/west. On 3rd and 2 he tries running into the best run D in the league, rather than put the ball in his elite QB’s hands. There’s no excuse for not picking up a first down on 3rd and 2 in the NFL. Play action will not work until a run game is established. Rodgers should be under center much more often.
On the other hand, I was delighted to see Rodgers roll out in a goal line situation for a change. That play is unstoppable and used by every other team in the league with great success. Let your mobile QB use his legs as well as his head. Nice call by McCarthy and perfect execution by Rodgers.
We’re still soft in the middle on D. Although Lattimore played MUCH better than Brad Jones, I’m not convinced that he’s the answer. Hard to imagine Jones getting back into the lineup when healthy. Guion played better too. Was a bit surprised and disheartened to see Matthews, Peppers, and Datone not being more of a factor. Clay is still taking himself out of plays by being overly aggressive on the edge with that speed rush which never works – needs to maintain his gaps better. That’s fine against the Brady’s and Mannings, but it opens up too much of the field for mobile QBs. Daniels and Neil played better occasionally, but were not consistent until late in the game. I didn’t see Hayward mentioned at all, so guess he did well. Tramon and Shields had ups and downs. Burnett is still a liability on D, can’t cover or tackle. HHCD and Hyde performed much better but have heaps to improve upon. Overall I’m feeling that our D will improve and be a dependable unit. Our tackling still needs work, but was improved over last week.
I’ll give the Jets D some credit for our lack of a run game. But it’s becoming obvious that our O-line isn’t able to open holes for them either. That’s a concern if we’re to keep Rodgers healthy with a balanced offense. All the more reason to line up Lacy in the backfield by himself so that he can see the field and pick his lane of attack.
I have to admit that I was one of the few who didn’t think Jordy deserved such a big contract. Happy to admit that he sure proved me wrong in this game. Nice to see Adams contributing and Cobb is always dependable. Boykin was a non-factor again, which is disappointing.
Our return game still concerns me. Harris had a nice one on another questionable decision to bring it out from deep in the end zone, and was almost stuffed at the 10 yard line on another. Sure would like to see Janis get some reps back there. And I’ll never be a fan of having Cobb returning punts – too risky to his health. Our ST coverage was sound. Crosby was perfect and Masthay did well. Hard to find much fault in our ST this game.
My biggest concern is our lack of creativity on offense. In 2011 every team knew we were going to throw on every play, and we still were successful doing so. This year’s offense does not strike me as being nearly as high powered, and we have better talent overall. We should be putting up 40 points every game. Granted, these were 2 top Ds that we struggled against. But if we’re to be more than a division winner we need to open things up a bit more in both the pass and run games. I’m not suggesting we use Jet Sweeps, as the Chargers proved that they don’t work against disciplined teams. I’m suggesting we need to put more players in motion, have our QB under center more often, and use misdirection occasionally to keep Ds guessing run or pass.
Lastly, it’s a shame that officials can’t get plays right even with instant replay and slow motion. A pass that doesn’t travel forward in the air is a lateral and a live ball. That should have been GB’s ball whether it was deemed a pass or fumble. Turnovers are hard enough to create without the refs blowing calls. It cost the Chargers a TD when Harvin obviously stepped out of bounds more than once on his Jet Sweep too. So much for reviewing every scoring play and turnover.
I thought that when we were ahead by just that one touchdown, HERE WE GO AGAIN, we are going to just sit on that lead. He needs a killer instinct. He does not have one. And it is McCarthy who is to blame. Capers needs to go. We need an aggressive defense. I kept yelling at the TV why aren’t we blitzing when we know they are going to pass. It was a frustrating game to watch for the most part.
Where is the damn run game, we will not continue to win, or there fore compete with out a run game…. And the D needs to step up cmon Clay, cmon Peppers,and Hawk, you can do better…. Green N Gold till I am Dead an Cold….
Ken the Jets stacked the box to stop Lacy so by them having to do that the run game did its job to open up the passing game for Aaron, without Lacy in the backfield they could have focused on Rodgers so you ask where the run game was at! It was there on every pass that Aaron completed!