Raves
I will start by saying,” Yeah Buddy!” the Seattle jinx is off the Packers’ backs with a 27-17 win on prime time Sunday night football! The whole nation watched as Aaron Rodgers picked apart the defending NFC champs and proved he is the best QB in the NFL. He was 25-of-33 for 249 yards and 2 touchdowns with a 116.9 passer rating, When Eddie Lacy exited with a ankle injury midway through the first quarter I thought this game would tilt in the ‘Hawks favor but James Starks proved why he is the #2 RB and step right in and ran the ball very well and by doing it he kept the Hawks honest at stopping the run which helped Aaron in the passing game. Donnie Barclay was a focus point before the game with Bulaga out but he stepped in and played a stellar game, this offensive line is picking up where they left off last season which is great news. And let me just throw this in here, Rodgers to Jones on the first TD was amazing and who did he toss it on? Yup Richard Sherman 
I had to ask myself is this the same defense as last week? I mean what a turn around with stopping the run and tackling with bad intentions! HHCD was making hits this game you could hear over the crowd noise, Bj Raji, Mike pennel, Mike Daniels, and Datone Jones were all on top of the run this game holding Lynch to only 41 yards. Having Burnett back was big this game with him in there HHCD looked more comfortable at doing his job, Sam Shields bounced back to have a better game as well but Casey Hayward I will get to in the Rants section. But over all I think the defense was the X factor for this win so let us know your opinions on our FB home page or comments section below.
Rants
As I said Casey Hayward kind of disappointed me this game I feel he is better in the slot. I thought he could handle outside duties but he seems to get burned on half the plays which will not fly when it comes down to crunch time, but other than that I don’t have much to rant about this game, maybe some better refereeing and less injuries but those things are out of any one’s control. Let’s all pray Eddie’s injury will not be major. I know the reports were good saying nothing was broke but I’m sure MRI’s will be done to see if he has any ligament damage, the best we can hope for is a sprain.
Thanks,
Jeff
Follow me on Twitter@JDHayes1313
#GoPackGo
Couldn’t agree more Jeff!
Couldn’t agree more Jeff
Good break down Jeff. I especially agree with your assessment of the D and Hayward.
I’ll add my own rants/raves:
Our ability to stop Lynch was mostly due to B.J. Raji. He either pushed the center into Lynch’s running lane – which allowed our other players to close in, or came off blocks to get in on tackles himself. Raji collapsed the pocket consistently all game long. I’ll say it again, Raji is one of, if not the best NT in the NFL (but he can’t play DE). Guion and Boyd are not nearly as effective at NT. Pay the man before some other team does.
How about our ST play?! Crosby was clutch, not only with his FGs and extra points, but also kicking off deep. Masthay punted consistently well. Our kickoff and punt coverage was fantastic against one of the better return games in the NFL.
I’ve been very excited about Jayrone Elliott since preseason of last year. Every time he’s on the field he makes an impact. He made the 2 biggest plays on D late in this game. This kid needs to be on the field far more often. He’s the heir apparent to Peppers when he retires.
There were a few times in the 3rd quarter when our DEs and OLBs left their lanes. Over run your gap and Wilson will exploit it, that’s what he does best. We were sound in the first half, and made the necessary adjustments again in the 4th quarter. Cudos to our front 7.
Our LBs and Ss took a very good TE out of the game. Cudos to D execution.
Overall our D played a helluva game. Holding Seattle to 17 points is no small feat. Again, the Packers proved that the way to beat Seattle is to stay in your gaps against Lynch and Wilson, containing Wilson in the pocket. Force Wilson to throw and he makes mistakes. We still left a couple of turnovers on the field which resulted in 2 scores for Hawks, but we did an excellent job of creating opportunities for turnovers. It’s unheard of for any team’s D to play better than the Seahawks’, but GB’s did so in this game.
It was obvious that we missed Jordy’s double moves and connection with Rodgers, when Rodgers bought time in the pocket and couldn’t find an open target down field. And it was clear that Adams was struggling with his ankle injury. Before our play calling was adjusted to shorter timing routes with a spread out offense, Rodgers countered with great decisions on short runs and throwing the ball away to avoid sacks. Cudos to Aaron for showing poise and improving a part of his game that I’ve often criticized.
Cudos to Montgomery for stepping up when needed. Cudos to Richard Rodgers on a couple of unbelievable catches. Cudos to Starks for keeping his cool after the fumble and carrying our run game on his shoulders.
There were times when I thought the offensive play calling was too conservative with consecutive run plays. We’re a pass first team, and play down to our opponents when we force too many run plays. At the start of the 4th quarter I told my son that we needed to spread the field and use the short passing game, with only occasional runs to keep the D honest. Clements (or McCarthy?) did exactly that in the 4th quarter and put the game away with it. Our run game can be stuffed, but our short timing routes are unstoppable with Rodgers at the helm. Had we used that all game long, I believe we’d have put up 50 points.
Lastly, officiating was terrible. I didn’t have a problem with officiating last week, think most of our penalties were valid calls and da Bears played a clean game. But this week, everyone saw our receivers being manhandled downfield on almost every play, with very few of them being called. There was illegal contact down field on almost every pass play, and blatant D holding and PI on a few critical plays that went uncalled (EG: JJ’s TD catch which was overturned). That’s nothing new for the Seahawks, but it’s frustrating to see refs allowing them to continue to break the rules. And then there was that offsetting penalties fiasco, with 2 PF calls on Seattle and 1 on us, resulting in the ejection of Wright. Offsetting penalties is so stupid, especially when 1 team has more fouls than the other, and replaying the down does nothing to deter those PFs. Wish they’d use replay to get the first offender, instead of flagging players for retaliating. Regardless, the rules are the rules and we have to be more disciplined in those situations. It wiped out a nice gain.
Playing the Seahawks is always somewhat ugly. They’re a talented team in all 3 phases of the game. I’m very proud of our players and coaches for stepping up to this challenge. We looked very much like a championship team in this one, and there’s a very good chance we’ll meet the Seahawks again in the playoffs – hopefully this time at Lambeau Field! Go Pack go!
Er… “kudos” even. And kudos to Don Barclay in relief of Bulaga.
MY biggest concern was the time-out situation in the first half! What was going on with that? Using ALL the time-outs to avoid delay of game penalties…. AT HOME?!!
Agreed, that should never happen at home and especially with a no huddle offense.