 |
| Allison Fumbles, photo by Jim Matthews, USA Today |
I was (quite uncharacteristically) on an international flight during this game. I think that last happened in 1995, on the night Favre threw a 99 yard TD to Robert Brooks at Soldier Field. On this past Sunday, I was doing my best to follow the game by WiFi, until we got into US airspace and could pick up Fox and the NFL Network on the seatback TVs. So while I was following the game, I saw none of it until days after the fact, when I finally had a chance to watch the recording. The watching of the game was of course skewed by the fact that I knew the outcome. I also knew that Rodgers and the defense had not played well, so I was, in effect, just waiting for the wheels to start to come off as I watched.
There was a glimmer that Rodgers was off even on the very first drive. While his first pass of the game was on the money to Adams, his second and third passes were off the mark, to Nelson and Cobb respectively. He settled down somewhat, and looked rusty but serviceable for the rest of the first half. His biggest mistake of the half was the interception on a ball he was trying to throw away, but he threw it short (an omen of interceptions to come), in the field of play. Meanwhile, the defense looked passable in the first half, giving up only 10 points. The gashing, particularly by Christian McCaffrey and Greg Olsen, was just beginning at the time. With the Packers leading 14-10 at halftime, I imagine that it would have been possible, if watching the game live, to picture the Packers pulling off the upset.
So it was with a sense of foreboding that I watched the second half. It didn't take long. Newton and McCaffrey gashed them most of the way down the field on the first drive, and when the Packers blitzed and hit Newton, he was able to uncork a 30 yard TD pass to Greg Olsen. Two plays later, Rodgers was intercepted on another underthrown ball, and Davante Adams was knocked out of the game on an extremely cheap shot. After the disputed "ass cheek" touchdown, Rodgers was again intercepted, again on an underthrown ball, three plays later.
In following the game via WiFi, and reading the stats after the fact, I was shocked by how the Packers had abandoned the running game in the second half. In watching the game, it was a little more clear why, as the Panthers seemed to be stacking the box on most plays to stop the run. Normally, that would give Rodgers the chance to carve them up, but this was not the Rodgers we are familiar with. So the Panthers' gamble paid off.
Anyway, it was a disappointing way for the season to come to a virtual end, while the actual end was confirmed on Monday night. It seems inevitable that changes must come after a season like this, and I think they are justified. The defense has not played up to its potential for years, and if the defense had played just a little better in every game, one or two of those losses could have been turned into wins.
The Saturday night, final home game of the season against the Vikings now seems a bit anticlimactic. Rodgers would certainly have wanted to get back at the Vikings for ruining the Packers' season. But it is hard to see how the depleted Packers can get that done. I read somewhere that Case Keenum has never played a game in freezing temperatures, so there is that. Without Davante Adams, maybe Hundley will finally be able to connect with Jordy Nelson, or will be able to improve his connection with Randall Cobb. Poor Cobb, he has never had a January in his career where the Packers were not in the playoffs. So maybe he can still make an impact in December, by helping to knock off the Vikings.
No comments:
Post a Comment