 |
| Record Setters, Photo by Dan Powers, USA Today |
The Packers improved their record to 9-3 in beating the Eagles, 30-16, on Sunday. That is worthy of a little celebration. It is certainly a better record than I imagined that the Packers would have at this point of the season, and it virtually assures the Packers a playoff spot, and makes another division crown and a home game in the playoffs highly likely.
It was also a game with lots of significant milestones. Davante Adams caught a TD for the seventh game in a row, tying the record set long ago by Don Hutson. Aaron Rodgers threw his 400th TD pass, joining an elite group of 6 other QBs to reach that mark. And Rodgers got to 400 in the fewest number of games, 193. Robert Tonyan caught a TD for the third game in a row, solidifying his position as the best TE the Packers have. Rodgers became the first QB in NFL history to throw 35 TD passes in 5 seasons. Adams reached 1000 yards for the second time in his career. And the Packers became the first team in NFL history to reach 800 wins (regular season + playoffs). However . .
However, it is hard to ignore the bad taste left in the mouth by what happened in the middle of the fourth quarter. The Packers had just kicked a field goal to make it 23-3, and the game seemed well in hand. Easy for me to say that, sitting on the couch with no responsibilities for blocking or tackling. Unfortunately, apparently the Packers thought the game was in hand, too. So the defense slow-walked their way through a 9 play, 73 yard drive to make it 23-10. Then the offense went 3 and out, and the special teams gave up another kick return touchdown, this time on a 73 yard punt return, making it 23-16 (the extra point was missed). Then the offense went 3 and out again, giving the ball back to the Eagles with almost 5 minutes left on the clock and plenty of time to go down and tie it up. Fortunately, the defense finally awakened from their early evening nap and forced a punt. The offense, or at least Aaron Jones and his blockers MVS and Bakhtiari, also woke up, and when Jones raced 77 yards for a touchdown, to make it 30-16, the game was finally really in hand.
I know that you can get away with this kind of crap (most of the time, anyway) when you are playing a dysfunctional 3-7-1 team that is falling apart before our eyes, but could you get away with that against a better team? That remains to be seen. I can't make any excuses for the special teams. Maybe Tavon Austin will bring some special teams receiving spark starting this week, since Tyler Ervin has been put on IR. And as for the kicking part of special teams, I don't know what to do other than to pray that we don't see J.K. Scott trying to make a tackle again for the rest of the year. Or (and this is only half in jest) have Mason Crosby do the punting, since he at least knows how to tackle!
More and more, I am coming around to the view that the defense is a different story. Yes, they had a lapse on one drive in the fourth quarter, and that should not happen. But they held the Eagles' running backs to under 100 yards, which might be the first time the Packers have done that all season. And they certainly applied lots of pressure to Wentz, and to Hurts after he was brought in, sacking them a total of 7 times, and forcing an interception late in the game to slam the door shut. Obviously, it helps that Carson Wentz is both slow and somewhat indecisive now, a bad combination for a quarterback under pressure. But the bigger point is that I think Mike Pettine is becoming a bit more aggressive in his calls on defense, especially late in the game, and it is starting to show up in turnovers and sacks.
I would like to see them build on this approach in the remaining games, so that the Packers can go into the playoffs on a high note. I have no worries about the offense in this second year under LaFleur. The Packers lead the league in points scored, and that is no fluke. I am less concerned than some about the defense, and hope that Pettine continues to be more aggressive, as I think he has at times over the last few weeks. Special teams will continue to terrify me, but hopefully they can keep their act mostly together. It would be helpful if the Packers just never have to punt the ball!
The Packers play the Lions this week. On paper, the Packers should win the game. But that was true against the Vikings a few weeks ago, too. And the Lions showed signs of life in orchestrating a comeback win over the Bears last week. At 5-7, the Lions are two games back in the wild card chase, and can't afford to drop further back. So they will be motivated to pull off the upset, and much has been made this week about how the Packers have been slow starters against the Lions, at home and away. It was just last year that the Packers never led against the Lions until the final play of both games, ending up 2-0 for the season, but they were two plays away from being 0-2. I want to see a fast start on offense, solid and aggressive play on defense, and no more special teams mishaps.
No comments:
Post a Comment