There was not a single negative; 100% of the glass is full! The biggest positive will be stated last. I have not re-watched the game so some of these observations might be off. I opined in game day thread that Rodgers would need to play MVP for GB to win; as it turns out all he had to do was be a Dilfer-like manager and we’d have won.
On kick-off return after 1st TD, M. Evans, holds his lane, sheds the block and makes open field tackle. He doesn’t jump around as if to say “look at me” he goes to sideline like he’s done it 100 times.
First Play of game, Martinez reads, reacts and closes with perfection to take the great AP down in the open field. Who was the last GB ILB to do that in their 2nd start or ever? Martinez is going to be special. The only thing common to Ryan’s play between this year and last is his jersey number. The game is really slowing for him. And he even missed most of preseason, these last 2 games have been his pre-season. Yet the best of the bunch is Thomas, what a game he had. This 3 ILB rotation is going to be a moderate strength by the end of season.
Guion has an MCL; this I good. Bet he goes on IR-DTR; so he’ll be back for last 3rd of season and be fresh for playoffs. Plus, how about that Kenny Clark. He did NOTHING in Jax. Kinda scary, its reminiscent of the first action by Jamal Reynolds, Worthy and Thornton. But, when his team needed him, he responded. I bet Daniels said, “son, Letroy is out, this is your time, we need you to step it up.” Clark is a gamer!
The kids Gunter, Rollins played better, so did Burnett. Maybe Randall’s performance was not very good; but he’ll learn and loved him taking responsibility. Randall proved he’s a pro and can handle adversity.
How about 4 1st round pass rushers dominating like quality 1st rounders [CM3, Pepp, Perry, Jones]. And will the money ruin Daniels? I think not.
Taylor seemed to have played well for his 4th start. This is a bit shocking to me, I thought Minny’s DL talent and Zimmer would game plan him to sideline . We only saw him play RG against pros before Jax game and he did okay. Some guys are better on one side; maybe he’s a better on left side than right.
McCarthy made a bone-headed move on the 4th down; but he’ll learn and a win would have helped to mask Rodgers’ crappy play. The decision to pass on 3 sure points must ONLY be made when the likely hood is high that a TD will be scored. Like a 4th and 1 from the 3. 4th and 2 from the 13 and calling a manno-on manno run means that if successful we’ll have a first and 10 at the 10 or 11. The odds of us scoring a TD yesterday from there were LOW. Now if McCarthy had a play called like the one that went to Jordy in end zone and the first down would have put us at 1st and G from the 4 or 5, now the odds of getting a TD are high.
If my team faced a 1st and 10 at 15; I have my defense tackle all 5 eligible receivers to create a 1st and G from 10. Soon everyone would do it and a rule would be implemented to stop the practice.
The biggest positive: Rodgers’ play. Rodgers reads his press clippings and he is very sensitive to them. Step one for the alcoholic is to recognize they have a problem, this is true of wayward QBs as well. Last year, his career play, play in first 6 games, stats he compiled in garbage time, and the successful hail mary bullshit, masked for most fans and the media just how much he truly sucked. And of course, the natural tendency was to blame everyone and everything else: the drops [even though GB had more in 2014]; no Jordy; the wounded WRs; injuries to OL, etc. This game exposed Rodgers as unadulterated suck. His teammates, the media and fans will now hold him accountable and it will make it easier for Mike to make a QB change. And this, like sitting in the green room ‘til what seemed like the 4th round to him, will be the impetus for Rodgers to pull his own head from his own ass and return to being Aaron Rodgers. He can’t face Olivia knowing the entire world is saying he sucks.
We scored 17 [I’m countin’ the FG dammit] with our QB playing worse than Sanchez. Minny scored 17 with their QB playing like, well, Aaron Rodgers. This shows the problem is not “the offense;” it’s just one guy playing bad in the offense. And Mike is a great coach, he will fix it.
This “loss” ensures a super bowl victory!