Packers vs Lions Discussion Thread

[jklowan]

Packers CB Jaire Alexander (back) will not play in Week 4 against the Lions.

[Fritz]

Packers placed LT David Bakhtiari (knee) on injured reserve.
Injury
2m ago
Source: Ian Rapoport

Well, fuck me.

So after insisting nothing specific had happened to cause Bakhtieri to miss the Atlanta and New Orleans games, they put him on IR. I think the organization pulled a fast one there. Something happened.

At this point, you hope he can come back, but it's looking doubtful. I didn't mind the original contract in 2020 - I thought he'd be worth it; didn't see him getting hurt like he did - but I did mind the way they restructured and pushed all his money forward. Now they're going to pay next year for a guy who probably won't even play this year, much less next. Not a good move.

This is going to be a tough game. I'm not sanguine about this one. No Jaire Alexander, no Bakh, no Campbell, maybe no Tom. And the Lions getting Taylor Decker back, so Sewell can go back to the right side.

I just hope they get out of this one unscathed.

[MadScientist]

Jones and Watson are expected to play. Even on a pitch count, that's going to be a big boost to the offense.

[Fritz]

No doubt. Especially as the Loins have struggled with backs catching passes out of the backfield.

[Fosco33]

I was against resigning Bahk before the injury and stand by that despite good play when he’s out there.

[red]

I said it early last year when he couldn’t get healthy, he’s done. He’s either hurt beyond repair, or he can play through the pain.he’s just collecting a a very big paycheck these days

Should have been preparing to move on for 2 drafts now

[ThunderDan]

I've said over and over - with a lot of static from a lot of people, O Line beyond just the bare minimum really doesn't make much difference. Well, that idea is probably gonna get tested this week. I expect Aaron Jones to run wild and Dillon and (hopefully) Wilson and Taylor in the rotation also to get decent yardage despite no sacred cow, no Jenkins, and possibly no Tom too. Conversely, the Lions are likely missing their top RB and several O Linemen, and it's still worrisome that Joe Barry's run defense is still gonna get shredded.

I do expect the Packer pass rush to get home a LOT, and I do expect Love to have another great game, and I do thoroughly expect a Packer win.

Bump

[texaspackerbacker]

I have to concede being wrong about the badness of the O Line making a difference. Give one to the shitheads and haters who glory in being right about such a rotten Packer game. Shame on those assholes and fuck 'em. If the shoe fits ......

I'm wondering whose doghouse Nijman is in and maybe Rhyan too. They couldn't be much worse than Newman and Walker.

The biggest problem, though, was still Joe Barry's lame-assed D scheme. Just about any other team's D does more with less talent.

[run pMc]

You've made a lot of dubious takes and TDan decided to take receipts and remind you.

Nobody enjoys a Packer loss, especially a bad one.

At least you admitted you're wrong.

[SudsMcBucky]

I don’t think the name-calling is appropriate, but the Packers made a calculated risk on Bakh and lost.

They have kept hanging on and hoping he can play for almost three years now. He did play 11 games last year, but I’m sure the staff held their breath every single week wondering when the next missed game would occur or if he would reinjure himself. What have we wasted, $50M, $60M?

They should have dumped him along with his contract last year. I will not be surprised if ends his career with the Packers riding the pine.

If I recall correctly, I don't think it was fiscally even possible to cut him last year. I think that cap hit, along with what we're taking with Rodgers, just wasn't possible at that time. They almost HAD to take a shot on this year. But, he's mostly definitely done as a Packer after this year.

[run pMc]

If I recall correctly, I don't think it was fiscally even possible to cut him last year. I think that cap hit, along with what we're taking with Rodgers, just wasn't possible at that time. They almost HAD to take a shot on this year. But, he's mostly definitely done as a Packer after this year.

Agree. They would have had to cut players to cut or trade Bakhtiari. This next offseason is the first where they can cut him and get any cap savings, even if it will cost them a big chunk of dead cap.
Also agree he's probably gone after this year. I don't think he can be relied upon to be available, and the team can't continue forward with a LT who might wake up any random Sun morning and decide his knee can't go. Great when he's available, but he's been available for 13 of the last 38 games since his surgeries, and now he's getting more work done on his knee. His contract extension has turned out to be one of the all-time worst and I think that's the final nail in the coffin.

I wouldn't say he's soft or call him names or send him hate. I'm not sure many would be able to do what he has after so many surgeries. That's a lot of rehab and hard work. He's already been paid most of the money. He clearly loves to play the game and wants to, but I think his body is telling him not to play and he's been ignoring it. If anything, the FO should rethink giving out 3rd contracts or structure them for better outs. Then again, they had no idea he'd get hurt, and they also pushed a lot of money forward to end up in this cap situation -- something TedT often fought.

I don't think this ends up well for anyone, which is too bad.

[Fritz]

I wonder if Sean Rhyan will be seeing a lot of work this week at left guard...

I must say, Zach Tom, whom we all really liked, did not have a stellar game, at all. Don't know if it was the injury, but he weren't good. Hell, none of them were any good.

[MadScientist]

Agree. They would have had to cut players to cut or trade Bakhtiari. This next offseason is the first where they can cut him and get any cap savings, even if it will cost them a big chunk of dead cap.
Also agree he's probably gone after this year. I don't think he can be relied upon to be available, and the team can't continue forward with a LT who might wake up any random Sun morning and decide his knee can't go. Great when he's available, but he's been available for 13 of the last 38 games since his surgeries, and now he's getting more work done on his knee. His contract extension has turned out to be one of the all-time worst and I think that's the final nail in the coffin.

I wouldn't say he's soft or call him names or send him hate. I'm not sure many would be able to do what he has after so many surgeries. That's a lot of rehab and hard work. He's already been paid most of the money. He clearly loves to play the game and wants to, but I think his body is telling him not to play and he's been ignoring it. If anything, the FO should rethink giving out 3rd contracts or structure them for better outs. Then again, they had no idea he'd get hurt, and they also pushed a lot of money forward to end up in this cap situation -- something TedT often fought.

I don't think this ends up well for anyone, which is too bad.

For whatever reason, his knee hasn't responded well enough to the surgeries. Either the damage was too great to fully repair, or the healing didn't go as well as it needed to. It's fair to be annoyed that the big contract hasn't worked out for the Packers, but Bakh isn't soft. It's the NFL, injuries happen and it sucks, especially when it's a good player on our team.

[ThunderDan]

You've made a lot of dubious takes and TDan decided to take receipts and remind you.

Nobody enjoys a Packer loss, especially a bad one.

At least you admitted you're wrong.

Thank you. My feelings exactly.

The game sucked yesterday.

I didn’t want TPB to be wrong but knew if we did win it was going to be a hell of a tight close fought game.

Not a cake walk running behind two replacements in the left side of the line and our C playing poorly this year.

[CaptainKickass]

I had to check the roster to make sure he was still in fact a Packer. As horrible as the running game has been, maybe it's time to get creative, dig down deep and deploy the giant (even for NFL lineman) 6 foot 9 inch 370lb Caleb Jones.

If memory serves, The Packers were high enough on his potential, size and mobility to sign him to the regular roster after other teams showed interest while on the practice squad last season. Now, in his second year he should know the playbook and should have gained strength in year two of NFL physical training.

He's listed as a Tackle but perhaps inserting him at guard would give the offense a starting point for running behind him.

It's an old, yet simple strategy: Put the biggest man out there, then run behind him.
The change must start somewhere. Running the ball should be what the team does best.

[Fritz]

Or put Sean Rhyan at left guard. Do something. "Rolled" Royce is mostly serviceable, but that's being generous and isn't good enough anyway.

[red]

Obviously, what we have on the roster isn’t good enough to do the job

We all saw it last night, they were all horrible

Time to start looking outside the org for replacements

[texaspackerbacker]

First thing, just as with Joe Barry's defense, probably coaching has a lot to do with it. I think it's safe to say that a lot of teams/a lot of O Line coaches have a lot better performance with equal or worse talent.

Secondly, this was one horrible game. A lot of people in here are panicking and making it seem worse than it is.

[bobblehead]

I had to check the roster to make sure he was still in fact a Packer. As horrible as the running game has been, maybe it's time to get creative, dig down deep and deploy the giant (even for NFL lineman) 6 foot 9 inch 370lb Caleb Jones.

If memory serves, The Packers were high enough on his potential, size and mobility to sign him to the regular roster after other teams showed interest while on the practice squad last season. Now, in his second year he should know the playbook and should have gained strength in year two of NFL physical training.

He's listed as a Tackle but perhaps inserting him at guard would give the offense a starting point for running behind him.

It's an old, yet simple strategy: Put the biggest man out there, then run behind him.
The change must start somewhere. Running the ball should be what the team does best.

You can't really have a 6'9" guard. First of all leverage and such. Second of all, Love would have his vision blocked too often. He could however play RT while Tom moves to G.

[bobblehead]

Or put Sean Rhyan at left guard. Do something. "Rolled" Royce is mostly serviceable, but that's being generous and isn't good enough anyway.

Very generous. Newman flashes some talent once a game and makes me go wow....then he sucks ass the rest of the game.