Winners and Losers - KC Edition

[Cheesehead Craig]

Winners:
Rodgers - Continuing his FU tour to remind the League just how good he is.

Jones - He's become the beast we all hoped he would be this season. Just a fantastic all around player. Stay inbounds dummy!

M4 - Offense hasn't looked this good in a long time. I'll lump in the game ending running game he's emphasized that put the game away. Also switching to the shorter passes in the 2nd half to offset the blitzes.

Lazard - Quickly turning into a viable weapon.

Dr Smith - 2 more sacks and the standard in game injury to come back from.

Joemailman - Great writeups and all he does is win

Losers:
1st half Pettine - Got just bamboozled by Reid. Did enough adjustments to hold them off.

Anyone in pass coverage - just a giant ball off blech.

Martinez - Gets a special nod for his suckitude.

Pass protection - First half was a dumpster fire. 2nd half was better, but still some issues.

Special Teams - Worst performance of the year.

[Joemailman]

Can't say the offensive line had a great night, but they recovered nicely from the 2nd quarter. Plus, that was some damn fine run blocking to close out the game.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Jones - He's become the beast we all hoped he would be this season. Just a fantastic all around player. Stay inbounds dummy!

If you are referring to end of game: watching replay I didn't thing Jones had a chance of staying inbounds. It was a tough catch and mo carried him out.

[RashanGary]

Secondary didn’t give up any huge plays against amazing skill players. So that was nice

[Gotarace]

Winner...The Sideline...tight roping and tap-dancing the line has become way to nerve racking the last few weeks...hope this trend doesn't bite us in the ass hard when we need a play the most.

[pbmax]

If you are referring to end of game: watching replay I didn't thing Jones had a chance of staying inbounds. It was a tough catch and mo carried him out.

Agree. Was OK thought because a new first down on that 3rd down was worth the stoppage.

[HowardRoark]

It would have been nice if Jimmy would have gotten out of bounds near the end of the first half after his catch. And he shoulda kept his hands to himself on the last play of the game.

[Cheesehead Craig]

If you are referring to end of game: watching replay I didn't thing Jones had a chance of staying inbounds. It was a tough catch and mo carried him out.

No, his big catch where his heel touched the line. Nobody around him to force him to do that. That last 3rd down play I have absolutely no issues with.

[Harlan Huckleby]

No, his big catch where his heel touched the line.

Ahhh, you went off the board. Maybe you got a point. I didn't think the replay really showed his heel touching the line. I bet if there was a bug on that white line that bug would be alive and well today.

[RashanGary]

Ahhh, you went off the board. Maybe you got a point. I didn't think the replay really showed his heel touching the line. I bet if there was a bug on that white line that bug would be alive and well today.

Shoulda stuck with the call. If grass had moved, I’d understand, but you couldn’t even see a blade of grass move so to assume it touched was the wrong overturn imo.

[RashanGary]

Had they called it oob I would understand and would have expected it to stay

[pbmax]

It would have been nice if Jimmy would have gotten out of bounds near the end of the first half after his catch. And he shoulda kept his hands to himself on the last play of the game.

That seemed like a beef from earlier in the game. Why else hit someone on a kneel down?

[texaspackerbacker]

First it was studs and duds, then egotists and egoists, now winners and losers, huh? Good original post, Craig. Actually, even the losers are winners, though - of course.

I can't really think of any obvious "losers". I'd give Pettine a pass on playing a little bit too much bend-don't-break. We were outgunned with our D against their O, and he had to do some slick compensating. Our DBs are ok, but against top quality receivers, they need help. And our D Line is shaky enough that it also can't contain the running game or mount much of a pass rush without blitzing. So Pettine was forced to play chess/keep 'em guessing which area he was gonna play tough and which he was gonna leave exposed. You could say he played like a D Coordinator who was pretty confident our GOAT QB would bail out the D if it just didn't get too extreme about giving things up. I say again, a win is a win is a win - one of these weeks, it would be nice to not have to say that - have it be a rout instead, but I'm sure not complaining. 7 out of 8 times a Winner = being a WINNER.

[Bossman641]

Losers

MVS and Allison. A combined 2 catches for 11 yards.
D coverage - I understand not wanting to get beat but they were playing way too soft and allowing Moore to complete easy throws.

Winners
The Aarons - I missed being amazed by Rodgers on a weekly basis. Aaron Jones is playing outstanding.

[pbmax]

I will say this: Allison is getting a raw deal on his crossing routes. Rodgers has been late twice and Allison gets thumped each time. I would consider a career change after those.

[George Cumby]

Man, 12's sidearm TD throw to 30 was out of this world. I don't know if he's plugged into the Matrix, been replaced by the T1000 or followed Robert Johnson's turn at the crossroads, but that shit was sick.

[mraynrand]

I will say this: Allison is getting a raw deal on his crossing routes. Rodgers has been late twice and Allison gets thumped each time. I would consider a career change after those.

Rodgers doesn't like to throw crossing pattern throws except low/behind because he wants to protect his stats from unnecessary INTs.

[pbmax]

Rodgers doesn't like to throw crossing pattern throws except low/behind because he wants to protect his stats from unnecessary INTs.

Can I suggest a compromise where you don't throw late and its even less likely to be a turnover?

[Patler]

Man, 12's sidearm TD throw to 30 was out of this world. I don't know if he's plugged into the Matrix, been replaced by the T1000 or followed Robert Johnson's turn at the crossroads, but that shit was sick.

Unless you believe the very likely possibility that what he was really trying to do was throw a jump ball to Graham, and overthrew it badly only to have it fall in a place for 30 to make a great catch.

[Harlan Huckleby]

First it was studs and duds, then egotists and egoists, now winners and losers, huh?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmzuRXLzqKk

[Fritz]

Unless you believe the very likely possibility that what he was really trying to do was throw a jump ball to Graham, and overthrew it badly only to have it fall in a place for 30 to make a great catch.

It sure looked like that was what ol' Jimmy was thinking. He leapt right up even though it was over his head. I think Jamaal Williams tried to cover for Rodgers by saying they'd made eye contact prior to the play or something.

Other winners:

Chandler Sullivan - saw him break up a play. Man, he plays aggressively and tightly. I like that guy.

Matt LeFleur - who seems to know how to utilize the strengths of his players instead of simply asking them to beat the guy across from them. LeFleur is using running backs as receivers in a way I don't believe we have seen in Green Bay, at least not in many, many moons. The Flower also did not run on third-and-five and hope to run time off and that his defense might hold - he went for it, and Aaron Jones caught that pass and got that first down. Game over. This guy really does seem to be doing some good work right now, calling plays.

Uncle Z - got a sack!

The Aarons - while I don't think Rodgers was necessarily really aiming for Jamaal Williams on his TD throw, he did some nice things and though he held onto the ball at times, he does seem to be trying to throw on rhythm more often. Aaron Jones - that dude is becoming a true double-threat, both running and receiving.

Matt Moore and Andy Reid - Okay, they're on the other side, but Matt Moore is a very solid backup, did a nice job last night I thought. And Andy Reid - he continues to adapt and be creative, and he and Pettine had a nice chess game going last night. Hell, even Spagnulo gets some props. His blitzing mostly had some effect, and I bet we'll see a lot of teams suddenly blitzing Rodgers. We'll see how The Flower adjusts.

Losers:

Josh Jackson - he's so far down on the depth chart they're calling out into the stands to see who wants to sub-in when Tony Brown and Sullivan and Kadar Holloman are all sick with the flu. What happened to this dude? Is he simply unable to play Pettine's man-to-man at all? If so, why did Gute draft this guy in the second round?

Mike McCarthy - Sure, it's human nature for ol' Mikey to be sitting at home watching the game, wondering why he couldn't have had a chance to coach a team with the Smiths on it, and with some good health. He may have a bit of a point, but at the same time, he had Aaron Jones (and Jamaal Williams) and I never saw them running routes like LeFleur has them doing. Jones is an actual, real threat to run or catch a pass. short or long. It's not the ol' MM thing, "hey, drift into the flat in case Aaron gets into trouble." And without Davante Adams, MM's offense would have been sunk, I'm convinced.

Jimmy Graham - he had a couple of decent blocks, but I can't wait for Robert Tonyan to get back.

Rashan Gary - I think Fackrell got way more snaps than Gary did. I think Gary did get some very faint pressure on one stunt. But Fackrell seemed more active than Gary did last night.

MVS and Allison - yes, Rodgers is terrible on those slants to Geronimo. But Geronimo can't get open, and MVS seemed pretty helpless last night, too.

[mraynrand]

Unless you believe the very likely possibility that what he was really trying to do was throw a jump ball to Graham, and overthrew it badly only to have it fall in a place for 30 to make a great catch.

Except that Rodgers loves to take advantage of Graham’s great height by going against tendency and throwing at his ankles. Fewer chances for stat-killing INTs that way too - #doublebonus.

[pbmax]

Except that Rodgers loves to take advantage of Graham’s great height by going against tendency and throwing at his ankles. Fewer chances for stat-killing INTs that way too - #doublebonus.

I am very worried that this made sense to me on the first read through.

[MadScientist]

Losers:
WR core: MVS and Allison may as well have not suited up. More often than not when Rodgers had time there was nobody open. If Jones hadn't put on his cape, this might have been 31-7 KC.

DB's: The KC plan was to not make Moore hold the ball long. The Packers couldn't cover for the needed 2-3 seconds. Ugh.

[Harlan Huckleby]

If Jones hadn't put on his cape, this might have been 31-7 KC.

True dat.

[mraynrand]

Losers:
WR core: MVS and Allison may as well have not suited up. More often than not when Rodgers had time there was nobody open. If Jones hadn't put on his cape, this might have been 31-7 KC.

The KC defense did a reverse Belichick.

[Teamcheez1]

Most of the discussion in the sports world today has been that AR is still all-world, but the Packers defense is a step down from the elite teams.

[Fritz]

Most of the discussion in the sports world today has been that AR is still all-world, but the Packers defense is a step down from the elite teams.

What happened to that lock-down defense of the first couple of games? Why all the big plays?

[mraynrand]

What happened to that lock-down defense of the first couple of games? Why all the big plays?

Playing teams with offenses now?

[George Cumby]

Unless you believe the very likely possibility that what he was really trying to do was throw a jump ball to Graham, and overthrew it badly only to have it fall in a place for 30 to make a great catch.

Dude, I've been trashing him for two years now, I'm trying to be positive.

[George Cumby]

Playing teams with offenses now?

Is Matt Moore a real quarterback?

[Harlan Huckleby]

Most of the discussion in the sports world today has been that AR is still all-world, but the Packers defense is a step down from the elite teams.

This is about right. The Packer receivers will get better. Adams, Lizard, Tonyan coming around. The offense is on pace.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Is Matt Moore a real quarterback?

Evidently. The Packer D is not terrible.

[run pMc]

Is Matt Moore a real quarterback?

Not so much this as Andy Reid is a real coach. Had a smart plan to get the ball out quick to playmakers. When you have a couple of 4.3 burners like Tyreek and Mecole (Watkins is fast too) you can do a lot of damage with YAC on underneath routes.
He also did some clever things to get receivers to flood zones. They didn't seem to run the ball that much with McCoy but they didn't really need to.
Packers D was concerned with getting beat deep, which they did not.

Adding to the list of W&L'ers:

Big loser: tackling. I know Blake gutted it out with a club, so I'll give him a pass considering the ILB 'depth'. The secondary had a rough night tackling.

Lancaster as a winner with that fumble. Taking that and scoring was a big turning point in the game.

[Joemailman]

I think Martinez may have taken some heat for the big play by Kelce. Pettine said that was not on Martinez. Said they were in man, but Kelce was not Martinez' man. Said someone else had "bad eyes". Did not identify the culprit.

[run pMc]

I think Martinez may have taken some heat for the big play by Kelce. Pettine said that was not on Martinez. Said they were in man, but Kelce was not Martinez' man. Said someone else had "bad eyes". Did not identify the culprit.

I think Fackrell was lined up across from Kelce, but I don't know if KyloFack had coverage duties on him. If it wasn't Blake or Fackrell then I'd think it was one of the safeties. (Savage?)

[pbmax]

Fackrell could do it!!

[mraynrand]

Fackrell could do it!!

It’s between Kylo Burks and Amos I think.