Studs and Duds, Belichecks, 2022:

[George Cumby]

Took the family to Monterey to go snorkeling this weekend.

Did not see the game.

Sounds kind of grim.

Let's hear it.

[texaspackerbacker]

It was, damn grim, with a helluva lot of duds. I'm gonna wait and calm down from being so pissed off before I list my version of them.

[Joemailman]

Studs

Aaron Rodgers if you didn't watch the 1st half.
Lazard 116 yards receiving
Jones 110 yards rushing
Dillon 74 yards rushing
Gary 2 sacks, knocked Hoyer out

Duds

Jenkins- Had trouble with Judon all day.
Defensive line - Inability to stop run gave 3rd string QB a fighting chance.

[Teamcheez1]

Studs:

Mason Crosby - made all of his kicks
Rashan Gary - becoming a force
Lazard - made the best of his opportunities
Jones/Dillon - good work all game

Duds:
MLF - Hoody genius outcoached him
Aaron Rodgers - mediocre game
Doubs - fumble and drop
Jenkins - poor blocking
Watson 1 catch for 8 yards
TE’s - one play all day
Campbell - invisible
Walker - washed out of too many plays
D line- Zappe can’t beat you, stop the run
2nd half defense - NE moved the ball at will
Coverage special teams - too much return yardage

[smuggler]

Gotta add O'Donnell as a stud

[ThunderDan]

I would say whoever called the D was a dud until the 4th Q. We were still playing nickel when the Pats switched to 6 Oline. The Pack finally went to base 3-4 with 3 fatties up front and we got 3 3 and outs to finish the game.

[Joemailman]

I would say whoever called the D was a dud until the 4th Q. We were still playing nickel when the Pats switched to 6 Oline. The Pack finally went to base 3-4 with 3 fatties up front and we got 3 3 and outs to finish the game.

Agreed. When you're facing a 3rd string QB, make the 3rd string QB beat you. Don't let their running game beat you. That almost happened.

[Joemailman]

Stud: APB is now 3-0 in game day threads. The ol' burger flipper is on a roll.

[Upnorth]

Stud, run defense edition - Kenny Clark
Duds- run defence edition - the entirr team


They double teamed Clark non stop and he was by far our best defender.
When the commentator said the one oline blew up clark, there were 2 guys on him and one looked like he was trying to force a jersey swap. The rest of the team was lazy bullshit. Gary was a pass rush beast, but set the edge dam it.
They almost won because out run defense (besides clark) looked like the 2011 run d... Garbage.

Bak is back and suddenly LG runyon looks like a Pro bowler. That is what an all pro tackle does. Man I'm drunk and unhappy about our play.

[run pMc]

Lots of uneven play this game.
I think the run defense was a problem, the backups in the secondary looked lost, 1st half Rodgers played terrible (his QB rating would've been better if he just threw the ball into the ground), and while we expected a rookie rollercoaster it was still tough with Doubs.

I realize that NE has a good ground game and a Belichick team is always going to be well coached, but it was still disheartening to need 70 minutes to squeak past a team playing its 3rd string rookie QB.

The best thing I can say is "At least they won".

[texaspackerbacker]

OK, I guess I'm calmed down enough to do this now. A LOT of players were both duds and studs at times - Aaron Rodgers at the top of that list. I've literally never seen him worse than the first half - off target, poor judgment, etc. but he won it for us in the end. Doubs also on that list as well as Douglas and Savage on the D. Gary was a stud on pass rush, but he failed to set the edge on runs multiple times. Amos made one great play but apparently led with his head and had to sit out most of the game.

Studs: Crosby - just doing his job when the pressure was on; the interior three of the O Line, Myers, Runyan, and Newman - virtually all the quality runs were up the middle; Jones, as usual, scooted through tiny holes and often made something out of nothing with jump cuts and broken tackles; hardly anybody on D, but Rudy Ford came in and seemed to be all over the field making tackles after others left gaping holes.

Duds: almost too numerous to mention, but I'll try. First and foremost - again - Joe Barry. Our D looked pretty pathetic against a depleted team. Most of the individual duddishness can be traced to shoddy coaching, I think. Campbell was way below his usual standard - out of position most of the time. Q. Walker missed tackles and was also absent against the run. The D Line just seemed to melt away - again. Are they really that lame? Or is it just that everybody else has a decent O Line that actually opens holes and pass blocks, unlike our own? And the Barry zone D again was horribly deficent against the pass, even with a fairly inaccurate rookie throwing. A lot of the incompletions were off target to open receivers. Special teams also backslid fairly badly - kick and punt coverage especially. And Amari Rodgers I don't think has the ability to be anything but a permanent dud. Why is it everybody else has somebody with speed returning kicks, and we don't. On offense, Jenkins was horrible. He really should be a Guard. Bakhtiari was mostly bad also. Both of them repeatedly let pass rushers get right through, and we had very little success running outside or off tackle because of lousy blocking.

[Fritz]

TeamCheez really nailed it.

I might add Joe Barely, as it is unforgivable to let NE run and run and run through you to the point that a third string QB almost beats your team. WTF?

There was also a long throw from Rodgers to Watson in which Watson just looked lost trying to track the ball. That seems to be a real issue for him. All the speed and athleticism in the world isn't any good if you can't track the long ball. I hope he can get better at that.

And Elgton Jenkins sure looked like a guard trying to play tackle yesterday.

[red]

TeamCheez really nailed it.

I might add Joe Barely, as it is unforgivable to let NE run and run and run through you to the point that a third string QB almost beats your team. WTF?

There was also a long throw from Rodgers to Watson in which Watson just looked lost trying to track the ball. That seems to be a real issue for him. All the speed and athleticism in the world isn't any good if you can't track the long ball. I hope he can get better at that.

And Elgton Jenkins sure looked like a guard trying to play tackle yesterday.

was it windy there? that looked like a ball that the wind took, and rodgers did have a few wild throw in that first half

i think i heard them mention the wind once early on, but by the end of the game they said there was no wind at all

the watson throw was a odd one. could have been wind, or a bad throw, or watson could have ran a bit inside when he should have been right on the sidelie, or he could have just over run it

it does seem like a play that they need to keep working on because it looks to be unstoppable if they get the timing right

[ThunderDan]

was it windy there? that looked like a ball that the wind took, and rodgers did have a few wild throw in that first half

i think i heard them mention the wind once early on, but by the end of the game they said there was no wind at all

the watson throw was a odd one. could have been wind, or a bad throw, or watson could have ran a bit inside when he should have been right on the sidelie, or he could have just over run it

it does seem like a play that they need to keep working on because it looks to be unstoppable if they get the timing right

It was very windy at the game yesterday.

[RashanGary]

It wasn’t that windy. I live in Green Bay. Very mild wind.

[red]

It wasn’t that windy. I live in Green Bay. Very mild wind.

well TD was in the stadium yesterday

[Joemailman]

According to the national weather service wind in Green Bay during the game was 8-10 MPH from the NE. Rodgers said the wind affected the long throw to Doubs in the end zone a bit. Said the ball was slightly underthrown.

[ThunderDan]

well TD was in the stadium yesterday

Not sure why but in the stadium it was almost as windy as i remember a game being. Lots of games it is blowing hard but down in the bowl it isn't that bad. Yesterday it was blowing pretty good in the bowl.

[HarveyWallbangers]

There was wind yesterday Not terrible so, but it was definitely a factor. Notice how Crosby sailed the kickoffs in one direction out of the endzone and couldn't get it to the goal line in the other direction.

[Sparkey]

If Rodgers doesn't f'ing gift wrap a TD to the Patriots right before half, its not even a game. The Defense was fine. It is Rodgers that I am starting to worry about. No worries on the line as Rodgers makes the line look so good, or so I am told. But does that also then mean that Rodgers is the problem ??

[Fritz]

If Rodgers doesn't f'ing gift wrap a TD to the Patriots right before half, its not even a game. The Defense was fine. It is Rodgers that I am starting to worry about. No worries on the line as Rodgers makes the line look so good, or so I am told. But does that also then mean that Rodgers is the problem ??

I disagree - I don't think that defense was "fine." Isn't that a situation in which you absolutely take away the run and let the third-string QB try to beat you? Sure, Amos was out, but you still have Savage, Douglas, and Stokes - supposedly a top trio of defensive backs.

But the pick six was a real issue, yes. It seemed a foolish throw to make there.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I disagree - I don't think that defense was "fine." Isn't that a situation in which you absolutely take away the run and let the third-string QB try to beat you? Sure, Amos was out, but you still have Savage, Douglas, and Stokes - supposedly a top trio of defensive backs.

But the pick six was a real issue, yes. It seemed a foolish throw to make there.

Disagree somewhat. If Rodgers doesn't throw the pick and GB gets the opening drive TD in the second half, then they are up by 2 scores. Could have changed the complexion of the game. After the first drive the Patriots didn't really move the ball at all in the first half. In their last 5 drives of the first half, they had 26 plays for 65 yards.

[run pMc]

It really was a weird game. They hold NE to like 130 yards passing and rack up over 400 yards of offense and still have to win in OT. Madness.

NE is a well coached team, but they aren't as talented as GB. It makes for kind of a no-win situation for GB: you rout them, everyone is like meh, you barely beat them and you look terrible, you lose and fans go apeshit.

GB almost beat themselves: Rodgers looking like a bad rookie backup in the first half and throwing a pick-six, Doubs with a fumble and then the drop... just those 3 plays would've been enough to change the tone and final score of the game.
As for the defense, I think NE has a good run game, but they should've figured that was going to be what NE would do with a backup at QB. Campbell has missed a lot of tackles and the DL isn't playing as well as the training camp hype suggested. I have a feeling that hype was partly due to the Hanson/Newman line, which we all know isn't great. Jarren Reed and Dean Lowry aren't helping Kenny as much as you'd like to see, and Wyatt is barely getting any snaps. Maybe they need a little more time to get it together, but teams are going to copy the Patriots and Bears and test GB's defense.

A better QB might also expose the backups in the secondary.

[texaspackerbacker]

Good Post, run pMc.

It pisses me off every time I see 94 in the D Line, and Reed is almost as bad. And that big cream puff, Slaton ain't much either. WHY doesn't Barry use Wyatt more?

I wonder what fans and even coaches in New England are saying/thinking now about their QB situation. The rookie looked a helluva lot better than Hoyer ...... or was it just that the Packers D made the kid look good?

Yeah, probably our D Line got hyped for good performance partly because of going against our own lame-assed O Line, but didn't the also do pretty well in the practices against the Saints?

I don't think there's much wrong with our D Backfield that coaching shouldn't be able to cure - either don't run the God damned zone pass D or coach them up to play it better. I was asked during the game, why is it whenever the Packers pass, it seems like there's a bunch of defenders back there, and when the other team passes, it seems like big open spaces and not enough people? All I could think of to answer was that we need to (or at least we do) use more people to rush the passer, while with our mediocre O Line, opponents can drop back in coverage and still get a big pass rush with fewer people.

[run pMc]

I think Wyatt has struggled to pick up the pro game, and the coaches don't quite trust him yet. They'll need him in the 2nd half of the year, so I'd expect his snap count to increase in the next few weeks.
You can't call him a bust this early, and DL take a while to figure it out, but he hasn't played a lot and that's a little concerning, especially given his age.

TJSlaton will be fine eventually, you'd think he'll get more snaps too especially vs. running teams.

Reed and Lowry have had a play or two now and then, but I was expecting more from Reed than what I've seen so far. This is considering we had Lancaster in that role last year.

I'm not sure the NYG have a healthy QB on the 53; GB should expect to see a LOT of Saquon next Sunday in London. Dude is going to get 25+ carries. Matt Breida will get carries too. You'd think Barry would prep the defense for that but I'm not optimistic.

[Joemailman]

The problem on defense Sunday wasn't so much the individual players. The problem was in the 3rd quarter, the Patriots went with a big lineup on offense and Barry stuck with his nickel defense. The Patriots had more than half of their total yards for the day on those 2 TD drives in the 3rd quarter. Once Barry adjusted, they shut down the Patriots without a 1st down the rest of the game.

[Fritz]

Disagree somewhat. If Rodgers doesn't throw the pick and GB gets the opening drive TD in the second half, then they are up by 2 scores. Could have changed the complexion of the game. After the first drive the Patriots didn't really move the ball at all in the first half. In their last 5 drives of the first half, they had 26 plays for 65 yards.

I disagree here, Harv. That's the "if this had happened then what happened wouldn't have happened" thinking that doesn't reflect what really did happen. And what happened was that NE ran the ball down the Packers' throats for most of the game despite offering a third-string QB. Joe makes the point that Barry was slow to adjust to the six offensive linemen NE trotted out there. He says that once Barry adjusted, the defense shut down the run game. So maybe this is on Barry. I'm puzzled as to why he was trotting out the nickel so much when it was clear what NE was up to.

But I am still disappointed with that defensive line. I agree with run pMc. Reed has not done much, Lowery's been invisible, and my man TJ Slaton has not had the impact I'd hoped. I actually hoped he'd be good enough that they'd play him more often at the nose and let Kenny Clark move around. But I have not seen much of that. I wonder what happened to Slaton - I really thought he was going to bust out this year, but the few plays I've seen, he's getting pushed around.

I am hoping Wyatt will pick up the game as the season goes on. I think they're going to need him to develop if they're going to make a run.

I was really positive about this defense at the beginning of the year. The offense - I figured that would be slow progress - but I really thought this defense would be a standout defense. I am sure some posters will come back with statistics that show they are a good defense, but I think they are okay right now and not much more.

[run pMc]

Stats will show a good defense in some categories -- scoring and probably QB rating among them... which are important. Passing yards too... but when you've played Justin Fields, a receiver-less Tom Brady, and Bailey Zappe your passing defense should look good. The run defense has not been consistent - they bottled up Fournette but the Bears and Pats ran wild statistically. NE didn't really break off any super long runs that I can recall; it was more of a slow march. That makes me rethink this -- maybe it's more about the DL plugging gaps and taking on blocks so the LBs can make the tackle and they aren't? Trent Brown is 6-8 and weighs like 370; they were running behind him at times and even if you put Slaton on him he's giving up size (which is incredible to think about).

Looks like shedding blocks and missed tackles to my untrained eye -- Campbell probably had an unusually good career year last year and is likely coming back to Earth (still better than Kirksey) and Quay is a rookie learning the ropes. But that DL -- Reed has an occasional flash play but he's underwhelmed. I think Slaton will get better. Lowry is... well, he's better than Lancaster and has moments. I see him as a good rotational guy but not a starter.

I guess with signing Reed, drafting Wyatt, and all the talk about the defense in camp this year I expected a bit more out of the front seven. It's early and I think they can (and should) get better but until they do teams are going to watch the film and test them.

As for the adjustment to the 6 OL, agree they should've done more there but I suspect Barry was trusting his guys to fix it... i.e., he thought it was the players not the scheme that was failing. Might have been true, but going to more Penny looks or making other adjustment sooner would have helped. I don't get the sense that Barry is innovative or clever in any way; I think he's just a guy who has copied a scheme and is running it because it worked for Team X before.

I have zero expectations that he'll come up with a new wrinkle or tactic to stop a specific opponent during the week or quickly in-game, and that's the thing that concerns me most about Barry. I realize that's a bit of an over-reaction: they have given up points on the opening drive of each game so far and have been better after that, so they are obviously doing something. It's more of a "he's just a meh DC" vibe I get, I wasn't a fan of the hire and am still not a big fan.