The first thing that stands out to me is that the Packers have a veritable shitload of weapons, several of them they didn't even use much in this game. No catches for Reed, 1 or 2 for Watson, 1 for Melton, not a whole lot for the TEs, etc.
Whatever the Dallas D was shutting down, Love was hitting somebody else. Dallas thought they could confuse him with zone D - Love beat that. Then they went to man coverage, and Love picked that apart too. They lightened the box to increase coverage, and Jones ran wild/Love check down to runs.
On the other side of the ball, so many people thought the formula for stopping the Cowboys was blitzing/putting pressure on Dak. But Barry knew better hahahaha. I don't recall any game in recent history where the Packers had the back end loaded up/multiple Packers in coverage virtually every time, at least until the end when it was desperation time for the Cowboys. And we still got a little bit of pressure on Dak, and we still did a moderately good job of stopping the run. If Barry had blitzed too much, a mobile guy like Dak would have picked the D apart. Has Barry learned something since fucking things up so bad against the Giants, etc.? Or were the players just better motivated and coached? Either way, he probably saved his job - for better or worse. And it should be even better against the Niners, whose receivers are not as good as the Cowboys, and Purdy being nowhere near as good as Dak.
What could be more GOOD and NORMAL and AMERICAN than Packer Football?
Doubs might be our 5th best receiver
Wicks/Reed/Watson
Melton
Doubs
Maybe he’s 4th. But regardless, we have 5 guys better than Lazard, MVS and/or Cobb. Plus the two tight ends.
If you have 1 star and 4 scrubs, it’s never better to lose your star so you can rely on your scrubs. The whole “spread the ball around to arena league players” thing isn’t as cheerful as it sounds in theory.
But when you have 5 guys who can run, get open and catch….. ok, all of a sudden the spread the ball around thing is looking a lot better. What we have right now is 3x better than Davante and scrubs. This is a really good group and they’re going to be hard to stop.
Formerly known as JustinHarrell.
What a game. I did call this one
They are dangerous right now. I kinda think they're gonna win next week too. Joe Barry is gonna keep his job. Shit.
I laughed my ass off at this.
https://twitter.com/MarkOldacres/sta...39588301721855
I just saw this, IDK if it's accurate: do the Packers have more playoff wins at AT&T than the Cowboys?
Is this true?
Something I've noticed the last few weeks is when the camera goes to MLF on the sidelines, Bisaccia is often there in his back pocket.
I can't help but wonder if RB isn't close by for a reason; back-stopping LaFleur? Extra set of experienced eyes?
I like his swagger:
https://twitter.com/narchy4all/statu...htmode%3Dfalse
I laughed at this one too. It does seem so long ago.
https://twitter.com/redditPackers/st...51643280920720
The other thought that I had - Zach Tom is the key to this team. The OL is playing pretty well right now. Zach Tom is an all-star right tackle. Can he stop Bosa or the other OSU fella? I hope so. I would definitely chip Bosa just about every play. Run right at Chase Young.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen
During the game it felt like he had thrown the ball 30 times. Crazy stats on 16 completions says big ass plays.
Doubs was over 50% of the passing yards. Big plays and Jones consistent running kept the offense churning.
LOL at the "Musgrave stayed on his feet!" After falling down on the play in Week 1, he gets redemption with a TD on the same play (just opposite sides) this week. Love it.
Conditions in Kansas City and Buffalo have me wondering: Were the Packers secretly glad the game was in Jerry's dome rather than the Lambeau icebox?
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen
Joe. We are a dome / nice weather team. I read some where we average just over 28 ppg in domes this season. That's sn extra td. I think we need to aim for wc every season.
All tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but once the fraud is exposed they must rely exclusively on force.
George Orwell
I believe the Packers offense benefitted greatly from not spending snaps on AJ Dillon runs. Forcing the ball to Jones and into Love's hands was a huge boost.
Best, worst PFF grades https://packerswire.usatoday.com/lis...nd-vs-cowboys/
Top 5 offense
1. TE Luke Musgrave: 93.4
2. WR Romeo Doubs: 93.2
3. QB Jordan Love: 92.5
4. RB Aaron Jones: 89.5
5. RT Zach Tom: 83.9
Musgrave caught all three of his targets for 52 yards and a touchdown while running just eight routes (6.5 yards/route run). In addition to the touchdown, his two others catches converted first downs. Doubs caught all six of his targets for 151 yards and a touchdown while running just 16 routes (9.4 per route/run). He had a 100 percent success rate on catches and four catches over 20 yards, plus a touchdown. Love was nearly perfect and dominated in almost every situation imaginable for a quarterback (more on him later). Jones had four runs over 10 yards, forced four missed tackles, scored three touchdowns and produced seven other first downs (one receiving). Tom allowed just two pressures while facing one of the NFL’s best pass-rushers, and he earned an elite grade in the run game.
Top 5 defense
1. S Darnell Savage: 92.1
2. CB Jaire Alexander: 82.8
3. CB Keisean Nixon: 71.0
4. S Anthony Johnson Jr.: 64.3
5. LB De’Vondre Campbell: 64.1
Savage had the game-breaking pick-six and was charged with only two completions into his coverage, and he didn’t have a missed tackle on five attempts. Alexander had an interception setting up a touchdown, allowed only two catches and made six tackles without a miss. Nixon had a team-high three stops, including a third-down sack, and broke up a pass and forced two incompletions. Johnson didn’t give up a catch into his coverage over 21 coverage snaps. Campbell dropped an interception in the end zone but was solid against the run.
Bottom 5 offense
1. RG Royce Newman: 37.5
2. RG Sean Rhyan: 42.5
3. TE Tucker Kraft: 47.5
4. C Josh Myers: 53.0
5. WR Jayden Reed: 53.6
Newman played only three snaps, but he whiffed on a run block. Rhyan gave up a pressure and earned the offensive line’s lowest run-blocking grade. Kraft was penalized for holding in the red zone and dropped Jordan Love’s late third-down attempt. Myers didn’t give up a pressure but got a below average grade in the run game. Reed didn’t catch any of his three targets and didn’t have a touch over 26 snaps.
Bottom 5 defense
1. S Zayne Anderson: 28.7
2. LB Eric Wilson: 34.3
3. OLB Kingsley Enagbare: 47.7
4. OLB Preston Smith: 48.8
5. DL TJ Slaton: 49.2
Anderson was charged with giving up a 47-yard catch, and he was late to getting to Jake Ferguson on a fourth-quarter touchdown pass. Wilson gave up a touchdown pass to Ferguson in the fourth quarter. Enagbare had three pressures over 34 pass-rushing snaps and earned a low run defense grade. Smith had a late sack, but he finished with just two pressures over 43 pass-rushing snaps. Slaton had one run stop but was ineffective as a pass-rusher.
Special teams
Isaiah McDuffie had a pair of tackles over nine special teams snaps. Others to have tackles were Zayne Anderson and Eric Wilson. The Packers didn’t have a special teams penalty or missed tackle. Daniel Whelan put three punts inside the 10-yard line. Anders Carlson went 6-for-7 on extra points. The only “returned” kicks or punts came on the two onside kick recoveries.
Quarterback
Jordan Love: 92.5
Love’s highest graded game of the season arrived in his playoff debut. He earned elite grades from clean pockets, under pressure, when blitzed, when not blitzed, off play-action and with no playaction. Love connected on four passes of 20 or more yards in the air and was 8-for-10 for over 200 yards on passes of 10 or more air yards. On throws to the middle of the field beyond 10 yards, he was 5-for-5. One of his two “big time throws” was a wicked side-arm toss to Romeo Doubs for a 3-yard touchdown on fourth down. Love wasn’t sacked and dealt with pressure on just seven dropbacks, and he didn’t have a turnover worthy play. A truly elite performance.
Stat to know
Take a moment to celebrate the night of Romeo Doubs, who produced 151 receiving yards while running only 16 total routes. That’s almost 10 yards per route run. An elite number at the wide receiver position over the course of a full season is around 2.0 yards per route run. Doubs averaged 9.44 on Sunday. He caught all six targets and averaged 25.2 yards per catch. The performance is one of the most efficient by a wide receiver in modern NFL playoff history — Doubs is just the 10th player to produce 150 or more receiving yards on six or fewer catches in the postseason.
Another stat to know
Jordan Love was under pressure on just seven of his 21 dropbacks. When pressured, Love completed 5-of-7 passes for a staggering 152 yards and two scores. His average depth of target when pressured was 19.4 yards, meaning he was effectively attacking down the field despite rushers in his face. Credit Love for his coolness under pressure. And credit the offensive line for giving him enough time to create explosive plays. PFF charted Micah Parsons with only three total pressures.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen
It’s really mind-boggling to realize that Reed had not a single catch. And was he even targeted? Not a catch. When, for a few weeks now, he seems like he’s been the fulcrum of this offense. What does that say about this group of receivers, about MLF’s playcalling, and about Love’s willingness to throw to whomever’s open?
Hard not to wonder what Rodgers would’ve done with this group. I can hear him in an interview with his passive-aggressive moves, saying geez, he would’ve loved to play with such a talented bunch of young receivers. But I also think about him throwing the ball to Davante Adams, double or triple-covered, while some rookie receiver was in the middle of the field with no defenders closer than fifteen yards.
But anyway, amazing that the stud from last week isn’t even heard from this week - but it doesn’t even matter. Mind-boggling after the late Rodgers years.
"The Devine era is actually worse than you remember if you go back and look at it."
KYPack