Studs & Duds - Packers vs. Seahawks

[Maxie the Taxi]

Studs: D. Randall, quiet night which is really good for a surprise/unknown draft choice (who can't tackle .)
Performed well from what I saw.

BJ Raji was a force in the middle all night...shades of Gilbert

Datone Jones showed up to make a couple key TFL and QB hurries.

TT for drafting Randall and Monty (who has the look of a future big time stud), for not listening to me and wasting a high draft choice on a dud ILB (Ryan may turn out the best of the lot), and for signing James Jones - HUGE

Elliot does have to get more playing time.

Starks is a valuable Packer. Guy is money.

Special teams did just about everything right. Lockette is explosive. Crosby kicked well and coverage guys staying in their lanes and smothered the returns. Kudo's to Zook and Stubby.

Duds: Ball security

I still don't understand keeping two FB's and activating both. Maybe both are key special teamers and that's why special teams performed well. But I would like to have had Harris available. I'm hoping he'll be activated next week.

[Tony Oday]

Stud: Mycha Hyde for covering Graham all night.

[Maxie the Taxi]

Another Stud: Tom Clements. He did a great job calling plays, especially during the last six minutes of so of the game. At 4:16 mark it was 3rd and six. He dialed up the pass to Monty and got the first down, instead of just trying to rush out the clock. It was a gutsy call, but that first down allowed the Pack to run the clock down to the two minute warning.

[mraynrand]

Stud: Mycha Hyde for covering Graham all night.

There were a lot of studs like this - guys who didn't show up because they shut their guys down.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Stud: Mycha Hyde for covering Graham all night.

Are you sure Hyde covered him all night? I remember watching and noticed Casey Hayward on him for some plays and Sean Richardson on him for other plays. Never really noticed Hyde on him that much.

[pbmax]

Stud: Special Teams

There, I said it.

Masthay had 3 punts for 139 yards (46.3). 22 return yards versus by Lockett gives him a net of 39 yards per kick. Not bad.
Ryan was 5 for 201, gross and net was 40.2

Mase was 4/4 with 1 PAT and he hit a 54 yarder.

KO coverage held Lockett to 4 for 79 yards, average of 19.75.
Monty had one return for 19 yards (probably not best decision to take it out from 8 yards deep)

Avg starting field position:
Seachickens: 10, 13, 40, 53 (Starks fumble@GB 47), 24, 20, 46, 20, 18, 20 :: 10 drives (264) average starting spot is the 26.4

Packers: 20, 44, 20, 11, 8, 20, 16, 20, 20, 63 (Elliot's int @SEA 37), 31 :: 11 drives (273) average starting spot is 24.8

[Maxie the Taxi]

Thanks, pb, for putting numbers to my seat of the pants impressions.

[pbmax]

No problem Maxie. Should have given you a nod as you went first, but the good performance has left me dizzy.

[Fritz]

Stud: Special Teams

There, I said it.

Masthay had 3 punts for 139 yards (46.3). 22 return yards versus by Lockett gives him a net of 39 yards per kick. Not bad.
Ryan was 5 for 201, gross and net was 40.2

Mase was 4/4 with 1 PAT and he hit a 54 yarder.

KO coverage held Lockett to 4 for 79 yards, average of 19.75.
Monty had one return for 19 yards (probably not best decision to take it out from 8 yards deep)

Avg starting field position:
Seachickens: 10, 13, 40, 53 (Starks fumble@GB 47), 24, 20, 46, 20, 18, 20 :: 10 drives (264) average starting spot is the 26.4

Packers: 20, 44, 20, 11, 8, 20, 16, 20, 20, 63 (Elliot's int @SEA 37), 31 :: 11 drives (273) average starting spot is 24.8

Studs:

Donnie Barclay, just because Aaron Rodgers is still walking today.

Richard Rodgers - missed on what woulda been a tough TD catch, but made a nice TD catch later and followed up with an even better two-point conversion catch. Finally, a tight-end red-zone threat? I like this guy.

Ty Montgomery - the spotlight was not too bright for this guy. He played like he knew what he was doing.

Starks - he doesn't always get all the reads, but that guy runs hard. How many teams have that good of a second string RB?

Aaron Rodgers. He's the shizz.

Spatial teams. yay!

Mike Neal. Once he remembered to watch the backside, he was dynamite. That dude is fast for a big man, and he doesn't give up on plays.

Jayrone Elliot. Of course. Old Lions coach Wayned Fontes used to say all the time, "Big players make big plays," and the Pack needed someone obscure to step up and do just that. So Elliot did. Though I hated the way he carried the pigskin on that interception.

Duds:

Casey "Dollar Short and a Day Late" Howard. I just don't think he's got what he had any more.

Dom Capers for not adjusting quickly enough (two TD's?) to Seattle's halftime adjustment. Hell, even I saw that. I said to my wife at the half, "Watch, the Seahawks will come out and Wilson will start faking the handoff and going outside where all that green, empty grass is," and sure enough, they did. Took Capers a while to remind his guys not to bite inside all the time.

The injuries. And I include Barrington's. Had Seattle maybe been able to get a defensive stop, Lynch was starting to steamroll the Packer line and linebackers in the middle. I know they had to keep guys outside, but that means the middle had to be stouter. And he was starting to eat them up. Plus, do we need to stop with all the injuries. Cripes. I got so, so angry when Boyd went down, after watching Lacey getting medical attention on the sideline. Ugh.

Nick Perry on the "meh" list. Had some good stops in the first half, but he's turning out to be just a guy.

[Patler]

Another Stud: Tom Clements. He did a great job calling plays, especially during the last six minutes of so of the game. At 4:16 mark it was 3rd and six. He dialed up the pass to Monty and got the first down, instead of just trying to rush out the clock. It was a gutsy call, but that first down allowed the Pack to run the clock down to the two minute warning.

If only they had stayed equally aggressive the last time they played Seattle....

[Fritz]

Oh, one more dud: Wist, for that post he made last week - like so many he's made - that claim that Dom Capers doesn't even care about stopping the run.

That run defense was pretty good for being led by a guy who doesn't even get bothered if his team gets run on and over, per Wist.

Okay, cue up Wist's explanations and excuses ("See, when he does commit to stopping the run, it works! I was right!" etc. etc).

[Maxie the Taxi]

If only they had stayed equally aggressive the last time they played Seattle....

Sore subject but truth as I see it.

[mraynrand]

Spatial teams. yay!

[Pugger]

Bach was a dud.

Arvil can make most tackles look bad.

[Pugger]

STUD: Esera Tuaolo for singing the Star Spangled Banner. Seriously, best I've ever heard it, and he has a great voice.

Gee, I would have liked to have heard that. I remember he did that a couple of times when he played for us back in the day.