More Banjo: Week 11 @ San Fran

[Joemailman]

I thought Adams would make the offense really good when he returned, but it looks disjointed with him on the field.

That’s another thing we’ve got to look at, making sure that we’re not over-reliant on trying to go to (Adams),” LaFleur said.

Criticism of his own game plan, or sending a message to Rodgers?

[Sparkey]

Criticism of his own game plan, or sending a message to Rodgers?

Ahhh, so LaFleur sees it as well..

[Teamcheez1]

Ahhh, so LaFleur sees it as well..

Not saying we would have had a ton of success against the 49ers defense, but LaFleur put in a game plan and it sure looked at times like AR simply couldn't execute it or make the right decisions.

[Fosco33]

Did Savage return after getting helmet-helmet by the RB? Feels like when he’s out there and healthy - we’re much better. Hard to hang that on a rookie / but that role is so integral to a solid secondary.

[Joemailman]

Did Savage return after getting helmet-helmet by the RB? Feels like when he’s out there and healthy - we’re much better. Hard to hang that on a rookie / but that role is so integral to a solid secondary.

He only missed 2 snaps.

[Bossman641]

What is the identity of our offense? Anyone? Feels like the only passing play we can run consistently is a wr screen, and those only gain 4-7 yards at a time.

[call_me_ishmael]

Methinks it's time for an offensive heavy draft or two after years of defensive focus. The receivers as a whole just aren't getting it done. This may be an unpopular opinion and misguided but to me it sorta seems like Adams is overrated. Shouldn't a top 5 WR be able to make some stuff happen?

[Fritz]

Here's my in-depth analysis of the Packers' performance against San Francisco:

[Freak Out]

I thought Adams would make the offense really good when he returned, but it looks disjointed with him on the field.

It has taken the ball away from Jones.

[Freak Out]

Fritz! Ugh...

[Joemailman]

It has taken the ball away from Jones.

At least a couple of times last night I saw Jones covered by a CB. Which shows how much they fear the Packers receivers.

Your point stands though. Adams was targeted 12 times, Jones 1. Williams was targeted 8, but it only resulted in 35 yards.

Previous week vs. Carolina, Adams was targeted 10 times, Jones 0.

Versus Chargers, Adams 11, Jones 3.

Versus Chiefs without Adams, Jones was targeted 8 times.

[Smidgeon]

So I'm by no means a football expert, so maybe one of you who know more can answer.

It appears to me the Packers are playing a lot of zone, but they're just not very good at it. I thought Alexander and King were better man to man than zone corners, but zone can be used to shore up some weaknesses in return for making it easier to attack. In the first few games, I thought I saw a lot of man to man and little zone. The last few games it seems to be reversed, and it isn't working.

Can anyone with more football insight chime in on what coverages are being played, why they're the preferred coverages, and why they're failing?

[beveaux1]

Defenses have figured out how to play Jones. They don't put a LB on him, they use either a CB or Safety.
He's not open anymore. Adams always has CB #1 on him and he is often doubled.
Nobody else is open. Our TEs can easily be covered by LBs. Our other WRs are covered or pushed out of position.

Our OL is average at best. When you spend 5 years on draft picks for the defense with nothing but 3rd round or
later talent spent on the offense, and when you blow 2 high profile free agent signings at TE, you're lucky to be
mediocre on offense. Rodgers keeps us from being much weaker and he's on the decline.

Heck, our only offensive free agent pickup is our weakest link on the line and I'm not labeling him a bust.
PB said we're a 10-6 team and I think that's a little high for our talent level. We're average offensively
and we're average defensively. We had some fortunate breaks in early games and we appear pretty well-coached.

We should end up with at least 11 wins, 2 or 3 more than our talent level. A good season... with a defense that
is more talented than previous years and an offense that's about the same as the past 3 years. Our fast start and
a weak schedule masked our problems, but I fear that the post season will expose them.

[Fosco33]

Fritz! Ugh...

I was thinking they shit the bed. But missing the toilet is also apropos

[texaspackerbacker]

Are people ready to come to the realization that our offensive line is downright shitty? And it wasn't just because Bulaga got hurt. We couldn't run and didn't have time to pass even before he went out - the Niners just decided to concentrate on the new guy after that. We are, of course, still 8-3, which means our GOAT QB and our outstanding RB(s) and our fairly decent WRs were good enough to compensate and win even with the shittiness of the O Line against a lot of other lesser defenses. It ain't gonna happen, but I wish we could just scrap the whole O Line, minus maybe Linsley and Jenkins, and get some road graders who can also stand firm against a pass rush. And for the most part, SF did it with just four rushing, dropping so many back in coverage that nobody was open.

Some say Rodgers should get rid of the ball quick; I absolutely hate those crappy little immediate sideways passes that go nowhere the great majority of the time, but the fact is, there was no time to do anything else.

And our Defense ...... good grief. At least we can attribute our problems on offense to the other team being outstanding. Our damn D can't stop anybody. Early in the game, Pettine was doing what I advocated last week and before - keeping the fat pigs from Northwestern off the field and blitzing the hell out of them ...... And that worked at least moderately well. But as the game wore on, and seemingly just about every time on first down, Pettine went back to the same old thing and got gashed both with runs and passes. Having the lighter faster people in there was at least no worse against the run - the damn clods couldn't stop anybody anyway, and then we at least put some pressure on the QB. At this point, our DBs are so bad that even with help, they were hopeless to cover people. So if the DBs can't cover even with more people dropping back, then why the hell not blitz blitz blitz? I don't know if it is poor coaching/poor scheme or what. Other teams play good pass defense with seemingly lesser players than we have. Alexander has taken a major step back from what he was last season - he reminds me of a home run hitter who gets old and can only hit it to the warning track. Alexander comes close but fails - and King and everybody else fails even worse. Still, coaching/scheme ought to be able to compensate for a lot of that weakness.

8-3 now, and the negativists are coming out of their shells and spewing shit. There's no reason at all why the Packers shouldn't win out even with all the aforementioned problems.