More Banjo - Packers vs. Rams

[Fosco33]

Was a fun day at Lambeau - afternoon to evening game and MKE/gold crowd made it a little louder than I recall. Truly a playoff atmosphere.

[King Friday]

Fifthly, Coach Drayton deserves positive mention after a lot of the shit he's had thrown at him this season. Cobb's muff was an individual blunder, and the lack of a good kickoff return guy ain't really on the coach. He had his guys fired up to make hard hits and play with discipline on coverage.

Not really. The Packers return game is quite possibly the worst in the NFL. Amari didn't catch the first punt, and it was downed inside the 10. Cobb muffed one for a turnover. The rest of the punts went out of bounds, which was probably better for us. Kickoff returns were exceedingly lackluster. There were a couple nice efforts on kick coverage, but most of the good results were due to Ram miscues than Packer excellence.

Drayton still has a piss poor unit. The fact they didn't completely shit down their leg enough for you to want to give him kudos is a sign of just how bad the special teams are.

[texaspackerbacker]

Not really. The Packers return game is quite possibly the worst in the NFL. Amari didn't catch the first punt, and it was downed inside the 10. Cobb muffed one for a turnover. The rest of the punts went out of bounds, which was probably better for us. Kickoff returns were exceedingly lackluster. There were a couple nice efforts on kick coverage, but most of the good results were due to Ram miscues than Packer excellence.

Drayton still has a piss poor unit. The fact they didn't completely shit down their leg enough for you to want to give him kudos is a sign of just how bad the special teams are.

If you just limit it to our kick returns, yeah, although I'm not so sure how much the ST coach is to blame for individual blunders and poor personnel. Ditto that on placekicking. The big improvement, though, and the place where discipline and coaching has the most to do with it is coverage. I applaud Drayton for improving that.

[texaspackerbacker]

As an aside, the decision to go for 2 to go up by 21 was incredibly stupid. I don't care what the "advanced stats" tell you...to me you don't go for 2 until there is a really strong reason to do so. The difference between 20 and 21 isn't a strong reason, because a myriad of scoring can happen between those numbers. To me, pushing to get to 21 is a desperate sign that you don't trust your own team...because you think you have to have that extra point because you think the other team will score 3 unanswered TDs. The failed 2pt conversion also hands momentum to the other team. I would've felt much better being up 12 points with 4 minutes left than being up 11. Don't chase points based on fuzzy math.

I disagree that it was poor strategy. 19 ahead and 20 ahead aren't that much different in likelihood to win, but 21 is significantly better. What pisses me off is that LaFleur, as smart as he is in so many ways, can't seem to design a near sure thing 2 point play like a lot of teams have.

[texaspackerbacker]

Even in short yardage, I'll take Jones if he's 100% most of the time. The exception is a weak or worn out D Line. Then, even with our mediocre O Line, Dillon gets that push. I rewatched the game last night when my wife got home from work, and it really stood out that many times in the first three quarters, Dillon got stuffed for little or no gain. Jones on the other hand, even being less than 100% and even against a great D Line and with a minimum of quality blocking, had that burst to squirt through - just almost breaking it in this game, but in a lot of games, getting away for a big run.

Both have their roles, but Jones should have the primary role.

[smuggler]

Not really a plug, but I recently renewed my subscription to the Athletic because it was on special at $9.99 for the year. They had a good article about the contrasting styles of the Packers and Rams and the irony of the Packers getting the better of the Rams this season and last. I'll link it below, with a link for a 30-day free trial if anyone would like to read. I like them as an alternative to the talking head style of media that ESPN pushes.

"In statement win over Rams, Packers show that going all-in comes in different shapes and sizes" - Matt Schneidman, The Athletic

30 day trial link

Here's an excerpt concerning Mr. Fuckdoggle himself.

The Douglas signing might be the best example of the Packers’ scouting department rolling the dice like that and striking gold.

Douglas was withering away on the Cardinals’ practice squad when the Packers signed him in the first week of October before their Week 5 game against the Bengals. The Packers were his fourth team in 2021 after he spent time with the Raiders, Texans and Cardinals. Douglas has been a stalwart cornerback for a team that desperately needed one after All-Pro Jaire Alexander injured his shoulder in Week 4. Douglas replaced Isaac Yiadom in the lineup after Yiadom’s terrible opening drive against the Bears in Week 6, and he hasn’t looked back.

In Week 8 against the Cardinals, Douglas sealed Green Bay’s 24-21 win by intercepting a Kyler Murray pass in the end zone with 12 seconds remaining. On Sunday against the Rams, Douglas returned an interception of a Matthew Stafford pass for a touchdown to put the Packers up 19 late in the third quarter, and he logged a game-high four passes defended. Two of them came after he got beat by Beckham for a 54-yard touchdown the drive after his pick-six, a rebound head coach Matt LaFleur is sure to highlight in the film room.

“Rasul has been a huge pickup for us,” LaFleur said. “You’ve got to give credit to Gutey and his staff for finding him. I just love how he competes. You see it play in and play out. The guy is so competitive. You see it in practice every day. Obviously he’s made two plays that have made major impacts on games this year. There’s multiple other plays he’s made that have really impacted games. … I think our guys have really embraced him and took him in, and we’re lucky to have a guy like that. It’s rare that you find a guy like that midseason.”

[Tony Oday]

there is no Dana only Rasul

[smuggler]

Only Rasul

[run pMc]

The pick-six and the OBJ TD are examples of Rasul's traits -- he's not a burner and only so-so in man coverage (which is likely what's gotten him bounced around the league) but he's got good instincts as a zone corner and can ballhawk in that scheme.

The Jones vs. Dillon debate is unimportant to me honestly. They have different styles. Jones is more of a playmaker, Dillon a bulldozer with surprising versatility. You want both on your team and should play the hot-hand and by matchup. Jones didn't have great stats but the Rams have a stout front -- GB IOL struggled with keeping Aaron Donald from being disruptive. Njiman played well, Turner too.

Kenny Clark played well.

Packers did the things I thought they needed to: run the ball, quick passing, play 2 shell, don't screw up on ST.
Rams have a LOT of talent but they are less than the sum of their parts, plus Stafford historically struggles vs. good teams.

Was really nice surprise to see Rashan Gary and A.Jones play. Hopefully they heal up over the bye. Getting healthy and hopefully some players back will be really important.

getting 3 of Bahktiari, Myers, Z, Jaire back would be a big boost. 3 of next 4 at home... next up da bears.

[Joemailman]

Interesting that Galeai had almost as many snaps as Gary. Packers doing a good job of not overworking Gary and P Smith. Wonder if Gary was on a snap count.

[run pMc]

IMO would've been dumb NOT to have him on a snap count. I doubt he was anywhere close to 100% and he's their best pass rusher; they need him healthy for the playoff run.

I was surprised A.Jones played, he was definitely on a snap-count too.

[Joemailman]

How is this not a penalty? https://twitter.com/i/status/1465143251581739012

[smuggler]

It was pretty brief, but yeah that's darn close to being unsportsmanlike conduct/unnecessary roughness imo.

[George Cumby]

How is this not a penalty? https://twitter.com/i/status/1465143251581739012

There you go, jumping to conclusions. What the video didn't show was the OL pointing to his throat indicating he was choking on a turkey bone. It's a little known fact Donald failed his CPR cert, for obvious reasons; he kept confusing the Heimlich maneuver with strangulation. Donald was just trying to help.

[George Cumby]

It was pretty brief, but yeah that's darn close to being assault with GBI likely.

FTFY