More Banjo - Packers vs. 49ers

[scharpcheddar]

Lol you'd like think this would wake you up to how scripted this crap is
But you still watch games like little boys.

[George Cumby]

Yawn.

[beveaux1]

I've waited until I had the chance to clear my thoughts about Saturday's game. That gut punch of a game was almost as bad as the Seahawks playoff win on a botched onside kick. My feeling is that we were better than SF this year, just like we PLAYED better than Seattle that year. Like we were better than the NYG in Favre's last year with the team. In my mind, I've assigned blame to this loss. Obviously, our STs deserved all the negative reactions that we've expressed on this board and that has been written elsewhere. It's an organizational failure to allow this to happen, especially when the major problems have been noticeable since day one of this season. These problems allowed a 13 point swing in this game with a blocked FG, massive return to start the 2nd half, and the final stake through our heart, the blocked punt for a TD.

They used to say that offense, defense, and STs each account for 1/3 of a team's success. I think with the changed KO rules for both end zone kickoffs and on-side kicks, STs have less significance, probably about 20%. Our outcome in this game, without an opponent's return TD, is about as poor as a team can possibly have. It's true that without our blunders on STs, and with our tremendous play on defense, we could have won this game. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

It's also true, that the strength of this team is, and has been for at least 15 years, our offense. Aaron Rodgers has been the difference between making the playoffs and staying home. I think Rodgers is the most talented QB in the game. He's deservedly won multiple MVP awards. He's been the main reason we've been in the playoffs 11 of his 15 years as a starter. He transitioned from a mobile QB to a pocket passer as successfully as anybody in NFL history. He makes OLs look better than they are and he makes RBs look better than they are because of the way defenses play him. What he really doesn't do is make WRs and TEs better than they are. He has a well-deserved reputation as someone that needs to trust his receiver to throw to his receiver, just as he has the same reputation as someone who avoids interceptions and doesn't throw into traffic. Trusting his receivers certainly cuts down on the number of dropped ball picks, as does his aversion to throwing over the middle and into tight coverage.

We've known for quite some time that Rodgers in the playoffs is somewhat more hesitant than Rodgers during the regular season. Rodgers with a playoff lead plays ultra-conservatively. It showed in the Seattle loss and it was even more pronounced in this game. One pass over the middle and only six passes targeted to anyone other than Adams or Jones. The first time I watched the game, I thought Rodgers' legendary accuracy was way off. To some extent, it was, on dump offs to Jones. On throws to Adams and the other six throws, the balls were thrown where no one but the receiver could possibly catch it. In quite a few cases, even the receiver couldn't catch it. The point is, I think it was a conscious decision to play keep away from the defender. It took all risk of interception away from the play, but it also limited any YAC on the play. It also limited our offense in a way that the SF defense could not.

Rodgers at the end of this game looked like Favre did in 2008. He looked like he was cold, old and didn't want to be there. The TV shots of him on the bench and during the last two offensive series were jarring to me. I'll be honest, when I was watching in real time, I had no confidence we could drive it into scoring position. I don't think I ever had that feeling in a Packer game in the past 12 years. Watching it the 2nd time, I realized that it was the look on Rodgers' face.

There's no doubt in my mind that Rodgers gives us the best chance for a winning record next year and I'll watch and cheer for the Packers if that's the case. I would see a couple of years of winning, possibly playoff football before the wheels came off the bus. I also think the best chance for long term success is to trade the most talented QB we've ever had and take our lumps building a championship defense with the draft picks that we get from that trade. Let LaFleur tailor his offense to a mediocre QB and good RBs and pray that he develops into a QB half as good as the guy he's replacing. The old saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" applies in this case. I don't think Rodgers is the guy to get us to the Super Bowl. At least not in Green Bay.

[George Cumby]

Solid take ^

[call_me_ishmael]

I wonder what the teammates think of only throwing to Adams and Jones? Can you come back from that? Are there hurt feelings in the locker room?

Can Rodgers change at this point? Can he force himself to throw over the middle next year? Are we sure it's not an aversion and that the niners didn't play lockdown D?

I'd love to know the answers to all of these things.

[MadtownPacker]

Great post Beveux and that’s exactly what I’m thinking too. Favre would give whatever nobody a chance to catch the ball. With Rogers he’s very selective and seems like he doesn’t want to hurt his stats. Instead of trying to do whatever he can at any cost.

[bobblehead]

I wonder what the teammates think of only throwing to Adams and Jones? Can you come back from that? Are there hurt feelings in the locker room?

Can Rodgers change at this point? Can he force himself to throw over the middle next year? Are we sure it's not an aversion and that the niners didn't play lockdown D?

I'd love to know the answers to all of these things.

The chiefs took Stephon diggs away. Gabriel Davis blew up and Allen threw him the ball. 49ers took adams away.

[Thirteen Below]

I wonder what the teammates think of only throwing to Adams and Jones? Can you come back from that? Are there hurt feelings in the locker room?

I think there has to be some kind of negativity over it. If I'm Lazard and I know I've been open several times and the QB refused to throw me the ball - that he actually took sacks instead of throwing to me, and that he completely ignored me on that final play when at worst I could have set up the game winning field goal - I'm not going to be OK with it. At the very least, i'm probably going to start to lose a lot of confidence in myself.

I never played beyond high school, but I was a wide receiver (they called me a split end back then), and if I'm doing my job and getting open but not seeing any footballs, I'm going to be talking to my quarterback to find out why. I would expect that most of these guys are too scared of Rodgers to do that, so it's probably something that just gets inside their heads and festers. I'm sure it's not good for team chemistry for any of the players to know that there was a guy good enough to start in the NFL wide open on the last play of the game but their team leader refused to throw him a football, so now they watch the last two games of the season on television. Again.

Say what you will about Favre, that's one thing that I liked about him. He had his favorites, but he wouldn't "cancel" a guy the way Rodgers does. Drop on of Aaron's passes and you may not see another one for weeks; with Favre, you better be ready on the next snap, because he knew the way to get a guy's confidence up was to come right back to him. When Freeman was still a young player, trying to earn his way onto the team, he dropped 3 consecutive passes from Favre, and on the very next play after the last drop, Favre nailed him with a 20-yard laser beam down the sideline for a touchdown. That's the way a true leader treats his teammates and helps them develop. Edit: and I just remembered, that was against the 9ers. I think it was on Monday Night Football.

Can Rodgers change at this point? Can he force himself to throw over the middle next year? Are we sure it's not an aversion and that the niners didn't play lockdown D?

I'd love to know the answers to all of these things.

It's impossible for me to believe at this point that Rodgers will ever change. In fact, it's impossible to believe he's even capable of it.

It's Favre all over again, and if anything he's twice as stubborn and arrogant as Favre ever was. He's someone who refuses to hold himself accountable, and that's just who and what he is. You can't expect someone that arrogant to change himself that radically at age 39.

[Thirteen Below]

Great post Beveux and that’s exactly what I’m thinking too. Favre would give whatever nobody a chance to catch the ball. With Rogers he’s very selective and seems like he doesn’t want to hurt his stats. Instead of trying to do whatever he can at any cost.

It's gotten to the point where every single time they show him right after throwing a pass, I can practically see one of those "thought balloons" above his head like in cartoons, and he's using that 130 IQ to mentally recalculate and update his QB rating and TD/int ratio.

[Joemailman]

Only deep throw down the middle of the field was the last play to Adams in double coverage.

[Teamcheez1]

I think there has to be some kind of negativity over it. If I'm Lazard and I know I've been open several times and the QB refused to throw me the ball - that he actually took sacks instead of throwing to me, and that he completely ignored me on that final play when at worst I could have set up the game winning field goal - I'm not going to be OK with it. At the very least, i'm probably going to start to lose a lot of confidence in myself.

I never played beyond high school, but I was a wide receiver (they called me a split end back then), and if I'm doing my job and getting open but not seeing any footballs, I'm going to be talking to my quarterback to find out why. I would expect that most of these guys are too scared of Rodgers to do that, so it's probably something that just gets inside their heads and festers. I'm sure it's not good for team chemistry for any of the players to know that there was a guy good enough to start in the NFL wide open on the last play of the game but their team leader refused to throw him a football, so now they watch the last two games of the season on television. Again.

Say what you will about Favre, that's one thing that I liked about him. He had his favorites, but he wouldn't "cancel" a guy the way Rodgers does. Drop on of Aaron's passes and you may not see another one for weeks; with Favre, you better be ready on the next snap, because he knew the way to get a guy's confidence up was to come right back to him. When Freeman was still a young player, trying to earn his way onto the team, he dropped 3 consecutive passes from Favre, and on the very next play after the last drop, Favre nailed him with a 20-yard laser beam down the sideline for a touchdown. That's the way a true leader treats his teammates and helps them develop. Edit: and I just remembered, that was against the 9ers. I think it was on Monday Night Football.




It's impossible for me to believe at this point that Rodgers will ever change. In fact, it's impossible to believe he's even capable of it.

It's Favre all over again, and if anything he's twice as stubborn and arrogant as Favre ever was. He's someone who refuses to hold himself accountable, and that's just who and what he is. You can't expect someone that arrogant to change himself that radically at age 39.

If that’s the case, then there is no reason to continue with Rodgers. We will have the same playoff disappointment after we win the weak NFC North.

[scharpcheddar]

Yawn.

You're either a fake account or the most gullible person alive.

3 games this weekend ,all end with a field goal at 4 seconds left.

Unless you're brain dead, that's absolute proof you're watching staged Entertainment.
You're a complete moron of extreme stupidity if it doesn't dawn on you now.
Wake up. Become actual thinking adults

[scharpcheddar]

And of course the Buffalo game is completely scripted fantasy

[Joemailman]

A rather wordy, but at the end pretty good breakdown of the Packers ill-fated last offensive play.

[th87]

You're either a fake account or the most gullible person alive.

3 games this weekend ,all end with a field goal at 4 seconds left.

Unless you're brain dead, that's absolute proof you're watching staged Entertainment.
You're a complete moron of extreme stupidity if it doesn't dawn on you now.
Wake up. Become actual thinking adults

You predicted the Packers to win.

Either you're a troll, or the biggest moron to ever live.