More Banjo Commanders Edition

[call_me_ishmael]

What a game.

[Guiness]

/thread

[texaspackerbacker]

Nobody wants to post here? Whatever. A LOT of really bad shit has happened in these three losses, and really the whole season, as even the wins were mostly nothing to brag about.

Rodgers certainly does not get a pass even from me, but all things considered, he has been far from the primary problem causing the funk the team is in. And as I have said, possibly the STUPIDEST thing in here as well as in several articles I've read from media pukes is shit from dumbasses and know-nothings trying to claim this and that is in Rodgers' head and/or talking about regret over retaining him. His passing has been a little bit off target - probably about normal for most QBs, but well below his normal high standard. He may be slightly less mobile, but that factor I think is overrated. He's been throwing a LOT of those annoying damn short mostly sideways passes - is that on him, panicking or whatever? Or is that on LaFleur for shoddy play calling? Or is it out of necessity because the line blocking has been so pathetic? Maybe all three, I don't know.

It seems like every game you see - not just Packer games, teams, even weak teams in most cases, have O Lines that block better than ours, both on pass plays and run plays. That has been especially true this year against our own D Line. Is our D that shitty? Or is it just that everybody else has a REAL O Line that can actually move people back a little bit or keep them from penetrating literally every damn pass play? I do blame our D for being weak, not so much because of personnel but more so because of coaching and scheme, but PRIMARILY it's because they are going up against O Lines that are not so pathetic. A related question is, do we just have lousy O Line personnel? Or does shoddy coaching have something to do with that aspect also? Other teams have a lot of injuries, and they still display way better O Line play than we do. Apparently Stenavich was considered a good O Line coach before being kicked upstairs to OC. Myself, though, I never thought the Packer O Line was as good as advertized - continually overrated, especially the "sacred cow" Bakhtiari, who so many worship. What I saw was that Rodgers virtually ALWAYS got more pressure than most QBs, extremely much more than Brady for example, even in the years when people praised our O Line so much.

So what's the difference this year? Well, maybe part of it is Rodgers getting older and less effective - both with his feet and arm. I think more of the reason, though, is the mediocre corps of receivers just not getting open. I have to admit, I didn't expect that. It may also be like the commentator said in the Redskins game (NOT a typo) when asked if Washington was likely to blitz. He basicaly said "hell no, they don't even need to blitz to get pressure; they can just drop 7 or 8 into coverage and still get plenty of pressure on the QB - THAT's on the O Line! I do think, though, if we had Watson healthy (and used right) or MVS in the past to present a true deep threat, things would be more open all the way around.

What's the solution? I don't know. I sure don't think it is to go "run first". I was hoping for big things running inside like last year when they moved Jenkins to Guard and having the same three interior O Linemen, but either those plays just weren't tried, or Washington's supposedly top quality D Line shut them down. Going forward, though, against other teams, that might work. Getting Watson back may help a lot. Supposedly Doubs is a deep threat also, but he seemingly hasn't been used that way. Maybe that is because of the pathetic pass blocking, but it also might be something that will work.

A lot of the problem has been circumstances - too many near misses - almost getting to the QB, opposing QBs who weren't supposed to be good pulling great plays out of their ass at crucial times, bad penalties, either rotten calls or not, etc. I always have said - and often been disagreed with, LUCK is a much bigger factor than many people think.

I still think the Packers will snap out of it, and it certainly ain't too late. The three other NFC seemingly top teams have been stumbling as bad or worse than the Packers. It's highly probable the Vikings will have their traditional fall to shittiness any time now (didn't they start one season 6-0 and then turn to shit?). I still think the Eagles are overrated and due for a fall. Ditto that even more so for the Giants. Don't bet against it still being Green Bay, Tampa, and the Rams, and oh yeah, my second favorite team, the Cowboys, there at the end of the season.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

The offense, for the most part, was (once again) more impotent than Tony ODay without Viagra. The insistence of the overpaid Italian special teams coach to allow Amari Rodgers to continue returning punts was mind-fucking, although, as head honcho, the Frog coulda go a long fucking time ago, get that bum outta there! Defense, especially in the clutch, couldn’t annihilate the poor man’s German Bert Favor. Butte sucked more than a gay guy in a brothel full of men.

My regrets are, I didn’t put more frogskins on the Redcoats and Panthers. I knew management was setting Steve Wilks up for failure with all the trades. I also knew Wilks’ remaining players were willing to go to Hades to overachieve for him - to fuck with management. Yet, I merely bet $20 on the Panthers. SMH.

[Jaire]

Lot of blame to go around. But Doubs had two key drops (I'm not counting the others against him). Jaire slipped on a play: the other one he "gave up" seemed to me more of a lucky pass by Heineke. I could only rewatch the highlights, but I saw some definite good things by this new O line-up; in game, I saw some bad play. Definitely like the potential of this new lineup even if Bakh doesn't make it back. If the oline gets fixed, AR will be fine.

Bad call by the ref there to.

I don't think we'll see another front four as good as Washington. Like others, I'm skeptical of Barry. Also, the first time I'm voicing my my dissatisfaction with the Quay pick (I'm still rooting for him, but an Edge would have been a much better pick. Also given our deep need, I thought Pickens was more pro-ready, and we needed a more immediate impact WR, who I thought Pickens or Pierce, but esp Pickens could be). Coaching staff is imo still most to blame.

[Joemailman]

Can't blame the defense much for this one. They gave up 23 points, and 3 of those were a field goal on a drive that started at the Packers 17 yard line. That field goal is on the special teams. And the defense scored a touchdown. So the defense gave up a net of 13 points. This would have been a win with any kind of competence by the offense.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

Nobody wants to post here? Whatever. A LOT of really bad shit has happened in these three losses, and really the whole season, as even the wins were mostly nothing to brag about.

Rodgers certainly does not get a pass even from me, but all things considered, he has been far from the primary problem causing the funk the team is in. And as I have said, possibly the STUPIDEST thing in here as well as in several articles I've read from media pukes is shit from dumbasses and know-nothings trying to claim this and that is in Rodgers' head and/or talking about regret over retaining him. His passing has been a little bit off target - probably about normal for most QBs, but well below his normal high standard. He may be slightly less mobile, but that factor I think is overrated. He's been throwing a LOT of those annoying damn short mostly sideways passes - is that on him, panicking or whatever? Or is that on LaFleur for shoddy play calling? Or is it out of necessity because the line blocking has been so pathetic? Maybe all three, I don't know.

It seems like every game you see - not just Packer games, teams, even weak teams in most cases, have O Lines that block better than ours, both on pass plays and run plays. That has been especially true this year against our own D Line. Is our D that shitty? Or is it just that everybody else has a REAL O Line that can actually move people back a little bit or keep them from penetrating literally every damn pass play? I do blame our D for being weak, not so much because of personnel but more so because of coaching and scheme, but PRIMARILY it's because they are going up against O Lines that are not so pathetic. A related question is, do we just have lousy O Line personnel? Or does shoddy coaching have something to do with that aspect also? Other teams have a lot of injuries, and they still display way better O Line play than we do. Apparently Stenavich was considered a good O Line coach before being kicked upstairs to OC. Myself, though, I never thought the Packer O Line was as good as advertized - continually overrated, especially the "sacred cow" Bakhtiari, who so many worship. What I saw was that Rodgers virtually ALWAYS got more pressure than most QBs, extremely much more than Brady for example, even in the years when people praised our O Line so much.

So what's the difference this year? Well, maybe part of it is Rodgers getting older and less effective - both with his feet and arm. I think more of the reason, though, is the mediocre corps of receivers just not getting open. I have to admit, I didn't expect that. It may also be like the commentator said in the Redskins game (NOT a typo) when asked if Washington was likely to blitz. He basicaly said "hell no, they don't even need to blitz to get pressure; they can just drop 7 or 8 into coverage and still get plenty of pressure on the QB - THAT's on the O Line! I do think, though, if we had Watson healthy (and used right) or MVS in the past to present a true deep threat, things would be more open all the way around.

What's the solution? I don't know. I sure don't think it is to go "run first". I was hoping for big things running inside like last year when they moved Jenkins to Guard and having the same three interior O Linemen, but either those plays just weren't tried, or Washington's supposedly top quality D Line shut them down. Going forward, though, against other teams, that might work. Getting Watson back may help a lot. Supposedly Doubs is a deep threat also, but he seemingly hasn't been used that way. Maybe that is because of the pathetic pass blocking, but it also might be something that will work.

A lot of the problem has been circumstances - too many near misses - almost getting to the QB, opposing QBs who weren't supposed to be good pulling great plays out of their ass at crucial times, bad penalties, either rotten calls or not, etc. I always have said - and often been disagreed with, LUCK is a much bigger factor than many people think.

I still think the Packers will snap out of it, and it certainly ain't too late. The three other NFC seemingly top teams have been stumbling as bad or worse than the Packers. It's highly probable the Vikings will have their traditional fall to shittiness any time now (didn't they start one season 6-0 and then turn to shit?). I still think the Eagles are overrated and due for a fall. Ditto that even more so for the Giants. Don't bet against it still being Green Bay, Tampa, and the Rams, and oh yeah, my second favorite team, the Cowboys, there at the end of the season.

Too long; didn’t read. But about to go shore fishing (can’t afford a boat at $7.25/hr) - to clear mind of yesterday’s clusterfuck. Will read while I wait for the fish to bite.

[beveaux1]

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. We played the Washington Commanders, a bottom five team, and were able to score 14 offensive points. Playing one of the weakest defenses in the league, we managed 47 offensive plays, a ridiculously low amount. Contributing was our ineffectiveness on 3rd and 4th down, 0-7 combined. Six passes were dropped. Conservatively, five passes were poorly thrown. They were thrown bad enough to result in an incompletion. One pass was thrown away. Numerous throws were caught but thrown so poorly they prevented picking up first downs or sometimes, any yardage at all.

[beveaux1]

We passed 35 times and ran the ball 12 times, although, admittedly, nearly every pass was thrown from 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage to 5 yards past the line of scrimmage and could be considered an extended running play. Our OL gave up no sacks for the first time this year, but even that comes with a caveat. Almost every pass play left Rodgers’ hand in less than 2 seconds, allowing little time for a successful pass rush. Unfortunately, it also allowed little chance for a successful play.

[beveaux1]

Our running game pounded the Commanders for 3.25 yards per attempt proving how well our revamped line played. We almost picked up 200 yards in the air on our 35 attempts, if only Rodgers had hit a wide open Runyon on the sidelines on the last play and Runyon had been able to advance it a few more yards, and if it wouldn’t have been a forward pass instead of a lateral. Take away the 50 yards we gained on the last two Hail Mary plays and our total would have been a more realistic 145 yards on 33 passes. Less than 5 yards per pass attempt. Sounds about right. Pitiful doesn’t begin to describe this offense.

[beveaux1]

Our defense, although not great, has not been the problem. They haven't had a game where they've given up more than 21 points if you take away muffed punts, pick sixes, and blocked kicks for TDs. They've also been on the field constantly since our offense never moves the ball. A better D coordinator couldn't have produced any more wins for this team but I'm not advocating keeping this DC. We need electricity and not passivity. I'm not sure this DC can do that.

[beveaux1]

Heck, I'm not sure our team can do electricity. We have one player on offense with juice. On defense, we might have a few players, but the scheme keeps them from shining.

[beveaux1]

I've convinced myself that we have a coaching problem. We lost Turner and Kelly from last year on the OL and have replaced them with surgically repaired Bakh and Jenkins and rookie Tom. How can the OL fall apart with that change? Was Turner the glue that kept them together? I can't believe that.

[beveaux1]

I forgot about Patrick. He played center for a lot of games last year but wasn't he the weak link on the line? Weren't we better with Myers?

[beveaux1]

I don't think Rodgers is the problem, but I do think that his play is much worse than last year. His long ball skill is declining, although he made a couple of vintage Rodgers throws...to Jones on the TD and to Rodgers on the deep ball. He also missed throws that he usually never misses. Flat passes were constantly being overthrown, thrown wide, thrown low, giving his receivers little chance to make a play even when they make the catch. His legs may be the same, but he doesn't seem to want to move. He's been very stationary this year. He's been nothing but a pocket passer and without the pocket caused by poor OL play, he's been very mediocre. Maybe it's the finger, but it's been this way since the beginning of the season when the finger wasn't an issue.