More Banjo - Packers vs Rams

[Joemailman]

Aaron Jones - 126 total yards, TD

A.J. Dillon - 71 total yards, 2 TD

Rasul Douglas - 8 tackles, 1 INT, 1 lateral

Doubs and Watson combined for 101 yards receiving

Nixon - 3 KO returns for 95 yards, 2 punt returns for 36 yards

Discuss

[RashanGary]

Some things to feel good about. Watson and Doubs. The two running backs….. Next year the OL could improve with Bakh maybe being 100% and Tom gaining 5 lbs of good weight.

The future doesn’t look as grim as it did a few weeks ago before Watson broke out.

[run pMc]

I think they need a 3rd receiver -- a TE would be nice -- to help the passing offense.

No idea if Bahk and Jones will be back with their contracts. I expect they will do everything to keep Jones, but as good as Bahktiari is when he's in the lineup, he's probably not going to be in the lineup more than 75% of the time. Tough to allocate $20M+ to a guy you can't count on.

I think they should get Tom to put on 10 pounds of good weight and get stronger and play him at tackle. His feet are good enough and his technique is coming along. I suspect Wake Forest didn't exactly have the top strength and nutrition program in college football, and he's a smart guy. OL generally played well, Rodgers took at least one sack that pushed them out of FG range, and another one was on him. They run blocked really well and Rodgers was pretty accurate. Not sure who the INT was on, some "experts" said Lazard & while others said Rodgers. You'd think there wouldn't be miscommunication with those two.

Nixon at returner has been a revelation. That dude is fearless and I love it. How did they not swap out Amari with Keisean after 3 games? Unreal.
Aaron Jones started slow but got better -- the Rams couldn't really stop Jones or Dillon for a while there. I think Dillon might've softened up that defense, his final numbers were so-so but the TDs were physical runs that can be tonesetters.

Defense was meh, Preston Smith came to play, Quay had some good plays, Enagbare too. Kenny Clark showed up a couple times as well. I think they still play a little too soft and I put that on the DC...felt like they are still a bit too loose and better teams can easily exploit that.

There was a Devonte Wyatt sighting -- he got a sack.

[texaspackerbacker]

The Rams seemed to adjust their D at halftime. We had been gashing them with the run game. In the second half, they shut down the run, presumably by putting an extra man in the box. That opened it up for the passing game. Good counter adjustment by the Packers. The Packers offense is getting there, but it needs to improve more yet. The D played better tonight, but they're gonna need to be better yet also.

A lot of the remaining games all around the league are gonna be skewed by teams playing that don't need to win. Hopefully, that will help us more than it hurts us.

The Packers O Line is better IMO without Bakhtiari than they were with it, even other seasons - I know ya'all sacred cow fans aren't buying that, but pass blocking or run blocking, either one/both seem better with what we have now. Originally, I didn't like Tom, but he's been looking like a player ever since they put him at LT.

Dillon: I'll give him credit for another nice game tonight, but he's not even close to as valuable as Aaron Jones. It would be insane to let Jones go. Patrick Taylor is more than adequate as a #3 RB also.

And whatever the dumbass whiners may think, Rodgers is still capable of carrying the team, more so than ever with the rookie receivers shaping up.

As for the D, I didn't see anything at all of Lowery - a good thing. Did he even hit the field? I also didn't see T.J. Slaton - did he play? Wyatt little by little is playing better - they say it takes a while for D Linemen to get good. I still think Barry is not making very effective use of the talent we have. Our DBs in particular should be playing way better than they are, and I still say that is on the D coaches.

At the start of the season, it seemed like the Packers were at or very near the top of the NFL. The potential is still there. Whether there is still hope this season or next, team is gonna be damn good.

[Fritz]

This game was a mirage. The Rams were playing lots of third stringers and a QB they signed off the scrap heap a week and a half ago.

I still think the best option for this franchise's future is to trade Rodgers after June 1, if they can. Dump Bakh too, if that would help. Live with two years of cap hell and either let Love develop or look to draft your next QB, or both.

[beveaux1]

This game was a mirage. The Rams were playing lots of third stringers and a QB they signed off the scrap heap a week and a half ago.

I still think the best option for this franchise's future is to trade Rodgers after June 1, if they can. Dump Bakh too, if that would help. Live with two years of cap hell and either let Love develop or look to draft your next QB, or both.

Really comes down to this. Is Bakh worth 6 million to be on the roster next year playing 75% of the time. Cutting him saves that much money. It doesn't matter that his cap charge is 26 million next year, because dead cap is 20 million.

That's on the books no matter what.

[bobblehead]

This game was a mirage. The Rams were playing lots of third stringers and a QB they signed off the scrap heap a week and a half ago.

I still think the best option for this franchise's future is to trade Rodgers after June 1, if they can. Dump Bakh too, if that would help. Live with two years of cap hell and either let Love develop or look to draft your next QB, or both.

I agree Fritz. As I watched this game I was thinking exactly that. We looked good. We won. But given the opposition we should have dominated if we want to believe we can go into Miami and win. Next week will expose our D and if it doesn't cost Barry his job then MiLF is an idiot.

My big hope to end the season is that Love looks great in a 2 week run, and Bahk stays on the field for 3 consecutive games and balls out so we can package him with Rodgers. As things stand you might get a 4th for him if some team really believes they are a LT away.

Weight lifters refer to 20/10. That would be peeling off 20 pounds of bad weight to replace it with 10 of good. Zach needs to pull off the 10/20 this offseason. He is really good. Jones is electric and he and Dillon are the perfect lightning and thunder. This is a good TE draft as well. It could be the perfect time have 2 seconds and revamp the room.

[Joemailman]

Rob Demovsky
@RobDemovsky

Romeo Doubs played 23 snaps in his return last night and 13 of them were with Christian Watson also on the field. Previously, they had totaled just 52 snaps together for the season.

Aaron Rodgers went 7-for-7 with one sack on those 13 plays (8 of which went for first downs)

Didn't realize Doubs only played 23 snaps. That makes his night even more impressive.

[run pMc]

To be clear, I think Bahktiari has played at a high level since returning, and the PFF numbers and advanced stats bear that out -- he's been one of the top rated LTs this year.
(Tex can disagree, but the professional film watchers say otherwise.)

Having a guy like that is super useful -- it's been argued that his injury cost them the TB NFCCG and could've helped them last year vs. SF -- but I don't know how you can pay him top LT money if you can't trust him to be available, plus there are younger cheaper players who look capable of stepping in (Tom, Njiman). Pretending to be a GM, I'd look at trading him for a pick that was conditional upon how much he played for his new team. Otherwise I'd explore redoing his contract before cutting him. He's Rodgers best buddy on the team and still a good player, although I think that knee injury will shorten his career and bother him for the rest of his life.

[run pMc]

Agree with Fritz that this game was a mirage. The Rams D played inspired and have a few good pieces still with Floyd, Ramsey, Wagner, etc., but without Aaron Donald they are average. Offense is where they are really limited - backups all over their OL, a guy off the streets at QB, nobody you'd call a WR2 running routes. That offense was all Cam Akers.

The defense has basically given up on Barry, and who can blame them? A 14 year old who plays a lot of Madden could call a defensive game as well as he does. The Packers are talented enough on D to shut down a Rams offense starting scrubs. Basically they played well when they should have. I'm not going to pretend they will shut down Miami just because they held the Rams to "only" a 4.2 ypc on rushes, or because Baker threw short and sometimes into tight coverage. Tutu Atwell is not a Pro Bowl WR.

[Joemailman]

To be clear, I think Bahktiari has played at a high level since returning, and the PFF numbers and advanced stats bear that out -- he's been one of the top rated LTs this year.
(Tex can disagree, but the professional film watchers say otherwise.)

Having a guy like that is super useful -- it's been argued that his injury cost them the TB NFCCG and could've helped them last year vs. SF -- but I don't know how you can pay him top LT money if you can't trust him to be available, plus there are younger cheaper players who look capable of stepping in (Tom, Njiman). Pretending to be a GM, I'd look at trading him for a pick that was conditional upon how much he played for his new team. Otherwise I'd explore redoing his contract before cutting him. He's Rodgers best buddy on the team and still a good player, although I think that knee injury will shorten his career and bother him for the rest of his life.

Before the appendicitis, which is a fluke thing, he had started 5 straight games including a Thursday Night (although he didn't finish against Detroit). It's possible the worst of the knee problems are behind him. At any rate, he was looking like the All-Pro Bakhtiari before the appendicitis. Do you get rid of someone like that to save 6 million on the cap? He is due a 9.5 million roster bonus in March. Maybe they convert that into signing bonus to create some cap space. They've done that before with Bakhtiari. Tough questions for Gute.

[run pMc]

Before the appendicitis, which is a fluke thing, he had started 5 straight games including a Thursday Night (although he didn't finish against Detroit). It's possible the worst of the knee problems are behind him. At any rate, he was looking like the All-Pro Bakhtiari before the appendicitis. Do you get rid of someone like that to save 6 million on the cap? He is due a 9.5 million roster bonus in March. Maybe they convert that into signing bonus to create some cap space. They've done that before with Bakhtiari. Tough questions for Gute.

Agree it's bad idea to cut an All-Pro to save 6M, especially at LT. That's a premium position. I think it's likely they redo some part of his contract.
Bahtiari's contract might be almost as bad as Rodgers.

If it comes down to cutting him to keep Jenkins, I'd think about it. Jenkins is younger/more versatile. The other part of the calculus is they have players who are at least passable at T (Tom, Njiman, maybe Jenkins, and who knows about year-2 Caleb Jones and Rasheed Walker) so they may be able to deal from a position of depth to free up cap space and get younger.

Definitely tough decisions for Gute. Going to be a fascinating offseason... Do they make some surprise cuts or do they kick the can further down the road to run back a team that was aging/underperforming this year.

[run pMc]

Loved the way they closed out the game - GB had the ball with 8:51 left and the Rams never got it back.

[red]

whats up with rodgers bitching out watson at the end of the game then bitching about him to the world in the on field interview afterwards saying "if he wants to catch TDs, then run the right route"

noting like trying to take a rookie down a few pegs because he missed you little hand signal pre snap

i'm done with him

he'll bitch out his WRs, but he's the one throwing balls to the defense while his WRs are running wide open

[Fosco33]

whats up with rodgers bitching out watson at the end of the game then bitching about him to the world in the on field interview afterwards saying "if he wants to catch TDs, then run the right route"

noting like trying to take a rookie down a few pegs because he missed you little hand signal pre snap

i'm done with him

he'll bitch out his WRs, but he's the one throwing balls to the defense while his WRs are running wide open

I saw the same thing and he had a smirk and laughed - as in a joke.

I didn’t like Rodgers 3-6 years ago but I’m a big fan now.

But our opinion of him obviously means nothing. And the last person that cares is ARod.