More Banjo - Packers vs Rams

[Fritz]

Stokes hasn't been that bad. Other than the stumble in the end zone, he did his job. Valentine also did pretty decent. And Nixon for probably being the 4th Corner did ok too.

Yes, Evan Williams is coming through. He needs to because Bullard has been a disappointment.

For better or worse, we're getting the picture of Hafley's style of D - giving up way too much yardage both running and passing but getting turnovers. I don't know if that's gonna do the job against the top teams. The Rams, though, even with a 1-4 record now, were not that bad. They did beat the Niners, and they may have been playing over their heads in the first half.

The defensive ends have been hugely disappointing. This team won’t go far if they don’t pick it up. I thought they all loved the hand-in-the-dirt thing?

Also, does Halfley need to start pairing Wyatt and Brooks on pass rushing downs?

[Joemailman]

As bad as the Love pick 6 was, it can be argued that it only cost the Packers 1 point. Rams had XP blocked, so they got 6 points. If Love gets sacked in the end zone or commits intentional grounding by not getting the pass past the LOS, it's a safety, so you're down to a net of 4 points. If Love takes the safety, the Packers have to kick the ball back to the Rams so the Packers in all likelihood don't get that FG at the end of the half. So you're down to a net of 1 point.

Not saying it wasn't a bad play. But it didn't really end up being as big a negative for the Packers as it appeared to when it happened.

[Fritz]

Joe, I wish you were around to explain things to my second wife after I’d been out all night.

Seriously though, good point.

[texaspackerbacker]

The defensive ends have been hugely disappointing. This team won’t go far if they don’t pick it up. I thought they all loved the hand-in-the-dirt thing?

Also, does Halfley need to start pairing Wyatt and Brooks on pass rushing downs?

Yes, that's true about Gary, P. Smith, etc.

I've always preferred 4-3 to 3-4, but the way it has been going, I'm considering changing my mind about that. If Hafley's D has just gotten lucky with the turnovers, and the getting gashed both by passing and running is gonna continue, then we're in a heap of trouble. I guess we're gonna see going forward. If Hafley is any kind of decent DC, he certainly ought to be able to get more out of Gary, Smith, Van Ness, etc.

[George Cumby]

On the Dagger play, Cooper's burst and angle to Stafford was incredible. Williams' timing on the pass break-up was impeccable.

Let's see how these kids are playing at the end of the season.

[NewsBruin]

I wish we had gotten Malik a atat or two. I don't want to see him packed up in the attic just yet

[Joemailman]

Just thought I'd point out that a great block by Wicks helped spring Tucker Kraft on his 66 yard TD. https://x.com/i/status/1843052245480579340

[Joemailman]

PFF Best, Worst Grades

Top 5 offense

1. RB Josh Jacobs: 78.3
2. TE Tucker Kraft: 75.3
3. RB Emanuel Wilson: 71.8
4. WR Jayden Reed: 71.6
5. LT Rasheed Walker: 68.1

Jacobs gained 68 yards after first contact, forced two missed tackles, had two runs over 10 yards and a 21-yard catch. Kraft caught four of six targets for 88 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 3.83 yards per route run, gained 69 yards after the catch and forced three missed tackles. Wilson forced two missed tackles and had 25 yards after first contact. Reed caught four passes for 78 yards, made two contested catches and had an 11-yard run, but he did have a third-down drop. Walker gave up just one pressure on 30 pass-blocking snaps and was the highest-graded run blocker along the offensive line.

Top 5 defense

1. DL TJ Slaton: 89.3
2. S Xavier McKinney: 88.3
3. LB Edgerrin Cooper: 85.5
4. DE Kingsley Enagbare: 84.4
5. S Evan Williams: 81.9

Slaton had two pressures, including a QB hit, and he was effective against the run over 27 total snaps. McKinney recovered a fumble, intercepted a pass, disrupted two other passes, made four tackles without a miss and didn’t allow a completion into his coverage. Cooper had two pressures, including a sack, and he gave up just one catch in coverage while playing 30 total snaps. Kingsley Enagbare forced a fumble, had a quarterback hit and a top grade against the run. Williams missed two tackles but also broke up two passes.

Bottom 5 offense

1. C Josh Myers: 38.5
2. QB Jordan Love: 51.1
3. WR Malik Heath: 51.1
4. RT Zach Tom: 52.1
5. RG Sean Rhyan: 53.3

Myers gave up two pressures in the passing game and earned a very poor run blocking grade. Love threw a terrible interception and struggled under pressure overall. Heath was penalized twice — one for holding, another for false start — and he produced only 14 receiving yards on 21 routes run. Tom had a false start and allowed four pressures, including a sack. Rhyan gave up two sacks. Neither Tom nor Rhyan graded out well in the run game.

Bottom 5 defense

1. DL Karl Brooks: 38.6
2. CB Eric Stokes: 41.7
3. DB Javon Bullard: 45.2
4. CB Carrington Valentine: 51.2
5. DL Colby Wooden: 52.0

Brooks had four pressures, including two important sacks, but his run defense grade dragged down his overall grade. Stokes gave up seven completions and a touchdown pass on 10 targets into his coverage and missed a tackle. Bullard missed a tackle and gave up five catches on eight targets into his coverage while playing mostly in the slot. Valentine missed two tackles and was penalized once. Wooden had two pressures but missed a tackle and struggled against the run.

Special teams

Corey Ballentine had a tackle, a forced fair catch and the highest special teams grade of the week. Javon Bullard, Zayne Anderson and Arron Mosby also had tackles covering kickoffs or punts. Robert Rochell was flagged for holding but also drew a penalty for holding. Evan Williams and Eric Wilson missed tackles. Brayden Narveson made all three extra points and a 46-yard field goal. Daniel Whelan averaged only 37.2 net yard per punt but did force three fair catches. His average hang time was only 4.40 seconds, a season low.

Quarterback play
Jordan Love: 51.1

Love had one big-time throw (53-yard bomb to Jayden Reed) and one turnover-worthy play (pick-six from the end zone). He completed 3-of-6 passes under pressure but had the big mistake — the interception — while pressured. Three completions off play-action resulted in 122 yards and a touchdown. Love completed only 2-of-6 passes thrown over 10 yards in the air, but they created 119 yards and a touchdown. While understandable given the mistake, it’s clear Love’s pick-six and his fumble — on a pass thrown backwards under pressure — brought his final grade down considerably.

Stat to know

Dontayvion Wicks caught only 2-of-6 targets. Jordan Love missed him twice while open. He had a drop while open. And he failed on a contested catch down the field on third down. More and more, it’s looking like one of the keys to unlocking consistency within the Packers passing game is the Love-to-Wicks connection finally getting off the ground.

[red]

whats going on with our o-line?

myers sucks, we all know that, but toms playing bad too? is he just surrounded by shit?

i say move tom to center, and forget about running to the right side

[Joemailman]

whats going on with our o-line?

myers sucks, we all know that, but toms playing bad too? is he just surrounded by shit?

i say move tom to center, and forget about running to the right side

They just had a bad day yesterday. Rams were doing a lot of blitzing and stunting and they had trouble picking it up. Especially in the 1st half. Morgan is back practicing now, so we might see him in there some.

[texaspackerbacker]

A lot of those PFF numbers defy observability. Most of the running success was right up the middle. Most of the Rams' pass rush was from the outside. Yet their numbers seem to fly in the face of that. Stokes and Valentine didn't look that bad, yet they are bottom five. Wicks stunk, yet he isn't bottom five. Love was damn good except for one dumb play that was basically caused by a heavy pass rush - from the outside, of course.

[run pMc]

Myers has been ok this season, just not yesterday I guess. Same could be said for Tom.
Fans on the Rams forums are bitching a storm about how their DL couldn't get to Love. It's a very young, very good DL with Byron Young, Kobie Turner, Fiske and Verse. They are going to get after a lot of QBs.

McVay really coached his ass off yesterday, that team was undermanned and gave GB all it could handle.

Jordan Love needs to get his act together. Between the YEET ball that Reed bailed him out on and the falling down sidearm pick 6, he was dangerously close to becoming a Levis-esque meme.
After the pick 6 he seemed to play better, but woof. Seems like he's still not-all-the-way in sync with the receivers and rest of the offense. And yes, they played a LOT out of shotgun and that is clearly for the knee (which must be better based on how Love is moving).
The running game was very inconsistent, and the Rams came in allowing a lot on the ground.
Kraft is a monster. Love it. Extend him now Gute lol
Wicks needs to spend every waking hour with the Juggs machine, JFC. Too many drops.


Xavier Mckinney is the man. Dude is a turnover magnet right now. Enjoy it while it's happening.
The young safeties look like keepers as well - Bullard is solid and Williams has instincts. Love what we have there. Safety has gone from a liability to a strength.

Edgerrin Cooper might already be the best ILB on the squad, and he's not even up to speed yet. Quay is 'meh', but he can be good if used correctly. I think he's a see ball chase ball type, asking him to think is a bad idea. He needs to play in space. He kept picking a gap to fly thru and Kyren Williams would hop into the next gap over and run past.

Gute will go after a Corner or a DL in the draft. Stokes is another 'meh'. I don't think he's bad, I just think he's matchup specific. He's going to get roasted against shifty/quick receivers, but can stay with fast straight line guys. I think Valentine is better. I wonder what they will do with Nixon long term, he's fearless but he's not a good corner. I know everyone is sick of Gute drafting CBs in R1, but just saying now that it could happen.

They struggled to get pressure on Stafford but he was getting the ball out fast most of the time. Also, they were definitely taking a page from what MIN did and keeping the RB and/or TE in to chip before going out on a route. So Gary gets a TE chip while Kenny gets a G-T double, the T peels off Kenny and moves over to Gary, and both are delayed getting to Stafford by that half second he needs. I'm not sure if Wyatt would've helped, I thought Karl Brooks did fine.

They definitely struggled stopping the run which was really disappointing given they had 3 OL backups playing. Also was very disconcerting seeing the Rams move the ball with Tutu Atwell and Jordan Whittington (who I liked as a Day 3 prospect). If they can get and stay healthy, they could be scary.

Good to see Narveson hit all his kicks. He probably bought himself 2 more weeks.
Whelan had an unusually bad day though.

GB should have won this, and it was Ugly, but I'm happy for the W.

[King Friday]

I’ve been saying it over and over and over. Gute can’t evaluate OL talent worth a damn.

[Joemailman]

I’ve been saying it over and over and over. Gute can’t evaluate OL talent worth a damn.

Yeah. Elgton Jenkins, Zach Tom and Rasheed Walker were terrible picks.

[sharpe1027]

The pick six wasn't all that bad. He was avoiding guaranteed points in a safety in favor of a dangerous possible pick. I'm fine with that.