Cowboy studs n duds...kicker doesn't count

[Pokerbrat2000]

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[Voyageur]

You know what was perfect about that game? It illustrated precisely why the Packers had to move on from MM and what they’ve gained in LaFleur.

MM did absolutely nothing for his offense. They were in the highest degree of difficulty and were just expected to win every rep, which was exactly what was happening in GB during his tenure.

Meanwhile, Petals schemed up completions for Love time and again (in addition to Love making plays for himself too). He actually added value as a coach.

Mike McCarthy is a lousy football coach and I believe he’s always been a lousy football coach. If your offensive philosophy is “give me an elite QB, a great complement of weapons, and a stellar OL and I will tell them to go win their matchups,” you suck. So glad he’s not Green Bay’s problem anymore.

I knew years ago that McCarthy would never be a real winner. He stated that it wasn't up to him or his staff, to get players up for games. They had to do that themselves. If a coach doesn't hype them up, and make them feel good about what they're about to do, it's a fool's mission.

 

[Voyageur]

Nice break down of the job that Zach Tom did on Micah Parsons. Was pathetically funny listening to some talking heads moaning about how bad Dallas was, Parsons name was mentioned. Maybe those guys aren't seeing what I saw, it wasn't that Parsons played bad, it was that Zach Tom is a very good RT and had a great game.

Packers weapon deserves more love after epic performance vs. Cowboys' Micah Parsons

Micah Parsons just could not get through Zach Tom as Jordan Love steamrolled the Cowboys as the Packers move on in the playoffs.

clutchpoints.com

It takes time to learn how to play offensive line in the NFL. Especially the tackle positions. Tom has spent the time learning, and gets better every time out.

I'd imagine a lot of you are happy that the Packers didn't take the advice of so many fans that he should have been dumped. Might think about before throwing people under the bus for one or two games they didn't live up to our "personal" expectations.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

It takes time to learn how to play offensive line in the NFL. Especially the tackle positions. Tom has spent the time learning, and gets better every time out.

I'd imagine a lot of you are happy that the Packers didn't take the advice of so many fans that he should have been dumped. Might think about before throwing people under the bus for one or two games they didn't live up to our "personal" expectations.

I was just coming here to kind of do the same thing.

For all those who doubted Love, wanted Murphy, Gute and MLF gone.....

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[Pokerbrat2000]

I was just coming here to kind of do the same thing.

For all those who doubted Love, wanted Murphy, Gute and MLF gone.....

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Now, in being fair. Time to give myself the same treatment, since I was someone who would have been fine, had the Packers tanked the season after the Viking loss, to get more playing time for young players and secure a top draft pick. Thanks for not listening to me Packers!

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[Dantés]

I knew years ago that McCarthy would never be a real winner. He stated that it wasn't up to him or his staff, to get players up for games. They had to do that themselves. If a coach doesn't hype them up, and make them feel good about what they're about to do, it's a fool's mission.

A head coach has to add special value somewhere to be a difference maker. Maybe it’s as a designer/caller of offense or defense. Maybe it’s as a game planner. Maybe it’s as a CEO/visionary. The great ones have elements of all/most qualities.

McCarthy doesn’t add value anywhere. He can get you back what you put in. In other words, he’s replacement level.

 

[Voyageur]

Now, in being fair. Time to give myself the same treatment, since I was someone who would have been fine, had the Packers tanked the season after the Viking loss, to get more playing time for young players and secure a top draft pick. Thanks for not listening to me Packers!

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I have egg on my face in regards to Barry and his ability to provide a good game plan in a crucial game. He did that against the Cowboys. I'm not anointing him as a great coach, just saying he did rise to the occasion for yesterday's game. How well he does down the road is an issue. But not beating the 49ers if they lose, is no reason to tar and feather him. He's going to get another year on the job I'd expect, because of how well they did stop teams the last half of the season.

 

[shockerx]

I couldnt tell by watching...but there saying #9 got alot of attention from the Cowboys DBs...it open up so much for Love and WR. it matters being on the field.

 

[tynimiller]

I couldnt tell by watching...but there saying #9 got alot of attention from the Cowboys DBs...it open up so much for Love and WR. it matters being on the field.

Yup, in his limited snaps, coverage was constantly sliding his way. There was one play he ended up with both safeties and underneath help all within ten yards of him

 

[DarkHelmet]

Studs:

Love. I was wrong about him -- he does have what it takes. It's amazing how quickly he went from pretty dreadful to top tier. I've always been a fan of his demeanor, his poise and his toughness. My concerns were decision-making and accuracy. How does a guy go from woefully inaccurate to nearly Rodgers-in-his-prime level precision? In half a season? I don't know, but wow! Clements probably gets a lot of credit, but Love himself had to have been the one to make it happen.

Jones. It's a joy to watch him play at such a high level again.

All the young receivers including tight ends. Good route running, good hands and the unteachable difference maker: speed. This Melton kid -- he's like a Janis who can actually run routes and catch the ball!

O-line. No sacks. that's remarkable. Opened holes that were just big enough for Jones to hit. Against an allegedly good defense. Can't ask for more than that.

Defense. Everybody on D played well, kept to their assignments, hit hard and tackled sure. Because of Barry or in spite of Barry, that D looked sound. We've known they had at least league average quality, but the scheme always seemed to undercut their innate talent.

Coaching. MLF in particular. He had it right for this game. Excellent mix of run and pass, a few clever plays but not gimmicky, put players in position to succeed and had them ready to play. He and Love are really on the same page now, and it's clicking.


Duds:

Missed extra point.

Not putting kickoffs through the end zone late in the game. Yes, I know they had some success stopping returns inside the 25, but when you're sitting on a big lead, don't take the chance of a momentum changing big return.

A couple of undisciplined plays, one of which kept a Cowboys drive alive for no good reason, and a couple of which could have been called against us, but fortunately weren't. I'm thinking of the Jaire Alexander shove on a receiver after the whistle when the two of them were nowhere near the play.

A couple of poor ref calls. The horse collar that wasn't a horse collar.

Not really a dud, but I actually think it was a mistake to put Love back in during garbage time. Essentially all he did was hand off and Clifford could have done that. No reason to risk an injury. I understand not wanting to take a chance of letting the Cowboys pull off a miracle, but again, if the game plan is going to be hand off on every snap (which was totally appropriate) let the backup do it.

All in all, a fantastic win in a game I thought they had basically no chance going in.

Oh, one last stud: Packer fans in the crowd chanting "Go Pack Go!"

 

[Pugger]

To me Love was the STUD of studs.
Not because of all the TD throws, passer rating, or any other data point you want to talk about.
It was in the little things he did that can easily go unnoticed.
We were visting our son and his family yesterday( they are big eagles fans. I'm the only pack fan in the bunch), so they know football. They had the game on and when we got about half way thru the 3rd qtr and the score was blowing up in our favor my son commented several times, your QB is really smart. I'm watching him, and on every play he lets the clock get down to the last second or two before taking the snap. He's squeezing every second he can out of the clock with this big lead. Just what you want to do while still keeping the chains moving.
Another thing that caught my eye was that throw to Musgrave.
It was a high looping pass that Musgrave had to wait on, which allowed a defender time to get over to him. You might think in that situation if love had thrown a line drive zinger instead it would have gotten to Musgrave much faster, but that would be a wrong conclusion.
Love was being rushed by a defender who had his arms raised up. Love was on his back foot kind of leaning backwards. If he tries to throw a quick line drive, most likely it gets blocked, with us having a wide open guy who receives nothing. Instead his instinct was to throw that high arc, over the outstretched arms of the rusher, which at least would have a chance of success.
Love is one smart dude!! We are so fortunate to have him

Rodgers also let the play clock go down to the last moment and it drove me crazy. It still does with Love.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I couldnt tell by watching...but there saying #9 got alot of attention from the Cowboys DBs...it open up so much for Love and WR. it matters being on the field.

Makes sense, but like you, I guess I didn't notice it, glad that @tynimiller did.

The beauty of having a WR that can blow by the DB's.

Ugggg.

On a differn't note.....just read

"Kingsley Enagbare is feared to have torn his ACL"

 

[Guacamole]

His PAT average for the year prior to yesterday was 87.2%. Yesterday's 6/7 was 85.7%, so at least he remains consistent.

that stat is close to the bottom of the barrel.

 

[chemist]

Rodgers also let the play clock go down to the last moment and it drove me crazy. It still does with Love.

Hmmmm....I hear you but not sure why it drives you crazy.. Would you please elaborate. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.
Bleeding the clock is an effective strategy when trying to preserve a lead. I much prefer that approach than a prevent defense which I have found over the years actually prevents you from winning,

 

[chemist]

that stat is close to the bottom of the barrel.

Well actually that stat is not close to the bottom of the barrel. It is the bottom of barrel.
Decent NFL kickers will usually give you 95% on XPs and about 80-85 % on FGs. Really good ones can get you in the the high 80s on FGs.

 

[tynimiller]

Makes sense, but like you, I guess I didn't notice it, glad that @tynimiller did.

The beauty of having a WR that can blow by the DB's.

Ugggg.

On a differn't note.....just read

"Kingsley Enagbare is feared to have torn his ACL"

Yeah staff knew before he ever left the field young man was done this year. Sucks.

 

[Pugger]

Hmmmm....I hear you but not sure why it drives you crazy.. Would you please elaborate. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.
Bleeding the clock is an effective strategy when trying to preserve a lead. I much prefer that approach than a prevent defense which I have found over the years actually prevents you from winning,

The thing I don't like is you flirt with a play clock violation and the D knows you have to snap the ball so you lose that advantage, especially if it is an obvious passing situation vs pass rushers. I do agree it is great when you are trying to bleed the clock with the lead.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

The thing I don't like is you flirt with a play clock violation and the D knows you have to snap the ball so you lose that advantage, especially if it is an obvious passing situation vs pass rushers. I do agree it is great when you are trying to bleed the clock with the lead.

I hate burning TO's because of the play clock running too close to zero. Typically, it seems like either they didn't get the play in fast enough and/or the substitutes. Something I hope MLF and the offense works on next season.

 

[sschind]

The thing I don't like is you flirt with a play clock violation and the D knows you have to snap the ball so you lose that advantage, especially if it is an obvious passing situation vs pass rushers. I do agree it is great when you are trying to bleed the clock with the lead.

I get what you are saying Pugger but I will say that it is kind of nice to see Love actually snapping the ball and not taking a time out. In a way that takes away some of the advantage the defense has because in the olden days when certain QBs would take a time out the defense knew all they had to do was not jump offsides. When you are thinking about not jumping offsides you might be just a tiny bit hesitant and be caught a bit unaware if the ball is actually snapped. If the defense is convinced you are trying to draw them offsides maybe the best thing to do would be to actually snap the ball and run a play.

Although I am generally in favor of the QB using every second to gain an advantage (something Rodgers was an expert at and Love seems to be doing a pretty good job of as well) what I would like to see occasionally is Love going to the line with 7 or 8 seconds left on the play clock and snapping the ball immediately. That would keep the defense guessing.

 

[PikeBadger]

Now, in being fair. Time to give myself the same treatment, since I was someone who would have been fine, had the Packers tanked the season after the Viking loss, to get more playing time for young players and secure a top draft pick. Thanks for not listening to me Packers!

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Remember that the next time you even consider moving up for better draft position. That's a play for Losers. Always play to win.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I get what you are saying Pugger but I will say that it is kind of nice to see Love actually snapping the ball and not taking a time out. In a way that takes away some of the advantage the defense has because in the olden days when certain QBs would take a time out the defense knew all they had to do was not jump offsides. When you are thinking about not jumping offsides you might be just a tiny bit hesitant and be caught a bit unaware if the ball is actually snapped. If the defense is convinced you are trying to draw them offsides maybe the best thing to do would be to actually snap the ball and run a play.

Although I am generally in favor of the QB using every second to gain an advantage (something Rodgers was an expert at and Love seems to be doing a pretty good job of as well) what I would like to see occasionally is Love going to the line with 7 or 8 seconds left on the play clock and snapping the ball immediately. That would keep the defense guessing.

Good summary. I will say though, there were a few times this season that MLF was the one that called the TO, before the play clock expired. Just something he, Love and the offense need to get better at. They should be breaking the huddle with plenty of time for Love to stare down the defense, go through his calls and then call for the snap at his own leisure.

If I am not mistaken, the Stafford and the Rams burned 2 timeouts in the second half to avoid a delay of game call. Those 2 TO's might have been very valuable at the end of the game. Even to the point of I'd almost prefer seeing them take the 5 yards and keep the timeout.

 

[PikeBadger]

It takes time to learn how to play offensive line in the NFL. Especially the tackle positions. Tom has spent the time learning, and gets better every time out.

I'd imagine a lot of you are happy that the Packers didn't take the advice of so many fans that he should have been dumped. Might think about before throwing people under the bus for one or two games they didn't live up to our "personal" expectations.

This is news to me. I've never heard anyone say that Zach Tom needed to be dumped.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Remember that the next time you even consider moving up for better draft position. That's a play for Losers. Always play to win.

Yes and no. If injuries or development is slowing a team down, then you probably play the season out and hope for getting healthy, better and sneak into the playoffs. One thing that changed my mind this season, was the way they came out and played against the Lions (2nd game) and the Chiefs. The improvement and development was becoming very obvious. So even after those 2 games and the poorly played losses to the Giants and the Bucs, this team was getting better and healthier.

Last year was a good example of a team that just didn't look like they were developing. Sure they won 4 of their last 5, but I don't remember them looking like world beaters in doing it (except maybe the Queens game).

All that said, you are right, it isn't over until a team is mathematically eliminated and this team is a good example of why you don't quit. So I will try to keep that in mind when Love is 35 and the season is looking to be over.

 

[PikeBadger]

Yes and no. If injuries or development is slowing a team down, then you probably play the season out and hope for getting healthy, better and sneak into the playoffs. One thing that changed my mind this season, was the way they came out and played against the Lions (2nd game) and the Chiefs. The improvement and development was becoming very obvious. So even after those 2 games and the poorly played losses to the Giants and the Bucs, this team was getting better and healthier.

Last year was a good example of a team that just didn't look like they were developing. Sure they won 4 of their last 5, but I don't remember them looking like world beaters in doing it (except maybe the Queens game).

All that said, you are right, it isn't over until a team is mathematically eliminated and this team is a good example of why you don't quit. So I will try to keep that in mind when Love is 35 and the season is looking to be over.

We snuck in barely in 2010 as well. We know how THAT ended.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

We snuck in barely in 2010 as well. We know how THAT ended.

Yup. That was a different team though. The defense was pretty good and they had a rash of injuries on Offense, including Rodgers. They finished with a respectable 10–6 record, good for a second-place finish in the NFC North. Something people forget about that season, the Packers never lost a game by more than four points, and never trailed by more than seven the entire season.

Last years team looked hopeless for a good part of the season. This years team look like an inconsistent young team, in the middle of a rebuild. Actually, very amazing how it has all come together, to this point anyway.