Studs n duds Eagles

[Heyjoe4]

Agree with much of this but I’m not sure I’d call Rodgers a dud. Certainly no stud but two TDs and that second INT was on Taylor (Benkert agreed with me!). Not a great game but certainly not Joe Barry or Douglas level bad.

It's hard to call a guy playing with a broken thumb, who threw two dimes for TDs a dud. Rodgers is doing as much as he can with what he has. Now we'll see what Love is made of.

 

[tynimiller]

It's hard to call a guy playing with a broken thumb, who threw two dimes for TDs a dud. Rodgers is doing as much as he can with what he has. Now we'll see what Love is made of.

I don't hesitate for sure, and I truly blame the majority of it on his thumb. His thumb is healthy I truly think WORST case we are a .500 team despite all the other shitstorm issues. Rodgers accuracy has been arguably the worst at moments we've seen in years and I personally don't think it is age, it is health.

 

[Heyjoe4]

I don't hesitate for sure, and I truly blame the majority of it on his thumb. His thumb is healthy I truly think WORST case we are a .500 team despite all the other shitstorm issues. Rodgers accuracy has been arguably the worst at moments we've seen in years and I personally don't think it is age, it is health.

Completely agree Ty. I complain about Rodgers a lot but the guy was playing on a busted thumb since game five and he never said a thing until this week and still threw well last night. Yeah he needs to get healthy. He's still a great QB. And I suppose if we had known Joe Barry would be such a bust Rodgers could have rested earlier. Woulda coulda shoulda.

But I'm hopeful for next year. Get Rodgers healthy. Watson has impressed me. Doubs is a keeper. If there is a solid WR in FA get him or trade for one. And tweak the D a little, mostly just get guys healthy and replace Savage, and get a DC who can properly manage a talented group.

I'd feel worse if I thought this was the best GB could play with this roster. I don't believe that.

 

[tynimiller]

Completely agree Ty. I complain about Rodgers a lot but the guy was playing on a busted thumb since game five and he never said a thing until this week and still threw well last night. Yeah he needs to get healthy. He's still a great QB. And I suppose if we had known Joe Barry would be such a bust Rodgers could have rested earlier. Woulda coulda shoulda.

But I'm hopeful for next year. Get Rodgers healthy. Watson has impressed me. Doubs is a keeper. If there is a solid WR in FA get him or trade for one. And tweak the D a little, mostly just get guys healthy and replace Savage, and get a DC who can properly manage a talented group.

I'd feel worse if I thought this was the best GB could play with this roster. I don't believe that.

I was just telling a buddy given Rodgers contract I think the "perfect" or as perfect as we could hope is that he gets healthy, we get solid look at Love rest of this year, Rodgers comes back in 2023, we act with evidence on Love's 5th year (pick up or not) and we have solid draft equity as well which could be Top 10 of each round (except the one we don't have any which is 6th I believe).

 

[Heyjoe4]

I was just telling a buddy given Rodgers contract I think the "perfect" or as perfect as we could hope is that he gets healthy, we get solid look at Love rest of this year, Rodgers comes back in 2023, we act with evidence on Love's 5th year (pick up or not) and we have solid draft equity as well which could be Top 10 of each round (except the one we don't have any which is 6th I believe).

Yeah, that's a very possible scenario. There's not a lot to tweak on this team aside from defensive coaching. And I'm just a little worried about MLF's play calling. But it was one bad season for a lot of reasons.

 

[tynimiller]

Yeah, that's a very possible scenario. There's not a lot to tweak on this team aside from defensive coaching. And I'm just a little worried about MLF's play calling. But it was one bad season for a lot of reasons.

Now maybe @captainWIMM has access to prove or disprove an observation but I think the offense has looked better the last three games or so...is it just me or are we finally seeing more pre-snap motion like MLF system typically has?

 

[Magooch]

Studs:
- In general I thought our running game was pretty solid yesterday with 20 carries at ~5 ypc. Unfortunately with going behind early and a couple of early turnovers I suspect it was going to be hard to commit to running as much as we might have wanted to. Dillon has kind of seemed to have been having a "down" year but arguably had his best game of the season yesterday. Jones finished with around 100 all-purpose yards too and while just 3.6 ypc looked pretty dangerous overall.
- OL play was generally improved, one of the better performances as a unit for the season IMO.
- Watson continuing his emergence, I'm really liking more and more what I see from this guy. Still wish he had caught that opener against Minnesota as it feels like his progress was delayed by weeks for that but he's quickly entering that territory where you simply expect a big play to happen every time he touches the ball.
- Nixon in general was really encouraging in the return game. He did have one big boneheaded decision but overall felt like a breath of fresh air back there.
- Enagbare continues to show more promise and IMO produce above expectation (relative to draft position, hype, etc). I have liked what I have seen from him.
- I'm sure the defense was fairly soft at that point but Jordan Love looked greatly improved to my eye. Obviously a small sample size but for me was by far the best I've seen out of him so far. Great zip on his throws, placing the ball well, making the right decisions, and overall just looking way more confident and in-control. I'm hoping he gets some more reps in the coming weeks so we can get a better picture of what we have but honestly I was really encouraged by his play yesterday, more than ever before honestly.
- Quay Walker is still pretty raw but man is he talented. Still though...

Duds:
- Quay Walker also seemed to miss a dozen tackles and generally was not super disciplined (position/assignment/etc) on the day.
- Similarly I felt like Rasul missed a dozen tackles and was just behind the pace of the game a lot. Not a great showing from him to my eye
- Our defense continues to be poor on the whole and our rush defense in particular is just shocking. After yesterday's performance we are officially dead last in rush yards allowed, last in first downs allowed by rushing, 4th-highest yards per rush attempt against, and 7th in rush TDs allowed. I know much has been said about our offense underperforming (and in many ways they have) but I think that was in large part expected. We assembled one of the most costly defenses in the NFL in terms of draft capital and monetary investment (and I suspect if you put a "value" assignment to those draft picks it is probably THE most costly one in the league) and it was supposed to be an elite unit that could carry us past a down year from the offense. It's been an abject failure in that regard. Firing Barry at the end of the season should be a foregone conclusion at this point (as in...the papers should already be signed, sealed, and just needing delivered) but frankly I don't see any benefit whatsoever in continuing to employ him for one day further. I have seen some say things like "there's no guarantee we would get better" but really I don't see much chance of it getting worse, either, so it is what it is.

 

[Mondio]

Go figure, our Oline has finally settled and is playing better and our highly drafted speedster is finally seeing the field and making some plays, and the offense looks better. Coincidence? probably just Rodgers finally buying into the system or something...

 

[GreenNGold_81]

Stud: Nixon, Dillon, Jones, Watson, Love, Tonyan.

Dud: Run defense. Secondary playing so far off the receivers. Barry. Lafleur for being a Mike McCarthy and holding onto struggling coaches for so long.

I watched a segment on some sports show after the game and Luke Willson of Seattle Seahawks fame was the talking head. He said he watched the sidelines and it seemed like there was some relief when Rodgers was out of the game. Gotta say I think I agree.

 

[tynimiller]

Stud: Nixon, Dillon, Jones, Watson, Love, Tonyan.

Dud: Run defense. Secondary playing so far off the receivers. Barry. Lafleur for being a Mike McCarthy and holding onto struggling coaches for so long.

I watched a segment on some sports show after the game and Luke Willson of Seattle Seahawks fame was the talking head. He said he watched the sidelines and it seemed like there was some relief when Rodgers was out of the game. Gotta say I think I agree.

So I'll say the only true connection I have team wise has said the team wants him to get healthy - I think some of this, if there is any truth to it, was relief solely from the perspective our captain and signal caller wasn't at risk of more issues.

 

[GreenNGold_81]

So I'll say the only true connection I have team wise has said the team wants him to get healthy - I think some of this, if there is any truth to it, was relief solely from the perspective our captain and signal caller wasn't at risk of more issues.

That sounds like a real PR answer.

 

[gopkrs]

Ford and Nixon at least made some very good and hard tackles.
Our linebackers seem more often than not, to wait for the runner to get to them. Should be charging the line to get out of the way of second level blocking. imho

 

[Packerbacker1996]

Studs O
Duds D

I be checking foe news out of GB today that Barry got Fired.

For f... sake can we can him already.

I don't think this D# can get any worst if we do, so why wait?

 

[tynimiller]

That sounds like a real PR answer.

Eh not really, I truly have gotten the vibes from most of my sources and just observations that the team truly believes in both - regardless of what circumstances places Love in there when that happens the team believes in him.

Now, however the one caveat to having a young inexperienced, albeit supposedly gifted, signal caller is expectations lower...which in turn can for some players cause less pressure and some play better or express differently in that type of situatino.

 

[OldSchool101]

It's the fault of the players who missed the tackles and the position coaches who are supposed to be teaching them proper technique.

Yes thank you.
That’s Joe Barry’s staff

He seems like a stand up guy. So this isn’t anything personal.
However I don’t believe he’s what we thought he was. I stole that phrase from a politician I think?

 

[Arod2gjdd]

Stud

Aaron Jones
Watson
Enegbare

Dud

Defense-Embarrassing and pathetic; they do not for a single moment EVER play like a UNIT, and the first third down of the game exemplifies it. 3rd and long, Quay is literally positioned perfectly to be the spy on Hurts and hold him to a short gain, but it DOES NOT HAVE TO BE HIM WHO DOES IT. Literally just square up and make Hurts freeze and hesitate, the longer he takes to make a move the more time your teammates (believe it or not, you have those) have to rally to the ball carrier. What does Quay do? Precisely what you cannot do, lunges at him fruitlessly and whiffs, allowing him a quick, sudden move to pick up an easy first. Funnel him to your teammates. You are allowed to do that. Quay is supposed to be this smart, quick, athletic open-field linebacker, he was arguably the worst player on the field.

Not to pile on the rookie though, because the king duds were our pair of clown, arrogant corners who are impervious to being humbled. I'm just so sick of Jaire Alexander and Rasul Douglas showboating and celebrating every time they make a SINGLE decent play, only to get comically burned the next. Any celebration on 2nd down is inevitably followed by an easy 3rd and long conversion. You can set a clock to it. Press coverage, soft coverage, zone, man, doesn't matter. When it counts (3rd down), these guys are burned, missing tackles, lunging, whining, complaining, moments after showboating on 2nd down. Just so sick of it. Jaire is comically, ridiculously overrated.

This defense plays like a bunch of headless individuals running around aimlessly, nothing like a TEAM or a UNIT that plays in any complementary way whatsoever. Lunging, missing, overrunning, not playing to your teammates, it's absolutely pathetic and painful to watch. Barry must go, but I think our problems run far deeper than that.

 

[OldSchool101]

Hey everyone I have a question about how the D played near the end of the 1st half. The Packers had just sacked Hurts, leaving the Eagles with 3rd and 14. GB even took a time out anticipating getting the ball back.

The Eagles split WRs left and right and they were covered by Alexander at the bottom of the screen and I assume Douglas at the top. These corners started about 3 yards off the LOS, and then started to back track, and back track, and back track until they were standing at the first down marker.

Hurts snaps the ball, the WR Alexander was covering runs a short curl route, takes the ball and takes off with Alexander eight yards away. The WR runs to the middle of the field, easily getting past Alexander, and is tackled by I think an ILB, leaving 4th and about a foot. And on that play the Packers showed blitz but dropped the ILBs into coverage. There was nowhere for Hurts to throw over the middle.

WTF! Why were the receivers given such a cushion? Did the Packer corners think it was 4th down and they were playing prevent? Is that what then DC thought? Of course the Eagles got the first down and 7 points before half. And they won by 7 points.

I've seen this all year. I don't know if they start in man and drop to zone, but with athletic corners why not challenge the receivers at the LOS and play man?

Someone tell me they share the frustration, or why I'm not looking at this correctly.

I 100% share your frustration.

Yes there was admittedly an abundance of poor tackling. It’s pretty obvious even Clark had a bad day.
Barry doesn’t trust his pass rush to get home at all. This is something I’ve been saying since he’s been here. He plays a soft on Receivers off LOS. I can only remember a sprinkle of games where we played full press and we actually looked better. I’m surprised Barry doesn’t recognize that Rasul strength is his aggressive demeanor inside 10 yards and his ability to react to the QB on intermediate and shorter throws. His weakness is on the long ball, where he’s unable to use his strengths.

We have 1 above average Safety in Amos and 1 guy that disappears in games altogether in Savage. My best guess is Barry is afraid of getting burned deep because of our weak link. It’s his responsibility to sit a player if they are hurting the team. Savage doesn’t have any business being a deep Safety or last line of Defense. That falls squarely on Joe Barry for allowing it. Similar to Rich allowing Amari to muddy up that squad too long.

 

[OldSchool101]

I forgot.
Stud to #9

He’s so fast… he makes MVS look average speed. He literally outran every DB on the field and it really wasn’t a close foot race. He’s faster than his 4.36 time imo to a point he’s got deceptive level speed.

If MVS is 4.38 speed?
#9 is more like 4.30 flat

 

[Cornelius Weems]

Stud

Aaron Jones
Watson
Enegbare

Dud

Defense-Embarrassing and pathetic; they do not for a single moment EVER play like a UNIT, and the first third down of the game exemplifies it. 3rd and long, Quay is literally positioned perfectly to be the spy on Hurts and hold him to a short gain, but it DOES NOT HAVE TO BE HIM WHO DOES IT. Literally just square up and make Hurts freeze and hesitate, the longer he takes to make a move the more time your teammates (believe it or not, you have those) have to rally to the ball carrier. What does Quay do? Precisely what you cannot do, lunges at him fruitlessly and whiffs, allowing him a quick, sudden move to pick up an easy first. Funnel him to your teammates. You are allowed to do that. Quay is supposed to be this smart, quick, athletic open-field linebacker, he was arguably the worst player on the field.

Not to pile on the rookie though, because the king duds were our pair of clown, arrogant corners who are impervious to being humbled. I'm just so sick of Jaire Alexander and Rasul Douglas showboating and celebrating every time they make a SINGLE decent play, only to get comically burned the next. Any celebration on 2nd down is inevitably followed by an easy 3rd and long conversion. You can set a clock to it. Press coverage, soft coverage, zone, man, doesn't matter. When it counts (3rd down), these guys are burned, missing tackles, lunging, whining, complaining, moments after showboating on 2nd down. Just so sick of it. Jaire is comically, ridiculously overrated.

This defense plays like a bunch of headless individuals running around aimlessly, nothing like a TEAM or a UNIT that plays in any complementary way whatsoever. Lunging, missing, overrunning, not playing to your teammates, it's absolutely pathetic and painful to watch. Barry must go, but I think our problems run far deeper than that.

Really? Jones alone ? Not the back that had 8 runs for 64yds and a score? I do agree with you about JA, that clown got his bag and then is phoning it in every week. JA will make a couple of decent plays, only to get burned everytime it matters. Alexander's and Douglas' play was really bad. JA is supposed to be our best defensive player with the money he's getting, not a f****** liability.

 

[tynimiller]

I forgot.
Stud to #9

He’s so fast… he makes MVS look average speed. He literally outran every DB on the field and it really wasn’t a close foot race. He’s faster than his 4.36 time imo to a point he’s got deceptive level speed.

If MVS is 4.38 speed?
#9 is more like 4.30 flat

For the record MVS 4.37 and Watson 4.36

 

[Pugger]

Yeah, that's a very possible scenario. There's not a lot to tweak on this team aside from defensive coaching. And I'm just a little worried about MLF's play calling. But it was one bad season for a lot of reasons.

I thought MLF called a decent offensive game last night. We scored 33 points against a darn good defense. The bigger problem with this team is the defense is a mess.

 

[Cornelius Weems]

I thought MLF called a decent offensive game last night. We scored 33 points against a darn good defense. The bigger problem with this team is the defense is a mess.

And defense was supposed to be a "strength" this year, but looks to me like they regressed, badly.

 

[Pugger]

And defense was supposed to be a "strength" this year, but looks to me like they regressed, badly.

And this is why Berry should receive a pink slip today. Then MLF should get on the phone to Madison...

 

[Magooch]

I've also heard it said countless times before something to the effect of "The defense held them to ## points, that should be enough to win the game if the offense does their job"

Well, the offense put up 33 points - a season-high - against one of the best teams in the league. So by the same measure...if the defense isn't record-setting levels of inept, that certainly should've been enough.

 

[PackerDNA]

To be honest I don't know a whole lot about Leonard. But I didn't like was reading a while back that he's a disciple of Pettine. That's a disqualifier right away from me. So again what's the big deal with the guy because he's from Wisconsin?