What “Should’ve” Been a Blowout

The special teams struck again, up 13-0 and a blocked extra point flipped the game on its head. The momentum – along with DT Devonte Wyatt going out – spun to Dallas’ sideline. Give credit to the offense for weathering the storm and continuing the scoring, especially in the 4^th quarter. Dallas was shut out for a majority of the 1^st half, then scored 35 points in the final 32 minutes…unacceptable.

Love Was Great Outside of 2 Plays

While the strip-sack was obviously not on Love, it still can’t happen. Love wasn’t at fault (Rasheed Walker getting beat in < 2 seconds), he’s got to find a way to feel the pressure and keep the ball. The other play was a missed open receiver (Tucker Kraft, I believe), but the overall stat line was extremely efficient, especially once the OL improved the pass protection. Love’s stat line: 31/41; 337 yards; 3 TD; 0 INT; 118.1 RAT. Had Green Bay pushed it, not necessarily the play-calling, but more the urgency (or lack thereof) at the end of OT, Love might’ve finished with 4 TDs and 350 yards…

Also, while complaining about officiating is a losing take, it was egregiously bad. There were countless holds committed by Dallas that went “unseen” and directly led to 21 Cowboys points. Had just 3 of the egregious holds been called (there were at least 4 against Parsons alone), Green Bay wins 37-16, which is about the expected score, but alas, they weren’t and the Packers still should’ve come out victorious.

Outside of Wyatt

Edgerrin Cooper has his worst game a pro. He over-committed on rush lanes, missed plenty of tackles, and seemed a step slow. I don’t think it was due to injury, but chalking it up (for now) as a bad game. There will be concern if this happens again against an awful Cincinnati Bengals team.

Quay Walker – the other Inside Linebacker – had a solid game, again. He was firing rush gaps and playing very aggressively, making tackles in the open field and seemed to be in the right position at the right time, often.

Where Does Green Bay Stack Up?

The rush defense has stayed steady, which is a great sign, but with Wyatt exiting, the pass defense reverted to the Joe Barry-led defense…not a good sign that 1 player seems to have that large of an impact on an entire unit – the same can be said with Right Tackle Zach Tom on the offense.

We’d like to see this defense get back on track, and likely will against lesser offenses coming up. The main concern is to see if this team can string wins together away from Lambeau Field. Currently the Packers are 2-0 at Lambeau and 0-1-1 on the road. If not for the special teams, the Packers would be 4-0 without having put together a complete game. The tie sure felt like a loss, and it should’ve, but in the grand scheme of things, the Packers are in great shape to accomplish everything they’ve set their eyes on at the onset of the season. Just keep winning and things will sort themselves out.