Tag: nfl

Giant Issue

Posted on by nzurich9
QB Tommy DeVito (#15) and HB Saquon Barkley (#26) combined to rush for 157 yards on 30 carries (5.2 yards/rush).

The Packers have given up 200+ rush yards in four separate games this season. That’s absolutely atrocious. Any team preparing to play Green Bay should just focus on pounding the rock for 60 minutes. Then, if close, towards the end of the game, the corners will play 12+ yards off the line of scrimmage.

The above graphic will make any defensive-minded person puke. It should come as no surprise the Packers are 0-4 in such games. If Green Bay would’ve been bailed out (twice) with a missed field goal at the end on Monday Night, it shouldn’t have sat well with anyone knowing that the Giants had no issue marching up and down the field with the worst offensive line in the NFL quarterbacked by a practice squad local…embarrassing isn’t strong enough of a word.

Special Teams are…Special

Just a couple of more penalties on special teams, paired with Nixon’s butterball routine…the Packers have the highest paid special teams coach in the entire NFL, yet nothing has improved. Hell, it may have (somehow) worsened. In the linked article, it states “To finally put an end to those annual embarrassments, LaFleur made Bisaccia the league’s highest-paid special teams coordinator, with a reported annual salary of over $2 million per year.

So far, it appears to be money well spent.”

Whether that says more about The Athletic (the publisher) or LaFleur’s choice in hiring coordinators (Joe Barry refuses to stop the run and play press man coverage on 3rd downs, unless it’s against Patrick Mahomes).

Was there any Good News?

The Packers won the time of possession. The best item about the game…Love, as we’ve seen all season, “keeps comin’.” The kid just continues to play, doesn’t ever seem to give up – that’s the 2nd best attribute a QB can have (behind clutch). After Saquon kicked the door back open by fumbling deep in Packer territory, up 5, with 4:01 left in the 4th, Love and the Packers were able to capitalize on the opportunity and score a TD. Leaving too much time for the Giants facing a Defense coordinated by Joe Barry to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired.

It’s a Trap (?) – Admiral Ackbar

Posted on by nzurich9

Current Situation~ If everyone thinks something is a trap, is it a trap? The Giants are 4-8, currently sitting as the 13th seed in the NFC playoff seeding…they’re essentially dead. Should they win out, they’d be 9-8 and likely would need help to make the playoffs. That said, they did finish 9-7-1 last year and beat Minnesota in the Wild Card round to be the surprise of the NFL. The Packers have a chance to kill the Giants for the 2023 season, even if not mathematically.

Green Bay on the other hand is one of the hottest teams in the NFL, and much of that is to do with the kids getting reps (been advocating for this all this season and next), and beginning to gel. The Packers currently sit as the 7th seed in the NFC playoffs, and would travel to Dallas should the playoffs start today. The Packers actually have some wiggle room, but with Detroit losing in Chicago yesterday, Green Bay has an outside shot at winning the division. If Green Bay is able to win out (finish 11-6), they’d need another 2 losses by Detroit, which is possible. However, first things first…beat NY.

Matchup

As always, the matchup chart (above) shows the potential mismatches in an upcoming game. There should be 2 things that stand out…first, the Giants possess, arguably, the worst offense in the entire NFL. They’re dead last in passing and total yards, while scoring the 2nd least amount of points (Patriots- 13.0). Second, the Packers have a below-average defense, in terms of yardage, yet top-10 in scoring – meaning Green Bay does a good job keeping teams out of the end zone. The dreaded Bend but Don’t Break method…that’s truly it, because the Packers are tied for 27th in taking the ball away, so that’s not it.

Players to Watch

New York Giants Defensive Tackle, Dexter Lawrence.

Lawrence is a stud. Simply put. He’s relatively unknown outside of the the East coast, but this guy can flat out play. He’s also huge. I’ll leave it to former Packers Pro Bowl Guard, Mike Wahle, to explain what makes Lawrence special. Much like Chris Jones on the Chiefs, Lawrence can wreck a game, and he may do it without registering a statistic. Much like Aaron Donald, he’ll require the Packers’ offensive line to account for him every snap. They’ll also need to know when he’s not on the field as that will change the entire approach to attacking the defense.

The Packers are going to be missing quite a bit of star power in this one…while they’re used to it, it’d be nice to have Quay Walker (one of the best ILBs in the NFL) in the middle, let alone one of the best corners in the NFL in Jaire to play (missing a 5th straight game).

Everyone knows Saquon Barkley, and holding him down will be priority #1, but their homegrown Tommy “Cutlets” DeVito. He’s quarterbacked them to consecutive wins and come in, like Green Bay, feeling good. This should be a good matchup tonight. That, and the Giants are wearing their 80’s/90’s throwbacks, which are always great.

Predictions

This will be a close game, hard fought, and will come down to the 4th quarter and Green Bay will come through, this time. Think similar to Week 2 vs. New Orleans…Green Bay came back from 17-0 in the 4th, and still needed a stop to ice the game – same thing tonight, I think…

Packers 27 (-5.5)
Giants 24

Season: 4-8
Overall: 91-60

Chief Concern?

Posted on by nzurich9
packers-final-batch-1-siegle-167
Christian Watson hauls in the high pass at the outstretched arms of Chiefs’ CB (#2) Joshua Williams.

If it wasn’t obvious before, this team can beat anyone. It also can lose to anyone. They’re young and keep in mind that the main goal this season was to get the kids reps. The media continues to talk about this team turning it around and that “maybe we owe Gutekunst and LaFleur an apology.” That’s not it. This season was never about winning, it was about growing and learning – learning which kids to keep and grow around.

That was one of the best games in recent memory for Green Bay fans…maybe in years. This team continues to prove they’re capable of beating anyone, including themselves…which happens with youth. First things first, Matt LaFleur may have called his best game as a play-caller of the Green Bay Packers. Starting out with long touchdowns drives on their first 2 drives is about as perfect as you can start.

In addition, Jordan Love played his best game. He finished the game 25/36 (69.4%), 267 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 118.6 passer rating. That was against the 6th best passing defense and 3rd scoring D. That’s something real. It also came without their best offensive weapon, Aaron Jones. It was also without Luke Musgrave, their up-and-coming TE weapon. No worries, LaFleur mixed in the right number of rollouts, pre-snap motions, and similar looks that opened up plays later in the game to keep control.

Special Teams Came Through

Packers’ Special Teams Coach, Rich Bisaccia, looks on during the game vs. Kansas City on Sun., Dec. 3rd, 2023 at Lambeau Field.

The Packers’ special teams came through in a huge way on Sunday night. The two 4th quarter field goals extended the lead from losing to a field goal, to not being able to lose in regulation (got the lead to 8 points, which would’ve required a successful 2-point conversion had Kansas City sored a touchdown at the end of regulation). Both kicks were clutch due to the situation. Kudos is deserved.

The Concern?

The rush defense is still a problem. The Packers allowed 148 yards on the ground on only 25 rush attempts. Isiah Pacheco was hit early, but he runs angry and gained tons of YAC (yards after contact). He almost scored after being in a pile at the 9 yard line…that simply can’t happen. Other than that, the Packers played as close to a perfect game as you can ask – hence the victory.

Should Green Bay continue to win the turnover battle and time of possession, expect good things to ensue.

Another Litmus Test

Posted on by nzurich9

Kansas City is looking to keep pace with Baltimore for the 1-seed in the AFC playoff picture. With a win, they would jump back to the 1-seed via better conference record than Baltimore. Green Bay on the other hand, is the first team out looking in at the playoff picture in the NFC. With a win, the Packers would jump ahead of Seattle (tied with a 6-6 record, but better win % in conference games) and hold the 7th seed (last playoff spot). It’s quite the game for both sides.

Matchup~

 KC off.(rank)vs.GB D.(rank)
Rush106.517th135.227th
Pass258.57th205.19th
Total365.08th340.318th
Pts23.511th 20.4T-10th
 KC D.GB off. 
Rush113.419th 102.7T-21st
Pass176.64th222.116th
Total16.53rd324.818th
Pts20.210th 21.017th
  
T/OKC  GB 
Takeaways14T-20th12T-26th
Giveaways19T-23rd12T-6th
Diff.(5)T-23rd 016th
  
ToPKC  GB 
 31:2510th 28:3825th

These teams are fairly evenly matched when Kansas City has the ball, evidenced by the ranks of each…however, the Chiefs may be able to gouge the Packers in the run game with Isiah Pacheco, a hard, vicious, runner. It’ll be interesting to see if the Packers can keep Mahomes in check as they did in their last meeting, holding the Chiefs to just 13 points at Aarowhead in Jordan Love’s first career start.

This will be a good test for the Chiefs as well, as a foreign team coming into Lambeau for a night game is about as tough an environment as there is. Kansas City is the better team, they’re on the cusp of a dynasty, and if they earn the 1-seed, they’d be on track to host a 6th consecutive Conference Championship game.

The One Matchup That Will Dictate the Outcome

Packers C Josh Myers.

He’s been better as of late, but he’s had some awful “blocks” over the course of the season. It should come as no surprise that the improvement of his play has coincided with Jordan Love’s ascension and the team’s too. Myers will be tasked with blocking, arguably, the best defensive lineman in football; Chris Jones. He can wreck a game against good offensive lines, which Green Bay typically has…

Chiefs DT Chris Jones.

In the aforementioned game, Jones was held to 2 tackles and 2 QB hits. That’s pretty good. Green Bay typically does a good job nullifying great defensive linemen…typically. This year they’ve neutralized Aiden Hutchinson (previous game on Thanksgiving) and Aaron Donald (Rams game), but struggled mightily against Hutchinson in Week 4’s matchup and had a real problem with Las Vegas Raiders’ DE Maxx Crosby.

Prediction

Considering I missed last week’s prediction, happily by the way, that seemed to workout…so let’s try it again.

Chiefs 31
Packers 28 (+7)

Season: 4-7
Overall: 91-59

*If Green Bay pulls off the upset, this could be a trajectory game (again), to something much bigger and brighter.*