There was a whole lot that went wrong with that game. Jeff covered a bunch of things we’ve all been thinking in his Rant & Rave article. Still, there were several positives that I took away from this game which have eased the pain a bit.
It could be worse
I know I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, anybody who grew up in the 1970s or remember the Packers of the 1950s is well aware that we are very blessed to have this team.
The kind of play we’ve seen out of the 2015 Packers in the last three games is the kind of play we used to see out of them every single game.
While this team is definitely not ready to match up against playoff teams right now, it’s still a very very good team.
They showed they can be scrappy
When the first half it came to a close, I think most of us figured it was going to be another Broncos-esque display. I personally had my doubts about this game before the game even started. And, I figured the second half will be more of the same as we experienced in the first half.
Still the team never gave up. Despite the fact that they knew that things were terribly wrong, despite the fact that they knew they were not firing on all cylinders, despite the fact that the Panthers had scored almost at will in the first half; we kept at it and made a heroic effort.
Go Pack Go!
So, while the team and the coaches need to go back to the drawing board and focus on what went drastically wrong the last few games, I have the luxury of focusing on what I love about this team.
Packer proud to the end!
I expected to lose both of the last 2 games – in fact, stated as much on your websites prior to the games. (Not often, but every once in a while I’m correct.) In my opinion, there were too many problems to fix quickly on both sides of the ball. It was disappointing to see that Capers has not learned from his mistakes which he duplicates game after game, and year after year. On and down and short he’s an asset for us, but on any down and long he’s an asset for opponents with his zones and reduced pass rushers. And for crying out loud Mr. Clements, get rid of that pitch play which is a guaranteed loss every time.
But there’s lots of good to take from this loss and quickly build upon. I was glad to see Rodgers under center more often which led to a couple nice runs by Starks and effective play action passes, to see Clements use screens with Starks, to see positive results when Rodgers was forced to trust his receivers, and to see our D step up with some emotion late in the game.
I think we high lighted the problems in this game, which have always been about execution, trusting our receivers to make plays, and attitude. Our O-line cannot run block, period. It was disappointing to see that we didn’t immediately pick up our game after our opening score of the 3rd quarter. We started the game flat and went down hill when things weren’t going our way. It was an uphill battle to get our heads and hearts back into the game from there on.
But we also showed the solutions. Starks is our best RB (wish we’d bring up Crockett to use with him instead of Lacy). Everything changed with about 9 mins left in the game, after a bit of yelling, pushing, and shoving on the sidelines. Peppers gave the D a good tongue lashing. And it obviously woke up HHCD and others. When talent and finesse aren’t enough to win games, fire and attitude can make the difference. The D picked up their game and shut down the Panthers for the remainder of the game. The offense continued to make plays and found the end zone consistently. Rodgers finished with 370+ yards passing, and the INT at the end was only due to him giving up on a well designed play too early.
The Packers of the 1st half and much of the 3rd quarter were not a playoff contender. But the Packers of the last 9 mins of this game were Super Bowl contenders. I don’t fear any team when we play with emotion and trust each other to do their jobs. If we can learn to do so for 4 quarters, there is no ceiling for the talent on this team. Go Pack go!
Twitter: GPN_JR
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I totally agree. If we can put it together for four quarters we can absolutely run with anyone in the league.