After watching the Packers lose to the Lions Sunday, it is fair to ask if the Green Bay defense is good enough to get to the Super Bowl and win. It’s a unit that really hasn’t played well since a week ten shutout of the Seahawks, with the exception of a beatdown against a decimated Vikings team.
The Packer defensive starters played the entire first half, and were riddled by the two-win Lions for long drives and seventeen points. It seems clear that when the four man pass rush can’t get home, the back seven is not instinctive enough or quick enough to cover. We’ve been seeing that now for several weeks. Granted, De’Vondre Campbell was being rested, but his value is mostly as a run and short pass stopper. Trick plays should not be working for long touchdowns. There should be enough experience and anticipation to at least stop such plays from reaching the end zone. Did this unit peak too early?
So as we head to the playoffs, once again Green Bay will likely have to outscore its opponents. The good news is, the team appears to be well suited to do that. Aaron Rodgers did nothing to hurt his MVP chances, Davante Adams is enjoying the best receiving yardage season in franchise history, Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon look like a formidable rushing duo, and Allen Lazard has emerged as a true number two receiver. Tackle David Bakhtiari and center Josh Myers looked good in their return. Toss in the potential of a few big plays from folks like Randall Cobb and Josiah Deguara, and this bunch will be hard to stop.
I’m not drawing any conclusions from anything that happened in the second half. This was the Super Bowl for the Lions. Still, I would have liked to see How Jordan Love might have fared on those last two drives if he was playing in front of an offensive line that consisted of Bakhtiari, Jenkins, Myers, Patrick and Turner.
GAME BALLS
Patrick Taylor
He basically was the Green Bay offense in the second half. He showed patience and vision, and ran with toughness on his way to 53 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a critical third down pass to convert inside the five. The former Memphis star served notice he wants to be part of the plan next year, even after Kylin Hill comes back.
Allen Lazard
With everyone in the greater Detroit zip code covering Davante Adams, Lazard is showing he can win his match-ups, and be a reliable third down and red zone option for QB12. Five grabs for 75 yards and a pair of scores, and that was just one half. I hope none of the other general managers are taking notice.
Dean Lowry
Four tackles, two for a loss, and a sack which gave him a career high five for the season. He’s a lunch pail guy, but this defense desperately needs him to continue this level of play in the post season.
LAME CALLS
Amari Rodgers running out that kickoff.
What was he thinking? Under one minute left, down seven. Did he really think he was going to break a long return given that unit’s performance all year long? The seven seconds he took off the clock might have been critical in a different situation. The bonehead decision made it difficult to remember a nicely done 24 yard punt return in the third quarter.
Defensive confusion
An old bugaboo rearing its head again, particularly on the backside. Corners and safeties seeming confused as to their assignments, slow to react and adjust, late to the ball, missing tackles. Darnell Savage in particular is struggling. Hard to figure out what’s going on with him.
AFTERTHOUGHTS
Davante Adams (on Jordy Nelson texting him after the game): “He texted me as soon as I walked in here…..He said he didn’t get a chance to watch the game but he said he just saw the stats and saw that I got it (the franchise receiving yardage record) and he congratulated me and congratulated the team on this stretch.”
Matt LaFleur: “No matter who is out there, the expectations don’t change. We’re about winning. We’re the Green Bay Packers and we don’t just celebrate effort. We gotta win and we will never accept losing.”
Aaron Rodgers (on the return of Bakhtiari): “I’m so proud of him. I thought he was fantastic. But I’m just really happy for him. He’s a great person, and he makes our team better. Obviously he’s an incredible player.”
THREE AND OUT
• The coolest play of the season might have been that no-look pass by Rodgers over the middle, against a blitz, to Lazard to convert a third down. ARod would have been a good point guard on a basketball team.
• The blocking on Deguara’s 62 yard tight end screen touchdown was a thing of beauty. First Lucas Patrick sprung him, and then EQ took out two guys downfield to pave the way.
• In a game in which the Packers just didn’t want to get anyone hurt, there were at least two injuries of concern. Marquez Valdes-Scantling left in the first half with a back injury and did not return. Chandon Sullivan went to the tunnel in the second half with an unspecified problem.
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Ken Lass is a former Green Bay television sports anchor and 43 year media veteran, a lifelong Packers fan, and a shareholder.