Let's not ignore two simple truths about last night

[yooperpackfan]

Opinion is when you say something like the Packers didn't pass to Richard Sherman's side because they were "playing scared". Personally, in my opinion, if you have 2 CBs and one is much better than the other, it is "playing smart" to attack the weaker player.

Do you really think playing on only half the field because you are afraid of one player is smart?
I don't!

 

[AmishMafia]

Do you really think playing on only half the field because you are afraid of one player is smart?
I don't!

Why 1/2 the field? If the WR does a short out, that is where Sherman goes. That isn't half the field.

 

[TJV]

If you are able to "force"who your opponent considers their #1 CB cover your #3 WR, why try to force it to your #3 when your #1 and #2 WRs are being covered by lesser CBs? IMO AmishMafia is correct: I would much rather have Sherman cover Boykin than Jordy or Cobb. And in man coverage no way is that half of the field. Even in "quarters", it's only a quarter!

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Why 1/2 the field? If the WR does a short out, that is where Sherman goes. That isn't half the field.

If you are able to "force"who your opponent considers their #1 CB cover your #3 WR, why try to force it to your #3 when your #1 and #2 WRs are being covered by lesser CBs? IMO AmishMafia is correct: I would much rather have Sherman cover Boykin than Jordy or Cobb. And in man coverage no way is that half of the field. Even in "quarters", it's only a quarter!

Rodgers threw exactly three of his 33 attempts to the right side and none of them travelled farther than two yards, so not throwing Sherman's way actually took a 1/3 of the field away.

 

[yooperpackfan]

Why 1/2 the field? If the WR does a short out, that is where Sherman goes. That isn't half the field.

I know I was over simplifying that. I'm cutting the field down the middle between the hash marks with a corner covering each half.
It really was troubling to me that MM feared that loudmouth so much that they would completely stay away from his zone of responsibility.
I don't recall ever seeing another football team show that much fear even in the Revis island days.

 

[Oski]

Supposed best qb in the league? You are right Peyton manning would have done better. Oh wait

 

[melvin dangerr]

We don't have any other option though at the moment. Don't think Jeremy Vujnovich would be an upgrade and there aren't a lot of impact free agents available.

lets get them before we are down to 3rd string QB

 

[melvin dangerr]

Ok if Sherman was all that and a bag of chips why didn't he move over to the guy who was giving Seattle the most problems like Jordy Nelson, he could have shifted over to cover him ,so I am not giving Sherman the ice man title.

 

[HardRightEdge]

When Williams was in his bum-shoulder slump, there were games where teams did not throw at Shields. There was a 3 game stretch where the throws against Shields could be counted on one hand...I believe that was in 2012.

Exploiting some match-ups to the exclusion of others is hardly unusual, especially when the other options are attractive.

There were seasons when the league threw less than 30 times against Revis or Asomugha. and those guys actually played man defense against #1 receivers.

It's more obvious in this case because: (1) Sherman's known to generate headlines both before and after the whistle, so he draws focus and (2) he does not change sides of the field.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

When Williams was in his bum-shoulder slump, there were games where teams did not throw at Shields. There was a 3 game stretch where the throws against Shields could be counted on one hand...I believe that was in 2012.

Exploiting some match-ups to the exclusion of others is hardly unusual, especially when the other options are attractive.

There were seasons when the league threw less than 30 times against Revis or Asomugha. and those guys actually played man defense against #1 receivers.

It's more obvious in this case because: (1) Sherman's known to generate headlines both before and after the whistle, so he draws focus and (2) he does not change sides of the field.

I'm fine with not targeting Sherman a lot of times but not throwing to the right side even once made the job for the best FS in the league easier.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I'm fine with not targeting Sherman a lot of times but not throwing to the right side even once made the job for the best FS in the league easier.

I'm not seeing that. If the FS shades away from the Sherman side, what difference does it make if it's always one side or it alternates? If anything, it makes it easier for the offense because it's known where he'll be pre-snap.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

We are just as good as Seattle. We just played scared it seemed to me. Why they didnt feed Jordy all night? Crazy. Didnt hear Boykin or Adams name all night. Our #3 and #4 Wrs are bigger better stronger than any teams nickle and dime backs. We didnt exploit those matchups. i understand sherman was on boykin all night, thats an advantage to us. Throw to the other 3 then. Seattle even lost their #2 CB later in the game. We shouldve dominated... Quick passes to counter the rush. Send a guy deep every down to spread the field. Instead we sat back and waited for the defense to break down, hoping the o-line can hold them until a wr gets totally and completely open... In pre-season Rodgers was dotting the eye 40 yards down field. But with seattle he didnt trust the ball would get there, so he didnt even try... We play greenbay football, and we beat seattle down!.

Brad jones two holding calls, and non-interception. Haha non-interception. Baktiari's BS holding call. The non-holding call against guion when wilson ran past him to almost score, eventually scoring. Back that sucker up 10 yds, and its a long fieldgoal! Guion's shoulder pads almost got turned backwards, and the play ran 2 feet away from him while this is happening, and no call. Jordys 2 TDs he should have had. Rodgers throwing it away when he has an easy scramble for 1st down. Losing our starting right guard, and TE on the same play.................. I mean this chit happens. But not to us. and not this much... Its not because seattle is so dang good. Its because we choked. We shouldve come out and played our game. If we lose we lose. All this special treatment to great teams, throws us off more than it help us.

 

[TJV]

We are just as good as Seattle.

No. Unfortunately, no "we" are not.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I'm not seeing that. If the FS shades away from the Sherman side, what difference does it make if it's always one side or it alternates? If anything, it makes it easier for the offense because it's known where he'll be pre-snap.

It doesn't matter if Sherman alternates sides, not even thinking about throwing in his direction makes it way easier for Thomas, who is more than capable of covering the entire field as a single high safety, as he only has to cover 2/3 of the field.

 

[adambr2]

He held up well in Atlanta and KC pre-injury. He also has played well in the pre-season despite one poor showing against St. Louis. Uneven play is common among most players, especially those who haven't played much. Sherrod suffered a freak injury, lost two years and showed well in camp this year. IMHO he's earned more time before being called a bust. Using your standard Aaron Rodgers would have been regarded a bust after his hamstring injury following the Cowboys game.

Showing that Bulaga played poorly on an impossibly loud fast track...

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Good grief. Comparing Rodgers' injury as Favre's backup to Sherrod to label him a bust? Really bro? Not even close to the same thing.

Also, reading into pre-season performances rarely allows for much insight.

For the record, I obviously hope you are right as they certainly need him to be more than a Marshall Newhouse, especially if Bulaga is out for any extended period (which fortunately it sounds like he's not).

Hoping he will hold up better against the Jets preparing as the starter if indeed Bulaga is out.

 

[Joe Nor Cal Packer]

1. As of last night Seattle is hands down a whole nother level better than us as a football team right now. This has actually been mentioned by other posters so I'm not going to say anything other than that.

2. This team is soft and weak and it has been proven time and time again by teams like the Giants the 49ers and now the Seahawks. On top of this now this team as of last night has also played scared. They we're so scared of Richard Sherman that not only was not a single pass thrown in that direction they didn't even look in that direction. Think about that, the supposedly best quarterback in the entire league was so scared of 1 player that they didn't even look in that direction. An entire one third of a football field was ignored because they were scared of it.

That is flat out embarrassing and the entire organization should be ashamed of themselves. The Packers were scared to play football the way they wanted to and instead played football exactly how Seattle wants them to and because of this they got a mudhole stomped in them last night.

The entire culture and attitude in the Green Bay locker room needs to change or what we witnessed last night will be the same result we see every time we face another elite team. Sure we will continue to win lots of football games and we will continue to be considered one of the better teams in the NFL but the goal is not to be better it is to be the best and until this team decides they want to be the best there will be a lot of disappointments come playoff time for this organization.

One last thing I wanted to mention was that I've seen and heard a lot of people complaining about Clinton-Dix's missed tackles last night but you know what? He missed tackles last night because he was playing with energy, enthusiasm and aggressiveness in his first NFL football game ever. He failed last night because he tried and he will get better and that is acceptable. Unfortunately a whole lot of the rest of this football team failed because they didn't even try last night and that is unacceptable.

This is all true. And you can sum up this game with one statement - "The Packers played scared." Period. Not one pass thrown Sherman's way? Gutless, pathetic.

 

[Bignutz]

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The better team won last night, no doubt about it, but "a whole nother level"? This wasn't some top 25 college team against some 1AA team that ended 49-0. It wasn't even the super bowl game last year which was way worse than this. When teams are on "a whole nother level" the "lower level team" never leads and it's not tied until three minutes before halftime.

As for the "they're soft, we'll never win" bit, you're mistaking "soft" with "not built to beat running teams". Having a smaller, more mobile dline and aiming your linebackers more at outside pass rushing than run stuff in the middle will mean that you'll have a great chance against the vast majority of the league but have trouble with the seahawks, 49ers and vikings. I was hoping that they'd move back towards the Howard Green/Raji/Jolly type line that won them a super bowl, but they wanted to go in another direction and will now have to find a way to win that type of game. Don't pretend though that that's impossible just so you can be the most hysterical of the hysterical tough guys. We got smoked by the 9ers two years ago and if Hyde makes that pick last year we beat them. Can they do it? Sure. It'll take some luck, but every team (including the seahawks) needs that too. Will they do it? We have 15 more games at least to find out.

Do you really think playing on only half the field because you are afraid of one player is smart?
I don't!

Amen!

 

[Joe Nor Cal Packer]

1) The defense is still bad. Defense can't stop the run, rush the passer or get off the field on third down. It's just the same thing over and over and over again.

2) Derrick Sherrod is HORRIBLE.

Sherrod just stood there on that strip/safety. His only contribution was to save a defensive touchdown - hardly "play of the week" material. The headline for this game is that the Packers did play scared. But how on earth did Sherrod make the roster?

 

[Deleted member 6794]

But how on earth did Sherrod make the roster?

He made the roster because of Barclay's injury.

 

[Joe Nor Cal Packer]

if you think that is opinion you did not even watch a second of last night's football game cuz everything I said and number two is the truth period end of story.

You're absolutely right on both counts. They never threw a pass to Sherman's side of the field. That is based on fear and there is no place in this game for crippling fear. I believe AR can outplay Richard Sherman. To not challenge Sherman once was gutless and pathetic. I hope they find their stones this week.

 

[Joe Nor Cal Packer]

He made the roster because of Barclay's injury.

Got it. Well then they need to find a replacement for Sherrod. I know he has been injury plagued, but he just doesn't seem to be NFL material. It's just a matter of time before AR takes a major hit with Sherrod on the line, and that just can't happen.

 

[Joe Nor Cal Packer]

He held up well in Atlanta and KC pre-injury. He also has played well in the pre-season despite one poor showing against St. Louis. Uneven play is common among most players, especially those who haven't played much. Sherrod suffered a freak injury, lost two years and showed well in camp this year. IMHO he's earned more time before being called a bust. Using your standard Aaron Rodgers would have been regarded a bust after his hamstring injury following the Cowboys game.

Showing that Bulaga played poorly on an impossibly loud fast track...

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I can go along with giving Sherrod more time, but it's AR's health on the line here. I don't much care for how guys do in camp or at practice. It's the real games that count. What are the alternatives to Sherrod? Are there any outside of a trade or FA acquisition.......? Scary.

 

[GoPGo]

It doesn't matter if Sherman alternates sides, not even thinking about throwing in his direction makes it way easier for Thomas, who is more than capable of covering the entire field as a single high safety, as he only has to cover 2/3 of the field.

Why would you throw toward a guy when the WR he's covering isn't open? They didn't avoid throwing his way by design. They didn't throw his way because Boykin couldn't get open.

 

[Joe Nor Cal Packer]

Why would you throw toward a guy when the WR he's covering isn't open? They didn't avoid throwing his way by design. They didn't throw his way because Boykin couldn't get open.

Boykin couldn't get open? For an entire game? I get that Sherman is good, but no one is that good. Maybe you're right I'm not saying you're wrong, just hard to believe. And AR certainly has faith in Boykin. I think they were just terrified of throwing Sherman's way. That's playing not to lose, as opposed to playing to win. When you play not to lose, you almost always lose.

 

[GoPGo]

Boykin couldn't get open? For an entire game? I get that Sherman is good, but no one is that good. Maybe you're right I'm not saying you're wrong, just hard to believe. And AR certainly has faith in Boykin. I think they were just terrified of throwing Sherman's way. That's playing not to lose, as opposed to playing to win. When you play not to lose, you almost always lose.

I don't buy into the notion that Aaron Rodgers is "terrified" of anyone.