Official studs and duds Viking game

[Ceodore]

it wasn't a call. it was a screw up. when MLF saw rodgers in a huddle on 4th down he should have called a timeout and brought the O off the field. has MLF given the strategic decisions over to rodgers too? lol

You're saying they intended to go for a FG? I mean i didn't have a problem with going for it on 4th down.

 

[rmontro]

I agree, especially the running game against another very good defense. This is definitely not McCarthy's offense anymore.

True. LeFleur's not abandoning the run game, like McCarthy would (sometimes inexplicably, when it was working).
The run game isn't always looking good, but the more important thing is we're winning. The run game is playing its part in that.

 

[greengold]

I was holding my breath thinking that Zimmer would just keep running the ball and the Packer defense would be faced with having to stop 4 plays inside the 10 yard line to win the game. Cousins choosing to toss that ball up for grabs in the endzone and Kings great interception, made me turn to my buddy and say "Kirk Cutler has just left the field".

THAT is F'ing AWESOME.... nice one P2k

 

[greengold]

You dont like what you have seen so far? The first 25 minutes or so looked very good. We screwed up the 3 pts based on down confusion, and another drive stopped because of a fumble. Thought the play designs were very creative. Play selection was not predictable. Both big improvements over MM. Execution was good, but not crisp. Thought Rodgers missed a couple out there. To me, i saw a lot to be excited about in only our 2nd game. And mind you, this was against a very good defense.

Another drive failed on a horrific snap by Linsley a foot in front of Aaron's feet in shotgun for a fumble.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I was smiling ear to ear when I left the game yesterday, the Packers got the W and most of the major players escaped injury free. In 15 weeks, all I am going to see is that W, how they got there won't matter to me. Sure the offense needs some work, the TE's and WR's really need some work and our short game needs some work, but that was a W against a pretty decent division rival, I will take it. I can't help but read some of the posts and see 2 very different reactions to this game.

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[greengold]

Yea it sucks. If it's a 3rd and 2 or some other short down & distance I have little to no faith that the offense will be able to pick it up via the run. It's seemingly been like this for years. Our oline just gets owned at the point of attack.

Alright, a RB needs some blocking up front for things to work. Again, we faced a very highly regarded front 7... Patience.

 

[mradtke66]

Yea it sucks. If it's a 3rd and 2 or some other short down & distance I have little to no faith that the offense will be able to pick it up via the run. It's seemingly been like this for years. Our oline just gets owned at the point of attack.

I think those plays are more difficult than fans give them credit for.

Yes, some teams are build to get those two yards. But not many.

On 3rd and 1 or 2, the defense is going to load up the box, shoot gaps, and generally cause problems. I think the majority of defenses are going to win a majority of those plays.

To actually win that down and distance, most offenses need to use some combination of the following:

• Be unpredictable. Don't just run it up the gut all the time.
• Change up their tactics. Turn them into passing downs.
• Fool the defense. If you want to run up the gut, call a shift. Then motion. Then dummy audible. And maybe do it again. Do everything in your power to convince them your tailback isn't just going to smash up in the A-gap. That little bit of indecision might be enough
• And probably more than I've written here.

 

[greengold]

Graham sucks.

If he doesn't start producing I firmly believe he will wind up cut. He looks awful and is not creating space as a receiver. Slow is right. Forget it. Keep an extra OL in to help block in high pressure situations/run plays. I'd much rather see that.

Maybe, Graham becomes part of a trade?

 

[DarkHelmet]

Studs:

Defense. Two or three bad plays against a pretty good offense. The long run by Cook was painful. Can't let it happen. The TD that should have been a knock-down/interception -- if Alexander says he lost it in the sun I actually feel better about it. Because in the absence of that factor his failure to knock it down is baffling, given how good he is. Martinez: awesome. Need him to stay healthy. King pick = beautiful thing.

A. Jones: did what we needed against a tough defense.
D. Adams: the guy just catches balls, including strongly contested ones.
Scott: we should not underestimate how much excellent punting helps when your offense does a few consecutive three-and-outs.

On the pick play called against the Vikes: in real time as I watched the play unfold I said to my son on the couch "That's a pick play. Too bad they never call it." Then lo and behold, the replay guys catch it. It only got reviewed because it was a scoring play. If it had a 30 yard toss to the 1 yard line it would have gone uncalled. I'm okay with it. Not thrilled to have everything second-guessed, but honestly, teams have been running pick plays on us for years and it never gets called. It seems the league is now serious about offensive pass interference. I think that helps us on balance. I'm sure we've run a few pick plays that didn't get flagged, but I think we're less frequent offenders.

Duds:
The failure to kick a field goal was simply a Rodgers/MLF miscommunication/flat out mistake. MLF would have called for the FG, which was the right call. Rodgers admits he blew it on misunderstanding the down/spot. It happens. Need to be more careful going forward.

I disagree with the complaints about our receivers. Would be nice to see MVS hang onto that contested catch, but the defense gets paid to play, too. The Vikes have a good defense, period. They're going to win some of those battles. The Geronimo fumble was unfortunate. We were on a roll. Again, it happens. Thankfully, this time it didn't cost us the game.

Graham was a dud. The guy cannot block. I understand MLF's thinking about not showing his hand by confining Graham only to pass plays. It's nice idea. If Graham were an average or modestly below average blocker it might work. But Graham CANNOT block. Don't ask him to do it. Unless you want Rodgers out for the season with another broken bone.

Bottom line: We beat the Vikes, who have a very good defense and pretty potent offense. Our record against them of late has been terrible. Credit to MLF for turning that around, and credit to Gute for bringing in some players on the D.

 

[Mondio]

These are games we've had trouble winning in the past, and we've doubled our division win total from last year already. The offense clearly has things to work on. The good news is they also clearly have players to work with. It's week 2 and our defense has been able to make up for any shortfall thus far. I think it's ok to have some optimism while recognizing what needs work.

 

[Mondio]

If he doesn't start producing I firmly believe he will wind up cut. He looks awful and is not creating space as a receiver. Slow is right. Forget it. Keep an extra OL in to help block in high pressure situations/run plays. I'd much rather see that.

Maybe, Graham becomes part of a trade?

he's not, he's already guaranteed his money, we gain nothing by cutting him. As poor as he is playing, he's likely at least better than any 400K replacement we'll have to sign to take his place.

He likely is not here next season, but that's a season away yet

 

[mongoosev]

I was smiling ear to ear when I left the game yesterday, the Packers got the W and most of the major players escaped injury free. In 15 weeks, all I am going to see is that W, how they got there won't matter to me. Sure the offense needs some work, the TE's and WR's really need some work and our short game needs some work, but that was a W against a pretty decent division rival, I will take it. I can't help but read some of the posts and see 2 very different reactions to this game.

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They can't seem to sync. It's either D does good and O sucks or the opposite. Nevertheless, keep those underwear on for the rest of the season!

 

[Mondio]

Duds:
The failure to kick a field goal was simply a Rodgers/MLF miscommunication/flat out mistake. MLF would have called for the FG, which was the right call. Rodgers admits he blew it on misunderstanding the down/spot. It happens. Need to be more careful going forward.

I disagree with the complaints about our receivers. Would be nice to see MVS hang onto that contested catch, but the defense gets paid to play, too. The Vikes have a good defense, period. They're going to win some of those battles. The Geronimo fumble was unfortunate. We were on a roll. Again, it happens. Thankfully, this time it didn't cost us the game.

.

It is nice to have breakdowns now and still win. Everyone on this team is capable of learning and I think will and we'll be better for it. Any time you can create learning experiences and still come away with a W is another W as far as i'm concerned.

and yes, that was a tough catch MVS would have had to make, but the really good WR's make that catch more often than not. I think he can better and can be a really good guy for us and I want to see him start making catches like that.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

If he doesn't start producing I firmly believe he will wind up cut. He looks awful and is not creating space as a receiver. Slow is right. Forget it. Keep an extra OL in to help block in high pressure situations/run plays. I'd much rather see that.

He won't be cut this season, that really serves no purpose, since his salary is now fully guaranteed for the season. But next season isn't looking good so far for #80 being in Green and Gold. Tonyan is really the only other TE that is much of a receiving threat, so we may see more of him and less of Graham, until the Packers are in the Red Zone, where I still think Graham can be an asset.

While I didn't really expect to see much from Sternberger this season, his ankle injury might turn out to be a bigger blow to the position than expected. I hope he is healing fast, because we probably could use him towards the later half of the season.

 

[AmishMafia]

it wasn't a call. it was a screw up. when MLF saw rodgers in a huddle on 4th down he should have called a timeout and brought the O off the field. has MLF given the strategic decisions over to rodgers too? lol

I thought about that as well. But at the time, i thought AR was trying to draw the defense off with a hard count. Shocked when they snapped it, was expecting a TO at last moment.

Maybe MLF thought same? He didnt say, but shouldered some of the blame.

 

[Mavster]

Alright, a RB needs some blocking up front for things to work. Again, we faced a very highly regarded front 7... Patience.

While that is true we need to be able to win some of those. We just can't say "well their front 7 is good". Moving forward i'd like to see more Jenkins and LESS Taylor. He's putrid

 

[AmishMafia]

Another drive failed on a horrific snap by Linsley a foot in front of Aaron's feet in shotgun for a fumble.

Forgot about that. But yeah, early season jitters. Players will get better at those things and not a reflection (at this point) on the scheme or the HC. Now if players continue to frequently goof in week 8, yeah, its on the HC.

 

[gbgary]

You're saying they intended to go for a FG? I mean i didn't have a problem with going for it on 4th down.

rodgers said he thought it was 1st down...so in his mind it clearly wasn't a go-for-it thing on 4th down. MLF knew it was 4th down but stood there and watched rodgers bring guys to the line, and run a play, instead of calling a TO. so...an easy 3 points was tossed away.

 

[Mondio]

There will be lots of learning experiences for the first time head coach. Nobody gets thru it unscathed. Be thankful the team was able to recover and play thru it for the victory.

 

[AmishMafia]

I think what's got people not liking LaFleur are bad challenge decisions he's made that at times look worse than McCarthy's. I don't know if that red flag he threw on the Thielen catch was one he did on his own instinct, or one that someone up in the booth told him to do, but whatever it was, so far he's made too very bad challenge decisions this season.

So far, those gambled timeouts haven't cost us yet, but if this doesn't stop at some point, they will. McCarthy gambled too much with challenges, although one time he did get lucky with the Dez Bryant play being overturned. LaFleur seems to be a graduate of MM's coach challenge school though.

First of all, i think very few fans don't like MLF.

Couple points:
1. Being a HC is not easy. And during game time there is a ton of stuff going on. He is talking to players, coaches, spotters, medical, refs, . . . .
2. The game plan was outstanding. MM was creative early, but waned in subsequent years. It was nice to see somethin new.
3. Players are still learning the system.
4. Players not in the swing of things, dumb little mistake by even veteran players.
5. He is very young with no experience.

Remember Belichick was fired from his first job. Its not easy. Give him some time.

And good grief, dont focus on .75% of his job, challenge calls. Look at the other 99.25% when forming an opinion!

 

[gbgary]

There will be lots of learning experiences for the first time head coach. Nobody gets thru it unscathed. Be thankful the team was able to recover and play thru it for the victory.

should be a lesson to MLF to not completely turn the 2-min offence over to rodgers.

 

[Mondio]

it's not surprising that is the lesson you think needs to be taught. So many other interpretations like simple game situation awareness, but whatever shot can be taken at Rodgers I guess LOL

 

[greengold]

While that is true we need to be able to win some of those. We just can't say "well their front 7 is good". Moving forward i'd like to see more Jenkins and LESS Taylor. He's putrid

Of course we need to win them! I'm all for starting Elgton Jenkins at LG on Sunday. Never would I say what you just insinuated. I was merely pointing out the level of talent we have faced in our first two games, and understanding what our OL have had to contend with, on top of a new blocking system/scheme.

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On Graham, yeah, I get it, but I just want to cut him and move on.... He's taking up a VALUABLE roster space. One of Gutekunst's more expensive mistakes. Unless they somehow find a way to make him an asset in this offense, which I just doubt highly. Jace Sternberger can't get healthy again quick enough for me. C'mon Jace!!!!

 

[OldSchool101]

yes i know. MLF also said could have called a timeout and avoided turning the ball over. MLF also blamed himself.

Well now I blame myself for thinking this was intentional. We’re a bunch of misfits from HC to casual Fan

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

should be a lesson to MLF to not completely turn the 2-min offence over to rodgers.

LOL....really? Come on man, have you seen what Rodgers has done during his career with under 2 minutes in the game? This isn't about MLF and Rodgers and who should be calling the shots, this is about one play, one guy (MLF) stepping in, because he saw something Rodgers didn't (4th down). No different than Rodgers going with an audible at the LOS when he sees something MLF didn't expect. Neither #12 or MLF should take it personal when they are working together for the betterment of the team.

I like some of your posts, but I really think you need some clearer vision or take a step back on this whole Rodgers thing, because you seem to be trying very hard to stretch every little thing into "its Rodgers fault".