Playing the " What If" game...

[Deleted member 6794]

At some point we need to realize how silly our standards are. The Packers defense forced a top 5 QB into the WORST game of his career and we're classifying it as a poor representation? You're contending that the Packers just lucked into that terrible game from Wilson? That must really tick off all those good/elite defenses that Wilson has carved up.

It was Wilson's worst game of his career for 55 minutes. Unfortunately that was followed by the best seven minutes of his first six seasons in the league.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

It was Wilson's worst game of his career for 55 minutes. Unfortunately that was followed by the best seven minutes of his first six seasons in the league.

Only because conservative coaching esured the Seahawks were close

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Only because conservative coaching esured the Seahawks were close

That doesn't change the fact the defense collapsed late in that game and allowed Wilson and the Seahawks to put up 21 points in seven minutes.

 

[Heyjoe4]

2016? Nope. We had serious flaws on that team and BB would have been able to exploit us easily.

2014? Depends entirely, and I cannot stress this enough, on Rodgers' health.

Go to the regular season when we did beat the Pats. Great game and we won. Woo us. But look at *how* that happened.

BB's general approach is to take away your greatest weapon and/or the part of your game he fears/worries about the most. So how did BB play the Packer offense?

1. Double Nelson with the No. 2 corner and a Safety.

2. Solo Cobb w/ Revis

3. Force you to beat us with your No. 3 option ( Adams )

And most important of all:

4. Keep Rodgers in the pocket. Don't let him escape, don't let him scramble.

More than anything else, this tells me what BB was worried about--Rodgers breaking contain, making plays, running for 1st downs. He stuck to this principle so hard, they never really rushed him. It was rush-contain in the extreme.

Now we have gimpy, can barely run Rodgers. BB no longer has to adhere to no. 4 on the list up there. What does he do instead? I'd be worried.

Why don’t you think Rodgers can run anymore? I think he can when he’s healthy. Yeah he’s had hamstring and calf problems that limited him, but I think he still runs pretty well.

 

[Heyjoe4]

You mean like 200 yds. and 3 TDs in the last 7 minutes of that game? That was clearly not Wilson's worst game of his career and the Packer defense was clearly not good. The closers won, the other guys didn't. If you can't close you do not earn a designation of "good". There's not much more to it than that. Fire Capers! was 3 years late in coming.

“The closers won”. Best description of that game I’ve ever read. The game is 60 minutes long. The Hags remembered that, the Packers didn’t. Being the best team on the field for 55 minutes is not the same as winning. As for the topic, I think they beat the Pats in 2014, not in 2016.

 

[mradtke66]

Why don’t you think Rodgers can run anymore? I think he can when he’s healthy. Yeah he’s had hamstring and calf problems that limited him, but I think he still runs pretty well.

I'm specifically talking about the 2014 post-season. Assuming we beat the Seahawks and met the Pats in the Super Bowl, Rodgers would have been unable to run in that game. Ergo, BB changes the gameplan, and I like our chances a lot less that I did for the regular season meeting.

 

[Heyjoe4]

I'm specifically talking about the 2014 post-season. Assuming we beat the Seahawks and met the Pats in the Super Bowl, Rodgers would have been unable to run in that game. Ergo, BB changes the gameplan, and I like our chances a lot less that I did for the regular season meeting.

Got it. And you’re right, BB is brilliant at taking away whatever is key to an oppnent’s game. A gimpy Rodgers would have been a sitting duck, although he certainly played well against the Hags that year. Anyway, good point.

 

[HardRightEdge]

“The closers won”. Best description of that game I’ve ever read. The game is 60 minutes long. The Hags remembered that, the Packers didn’t. Being the best team on the field for 55 minutes is not the same as winning. As for the topic, I think they beat the Pats in 2014, not in 2016.

I dunno about 2014 or 2016; I no longer have a feel for those Pats teams. But I think that Packer team would have beaten the 2017 Pats though I don't think they could have gotten past Philly.

 

[pacmaniac]

In 2014 I would say no. Because we already beat NE in the regular season that year. Anyone actually think MM is good enough to beat Belichick twice in one season?

 

[Deleted member 6794]

In 2014 I would say no. Because we already beat NE in the regular season that year. Anyone actually think MM is good enough to beat Belichick twice in one season?

Well, I'm convinced McCarthy would have been able to achieve that feat as Gary Kubiak did it the following year.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

That doesn't change the fact the defense collapsed late in that game and allowed Wilson and the Seahawks to put up 21 points in seven minutes.

Yes, but I don't blame the defense for failing on a few plays while the offense failed on far more. It's like blaming a loss on Rodgers when he throws four touchdowns but one interception and then claiming that one INT renders the rest pointless.

 

[pacmaniac]

That doesn't change the fact the defense collapsed late in that game and allowed Wilson and the Seahawks to put up 21 points in seven minutes.

Not exactly. The D didn't give up the fake FG TD. The D didn't botch the onside kick recovery.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Yes, but I don't blame the defense for failing on a few plays while the offense failed on far more. It's like blaming a loss on Rodgers when he throws four touchdowns but one interception and then claiming that one INT renders the rest pointless.

There's absolutely no doubt the offense deserves some of the blame for not putting that game out of reach but the defense definitely contributed to the loss by collapsing as soon as Burnett went down after intercepting Wilson.

Not exactly. The D didn't give up the fake FG TD. The D didn't botch the onside kick recovery.

The defense gave up 15 points in the last five minutes of regulation and another six in overtime. The fake field goal happened in the third quarter. While it's true the unit didn't botch the onside kick the Seahawks were still 50 yards away from the endzone but it took them only four plays to score a touchdown.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

There's absolutely no doubt the offense deserves some of the blame for not putting that game out of reach but the defense definitely contributed to the loss by collapsing as soon as Burnett went down after intercepting Wilson.



The defense gave up 15 points in the last five minutes of regulation and another six in overtime. The fake field goal happened in the third quarter. While it's true the unit didn't botch the onside kick the Seahawks were still 50 yards away from the endzone but it took them only four plays to score a touchdown.

The offense doesn't deserve "some" blame. The is deserves the majority of the blame. If MM hadn't been afraid of gaining two yards with his vaunted offense the defense would never have been in position to lose the game. If the offense had not pretty much waterw all the INTs the defense game them, the game would have been over by halftime.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

The offense doesn't deserve "some" blame. The is deserves the majority of the blame. If MM hadn't been afraid of gaining two yards with his vaunted offense the defense would never have been in position to lose the game. If the offense had not pretty much waterw all the INTs the defense game them, the game would have been over by halftime.

While that's true you have to realize the Seahawks featured the best defense in the league and Rodgers was ailing.

 

[rmontro]

“The closers won”. Best description of that game I’ve ever read. The game is 60 minutes long. The Hags remembered that, the Packers didn’t. Being the best team on the field for 55 minutes is not the same as winning. As for the topic, I think they beat the Pats in 2014, not in 2016.

I agree with your comment about the Hags. You have to play for 60 minutes. Or longer if there's overtime.

But I'm not sure we beat the Patriots in 2014. Maybe we would. But when we beat them during the regular season that year, that was on our home field.
Also, as has been said, Belichick takes your strength away, and Adams stepped up. We played the perfect game to beat them on that day. Not sure that happens a second time, especially on a neutral field. Hard to say.

 

[King of Jeans]

2014 yes.
2016 no.

 

[PackAttack12]

2014 will forever be remembered as one that got away.