Rating the Packers: Week 14 at Bears
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Rating the Packers: Week 14 at Bears By Bob McGinn Posted: Dec 18, 2018 The Green Bay Packers scored 17 points on Sunday at Soldier Field. They probably should have had twice that many. There were receivers running free and targets to be found in the end zone. You don’t expect that against a defense as formidable as the Chicago Bears, but interim coach Joe Philbin found ways to make it happen. The Packers left all those yards and all those points on the field because their quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, had another off day in a season filled with them. You could count half a dozen opportunities downfield for Rodgers on passes he used to complete all the time. On Sunday, those opportunities were missed when his wayward passes fell incomplete. Minus nine starters at kickoff, the Packers lost running back Aaron Jones to a knee injury on the first play of their second possession. In their wounded condition, the Packers needed their heralded quarterback to carry the day. Instead, Rodgers was outplayed by Mitchell Trubisky, the Bears’ second-year quarterback. Here is a rating of the Packers in their 24-17 loss to the Bears, with their 1 to 5 football totals in parentheses. As a team, they received two footballs. The three stars of the game were: 1. Jamaal Williams; 2. Fadol Brown; 3. Tyler Lancaster. RECEIVERS (3) Even this late in the season, there still doesn’t seem to be much, if any chemistry between Aaron Rodgers and young receivers Equanimeous St. Brown (played 42 of the possible 68 snaps on offense), Marquez Valdes- Scantling (21) and Jake Kumerow (21). Of the 39 passes that Rodgers threw to a player, 20 went to either Davante Adams (64) or Randall Cobb (47) whereas only six were directed to the three young players. If there is a communication gap, it’s long past the time when it should have been fixed. Kyle Fuller is a top-flight cornerback. It’s hard to remember the last corner to break up two passes intended for Adams, which Fuller did. Thus, when St. Brown beat Fuller to the post early on third and 9 from the Chicago 23, it was a big deal. That was the hard part. The easy part was for Rodgers, who was afforded a clean pocket, to deliver a strike and tie the score, 7-7. It was a much bigger deal when the pass was so poor that the 6-4 ½ St. Brown never even had a chance to catch it. MVS played more snaps than St. Brown in each of the first 12 games. Now, despite a right elbow injury that requires a brace, St. Brown played four more snaps last week and then almost doubled MVS’ total Sunday. Adams accounted for the team’s three longest gains (28, 28 and 23 yards). It was his fifth 100-yard game of the season. Cobb had the only drop, and it was a bad one on a body catch about 10 yards downfield. Otherwise, Cobb ran some excellent routes but didn’t have much to show for it due to subpar quarterback play. “When Randall’s healthy, I think our offense has been different because we have a true slot guy who can make plays in the slot consistently,” Rodgers said. “Having a slot guy like that who legitimately can get open time after time when we need him.” Just as he did in the opener, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio occasionally required one of his edge players to chuck Jimmy Graham (47, including four with his hand down) before joining the rush. Graham was partly at fault on the end-zone interception because he didn’t put a move on Khalil Mack. He was held up by Mack, and thus entered the route a count late which might have thrown the timing of the route off. Of course, Graham has been a bust in the red zone with merely two touchdowns. He really can’t outrun anybody. His three catches for 32 yards were short shots when the Bears were playing underneath zones and just let him release. Lance Kendricks (nine, seven hand down) equaled his career-high in receptions as a Packer with four. Marcedes Lewis (11, nine hand down) made a great block on SS Adrian Amos for a 10-yard TD run. Robert Tonyan (eight, one hand down) wasn’t targeted. Rookie J’Mon Moore played 17 snaps in the kicking game but none from scrimmage. OFFENSIVE LINE (1 ½) RT Bryan Bulaga (knee) didn’t play. RG Byron Bell is on injured reserve, and the Packers must have tired watching Justin McCray play Games 12-13 because he was benched in favor of Lucas Patrick. LT David Bakhtiari and LG Lane Taylor have had injury problems, and Rodgers indicated C Corey Linsley was playing hurt, too. Given the fact the five starters allowed four sacks, one knockdown and 12 hurries should tell you the unit was overwhelmed. Yet, for as good as the Bears’ front is and how low expectations were for the Packers’ line, it might be said that the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. Take Patrick, the Pier Six brawler. His numbers – two pressures, no “bad” runs – were lows in each category. He’s cumbersome in space and sometimes late to the second level. He also went belly-to-belly against massive Akiem Hicks and held up. Of Hicks’ 3 ½ pressures, 2 ½ came against Linsley. Both of Eddie Goldman’s pressures came at Linsley’s expense as well. You’d have to go back many moons to find the last game Linsley yielded 4 ½ pressures but massive men like Hicks and Goodman are the types of players that give him the most trouble. Mack, in his 62 snaps, basically did what he wanted. Of his six pressures, 4 ½ came against RT Jason Spriggs and 1 ½ against Bakhtiari. Joe Philbin slid the line to help Spriggs but didn’t often designate a tight end or back to assist him. Spriggs’ one-hand stab style of pass blocking leaves him vulnerable to power and edge rushes. He also had two penalties. Shortly before the half, the Packers called a third-and-3 run against a light box that would have converted easily had Spriggs been able to sustain his solo block at the point against LB Leonard Floyd. Williams fell a yard short because of Spriggs, giving the Bears 1 minute, 42 seconds to score another TD before intermission. Some of Bakhtiari’s one-on-one protection against Mack would be worthy of a highlight reel. At the same time, Bakhtiari was too inconsistent with 2 ½ pressures and one-half “bad” run. Taylor missed blocks twice that resulted in sacks for others. His foot still must be a problem. On Monday, rookie T-G Alex Light was suspended by the league for one game (Jets) for violating the substance abuse policy. QUARTERBACKS (1) Aaron Rodgers was moving along nicely in the first 1 ½ quarters. He was getting the ball out fast, probing with screens and run-pass options and generally keeping Vic Fangio and the Bears off balance. Then he missed that touchdown throw to St. Brown and wasn’t the same thereafter. In the end, his 59.5% completion day included seven misfires downfield that doomed his team to defeat. The Packers certainly didn’t have the personnel to play over two or three missed chances like that, let alone seven. One week after a strong showing against Atlanta, Rodgers reverted to the skittish form that has stained his 14 th season. Rodgers sailed two passes over the head of Randall Cobb when he was in the clear 30-plus yards downfield. He put too much air (it resembled a Hail Mary) under a bomb to MVS and instead of a 76-yard TD it was another brutal overthrow. He didn’t put enough air on an end-zone shot to Cobb and nickel back Sherrick McManis was able to break it up. At point- blank range for Rodgers, he threw behind Graham in the end zone when a pass in front of him results in a 9-yard touchdown and not an interception. Even Rodgers’ acute sense of clock management deserted him in the final minute. As always, Rodgers made a few plays. His 28-yard sideline toss to Davante Adams was beautiful. When Leonard Floyd had him dead to rights on fourth and 6, Rodgers shook him off and, keeping his eyes downfield, gunned a 23-yard ball to Adams. Fangio seldom has blitzed Rodgers much over the years. This time, his rate was merely 11.5%. Fangio banked that Rodgers lacked the accuracy to beat the Bears with his coverage people in place, and he turned out to be right. RUNNING BACKS (3) Aaron Jones (seven) didn’t make much headway in his four carries before exiting with a knee injury. That put the game in the hands of Jamaal Williams (59), and with Ty Montgomery in Baltimore and Tra Carson on injured reserve the only other runner was FB Danny Vitale (four). The Packers had reason to be confident in Williams at Soldier Field. The venue marked his coming-out party as a rookie; he broke eight tackles in 20 carries, gaining 57 of his 67 yards after contact. Williams broke just two tackles in his 16 touches this time but made a favorable impression with 97 yards from scrimmage. He was a boring, twisting ball carrier. On the sideline, he carried Leonard Floyd for four extra yards.