Seeing that my pulse is still somewhere north of 120, I screamed so loud it scared my 8 year old half to death, and there’s something satisfying about snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, I really have no coherent thoughts right now, let alone full paragraphs that are grammatically correct, the aftermath this week is going to be a messy amalgamation of my synapses randomly firing. I swear this game knocked a few minutes off my life.
So Listicles it is…
- Well, will you look at that. Isn’t Aaron Rodgers supposed to be this doof that can’t convert anything in the fourth quarter and suck dead toads through a straw, incapable of a last minute victory? There was a shot of him on the bench after that last touchdown. Why yes, that was a smug little smirk on his face, and I’m pretty sure he was saying, “Relax, fools.” Clutchiest clutch that ever did clutch.
- You can fake a spike. Who knew?
- Speaking of the spike, I want to know whose idea that was–McCarthy’s or Rodgers’. Because it was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Sure, Joe Philbin knows Rodgers inside out and backwards. But did even he see that coming? Sometimes football is a game of inches. Other times, it’s a giant head trip. Points to Rodgers and the other nerds of Hufflepuff for outsmarting everyone on something that was so simple, yet so key to the victory today in Miami.
- Davante Adams is quickly becoming one of Rodgers’ favored targets. His routes are clean, he’s fast, and he’s got good hands. People compared him to James Jones when he was first drafted, but he’s looking to me like he’s filling the shoes left from Donald Driver instead. So I’ll give him a pass after he admitted on the radio last week after the game that until he was drafted, he had no idea which state Green Bay was in.
- But if you want to get it done, Jordy Nelson is still your man.
- Anyone else get the feeling that as the Packers were staring down a four point deficit in the twilight of this game, Rodgers just said, “Look, I go to you. I stick up for you. You don’t help me now. I say ‘F*** you,” Jobu, I do it myself.'”?
- Because he totally had to do it himself, because the offensive line was doing Rodgers no favors. All day the pocket collapsed before it even formed, and Rodgers was running for his life. If it wasn’t Bahktiari getting outmatched, then it was Bulaga.
- The line wasn’t helpful establishing the run either. Lacy seemed to go nowhere, and it wasn’t until the offense switched to Starks near the end did the run add up to anything. No inside lanes, and the running backs had to spend far to much energy spinning east and west to find an outside lane.
- Needless to say, I’m not a huge fan of James Campen. With the quality quarterback the Packers have, why do they settle for okay and mediocrity on the line with most games?
- *sacrifices small animal, okay a tuna fish sandwich so that Shields and Williams are going to be okay.*
- Same goes for Lattimore.
- Meanwhile Brad Jones continue to prove he needs a career in something other than football. Does he remember how to tackle. And when he sacks the quarterback, he finds a way to mess it up. What a horrible time for a truly obvious hands to the face penalty. And then there was the one play he prevented a TD–with the back of his head while he had no idea where he was in time and space. Seriously, can someone take him to Cuba and drop him off there? Hey, Fidel, free linebacker to a good home.
- Clay Matthews was all but invisible today until he blocked a Tannehill pass in the fourth quarter–you know, that drive where they really, really needed to stop the Dolphins and actually did–like an a volleyball player blocking the ball at the net. That was beautiful.
- Micah Hyde seems to have forgotten to tackle, and I give it a few more games before Ha Ha Clinton-Dix overtakes him on the safety depth chart. HaHa is ferocious and has skills that mature each week. He’s finding a way to get to the QB. He’s what the Packers envisioned with Woodson in a nickel package, but he’s going to be a million times more dangerous.
- It still drives me nuts that the the Defensive line continues to through everything and the kitchen sink at the QB and yet comes up empty.
- But today was a win. An ugly almost didn’t happen win. But it was a win. The Packers have yet to have a game when Offense, Defense and Special Teams are all on the same page. What a novel concept.
- But hey, Throwback Weekend is next week. Hope to see you all in Green Bay for the festivities. It’s a brand new week next week, and Cammy Cam gets to kiss his sister or whatever they’re supposed to do when a games ends in a tie. Wouldn’t it be nice for Julius Peppers to give him a warm welcome to Lambeau Field.
Kelly Hodgson is a writer for PackersTalk.com and you can listen to her as a Co-Host of Out of the Pocket. You can also follow Kelly on Twitter at @ceallaigh_k
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