The Packers have now dropped 4 of the last 5. After bouncing back against the Vikings, the Packers embarrassingly lost to the rival Bears at home on the night that Brett Favre and Bart Starr met at mid-field to retire Favre’s number. The Packers, after starting 6-0 and vying for the #1 seed in the NFC, are now slotted as a wildcard team, sitting one game behind the Vikings in the NFC North. If the Packers don’t pick up their level of play and finish the last 5 games of the season better than the most recent 5 (where they’ve gone 1-4), they could even be looking in from the outside of the playoff picture altogether.
Eddie Lacy: Lacy exploded for 105 rushing yards on only 17 carries, averaging a whopping 6.2 yards per carry. He also hauled in 4 receptions for 34 yards and a TD. This was the best that Lacy has looked in a long time. He did lose one fumble, but Lacy (and back-up James Starks) was otherwise the only consistent player on offense. Everyone by now has spoken about how McCarthy and Clements should have run the ball more often, especially with the ineptitude of the passing offense. You can’t help but wonder if Lacy could have won the game for the Packers had they given him the opportunity.
Mike Daniels: This guy just makes the list every week. He may be the most consistent guy on the entire team. He’s been one of the best defensive linemen in the league this year, and he does it against everyone. Whenever I watch him all I see are money signs.
Quinten Rollins: The Packers should be excited about their young cornerbacks. Rollins was very disruptive against the Bears, especially as a blitzer, picking up one sack and one hurry of Jay Cutler. He also narrowly missed scooping up a fumble from Cutler in the 4th quarter.
Davante Adams: There’s really no other way to put it: Davante Adams has been downright awful. Adams came into the league with one trait distinguishing him from the rest of the wide receiver class, that being his hands. Adams has a fantastic catch radius and the ability to bring the ball down as long as his QB gets it anywhere near him. That player has been missing for weeks now, however. Adams must have had at least 4 drops on the game. He looks bad enough that you just hope that Abbrederis or Montgomery can come back this Thursday against the Lions so that Adams can start riding the bench. I still think that Adams can be a very good receiver in the league, but right now any other receiver on the roster is an upgrade.
The Rest of the Wide Receivers: Cobb has continued his poor play. Jones couldn’t get open until the end of the game when he dropped the game winning TD. Fans have been clamoring for Janis, but he’s struggled to get open in his limited playing time. There really are no bright spots here.
Look, Rodgers has not been great, but he’s playing with one of the worst wide receiver corps in the league right now. The talent is there, but the execution is completely lacking. The Packers’ season may hinge upon whether these guys can get it straight. Perhaps Montgomery or Abbrederis can provide a spark. This kind of play, however, is going to end with more losses. At the same time, this likely would have been a win if it were not for the wide receivers. Whether that makes you hopeful or discouraged is up to you.
——————Taylor O\'Neill is a Packer fan born and raised in Oshkosh, WI. He currently lives in Florida and is pursuing his PhD. Taylor is a writer with PackersTalk.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @TaylorONeill87 for more Packer news.
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6 responses to “The Best and the Wurst: Bears @ Packers”
It was up to WR coach and McCarty to realize way back that the wide receiving corps was going to be a problem. Why DaVante can’t function? Is it ego that falsely assumes that if you get where you’re at, that you don’t have to give 100 plus %? Jones, for example, knows he will probably not be around on 2016 on any team.
Some young ones don’t seem to care that you have to live or die by your effort.
I don’t know what game you were watching but, for Rodgers not throwing the ball to the outside instead of the inside were the cornerback was able to get his hand on the ball to knock it away from James Jones it would have been a touchdown.
This whole thing goes back to T.T drafting a bunch of #2 and 3 receivers and not drafting a #1. Jordy was brought in to be a #2 he just happened to turn out better than they thought he would be
. When you fill the team with a bunch of free agents and low draft choices while missing on #1 draft choices you can’t be surprised with inconsistent play. We lost at home to the Bears and the Lions, one player outside of a QB should not have this much of an impact on your team. Bears and Lions at home on national television, Enough Said!
Missing on #1 draft choices? 7 of the team’s last 8 first round draft choices are currently starting for the team and playing at a decent to high level (Raji, Matthews, Bulaga, Perry, D. Jones, Clinton-Dix, Randall). Sherrod is the odd man out, but you can attribute that to injuries as much as anything else.
“Mike Daniels…. Whenever I watch him all I see are money signs.”
Thus guaranteeing that this season will be his last in Green Bay. I’m not saying mortgage the team, but sometimes you have to wonder what might happen if we dabbled a bit more in free agency. Ted usually gets it right, but occasionally you have to spend some money, and Daniels might just be that guy. Unfortunately, the way this probably goes down is that Ted keeps the negotiations on low right up until FA, and then comes in with an offer that stubbornly ignores the market in favor of a line in the sand, and we begin again at that position with another young, promising talent that is still a year or two away.
I don’t think that it’s a given that Daniels returns, but I’d bet that it’s more likely than not. He’s a key piece of the defense. I’d rather see anyone else on the defensive side of the ball walk save Matthews.
What you say makes perfect sense, but I think we’ve seen “key” players be let go when their price was not what Ted thought they were worth. This has admittedly often looked good in hindsight, but Ted does tend to undervalue everyone when it comes time to resign (except Rodgers and Cobb, it seems.).