We’re all aware of what happened last Sunday night. In a virtual continuation of the NFC Championship Game, the Packers defense was torched by the league’s most potent offense on their home track. Aaron Rodgers and company were largely overwhelmed by an amped up Falcons defense. The time, date, and rectal-like appearance of the stadium were different, but that was about it. Sphincter-roof or not, the Packers still drop like flies when they play in Georgia. Although the negatives outnumbered the highlights, there several encouraging things of note despite the dismantling by the Dirty Birds.

 

Aaron Rodgers

At worst, the Packers have the second best quarterback in the game. They will always contend when this is the case. The immediate exodus by the majority of millennials off the Packers bandwagon is going to register on the Richter Scale when Aaron Rodgers is done in Green Bay and they don’t have a Hall of Fame QB for the first time in 30+ years.

 

It’s Only Game Two

Again, the millennials need to chill out. (Disclaimer: I’m a millennial. I’ll forever be associated to the most sissified and delusional generation in American History, but I’ll do my darnedest to be an exception.) The Packers were DOA in 2010 before the Super Bowl run, along with last year at 4-6. Keep the pitchforks in the shed for now, people.

 

Options at Cornerback

Julio Jones is currently the best wide receiver in the universe. He’s a Hall of Fame candidate if he were to retire tomorrow. A couple more years of elite play, and he’s a shoo-in for the HOF. On today’s Railbird Central podcast, Brian Carriveau’s guest was Nathan Jahnke from ProFootballFocus.com. Jahnke spoke to the poor performances from Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins, which is an all too common theme recently. Randall’s negative scores primarily consisted of surrendering plays to Jones. Rollins allowed multiple first downs against other Falcons wideouts and missed tackles, which ultimately led to him getting the worst rating.

However, Kevin King showed up in his big boy pants. Throughout the preseason and into the Atlanta game, he has utilized his physical gifts effectively. The path is wide open for him to rise to CB1, especially with the struggles of Randall and Rollins. This situation did not exist last year. Throw Davon House in at CB2, and Randall is back at the nickel corner where he played effectively as a rookie. If Randall and/or Rollins continue to stink up the joint, then Josh Hawkins and Lenzy Pipkins have the opportunity to show their mettle. Cutting Ladarius Gunter was a head scratcher, but there is still depth to work with at the cornerback position.

 

Injuries Not Season Ending (so far, KNOCK ON WOOD!!!!)

Naturally, the 2nd best player on offense (Jordy Nelson) pulled a quad and the far and away best player on defense (Mike Daniels) suffered a hip and/or hamstring injury within the opening minutes of the Atlanta contest. Fortunately, they are not season ending. In BREAKING NEWS, the Packers have already brought back Ricky Jean-Francois to shore up the defensive line while Daniels works through his maladies. This organization is used to “Next Man Up” more than any other. Thankfully, it’s not a long-term mantra quite yet.

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John Piotrowski is a UW-Eau Claire alum, spending most of his life in western WI. He makes the trek east to Lambeau whenever possible. Follow him on twitter at @piosGBP.

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