Some people will look at the Green Bay Packers performance against the San Francisco 49ers and see a phenomenal comeback win, and some will look at a narrow escape from a loss to a really bad team. Here’s a look at who I thought played well and who did not in Week 5:
Studs:
Jimmy Graham – Graham arrived in a big way on Monday night, and showed he still possesses the explosiveness, hands, and strength that made him an elite tight end. On a night when Aaron Rodgers needed a reliable threat to get open over the middle, Jimmy had his biggest performance of the season.
Offensive Line – The Packers had to once against patchwork the right side of the line, but everybody stepped up and played pretty well. The 49ers have a highly talented group of defensive lineman, and they largely kept them at bay when they needed to.
Mason Crosby – The guy deserves this. After a small segment of over reactionary fans called for his job, Mason showed why he is still a top notch kicker.
Kyler Fackrell – Boy, this one hurts me personally. Fackrell was the only assignment sure edge player on the whole defense, he controlled his blocker on several run plays, and made a couple instinctive plays. He’s making me look foolish for saying he had no place in the NFL for the last few years.
Duds:
Defensive Line – Their play was brutal. With the exception of Kenny Clark, the line got pushed all over the place against San Fran. What was considered a major strength is starting to look like an area of concern for Green Bay.
Linebackers – Blake Martinez’s bad season continued. Oren Burks couldn’t get off a block to save his life. And Clay Matthews made the single worst tackle attempt I’ve ever seen. I don’t think these guys will be real excited for film review next week.
Safeties – Well, 75% of the defense making the duds list isn’t a good sign. The safeties struggled against the run. The safeties struggled against the pass. The bye week is going to have to be full of adjustment for this team to stand a chance in their next two games.
Green Bay will look to recover physically and mentally from a tough first third of the season. This is still a team with a lot of talent, but they need improvement from all three units, plus the coaching staff. Fortunately, they were able to generate some positive momentum leading into their bye week.
Andrew Mertig is a a lifelong Packers fan and draft enthusiast. He has covered the NFL draft for radio and television stations in Green Bay. He is currently a host of the Pack-A-Day podcast and a writer for PackersTalk.com. You can follow him on Twitter @andrewmertig
1 response to “Green Bay Packers Week 6: Studs & Duds”
I have some points of disagreement.
I think that Perry defended 3 passes, which makes him our best pass defender this game. Brice was one of five players who played 100% of the snaps (Dix, King, Tramon and Martinez.
Martinez with a disappointing season?. Sheeeesh. All he did was play 100% of the snaps and have more than twice as many tackles as anybody else on the team. Martinez is having a really good season, and he’ll get Pro Bowl consideration this year. I”d bet a six pack of PBR on that. There’s not a team in the league who couldn’t use this guy.
Look, here’s the deal:
8) Despite all our bitching about Brice, Dix, Matthews, Fackrell, Martinez, Perry, blah blah blah……this defense is, after 5 games, ranked liked this:
2nd in fewest completions/per game
2nd in passing first downs/game
2nd in fewest penalties.
4th in sack %
And Top 10 in quite a few others.
Their two worst rankings, however, are in two of the most important categories. They’re 16th in points/game, and they’re 16th in opposing QB rating. That pretty much says “average”, but some of these other numbers would make you think this is a top ten defense.
We give up too many long plays against pass and rush. Normally, you look at the safety spot and although I don’t think Brice and Dix have been horrible, they could have been better. Brice is a UDFA who is being asked to defend WRs deep one-on-one; I don’t understand why we’re surprised when that works out badly every now and then.
With two weeks to rest and prepare, the defense is going to get a real test from the Rams. We’ll know then if we’re above average, average, or not really any better than last year.