After Further Review: Packers vs. Patriots
By Ross Uglem
Ross will provide a few observations every Monday afternoon following a Packers game based on a few viewings of the condensed version of the game on NFL GamePass. While this might not be the All-22 camera deep dive that might be more "educational", it should provide a conversation point for the rest of the week.
Too many throw aways in the offense. I know Rodgers can't move around anymore and do the schoolyard stuff. That means either he has to check it down or it has to be in the offense to check it down. Yes I know this is at the own-goal but it's not just this play. pic.twitter.com/Ogo1PZFTwd
— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) November 5, 2018
Neither Rodgers or Brady played particularly well on Sunday. Pats success was mostly running the ball and trick plays and Pack was disjointed. This, though, was vintage Rodgers. pic.twitter.com/MGHvS2NUWh
— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) November 5, 2018
Jimmy Graham continues to improve in the offense.
I don't know what to tell you about the defense. On one hand, it was their solid play after New England's opening series that allowed Green Bay to stay in the game the entire time, on the other they still allowed 31 points. It's not only that the Packers are desperately searching for a game in which every unit plays well they're searching for a game in which those units themselves string four quarters together. It's maddening.
It's maddening because I think everyone understands that McCarthy and his time with the Packers have run its course. He's a good football coach. A lot of people make fun of him for calling himself a highly successful NFL coach but that's exactly what it is. The Eagles got better by replacing Reid with Doug Pederson. So did the Chiefs by acquiring Reid. It is now that time for things to change in Green Bay.
(won't loop) This is McCarthy since 2015. 3rd and 4 and everyone is bombing down the field and no one is winning iso routes. QB has to throw away because he doesn't trust anyone on schoolyard shit because they're all rookies. Disaster. pic.twitter.com/x1b2BqJWkm
— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) November 5, 2018
MVS is a stud. I can believe that they got him when they did. I say the opposite about EQ beacuse that's true also but MVS didn't show this much ability in the actual flow of the game during his time in college. Most of his "potential" was pie-in-the-sky athleticism. He shouldn't be this good this early but he definitely is.
.@MVS__11 is the element the offense has been missing. That's becoming abundantly clear. Once the corner even with him the play is over. It's touchdown saving mode from that point on. Too big, too fast, too strong. pic.twitter.com/ACN2Gl8UaM
— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) November 5, 2018
MVS could really be the Packers version of Stefon Diggs. Most excellent WR are not found in the 5th round, but obviously some are. Do more stuff like that and Rodgers will trust you. pic.twitter.com/OrDpxlWJGT
— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) November 5, 2018
Blake Martinez is tough as hell.
Jaire.
Alexander such a stud. Excellent work to wait until the ball gets there to initiate contact and secure the incompletion. pic.twitter.com/ZC1TkpFhIB
— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) November 5, 2018
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Ross Uglem is a staff writer for Cheesehead TV. He can be found on Twitter @RossUglem
Comments (29)
dobber
November 05, 2018 at 02:07 pm
"The problem is there are no participation trophies. There are only wins and losses (unless you are a Vikings fan then there are hypothetical chapmionships and stuff that you would've won if a bunch of teams didn't cheat). "
I think I'm going to make this the screen saver on every office machine at work...
GBPDAN1
November 05, 2018 at 03:39 pm
Lol, loved the Vikings fan reference.
It bothers me that Mahomes and the Chiefs scored 40 pts on the Patriots at Foxborough and our stumbling offense scored 17. It also bothers me that Mahomes has a 16.5M/ 4 year deal and Rodgers had a 133M deal. Teams with an elite QB on their rookie contract have such a big advantage.
Eagles won SB that way last year. Seattle did it when Wilson was on his rookie deal and so did Packers with Rodgers. Goff may be next, Chiefs and Mahomes if they pay for a D.
But, that's what we need to deal with in today's NFL.
MarkinMadison
November 05, 2018 at 08:01 pm
You're singing my tune. There was an article last year talking about how rare it is for anyone to win the Super Bowl when their QB exceeds 13% of the salary cap. For this year Rodgers is at 11.8% ($20.9M). Next year, Rodgers' contract projects to 13.9% ($26.5M). For 2020 it projects to 16.3% ($32.6M). The caveat here is that these are projections for the cap with adjustments - it could be slightly better than I've outlined here. It will get WORSE though is 2021 ($33.5M) and 2022 ($37M), and not just by a little bit - but I couldn't find a cap projection for those years. Basically, unless you believe the NFL has ooodles of untapped potential revenue left out there somewhere, you have to think that at some point the Packers are going to have a hard time putting talent around #12 - even more so than today.
Oppy
November 05, 2018 at 10:33 pm
The 13% cap thing is a candidate to be the poster child for correlation does not necessarily indicate causation.
RCPackerFan
November 05, 2018 at 02:14 pm
"The Eagles got better by replacing Reid with Doug Pederson."
Except for they replaced Reid with Chip Kelly.
jeremyjjbrown
November 05, 2018 at 03:26 pm
You can get better by replacing Chip Kelly with anyone.
mrj007
November 05, 2018 at 08:34 pm
Chuckle....
RCPackerFan
November 05, 2018 at 02:17 pm
The 2nd video of MVS is something Rodgers needs to do a little more often.
Rather then throwing the ball away, throw it up and let MVS, EQ, Graham and the other big targets go up and get the ball. They are all 6'4 +. Let them use that size!
Johnblood27
November 05, 2018 at 03:06 pm
Are you out of your fricken mind???
That MAY lead to an INTERCEPTION and a lowering of the GREAT ONES passer rating!!!
No way man...
Point-Packer
November 05, 2018 at 03:26 pm
He's already tried that with Graham a great deal this season and at least twice (perhaps three times) last night. How's it worked out so far?
Point-Packer
November 05, 2018 at 03:28 pm
"Are you out of your fricken mind???
That MAY lead to an INTERCEPTION and a lowering of the GREAT ONES passer rating!!!
No way man..."
Only copying the comment above because it actually insinuates that Rodgers makes split second decisions in part due to the implications of his passer rating. Which is one of the dumber things I've read in awhile. Which is startling, cause I spend a great deal of time on the CHTV comment string.
packerbackerjim
November 05, 2018 at 03:42 pm
Except Graham cannot jump which is odd because he was a basketball player. Maybe he had hops when he was younger. Not so much now.
Pauly
November 05, 2018 at 06:29 pm
Do you think Rodgers actually watched Brady march up and down the field with short passes and runs and WIN!!
I think Rodgers is an adrenaline junkie who only thinks about deep passes to Devante instead of boring, steady chain moving and winning..
AR would not throw intermediate passes to MVS on a slants just the deep routes.
Lare
November 05, 2018 at 06:51 pm
Counterproductive in a way, short quick passes could extend Rodgers' career much as it has for Brady.
You would think that would be easy to see for McCarthy and Rodgers. Or maybe they do see it and just can't help letting their egos dictate the play that is run.
Point-Packer
November 05, 2018 at 06:55 pm
"I think Rodgers is an adrenaline junkie who only thinks about deep passes to Devante instead of boring, steady chain moving and winning.."
Second dumbest comment on this threat. Yes, I'm sure GB offense is dictated by #12's craving for adrenaline running through his blood..
SpudRapids
November 06, 2018 at 11:08 am
I usually don't agree with you but you are on fire today
Leatherhead
November 05, 2018 at 07:35 pm
In the 4th quarter, Brady was 6 for 6 for over 100 yards and a TD against a secondary that featured a 35 year old man playing his first game at safety in quite a while (and who missed the tackle that allowed the backbreaker TD) and two rookie corners. Brice was injured, King left in the first half, Whitehead got thrown out. That's three guys who all start in the nickel package.
Rodgers was 2-7 for 16 yards.
The previous QB we had was totally hard-wired to take unacceptable risks in the clutch and we got burned by that over and over. Rodgers is a lot more cautious, and that's good. But although he can bomb with the best of them, we do seem to have trouble keeping our offense on the field. That's incontrovertible.
jeremyjjbrown
November 05, 2018 at 03:28 pm
"This is McCarthy since 2015."
He called some seriously bad plays on 3rd down.
Leatherhead
November 05, 2018 at 07:38 pm
Didn't we go to the Championship game in 2016?
Here's my opinion: Defenses aren't stopping this offense. This offense is stopping this offense. Rodgers said as much when he started talking about negative plays.....all those missed passes and sacks and penalties and dropped passes add up and turn the #5 total offense into the #15 scoring offense.
This isn't about design, it's about execution. Most plays will work if you execute correctly.
31 Wedge
November 05, 2018 at 07:55 pm
I agree with you, and this was one play but - the 3rd down screen to Cobb was horrible design.
It's not all bad, but MM needs to change it up...and fast.
Thegreatreynoldo
November 06, 2018 at 04:35 am
The "execution" argument is a tautology. If the play you call only works if RR can execute a pancake block on Khalil Mack, it is a crap play because RR can't block Mack. If the hot read (first video) is Cobb running a go route against McCourty, that's a terrible play call because Cobb can't win that one on one. Cobb can run that route 50 times against McCourty and the coverage will be outstanding probably at least 48 times. One time McCourty slips and the other time McCourty is so surprised Cobb is running a go instead of a crosser, he takes a false step. McCourty still might have the recovery speed to blanket the route: I debated between 49 out of 50 and 48 out of 50.
BTW, it is a 3-man rush on that play with a delayed blitzer coming in to a waiting Bulaga.
Point-Packer
November 05, 2018 at 05:17 pm
Davante was also wide open on that deep ball to MVS.
dblbogey
November 05, 2018 at 08:58 pm
I think Rodgers knee injury has been a big factor. So much of his game is stepping up into the pocket, avoiding rushes and escaping sacks, and especially rolling out and throwing on the run. We'll see if he improves as the knee continues to improve. He sure hasn't been himself this year.
SpudRapids
November 06, 2018 at 11:11 am
I agree... Rodgers best intangible up until this year was his raw courage in the pocket... he's now afraid of injury so he is using brain power to "not get hurt" and it's causing him to misread the field. He's still outstanding don't get me wrong but he needs that confidence of not getting hurt to come back so he can wreak havoc on defenses.
My feeling is if he didn't get hurt vs. the Bears they'd have 2 losses right now, that's it
flackcatcher
November 06, 2018 at 12:54 am
Uh Ross? if this team is still competing, then that means the team is still listening, right. Which means McCarthy's message is still getting though, right. There are reasons for firing McCarthy that have been brought up on CHTV posts and comments. This is not one of them.
Thegreatreynoldo
November 06, 2018 at 04:41 am
Agreed. Other than HHCD and Graham, this team still puts out effort for MM.
As for Graham, that's been his MO for years. Some writers have noted that Graham is not very good on the scramble drill. That's a euphemism for if the initial route doesn't work, Graham stops all movement.
ILPackerBacker
November 06, 2018 at 12:22 pm
Thank you for a well written and intelligent article I wish you had more time and, for example, pointed how how poorly the pass to cobb out of the end zone was designed and how easily the patriots smothered each and every packer receiver. there was literally no place to go.
Again, the biggest issue for Rodgers is the WR play, even over the bad OL play. If we had a # 1 WR instead of adams failing to make plays, particularly in the end zone or red zone the team is 6-2 and nobody is whining.
Thegreatreynoldo
November 06, 2018 at 06:04 pm
MVS is open on a square in (dig) but is about 2 yards short of the first down. Seems conceivable to me that he can get those 2 yards on his own. Way better chance of that than the 2% chance of hitting Cobb on a go.
ILPackerBacker
November 06, 2018 at 12:28 pm
Finally, Cobb has to go. Be cut or a punt returned. He is slow and lost his quickness. Either of the playing rookies is a better choice.
You should highlight this. And you are spot on regarding the defensive backs.