.png)
Welp, that sucked! After lofty expectations for us in Cheesehead nation coming into the 2022/23 season, things got off to a not-so-nice start Sunday in Minnesota. The Packers traveled to division rival, Minnesota, hoping to start Aaron Rodgers' new contract and 18th year in the league off with an emphatic statement. It turned out to be a statement alright, just not the good type with a 23-7 loss.
Green Bay was thoroughly outplayed and outcoached from the first drive on. The Christian Watson drop on a surefire 75-yard touchdown on the first offensive play set the tone for the rest of the game. Rodgers' final line ended with 22/34, 195 yards, 0 TD/1 INT, and a pitiful 16.1 QBR. He was also sacked 4 times and was under pressure more times than not thanks in part to a shoddy offensive line performance, the Minnesota defense getting a good push & blitz scheme, and Aaron holding the ball far too long.
I want to focus on the good, the bad, and the downright ugly from yesterday.
Good
The defense in the 2nd half gave a much better effort and looked like (kinda) the team I predicted they would be. After allowing the Vikings to score 17 first-half points, they buckled down better in the 2nd half and held Minnesota to just 2 field goals
Quay Walker looks like a DAWG! He got exposed on his first couple of drives of professional football but recovered nicely after that. Quay ended with 8 tackles and looked better in the zone coverage scheme that DC Joe Barry likes to use
Jordan Love! Ok, so it may have been mop of minutes against the Vikings 2nd string defense but Love still looked good. J-Love went 4/5 with 65 yards, marching the Packers up the field before the final whistle blew. He looked comfortable and confident which will only help his confidence down the road.
Bad
Aaron Rodgers didn't look like the reigning 2x MVP whatsoever. I understand that it's week 1 and there is a bunch of change in this offense. Rodger's cutting his hair to match that of a 13-year-old suburban kid should have been the first omen that he would be off. AR12 scrambled for his life to buy extra time for receivers that never got open, to the point he took a few needless sacks and even fumbled one of them. I can rationalize that in my head because he has done it his whole career to great success, but these Packer receivers aren't scrambling with him to get open like Devante or Jordy Nelson did, he has to throw the ball away! The frustration got to him, as evidenced by his 1st interception against an NFC North opponent in 3 years, where he scrambled to the sideline and said "Fuck it, Cobb's down there", only to be picked by Harrison Smith.
The Offensive line was not good, to put it mildly! They allowed the purple jerseys to stay in the Green Bay backfield and really couldn't get many lanes cleared for Aaron Jones or AJ Dillion to run through. It only highlights the importance of getting LT David Bakhtiari and RG Elgton Jenkins back ASAP
The Ugly
The biggest concern I had coming into this year and had written about in my season preview showed itself to be true Sunday. Green Bay got little to nothing from the receiving group. As mentioned above, Watson dropped the first pass of the game for the Packers. He would then later not turn soon enough on a big 3rd down, a timing out route, where it almost ended in another Minnesota INT. Watson ended with 2 catches for 34 yards in total. The other rookie WR, Romeo Doubs, also dropped an easy catch in the first half. Doubs recovered a little better and finished with 4 catches for 37 yards. AJ Dillion led Green Bay with 5 catches for 46 yards (Yikes!)
Joe Barry: What the hell man? His insistence on staying in zone coverage and not matching up All-Pro CB Jaire Alexander on Justin Jefferson just baffles me. Alexander told reporters he begged Barry all week to let him matchup with the star receiver but was told no repeatedly. Jefferson absolutely torched Green Bay all game long, even finding himself WIDE OPEN in the middle of the field on one play. The one play Jaire did go mano a mano with Jefferson ended with Jefferson being forced to the sideline and not completing the catch. It's perfectly fine to have a game plan and stick to it, but when it's not working you have to make adjustments. Simply put, Joe Barry got embarrassed by Vikings' Head Coach, Kevin O'Connell, and his staff.
Green Bay now sits 0-1 after the loss but fortunately for us Packer fans, this isn't new ground. Last year saw the Saints drub us 38-3 on the road as well. The Pack bounced back to win 13 games and clinch the NFC #1 seed. Can history repeat again? Time will tell but they need to be a hell of a lot better for week 2. It's Bears week...we can't lose to the Da BEARS!! *Insert Puke face*
Comments