Packers Offense Goes MIA in Detroit

The Detroit Lions outplayed the Green Bay Packers.

The Detroit Lions outplayed the Green Bay Packers.

Say it again… The Detroit Lions outplayed the Green Bay Packers.

It comes off the tongue like curdled milk.

When applying singular adjectives to this game they are endless:

Listless. Uninspired. Lethargic. Sluggish. Flat. Unprepared. Embarrassing.

Tapes of this game could be taken to prisons to be shown to prisoners, but it would be constituted as cruel and unusual punishment.

To lose a “must-win’’ game against a 2 win team playing a 3^rd string QB in Drew Stanton is inexcusable, and inexcusable is being awfully generous. We saw this coming. For whatever reasons GB cannot stand prosperity.

ESPN's Chris Berman
explaining the Packers'
pass catching

The Packers handed this game literally to the Lions. Early drives were killed by an Andrew Quarless fumble and an uncharacteristic Greg Jennings flub of what looked like another big strike over the middle for 6. The new buzz phrase in the NFL “Ball Security” is going to be beaten like a drum in Wisconsin for some time. Both receivers treated the ball as if it were a hot potato and literally, as it was happening, one could almost hear ESPN’s Chris Berman doing his famous “WHOOOOOP!” call at how badly Jennings played it.

The defense played well, holding the Lions to 7 points at home. They did their job.

The offense, on the other hand, was quite offensive.

And awful. Did they even make the trip?

Aaron Rodgers was awful even before being KO'd. After a brutal hit that gave him a concussion his replacement Matt Flynn was worse. The notion that Flynn is the best backup QB in the league and ready for a starter’s role took a kick in the slats. Jennings was bad and Quarless was worse. The running game that showed so much promise last week disappeared. The play calling was as staid and unimaginative as it was wretched. Repeatedly calling unsuccesful pass plays on 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th down and 1’s? Coach, really?

Don’t hang this on the D – they did their jobs. They kept the Lions to 7 points. If you can’t beat the Detroit Lions when giving up 7 you really have played poorly. This is no left handed slap at the Lions by any stretch. They have good, young players. They have a terrific front 4. Calvin Johnson is a great WR.

But they only squeezed 7 points after playing horribly for 3 quarters.

We had previously said the Pack has an awful habit of playing down to the level of an opponent over whom they have a significant advantage.

We stand corrected.

They played below the level of their opponent today, just enough to steal defeat away.

It’s time to really peel back the layers. The Lions really exposed the Packers today in this one. Trent Dilfer was quoted as saying that “…Perhaps no team in the NFL is as dependant on a single player as the Packers are on Aaron Rodgers to be successful…” And, he is right. Rodgers quick release and timing patterns of his receivers has masked up one ugly truth – that, while improved, this is not a particularly good offensive line.

If progress was being made this season today was a giant step (or twelve) in reverse for the OLine. Chad Clifton was manhandled badly today. Darryn Colledge was overrun (and injured) as was his backup Jason Spitz. Scott Wells is simply not big enough to handle the interior rush. Rookie Bryan Bulaga had a weak game. Only Josh Sitton is exempt, but as a unit this group failed magnificently in this game in that they never established themselves or a presence. The epitome of the lines futility culminated when Detroit’s front 4 overran, overwhelmed and poured through the line to trip up a helpless Flynn who looked like a drop down drunk on New Year’s Eve trying to escape the rush. In the eternal chicken and egg argument were the RB’s that bad or was the line failing to open up any holes for them to hit? The RB’s get to go home without a shower as there was no real reason to take one after this debacle was done.

Backup QB Matt Flynn had the perfect opportunity to author a Walter Mitty/ Don Majikowski/ Brett Favre moment of his own when he entered the game. He looked good on a drive down the field until he tossed a goal line pick that made the Packers hopes look like the roof in Minneapolis. Flynn followed that with some knuckleballs that the wind at the Lions stadium must have suddenly gusted to make his pass look so weak. When Flynn took the field GB lost its quick strike upper hand. No matter how good Flynn is Rodgers has learned to get the ball away quickly, partly due to the scheme and partly in self preservation. Flynn has not. Nor does he possess Rodgers arm. As a backup he doesn’t have the time to work on timing plays as Rodgers does. The learning curve is short and painful on this. And pain is what Rodgers must be feeling after he was laid out by Lions LB Landon Johnson. It was a decidedly poor decision to not slide when he got his bell rung. Without second guessing to have Rodgers put in that situation where he feels he and he alone must get the first down is asking for trouble.

Rodgers' first concussion of
the year against Washington

  Now not only was ARod lost for this game with this being his 2^nd concussion the will be bigger doubts about playing the next game. Oh, and by the way, it’s only New England, so it’s not like they’re the Lions or anything. If Rodgers can’t go Flynn gets thrown right onto the spit and the erstwhile Graham Harrell becomes the default backup.

We have to ask – what is Head Coach Mike McCarthy thinking? His play calling has been questionable in the past but this game, the game plan and play calling were just plain stinko. No RB saw the field consistently. No running game established with a total of 66 yards between 4 backs. How many 2^nd and 10’s, 2^nd and 8’s and 3^rd and 7’s does it take? And leaving The Franchise out on the field when it was patently obvious to anyone who saw it that Rodgers was in serious trouble after being belted?

MM celebrating another
succesful un-challenge

And why, oh, WHY does MM insist on rollout/ option plays that do not work in the NFL? They work in college for a reason – everyone in the NFL has speed! And when Greg Jennings took a face plant to grab a pass in the end zone the red flag stayed right where it belongs – in MM’s pocket.

Is it at least worth a shot to throw the damn thing???

When faced with 3^rd and short and 4^th and short with the game, the season, and a playoff spot on the line rather than run a full house backfield that had success last week pass plays were the most viable option? Coach, really? 1 yard and John Kuhn, Korey Hall and Quinn Johnson stay on the bench?? Coach, really? Oh, wait… We forgot their importance to the Special Teams. So on 4^th and 1 and the call is to have a 3rd year career backup who has never thrown a meaningful pass in an NFL game make a perfect all or nothing precision 30 yard timing throw? Coach… really???

And let’s be clear on one thing here – there is no way on God’s green earth Flynn audibled into THAT play on his own. That was yet another MM gem of a call. Coach… really????

We want to give MM props for many of the fine things he has done in GB with the Packers and his behind the scenes work. We give him credit for being a good coach. We want to acknowledge what he has done with an injured lineup. Second guessing a coach is the easiest and cheesiest thing to do.

But MM opens up that door for second guessing. He invites the scrutiny. His decisions are rife with begging the questions that arise.

MM’s  shortcomings are outweighing his positive attributes. His rather tentative style of coaching in big games, key games and pressure games along with his inability to make in game adjustments are eroding confidence.

It is games like these that eternally separate MM from the Belichek’s/ Cowher’s/ Payton’s and Mike Smiths of the NFL. MM is not even in the same school as this class of coaches.  5 losses – 4 by 3 points and 1 by 4 – are the pathetic legacy of this season and on MM’s resume. Keeping it close only matters if, along the way, you are winning more of them than you are losing. It's the "playing to NOT lose" vs. "playing to win" mentality that defines MM. Great coaching steals a couple wins right here. MM is so predictable, so consistently inconsistent with the game on the line it is maddening.

In a close game a great coach can steal a few points.

More telling is the coach who leaves them out there or gives them away.

The Detroit Lions outplayed the Green Bay Packers.

Say it again and listen to the sound of it...

The Detroit Lions outplayed the Green Bay Packers.

And they outcoached them too.

We said Fear the Lions. They just grew up alot quicker than expected.