It was over almost as soon as it started. It took a 3 and out by the Raiders and on the second touch the Packers had in their game against the Oakland Raiders, the game was in the books. Ryan Grant ran like the Ryan Grant of old, dispelling any notion he has lost a step or cannot be the back he once was for the Pack. His 47 yard one cut rip through the Raider defense lit the fuse and by the time the dust settled from the bomb the Raiders left town whipped, beaten, and shell shocked in a 46 – 16 thrashing that was not as close as the score might indicate. Almost every member of the 53 man squad had a hand in this game, so we feature this week the unknown and unsung, the nameless who this week will not toil in anonymity.
Aaron Rodgers hit the requisite deep throws as Jordy Nelson is becoming with every passing week a force to be reckoned with. In the process the Packers are torching some records along the way. This year’s Pack is now the all-time leading scorers in Packer history, eclipsing the old mark of 463 points set by the ’09 Packers. 500 points are well within reach, and if Green Bay averages 42 points over the final 3 games they will eclipse the New England Patriots all time record of 589 points. We had stated early this year the Pack is capable of scoring 600 points. As it turns out that is not the hyperbolic claim it once was.
It has been a calendar year – a year! – since the Packers have lost a game. Lost years loss the Tom Brady Pats was the last time the Packers saw an ‘L’ get hung on their record. As Vince Lombardi once claimed “Winning isn’t a sometime thing.” Amen. Along the way chew on these stats: Green Bay has not been behind by more than 14 points at any time in that streak, and that occurred earlier this year when the Falcons broke to 14 – 0 lead, got high from their own swagger, then got whomped when Arod & Co. dropped 25 unanswered points on them. In all 6 losses last year Green Bay was never beaten by more than 7 points. Anyone who didn’t see how good this team could be was either blind or lamenting the 16 IR’d players the Pack did not have.
Now healthy they are threatening to make a mockery of the regular season. The usual suspects for the Packers played key roles in this week’s game against Oakland, but it was the unsung, unheralded players that contributed. Great teams have a way of finding something for every one of the 53 on their roster to contribute. Fast fact: who was the Packers leading tackler against the Raiders? A.J. Hawk? Out with a strained calf. Clay Matthews? Yanked in the second half. B.J. Raji? Try again.
It was S Morgan Burnett with 10 tackles who played large. Burnett is better known for his ball hawking but he was much more of a heat seeking missile. The second man on the hit parade with 7 tackles and 3 assists? How does D.J. Smith grab you? A 6th round rookie ILB from tiny Appalachian St. U. Smith is a Sam Mills clone and played like it, registering 10 tackles and an interception. He has a non-stop motor and was seen flying all over the field to make plays. Right behind Smith was LB Rob Francois, who also had 7 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. It was a day for the unsung heroes to step up and make the first team take notice.
Ryan Grant had the big run and a big day, but who delivered the crushing block that sprung him? All Pro Scott Wells? No. The White Whale, last year’s #1 pick Bryan Bulaga? Uh uh. Josh Sitton and Chad Clifton are still out with injuries. This one went to LG T.J. Lang whose play has steadily elevated as the season has progressed. Early on Lang struggled with false start penalties but has begun to be more focused and in sync with the line. Lang almost cavalierly played his way out of Titletown, but the coaching staff rode him hard and Lang responded by settling down, growing up, and taking his profession far more seriously. His break came when the Packers let LG Daryn Colledge get away to Arizona, and now Lang has made the position his. Lang has garnered much attention in the Pro Bowl balloting and has risen steadily all year in his play.
Even Rodgers found a new playmate when he hit rookie TE Ryan Taylor for a 4 yard TD early. Taylor is a ST ace and is getting a shot with Andrew Quarless out for the year. The Packers seem to have an assembly line of quality players to take the place of the fallen, all ready to take up the flag and press the charge. Head Coach Mike McCarthy deployed almost his entire bench out of necessity and planning ahead. 1st round pick Derrick Sherrod was platooning at LT with Marshall Newhouse, who also saw time in a platoon with Evan Dietrich-Smith at RG where they filled in for the injured Chad Clifton (LT) and Josh Sitton (RG).
Injuries riddled and decimated the Packers last year, and they have been relatively healthy this year. Nick Collins went out early and now Quarless, but this is the time of year when the hits mount, and now the Packers will be facing some tough moments. In an eerily reminiscent take on the ’96 Packers, who lost WR Antonio Freeman to a broken arm in week 13, team leading WR Greg Jennings raised the organization’s blood pressure several ticks when he was hit awkwardly and left with a pronounced limp in a cart. The early verdict is a sprained MCL and MM has announced it to be a “…2 – 3 week timetable for [Jennings’] return…”
If there is one thing a passing team cannot afford to lose at crunch time is its targets, and Jennings is the biggest of all Rodgers receivers. And who steps up to fill in? How but the senior sage of the WR’s, Donald Driver, who reemerged to snag a few Rodgers passes. Jordy Nelson will now draw more double teams, so it will be up to James Jones to earn his new contract as well as Driver and rookie Randall Cobb, who was also targeted early by Rodgers. But that’s only 4 WR’s available.
Not to fear; GM Ted Thompson does not like to leave the cupboards bare for McCarthy. TT won’t have to look far. It looks as if WR Tori Gurley will finally earn his shot at the big squad. Gurley had a tremendous camp, drawing raves from the coaching staff by blocking several punts in preseason games to grab a spot on the PS. Cracking this lineup was always going to be next to impossible, and now with Jennings likely out until the playoffs Gurley may have his patience rewarded. At 6’4’ he will add another dimension to the already potent Packer passing attack. LB Vic So’oto had a promising rookie year riddled with injuries of the nagging sort and has not seen much playing time, so it makes sense that GB would IR So’oto and call up Gurley, who very quietly was signed to a contract that will pay him as a regular player on Monday. Gurley was also being courted by another NFL team whose name has not surfaced, and Gurley is the type who MM does not want to let get away, and this may be the ideal spot for the young man to be given a shot.
Promising rookie RB Brandon Saine left along with NT Ryan Pickett with concussions, and their progress and playing time will be day-to-day. DE Mike Neal was eased back into the lineup and much like an injured starting pitcher in baseball returning from an injury Neal was kept on a play count. While on the field the Raiders thought enough of his bull rushes to chip block and double team him, and the Packer D had a statement of their own as they look to gain momentum going into January.
Next is Kansas City, and as predicted the Grinch of Missouri got the axe when the Chiefs fired the surly Todd Haley, whose team was no longer responding to his churlish style. It is the big unknown as to what the Packers can expect next week in KC. TT has MM set up with an assembly line that rolls the next good player off the line while the Kansas City’s and Miami’s of the NFL play Chicken Little.
While the pretenders of the NFL gut their lineups the Packers just hit the button and another quality player takes the field. They needn’t be stars or big names. The unsung and the unheralded… it’s the Thompson and McCarthy way.
No comments:
Post a Comment