PACKERS OFFENSE TAKES STEPS FORWARD AS DEFENSE TAKES STEPS BACK

 

Pack rebounds after Seattle heartbreak

 

Phew!!!

After Aaron Rodgers took a knee in the victory formation he thankfully did so against the New Orleans Saints and not Greg Schiano’s Tampa Bay knuckleheads. Schiano is a first year former college coach (Rutgers) who routinely sends his troops plowing full fury in these situations that has drawn much criticism from his fellow coaches.

New Orleans yielded and finally accepted the defeat quietly and graciously as the loss to the Packers by 1 point – 28 to 27 – all but sunk any hope they had of salvaging their season. At 0 – 4 the Saints will have to do what no other team has done in history by qualifying for a playoff berth after opening the season 0 – 4. Given the state of their porous defense it may be far too tall an order to fill.

The Packers on the other hand rebounded from their stinging, frustrating, maddening, controversial, completely screwed up loss on Monday against the Seahawks. Head Coach Mike McCarthy practiced what he preached and focused the Packers on what lay ahead of them and not what’s in the rear view mirror. Getting a win is huge in the obvious category of standings, but the greater victory comes in simply doing what needed to be done at what is still a quality opponent no matter what their record may say.

But this win did not come easy and it did not come without moments that were stinging, frustrating, maddening, controversial, completely screwed up. The regular game day officials took the field and were greeted with a standing ovation. The honeymoon was brief as the officials had their hands full and at time looked like the very replacements they themselves were replacing.

In the first half Aaron Rodgers hit Jordy Nelson on an out route and as Nelson went to the ground the ball was moving and the officials on the field rules it an incomplete pass. As the Packers lackadaisically approached the ensuing play McCarthy saw time frittering away and decided to toss the red flag. McCarthy has been money in his challenges of late and the scenario seemed to be fairly logical. As the clock ran down and the Packer coaches in the press box debated whether or not to challenge McCarthy simply looked at it as a no lose scenario. If I challenge and win, we get the ball and keep on trucking. If I lose I was going to have to call time out anyhow. It appeared to be the smart play.

Later in the game Drew Brees threw a pass to TE Jimmy Graham who, as he went to the ground, appeared to have the ball moving yet the officials on the field rules it a complete pass. McCarthy wasted no time in throwing his second challenge feeling that he would get this one back.

Inexplicably the refs confirmed the call on the field as well as the worst possible nightmare for the Packer faithful. A collective groan coupled with the outrage could be heard loudly. Welcome back refs indeed. The cheers to which they entered the field were suddenly displaced by an awful lot of people who disagreed with the call. The play meant that the Packers were charge4d with a time out, they were also out of challenges.

In the game of football it is often times funny and curious how the little things that get overlooked during the course of a game add up or come back to haunt a team.

After the Packers regained the lead after Rodgers hit Nelson over the middle on the ensuing kickoff rookie Packer LB Dezman Moses put his helmet right on the ball as Saints returner Darren Sproles was steaming up the left side. Replays showed the ball clearly coming out and hitting the ground long after the hit and well before any part of Sproles hit the ground. As the refs scrambled to untangle the pile of bodies the call on the field was “Down by contact.”

In what has become a cruel joke Lambeau Field erupted at the notion. As McCarthy fumed futilely on the sidelines, alternately pleading his case and stating his very sharp opinion of the call the replay was shown on the giant Jumbotron. McCarthy was begging and pleading for someone in stripes to just look up.

But when he went to throw his red challenge flag, it wasn’t there. Gone. Used up. An all too familiar sickening feeling gripped the entire Packers bench as well as anyone watching live or on the national broadcast. “Here we go again” was the common sentiment.

The honeymoon with the regular refs ended with a strong degree of finality at this point. If the happy reunion with the regulars was in jeopardy on the previous pass plays as this unfolded the marriage was annulled.

The cascade of “boos” raining down on the field from the crowd were more deafening than the hit Moses laid on Sproles to get the mess started. The Packers had command of the game, a game they now desperately needed if they are to keep pace with the shocking Minnesota Vikings who lead the NFC North, and managed to fritter away a 21 – 7 lead.

The Packers opened strong getting a touchdown toss from Aaron Rodgers to the much maligned James Jones after a 7 play 62 yard drive giving the Pack the first points they have scored in a first quarter this season. The Saints are much better than their 0 – 4 record. Drew Brees was furious in his leading the charge, marching right back and tying the game when he hit Marcus Colston for a 20 yard TD.

The Packers offense finally showed up. Mixing Cedric Bensons punishing runs inside with Rodgers picking out the open receiver the Packers looked more like the team that tore thru the NFL record books a year ago than the misfiring unit they have been to date. Rodgers used a full bag of tricks in subsequent drives to widen the gap to 21 – 7 at the half as Greg Jennings and Jones each caught TD passes. But when Sproles scored with 27 seconds left in the half after Brees marched his team down some of the early confidence the Packers displayed was tested.

The Packers committed themselves to improving their overall defense. McCarthy and DC Dom Capers have stressed and preached the fundamentals and good tackling in the off season. The Packers responded by entering the game as the NFL’s top defense against the pass. Brees and the Saints were unimpressed. After a field goal here, and the score gets closer.

Then the Packers defense morphed into the unit from last year that couldn’t stop a pass if it was only the QB and a WR on the field. Saints rookie WR Joseph Morgan blew right past Sam Shields in a zone coverage that Brees exploited at will and expected safety help over the top from S Morgan Burnett.

It wasn’t there. Morgan, however, was and caught a Brees bomb that ended with an 80- yard strike. Morgan was so wide open the only thing that could have stopped him would have been a heart attack. And a heart attack damn near took place when Rodgers made a poor throw that was easily picked off in the next series. So magnificent has Rodgers been that the mere act of an interception is great cause for alarm. The heart attack did not set in until after the Saints stretched the lead to 27 – 21 with 13 minutes left. Most disturbing was the 20 – 0 run the Saints posted while the Packer offense floundered.

Where Packer fans came to accept last year’s brilliance as routine the curious malaise of “Uh, oh… here we go again…” set in. The fatalists among the crowd began to lose faith rapidly. The giant sucking, flushing sound was felt by the Packers fans as they could see their season, once so rife with promise, circling the bowl and disappearing altogether.

Leave it to Rodgers to right the ship and drive the offense 57 yards to give the Packers a lead they would not relinquish. The Packer offense finally showed up this week, while the very young defense took a few strides back. It will be up to Capers and McCarthy to somehow plug the enormous holes in the middle of the zone coverage so often employed by the Pack, holes so large that every upcoming offensive coordinator will see and try to devise ways to beat.

It wasn’t pretty and at times the Packers looked like they were taking steps backwards. But it was a win, a hard fought, well-earned comeback win at that. McCarthy is savvy enough to know he is not going to march thru the NFL putting up X Box ‘Madden’-esque numbers. Winning after such a heartbreaking defeat is where character comes in.

The Packers found a lot of character on Sunday.