CAUSE FOR CONCERN?

Packers Offense Continues to Struggle Against Lions in Loss

The winds of fortune are changing direction in the NFL these days. Along with that the winds of change are blustering as well. The 2104 version of the Green Bay Packers were, on paper, a supposed offensive juggernaut. The defense? Well, maybe not so much.

The 19-7 loss in Detroit was marked not by the defenses shortcomings but an offense that could never get itself started. This loss cannot and will not be laid at the doorstep of the defense however. On this day the defense more than did its part by forcing 3 turnovers while keeping Calvin Johnson in check. RB Reggie Bush was held to 61 yards, 26 of which came in the 4^th quarter on the Lions lone offensive TD. Limiting the explosive Detroit offense to a single offensive TD should have been part of a big win. It was not.

Julius Peppers and Co. had a pretty good day on the field. Peppers himself had a sack, a forced fumble and recovery of that fumble all in one play to lead the Pack D. The schneid of interceptions by a Packers safety was finally vanquished when rookie Ha Ha Clinton- Dix grabbed a tipped pass for his first interception as a pro and the first by a Packers safety since the days of Leroy Butler.

But when an offense gives the opposing team’s defense 9 points while registering a scant 7 the question has to be asked – what’s wrong with the offense? The Packers looked like the Packers on the opening drive by moving 59 yards in 9 plays that ended with an Aaron Rodgers shovel pass to TE Andrew Quarless for the game’s first – and the Packers last – score of the day.

From that point the offense went completely intro the tank leaving the defense alone to man the fort. RB Eddie Lacy has yet to find the running room he found last year. Fellow RB James Starks outplayed Lacy against Detroit and was far more efficient and productive. The biggest blow was Lacy’s fumble in the 1^st quarter that jump started the Lions. After being gang tackled the ball was stripped from Lacy’s hands and hit the ground before he did. Lions DB Don Carey grabbed the ball on the first bounce and scampered 40 yards untouched into the end zone to knot the gamer at 7.

Lacy saw far more of the bench than the field after his gaffe. This contest was, on paper, a mismatch that clearly favored the Packers and their high flying offense. The Lions were without their defensive starters S James Ihedigbo and CB Cassius Vaughn to injuries while CB’s Bill Bentley and Nevin Lawson have been placed on the IR. Rodgers and his array of receivers should have had a field day against a vastly undermanned defense.

They most decidedly did not.

What’s wrong with the offense? Start with the man that makes the offense go in Green Bay in Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers has been uncharacteristically off on his throws this year. Not by much but enough to warrant concern. Jordy Nelson was sliding in the end zone for a Rodgers pass early in the game but was forced to reach back on an off target throw. This is not the only time this year Rodgers has thrown behind his targets. So   accurate has Rodgers been throughout his career that even these miniscule miscues are looking larger each week. Rodgers is among the NFL’s most accurate passers and has been legendary in his ability to put the ball in tight spaces where only his receivers can get the ball. But this has been a horse of a different color this year. While Rodgers remains among the league’s very best to play the position no doubt he will see the tape and see the ever so slight underthrows.

Lacy came into the year healthy and expected to shoulder a large load in the Packers offense. He has been underwhelming this year has seldom found the second level on his jaunts. Hi first period fumble that gave the Lions a gift TD landed the talented 2^nd year RB on the bench in favor of James Starks. The Lions defensive line of Ziggy Ansah, Jason Jones, Nick Fairley and Ndamukong Suh manhandled the Packers offensive line and held the Packers backs in check all game. When Lacy wasn’t riding the pine he was finding less open space to hit. Even when the Packers did something right it blew up in their faces like an exploding carton cigar. CB Davon House had a diving pick off the arm of Matthew Stafford at the 1 yard line to kill a Lion drive but on the next play Lacy was collared in the end zone for a safety. Credit the Lions defense for stuffing Lacy and keeping the game manageable for Matthew Stafford and the offense.

Stafford was hardly the reason for the Lions W. He was picked off twice and had zero TD throws. Calvin Johnson was defensed well and was a non-factor. While Bush put up the back breaking TD run in the 4^th quarter all Mike McCarthy and the rest of the Packers coaching staff could do was watch a suddenly disciplined Detroit D calmly and methodically dominate the Pack’s offense.

Rodgers should have had a field day against a defensive backfield that featured a player literally grabbed off the street when the Lions were hit so hard by injuries. The Lions loaded up against Jordy Nelson limiting him to 5 catches. Fellow WR Randall Cobb did not exploit the mismatches nor factored into the offense much. Afterwards Cobb called his performance “embarrassing”. Cobb never took advantage of the mismatches and did not create enough separation to contribute. “I have to do a better job of creating separation and getting open and giving Aaron somewhere to throw the ball” Cobb added. “We (the offense) just didn’t play well. It comes down to it – we got embarrassed”.

The Lions did not win this game as much as the Packer lost this game for themselves. A 7 point offensive production should have plenty of red faces in Green Bay and Mike McCarthy may be forced to make some moves in an effort to shake the moribund Packer offense out of it doldrums. Rookie TE Richard Rodgers may get some opportunities as Quarless has been uneven so far. #3 WR Jarrett Boykin has not distinguished himself and rookie Jeff Janis may be activated to shake up things. Janis has size and speed and Boykin has not done enough to add to the offense.

 

He is not alone in that department.

 

The offensive line has not established itself with authority enough. Lacy has not had the holes to hit that he had last year. And protection breakdown have also not helped. Rodgers has fallen back on his tendency to hold the ball too long and the pressure put on the O line has forced more sacks that have resulted from the failure to contain that pressure.

 

Lacy will hear the words “ball security” like a mantra all week. Lacy is then Packers’ workhorse and will need to get started and fast as the next two games against Chicago and Minnesota now take on an even greater level of importance even this early in the year. The Pack can ill afford to open at 1 – 3 and while it is not time to panic certainly there is an uneasy air settling into Titletown.

 

This is still an impressive offense. But accolades and past achievements mean zilch until it shows up on the field. The Packers have looked sluggish on offense and now need to refocus and start to impose its will on opponent. McCarthy has said his offense “… needs to start faster…” He is dead on accurate. He won’t be alone in his disappointment and the ensuing week he will challenge his offense as he has not had to do during the Rodgers’ regime. The offense will be under a microscope until it shows it has the ability to live up to its billing.

 

The defense has been a work in progress and showed great gains in the past 2 weeks. The pressure on the QB has been greatly improved this year and now the Packers D has shown it is capable of keeping the Packer in the game.

 

Now the offense has to catch up.