THE DEFENSE MAKES ITS CASE

Packers Defense Stifles Lynch, Hawks in Big Win

The schoolyard bully final got punched in the nose.

In an impressive performance in all 3 phases of the game the Green Bay Packers came from behind to punctuate the early part of the year with a convincing 27 – 17 win over their arch nemesis Seattle Seahawks at a very raucous Lambeau Field on Sunday night before a huge national television audience and a full beyond capacity stadium.

 

The much maligned/ oft criticized and tired of hearing about how bad they are against the run

defense showed up en masse last night to stuff, snuff, and extinguish their most recent tormentors. Super RB Marshawn Lynch was held to a trifling 41 yards and was not a factor in the contest. Russell Wilson slathered himself up in grease and was typically elusive but for the most part the Pack’s D showed intelligence and discipline in containing the damage caused by Wilson, a known havoc wreaker.

 

On the weekends biggest stage it was the second string that chipped in mightily to aid the Packers’ cause. Eddie Lacy was rolling like a Mack truck until he had his ankle rolled up and left for the night. Lacy had been clearly winning the running battle with Lynch but Green Bay didn’t miss a beat when James ‘Crazylegs’ Starks took his spot. Starks ran like the James Starks who stepped up in the Packers glorious Super Bowl run and was not only a good replacement he made a very strong case for himself. Starks has become a more patient, efficient and explosive runner than he was way back when. He repeatedly gashed the Seattle line for big chunks of yardage and gave the Pack the advantage they sought in the running game.

 

Om defense unheralded LB Jayrone Elliott was the clear star with a huge pick late that he followed up with a tomahawk punch out forced fumble on the Hawks Fred Jackson that sealed the deal. Elliott has been a special teams stud and with ILB Sam Barrington out form the year Elliott made them most of his opportunity. He has been a preseason sack machine and the Packers may have found what they have been looking for.

 

There were other noteworthy performances. OLB Nick Perry’s name kept popping up last night as

he played a positionally smart game and was harassing Wilson most of the evening. A lighter and stronger looking B. J. Raji looked like he did when he was a rookie and was hugely disruptive in the Hawks backfield. Don Barclay filled in for RT Bryan Bulaga who underwent knee surgery after being injured in practice last week and was not out of place and more than held his own.

 

The usual and expected stars for Green Bay shined brightest. Aaron Rodgers is already taking a big lead early in the MVP voting and Seattle’s Michael Bennett will have a red face in the film room back in the Northwest this week trying to explain why he was suckered so many times by Rodgers’ hard count. Hawks coach Pete Carroll said after the game “We knew it (the hard count) was coming. We practiced for it coming. And when it came we still couldn’t get it done.” Rodgers is the best in the league along with Tom Brady in drawing defenses offside and Bennett gave Rodgers way too many free plays and Rodgers made the Hawks pay dearly.

 

All World CB Richard Sherman has had Rodgers number for a while. Last year Rodgers did not attempt a single throw Sherman’s way in their first meeting and only 2 in their second showdown in the playoffs, one of them resulting in an interception. But last night Rodgers as coldly as an assassin drew Bennett offside and not only threw at Sherman James Jones blew past him for a touchdown that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the evening. Mike McCarthy has preached he wants to open fast, and open fast the Packers have done in the season and did in the game last night.

 

Emotion was running high as the Green Bay faithful raised the roof and turned Lambeau into a

madhouse of noise. Seattle may have the 12^th man but the Packers have The Man in #12. The Packers took the opening kick and under Rodgers stewardship marched right down the field in a drive that ended with a strike to Jones on an offside free play. The fans were going nuts and when Seattle’s Lynch was stuffed repeatedly behind the line and the Hawks were forced to punt from deep in their end zone Rodgers came right back to stake the Packers to a 10- 0 lead.

 

Give Wilson credit for remaining cool under fire. Emotion can only carry a team so far and then the real dogfight begins. Wilson brought the Hawks back a bit as both teams swapped field goals and The Packers exited the first half with a 13-3 lead. Solid, but everyone in Green Bay knows when Seattle is the opponent no lead is ever safe.

 

Wilson and the ‘Hawks came out wining and slinging to start the second half.  With Lynch bottled up and the Packers intent on closing off his cutback lanes Wilson does what Wilson does best. He began use the ‘read – option’ to create running lanes for himself. His opening drive of the 2^nd half ended with a 5 minute drive and a TD toss to Fred Jackson to close the lead to 13 – 10. Wilson then engineered the next Seattle drive in similar fashion that put the Hawks ahead 17 – 13 when Wilson found Doug Baldwin in the end zone and once raucous Lambeau became a mausoleum of “Oh no… we’ve seen this movie before.”

 

Give the coaching staff kudos for staying the course. As the Packers saw their offense depleted with

Eddie Lacy, Davante Adams and Josh Boyd all being carted off with ankle injuries (Boyd’s by far looked the most severe) and already missing Jordy Nelson most teams would have fallen like a cheap soufflé.

 

Most teams.

 

The Packers are not most teams. The Packers are nothing if not resilient and Rodgers was once again nothing short of perfect in the 4^th quarter. With Starks racking up 95 yards on the ground Rodgers took to the air. Rookie Ty Montgomery had 4 catches for 37 yards while Randall Cobb shouldered a bigger role as his bum right shoulder gets better with 8 snags for 116 yards. The defense also made adjustments and it was the Packers’ defense – not Seattle’s – that was a menacing presence that hurried, chased and harassed Wilson. Aaron Rodgers’ strike to TE Richard Rodgers was vintage Rodgers, finding the open man in the end zone as he danced among the horde of Hawks swirling around him and tucking the ball not thru an open window but through a mail slot.

 

Without question the Seahawks defense was missing holdout Kam Chancellor and his absence last night created opportunities for Rodgers. Rodgers is not just physically talented but one of the smartest QB’s to ever play the game. Knowing Chancellor was out the Packers employed Cobb out of the backfield to confuse Seattle’s defense. “We knew he (Chancellor) was out so we thought we could get a free release on Randall” said Rodgers afterwards. The move used sparingly opened lanes up for Cobb as the last man out in the pass attack but by far the most lethal. Rodgers eschewed the big home run balls for a series of short to mid-range throws that wore the Seattle defense out. So efficient was Rodgers that his longest throw was 29 yards to James Jones for a TD early.

 

Those pesky Seahawks have some spit and fire. Wilson tried to marshal a response but Jayrone

Elliott may have earned more by stepping up. The big plays did not come from Clay Matthews or Julius Peppers or Mike Daniels. It was Elliott who stepped in front of an attempted mid field screen and snagged Wilson’s toss with one hand. So stunned was Elliott at his good fortune he took two steps and promptly fumbled the ball but got it right back. Elliott sealed the victory with a vicious blind side chop at the ball when he caused a fumble from Fred Jackson. While Micah Hyde gobbled up the gift Lambeau Field went deliriously nuts as the monkey that has been a forest of gorillas perched on the Pack’s back was finally vanquished.

 

The players can tell the press all they want about last year’s playoff debacle being last year and acting professionally detached in the process but the very nature of the intensity of this rivalry was unearthed when LB K.J. Wright tried to remove TE Richard Rodgers helmet with is head still in it. Seeing Rodgers splayed out G T.J. Lang, no stranger to mano a mano battles launched himself into Wright as an ugly scrum ensued. As Wright was booted from the game the Hawks suddenly looked vulnerable. It went to the heart of exactly how personal it was for the players.

 

The defense that so tormented the Packers previously did not have their typical swagger. Sherman

was shut up as he did not shut down Rodgers. When was the last time anyone intentionally threw at Sherman, daring him to make a play? Rodgers did with his strike to Jones early. Rodgers made his own statement about last year’s playoff game by showing had he been healthy Seattle wouldn’t have stood a chance. The Seahawks prize catch of the off season Jimmy Graham was held to 1 measly catch. Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers deserved high marks for the disciplined approach the Packers defense took to contain both Lynch and Wilson. Lynch was a veritable non-factor and his 41 yards on the ground is a measure of any defense that did its’ job well.

 

The Packers get an extra day to savor the W as they do not play again until Monday night. It isn’t the playoffs – yet – but Green Bay is certainly holding the hammer for the playoffs at 2 - 0. McCarthy has said all along wanted a fast start.

 

On Sunday he not only got the fast start he wanted he got a fast finish.