RANDALL TO THE RESCUE

Rookie Randall Steps Up to Spoil Rivers’ Record Day

It was a case of ‘good news/ bad news’ for the San Diego Chargers on a beautiful Sunday in Green Bay. The good news – QB Philip Rivers turned in a record breaker performance by throwing a staggering 65 times and an even more staggering 503 yards, both setting records that blew Dan Fouts’ previous marks out of the water. The bad news?

It wasn’t enough to deliver a W.

Rivers had done a bit of foreshadowing the week prior to the matchup with the undefeated Packers by saying “We’re [San Diego] putting up a ton of yardage but we’re not putting enough points on the board.” It was a statement that rang true as the Pack staved off a last second, end of game heroic attempt by Rivers to walk out of Lambeau Field a winner.

Rookie CB Damarious Randall had other ideas. As Rivers attempted to throw an out route to RB

Danny Woodhead Randall showed exactly why he was nabbed with the Pack’s first pick. Randall slammed on the brakes and realizing all he had to do was to knock the ball away he did not go for the high risk pick. Instead he laid himself out and thrust the hand that carried the dagger in front of Rivers pass and ended the Chargers valiant effort to knock of the now 6- 0 Packers.

San Diego and Rivers dominated the stat sheet in almost every area. The time of possession battle Mike McCarthy uses as a measuring stick was tilted badly towards the west coast and San Diego. The Bolts held the ball a ridiculous 38 minutes to Green Bay’s paltry 22:00. McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers have both spoken about the Packers desire to run 65 – 70 plays. Rivers alone threw the ball 65 times. In the process the Chargers rolled up 548 total yards against what was, and still is, a pretty darn good defense.

The Packers came in with a what has become a weekly version of “1001 Ways to Die”. Since drafting Eddie Lacy the Packers have struck a much more balanced attack. Lacy provides the thump inside to keep defenses honest and Rodgers controls the airwaves. Remember when teams would drop 8 and rush 3 all but laughing at the Pack’s pungent running game? No more. Having Lacy has meant teams can no longer afford to ignore the run. So it would make perfect sense that the team that shuts down Lacy and can contain Rodgers and drops 500+ yards on the defense will beat the ever loving daylights out of the Packers, right?

Wrong.

Reaching into his bag of tricks as Lacy struggled to get going McCarthy turned to his #2 back in

James Starks and turned the big fella loose. After Rodgers staked the Packers to a 7- 0 lead scoring on the Pack’s first possession when Arod shoveled the ball to Starks for a 5 yard TD Starks ran wild. Literally.

On Green Bay’s next possession Starks took the handoff and started right. As the holes closed up on the right side of the line Starks alertly cut back against the grain and rather than explode he glided along the line until the hole he wanted opened up. The Charger OLB’s had grossly overcommitted to the inside leaving Starks an expanse of real estate that was uncovered and open far, wide, and deep. As Starks outran the startled Chargers he picked up a convoy block when Jeff Janis joined the mix and plowed the road for Starks to make it all the way home giving Green Bay a 14 -3 lead on his impressive 65 yard gallop.

Rivers responded by rallying the Chargers to and end of half TD when he hit WR Dontrelle Inman with 2 seconds left on the clock. The score narrowed the Packers lead to 17 – 10. The Packers took the second half kickoff but were stymied in their attempt to move the ball. In fact Green Bay had a wretched day converting only 3 of 9 3^rd down attempts. More disturbing were the number of 3 and outs, a stat not ordinarily attached to Rodgers and the Pack.

These Packers are being forged in the crucible of winning any way they can. They now possess

talent on both sides of the ball and are no longer a run n gun team that wins wild shootouts but is susceptible to a stout defense. Most telling was Aaron Rodgers comment after the game when he was asked if he felt the Packers deserved the win based on Rivers performance. “We’ll take them any way we can get them” said Rodgers knowing he had been outplayed by his counterpart.

Finding ways to win when the odds and the game are going against a team is what will forge an even tougher squad as the season grinds on. This Packers team is built for the challenge. While Rivers did not throw an INT he was limited when his best receiver Kennan Allen departed with an injury. For the day all Allen did was grab 14 of Rovers 15 throws good for 157 yards. But the most telling stat line is all that work yielded exactly 0 TD’s for the Rivers to Allen connection.

Both teams got dinged at the WR position in the game. Randall Cobb is still showing the effects of the strained shoulder he got in the preseason and has yet to break big. Davante Adams was also out and when rookie Ty Montgomery rolled an ankle he, too, joined the Pack’s walking wounded wideouts. James Jones was thankfully healthy.

After Rivers led the Chargers to a comeback tie when he hit TE LaDarius Green for a 19 yard TD Rodgers showed why he is the reigning MVP. Rivers put up numbers that were staggering, yes. But when a team needs a rally Rodgers is the guy any team wants to rally around. As the 3^rd  quarter closed out Rodgers led a 7 play, furious hurry up drive that covered 69 yards in just over 4 minutes that culminated in yet another Rodgers-to-James Jones strike from the 8 to secure the lead at 24 – 17.

As both teams swapped field goals it was up to Rivers to try some last minute, last second magic.

Last week Rivers had magnificently orchestrated what he and the Chargers thought was a game winning drive only to see Pittsburgh score on the very last play of the game to spoil Rivers’ heroics. Rivers is a competitive, fiery sort and he deserves a better team around him than he has had in his time in San Diego. As Mason Crosby put the Pack up 27 – 20 Rivers started the last drive with 2:22 left. 11 yards to TE Antonio Gates. Another 12 yards to Danny Woodhead on his next pass.

Operating exclusively out of the shotgun Rivers tested the resolve of a very tired defense that had been pushed to the brink but never quite over the edge. Consecutive throws to Gates netted 18 more yards as the clock wound down.

After a timeout Danny Woodhead, one of the most disruptive little men in the NFL took a short pass and ran for 12 yards to the Green Bay 27. A minute 14 left. The Packers D was trying to hang on as Rodgers implored them from the sidelines. Rivers to Gates over the middle good for 12 yards at the Green Bay 15. 33 seconds left. Another throw to another TE as Rivers hit Green at the 3. Datone Jones picked up a penalty for hands to the face that was declined but also stopped the clock.

Clay Matthews stepped up to stuff Woodhead as he tried to go over the left side at the 2. San Diego burns their 2^nd timeout with 28 nail-biting seconds left. An incomplete pass, a rare miss today for Rivers to Gates on the next play. Then Woodhead is shoved backwards at the 3, losing a yard to Datone Jones in the process.

In the mass confusion that doubles as the NFL regular season gems of plays need to be gleaned

from the rubble of a season where noise reigns supreme. In the W column the game will only be one of however many the Pack ends up winning but those miniscule numbers never tell the true story.

Based on stats alone the Chargers kicked the ever loving crap out of the vaunted Packers. But stats can be manipulated into saying whatever the individual poring through them wants them to say. Stats have no room for heart, no room for character. There is no margin for a highlight reel play, one play out of the several thousand a team will execute throughout the year. A year’s worth of scouting reports mean zilch when a game is on the line and a promising rookie is tested.

Damarious Randall was taken with the Pack’s first pick. At the time Packer Nation was clamoring for an inside linebacker. Randall wasn’t even a popular choice by the pundits and talking heads. But maybe Ted Thompson and his scouting staff know a thing or two about who they are bringing to town. On the only 4^th down of the drive Rivers would face he tried to burn the rookie Randall.

As soon as Rivers brought his arm back Woodhead turned inside. Randall showed lightning reflexes by breaking immediately on the ball, laying himself out completely and deftly shoving his right hand out to swat away the ball and the star-crossed Chargers valiant last gasp. As Rivers lay flat on his back staring into the cool Wisconsin night sky he had to be wondering “What do I have to do to get a win?”

For their collective efforts the Packers get an extra week off. They’re going to need it. Next up are the equally undefeated Denver Broncos. The healing is well earned and a little bit easier to do when a W was somehow taken away from Rivers Herculean effort.