THANKSGIVING TURKEY

Bears Spoil Favre’s Return, Dump Pack 17 – 13

Everything was in place. On a quagmire of a night Brett Favre was there, Bart Starr was there, a beyond capacity crowd of 78,000+ was there and a well fed national audience was there. The Packers defense was there. There was one small problem… the offense once again went missing when it was needed most. The Chicago Bears were the beneficiary of the Packers suddenly ice cold offense that went colder than the near freezing weather at Lambeau Field as they slipped out of town with a well-earned 17-13 victory with a last second defensive stand from their own 8 yard line.

The game was almost anti-climactic as the entire sporting world was on hand to witness the unveiling of Brett Favre’s number 4 in the Packers’ Ring of Honor. Many of Favre’s former teammates were on hand for the occasion and whatever acrimony there was between Favre and the Packer faithful was long gone. And when Packer legend Bart Starr was there to welcome Favre into the select, august group that includes Lombardi, Nitschke, White and Starr himself grown men were reduced to tears at the sight. It was a glorious moment spoiled by another incredibly poor performance by the offense.

Knute Rockne never said “Let’s blow one for the Gipper.” Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy’s frustration with the suddenly stagnant offense can be seen on their faces, seen in their body language, and heard in their voices during their post-game press conferences which must be becoming more and more difficult with every passing week. There have been no questions about the defense of late; for the second straight week the Packers defense held an opponent to under 19 points – and lost.

The defense wasn’t spectacular but solid. They limited Jay Cutler to 200 yards passing but for a change Cutler didn’t play Santa Claus with the ball and outdid Rodgers as he left the field with zero interceptions to Rodgers’ 1. The defense also held the Bears to 101 yards rushing so the finger pointing at Dom Capers and his defense, schemes, personnel and calls get the week off. The offense won’t be so fortunate.

The offensive woes will not be nor should it be so easily explained or overlooked. The urgency was obvious in Mike McCarthy’s post-game press conference when he pointedly said “The reality is we’re not that far off,” McCarthy said. “It’s the attention to details. Our issues are technique and discipline in the technique, and quit worrying so much about the plays. Win the route when the play is called.”

“Win the route when the play is called. The passing game is not clean,” McCarthy continued. “We’ve made scheme changes from last year to this year and it’s not productive enough. We’ll take another hard look at it, as we continue to do, and either emphasize some of the changes we have made or go back to emphasize some of the basics of our offense.” His annoyance was summed up with his parting words. “At the end of the day, you have to beat the guy,” McCarthy said “And we’re just not getting it done.”

Some players are certain to draw McCarthy’s ire this week in preparation for the Detroit Lions next Thursday. Although Eddie Lacy looks like he is getting back into form he was less than secure with the ball. Lacy gained 139 yards on the ground that included the Packers’ lone touchdown but it was his casual flip scant inches over the goal line after he scored and a huge fumble that led to the Bears field goal that essentially iced the game that was the subject of McCarthy’s talk afterwards. “Make no bones about it, if you don’t hold onto the football, turn the football over, your opportunities are going to decrease or go away,” McCarthy said. “Eddie has played very well the last two weeks, but he has to handle the football. On the touchdown, he was careless with the ball there, and on the fumble he was careless with his technique, the ball away from his body. That’s what happens.” True to his word McCarthy had Lacy on the bench for the last 2 series of the first half.

Another player running out of time and excuses is WR Davante Adams. His sophomore slump has continued as have his unnerving number of drops. Much was expected of Adams going into the season, McCarthy and Rodgers were glowing with reviews of the second year wideout and he was living up to the billing until he  went out in the same game with Lacy with an ankle injury in week 2 against Seattle. Losing Jordy Nelson in the preseason meant everyone else would have to step up to take up the slack. Adams was expected to fill the deep threat sideline target Nelson held. Rodgers had developed such trust and chemistry with Nelson it elevated the rest of the WR’s. Nelson’s toe tapping acrobatic catches were underrated for years and now his loss is felt immeasurably. Adams was primed for the role

It has not worked out.

The injury was a setback but Adams has been skittish since his return and has been fighting the ball. It was never more obvious than in the loss to Detroit when Adams was targeted by Rodgers on the first 3 passes and ended up with an ignominious record. For the game Adams was targeted a staggering 21 times. Of those targets he caught less than half and the yardage to targets ratio set a new NFL record he doesn’t want as he turned those 21 attempts into only 10 catches and (gulp) 79 yards. 

The Packers still had a shot to pull one out of the fire late. With less than a minute left from the Bears 8 yard line and with 4 downs and Rodgers at the helm this is the slam dunk everyone, even the Bears, expected the Pack to salvage. Four shots from the 8 and yet the Packers came away with nothing. The first 2 attempts were throwaways and then James Jones and Adams dropped the ball on third then fourth down to seal the game for Chicago. Without naming names Rodgers opted for the high road by saying afterwards “I like the calls there; all four of them,” Rodgers said of the four plays from the 8-yard line with the game on the line. “I have to throw it better and we have to catch it more often.”

Clearly Rodgers and his receivers are not on the same page and since the Denver game that began the slide it has escalated to the level of downright uncertainty in any part of the passing game. “I’m going to have to make sure my preparation is as high as it’s ever been because we have to get on the same page. We have to make sure there aren’t discrepancies in depth and adjustments,” Rodgers said. “Every year is different. We ran it well tonight. We’ve got to be better in the passing game”

“We had a lot of chances for points. This is on us. We had opportunities to win the game,” Rodgers said. 

Adams is not alone in the criticism department. James Jones began the season as a godsend by hauling in passes from ARod and was finding the end zone. Of late he looks like a receiver who rightfully should have been released by Oakland and cut by the Giants. Jones was never blessed with great speed and now that he is facing tighter coverages he can’t shake them to get open. And when he does as he did with seconds left last night the result has been an all too familiar drop that kills a drive if not the game.

The sudden collapse of the Packers passing game is as stunning to the rest of the league as it is to Green Bay, maybe more so. After all Rodgers is the reigning MVP and it wasn’t too long ago (2011) that Green Bay was destroying records and teams. Now a simple completion is cause for celebration. Even Randall Cobb has not been exempt in the drought contributing drops of his own along the way. When Rodgers found him late to set up the last second failure it looked like old times. It wasn’t; once again it went for naught.

The pressure to catch the ball is mounting and with that players are beginning to press. The Packers are running out of time. The huge lead they held in the NFC North is gone and they are now the chasers with Detroit and Chicago both gaining momentum to pass the Pack. The single area in which the passing game is working is in the screen pass to the running backs. 

The answers will not come in a change of coaches or play callers or planning or even schemes. The mess was created by the players themselves and it will be up to the players themselves clean up their own mess. With the starters faltering it may open the door for Jeff Janis to get his shot. Janis had a huge 63 yard return to set up a score and at this point he can’t do much worse. He did have some snaps but no targets. That may change. The Packers have a full week of preparation for the Lions next Thursday. They can’t make up the games they have literally given away and at the same time cannot afford to continue the trend. It has only been a couple weeks removed from McCarthy saying “We’re not talking about playoffs yet. We’re going to need double digits (in wins) to talk playoffs.” At 7 – 4 the Pack has the inside track to a Wild Card playoff position. A month ago that thought would have been laughable.

If the players on offense can’t figure out how to catch the ball and fast it will make for an even more embarrassing offseason than the one they just lived through after the meltdown in Seattle in last season’s NFC Championship game.