Packers 31, Carolina 35
There are a lot of things I could talk about in this game. How do you let LB Brandon Chillar go in deep coverage against WR Steve Smith? How could C Scott Wells be playing with a concussion when he sent a shotgun snap flying over QB Aaron Rodgers' head? What was Rodgers thinking with under 2 minutes to go when he launched an INT into triple coverage? Could they replace P Derrick Frost, please? But I want to focus on two failures.
1. Kick coverage. Carolina's longest drive of the game was 55 yards. The Packers never made them work the length of the field. One drive happened after the bad shotgun snap fumble, but the rest was lousy kick coverage. It wasn't that WR Mark Jones is an awesome return man. He made one cut and ran straight down the field in the wide open running lane. One long return happened when DE Kenny Pettway injured his leg, fell down, and left a wide open running lane. But the rest was just lousy kick coverage. And lousy punts by Frost.
2. Run defense. I read Mike McCarthy's post-game press conference and they didn't ask him one fracking question about it. "Coach, how do you expect to win when your defense allows five fracking one yard TD runs in a single game! Did you practice a goal line stance this week?" It really burns that they get stuffed on two running plays on the 1 yard line by Carolina, and settle for a field goal with under two minutes to go. Then the defense gives up a big play and collapses when they have to stop Carolina on the goal line. They were so out of position on it that DE Aaron Kampman was tripled team at the point of attack. Carolina's tight ends had no one else to block except Kampman.
So many players played well in this game.
- RB Brandon Jackson. After they decided to sit RB Ryan Grant in the 2nd half because he has a thumb injury, Jackson stepped in and averaged almost 8 yards per carry. It boosted his yards/carry average up to 5.5 for the season, while . He's been one of the best players on the team this season, but he hasn't had too many chances to show it.
- C Jason Spitz. He slides in after Wells injury and plays well. It sure helped him that Carolina's defensive tackles are nothing special.
- O-line, backs, and tight ends in pass protection. DE Julius Peppers had two sacks when he beat LT Chad Clifton, but Carolina couldn't get anyone else near Rodgers. There were several blitzes, but they held their blocks and gave him time or room to scramble.
- QB Aaron Rodgers. He had a bad pick near the end of the game. Otherwise he threw for almost 300 yards and 3 TDs against one of the best pass defenses in the NFL.
- It's really sad because they outplayed Carolina in so many ways.
| Team | First Downs | 3rd Down % | Total Yards | TOP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Packers | 25 | 50 | 438 | 37:52 |
| Carolina | 15 | 40 | 300 | 22:08 |
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5 comments
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Comments
Hey someone voted for...
the Oline too! cool…Rodgers was awesome, too.
You are right, our special teams was only special in the “special olympics” sense (wow that was mean of me! lol) and our Defensive line was absolutely offensive (offensive to the senses, that is…)
But, I gotta tell you though, this for me was the game of the year. What I am going to remember is the Tramon Williams strip, Chuck woodson running down Stewart and stripping of the ball (awesome play), Rodgers getting absolutely clocked by Peppers out of bounds, but getting right up, bad shoulder and all…
Nineteen players on the injury report, Pettway and Thompson go down, Wells with a concussion (I didn’t know that), Grant was hurt…
I am going to remember that 16 play drive to give us the ever-brief 3 point lead…(longest drive of the year)
After getting embarrassed and shallacked in prime time last week at Gnarly-eans, I gotta say I’m proud of these packers more than any other time this year! They came back and outplayed a team that could win 12 or 13 games…outplayed in yards, time of possession, etc. as you pointed out.
And the STeve Smith plays, to me, it wasn’t so much about what we didn’t do in those plays, it was more about what a GREAT player did to RIse to the occassion.
But I definitely hear you on kick coverage (bring back Tracey White? lol) and run D…just abysmal
by PackFaninFL on Dec 1, 2008 1:41 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Good game indeed
You’re right PackFaninFL, you have to put this year’s Packer team in perspective. A few missed opportunities might spoil the playoffs, but these guy are a good team, and they play hard. It was a fun game to watch, although I felt the loss was imminent, and definitely proved to be an exciting four quarters of football.
by PackaCracka on Dec 1, 2008 11:51 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Exactly
A few missed opportunities might spoil the playoffs, but these guy are a good team, and they play hard
Last year we got all of those opportunities. The Eagles opener fell into our hands thanks to some special teams luck. The Redskins game fell our way because of a defensive TD. The Broncos game was won on the first play of OT. Things seemed to bounce our way last year but haven’t this year.
Frye is honestly gotta be one of the top 10 3rd Stringers in all of the NFL right now--colbyb
by verno329 on Dec 1, 2008 12:17 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Good game Packer fans
fun to watch for anyone and we certainly felt lucky to pull it out. The kick return game was a key from our standpoint. It has been a weakness all season until the Packers game.
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
by Jaxon on Dec 1, 2008 1:19 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Why is the Offensive Line even an option on that poll? Whatever, maybe it was the predictable goal-line play-calling that got us stuffed on three Jackson runs straight up the middle…
by Spurs20 on Dec 1, 2008 4:32 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

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