Cardinals vs. Packers: Working Class Hero Of The Week

This award should probably go to the entire offensive line. They did their job wonderfully on Sunday. They protected Aaron Rodgers and allowed only one sack. They opened up running lanes and allowed the running back by committee to run for over 100 yards on Sunday. Yup, this should probably go to the entire line.

But it’s not.

No, there was one offensive lineman who actually stood out in a good way on Sunday….throw in the fact that he’s been a whipping boy the last few weeks and it’s too hard to resist letting him get the spotlight for a little bit. That’s T.J. Lang.

It’s not easy to move from guard to tackle. Daryn Colledge tried it in his time here and got eaten alive by Jared Allen and countless others during the 2009 season. It’s not easy to move from the right side of the line to the left side of the line either. Lang did both on Sunday and did not miss a beat. Heck, an argument could be made that the offensive line played better once Bryan Bulaga went out with an injury and Lang kicked out to tackle. Evan Dietrich-Smith is also a strong component in that, but for right now let’s focus on Lang. He was able to open up holes in the running game and provide pretty good pass protection. He was beaten pretty bad once, but it didn’t go for a sack and Lang fought back.

All in all, that deserves some special honors. That’s why this week T.J. Lang is your Working Class Hero of the Week.

Honorable mention: Every other offensive lineman not named Bryan Bulaga.

This offensive line has taken a lot of flack. Many still doubt whether Marshall Newhouse can be the answer on the left side. Jeff Saturday is considered to be having a down season. Evan Dietrich-Smith is forgotten about too often when talking about our line. Josh Sitton doesn’t get much flack, but we can forget how great he is at right guard. All of these guys stepped up their game when Bulaga went down and handled an impressive front seven for the Cardinals.

Honorable mention: Erik Walden

Walden did not do much against the Cardinals, but one thing he did to was hit John Skelton. He did this over and over. Walden is not much of a pass rusher, but he can make his presence known to an opposing QB...and sometimes that's just as good.