My Take -> Week 10

Greetings, G-Force.

Feeling strife after a week of drama, the Packers offense looked unprepared, their defense looked Championship caliber and their special teams were pathetic. Add it all up and the Packers fought hard, but fell short. Still, there were many positives to take away from the defeat. The biggest takeaway is that the Packers defense seems shockingly prime to be a pillar. Assuming Jaire and Za’Darius come back, it’s possible that the defense will be the cornerstone of the 2021 season; baffling as it sounds. And, really, to intentionally reiterate the point, when you look at the big picture of this game for the 2021 season, we learned that this defense is good enough. The Packers offense (with Rodgers) and their defense is good enough to be Super. The special teams? Well, at this point, not so much.

As I write, I sip a Titletown Brewing Green 19 IPA. The Green 19 cadence is forever in the archives of the Favre era. I listen to the Phish 10-24-21 show from the Forum; my favorite venue to see music. Known for its Showtime era of the LA Lakers, the vibrancy still echoes throughout the arena.

Here are my quick vibes from the last week:

Matt LaFleur was scatter brained as a play caller against the Chiefs, but I don’t blame him. His team had barely practiced together for two weeks. The locker room was a COVID mess. He came out and wisely put Love in position to complete two easy passes in the flat. He wanted to make it easy for Love and LaFleur accomplished his mission. Love missed badly. Then, the defense gave up an 8 minute TD drive. LaFleur wisely went to the run game. He had success. But, two embarrassing FG attempts put him behind the 8-ball. After that, it felt like LaFleur was both confused and indecisive. He was out of rhythm. He was almost in panic mode. LaFleur should’ve just stuck with the run.

Jordan Love. I have no idea what his future holds and frankly, I’m not worried about it. I have no idea if he will be good enough to be an NFL starter. I do know that he was asked to manage a game in which the defense played as good as could be expected and Love wasn’t good enough. It’s possible that the coaching staff didn’t tell him to look at man coverage over the middle of the Field on the all out blitzes. If so, that would surprise me. Had he looked at the middle of the Field, he would have had multiple big plays in man coverage. If he was not specifically coached to do that last Sunday, I’m sure he has learned that at some point of his playing career. I’m fairly confident that I learned that concept sitting on my Dad’s lap at 5 years old. All out blitz? Well, that signals the middle of the Field is wide open. Trust your WR. Take a shot. Love never did. Again, I’m not suggesting Love won’t be a good QB in the future, but he was not good enough in his 1st start. The moment was far too big for him. That’s not abnormal for a young QB under center for the 1st time, but it was a painful initial impression.

I’m infatuated with the Dillon and Jones tandem. They are perfect compliments for one another. Speaking of Jones, how did Love not get him the ball as a receiver? Did Love not watch film of the last two times these teams played at Arrowhead? LaFleur certainly had Jones in position to be a target. Love just didn’t look his way. Baffling.

Wild Man 70 must play better or he has to go to the bench.

The defense played so well. Wish they’d have gotten off the Field on the final 3rd and 10, but man, what a performance. So great to watch.

Catch the ball, Kevin King.

Barnes!! What a hit! He came to play.

Campbell continues to impress.

Wish that Savage would play that way every week.

The last time the Packers played the Chiefs in Arrowhead, they targeted Daniel Sorensen on a number of occasions. They had big plays against him. The one time they went after him last weekend, Lazard scored a TD. Sorensen is a liability in coverage. It’s shocking that the Packers didn’t go after him more often. I wonder if LaFleur didn’t dial it up or if Love didn’t execute it?

The Packers have had many porous special teams units over the last 40 years. This is possibly the worst we’ve ever witnessed. And, amazingly, the punter is doing unbelievably well. Literally every other facet of the special teams units is remarkably flawed. It’s almost impressive how poorly they perform week in and week out.

I thought OBJ would’ve been a perfect fit in the role that we’ve seen Ervin, Austin and Amari Rodgers in over the last two years. Would he have been happy in that role? We will never know. I also think the role would have showcased his current skillset in a way that would’ve extended his career as a prominent figure on the Field. Let him return punts. Put him in motion. Let him catch the ball in the open space against LB’s, safeties and nickel CB’s. It’d have been a perfect match. Instead, OBJ took the $$$. He didn’t choose the Rams over the Packers, he took the money.

This week - it’s the Seahawks. An afternoon game. I always love the lights at Lambeau in November during the afternoon games. There’s a special type of magic in the air. I expect ghosts of years past to show up and create turnovers for the Packers. Look for the ball to bounce the Packers way.

Russell Wilson will be back. Hopefully, Aaron Rodgers will be back as well. If 12 comes back and is on target, the Packers could drop points in abundance. These Seattle defense is really bad. They can’t defend the run. They can’t defend the pass. Look for LaFleur to feast on the Seattle secondary this weekend.

Rodgers to Adams. Rodgers to MVS on the deep ball. Dillon up the middle. Jones I’m the flat.

The Packers jump out to an early lead. But, the Seahawks are like cockroaches. They don’t die. Wilson to Metcalf on a big play. Seattle fights back to within a score.

But, it’s Rodgers and Adams as an unstoppable duo. Seattle doesn’t have the answer.

Packers 34
Seahawks 23

Go Pack Go!

Talkin’ S-Mac.
Talkins-mac.blogspot.com