2024 Packers regular season thread

[Moab]

The next 2 weeks clear the AFC South opponents from the schedule. The last AFC team the Pack faces is the Dolphins on Thanksgiving. It's kind of crazy how back loaded the division games are this year, and the back end of the schedule is the more difficult part this year. The Pack and NFC North caught 2 divisions that are down this year, and other than Houston are having injury issues or are just trying to build a bad team into something. I think as San Fran gets healthy they're going to be tough as usual for the Pack. We also catch the Dolphins that without Tua, maybe, is not very good and New Orleans who are Jeckyl and Hyde. I think the Pack caught a real break with scheduling this year and the division slate is going to determine the pecking order in the north this season.

Just some musings.

 

[Tainthappening]

It's kind of crazy how back loaded the division games are this year,

Packers v Vikings has been the only divisional game this season for NFC North.

Vikings v Lions will be the 2nd. A lot of divisional games to play here on out for NFC North.

 

[Tainthappening]

Packers have a new kicker... Brandon McManus. Got in some trouble on flight with Jags to London last year. Feels a bit like the Packers of the 80s with that storyline.

 

[Tainthappening]

Packers big win they needed to keep pace in NFCN

Good:

• Packers defense held Texans to less than 200 total yards
• Packers defense 4 sacks/7 QB hits... Stroud was running most of the day... some great blitz plays
• Packers pass defense... Stroud 10 of 21 for 86 yards.. 58 passer rating
• Evan Willliams... all over the field and solid tackler... rookie is earning more reps and he is continuing to improve
• Eric Wilson coming in after Walker hurt... 2 sacks big TFL
• Gary a bit more active... will need for him to continue to be more active
• McManus game winning 45 yard FG.. honestly if still have Narveson unsure Packers win this game
• Kraft great TD catch
• Jacobs running ball in 2nd half
• Doubs some big catches and great hands
• Winning a game with -3 turnover differential

Bad:

• Jordan Love 2 more interceptions... he is much more careless with ball and almost came back to bit them today... will need to be better vs top teams if want to continue to have wins
• Nixon not fielding punt and ball hitting Ballentine and fumble
• Watson 1 catch for 9 yards... really hoping for him to differeniate himself... but very quiet day
• 4-5 defensive offside penalties... P. Smith really hurt and Texans kept drive alive and then score TD
• LVN has disappeared pretty much
• Run defense vs Mixon... but will take that if game plan was to shut down Texans passing game

Ugly:

• Nothing with big win at home vs former 5-1 team and top QB

 

[Moab]

Packers big win they needed to keep pace in NFCN

Good:

• Packers defense held Texans to less than 200 total yards
• Packers defense 4 sacks/7 QB hits... Stroud was running most of the day... some great blitz plays
• Packers pass defense... Stroud 10 of 21 for 86 yards.. 58 passer rating
• Evan Willliams... all over the field and solid tackler... rookie is earning more reps and he is continuing to improve
• Eric Wilson coming in after Walker hurt... 2 sacks big TFL
• Gary a bit more active... will need for him to continue to be more active
• McManus game winning 45 yard FG.. honestly if still have Narveson unsure Packers win this game
• Kraft great TD catch
• Jacobs running ball in 2nd half
• Doubs some big catches and great hands
• Winning a game with -3 turnover differential

Bad:

• Jordan Love 2 more interceptions... he is much more careless with ball and almost came back to bit them today... will need to be better vs top teams if want to continue to have wins
• Nixon not fielding punt and ball hitting Ballentine and fumble
• Watson 1 catch for 9 yards... really hoping for him to differeniate himself... but very quiet day
• 4-5 defensive offside penalties... P. Smith really hurt and Texans kept drive alive and then score TD
• LVN has disappeared pretty much
• Run defense vs Mixon... but will take that if game plan was to shut down Texans passing game

Ugly:

• Nothing with big win at home vs former 5-1 team and top QB

The punt return team was really ugly today. Reed catching the ball at the 2 while going backwards was not good and the not fielding the punt by Nixon was awful.

That stated, winning with 3 turnovers is a good win against anyone let alone a quality opponent. The D was stellar in this game.

 

[RP-29]

The D was stellar in this game.

This is what I've been looking for in a defense for a long time. The defense was the aggressors in this game. They had attitude. It wasn't just "we hope we can stop you from scoring", it was "we're gonna punch you in the mouth and you're gonna have to earn every yard". Loved it!

 

[RP-29]

• LVN has disappeared pretty much

He was drafted to be a project. The vast majority of the time, those projects take longer to develop, but once they do they become a beast. Gary was a project - who didn't start becoming noticeable until the end of his second season and not beastly until he was in his third. LVN is still midway through his second season. I still have confidence he will get there.

 

[Tainthappening]

He was drafted to be a project. The vast majority of the time, those projects take longer to develop, but once they do they become a beast. Gary was a project - who didn't start becoming noticeable until the end of his second season and not beastly until he was in his third. LVN is still midway through his second season. I still have confidence he will get there.

Yes understood.... but he seems to have regressed vs how he came on at end of last season.

2023: 4 sacks / 10 QB hits - last 7 games: 3 sacks / 7 QB hits
2024 (7 games): 1 sack / 1 QB hit (both in TN game which everyone was in backfield from defense)

Was expecting to see jump in 2nd year.... have not seen it thus far, seems to be playing like first half of last season again. A lot of hustle, not a lot of impact.

Gary his 2nd year had 5 sacks and 11 QB hits.... so he is behind that as well from a comparison.

Hopefully he gets things turned around 2nd half of year, still excited with the potential. Packers will need him IMO if want to make noise in Dec/Jan.

 

[RP-29]

Yes understood.... but he seems to have regressed vs how he came on at end of last season.

2023: 4 sacks / 10 QB hits - last 7 games: 3 sacks / 7 QB hits
2024 (7 games): 1 sack / 1 QB hit (both in TN game which everyone was in backfield from defense)

Was expecting to see jump in 2nd year.... have not seen it thus far, seems to be playing like first half of last season again. A lot of hustle, not a lot of impact.

Gary his 2nd year had 5 sacks and 11 QB hits.... so he is behind that as well from a comparison.

Hopefully he gets things turned around 2nd half of year, still excited with the potential. Packers will need him IMO if want to make noise in Dec/Jan.

The defense in general has been "finding its way" the first part of this year with the scheme change. The secondary seems to have had the easiest adjustment and the down linemen the most difficult. The numbers for pretty much everyone up front have been down, but yesterday's game kinda looks like a corner was turned as we could legitimately see them play faster and more aggressive.

It's not surprising to me to see LVN a little behind; last year he was developing for a different scheme, so now some of his progress has rolled back. I'm not counting on him to be the ideal 'full speed' we'd like him to be in Dec/Jan, but I do believe he will start to make a legit impact next season. Barring major injuries, I think we can get through this season pretty well without him making a major impact on the field. The good news is that he's not hurting the team when he's on the field, so using him as a rotational guy through this season is a great way to positively build his development.

 

[Mack]

What happened to the defense today in Jacksonville?

 

[RP-29]

What happened to the defense today in Jacksonville?

I'd call it "inconsistent". They forced five '3 & outs' and made some huge plays that turned the game in the Packers' favor, but also got loose at times and gave up three long drives for TDs.

 

[Tainthappening]

Win... but rather costly win.

Good:

• Jacobs running the ball... especially 2nd half - 25 for 127 and 2 TDs
• Willis coming in and playing well, looks like he has better grasp of offense
• Books getting down on last series after 1st down to allow Packers to run out the clock and kick a chip shot... very heads up play
• Cooper big game at LB... forced fumble
• Defense first 4 series... Jax 3 plays max, 1 interception and 15 total yards
• Defense did hold Jags to 1 of 9 on 3rd down... a lot of stops with 3rd and 3 yards or less (especially early in game)
• McManus perfect on FG and extra points, another game winning FG (saw A. Carlson also perfect with 3 FGs including 50 for long)
• Whelan punting the ball
• Packers had some penalties early (including some declined)... but ended up with only 3 for 20 yards. OL had 2 of the penalties and I recall 3rd on OL (Tom) declined.

Bad:

• Defense 4th quarter... gave up couple of long drives resulting in points
• Defense no pass rush again... 1 sack and 4 QB hits... recurring theme this year
• Love - another interception (maybe not all his fault)... after initial injury he was much less effective, could see he knew his scrambling was compromised and was not as confident in setting and throwing
• Was expecting better performance by Packers vs Jags... but a win is a win and on the road not always a given. Do think Love injury (initial when hobbled) probably played into that.

Ugly:

• Injuries - Love (groin), E. Williams (hamstring), Alexander (knee)
• All 3 big losses if miss much time

 

[RP-29]

• Was expecting better performance by Packers vs Jags... but a win is a win and on the road not always a given.

I saw this game as a total 'trap game'. I was expecting it to be close and would not be the least bit surprised if they'd lose. I'm obviously happy with the W, but I was concerned going into the game. The Packers (for whatever reason) haven't played well in the state of Florida, the last time they were in Jacksonville was that week 1 debacle against the Saints, the Jags had played several good teams close so far this year but fell just short after 60 min and the Packers might've been feeling too good about themselves from their recent wins over the Cards and Texans.

There's certainly now even stronger cause for concern for next week's game against the Lions, too - given those 'ugly' injuries and DET winning 52-14 yesterday. DET is clicking and GB is scraping by. ...Of course, I'd rather have it this way in October/November and the reverse in January.

 

[Moab]

I'd call it "inconsistent". They forced five '3 & outs' and made some huge plays that turned the game in the Packers' favor, but also got loose at times and gave up three long drives for TDs.

While the D did a great job for the first part of the 1st half, they had the usual problem of not getting pressure on the passer late in the half and the DBs couldn't hold up. That stated, the Jags also pay their players and coaches so to expect them to lay down and not make adjustments isn't realistic. The Packers do need to figure out a way to put pressure on the QB without sending more than 4 or 5. I saw them make the mistake of dropping Preston Smith into coverage in the 4th quarter and thought to myself, wtf are you thinking. He's one guy that plays DE the way it's supposed to be played, dropping him back makes no sense to me...then again they don't pay me for my ideas...so take it for what it's worth

 

[Tainthappening]

Packers fall... not unexpected, but very sloopy game by Packers and they had to play "clean" game to win.

Good:

• Thought defense played well enough to win the game
• Defense gave up 261 total yards, held Lions to 4 of 12 on 3rd down and gave up 124 total rushing yards allowed to team averaging 150+ per game
• Josh Jacobs 13 carries 95 yards
• Jayden Reed 113 yards catching the ball

Bad:

• Packers 3 of 12 on 3rd down conversions... were 1 of 9 until last series
• Wicks... dropped potential TD... he has been disappointing this year with several drops. Had 3 targets and no catches.
• Brooks dropped pass on 1st series... could have been 1st down... ball behind him but catchable

Ugly:

• Undisciplined football... limits the teams ceiling, not going to beat the very good/great teams and not going to win a lot of playoff games playing like that
• Jordan Love another pick 6... that was huge blow at end of first half
• 3 bad snaps... 2 on same series and 2nd and 3rd downs to kill drive
• Penalties 10 for 67 yards... Nixon holding penalty huge on 3rd down on 1st series in 2nd half

Moved several bullets to the "Ugly" that may have stated as "Bad" in the past... only because it is a recurring theme and is limiting the Packers if want to take the next step.

 

[Beaker]

 

[RP-29]

Packers fall... not unexpected, but very sloopy game by Packers and they had to play "clean" game to win.

Good:

• Thought defense played well enough to win the game
• Defense gave up 261 total yards, held Lions to 4 of 12 on 3rd down and gave up 124 total rushing yards allowed to team averaging 150+ per game
• Josh Jacobs 13 carries 95 yards
• Jayden Reed 113 yards catching the ball

Bad:

• Packers 3 of 12 on 3rd down conversions... were 1 of 9 until last series
• Wicks... dropped potential TD... he has been disappointing this year with several drops. Had 3 targets and no catches.
• Brooks dropped pass on 1st series... could have been 1st down... ball behind him but catchable

Ugly:

• Undisciplined football... limits the teams ceiling, not going to beat the very good/great teams and not going to win a lot of playoff games playing like that
• Jordan Love another pick 6... that was huge blow at end of first half
• 3 bad snaps... 2 on same series and 2nd and 3rd downs to kill drive
• Penalties 10 for 67 yards... Nixon holding penalty huge on 3rd down on 1st series in 2nd half

Moved several bullets to the "Ugly" that may have stated as "Bad" in the past... only because it is a recurring theme and is limiting the Packers if want to take the next step.

The "bad" and "ugly" were all self-inflicted wounds. The Lions played nearly perfect football (with respect to penalties and turnovers and passing efficiency) and still only won by 10 points. Pick 6 + missed FG = 10 points. Lions are the at the top of the NFC and deserve to be there, but GB could also easily be at the top if they would just get their heads out of their asses and play cleaner football.

 

[Moab]

The "bad" and "ugly" were all self-inflicted wounds. The Lions played nearly perfect football (with respect to penalties and turnovers and passing efficiency) and still only won by 10 points. Pick 6 + missed FG = 10 points. Lions are the at the top of the NFC and deserve to be there, but GB could also easily be at the top if they would just get their heads out of their asses and play cleaner football.

I agree, you can't have false starts, offsides and ridiculously idiotic Favre plays by the QB and expect to win a football team against a very good football team. The biggest problem I have with those 3 things is they happen game in and game out, so whatever they're doing to fix those things, it isn't working and it's time to get it corrected.

The good news is they now have a bye week and should get healthy and hopefully a little time away will refresh some of these guys. All in all, I'm not disappointed in how the first half of the season went, but would've liked to have won 1 of the 3 games they lost, but they really didn't have much of a shot in any of them. Oh well, time to move forward

 

[Tainthappening]

Bears week... old photo thought was pretty cool.

 

[RP-29]

Bears week... old photo thought was pretty cool.

View attachment 380269

View attachment 380267

Those linemen on both sides of the ball are like 200 lbs. Punters are bigger than that in today's NFL.