Post Game Thread : Packers hold off Lions 34-27

Pugger said:
A weakened defense without 4 of its starters was getting worked by a strong armed QB taking advantage of raw DBs in the second half. If Clay, Letroy, Sammy and Burnett were playing in that game yesterday do the Lions come back like they did? I have my doubts. In the second half our D couldn't get off the field so our offense only had 4 or 5 drives. It is hard to get any rhythm going when you're sitting on the bench. This isn't the first time a team got a early big lead and the other team made a comeback only to come up short.
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I think TW is on to something and I tend to agree with his assessment. Those players, you named above, weren't there in the first half either. 31-10. Then it all changed. As I said earlier, you could sense the Mo shift when Hawkins was burned for that long TD by Jones with 30 seconds left in the half. Then the offense marched out there and tried slinging it around for some type of magic and filed miserably. All the wealth built in the first half was suddenly being depleted. I said to myself at that point, this is where Detroit will attack because there will be no adjustments. They did just that.

Thanks TW for saying what need to be said.
 
The Lions basically destroyed their first 3 drives by running -1 yard plays to Theo Riddick. I think they would have torched us in the 2nd half regardless.

The Lions did have an extremely long drive early in the 1st half probably because they initially wanted to keep Aaron Rodgers off the field. Once they got down 21-3, they had to abort that plan. After that, their offense was also unstoppable.

The Lions in the 2nd half:
6:37 long TD drive
5:42 long FG drive
3:00 long punt drive
1:31 long TD drive

So outside of that 1:31 drive where they seemed to be out of gas on defense, they made them use over an entire quarter of game-time to score their points.
Two questions:

1. What if the Packers have a few extra dropped passes and instead of their 5 minute drive(s) they had in the second half, those drives are 1 minute?
2. What if the Lions scored faster?
Extra drives, Lions can tie the game.
 
realitybytes said:
well, this is exactly what aaron rodgers was saying in his post-game interview. his exact words were "i care about wins". and i think that's what we as fans should care about too. winning by a couple dozen points maybe gives you ammo for bragging, but it doesn't get you any higher in the standings than winning by a couple points.
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Thanks for pointing that out. How foolish of me to think there's a problem with this team when we start a game 31-10 and finish 34-27 against a bad Lions team that has won in Lambeau once in the last 25 years, especially in our home opener.

Celebrating a victory like this can be done by the Browns and Dolphins of the league. They can also enjoy sitting at home come playoff time. But if you think that lackluster performance in the second half wins games against real contenders, especially in the playoffs, then you're going to be severely disappointed.

I'm not complaining about McCarthy because we didn't run up the score to 60 yesterday. If the score was 34-27 and I know we played 4 quarters of rock solid football and fought to win that game until the clock said 0:00, then I would have nothing to complain about. But you and I both know that is not the case. My complaints about McCarthy, and this coaching staff in general, is the inability to make game time adjustments based on how the game is currently being played.

Maybe I'm alone here, but I'm getting really tired of marching into the playoffs only to be stopped short year after year after year. If it's not the coaching staff, then what is the problem here? Please enlighten me with what I'm not seeing.
 
It appears GB went into panic mode trying to milk clock because the defense was playing too many snaps. Once again that quick strike offense is a double sword. Yes we put up points but you tired out the defense and they were gassed by the 3rd Qtr.

Detroit adjusted there D scheme in the 2nd half and started playing tight against the WR at the line. They also took away the inside zone which MM has yet to adjust too. What happened to our screen game again ?

You will always take the W but make no mistakes give Det a couple more shots and some clock we lose that game because there wasn't much left in the Defenses tank.

I think Mark made a great point in shout, you come out of the bye and need to stay focused and healthy for 13 weeks or more. Not easy and any rash of injuries could be fatal.I still think this is a 11-5 team unless Rodgers gets dinged then were toast. tc(
 
Mark87 said:
Same defense with those players got lit up by Sam Bradfords passing game the week before. Same defense with those players got lit up last season against several QB... not to mention Capers went heavy cover 2 and 3 with virtually no pressure after half.

I've been playing or coaching defense for 33 years and these Corners the last 2 yrs are playing as badly as any in that time span.. lazy ugly technique.
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I've never played or coached football but do you think Detroit would have put up the numbers they did in the second half had those players who were inactive had played? I would think you would agree with me Sam Shields is a better corner today than Rollins, Gunter, Hawkins and Randall are at this point in their careers. They looked lost and messed up big time and the Lions took advantage of it. And not having Clay and D. Jones rushing the passer gave Stafford time in the pocket to exploit our inexperienced CBs, yes? This is all I was saying. Hopefully getting some of these defensive starters back after the bye will improve our pass defense. I also believe losing Burnett in the MN game in the second half contributed to Bradford getting those big plays against us in the fourth quarter.
 
Defensewins said:
The Lions basically destroyed their first 3 drives by running -1 yard plays to Theo Riddick. I think they would have torched us in the 2nd half regardless.

The Lions did have an extremely long drive early in the 1st half probably because they initially wanted to keep Aaron Rodgers off the field. Once they got down 21-3, they had to abort that plan. After that, their offense was also unstoppable.

The Lions in the 2nd half:
6:37 long TD drive
5:42 long FG drive
3:00 long punt drive
1:31 long TD drive

So outside of that 1:31 drive where they seemed to be out of gas on defense, they made them use over an entire quarter of game-time to score their points.
Two questions:

1. What if the Packers have a few extra dropped passes and instead of their 5 minute drive(s) they had in the second half, those drives are 1 minute?
2. What if the Lions scored faster?
Extra drives, Lions can tie the game.
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What if Davis doesn't drop that pass and we go on a drive using up more of the clock and score a FG or TD later in the game putting the Lions even further behind?
 
Pugger said:
I've never played or coached football but do you think Detroit would have put up the numbers they did in the second half had those players who were inactive had played? I would think you would agree with me Sam Shields is a better corner today than Rollins, Gunter, Hawkins and Randall are at this point in their careers. They looked lost and messed up big time and the Lions took advantage of it. And not having Clay and D. Jones rushing the passer gave Stafford time in the pocket to exploit our inexperienced CBs, yes? This is all I was saying. Hopefully getting some of these defensive starters back after the bye will improve our pass defense. I also believe losing Burnett in the MN game in the second half contributed to Bradford getting those big plays against us in the fourth quarter.
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To quote MM "Injuries are never an excuse" If those players being out effects our game planning etc so much then it proves another point being made on this forum. The talent and depth isn't very good.

You can certainly look at this a number of ways but none of the conclusions give one "warm fuzzies"
 
Pugger said:
I've never played or coached football but do you think Detroit would have put up the numbers they did in the second half had those players who were inactive had played? I would think you would agree with me Sam Shields is a better corner today than Rollins, Gunter, Hawkins and Randall are at this point in their careers. They looked lost and messed up big time and the Lions took advantage of it. And not having Clay and D. Jones rushing the passer gave Stafford time in the pocket to exploit our inexperienced CBs, yes? This is all I was saying. Hopefully getting some of these defensive starters back after the bye will improve our pass defense. I also believe losing Burnett in the MN game in the second half contributed to Bradford getting those big plays against us in the fourth quarter.
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Pugger- I appreciate the point you're making. It has some credence. I think the point other posters are getting at is that this game followed a pattern that has left us broken hearted too many times before. Injuries or not, we let teams back in games that we should be closing out. There is not one good reason that Hundley shouldn't have been in that game closing it out in the last half of the 4th quarter. It doesn't seem to matter how big of a lead we have- the opponent is going to climb back into contention. This is a Coaching decision. This pattern of 'non-adjustment' is becoming MM's calling card. The 'play not to lose' mentality is frustrating and mind blowing.
I love that we won. I love that ARod looked accurate again. The offense flashed, Mason Crosby is money. But our biggest doubts were not expelled, in fact, they reared their head again.
 
Some points brought out on Homer's show with Wilde.

1.) Did anyone catch Rodgers saying he's back during the game? So while he was saying everything was good, it would seem he did have some doubts for awhile and is human like the rest of us.

2.) WRs: some points here. One is despite having 7 of them, AR is only playing like a HOF QB when Nelson is on field. Not a knock on AR but knock on no other receivers stepping up. Cobb is a big disappoinent so far.

Second yes game be different if Davis makes that catch. But question is why isn't Abby and Monte on the field?

Once again it's going to take AR playing at MVP level for team to have a chance and a healthy Nelson.

My thoughts, put me in Mark and TW's camp on this defense, coaching and play calling. As someone who played the game, coached some, and obviously used do scouting reports on players and so for drafts spanning 20 plus years, we don't see things through green glasses and as fans. There is cause for concern here. I'm happy we got the win and hope the ship is righted, but with history as a teacher, also remaining grounded.
 
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