October 17, 2016 at 2:05 p.m.
Shoutouts & Callouts
Time to be concerned about floundering Packers
Shoutouts & Callouts
After the debacle that was the Packers' 30-16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, however, I can't blame fans for doing either.
Simply put this was the least prepared and most out-of-sync I have seen a Packers' team in quite some time. Dallas was better in every aspect of the game, right down to the coaching.
There were so many backbreakers for the Packers, including two Aaron Rodgers turnovers while the Packers were driving. One was a fumble on a quarterback draw inside the 10.
At least the Packers were trying to be somewhat creative with a play call there, which is more than can be said about other portions of the game.
We, as Packers' fans, have railed on coach Mike McCarthy in the past for neglecting the running game during the first half of the year. This year, the Packers seem stubbornly committed to the running game, even in situations where they should be throwing. Virtually every run or draw during the second half with the Packers down 18 drew ire from the fans. Ty Montgomery's fumble that put the final nail in the Packers' coffin was on a draw play with under three minutes to play.
I'm OK with establishing a run to some extent. What I'm not OK with is making it so blatantly obvious that a run is coming. On a third-and-2 in the first quarter the Packers went to an ultra jumbo package, with two extra linemen and tight end Justin Perillo in the formation. Even my 5-year-old could have figured out a run was coming and, sure enough, the Packers' fullback dive with Aaron Ripkowski was stopped a yard short, forcing a field goal.
Two other times in the game the Packers brought in tackle Jason Spriggs as an extra blocker and played with a one-receiver formation. That receiver was rookie Trevor Davis who is the Packers' seventh-best at the position. Predictably, Eddie Lacy got the carry both times.
Of course it wasn't as if Aaron Rodgers and crew were lighting up in the passing game, either. The numbers were OK for Rodgers (31 of 42, 294 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT), but that works out to only 7.0 yards per attempt. At his best, Rodgers is over 8 and sometimes pushing 9 yards per attempt. There wasn't much semblance of a deep passing game either. In theory, if you are trying to establish a run game like the Packers are, some deep shots in the play-action game should be available. I don't recall the Packers taking one shot 30 yards or more downfield in the contest.
Jordy Nelson, while still serviceable in the passing game, is clearly not back to pre-injury form.
Randall Cobb has turned into nothing more than a possession receiver in the slot, Davantae Adams and Ty Montgomery are wildly inconsistent and the two receivers the Packers could use to stretch the field - Jared Abbrederis and Jeff Janis - have been in witness protection the first five games of the season.
I'm not asking for the jaw-dropping numbers the 2011 Packers put up on offense, but is it too much to ask for the Packers' to score 28 points in a game? Through five games, the Packers have only done it once, scoring 34 against Detroit. Even then after a 31-point first half against the Lions the Packers returned to their same pedestrian offensive form.
"To keep comparing it to the past is a benefit to us because we know what it looks like. We have people that were here in the past that were a part of that," McCarthy said. "But at the end of the day, we obviously have work to do, and that will be our approach."
Even when the Packers seemed to make the right calls Sunday, they backfired. Take the end of the first half, for instance. With Dallas pinned inside its own 10 and less than a minute to play in the half, the Packers spent their timeouts in an effort to get the ball back to get a quick score before the break. It looked to be playing out with the Cowboys facing third-and-short, but a jet sweep followed by two long completions gave the Cowboys' a momentum-changing score and a 17-6 lead at the half.
With the Packers' offense still flat-lining in the second half, the fans grew increasingly restless.
"Look, we're upset, they're upset, it's part of it," Rodgers said of the booing. "It's not the first time. Probably won't be the last time."
It certainly won't be the last time if the Packers keep playing like this.
The fact of the matter is the Packers are a 3-2 team with plenty of flaws. Sure you could argue that the two losses - to Minnesota and Dallas - were at the hands of the two best teams in the NFC. With two games left with Chicago, another game against Detroit and three left against the woeful AFC South, a 9- or 10-win season and a wild card berth are certainly well within reach. But the Packers have loftier expectations than that. This is a team that should be in the mix to go to the Super Bowl each and every year and, as it stands, the Packers are not that team. Minnesota and Dallas have exposed the Packers for what they are - a slightly better than average team with not much upside.
McCarthy and company had better get things figured out quickly or there will be more restless times in Titletown ahead.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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