"Chips Report" from Packers Week 12 Win at Vikings

Running back Eddie Lacy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers were the stars of the show in a 24-21 win on Sunday.

Our weekly "Chips Report" will always include two blue chips (outstanding, exceptional play), two red chips (good, although maybe not great) and two cow chips (dud performances). From the Green Bay Packers' 24-21 win the Minnesota Vikings...

 

Blue Chips

  • Running back Eddie Lacy—It's exactly games like these that the Packers drafted Lacy. When the weather turns cold, when they need to grind out the difficult yards and run out the clock, they have a player that can make his own holes and keep the chains moving. Lacy had a 100-yard rushing gmae for only the second time this season, and perhaps not coincidentally, also the second against the Vikings. He finished the game with 125 yards, 5.0 yards per carry, and added a nifty receiving touchdown on a shovel pass. The Packers' final drive of the game was the most impressive part of Lacy's game, however, when the Packers ran five plays, and he carried the football on all five and converted two first downs before kneeling to run out the clock.
  • Quarterback Aaron Rodgers—It may not have been Rodgers' best game, but he efficiently led the Packers' to a road victory against a division rival. The high point occured when he directed the team to an 11-play, 87-yard scoring drive early in the fourth quarter that made it a two-score game and took 6:18 off the clock, culminating in the shovel pass touchdown to Lacy. Rodgers completed 19 of 29 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns and perhaps most importantly, didn't turn the ball over. He also added 34 yards on six carries.

 

Red Chips

  • Cornerback Micah Hyde—Hyde gave up a couple completions early in the game, but more than made up for it with several impact plays. The first was the interception, his second in the past three weeks, and the Packers' only forced turnover on the afternoon. Teddy Bridgewater served up an easy play, but Hyde came away with the ball, setting up the team's second touchdown of the game. Coming from his slot cornerback position, Hyde also powered his way to sack, pushing Jerick McKinnon back into Bridgewater and helping to force a punt. Hyde also had a punt return for 17, allowing the Packers to start a drive near midfield before their first touchdown of the game.
  • Defensive lineman Mike Daniels—With Nick Perry out of the game and Clay Matthews and Datone Jones limited by injury, Daniels played a larger role on third downs than he had in several weeks. He was the only Packers player to be credited with two quarterback hits, including one sack early in the third quarter, bull rushing his opponent and forcing a punt. He also sniffed out a screen pass in the second quarter.

 

Cow Chips

  • Wide receiver Davante Adams—Targeted four times, Adams came away with only one catch and proved he wasn't on the same wavelength as Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers wanted a back-shoulder throw when Adams kept streaking down the sideline and also couldn't get his hand on a slant despite having no defender in the area. Adams' biggest faux pas was a blocking in the back call that wiped out a first down on a screen pass to Eddie Lacy, failing to seal off his defender.
  • Running back James Starks—The Packers have failed to find a complement to Eddie Lacy since the bye week, and Starks hasn't done himself or the team any favors. He fumbled the football and lost four yards his only carry of the game, luckily being saved on a recovery by wide receiver Jordy Nelson. He also showed to be a poor receiving option when targeted by Rodgers in the second half and continues to contribute nothing on special teams.

 

Brian Carriveau is the author of the book "It's Just a Game: Big League Drama in Small Town America," and editor at Cheesehead TV and its "Pro Football Draft Preview." To contact Brian, email [email protected].

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Comments (36)

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Nerd's picture

November 23, 2014 at 04:01 pm

Starks was down.

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barutanseijin's picture

November 23, 2014 at 04:04 pm

I didn't think Rodgers was that great today. Sure the Vikes played well, but he's supposed to be an mvp candidate. Didn't look it today.

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Idiot Fan's picture

November 23, 2014 at 04:28 pm

He did have a couple uncharacteristically-off passes, but he also had some beauties, like that crosser to Cobb during the first TD drive, not to mention the vision on the Rodgers TD pass. If today was an "off" day for Rodgers, I think we can all live with that.

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Packer_Pete's picture

November 24, 2014 at 05:26 pm

Couldn't agree more. An "off day" for #12 is still about as good as you ever see from 27 or 28 starting QBs in the NFL...

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lucky953's picture

November 23, 2014 at 04:06 pm

Dujuan Harris may hear his number getting called soon. Red chip to TJ Lang for another tough shift in the trenches. I didn't expect him to come back after going down early.
Cow chip to the Packers pass rush, though Bridgewater did a good job getting the ball out.

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ben's picture

November 23, 2014 at 06:46 pm

Dujuan is as good a RB as Lacey with even more upside. He is the perfect compliment/change of pace back and MM is making a mistake by not getting him on the field.

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barutanseijin's picture

November 23, 2014 at 06:51 pm

I dunno. Lacy is pretty complete. He picks up blitzes, is a good receiver and runs well. I never understood all the love for Starks. I'd be ok with Harris as the number two guy.

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Packer_Pete's picture

November 24, 2014 at 05:28 pm

Agreed on Lacy. Maybe Harris would be a shifty runner and good pass catcher, but there is no way he is even close to being as good as Lacy picking up blitzes. Lacy hasn't allow a QB pressure this whole season so far! And who wants to tackle Lacy? The guy usually drags 1 or 2 defenders with him.

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Nerd's picture

November 23, 2014 at 07:13 pm

Agreed.

I like these screens, but Lacy doesn't have the speed to take one to the house. DuJuan is our "Sproles" guy.

There's gotta be some other reason he's got getting chances, of which we are unaware.

Then again I'm never gonna complain about Lacy carrying the ball. Dude is a warrior.

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Imma Fubared's picture

November 23, 2014 at 08:39 pm

So why isn't he playing. I don't blame a guy like Starks who is not used to getting hit fumbling the ball. Mike has proved time and again he is a one trick pony. The Packers are the only team that features one back. All the other teams alternate and for a good reason. Fresh legs, lack of injuries due to fatigue, pounding.
I like Lacy and think he would be even more productive if he got a break now and then.

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Packer_Pete's picture

November 24, 2014 at 05:30 pm

You should start watching the games. Packers alternated quite a bit this season, sometimes Starks got whole drives. Starks is not that good at the moment, so MM goes with the hot hand. Paid off yesterday. Lacy is a complete back.

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TKWorldWide's picture

November 24, 2014 at 06:53 pm

Dujuan has some skills, but to say he is "as good a RB as Lacey[sic]" is laughable.

If MM is not getting him on the field, is it possible he has a reason? Pass protection, perhaps?

Do you REALLY think you know something that MM doesn't know? I'd suggest that it's the other way around.

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HankScorpio's picture

November 23, 2014 at 04:13 pm

The o-line deserves some love. That 4th Q TD drive was a thing of beauty that was powered by blocking. Then, why the Vikes mystifyingly declined the late onside kick, they o-line allowed Lacy to kill the clock. They, along with Lacy, were the key to the win.

A. Rodgers was....efficient. That's sort of his performance floor. He made some nice plays and avoided turnovers. But it was Lacy and the o-line that powered the offense today, IMO.

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joepacker's picture

November 24, 2014 at 12:19 pm

Agreed. Gritty, not pretty, win. Running the table w the league MVP, is just one part of the game. One we love to see, but aren't likely to see next week.

Next will will come from the trenches.

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Idiot Fan's picture

November 23, 2014 at 05:34 pm

When that kind of game by rodgers gets called "ass" by a fan, you know that fan has been spoiled rotten.

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murphy's picture

November 23, 2014 at 06:47 pm

You forgot the quotes around "fan."

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egbertsouse's picture

November 23, 2014 at 04:55 pm

Eddie Lacy, what a beast! 2 blue chips.

Cow chips: Tramon Williams, he looked like he was sleep-walking out there. No Ambien before the game next time. A.J. Hawk; He's slow but makes up for it by being weak at the point of attack. C'mon Ted, get a decent ILB next season!

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4thand1's picture

November 23, 2014 at 05:00 pm

Suck chip to skip cowless.

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KenEllis's picture

November 23, 2014 at 05:53 pm

Tramon was just not very good today at all, but that was his first stinker in a while.

As for Hawk, he has been terrible all year (just like last year) and will continue to provide a very soft underbelly for opposing offenses to attack.

Watching Hawk trying to keep up with Rudolph today was really painful.

I hope this is the last season we ever have to see Hawk in a Packer uniform.

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Idiot Fan's picture

November 23, 2014 at 06:11 pm

Yeah, even for someone with a reputation for being slow, his (lack of) speed on that play was shocking. It almost looked like he was running in sand or something.

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ben's picture

November 23, 2014 at 07:05 pm

Believe it or not, Hawk is actually worse in run-support than he is in coverage.

He is a joke. The 4th and 1 sums it up. A lot of times it's 10 vs 11 out there. He is the exact opposite of what a 3-4 middle linebacker should be.

I've been saying the team would be better off moving Clay to MLB since before the season started. I am also saying that Perry may also be able to play MLB. He would certainly be stronger than Hawk in supporting the run. He also runs a 4.5 40 and could also be better in coverage.

He couldn't be worse than hawk and worth a look there.

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KenEllis's picture

November 23, 2014 at 05:59 pm

Tramon was just not very good today at all, but that was his first stinker in a while.

As for Hawk, he has been terrible all year (just like last year) and will continue to provide a very soft underbelly for opposing offenses to attack.

Watching Hawk trying to keep up with Rudolph today was really painful.

I hope this is the last season we ever have to see Hawk in a Packer uniform.

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MarkinMadison's picture

November 23, 2014 at 06:12 pm

Someone called out Tramon to me on the live blog, said he was weak. In the next series he slammed a guy to the turf on one play, and would have had an interception on the next if Teddy B hadn't thrown it like he was aiming for the stands. Don't get me wrong, I see the decline in skills. I just think he makes fewer dumb mistakes than others. Note I said fewer, not none. He probably won't be back next year, and I agree with it. But don't be surprised if in a playoff game this year there comes a point where you say, "Thank God Tramon made that play..." because he brings a level of savvy that I think is flat out lacking in Shields and House.

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barutanseijin's picture

November 23, 2014 at 06:47 pm

I think Lacy's blockers deserve some love.

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badaxed's picture

November 24, 2014 at 09:06 am

Perpetual cow chip! (A J Hawk)

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4thand1's picture

November 23, 2014 at 05:46 pm

Usually a 2 TD game and 109 QB rating will earn any QB a blue chip on any team. The so so QB also averaged 5.7 YPC. Cow's TB had a 79 QB rating.

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Packer_Pete's picture

November 24, 2014 at 05:35 pm

as I said above, the "off game" for #12 is the ceiling for most starting NFL QBs at the moment. Glad we can sit here and watch our QB having an "off game" with 2 TDs, no INTs, and 34 yrds rushing during a win. What do people actually expect? A 158.3 QBR every single game???

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Brian's picture

November 23, 2014 at 06:05 pm

Hyde's play other than the int. was also a bit sleepy

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barutanseijin's picture

November 23, 2014 at 06:46 pm

That sack was impressive. He showed great effort.. Didn't like him in coverage as much.

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Imma Fubared's picture

November 23, 2014 at 08:50 pm

So Hyde grabs the guys jerser while he is on the line of scrimmage for no reason at all. That makes no sense at all.
It did negate a takeaway and give the other team a first down and later a TD.
If the coaches are chewing his ass out then they deserve his bull shit.

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4thand1's picture

November 23, 2014 at 09:20 pm

Yep, who needs ints and long punt returns.

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Farts_After_Wins's picture

November 23, 2014 at 06:35 pm

*poot*

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Imma Fubared's picture

November 23, 2014 at 08:47 pm

Not thrilled with Davante Adams. Seems he hasn't learned or can't learn the play book and its game 12. Me thinks his wonderlic test may be a little on the low side?
I remember reading pre draft reports that yes he had a lot of catches but they were short over the middle slant passes in a spread offense. The question then was could he run a real pattern? Apparently not.
Now they can double on Gordy and Cobb because no one expects Adams to do anything that will hurt them.

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4thand1's picture

November 23, 2014 at 09:19 pm

Yep double Gordy. Who is Gordy? Quarless will get more involved down the stretch, just like last year. Quit holding hands with skip cowless. Put down the bottle and step away from the couch.

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Packer_Pete's picture

November 24, 2014 at 05:38 pm

Josh Gordy - he's now CB for the Colts, but he used to be with the Packers. Maybe Ted traded for him and will trot him out at WR, and Imma knows about it. Probably from the same inside source who told the Vikings fan that Bulaga would go on IR a few weeks ago.

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badaxed's picture

November 24, 2014 at 09:18 am

Cow chip to the packers special teams. allowing vikings to start on 37 does not cut it.
We do not return kickoffs anymore. what does that tell you about the blocking and tackling. Could not be "Slocums" fault. Slocum is another one of McCarthy's coaches who can do no wrong.

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