Undefeated - With Work To Do
Packers coaches have plenty of tape to point to this week if it looks like complacency is setting in with their 6-0 team.
By PackerAaron
The Green Bay Packers stand alone as the only unbeaten team remaining in the NFL. While the team and its fan base can certainly take pride in that fact, make make no mistake about it - this is an underachieving bunch.
That's right - underachieving.
This seems to be a recurring theme so far through the 2011 season - a team that is bursting at the seams with talent, but one that just doesn't seem capable of grabbing the moment and putting it all together. Yet.
The good news is that it sure seems head coach Mike McCarthy and company are well aware of this fact. And yesterday's win over the punchless St. Louis Rams has given the position coaches more than enough tape for them to point out the flaws in their respective units.
Whether its the sloppy execution in the running game from the offensive line or the suspect tackling by the secondary early in the contest, the Packers coaching staff will be busy making corrections and generally making sure the players realize there are lots of areas for improvement, despite their perfect record.
And that may be the scariest thing of all for the rest of the league - that the defending Super Bowl champion, standing at 6-0, quarterbacked by arguably the best player in the NFL - not only has room to grow but hasn't come close to playing a complete game yet.
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Comments (36)
October 17, 2011 at 09:40 am
I don't know how coaches can motivate those guys.
They are barely showing up and yet are winning games by 3 possessions.
The one guy that is always consistant, always playing his best, is Aaron Rodgers.
And, as long as he does that, we can win any game anywhere.
Am I crazy to say that a non-conference loss might be beneficial to this team?
PackerAaron
October 17, 2011 at 09:53 am
To be honest, I don't think its the coaches that will do the motivating - its the tape.
And yes, Rodgers has reached the level Favre was at in his prime where they will probably win a game or two just because he's the Packers quarterback.
As far as a loss being "good" for them - I was debating about that very thing with a friend last week. While I think a lot of that is overblown, I do understand the thinking behind it and I can see how it might not be the worlds worst thing if, say, they lost to the Chargers. But then you'd start hearing "they can't beat elite teams" for weeks on end which would be even more annoying than the "Can they go 16-0?" talk. ;)
October 17, 2011 at 09:58 am
Yep, but hearing those things would motivate them come playoff time.
I did pose the question but I trully believe that the mental makeup of this team is strong.
They've given enough easy games in the past to let it get to their heads when playoff comes.
I would honestly be shocked that, even going 16-0, they come unprepared and unfocused to a playoff game.
But more motivation doesn't hurt...
October 17, 2011 at 10:06 am
Rodgers is better than Favre ever was. the guy is a monster
PackerAaron
October 17, 2011 at 10:14 am
They're just different.
October 17, 2011 at 10:24 am
Yep. Rodgers doesn't throw into triple coverage in the postseason...
October 17, 2011 at 10:28 am
In response to PackersRS:
You know, I was just thinking the same thing this weekend. Somewhere after the break, we need to be on the receiving end of an ass-whooping at the hands of an AFC team. It would do us a world of good.
October 17, 2011 at 10:35 am
Ass whooping will never happen with this team.
October 17, 2011 at 10:51 am
What's the biggest margin in a loss by an Aaron Rodgers led Packers team? Is it even 10 pts.?
October 17, 2011 at 10:55 am
22 against the Saints his first year starting...
Since 2009 only one loss by more than 1 possession, against TB, 38-28.
In his career, only 4 games that the Packers lost by more than 1 possession, to Dallas, TB and NO in 2008 and TB in 2009.
October 17, 2011 at 10:57 am
Thanks. Forgot about that Saint loss, otherwise it's amazing how tight they've been under Rodgers.
October 17, 2011 at 01:09 pm
You're nuts. I don't buy into the -in order to win, they need to lose- argument. This team proved their mental make-up to the entire nation last year. I'm not in the least bit concerned about complacency with this team... Especially when it's win or go home time.
October 17, 2011 at 01:11 pm
Losing is for losers. LOL
October 17, 2011 at 09:52 am
This is the best possible situation that the Packers could be in right now. They're winning every game they play yet providing plenty of coaching opportunities in the process. The COACHES certainly aren't going to get complacent. But if anything, this shows how good the Packers really are; they're not playing anything close to their best football, but they're still winning.
They're going to lose a game or two, but I've really been impressed with the coaching this year so far. And they're only going to keep getting better.
PackerAaron
October 17, 2011 at 09:55 am
"I’ve really been impressed with the coaching this year so far"
Same here.
October 17, 2011 at 10:01 am
Agreed.
It's night and day the Mike McCarthy of 08 and 09 and this one.
He looks poised, focused, and in control throughout.
October 17, 2011 at 09:58 am
You can't tell me McCarthy didn't let his foot off the gas yesterday. It's impossible to keep your foot down on it. If you were to offer him a 0-0 second half during the break yesterday, he would've taken it in a heartbeat. Almost preseason-like yesterday at Lambeau.
PackerAaron
October 17, 2011 at 10:00 am
Jeff Blumb called it a "palpable malaise" - which I thought was perfect.
October 17, 2011 at 10:30 am
I just called it boring
PackerAaron
October 17, 2011 at 11:23 am
"You can’t tell me McCarthy didn’t let his foot off the gas yesterday."
Meh. I don't know. Rodgers had three passes dropped, two on second half third downs. If those two passes are caught and the drives are sustained even a little bit and they produce points - we probably aren't thinking that. (And yes, I say 'we' because my initial reactions was "The second half was awfully vanilla"...)
October 17, 2011 at 04:15 pm
You can be vanilla and still be aggressive. I think the proper use of a second half like that is to show that you can execute even when the other team knows what's coming. We didn't show the Rams anything new after halftime because putting it on tape could only hurt us in future games. Against a team like that, we should have been able to run up the score still further without getting fancy, and would have had it not been for the drops.
October 17, 2011 at 10:00 am
I like to think that Hawk was flipping off the offense because of how poorly they were running the ball. Just doing his part to keep them from getting complacent.
October 17, 2011 at 10:37 am
MM and TT must go...they have worn out their welcome here. We will never get the Lombardi Trophy back with these clowns here. We need a guy like Bill Cowher to guide this team...play calling sucks...with all this talent we should be better than 3-3...
Oh, wait, this is week 7 of 2011, not 2010...sorry...my bad...
October 17, 2011 at 11:36 am
Speaking of 2010, I think this team has been playing about the same as last year's squad at the same point in the season, the only (main?) difference being that Rodgers has achieved a level of play I never thought I'd see him reach ... or nearly any QB in the league for that matter.
If this team hits its typical last half-of-the-season stride (and that is an "if") then they could really do something
October 17, 2011 at 12:19 pm
- I don't think these guys need any more motivation. From snippets of interviews of a variety of players over the year they all seem to agree that this team could be something special. Like Dynasty special. (not to be confused with the amazing soap opera from the 80's) They want it.
- We had 15 guys on IR last year that didn't get to play in the big dance. That's everyone's dream in the NFL. They want it.
- The personnel groups seem pretty close knit. When one fails, the others give them shiot. They hold eachother accountable. And they hold eachother to high standards.
- I haven't heard one player on this team say that they are complacent or pleased with their performance so far. They KNOW they have work to do whether we think so or not. That's motivation enough for me.
- You got guys like Collins on the sidelines coachin these guys up.
- You got guys like Woodson and Arodge studying film at all hours. Great leaders leading by example.
These guys want to win. Period!! I'm not seeing hangover. I'm seeing sustained greatness.
October 17, 2011 at 12:24 pm
Is anyone else just a little less than enthusiastic about that dumb ass move Finley does every time he gets a first down?? You know, the wiggly hand above the head -maybe signaling a shark fin??
I'm all for enthusiasm, but the guys ego seems a little out of place on this team.
Am I over analyzing it?
PackerAaron
October 17, 2011 at 12:31 pm
Oh my god. I love it. I know Corey hates it because it reminds him of the Packers Shark. :)
October 17, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Yeah, just not liking it. He is most defineately a game-changer; as far as injuries go, Tomlinson got hurt alot too, he still was world class.
That being said, I see him walking at year's end, like Kampman and Jenkins. His charactor will show if he thanks us fans with an ad in the paper.
My reasoning is this: they have enough room this year to sign Wells, though the lack of a backup will drive his price up (don't even want to think of him injured). Next year, TT will take Clifton and Grant's money and turn it into extensions for Raji and CMIII. I like Finley, think he's world class TE, but won't be happy until he is a focal point of an offense. The only thing better for GB would be to trade him to AFC; but I'll get bludgeoned for that.
October 17, 2011 at 05:07 pm
@ redlights
It's pretty highly unlikely Raji will get extended next year. It's just very rare for a top 10 pick to get his contract extended before the last year of his contract. The seemingly lone exception is when there is a "dummy year" (i.e. Hawk's). Much more likely he will get his extension in 2013.
October 17, 2011 at 01:16 pm
Lol, I'm indifferent to it, I just laugh. What's the story behind that though? Anybody?
October 17, 2011 at 01:26 pm
I'm guessing it is "The Fin"....Fin-ley...just a stab in the dark.
Don't get me wrong, he is an amazing talent. Just wondering how his apparent "me first" attitude fits in with the apparent "team first" attiture of the rest of this team.
October 17, 2011 at 08:04 pm
I actually thought it was a rooster.
October 17, 2011 at 03:30 pm
The little move he got from Donald Driver, that also does it everytime he has a first down?
PackerAaron
October 17, 2011 at 03:32 pm
They aren't even remotely similar! Finley's is a "hand on top of helmet wriggling around before exhibiting that I just got a first down" - while Driver's is a straight up shimmy after each first down catch. Other than their correlations to first down, they are completely different.
Or something. :)
October 17, 2011 at 04:42 pm
The biggest topics in the NFL?
- Hawk's finger gesture
- Coaches' "handshake"
- Finley's first down move.
October 17, 2011 at 01:09 pm
From the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 until 1991 the Packers had only 4 winning years including the strike shortened 1982 season. Already this year we have more wins than we had total in 14 of those years. The other seven years in that time frame had two 10 win and five 8 win seasons...now that's malaise. I'll take this years definition of "palpable malaise" any week, any year.
SB Champs, 12-0 run, likely back to back HOF QB's spanning possibly 30 years; I wanted to put some historical context to remind fans to enjoy this...we're in the midst of greatness in Packer lore.