Confessions of a Polluted Mindset - 2019 Game 7, Packers - Raiders

The weekly Packers Brain Drain from Jersey Al.

Status: If you predicted the Packers would be 6-1 with three division wins at this point, please raise your hand.

LaFleur: I'd say the coaching transition has gone better than most anyone could have predicted as well. I was full of blind optimism as I had tired of McCarthy's offense for the previous 4-5 years. All I ever really wanted was some creativity. Now we have it in spades. Rodgers is re-energized. I'm ecstatic. 

Bye week: The Lions and Raiders were both coming off bye weeks, had plenty of time to study and game plan and it showed with the fast offensive starts they both got off to. Kudos to Pettine and the Packers for adjusting and while it wasn't perfect, you have to love the defense tightening up in the red zone. Now the Chiefs are coming in off a mini-bye and this would have been a major concern, but with Mahomes out, my nervousness level has dropped dramatically.

Defense: There was some major confusion in the secondary, especially in the first half. The Raiders did some interesting things with formations that caused some missed assignments and way too may explosive plays. The biggest mistakes seemed to be in accounting for the Raiders' tight ends, who as a group had 11 receptions for 172 yards and 3 touchdowns. Ouch!

End zone RB use: Couldn't have been happier to see that Matt LaFleur knows which Packers running back to use when handing off from your own end zone - Jamal Williams. Remember last year against the Rams where an Aaron Jones safety accounted for the eventual margin of victory for the Rams? Thanks coach!

Pass-catching: Speaking of running backs, one of the major things I had been clamoring for in McCarthy's offense was to make at least some use of the running backs in the passing game. Something beyond dump-offs. Make those linebackers work like other teams were doing to the Packers.

Jimmy Graham: Having killed Graham repeatedly in this space, It's only fair that I praise his game against the Raiders. If he can play just close to that level consistently and not just once in a while, then yes, he will be a useful contributor to this team.

Wasted Years: While widely known I was not a big Mike McCarthy fan, I resisted getting on board the "McCarthy Wasted Rodgers' Primer" train. Maybe I didn't like the word "wasted," maybe I didn't want to admit the Packers had disappointed us, maybe I just didn't want to be that negative. Maybe I was just fooling myself. 

 

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"Jersey Al" Bracco is the Editor-In-Chief, part owner and wearer of many hats for CheeseheadTV.com and PackersTalk.com. He is also a recovering Mason Crosby truther.  Follow Al on twitter at @JerseyalGBP

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Comments (56)

Fan-Friendly This filter will hide comments which have ratio of 5 to 1 down-vote to up-vote.
Razer's picture

October 23, 2019 at 06:37 am

The wasted years is hard to take. We wasted away on talent via Ted Thompson and the player acquisition front. We wasted the talent that we had with coaches and schemes that either didn't fit or didn't evolve. At least we have a couple of years left to compete for the top. Another killer draft and some home run FA will get us there.

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ALLGASNOBRAKES's picture

October 23, 2019 at 06:42 am

LOL... OMG Razer...I posted my comment 2 minutes after you. I guess we agree on EVERYTHING!

Sorry Bud, I didn't know you had posted what you did.

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ALLGASNOBRAKES's picture

October 23, 2019 at 06:39 am

"Wasted Years"... I don't blame McCarthy nearly as much as I blame Thompson for those seasons between 2011 and 2016. For as much success this team had during those seasons can you imagine what might have been if a pass rusher or Safety was added here, or a D-Lineman or TE there?

Granted McCarthy held onto coaches like Capers, Slocum, Moss, and Zook WAY too long but Thompson was allowed to stay way too long...About 5 years too long.

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Razer's picture

October 23, 2019 at 06:56 am

Too funny Nick. Having a great QB hides a lot of weaknesses and poor decisions. I like our GM-Coach-QB combo. At this point, Gutekunst could be the single biggest factor to us getting back to the top. I like that he didn't go fishing for a used WR.

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Minniman's picture

October 23, 2019 at 08:51 am

Great points Nick.

An impressive theme of Gute's of the last 2 drafts is that he attacked the draft where the draft was strong and got some reasonable (or stellar with #23) contributor returns (2 Corners, 2 contributing middle round RB's and 2 middle round WR's is a good return). This allows him to pay for proven players where he needs to.

I still don't get the GM/HC/DC disconnect of the latter TT-MM years. It boggles my mind that they were allowed to get so disconnected where the GM acquires players that don't\can't match the DC's plans.

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stockholder's picture

October 23, 2019 at 02:53 pm

Very True Nick. They Had Cook. And TT sabotaged the OL.( GUARD POSITIONS) . TT handcuffed MM with his drafts. Rodgers went public several times about the defense, and reloading the offense. And MM got to stubborn with his staff. The talent wasn't there! Not to mention busts. But Al Jersey is a 100% right. Quote" Lafleur; I'd say the coaching transition has gone better than most anyone could have predicted as well." And with Gute signing some great veterans. Blaming MM for Green Bays Failures is ridicules. All should shoulder the blame for those years.

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jannes bjornson's picture

October 23, 2019 at 09:57 pm

Thompson held onto Mccarthy too long is another version. The 2014 squad was not bereft of talent.

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RCPackerFan's picture

October 23, 2019 at 07:00 am

"Status: If you predicted the Packers would be 6-1 with three division wins at this point, please raise your hand."
I was in the 11-5 or 12-4 club. But I did not predict them to be 6-1 at this point. And in all honesty they could be 7-0.

LaFleur:
When they were looking to hire a new coach and I was trying to guess who they would pick, I looked into LaFleur's background a little more. That is why I predicted them to pick LaFleur. He came from a lot of creative minds offensively. Fast forward to now and you can clearly see that starting to pay off on offense. I absolutely am loving our new look offense. They are doing things we haven't seen in a long time. Players getting open by scheme. Using the RB's in the passing game. Attacking the entire field. The part I am liking more then that is how so far LaFleur is focusing each week based on the opponent. He is finding different ways to attack defenses. Finding their weaknesses and going after it. Its not just the same thing. If he has a hot hand he finds ways to use him. We have seen Lazard enter a game for the first time last week, plays really well and then this week he plays nearly the whole game. Sure some due to injury but he earned more playing time.
All that being said the part that I'm most excited for is the amount of energy that this club has. Attitude is a reflection of the head coach. We see a lot more excitement on the sidelines. Something we haven't seen for a while.

Bye week:
This is something that I want to remind Lions fans. They sit there still bitching about a couple of refs calls. What they should be complaining about is their team came off the bye week to settle for 5 FG's. And their lone TD was not a TD. The Raiders really changed what they had been doing and it was working until Carr fumbled through the endzone completely changing the game.

Defense:
The secondary is really missing Savage! He is our eraser. Redmond a couple of times got out of position. A few of those TE catches I truly believe wouldn't have happened if we had Savage. Savage is similar to how Collins was for us. The eraser of big plays. The last few games we have seen more big plays happening. A lot of that started happening after Savage got hurt.

End zone RB use:
While Williams was probably the right choice back at their own endzone (I still am fine with Jones), Jones is a beast when they are about to score. He just has a knack to make someone miss to find his way in.

Pass-catching:
I brought this up while talking about LaFleur but IMO the greatest difference between LaFleur and McCarthy that I have noticed schematically so far is how they use RB's. Under McCarthy he developed this thing about rotating RB's by series. IMO that was one of the stupidest things. LaFleur he rotates whenever. Based on what play he is going to run and based on when one needs a break. But the difference schematically is they actually use the RB's in the passing game now. Not just a check down option or on screen passes. They are out here running routes on LB's.

Jimmy Graham:
Graham had his best game as a Packer! I am looking forward to seeing if he gets a little rejuvinated.

Wasted Years:
Not long ago someone said if the Packers ran an offense like what Brady runs or some of these schemes where they actually scheme players to get open Rodgers would throw for 7000 yards each year. I think after watching the Raiders game we can all say that is a true story. Well maybe not 7000 but he could get damn close. Rodgers threw for 429 yards on 25 completions. And he did it without one of the best receivers in the league. I wont' say he has had wasted years, but pairing Rodgers with LaFleur so far has been amazing!

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Spock's picture

October 23, 2019 at 07:36 am

RC, I agree totally with everything you've said here, especially the comments about how MLF is using his players and adapting his schemes each week. This is some of the most fun I've had watching games in years. It seems like the "I know what play they're going to run next" times are long gone and yet it's only been seven games! Exciting times to be a Packers fan. The energy of the team (as you mentioned) is so infectious as a fan that I find myself smiling a lot more even during close games. I can't wait to see what game plan/plays LaFleur comes up with next week!

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Minniman's picture

October 23, 2019 at 08:55 am

Spock, do you think that the Davante Adams injury has been a weird blessing in disguise for AR and MLF and made them work with what they have - rather than what they feel comfortable with?

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Spock's picture

October 23, 2019 at 03:28 pm

Minniman, yes I think that having to work around Adams being out is somewhat of a "blessing in disguise" but I believe we would still be seeing Rodgers adapting to MLF's offense and spreading the ball around albeit perhaps not as quickly as it has happened.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

October 23, 2019 at 09:18 am

Had I picked Green Bay to win all seven games, I'd be doing considerably better in the CHTV pick em than I am. I'd guess that GB is my worst correct pick team.

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JerseyAl's picture

October 23, 2019 at 09:42 am

That means you've been picking them to lose a lot. Bad boy.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

October 23, 2019 at 09:01 pm

The "Winners Curse" study probably explains it. That study posits that now that teams know so much about draft picks, teams become overconfident that X player will be good in the NFL and overdraft them or move up for them too much. I worry about certain deficiencies I see in the personnel too much.

For example, Martinez could be a little more this or that, but the bottom line is he is still an average to a bit above average ILB, maybe even just pretty good.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

October 23, 2019 at 09:02 pm

Bubba hit enter twice. Sorry for the duplicate post.

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MarkinMadison's picture

October 23, 2019 at 07:28 am

Woulda coulda shoulda. Can you imagine if TT had dumped MM and went out and hired Josh McDaniels in 2014? It could have been a wonderful, 7K per year Nirvana. Or it could have been a dumpster fire like McDaniels in Denver. There are magical times when time, place, and individual match up. There are no guarantees.

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dobber's picture

October 23, 2019 at 07:55 am

Nobody knew when they hired LaFleur if he could run a team and lead a locker room. I think people were divided on whether or not he could really call plays given his limited experience with the Titans. He was a calculated risk. So far so good...but I think he's benefitting from leader-types in Z. Smith and others who can help keep the locker room in check, too. The true test of a coach is how his team responds when things aren't going so well. The home-cooking is going away for a few weeks and the opponents are challenging. Win 2 of these next 3 going into the bye, and things are looking pretty good.

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Minniman's picture

October 23, 2019 at 08:58 am

Dobber, some great points. I mentioned this above already but do you think that Gute needs to take a bow here too by being able to rapid-remake the roster to at least give MLF and Pettine a fighting chance?

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dobber's picture

October 23, 2019 at 09:22 am

I think he's taken some calculated risks in attacking some position groups and ignoring others. This year, it hasn't bitten this team. Even the loss of Adams for a couple weeks has been covered by adjusting to fit the tools available. BG has had a pretty high success rate on his FA gambles this year: he upgraded the starters at 4 positions--almost 20% of the starters. We can't understate how significant that shift is. We could argue about the players he let go (Cobb, Daniels) and whether he downgraded two positions at the same time, but so far the + outweigh the -.

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PeteK's picture

October 23, 2019 at 10:27 am

Daniels's release was a great move because he has hasn't played since week two and Cobb has been mediocre at best so far.

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Rossonero's picture

October 23, 2019 at 12:34 pm

^^^THIS^^^. LaFleur acknowledged in his recent interview ESPN's Booger McFarland that he's been fortunate enough to be around some great coaches/mentors.

Examples of great people LaFleur has surrounded himself with or learned from:

1. Mike Pettine. A former head coach himself, Pettine runs the defense so LaFleur can focus on offense and special teams. I don't know how involved MLF is with the defensive side of the ball, but I don't see as much of a need for him.

2. The Smiths. They not only provide the playmaking ability we've sorely lacked with Nick Perry and Clay Matthews, but they've provided LEADERSHIP. Holy crap has this team been missing that! Clay was a quiet lead by example kinda guy, and Mike Daniels barked a lot but rubbed some the wrong way too. Everyone has their own style, but the Smiths have one that's resonated with their players, and I think will continue to resonate even we suffer some losses.

3. McVay, Shanahan. LaFleur talked about the impact both of them had on him -- how hard he saw them work, the creativity, the collaboration, communication and of course leadership.

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Tundraboy's picture

October 23, 2019 at 08:10 am

Thanks Al for the great summation. Exactly my take. Goodbye boring. Hello what will they do next. I am particularly happy to see the whole team involved,and if a player has a drop, he's not buried,and if someone shows something, he is used again.

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Guam's picture

October 23, 2019 at 08:08 am

I have a growing concern about our D-line. The Raiders became the next team in line to gash the Packers for substantial yardage between the tackles (really more just between the guards). Clark has not been dominant and Lowery, Adams and Lancaster have been average at best. The Packers have been able to minimize the damage to some extent by jumping out to big leads and forcing the other teams to pass but at some point the inability to stop the run is going to cost the Packers.

I hope Gute is shopping for another D-lineman. It was interesting to see San Francisco spend a 3rd and 4th rounder for Sanders and New England spend a 2nd rounder for Sanu - teams that think they have a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl are willing spend to achieve that goal. It will be interesting and perhaps a bit telling to see if Gute actually does go shopping.

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ShooterMcGee's picture

October 23, 2019 at 09:12 am

I'd like to see them acquire an ILB that can fill the gaps and play downhill. We need to solidify the middle of the defense. To my untrained eye Blake makes a lot of tackles 5-10 yards downfield. He seems to let the play come to him instead of attacking. I am not sure who could be available but someone like Deion Jones of Atlanta would be perfect.

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stockholder's picture

October 23, 2019 at 11:09 am

I agree with the ILB. While Martinez has done well. This still should be the heart of the defense.

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splitpea1's picture

October 23, 2019 at 11:34 am

I agree with all of the above comments about getting some help for the middle of the defense--either a plug on the D-line or an ILB would be really helpful. If the Packers were willing to spend a first round pick on a project-type player like they did, they should have no qualms about using a lower pick to acquire someone that can help them now that they've established themselves as a serious contender.

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PeteK's picture

October 23, 2019 at 08:19 am

I also thought it was time for a change because we needed a fresh start. The marriage between QB and coach was over. A few losing seasons does that. However, let's be fair, if McCarthy had four very good new starters on D, two new solid guards on offense, and a healthy and motivated Rogers our record this year would not be very different. That is the big difference to me. As far as scheme goes, the fullback is back (love it), least we forget Kuhn. Dump offs to RBs, we were screaming last year when Rogers failed to do just that. Be honest , I'm sure you were all holding your breaths when we saw what seemed to be some discontent on the sidelines earlier this season.

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Tundraboy's picture

October 23, 2019 at 08:43 am

I'm sure we wouldn't be 6-1.

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JerseyAl's picture

October 23, 2019 at 10:47 am

Can't possibly see us as 6-1 with MM's offense and Rodgers hating it, as he was.

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OldPacker's picture

October 23, 2019 at 08:32 am

100% on MM .....TT gave him 3 stud RB's 3 years ago..they stayed seated on the bench ..Left the fastest player on the bench unless it was his great ST play .. MM didn't let him return punts ?? Put CoBB in harm's way ( Our # 2 receiver) . ( You can bring a horse to water , etc) This team overcame MM blunders and mistakes .. exposing AR to injury with play designs that took a year and a half to develop....Up to the superbowl win and the one lose season MM changed.. His ego became to big ..did not deal well with wining ..his play-calling consisted of a sign that read "Aaron make a play .". this slipped out of MM's mouth 'He never attended a D meeting " until the year he was to give up play calling .... What ?? I have so much more but in my Opinion we are lucky AR is still playing !!!

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Archie's picture

October 23, 2019 at 11:41 am

TT drafted well at the outset. Even so, the Pack was very lucky to win their first and only SB under TT/MM. It was all downhill after that. The drafting and managing got steadily worse thereafter. But they were in a weak division with a superstar QB so their win-loss record allowed TT/MM/DC to hang around and get rich off the 12 gravy train. Eventually, the division improved and even AR wasn't enough to get their roster/scheme over the hump. Yes, we are very lucky to have Gutey and MLF at the helm now. MP too. Let the good times roll but I'm expecting a round one playoff game and win and then after that, I think it's a year too soon but the last SB was a big surprise so who knows. It's fun to be a Packer fan again!

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jannes bjornson's picture

October 24, 2019 at 09:04 pm

15-1 and done with Home Field Advantage was an absolute crime. Epic Fail from the top side. McCarthy out-muscled and clueless after halftime.

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jeremyjjbrown's picture

October 23, 2019 at 08:33 am

"Maybe I was just fooling myself."

It was hard to see because McCarthy had had so much success. Nobody "wanted" to accept that McCarthy, Thompson and Capers had all regressed significantly from their former prowess. I got tons of flack here and from friends for saying it happened. I got called an asshole, ungrateful and even not a real Packers fan. But sadly they did all regress, and sadly it did waste at least 3 years of Rodgers Career. Thankfully Murphy finally intervened and ended it.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

October 23, 2019 at 09:15 am

Well, of course, your views on the Packers might have simply been an excuse or just the straw that broke the camel's back? [just yanking your chain!]

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sonomaca's picture

October 23, 2019 at 08:35 am

Regarding the ”wasted years” theme: I do think there would have been at least two more Super Bowl appearances had things been done even slightly differently. However, it was Rodgers who signed a new contract. He could have demanded management/coaching changes, or he could have walked.

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Packer_Fan's picture

October 23, 2019 at 08:56 am

Good article. The slide we experienced after 2014 was slow and difficult to experience. But it did happen. Thompson didn't bring in the people to refresh the roster. It started with the defense and year after year, the offense became stale. Rodger kept the team competitive, but he couldn't bring them over the top. Because the scheme and talent just wasn't there.

But just think, with the top receiver out, the others WR's unproven, an over the hill TE and the offense rolled. That doesn't happen without a good scheme that uses all the weapons. I would expect a few stumbles over the next few weeks, but we do have a chance this year to make and then go deep into the playoffs.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

October 23, 2019 at 09:21 am

I don't know. I think that 2014 team was good enough to win the super bowl but for bad coaching and game management. 2015 might have been good enough as well with better health at WR.

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PeteK's picture

October 23, 2019 at 11:00 am

TE who can't catch an onside kick while 3 other players are watching instead of blocking was the biggest mistake of that game.

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Packer_Fan's picture

October 23, 2019 at 12:54 pm

I think you are making my point. When Jordy went down, the offense was flat all year. Fast forward to this year, Adams is down and the offense is cooking even without him. This didn't happen when Jordy was hurt. The scheme was too predictable. However, we won't know how this works out until the end of this year, but the team is ascending and not descending as in 2015.

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Packer_Fan's picture

October 23, 2019 at 12:54 pm

I think you are making my point. When Jordy went down, the offense was flat all year. Fast forward to this year, Adams is down and the offense is cooking even without him. This didn't happen when Jordy was hurt. The scheme was too predictable. However, we won't know how this works out until the end of this year, but the team is ascending and not descending as in 2015.

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Since'61's picture

October 23, 2019 at 09:24 am

Great article Al. What I liked the most about the victory over the Raiders was the fact that MLF/Rodgers never took their foot off of the gas. It was peddle to the metal all the way even at 28 - 17 and 35 -17. That is the only way to play in this era of the NFL. Keep attacking the defense because in this pass happy era combined with miserable officiating, especially on defensive holding and DPI you never know how many points you are going to need.

As for TT/MM, I ask the same question that I asked during 2017 and 2018, "What was Murphy doing while the wheels were falling off?"
Was he paying attention or was he focused on building "Packer World" or whatever it is. I even posted a few times that football is becoming a hobby rather than the focus in Green Bay. TT's drafts had started going badly by 2013 and 2014. MM was never the same after 2014. MM had a professional disaster (losing the NFCCG during the final 3+ minutes) and a devastating personal tragedy (sudden loss of his brother) in a period of less than 2 weeks.

Murphy should have realized the impact that this could have on anyone, never mind an HC. I believe MM kept the people around him (like Capers) who probably helped him get through it all and who he was comfortable with. But I wondered then and still do if he was the same person after suffering through the double shot of a professional and personal loss in such a short period of time. There were just too many games and decisions where he just seemed out of it. Again where was Murphy during all of this?

In fairness to both TT and MM the team was often besieged with injury after injury to key players. In the 2016 NFCCG it seemed like Rodgers was the only starting player left standing by the second half. TT needed to add some real NFL talent but relied on his UDFAs to play against champion caliber NFL veterans. Where was Murphy?

Fortunately we are where we are now and it looks like Gute and MLF will keep us in the 21st century NFL. Go Pack Go!
Thanks, Since '61

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Houndog's picture

October 23, 2019 at 09:33 am

Couldn't agree more '61.
I too was praying they wouldn't take their foot off the gas on Sunday, and I too was yelling "where the hell is Murphy' for a lot of years. I celebrated the restructuring cuz (as I saw it) it would put the onus on Murphy and make or break him. Admittedly, it looks like it's working at this point.
Now, at 6-1, if we're truly moving into the 21st Century NFL, let's take the next step and make one of those "the time is now" trades that could lead us to another Lombardi trophy.

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splitpea1's picture

October 23, 2019 at 11:43 am

Why, why, why are we still wallowing in the mire and talking about the McCarthy era? Be glad we finally turned the corner with a new coaching staff, new philosophy, and new players--time to forget about the past and move forward!

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Houndog's picture

October 23, 2019 at 09:21 am

Here we go, yesterday I stated my concern for the defense and I'll do it again. We need another presence in the middle!
The Raidah's have already stated that they'll be buyers in this market and the Packers should jump in fast. This week was the first time the team has gone without a sack this year, and the defense has floundered a bit the past few weeks. The good part is that time they're are still playing a lot of 'bend but don't break' football.
Now, the Falcons are supposedly shopping Vic Beasley, and while he's not the typical ILB 'Thumper' I'd like to see he's always been a terror to opposing QB's.
Reportedly the market for Beasley has been hesitant at best, so he might come reasonably cheap if someone acts soon. I like the idea of Beasley along side Martinez and behind the Smith Bros.
Can anyone name (figure of speech) the Packer's "other" linebacker, you never hear it from the announcers on game day?

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Since'61's picture

October 23, 2019 at 09:36 am

Forget the announcers. Burks has played reasonably well and BJ Johnson made the huge hit on the 4th and goal play which essentially ended the Raiders chances to get back in the game. Yes, we could use another ILB but we are 6-1 with the players that we have.

The questions are who is available and what are we willing to give up to get them?

Gute is still building this team and he wants his guys not another team's cast offs. I think he will rebuild ILB during the upcoming offseason and probably another DL or 2 as well. Look at it this way the offense improves every week and they are playing without Davante Adams. As for the defense they need to get Savage and Raven Green back. When they return we should see an improvement in both the run and pass defense. Sit tight and enjoy the ride. Thanks, Since '61

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ThxJackVainisi's picture

October 23, 2019 at 10:18 am

While I agree Murphy was 'asleep at the wheel' for too long, and I didn't (and don't) like how he reorganized the organization, he deserves a lot of credit for the hiring of LaFleur. Most of us were criticizing his 'taking over' the process and the press conference. But now his saying how impressed he was with LaFleur after just one interview makes much more sense. As does his hiring of LaFleur after just one interview. (If at some point Murphy restores the GM's power to that enjoyed by Wolf and Thompson, maybe he should have a street named after him... or at least an alley?)

What amazes me is much of what LaFleur has changed just makes common sense: Attack opponents' weaknesses, emphasize your own players' strengths, make opponents defend the entire field, etc. His "genius" is how he goes about it.

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PeteK's picture

October 23, 2019 at 11:10 am

This is Rogers's offense right now and Lafleur is doing a great job of managing all facets especially the egos.

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scullyitsme's picture

October 23, 2019 at 10:22 am

Right now I think we are a player on defense and a player on offense away from being dominant. It might take another year to get them, but I wouldn’t sleep on gute acquiring one of them before the deadline. Nobody wants to give up the future but the later it gets the lower the price drops. The buyers have already bought. That might leave a rebuilding team to just get what they can for a good player. I know I’ll get bashed here as I have in the past from the never trade for anybody our team is perfect crowd, but obviously the best teams in the league don’t think that way judging by the trades this week.

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dobber's picture

October 23, 2019 at 10:38 am

I might argue that it's two players on defense (after Savage comes back, of course): they need an assignmen-sure, athletic ILB (or hybrid-type) and an odd-front DL. Maybe that DL is already on the roster, but it hasn't looked like it so far.

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scullyitsme's picture

October 23, 2019 at 10:46 am

Right, that’s possible. With savage back, I think we could be dominant with just one or the other. ILB or DL on defense, but I’d take both:)

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PeteK's picture

October 23, 2019 at 11:18 am

I thought that we would be stout against the run. It just seems that we are not holding the ground and creating a pile which clogs the middle.

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pacman's picture

October 23, 2019 at 12:33 pm

As a proud early member of the 'fire them all movement' for the last few years, welcome to the club.

If Murphy, TT and MM weren't talking and on the same page - then the fault is Murphy's. Wasting a talent like AR for that many years is almost unforgivable. But there was enough blame to assign to TT and even more to MM.

But the past is the past and we finally got all the changes we wanted - and look at that - almost everything is working in our favor. So let's go win a few SB's and MLF and AR will go down in history. But we need to upgrade special teams asap and tighten up the defense a bit more. It seems we have good enough players now to get it done. D just had to help AR some more and we needed better O plays for AR. It's so simple now that everyone sees it. How did Murphy miss it?

My wish list is now:
RG - get healthy, stay healthy
AR - stop under-throwing MVS (now a weekly occurrence)
Special teams - ??? MLF - this one is for you to figure out - LOL!

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ILPackerBacker's picture

October 23, 2019 at 12:38 pm

Pretty scary to see the crap talk about "other teams cast offs". Talk about deja vous all over again.

Deja the smiths, amos, turner. Even Goodson made impact plays. It is not on goodson that martinez can not drop in goal line situation.

Stop with the teddite talk about free agents or trades.
Move to Smith world

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Lphill's picture

October 23, 2019 at 01:07 pm

I take a lot of down votes for saying it but Martinez is not good at playing the run, turns the wrong way a lot of time, or missing the tackle at the line of scrimmage, still waiting to see what Ty Summers can do.

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Minniman's picture

October 23, 2019 at 02:13 pm

Rodgers+ Healthy and Good O-line+ QB rules changes = Opportunities

Solid DB play + Resurgent Pass Rush + Sporadic D-line and middle = Opportunities

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PatrickGB's picture

October 23, 2019 at 07:00 pm

Quote: “ but with Mahomes out, my nervousness level has dropped dramatically.”

I have been reading that he may NOT be out after all.

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