Game Changing Play of the Week: Rasul Douglas Pick Six Opens Up the Game

Matthew Stafford couldn't help but dish out yet another pick six.

Turns out adding a pair of former All Pros to your team midseason doesn't actually mean you're guaranteed anything.

For the entire first half and much of the second, the Packers rendered Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. to be essentially non-factors. OBJ's one big play ended up being inconsequential to the game, and Miller only managed to turn up the heat on Aaron Rodgers after the Packers already had the game well in hand.

But you know who did have an impact on the game? A Packers midseason acquisition who barely garnered any attention at all when the Packers brought him in from the Arizona Cardinals' practice squad.

Once again, cornerback Rasul Douglas provided the team's game-changing play, a little over a month after sealing a victory against the top-seeded Cardinals.

At this point in the game there was still a shot for the Rams to come back and take a victory. But Douglas basically daggered the game before the third quarter was even over. With the Packers playing solid football on both sides of the ball, there was little hope left for the Rams to make a full comeback in the fourth quarter.

Stafford has now thrown pick sixes in three consecutive weeks. You can take the quarterback out of Detroit...

Douglas does a great job of reading where Stafford wants to go with a pass and making a break on the ball. From there, it's an easy run to the endzone.

Douglas has been far from perfect, but he's been very strong relative to what the Packers had to give up to get him and he's been easily the second best corner on the team (and occasionally the best) in the absence of Jaire Alexander. Without Douglas, there's a good chance the Packers do not have the record they currently do.

Give credit to Brian Gutekunst for finding this guy and picking him up, all while Packers twitter was pining for Stephon Gilmore.

 

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Tim Backes is a lifelong Packer fan and a contributor to CheeseheadTV. Follow him on Twitter @timbackes for his Packer takes, random musings and Untappd beer check-ins.

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11 points
 

Comments (41)

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

November 29, 2021 at 05:15 pm

<<<<<You can take the quarterback out of Detroit.. >>>>>>>>>>

That was so funny, even though I have a soft spot for the perennial losers.

Yeah, how ironic that the castaways outshined the shiney new pro-bowl toys. Nothing quite equals the passion of aspiration in those who are hungry to get their day, not just in football life either. Ever game you have to prove yourself again...as reputation is short lived if performance doesn't carry it.

Great pic to feature at the top: Douglas doing the leap. Its a good day when the D can do that leap.

10 points
11
1
Leatherhead's picture

November 29, 2021 at 04:53 pm

Pick sixes are huge . I recall reading once that you win over 90% of games where you get one.

Douglas is 26 and making about a million. He’s made about 3-4 millio$$n in his life already and I’m sure he’d apprecIate a guaranteed $10 million over a couple of years. Along with Stokes and Alexander, that’s a real good start for that unit, but you can never have too many guys who can cover and tackle.

18 points
18
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Packer_Fan's picture

November 29, 2021 at 07:47 pm

Yes. Douglas is much better than King and Sullivan and deserves a chance to hang around

4 points
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Caden819's picture

November 29, 2021 at 11:19 pm

Seriously, how can you even justify starting King over him? Phenomenal pick up by Gute

5 points
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joejetson's picture

November 29, 2021 at 05:04 pm

Douglas is a.night/day improvement over habitually injured/habitually beaten Kevin King. Even King's temporary resurgence was a mirage. This defense is better by subtraction of King from the lineup. Opposing QB's no longer have a safe, easy completion on third down with King out.

4 points
6
2
Fubared's picture

November 29, 2021 at 06:03 pm

Boy do I disagree with you. Every single QB looks over to where Stokes is and he is the new Kevin King. They put their best receiver on him and he is the target. Time our D coach gets this guy to play the position and not just drop back wait for the catch and come up and make the tackle.
Get him playing like Douglas and we got something

-13 points
2
15
dobber's picture

November 29, 2021 at 06:58 pm

I'm amazed by your ability week after week to demonstrate that you don't actually watch these games.

12 points
12
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Johnblood27's picture

November 30, 2021 at 07:05 am

He may watch the games and simply have no comprehension of what is going on amid all the pretty colors...

3 points
3
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Bure9620's picture

November 29, 2021 at 07:32 pm

Stokes was targeted 10 times allowing 3 receptions for 20 yards. I saw 2 PBUs as well, including the dropped pick.

7 points
7
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Johnblood27's picture

November 30, 2021 at 07:06 am

Stop bringing facts to an imapayne comment, there is NO place for behavior like that!

4 points
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Caden819's picture

November 29, 2021 at 11:20 pm

Boy do you not watch football lol

1 points
1
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bjkdad44's picture

November 30, 2021 at 08:25 am

Say what?? 🙄

1 points
1
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Spock's picture

November 30, 2021 at 08:43 am

Once again, your bizarre hatred for Stokes comes out. What did he do to you? Pee in your cornflakes? The ROOKIE has done just fine. Why all the hate???

1 points
1
0
canadapacker's picture

November 29, 2021 at 05:38 pm

I kept saying to the people in the room - come on Stafford - you love Green Bay - you love throwing it to the our team - please start throwing us the ball again and what happened - he did even better - throwing a pick 6 . Once a Lion always a Lion. The pass rush kind of helped making Stafford step up and kind of telegraph the throw and what do you know Douglas didnt drop it and perfecto = defensive TD.

5 points
5
0
jurp's picture

November 30, 2021 at 04:10 pm

As the Lions approached the line for that play, I said "Now it's time for a pick six." and then I looked like a genius. Of course, I say that at least once a game and it never happens, so I guess I'm really not a genius :(

0 points
0
0
Fubared's picture

November 29, 2021 at 06:05 pm

So why is Amos Savage and Stokes running around chasing guys who ran past them. Why are two guys covering one receiver and the other receiver is un covered. No one knows what the hell they are doing and its game 12 folks.

-16 points
0
16
Lphill's picture

November 29, 2021 at 06:23 pm

At least our quarterback doesn't line up behind the guard like your quarterback.

18 points
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10ve 💚's picture

November 29, 2021 at 06:53 pm

I wish I could give this 10 upvotes.

4 points
4
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WestCoastPackerBacker's picture

November 29, 2021 at 07:17 pm

They got beat. Even good teams get beat sometimes. Yes, they made a mistake. But overall they are playing better defense than they have played in years and their defensive rankings show that. Looks like Rashan Gary knows what he is doing. Adrian Amos knows what he is doing. DeVondre Campbell knows what he is doing. Kenny Clark knows what he is doing. They gave up a couple long plays and they gotta fix that. But the Rams got almost nothing else. They settled down and held them just fine in the 4th quarter.

8 points
8
0
Bure9620's picture

November 29, 2021 at 07:34 pm

Adrian Amos is the most undervalued player on this team imo.

6 points
6
0
Bure9620's picture

November 29, 2021 at 07:36 pm

Seriously?

0 points
0
0
porupack's picture

November 30, 2021 at 06:51 am

Find one CB that had a perfect game, in a defense that had a better DVOA, and better team record. Each individual player is required to play their part in the unit, in the defensive scheme for that day. They might be asked to stop the run, and or/ shutdown the short passing attack if the opposing quarterback is unlikely to make big plays. So you can't judge in isolation. You can't simultaneously play prevent on big plays, but also take risks and jump routes for turnovers. If team is believing Stafford/Trubisky/Goffs of the NFL are mistake prone, then the strategy should be to dare them to go deep, and take some chances on jumping the routes. Having said that, it is fair to critique one's execution on assignments,

2 points
2
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dobber's picture

November 30, 2021 at 10:13 am

" You can't simultaneously play prevent on big plays, but also take risks and jump routes for turnovers."

Agreed: CB is the hardest position on an NFL roster save for QB. This is a league that has systematically handcuffed defenses and--more specifically--defenders in coverage over the years to the point that guys who win in coverage with any regularity are highly sought after.

They all get beat. Even the good ones.

3 points
3
0
relleum61's picture

November 29, 2021 at 06:49 pm

That was just a great play by Douglas...if only he caught the other ball that was gifted to him, if only Stokes intercepted the ball he had made a play on, if only Savage held on to the balls he put himself in position to catch last week...if only our DB's could catch half the balls they have the opportunity to catch! Perhaps the DB's should spend some time with the receiver's coach the rest of the season. Opportunities caught can be the difference between an early out in the playoffs or a run to the Super Bowl (like we witnessed in 2010)

2 points
3
1
10ve 💚's picture

November 29, 2021 at 06:56 pm

Get real!!

What was Rodgers' completion percentage? About 20 balls were not caught. Removing about 5 balls for throwaways, that would still be 15 balls that the receivers did not catch... and the receivers KNEW that the ball was coming!

Get real!!

"if only"????? Did I mention get real?

3 points
5
2
Caden819's picture

November 29, 2021 at 11:22 pm

The reason why they’re DBs is because they can’t catch and didn’t cut it as wideouts. Pick 6s don’t happen every week

3 points
3
0
HawkPacker's picture

November 30, 2021 at 06:17 am

My thinking is that it is not the mindset of the CB to intercept but to either prevent the wide receiver from catching the ball or tackling the wide receiver if he does catch the ball. Decisions can come so quickly for a CB at that point and he is just not thinking intercept until the last moment. If you look at a receiver, he is intent on catching the pass, it is his mindset, and many times he will not catch it either.

I think CB is the toughest position to play....out on an island by yourself!

3 points
4
1
Bearmeat's picture

November 29, 2021 at 07:25 pm

To be fair, Gilmore is BY FAR the better player. But Douglas provides more bang for the buck. We just didn't have the cap room to sign Gilmore. Not even Gute could have predicted Douglas doing this. Sometimes, you get lucky with day 3 picks, UDFA and practice squad guys. Maybe one out of every 40 or so for a good scouting department...

Jerry Reinsdorf, my ass, 12. ;)

4 points
4
0
HawkPacker's picture

November 30, 2021 at 06:20 am

Yes Bearmeat, we are very fortunate to have him. Now as we look to the future with our CB's, we will have at least three that are very good and still have a couple that are, at least at this time, a bit above average and Shemar Jean Charles, who is still developing. A great problem to have.

2 points
2
0
4thand1's picture

November 29, 2021 at 08:13 pm

Stafford is who we knew he was.

4 points
4
0
HawkPacker's picture

November 30, 2021 at 06:23 am

4thand1, when LA made the trade with Detroit for Stafford, I figured that LA was going to make a run to the Super Bowl, as I really liked Stafford, and they still might do that.

However, now I am thinking that maybe Detroit got the better deal as their new QB is decent, they have a terrible record this year and will have a high pick this next draft. Plus I believe they also received a couple of high draft picks in the trade with LA.

1 points
1
0
LambeauPlain's picture

November 30, 2021 at 11:22 am

Detroit got a 2021 3rd rounder, a 1st rounder for 2022 (to go with their own likely first pick of the draft), and another 1st rounder for 2022 as well as Goff. The Rams fans are grumbling about Stafford now.

Always a gamble when you trade for an older player based on past accomplishments while playing for perennial losers.

2 points
2
0
jurp's picture

November 30, 2021 at 04:13 pm

Wow, I hadn't realized that the Lions had gotten a "Hadl trade". This should set them up for the rest of the decade.

Oh, wait... this is the Lions we're talking about.

Never mind.

1 points
1
0
Johnblood27's picture

November 30, 2021 at 07:10 am

Then crown his ass already...

;-)

1 points
1
0
Caden819's picture

November 29, 2021 at 11:28 pm

The starting lineup when Jaire comes back should be Jaire, Stokes, Douglas. King and Sullivan need to be the backups

4 points
4
0
LambeauPlain's picture

November 30, 2021 at 11:26 am

Yep. Those 3 guys also have a similar attitude, it seems. They put a missed play behind them and stay frosty for the next snap. Very hard nosed, mentally focused CBs.

On the other side of the ball, If we can get both Bakht and Myers back, the starting O line should be Bakht, Runyon, Myers, Turner and Nijman, IMO.

1 points
1
0
PAPackerbacker's picture

November 30, 2021 at 05:51 am

Rasul Douglas has earned a chance at starting over the often injured Kevin King. I doubt Kevin King will be a Packer next season. I agree with joejetson when he states that the defense is better off with the subtraction of Kevin King and the addition of Rasul Douglas.

4 points
4
0
egbertsouse's picture

November 30, 2021 at 07:19 am

Stick a fork in Stafford, he’s done. He doesn’t look anything like the Stafford of old who could put up 500 on you. He looks like 2019 Drew Brees.

2 points
2
0
THESZOTMAN1's picture

November 30, 2021 at 10:48 am

What can you say about this guy?
He snatches victory from the jaws of defeat with a pick on the final play, then puts the "Dagger" in the Rams with a pick-6.
Keep him healthy rest of year, then resign him. We'll have one of the best (oh, what the heck) THE best defensive backfield in the NFL.
The Szotman

1 points
1
0
LambeauPlain's picture

November 30, 2021 at 11:33 am

INTs are game changers and pick 6's can be game winners. But they are rare. Douglas, Stokes and Savage will get more opportunities. But what I do like are the PBUs the three are getting. PBUs can wreck an offense's possession.

King has talent but he shows it on the field inconsistently. And he is not dependable, being off the field injured for nearly half his career. You don't want guys playing injured, but many...especially this time of the year, play hurt. King doesn't seem to be able to play with his bumps and bruises.

2 points
2
0
jurp's picture

November 30, 2021 at 04:14 pm

Imagine if Gute hadn't picked up Douglas and we were starting Yiadom... or Ento... or Jean-Charles... I think our record would be VERY different.

1 points
1
0