Man. Our defense. Puke. IF they can just find a way to play fundamentally sound more often than not, this is shaping up to be a Lombardi winning year. If not, another painful January is in the cards.

Kudos to the young WRs and Gute. His hopes there have panned out beautifully. Thank God we didn't pay for Fuller.

Loved to see Marcedes' grit on that play!

EQ- After the Catch.- Confidence isn't there yet. Might be seeing " The once of prevention beats the pound of cures" And with MVS fumble and Lazards big hit. Their development is going to be up and down yet.

"It's hard for me to fathom how you forget about Allen Robinson on the goal line, but the Packers did it twice."

Let me introduce you to Mike Pettine.

EQ after the catch: Look EQ spends more time in the garage than a vintage Ferrari; I don't have any problem with the business decisions when you catch the ball - but you better f-ng block , and most importantly catch the ball when thrown to you!! As for A Robinson I had the same thought about the Bunch formation WTF 3 catcher's and 2 defenders !!

Great choices again, Al.

I too thought he should have cut up the field more decisively, and would have gained a few more yards. As you said, he did take a bigger hit as a result, though he did gain about 5 more than he would have with the sure cut to get the first down (and that's the real reason I thought he should have made the first available cut: he went laterally at that point and kept himself behind the marker and got a bit lucky to get the first down).

I don't fault him for getting to the sidelines on the long play. He was boxed in by 3 defenders and there was no way he was going to escape. Not worth it to take that kind of hit for a yard or two.

I don't question his toughness after the leaping attempt to long jump into the end zone against the Jags.

The WR group is finally coming together (and despite not targeting MVS last night, I don't think it was punishment so much as trickery to fool the Bears and finally get ESB and Lazard into the flow more).

Things are looking up. The D is improving rapidly and may finally have enough pass rush to play a little tighter coverage in the CB group (though I don't really fault the way they play a slippery little zonish thing that allows the players to read and pick up the right WR when the opponent is trying to pick and obstruct them). It seems like a better strategy against modern NFL offenses than playing tight man coverage at the line. While we do have the best in the biz at that, you sort of need 3 guys of that caliber to make tight man to man work. King is good, but he's still only got 2 seasons worth of games under his belt in 4 years. I don't fault anyone for injuries, but in terms of development, he's deep into his SECOND year of playing, about the time when the light clicks on in a player's development.

He showed it last night with perhaps the best game of his career thus far.

That the defense acts confused as to their assignments several times a game has become a pattern of ineptitude. We're 12 weeks (13 if you include the bye week), and the defense is still having trouble getting lined up correctly? And giving up two quick TD's one of the most inept offenses in the league, forcing the offense to keep it's starters on the field longer than necessary? Something needs to change.

Even if they didn't have numbers on their back, it isn't hard to tell who is EQ and who is Lazard on the field. Lazard plays like he belongs in the "Black and Blue Division".
Also Al, interesting comments as always. Thanks for writing.

EQ should have cut up the field rather than running outside and taking a big hit anyway. He made the first down which was the key but turning upfield he may have been fast enough to get by the first defender and maybe make a move to get into the open field. At the least he picks up a few extra yards.

I don’t believe that players should take unnecessary hits but they should not deliberately avoid them either.

Too many coaching and communication issues on defense especially at this point in the season. Pettine needs to pull his group together. No excuse on the A. Robinson TD.

As for M. Lewis vs Mack, that’s just good physical football. “We don’t play no mamby-pamby football.”
Thanks, Since ‘61

It's all about Matt LaFleur. When you're as good as the Packers are at present on offense your greater focus has to be on how you will stop the other great offensive teams you will face in the playoffs. Tampa Bay showed they can walk all over this D. We know KC will be almost impossible to stop. Pittsburg, Baltimore, even Arizona (how do you contain Murray), Seattle. The Vikings have a shot to be in, how do we stop Cook? I highly doubt we will be favored in most of these games. It's Ground Hog Year in Green Bay. We love our high scoring team with our HOF QB, we generally win the Division, we beat up on Da Bears, but come playoff time, our Defense gets stomped. Matt LaFleur has shown he knows how to score points. He's a good motivator as a head coach and has won a lot of games already with the Packers. But to be more than a head coach who is really only a glorified OC, he has to become defensive-minded. I'm sure he's trying, but from where we all sit it's hard to see. This defense is the same as it's been for almost two years under his command This isn't just about firing Pettine. It's also not about Gute not supplying him with the right players. It's about becoming a complete head coach who makes the difficult decisions, some that are so obvious it doesn't take a great football mind to see. Our DL regularly parts like the Red Sea. Look at the tape, Clark double teamed in one direction, Lowry turned around or on his face in the other, and no LB in the hole. Yet Lowry continues to get meaningful snaps and the LB's still can't figure out the gap is between Clark and Lowry. We speak often here about the soft coverage of the DB's. MLF has to demand greater toughness, get in the faces of the receivers, overrule Pettine if he continues to allow teams crazy 12-minute drives. Because that's what the good offensive teams do against us, and it keeps Rodgers off the field. I'd like to not hear another word from MLF about the offense, I want to hear his anger and accountability for the defense, his version of "What the hell's going on out there!" There is talent on this defense. Jaire is the best CB in football. Clark one of the best tackles. The Smiths and Gary aren't as great as we once thought they'd be but they're more than adequate. Same for Savage and Amos at the back end. Raven Green is developing into a solid player. This D can be much better. It's all about what MLF can do from here on to get them to improve, and prove he's a complete head coach.

I don't know why Pettine plays soft at the end of the first half and at the end of the game. And the Packers were undermanned for the receiver screen to Montgomery for the touchdown at the end of the game. I don't have faith in Pettine fixing the defense before the playoffs. They got rid of Shepherd for his mistakes, why not Pettine.

I don't know why Pettine plays soft at the end of the first half and at the end of the game. And the Packers were undermanned for the receiver screen to Montgomery for the touchdown at the end of the game. I don't have faith in Pettine fixing the defense before the playoffs. They got rid of Shepherd for his mistakes, why not Pettine.

Good article Al. I think the LB must be the director of that situation and .... Kirksey proves to be not up to it. Greetings see you soon GPG

I keep seeing LB, CB and S away from the opposing WR-TE and this very often leads to delayed tackles with lost yards ..... And I would not talk about the defense of the RUN .....

Great post Al. I've accepted that Petine is here for the rest of the season. I can't see how he stays though unless the D shows more improvement. And since our schedule is pretty easy for the rest of the season, he has a chance to do just that. If we get runover in the playoffs by anyone (unfortunately, that's the current expectation), that will be a pretty good excuse to get rid of him.

Our young receivers are making some mistakes as they are progressing, but they're hustling and blocking. Defense seems to be a problem with most of the better teams. A result of very talented receivers and QBs in today's football. "the red ass" Stop drinking that cheap wine. Hahahaha

Al, I dont post much but read alot. Negative nancys abound never happy always have the better opinion and cure for the team, it gets old. I know I dont have to read the comments but...

If there is a way to play Arods Tuesday 2pm EST interview with Pat McAfee on MadDog radio or youtube it is more enlightening than ever. His thoughts and comments are well thought out and his appreciation of his teammates are awesome.

Alot of fans dont follow twitter or youtube they can find it on either. His love of Marcedes Lewis is outstanding.
Anyway as a fan from before Super Bowl 1 my glass is half full.

When I was watching the game, I thought there were 2 times EQ almost lost the first down by not running vertically and choosing to run horizontally. Each time, he got the first time by escaping a tackle.

I get that as fans we want to have the most positive outlook on our teams - hence why after we win a game like this you see the typical "defense isnt THAT bad you know look at the numbers blah blah" comments. I certainly used to be one of those people myself. But after a DECADE of that proving to never be the case when it mattered most, I wont do it anymore.

Maybe if they can do at least a RESPECTABLE job against Derrick Henry and then ill feel more comfortable saying that. But I no longer can trick myself after yet another win against the Bears offense into thinking this defense is enough for us to win a Super Bowl. We are 11 games into the season to know that that 49ers NFCCG was no fluke and that can be done to us again at the drop of a hat still.

Such a waste.

Love seeing Lewis take down Mack, and then stick his hand in his face at the end..:) That Old Big Dog might have to be resigned next year..