Game 7: Packers @ Steelers - Sunday, Oct 26 7:20 PM

[CheezWizHed]

It's just the Packers vs Aaron Rodgers on Sunday night football... I'm sure it will be boring.

The 4-1-1 Packers take on the 4-2 Steelers when we still seem to be figuring out how to play football on the road - including flight maintenance.  (Hopefully MLF fires the airplane maintenance coach to shore that up). 

Aaron Rodgers get a little extra motivation against his old team, but he stands more statuesque behind a mediocre OL these days and could be susceptible if the Packer pass rush comes out strong.  DK Metcalf will present some problems as the 6'4" speedy WR will be a handful for our diminutive DB group that still looks like they don't know how to work together well, yet.

Another big question would be the status of our injured players... Will this be the game that Watson returns?  Will Lloyd see his second professional snap yet (hyperbole)? Will Wyatt firm up our DL quality and amp up the pass rush? 

Yeah, nothing to see here... please disperse! 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Looking forward to the game but it lacks the animosity of Packers vs Favre. 

I'm still a fan of Aaron so I don't feel slighted if he plays really well and wins. I'd be happy for him. I will be hoping we get the victory, but hoping for an entertaining night. 

[adambr2]

I’m indifferent to Aaron. I don’t actively cheer for him nor do I actively root against him.

There will be time for him to be appreciated more for what he did here when the time comes, but for now to me he’s just an NFL player that plays for a different team. I hope he loses on Sunday because he’s playing against the Packers. 

[young guns]

I don't root against him, but I'm glad I get to just roll my eyes and so not our circus to his antics.

 

After tampas loss tonight, we get to enter this week as the current 1 seed in the NFC, so we've got that going for us.

[nate82]

37 minutes ago, young guns said:

I don't root against him, but I'm glad I get to just roll my eyes and so not our circus to his antics.

The old Polish proverb not my circus, not my monkey needs to be changed to not my circus, not my Aaron Rodgers.  

[OldHeidelberg]

I think the storyline is more Love vs Rodgers than a Rodgers revenge game. I am sure he will be plenty motivated to beat us but that was all 3 offseasons ago and it's not like we released him like the Jets did. Rodgers can get the ball out quick which seems to be the way to beat our defense but he also has always had a tendency to hold it too long and he isn't as quick to escape as he was when still a Packer.

Packers are 3.5 point favorites, after failing to cover 4 games in a row you would think the betters would catch on but Vegas sure loves the Packers this season. Detroit on a bye so this is our chance to get a full half game lead in division with 10 to go. Hoping for Wyatt and Watson this week but that's probably not going to happen.

[wallus]

It's clear that Rodgers still has a positive opinion of the Packers. Time has made things cool down a bit. I'm okay with him playing well and a Packers win 

[JosephC]

I see Valentine only played 2 snaps on defense in the Cardinals game.  Did he get hurt, or has he fallen that much out of favor?  And how did Brinson look?  I see he got about 2.5 times the amount of snaps that Stackhouse did, which was no surprise after the terrible reviews that Stackhouse has been getting.

[OldHeidelberg]

1 hour ago, JosephC said:

I see Valentine only played 2 snaps on defense in the Cardinals game.  Did he get hurt, or has he fallen that much out of favor?  And how did Brinson look?  I see he got about 2.5 times the amount of snaps that Stackhouse did, which was no surprise after the terrible reviews that Stackhouse has been getting.

It does seem odd they wouldn't give Valentine more snaps with Hobbs getting constantly beat, probably a combination of Valentine getting beat too and Hobbs being the high paid guy. Melton has yet to play a snap on defense unless he did Sunday. I think I saw PFF said Brinson graded out poorly this week. 

[CheezWizHed]

Rodger's schtick got really old those last couple of years.  I was done when he refused to attend OTAs right after we drafted several new receivers (Watson/Doubs). 

The flip side is that we are seeing the team play a bit sloppy - which Rodgers wouldn't have put up with.  Love does need a little of Rodger's fire.

Favre was with the Vikings, so that was a whole different level of "in your face".  Rodgers would've gotten the same if he signed there this offseason.  I wonder if the Vikings are kicking themselves now...

I would love to beat Rodgers on Sunday and in the Super Bowl.  And will happily applaud his addition to the ring of honor. 

1 hour ago, JosephC said:

I see Valentine only played 2 snaps on defense in the Cardinals game.  Did he get hurt, or has he fallen that much out of favor?  And how did Brinson look?  I see he got about 2.5 times the amount of snaps that Stackhouse did, which was no surprise after the terrible reviews that Stackhouse has been getting.

Valentine has nearly been as bad as Hobbs was Sunday.  Hoping that was Hobbs' worst day.  Also Hobbs+Valentine < Hobbs+Bullard.  

Brinson outsnapped Stackhouse the last two games and I think he has been a decent improvement.  He gets some pressure against the pass and is no slouch against the run either.  For a backup DT (and a rookie 6th rounder), I think he is solid.  Give him a couple of years to work on technique and he might become a poor-man's Clark. 

Stackhouse actually improved last week too.  Limiting him to short yardage helps.  

[homer]

The return of Watson

[BrewerFan]

On 10/21/2025 at 11:02 AM, JosephC said:

I see Valentine only played 2 snaps on defense in the Cardinals game.  Did he get hurt, or has he fallen that much out of favor?  And how did Brinson look?  I see he got about 2.5 times the amount of snaps that Stackhouse did, which was no surprise after the terrible reviews that Stackhouse has been getting.

Brinson looked... REAL good for a rookie DL. Nevermind a... 6th(?) rd pick who didn't start at UGA. 

He's definitely not a going to just be a run clogging DL. 

Wooden was a little disappointing. I watched this one back to see... exactly what the hell is not working and... it's pretty obvious to me. We come with Quay or Cooper on so many blitzes. We're playing a cover 1 zone with McKinney playing more Robber, but it's like every time Walker or Cooper comes, McKinney has to play more like 20-25 yards deep, Williams is helping out over the top and the middle is just wide open. 

 

But Brinson was up there with Walker for #2 defender this weekend. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

On 10/21/2025 at 12:51 PM, CheezWizHed said:

Rodgers would've gotten the same if he signed there this offseason. 

Not from me and I think many others. Favre handled his exit so differently from Rodgers. He retired when he knew full well he wasn't done then tried to stick his nose back in when the club had moved on. Then made it his petulant mission to make sure he could beat the Packers somewhere. 

Rodgers had a replacement drafted before he was a back-to-back MVP and despite having every reason to be a jerk to the kid, became his best friend. It was clear when he left that it was best for everyone he did so. I just never had any animosity toward him like I did with Favre. I still hope the Packers win this weekend and obviously in a Super Bowl if they played each other...but unlike with Favre where I wanted nothing more than winning against him (the beatings in 2010 are great memories) seeing Rodgers win would be more like a silver lining of losing the Super Bowl...I still like him.

[yourout]

Road wins are tough to get and Packers have looked very average on the road. 

Steelers by 5

[CheezWizHed]

On 10/23/2025 at 9:10 AM, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Not from me and I think many others. Favre handled his exit so differently from Rodgers. He retired when he knew full well he wasn't done then tried to stick his nose back in when the club had moved on. Then made it his petulant mission to make sure he could beat the Packers somewhere. 

Rodgers had a replacement drafted before he was a back-to-back MVP and despite having every reason to be a jerk to the kid, became his best friend. It was clear when he left that it was best for everyone he did so. I just never had any animosity toward him like I did with Favre. I still hope the Packers win this weekend and obviously in a Super Bowl if they played each other...but unlike with Favre where I wanted nothing more than winning against him (the beatings in 2010 are great memories) seeing Rodgers win would be more like a silver lining of losing the Super Bowl...I still like him.

I certainly won't defend Favre's actions on his exit.  They were certainly those of a 2-year-old.  I went from "let him play as long as he wants - he is a legend" to "I've had enough...moving on".

But Rodgers wasn't exactly a choirboy when we drafted Love, nor when we drafted a bunch of new WR/TEs for him (i.e. refusal to do OTAs to get to know them)... Maybe more of a mutual parting, but if he had gone to the Vikings, it would've signaled a very similar reaction... just about as bad as CC going to the Cubs. 

[HarryDoyle]

 

[HarveysWBs]

Rodgers may or may not treat this as an “F you” game, but personal motivation aside, he’s plenty quick enough with his release, and he’s still got a head on his shoulders. I expect him to mostly neutralize our pass rush and locate our weak defensive back (either Hobbs or Valentine) all night long.

This should be a difficult game, not least because we seem to only play difficult games these days. Our offense is very efficient, but has trended towards fewer and fewer drives per game for several seasons now. I expect Rodgers will also use a lot of play clock, too, so this will boil down to which defense can make multiple stops—getting even three or four will set one of these teams up in strong position.

I think I like our defense better than Pittsburgh’s, and so I’ll say we win this one, but I don’t anticipate feeling comfortable about it until it’s all over.

[yourout]

Not a fan of the all whites

[yourout]

Well we got the special teams penalty out of the way right off the bat.

[adambr2]

6 seconds into the game for our first ST penalty. 6 seconds.

[HarryDoyle]

Another special teams penalty that the team will work on cleaning up this coming week.

[HarryDoyle]

You can't trust Jacobs to pick up one yard?

[yourout]

Just now, HarryDoyle said:

You can't trust Jacobs to pick up one yard?

Apparently not.

[yourout]

Nice start....

[adambr2]

“Burnt toast” would be a good nickname for our secondary.