HarveysWBs

So, Prescott kinda sucks? I don’t watch him very often but I thought he wasn’t like this.

Forward progress calls and ball spotting is a ludicrous joke in this game, wow

My man, Watson! Never doubted it

Time for #10.

The theory that a defense should force the offense to have 15+ play drives in order to score makes sense, if, you know, you have a defense that can put some pressure on the offense to eventually make a mistake. I’m not feeling so good about that here.

Well that was a pretty thin tightrope he tried to walk. We’re gonna need a scraper for the pavement down below.

So, until this point, I had been under the impression that Rodgers’ play had really fallen off this year, and that he was if not the reason the offense is struggling, probably in the top 3 (O-line struggles and game planning potentially being the other big factors, with some definite learning curve struggles by the young pass catchers). But after watching this (which is a devastating breakdown of the Lions game, which Kurt Warner says is consistent with the struggles of previous weeks as well), I think I’m all the way onboard with this being Gute’s fault/roster construction failure. It’s a long video, but well worth the time. Warner is not totally biased towards 12 as a fellow QB and criticized him where it’s due, but mostly explains why an NFL quarterback can’t win with these pass catchers as they are currently performing. Lazard needs to be much better by this point, but can’t seem to keep his feet, Watkins is absolutely wasting space and almost single-handedly torpedoed the offense, and the rooks + Amari are incapable of winning against press man or of playing technically sound. All of the above is on Gute first and foremost. Maybe the rookies become something, but expecting them to be your only backup plan when Lazard and Watkins and Cobb (predictably) all got hurt is malpractice. And then, even when those players are on the field, for them to be so unsound is, as a lesser but still significant issue, a searing indictment of the positional coaches failing to hold them accountable and instill proper technique. And for MLF, I’m not ready to lay this at his feet yet, but he’s supposed to be the leader. If this doesn’t get corrected, it highlights what is probably the biggest failing of his entire tenure, which is an inability to choose assistants wisely and get the most out of them. Rodgers can be better, and he should be for what we’re paying, but he’s not going to make a Michelin star meal with the McNuggets he’s been handed. This is a disaster, and I have no idea what Gute thought was going to happen.

No excuses for Watkins. He was getting a ton of contact from the defender. Just another week of bewildering, mystical interpretations of illegal contact.

Man, when Walker can have the play in front of him and just go hunt, he looks like he’s got potential.

Even if they think Love has promise, how do you not take a QB anyway, right? If you don’t have a franchise QB, nothing else matters.

Trade down

Oh yeah, they can win this game. I have few reasons to think they will, but they definitely can. But even if they do, it changes little.

The end always comes, nobody knows when. I just wish we could have had one more title. 2014 and 2020 were such brutal misses.

It is such a stupid penalty.

Hey, that’s how you create an open look in the red zone

It’d be one thing if they lost games and were fun to watch at least. They suck to watch right now.

I'm cool with not trading draft capital at this point. Goodness knows we're going to need it going forward, because our cap situation between 69 and 12 is hot garbage. So, then, looking for a way forward this year, since punting on a season with this much invested in it should be unpalatable to all, it seems to me that 7-2 is the minimum required stretch run. That can be accomplished by following a simple rule: if it is a division game or a home game, better heck'n win, some way, some how. That means, in order: W @ DET (have to have it to stop the bleeding) W vs. DAL (Rodgers cannot and will not lose to MM) W vs. TEN (I'd be ok dropping this one if we beat Miami later, but see below...) L @ PHI (yeah, no) W @ CHI (no time to let our younger brother of the division win one) BYE W v. LAR (MLF has to continue recent dominance of the Rams) L @ MIA (...we never win in Florida) W vs. MIN (we ain't winning the division, but have to have a season split here) W vs. DET (if we're still in contention by this point, this had better be a lock) Tiebreakers will be critical, so minimizing conference losses is a key to the above scenario. There is no way we are going to be in Philly's orbit so we don't need to have a head to head win there, but we probably need every other conference win on the schedule. As such, the Miami loss, while painful because any loss hurts our chances, is not an absolute killer. But, I have eyes just like anyone else here, and I know everything has been cheeks so far, so under what circumstances is a turnaround even feasible? First, it all starts up front. Our run blocking has been serviceable recently (especially with most defenses taking a run funnel approach this year), but pass pro has been a critical failing on several fronts. Most worryingly, this has continued despite getting weak-link Newman out of the lineup. Simply put, if the Packers have a prayer of going anywhere, that has to get right, and it has to happen fast. Maybe they beat Detroit performing like this, but then Parsons is in town--time is short, and Stenavich and Butkus need to earn their money now. Hopefully Jenkins is back in at guard this week (his injury is from getting stepped on, it seems, nothing more serious). Second, Barry needs to find whatever chemistry and answers he can to prevent a mutiny on defense. The rumblings are getting louder, and if he completely loses the players, we're hosed. This brain trust is as conservative as they come as far as in-season staffing changes, so until the offseason (hello, Vic Fangio?), Barry is the guy. Third, the offense stops pretending it is what it wants to be, and starts acting like what it is. This sort of happened in Buffalo, but two turnovers on downs short-circuited promising drives that they could ill-afford against a superior opponent on the road. In theory, the margin for error is slightly more forgiving in Detroit this week. But everyone needs to keep looking in the mirror. LaFleur needs to ensure Aaron Jones remains an integral part of this offense, Rodgers needs to keep trusting the rookies to develop, and everybody needs to perform better in critical short-yardage situations. Going for it on 4th in your opponent's territory is the correct call, but between the tackle run calls? We can do better; the team has the talent under center and the creativity in the playbook to progress to the mean on that. And a few more over the middle throws from 12, especially on play-action passes with the QB's back to the defense, should do wonders. Other teams are making do this way with less talent than we have. Finally, assuming the above happens and we're 7-6 going into the bye, it would be time for a talent infusion. Assuming one (or both!) of Fuller or OBJ is still waiting by the phone, that should probably get done. An extra player that must be accounted for (or even double-teamed?!) would do wonders down the stretch. In summary, and in descending order of my confidence they will happen: Offensive line improves in pass pro Offense continues upward trajectory Barry holds it together Gute brings in Fuller and/or OBJ for the stretch That's all I got. Personally, I give us one chance in three.

Covered the spread, which I didn’t think we’d do. So there’s that.

If we would not have been absolutely non-competitive in half one, this would be interesting now. Then again, if Buffalo isn’t up so big at the half, they wouldn’t have mailed it in on offense here in the second half,

Yes in that he should have been developing more WR depth behind Adams, absolutely. But if you mean he should have been prepared for the guy never indicating before last offseason that he wanted to leave and would turn down our ludicrous contract offer, then no, I give him a pass on that.

Welp…we are just so limited right now. Hard to see a path forward.

Well now I’m angry at the officiating. After the BS last week with illegal contact, we get hosed the other way? C’mon man

I think I agree with you, this isn’t the time, but they also really need to find out what they have in Love. Assuming the L here, of course, we’re only two or so more losses to being good and buried, so there’s plenty of time in the second half of the season for Love to get reps.

Yeah, not that it changes anything, but there’s some stuff the Bills are doing in the offensive holding and defensive hands to the face that’s not getting called. I can’t even be mad, since we’re so thoroughly outclassed.

There is just nothing to hope on right now. If the offensive line was good, that’d be something, but we’re toast with this line. Our usual depth is a bare cupboard this year.