Confessions of a Polluted Mindset – Hurt

Post game Friday night, the song Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails (later covered amazingly by Johnny Cash), came to mind. It starts out with the line, “I hurt myself today…” and ends with “If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself, I would find a way.”

It’s so appropriate, I’d laugh if I wasn’t crying… 

IT’S ONLY ONE GAME, but the Packers hurt themselves mightily last Friday Night, and I’m not even referring to Jordan Love’s MCL. So many mistakes and poor decision making, both from the players and coaching staff. In addition, perhaps the most disturbing thing about the game was the lack of positive impact many of the “star’ or more experienced players had on the game.  Jordan Love, Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary, Jaire Alexander, all with large contracts did not play representative to the investment in those players. Jeff Hafley’s defense did not play much differently than Barry’s defense of last year, nor did they tackle better. Matt LaFleur’s red zone play choices were questionable and he took an extra point off the board to try for two – why? Especially if you think a straight handoff into the heart of the big Philly offensive line would be the answer?

Now, five days after the game, these topics have been talked about ad nauseum, so I won’t belabor them here, but boy do the Packers wish they could start again, a million miles away, where they would keep themselves and find a way to play better (and smarter) football.

What are all these mistakes I’m referring to? Well thanks to Andy Herman for saving me the trouble of listing 29 of them.

Finished the rewatch – just a couple mistakes to note:

1. False start (late snap by Josh Myers)
2. 12-men on field, negating TD
3. False start on 4th down – had to punt instead of go
4. Missed protection on Z. Baun sack
5. Holding – Rasheed Walker – in red zone
6. Wicks drop
7.…

— Andy Herman (@AndyHermanNFL) September 7, 2024

Again, IT’S ONLY ONE GAME, but the offensive line struggled as a unit. The pocket was frequently collapsing on Jordan Love and frankly, causing him to look a bit skittish back there. Not being able to step up led to some bad habits, such as forcing throws that shouldn’t have been made and throwing off his back foot too frequently. We know he has the ability to do that, but it shouldn’t be the norm. The interior line has to do a better job keeping defensive linemen out of Jordan Love’s face. 

Speaking of Love, am I the only one that would like to see some designed rollouts be called for him? Or move the pocket, perhaps? Anything where the opposing rushers don’t know exactly where to find Love on every pass play. Supposedly, Love worked with his personal coach during offseason and with Tom Clements in training camp on his mechanics when throwing on the run, You saw the results on his 70 yard TD pass to Jayden Reed, where he hit Reed in stride while on the run himself. Let’s make moving Love around at least a small part of the game plan.

While I expect a speedier than normal MCL recovery from Jordan Love’s “silly body,” (and there are some hints about that possibility from the Packers), Malik Willis is very likely the quarterback Sunday against the Colts. What’s your confidence level that he can direct the offense efficiently with only a couple of weeks with the Packers? I’d rate mine low to medium-low. One thing that’s holding me back is that I watched the Titans – Bears game and what was seen was an awful performance from Will Levis. If Willis couldn’t beat him out and not even beat out Willis’s backup, that doesn’t give me a lot of confidence. However, if you want to see some in-depth analysis of Willis, take a look at this video from a name you’ll know, Dusty Evely. He breaks down every pass attempt from WIllis in preseason with the Titans:

If you want a scheme breakdown of the game Jeff Hafley called, this is covered wonderfully in this article by Daire Carragher of Packer Report. Quick takeaways: IT’S ONLY ONE GAME, but Hafley called Cover 1 on only 19 of 76 defensive snaps, fewer than we might have expected. He also blitzed 24% of the time, below the 33% Joe Barry averaged last season.

Hey, the Packers beat the odds in one way Friday night! Since 2016, teams with a +2 turnover differential in a game have won over 83% of the time. Packers joined the 17% team.

IT’S ONLY ONE GAME, but I already miss Carrington Valentine. Eric Stokes just seems too passive for my liking. I love Valentine’s fiery and physical demeanor. Stokes is like the superior athlete that doesn’t want to get his Jersey dirty. Valentine is the scrappy, tough little guy whose Jersey is covered in dirt, grass and blood stains.

NFL kickers went a combined 21 of 23 on field goals over 50 yards and over in Week one. One of the kickers who missed, Cade York of the Commanders, got cut the next day. Being able to hit from 50+ is now the standard for NFL kickers. Do the Packers have a kicker that meets that standard? We don’t know at this point, but I’d settle for improved consistency over long distance kicks right now.

Being curious in what the Packers have or don’t have in Sean Rhyan, I focused on him as I rewatched the game. Coming out of college, while he had decent athleticism, I felt like power was the former burly shot putter’s forte. He tested well at the combine, with an 8.17 RAS, which kept him on the Packers radar, for sure. After watching all his snaps, and again, IT’S ONLY ONE GAME, I’d say that power is indeed, his forte. When one of the Eagles’ DL tried to go right through him, he mostly held his ground and neutralized the defender, even muscling Jalen Carter to the ground a few times. When the DL’s used avoidance tactics, like swim moves, for example, Rhyan was sometimes left watching his man’s back as he rushed into the backfield. On the move on zone runs he struggled to sustain blocks. Pulling on power scheme runs, he was effective with his one-on-one block (See my example in yesterday’s “3 Plays…” post). I was looking for some confirmation if my impressions were correct, so I checked with PFF, purely because they break down run blocking by zone or power scheme. I never put full faith into their rankings, but in this case I feel it’s pretty safe. Their zone run blocking rating for Rhyan was a terrible 32.4, while the power run blocking rating was an excellent 87.4. That’s a huge disparity, much greater than I would have imagined, but I think it does confirm my thoughts. While Rhyan has enough athleticism for zone, his technique in that scheme is inconsistent at best. When he’s matched up one-on-one with a defender, whether across the line from him or at the end of a pull, he gets the job done.

Early in the first quarter, it became obvious how this game was being officiated so I tweeted this:

refs looking to be the stars of the show today…

— Jersey Al – GBP (@JerseyAlGBP) September 7, 2024

 

In the end, there were 17 accepted penalties (10 on the Packers) but more that were declined, as well. What an embarrassment, putting that notorious referee crew on full display for their international showcase audience. Yes, you could call a penalty on every play, but that doesn’t mean you need to. Especially in cases where the infraction had no significance, LET THEM PLAY.

Oh, and in case you forgot, remember, IT’S ONLY ONE GAME.