Stealing the title and mood from our friends at the DA show (now with Babchick), it feels great to wake up on a victory Friday after the Packers put together a complete game to win a divisional matchup on the road with a shit ton of injuries, especially in the secondary and at RB (was Dillion even 100%?). The team showed grit, heart, and true growth.
Of course no game is perfect, but I’m feeling too damn good to be overly nitpicky, so each of my underreactions are going to come with a related positive as well, because the Packers are in the playoffs hunt, something unthinkable a month ago, and I’m not trying to harsh anyone’s mellow here.
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Another missed PAT on an iffy snap. Three weeks in a row on that, and had an impact on all three games. That said, special teams had a really solid game, not allowing any big plays and committing no penalties, and sniffing out and stopping the fake punt.The missed FG from 63 yards isn’t going to cause anyone to lose a minute of sleep.
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The offense definitely slowed down in the second half. Part of that is the Lions have a really good defense and know how to make adjustments. Part of that is our limited personell at RB made it hard to just grind clock. A 3rd down drop by Doubs didn’t help either (and lost me a win of about $120 on a bonus bet parlay) But Jones will hopefully be back after the mini bye, and the line really kept it up all game in the pass protection. Where was Hutch?
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Combined with the slowed offensive production, the defense did let the Lions back into it. Still too many gaps in the zones and the run defense challenges reemerged in the second half when we didn’t stack the box. But the pass rush was outstanding, Owens showed he might be a legit NFL player, and the 1-5 performance on 4th down (1-6 in the box score, but STs handled one) was what won the game. Jaire being in would have made a difference as well.
Underreact away, but add a related positive as well.
I get the feeling Rhyan isn’t built up enough to handle all the snaps and they are working toward that or saving his legs for late in the season (post Chiefs when we get a run of weaker teams).