Green Bay Packers @ New Orleans Saints GDT - 9/27 - 7:20 CST

[Pugger]

I'm sorry yoop. I don't comprehend what you are talking about here.

He's pointing out that our draft picks are not contributing to our success and around the league, some rookie contributions are beginning to step up (huge day yesterday for rookie WRs Jefferson and Tee Higgins). So basically, he's saying that while the team is doing great, he still believes that a better/different draft that focused on more immediate contributors could have sured up some of our weaknesses.

That can’t be argued. I wasn’t for a WR early. I said leading up to the draft we already had a #1 in a run heavy scheme. We didn’t need to go WR early although I still think they should have gotten something develop in the later rounds.

The run defense though needed to be addressed and it’s rearing it’s ugly head 3 games into the season.

I wonder if our run defense wouldn't be as porous if Clark was in there? I also suspect he helps the Smith brothers rush the passer. Losing Kirksey last night didn't help either. Did Kamara have that big run after Kirksey got hurt? I hope his injury isn't serious...

[go pak go]

we got a few sacks, what we've been failing to get is consistent pressure, which I consider more important then sacks in the overall ability to create turnovers and the destruction of a offenses game plan

I couldn't agree more. The lack of pressure is noticeable and the lack of impact from our Smith boys is the biggest change from last year.

I mean there is no pressure. They are practicaly invisible out there and i don't know if it's because of Clark being out or what. But they are invisible and when your top paid boys don't show up....your unit will struggle. Period.

[Backthepack4ever]

Good win against a playoff team in their house. Yes I know, no fans but we still went on the road and got the W.

The O can go. I think this offense can score on anyone at anytime. The OL is playing their asses off. I wasn't happy to see Billy Turner out there bc he is the weakest link. Wagner played well against the Lions. After that the other 4 OL spots played well. AR has been clean all year outside of a few free blitzes.

Good to see the TEs getting involved more. We can scheme them open and it worked. AR without his top WR still picked apart this D with ease. Just need to get more tds in the rz.

ugh the D struggled again, esp early. I don't get this off zone crap, esp in the red zone. Brees does not push the ball down field so why sit back and let him dump off?? I really question this approach.

the tackling on the long td was some of the worst ive ever seen. Barf

The pass rush from the Smiths needs to amp up. Keke had 2, 1 set up by gary, but we need more from the studs.

I thought after Kirksey went out Summers and Barnes held their own.

When it mattered though the D made plays to win this one. Nice to see. Z getting the strip. King shutting down the wr screen and Sully making the tackle. That was the changer. Great play out there. actually our cbs were awesome again. Jaire took his guy out of the game. Kamara was the only guy that did anything.

Great win. 3-0 different O next week against the falcons. The cbs need to be ready to play but ATL d is complete trash. AR should hang a 50 burger!!!

[YoHoChecko]

Did Lattimore shadow MVS?

I basically heard nothing from either of them. And while that means Lattimore clearly won, taking out their best cover corner to free up everyone who wasn't being covered by Malcolm Jenkins is a pretty solid day's work.

[go pak go]

I feel like this defense is identical to last year for the exception of no production from the Smith boys.

I think the way they're using Z in Clark's absence is going to eliminate a lot of his production. Preston Smith was doing a nice job of limiting the pocket and looking better than his blocker, but just wasn't getting home. I think Preston had a solid game, really. But Z liming up in that little "standing over the C" thing really gets him caught up in the wash and easily doubled where Clark would be. It's a weird and not particularly effective way to cope with Clark's absence, but it's possible that NOT putting him in there was even worse than doing so.

So I'm not super concerned about the Smiths.

I hope you're right.

The one positive I had about Clark going down during this stint is it will hopefully allow someone else to step up (meaning Adams and Keke primarily).

I would say Keke is starting to emerge as that and I think it will be exciting to see him have added confidence with Clark in the lineup again. The more we have Keke and Clark and the less we have Lowry on the field period the better for this defense.

[go pak go]

Did Lattimore shadow MVS?

I basically heard nothing from either of them. And while that means Lattimore clearly won, taking out their best cover corner to free up everyone who wasn't being covered by Malcolm Jenkins is a pretty solid day's work.

Rodgers said the Saints had a safety also give attention to MVS to ensure he couldn't beat them.

Part of the reason why Lazard was so open on his two routes.

[YoHoChecko]

The one positive I had about Clark going down during this stint is it will hopefully allow someone else to step up (meaning Adams and Keke primarily).

I'm still hoping this stint will prove to the team that they need to bring in a vet, though I get it takes two to tango.

[Pckfn23]

I feel like this defense is identical to last year for the exception of no production from the Smith boys.

I think the way they're using Z in Clark's absence is going to eliminate a lot of his production. Preston Smith was doing a nice job of limiting the pocket and looking better than his blocker, but just wasn't getting home. I think Preston had a solid game, really. But Z liming up in that little "standing over the C" thing really gets him caught up in the wash and easily doubled where Clark would be. It's a weird and not particularly effective way to cope with Clark's absence, but it's possible that NOT putting him in there was even worse than doing so.

So I'm not super concerned about the Smiths.

The only thing I am super concerned about is our OLB play against the run. Same atrocious play as the NFCCG. That's stuff that can and should be fixed.

[NCF]

Did Lattimore shadow MVS?

I basically heard nothing from either of them. And while that means Lattimore clearly won, taking out their best cover corner to free up everyone who wasn't being covered by Malcolm Jenkins is a pretty solid day's work.

Rodgers said the Saints had a safety also give attention to MVS to ensure he couldn't beat them.

Part of the reason why Lazard was so open on his two routes.

Yeah, Rodgers went out of his way to explain that the Saints made it a point to take away MVS, so everyone else ate.

[Pckfn23]

ugh the D struggled again, esp early. I don't get this off zone crap, esp in the red zone. Brees does not push the ball down field so why sit back and let him dump off?? I really question this approach.

100% agree. Was saying as much during the game. Not sure why we were so scared of getting burned over the top.

[YoHoChecko]

The only thing I am super concerned about is our OLB play against the run. Same atrocious play as the NFCCG. That's stuff that can and should be fixed.

Yeah. I'm glad announcers are at least pointing that out right now instead of blindly raving about the Smiths' physical edge setting and run defense while watching them get sucked in and walled off

[NCF]

I feel like this defense is identical to last year for the exception of no production from the Smith boys.

I think the way they're using Z in Clark's absence is going to eliminate a lot of his production. Preston Smith was doing a nice job of limiting the pocket and looking better than his blocker, but just wasn't getting home. I think Preston had a solid game, really. But Z liming up in that little "standing over the C" thing really gets him caught up in the wash and easily doubled where Clark would be. It's a weird and not particularly effective way to cope with Clark's absence, but it's possible that NOT putting him in there was even worse than doing so.

So I'm not super concerned about the Smiths.

The only thing I am super concerned about is our OLB play against the run. Same atrocious play as the NFCCG. That's stuff that can and should be fixed.

Get out of that ROVER role for Z and use more set responsibilities. And that quasi-NT role for him, good GOD, shoot that to the sun. Play these guys to their strengths. On 3rd and long, then great, let Z roam.

[kyle.mccarroll]

Yeah, I'm sure no one likes the fact that one guy's absence can have such a huge impact on our D, but it is what it is - we really need Clark back.

That being said, one of the things that frustrates me the most at times is that we don't really lean into our strengths like I want us to. Last night, we should have been selling out to stop the short crap Brees was throwing to Kamara and leaving our CB's on an island with those WR's and dared them to beat us. Jaire/King have played incredible so far this year - why not take advantage of that talent? When teams had Revis, they left him alone on an island and condensed the field for the rest of that D. We should have had Savage following around Kamara last night and put 8 in the box for every early down play.

Our DL (without Clark) and ILB's are our weakness but don't sit there and just say "oh well, whattya gonna do", let your (as GPG would say) SB caliber secondary do a bit of heavy lifting.

All that to say though, I think we look a bit differently once Clark returns and like I said last night, I'm really excited to see Kamal Martin - he should be back shortly after the bye I'd imagine.

[Pckfn23]

The one positive I had about Clark going down during this stint is it will hopefully allow someone else to step up (meaning Adams and Keke primarily).

I'm still hoping this stint will prove to the team that they need to bring in a vet, though I get it takes two to tango.

I don't think they need proof, they know it already. They can't find anyone that would be worth it.

[go pak go]

The one positive I had about Clark going down during this stint is it will hopefully allow someone else to step up (meaning Adams and Keke primarily).

I'm still hoping this stint will prove to the team that they need to bring in a vet, though I get it takes two to tango.

I just don't think that is going to happen.

[salmar80]

Did Lattimore shadow MVS?

I basically heard nothing from either of them. And while that means Lattimore clearly won, taking out their best cover corner to free up everyone who wasn't being covered by Malcolm Jenkins is a pretty solid day's work.

Rodgers said the Saints had a safety also give attention to MVS to ensure he couldn't beat them.

Part of the reason why Lazard was so open on his two routes.

Yeah, Rodgers went out of his way to explain that the Saints made it a point to take away MVS, so everyone else ate.

Appears MVS didn't especially love getting the treatment usually reserved for Adams. Tweeted this right after the game:

[YoHoChecko]

That felt like a clash of big boy teams.

So due to some funky interpretation of which media market Amazon thinks I was accessing my CBS from, I was "treated" to the Bengals-Eagles game yesterday. And look, Wentz used to be a young phenom and Burrow has the makings to turn into one, so it's not like the QB play was abysmal, but it wasn't good or anything.

And the TEAMS, as a whole, were so atrocious. No one could block. Every drive looked like pulling teeth. Fortunately for the offenses, neither team could cover worth a lick, either, so they were able to move the ball and score.

But it was almost a nice reminder--watching a game between two bad teams during the day, and then watching a game between two good teams at night--just how big of a difference it is.

We're a real team. We can play with anyone. I'm not going to deny that we need to see some different things from the defense in order to put it all together, but the team we are in September and the team we are in January will be different, and I'll watch for some of those improvements. In the mean time, we're a good enough team to enjoy the ride and have legitimate hopes. And boy, am I glad to get to watch some good football as a Packers fan.

We won our first of 3-straight HoF/MVP level QBs--Brees, Matt Ryan, Tom Brady. Let's keep it rolling into the bye week. All gas, no brake, so to speak.

If we play our cards right, we could get Dan Quinn fired this week.

[YoHoChecko]

Rodgers said the Saints had a safety also give attention to MVS to ensure he couldn't beat them.

Part of the reason why Lazard was so open on his two routes.

Yeah, Rodgers went out of his way to explain that the Saints made it a point to take away MVS, so everyone else ate.

Appears MVS didn't especially love getting the treatment usually reserved for Adams. Tweeted this right after the game:

I love everything about this.

[YoHoChecko]

Honestly, before the season and in the rank the roster threads, we DO talk about this.

And it feels like if you had to name the 5 Packers players for which an injury would spell doom, those 5 would have been Rodgers, Bakh, Clark, Adams, and Kirksey due to the large talent dropoff behind each at their position.

And we just went in and beat a contending team thought to have the best roster in football without 3 of those 5. I know they were also missing Thomas, but man oh man.

Really, the two teams are VERY similar. Dynamic 2-way RB, aging HoF QB, good Oline, ONE great WR and some guys; talented secondary players with mixed results; good edge rushers and one interior DL that is top of the league; a rediscovered veteran ILB (kirksey isn't up to Davis' level but they were similar at the time Davis joined the Saints). Offensive-minded, creative HC.

These teams have such a similar profile. We had more damaging injury situation and outplayed and outcoached them.

I know this is like my 4th generalized appreciation post, but I'm very pleased.

[bobsacamano]

Really good regular season win! Best one since beating up on Dallas in their house.

IDK, I've reeally appreciated MLF going 3-0 vs Zimmer. Including 2 wins at US Bankrupt.