go pak go wrote: ↑17 Feb 2022 18:59
Yeah I felt like the Packers had the eye on the prize all year. They wanted that #1 seed and chased it hard. Rodgers talked about how January and February is life changing. They played starters in Detroit to "stay focused" and got pounded for it in the media by some for doing so. They were aggressive on pushing players back from injury.
I remember in 2015 the opposite was said that the Packers just looked too much for January and didn't worry enough about November, etc.
You just can't win when you are a loser. Everything you do will be turned against you and that is exactly what is happening here.
I don't think there is any philosophical reason to explain us losing beyond the fact that Rodgers gets tunnel vision and plays tight in big games when pressure is in his face. He has many moments, mostly regular season but some postseason moments of insane play when the pressure is on but largely his playoff performance outside of 2015 and 2016 playoffs when the pressure is on is just really bad.
And I can relate. I too am not good under pressure.
But it's absolutley disappointing. These last two years we got everything we wanted. 3 turnovers forced by the defense in 2020. Defense playing great in 2021. Games are at Lambeau and your two biggest stars, (Adams dropping a TD and Rodgers not throwing to wide open players on critical plays) let the opportunity they wanted so badly slip.
Yeah, and that's why I guess my choice is to keep Rodgers but find a way to take it out of his hands in the playoffs when it matters, like we discussed a couple of weeks ago.
With him, we pretty much know we're getting there, despite whatever we have on offense. Pettine's D was good enough, and Barry's D is downright good.
But once we're there, he always $%@# up. So I guess my perfect plan would be:
1) Re-sign him
2) Get rid of Davante
3) Re-sign as much of last year's defense as possible, but we can let go of Z if we need to do so because he didn't play anyway (would rather keep him if possible)
4) Double down on another RB built like Dillon. Build our RB like Shanahan does in SF.
5) Somehow convince Rodgers to accept some QB run plays or RPOs.
I don't see Rodgers buying into #2 or #5, but this is my dream scenario.
Frankly in the playoffs, Davante is a net negative. For one, he tends not to be as elite as he is in the regular season. Also, we can use that salary cap room elsewhere. But the big reason is that he greatly contributes to Rodgers' tunnel vision. Rodgers always seems to do better throughout his career when he spreads it around more.