2020 Positives thread

[salmar80]

Yeeeaaaah, another NFCCG loss stings. I understand if you can't talk about the positives yet, take your time.

I woke up today both bummed and strangely full of gratitude. Kinda had to put some of it into random, sleep-deprived thoughts.

+ We survived what will be remembered as "the COVID season". These Packers brought me much joy in otherwise dark times.
+ We also survived a jump to a new forum. Y'all kept me quality company through the quarantines and all. Thank you.

+ Obliterating expectations (of most): Many an "expert" predicted we were destined to fall from a "fluky" 13-3 record of 2019. Instead we won the same amount of games, but with a points differential that jumped from +63 to +140. And did this without being in a gimme division.
+ We had the MVP, four 1st team All-Pros, seven Pro Bowlers, with some borderline PB talent. Yeah, there was talent on Gutey's roster.
+ LaFleur 28-8 in two seasons. Needs rings but otherwise not too shabby.

+ AR was a sight to behold, quarterbacking can be beautiful. Not far behind came the O scheme, Davante Adams and Aaron Jones.
+ D had it's moments. Jaire ascended to the summit of cornerbacking. Gary improved, Z had a nice year, Clark was great when he got healthy. Barnes came outta nowhere to become at least a viable long term ILB2 candidate. Savage improved low-key, no more rookie mistakes.

+ Johnny of the Year player (biggest unexpected jump): Big Bob Tonyan. We had him lowly 38th in Rank the Roster . Tonyan made a huge jump into a top 10 TE in the league. Had 3 more TDs than Finley had in his best season, and improved his blocking too. A lot of runner ups: Barnes, Patrick, Turner, MVS, Wagner.

+ Funny Media Blunder of the Year: AR vs LaFleur animosity. Yeah, that aged well...

+ Da Bears got swept by us, still stumbled into the playoffs, got a low draft pick to show for a .500 season, and still suck.

[go pak go]

2020 was the year of Aaron Rodgers.

He was fun to listen to. He was fun to watch. He was an amazing leader. He was easy and fun to root for.

That is really the best way I can summarize it. I was just so happy to watch Aaron Rodgers this year.

[paco]

Yep, still hurtin' today, but tons of positives. A few off the top of my head...

*Aaron Rodgers MVP season. Was a thing of beauty to watch. Not just the stats, but his demeanor, his interviews (especially Pat McAfee show). We are blessed to have him.

*The growing of LaFleur. He was a much better coach this year than last year. Playcalling was excellent, most of the year. I think he continues to get better and we have good things to look forward to from his end.

*Elgton Jenkins and Jon Runyan. Jenkins is a superstar. Runyan showed early he's a guy to watch. Our O-line will stay good for quite a while with those 2 and Bakhtiari.

*Jaire as the best CB in the NFL. Soon he'll be able to buy that island he's created.

*Krys Barnes/Kamal Martin. Fun to watch this year and excited for their futures.

*Rashan Gary showing up big. Next year, he'll finally get the snaps he deserves.

*3 headed RB attack. Love all 3 of those guys. Probably weren't used enough and we'll miss them when gone. But was fun to watch week to week.

*Davante Adams breaking ankles on a regular basis. What he did this year is astonishing and he's still not getting the credit he deserves.

[Scott4Pack]

What Aaron Rogers did to Floyd last week was an all-time video highlight.

Perhaps the Vikes are on a downhill slide too. If the Lions dump Stafford, they won't be better.

After facing more criticism for draft picks than I think I've ever seen since Lindy Infante, I think that Guty has earned enough credit now to pick however he wants in the spring. He should be in the running for GM of the year.

Z-man is still excellent.

Yeah to Gary. Love seeing him rush the passers AND keep the edge!

MLF is beginning to master the art of play-calling by now. It's amazing what a guy like that can do with an elite QB.

[go pak go]

What Aaron Rogers did to Floyd last week was an all-time video highlight.

Perhaps the Vikes are on a downhill slide too. If the Lions dump Stafford, they won't be better.

After facing more criticism for draft picks than I think I've ever seen since Lindy Infante, I think that Guty has earned enough credit now to pick however he wants in the spring. He should be in the running for GM of the year.

Z-man is still excellent.

Yeah to Gary. Love seeing him rush the passers AND keep the edge!

MLF is beginning to master the art of play-calling by now. It's amazing what a guy like that can do with an elite QB.

We certainly do seem to have a lot of foundational pieces in place to be excited about.

Defensive Line is absolutely a hole but the positive is you can't really get much worse than what we had outside of Clark so the potential for upside is there.

ILB is exciting with the Barnes development.

CB2 I think is the spot that gives me a lot of anxiety moving forward. King let us down a lot but we can certainly have worse. That to me will be a fulcrum of 2021 is based on how that position shapes out.

And finally what the offense does moving forward with the impending decisions of Linsley and Jones who were clearly top 5 most important players for the Packers in 2020 not being under contract in 21.

[Pckfn23]

Lots of positive on the season and frankly I see a lot to be excited for next season, especially if we can resign Linsley.

[Yoop]

I think what Mike McCarthy said rings ever louder considering this team, "each year is a new team" and so much depends on scheme and coaching, other then backup talent this is basically the same squad as last season, and near everyone on offenses got better as a result of coaching and scheme changes, where going to lose some starters this off season, I'am grateful we have a HC that will be able to max out the potential of there replacements.

on defense we declined, some of this can be attributed to the lack of off season training and conditioning, theres 11 moving pieces on defense that have to operate like ONE, or guys like Brady will find the ones who aren't and attack it.

His pass rush sucked for most of the season, and using Prestine to cover anyone was a poor decision, playing tampa 2 with Kirksey deep was as well, I'd look for replacements on defense starting with Pettine, Kirksey and King.

[Crazylegs Starks]

Lots of positive on the season and frankly I see a lot to be excited for next season, especially if we can resign Linsley.

I agree. We should have a good chance at keeping Linsley, and I think we can weather the loss of Jones. Some promising CB, DL, and WR prospects would set things on a good path, especially if we get a relatively normal mini camp, training camp, and preseason.


...Okay, okay, I'll throw in an ILB prospect for Yoop

[Crazylegs Starks]

+ LaFleur 28-8 in two seasons. Needs rings but otherwise not too shabby.

+ Da Bears got swept by us, still stumbled into the playoffs, got a low draft pick to show for a .500 season, and still suck.

Two things:

1) I don't think anyone expected that. What's crazy is a couple of the coaches ahead of LaFleur on that list were merely caretakers for stacked, SuperBowl teams. Much different situation than MLF has.

2) Death, taxes, and the Da Bears sucking. All is right with the world (sort of)!

[BF004]

[Crazylegs Starks]

Remember when Jaire was too short to be a #1 corner?

[BF004]

So what were his stats?

1 completion on maybe 10 attempts for -3 yards and 2 picks?

[GJPackerBacker]

Jaire-the guy can play some football. Makes it exciting to watch the D to see what he might do next time they are foolish enough to throw the ball his way!!

[RingoCStarrQB]

Plenty of positives. Another 14-4 record. 6 All-Pros (Linsley, Rodgers, Z, Adams, Bakh, Jaire) plus 3 other All-Pro vote getters (Amos, Jenkins, Crosby). Beat Da Bears twice.

Great list of 2021 opponents to challenge the coaching staff:
Bears, Vikings, Lions, Rams, Browns, Steelers, Seahawks, Washington, 49ers, Saints, Ravens, Cardinals, Bengals. I can imagine 14 wins this time (maybe 15).

Took Lombardi until his 3rd year to win it all, and he had how many Jack Vainisi players (Hall of Famers: Paul Hornung, Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Ray Nitschke, Forrest Gregg, Jim Ringo, Willie Wood, Emlen Tunnell and Jerry Kramer) .. OK! Took Holmgren/Wolf and McCarthy/Thompson 5 years to win it all .. OK!

Packers GM and Head Coach has a clear list of areas to strengthen via either the draft or trade or free agency (and coaching staff adjustments).

Top 10 positives in my order of preference:
1) Aaron Rodgers
2) Elgton Jenkins
3) Davante Adams
4) Jaire Alexander
5) David Bakhtiari
6) Robert Tonyan
7) Mason Crosby
8) Corey Linsley
9) Lazard and MVS (tie)
10) Dillon

Notes:
- Holmgren got Reggie White + some great players to help the defense (Sean Jones, Santana Dotson, Eugene Robinson) and had the great Fritz Shurmur and Sherm Lewis as DC and OC, respectively. And unexpectedly Desmond Howard and Andre Rison burst on to the scene. Also please do not forget Keith Jackson.
- McCarthy got Charles Woodson, Howard Green, Cullen Jenkins, Desmond Bishop and Ryan Pickett.
- Matt LaFleur got __________?

IT'S TIME to strengthen the coaching staff and get some veteran players.