Absolute Packer Podcast

Absolute Packer Podcast


APP #75 - A Tale of Two Halves

December 21, 2020

The Packers dominated the first half on offense and defense getting out to a 21-3 lead, only to see the offense completely self-destruct in the 2nd half leading to 5 straight punts and 5 sacks.  The defense ended up sort of holding it's own to help preserve the win. Mason Crosby contributed a clutch 51-yard field goal in the 2nd half to help put the game away.

OFFENSE:


Aaron Rodgers and Co. first 3 drives: 197 yards, 21 points.

The stats ended up very odd though based on this, Rodgers only passed for a little over 100 yards on the entire night, due mostly to the 5 straight punts in the 2nd half.


Aaron Jones was stellar in the 1st half, amassing almost 80 yards in the 1st quarter alone.
Davante Adams had a very ho-hum game and even had a couple of drops.  He was basically taken away in the 2nd half entirely
Unfortunately, nobody else stepped up once Carolina started keying on Adams.  Allan Lazard had a terrible drop on a great, tight sideline throw by Rodgers on a key 3rd down in the 2nd half.
Jamal Williams got hurt in the 1st half and didn't return - it ended up looming large as the offense basically stalled right after he got hurt.
The offensive line was a sieve in the 2nd half - they surrendered 5 sacks in the 2nd half alone.  For context, Rodgers had been sacked a combined 3 times in the prior 4 games total.

Lucas Patrick had the worst game of his career.
Even David Bhaktiari got whooped a few times.




DEFENSE:

The defense allowed Carolina to get a field goal on the opening possession - they seem to allow every team to score points on their first drive in every game.
Krys Barnes could be their best ILB right now - he had a great game until he got hurt.  He forced a huge fumble on a goal-line stand that Kevin King picked up and returned to midfield.
Kevin King was picked on in this game and he had some horrific tackling attempts.  He did scoop up the forced fumble caused by Krys Barnes.
Rashan Gary continues to flash here and there, but he also got banged up again in this game.
Adrian Amos had a fantastic game - he has really come on in the past few weeks.  I think he had 3-4 passes defended and he had a couple of great tackles for little to no gain.


SPECIAL TEAMS:

Mason Crosby is still perfect on the year - he drilled a clutch 51-yard field goal in the 2nd half that was outstanding.
The rest of our special teams was a bit better, but that's not saying much because the unit as a whole is terrible.
Oren Burks missed badly on a block that almost allowed for a blocked punt of JK Scott near the Packers' own goal line.


OTHER:

We learned that former OLB coach Kevin Greene unexpectedly passed away today at 58 years old. He was huge in the development of Clay Matthews III and won a Superbowl in 2010 with Mike McCarthy and his coaching staff.


PREDICTIONS

Andy 27-24 Packers
Jeremy 23-24 Titans
Elliot 31-21 Packers