Tag: 2022

Packers defense picked as one of NFL’s most underperforming units in 2022

Many thought the Packers defense could be elite. The group was nothing if not average. NFL.com picked Joe Barry’s group as one of the most underperforming units of 2022.

The defense of the Green Bay Packers was one of the NFL’s great disappointments of the 2022 season.

Many believed the group could be elite, given the returning stars at each level, the unit’s finish to the 2021 season, the additions made during the offseason and the sheer amount of resources poured into the defense over the last few years.

Instead, the Packers were nothing if not average. Joe Barry’s defense ranked 17th in yards allowed, 17th in points allowed and 28th in yards per play.

Not surprisingly, Cynthia Frelund of NFL.com picked the Packers defense as one of her most underperforming units of the 2022 season based on her analytic models.

From Frelund:

So … I picked the Pack to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl based mainly on their defense, the presence of a back-to-back MVP QB (Aaron Rodgers) and Green Bay’s run game/offensive line. I was wrong. My models had all three levels of the defense ranked no lower than sixth in win share. I also forecasted some different usage from players such as safety Darnell Savage, who is better when given more coverage responsibilities. Again — I got this one very wrong. While we saw some intermittent increases in pressure rates and individual game grades for players, as well as parts of the defense ranking in the top half of the NFL at different points in 2022, and while Green Bay finished with a respectable-seeming yards-allowed ranking of 17th, the Packers were very inconsistent, with all three levels of the defense ending the season ranked no higher than 18th.

Losing Davante Adams required evolution on offense, and change takes time. The Packers banked on a top defense carrying the team through early expected struggles, but the defense had ups and downs all the same.

During a 1-7 stretch midseason, the Packers gave up 27 or more points five times.

The Packers’ season ended with the Detroit Lions converting a fourth down to close out a Week 18 win at Lambeau Field. The defense failing late in a must-win game provided a fitting end to a disappointing season.

As Frelund notes, the Packers had major issues at all three levels of the defense. The interior run defense wasn’t consistently good enough. The pass-rush faded after losing Rashan Gary, and Kenny Clark was inconsistent as a disruptor. The secondary improved down the stretch but was mostly disappointing, especially during the mid-season slump. Regression was a big factor; many veterans, including Clark, Darnell Savage and Adrian Amos didn’t play up to standards.

The other underperforming units from Frelund included the Raiders pass rush, the Broncos offense, the Rams offense and the Buccaneers run game.

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Ravens GM Eric DeCosta optimistic about trajectory of team’s 2022 rookie class

Ravens general manager DeCosta discussed the performance and trajectory of the team’s 2022 rookie class

The Baltimore Ravens selected 11 players in the 2022 draft with high hopes that they could contribute both in the present and future. Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta gave a lengthy explanation of his feelings on his 2022 rookie class in comments to the media during the team’s end-of-season press conference.

When asked for his impression of the work that Baltimore’s rookies put in this season, he did not hold back in his praise of the younger talent on the Ravens’ roster. He mentioned how he thought the team’s first-year players did well, and is excited for the potential of a second-year jump that has been seen many times throughout the organization.

“I think they did well. We’re excited about what these guys are going to do. It was a huge draft for us last year, and we had a lot of picks. We spent a lot of energy on that draft. There was a lot of anxiety, I know for me, just looking at players. There were so many players last year. I think those guys did well across the board, but we think they have a lot more to give, too. These guys are young players, and so, what we see often times is guys get a lot better, they come in here their second year, they’re in the offseason program, they learn, they understand what it means to be a pro, and they play a lot better. That’s what we expect, and that’s what we demand. And so, the fact that some of these guys played as well as they did this year, that is a good indication that they’re futures are very bright, and I think a lot of these guys have a chance to be good players. When we look at the 2018 Draft, I think eight or nine of those guys are starters now in the league. Looking at this draft, I’m not going to say that, but when we look at it, we think a lot of these guys have a lot of potential to play and be significant players for us at some point.”

For comparison, DeCosta pointed to Baltimore’s 2018 class as an example of a successful draft strategy that paid dividends for the Ravens over the course of time. Though he wouldn’t go so far as to say the most recent crop of new talent would exceed the 2018 class’ track record, DeCosta seems to think Baltimore’s young talent was built to last.

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Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes wins PFWA’s 2022 MVP Award

The PFWA has announced that #Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has received their MVP Award for the 2022 NFL season.

Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has been honored by the Pro Football Writers of America, becoming the 49th player to win their MVP Award. The PFWA on-field awards are recognized equally with the Associated Press and Sporting News by the NFL, though the AP MVP Award is the one that everyone awaits at the NFL Honors ceremony in February.

This is the second time that Mahomes has won the PFWA MVP Award during the course of his professional career. Mahomes is now the eighth player in NFL history with multiple PFWA MVP Awards under his belt. He also became the 10th consecutive and 33rd quarterback to win the PFWA’s MVP Award.

Here’s a look at what the PFWA had to say about Mahomes and his 2022 campaign in their press release:

“Mahomes, in his sixth NFL season, started all 17 games, completed 435 of 648 passes for a league-leading 5,250 yards with an NFL-best 41 touchdowns and a 105.2 passer rating (second in the NFL). He rushed 61 times for 358 yards and four touchdowns, and he also caught one pass for six yards. Combined, Mahomes accounted for an NFL-record 5,614 total offense yards. He threw for 300 or more yards a Chiefs-record 10 times, including a season-high 446 yards against Tennessee in Week 9. He led the league in completions of 20+ yards (73) and 40+ yards (13). Mahomes was the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for Weeks 1 and 4 and the AFC Offensive Player of the Month for November. He was selected to the FPWA’s 2022 All-NFL and All-AFC teams.”

When Mahomes won his first PFWA MVP Award in 2018, he became the first Chiefs player to ever win the honor. He also went on to win the AP MVP Award that year. It’s a good indicator that he could do it again in 2022.

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Chiefs DE George Karlaftis named to PFWA’s All-Rookie Team

#Chiefs rookie DE George Karlaftis earned PFWA All-Rookie Team honors.

The Kansas City Chiefs did a tremendous job in the 2022 NFL draft, finding contributors on both sides of the ball, both early and late in the draft. They’re now being recognized for one of their two first-round draft picks.

Chiefs rookie DE George Karlaftis is one of two defensive ends selected for the 2022 PFWA All-Rookie Team. Karlaftis joined former No. 2 overall pick by the Lions, Michigan DE Aidan Hutchinson, as the two defensive ends selected for this year’s All-Rookie Team. Karlaftis, of course, was drafted by Kansas City at No. 30 overall.

This comes after Karlaftis managed a hot finish to the 2022 NFL season, recording six sacks in the last seven games of the year. According to PFF, Karlaftis finished the year with the second-most pressures (48) among all rookie edge rushers behind only Hutchinson. Karlaftis also led all rookie defensive linemen in passes batted at the line of scrimmage (7). He ranked fifth among all rookie defensive linemen in defensive stops (21).

Last season, Chiefs C Creed Humphrey, RG Trey Smith, and LB Nick Bolton were all selected for the PFWA All-Rookie Team. Kansas City has a long-standing history of players being selected by the PFWA for the All-Rookie Team. The last year that at least one rookie wasn’t selected for the team was the 2013 NFL season — Andy Reid’s first year with the Chiefs.

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Grading the Packers’ 10 veteran additions during 2022 season

The Packers added 10 veterans during the offseason or regular season in 2022. How did Brian Gutekunst do?

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst made a number of veteran additions during the offseason and regular season in an effort to build out his roster in 2022.

We counted 10 players added that eventually played meaningful snaps during the Packers’ 8-9 season.

Here’s a quick grading of the work Gutekunst and the Packers did in terms of adding veterans during the 2022 season:

Packers rookie review: WR Romeo Doubs

Reviewing the rookie season of Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs, a fourth-round pick in the 2022 draft.

The Green Bay Packers made 11 picks during the 2022 NFL draft: six offensive players and five defensive players. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be going through and reviewing the 2022 season for all of the Packers’ rookies.

Next up: wide receiver Romeo Doubs, the 132nd overall pick and the Packers’ first of two fourth-round draft picks in 2022:

Packers rookie class in 2022 ranked middle of the pack for production and value

The Packers got important contributions from at least five rookies in 2022 but the class overall ranked 14th in production and value by ESPN.

The 2022 draft class of the Green Bay Packers ranked 14th among NFL teams in production and value during its first season by ESPN.

The ranking focused primarily on production and used inputs from Sports Info Solutions, DVOA from Football Outsiders and ESPN’s player tracking metrics to establish a pecking order.

The Packers received important contributions from first-round pick Quay Walker, second-round pick Christian Watson, fourth-round picks Zach Tom and Romeo Doubs and fifth-round pick Kingsley Enagbare, but the draft class only just finished in the top half of the rankings.

The post highlighted Walker’s numbers from 2022:

First-round linebacker Quay Walker had an excellent year, one of just 11 rookies to earn 40 or more Total Points in that SIS metric. Walker had 121 total tackles with a 10% broken tackle rate, outstanding for a rookie linebacker, and allowed just 2.4 yards per target in coverage. Green Bay’s other defensive first-round pick, tackle Devonte Wyatt, played a much smaller role, seeing 22% of defensive snaps.

Walker was nothing if not productive during his first season, even if his rookie campaign was a healthy mix of good and bad.

At wide receiver, the Packers got 88 catches, 1,118 yards and 13 total touchdowns out of Watson, Doubs and seventh-round pick Samori Toure. Tom played almost 500 total snaps across four different positions along the offensive line, and Enagbare started seven games at edge rusher and produced eight quarterback hits. Even seventh-round pick Tariq Carpenter became a productive special teams player down the stretch.

The class was likely dragged down due to Devonte Wyatt’s lack of playing time and the redshirt rookie season of third-round pick Sean Rhyan.

The post included other relevant information on a few other rookies:

Wide receiver Christian Watson really came on in the second half of the season, starting every game from Week 8 onward and catching 41 passes for 611 yards and seven touchdowns in a little more than half a season. He finished 20th out of 85 qualifying wide receivers in Football Outsiders’ receiving DVOA rating. The Packers also got valuable contributions from edge rusher Kingsley Enagbare, who started seven games and had three sacks with 23 pressures, and offensive lineman Zach Tom, who had five starts at both left tackle and left guard.

The following teams ranked ahead of the Packers, in order from first to 13th: Seattle Seahawks, New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons.

Overall, this was one of the most productive and valuable rookie classes from the Packers in recent team history, even if the rankings here suggest otherwise.

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Packers’ 10 best players on defense from 2022 season

Highlighting the Packers’ 10 best players on defense. Most veterans were solid, but regression was commonplace.

The Green Bay Packers finished 17th in points allowed and 17th in yards allowed during the 2022 season, a disappointing result considering all the investment into players and expectations for the group overall entering the year.

At Pro Football Focus, the Packers were the 21st ranked defense by overall grade, and strong coverage and pass-rush grades couldn’t overcome the issues against the run and tackling.

Here are the Packers’ 10 best players on defense from the 2022 season.

For the flipside, here are the 10 best players on offense.

Chiefs to play Jaguars in divisional round of playoffs

The #Chiefs’ opponent for the divisional round of the playoffs is set.

Update: The Chiefs-Jaguars game is set to be played on Saturday afternoon.

The wild-card round is over for the AFC conference and the Kansas City Chiefs now know their opponent for the divisional round next weekend.

As the lowest-remaining seed, the Jacksonville Jaguars (4) are heading to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium to face the Chiefs for the second time this season. This comes after they pulled off an improbable 31-30 comeback win over the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round after being down 27-0 and losing the turnover battle 5-0.

The Jags came to Kansas City back in Week 10 and lost 27-17, but in the playoffs, it’s clear that anything can happen. The Chiefs will need to be at their best against a team that has made some pretty impressive strides in the latter half of the season. Turnovers were a problem for K.C. in the first matchup and they’ll need to be a lot sharper this time around.

Doug Pederson comes from Andy Reid’s coaching tree and spent three seasons as the offensive coordinator in Kansas City from 2013-2015. He’s not averse to taking some risks in terms of play-calling, as evidenced by opening the game with an onside kick and trying to steal a possession back in Week 10.

There is still no information on when this game will be played at this time, but we’ll update you with that as soon as the NFL makes the schedule available.

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Here are Chiefs’ 6 team captains for 2022 NFL playoffs

The #Chiefs announced the six players who will serve as team captains during the course of the 2022 NFL playoffs.

Kansas City Chiefs players have gathered and voted on team captains for the 2022 NFL playoffs.

Every year ahead of a playoff run, players are asked to elect six players to serve as team captains throughout the playoffs. The coaches do not provide any input and leave the selection up to those in the Chiefs’ locker room. It’s a tradition in which hard work, effort and leadership throughout the regular season are recognized by peers.

On Saturday, the team announced the six team captains selected for the 2022 playoff race.

QB Patrick Mahomes, TE Travis Kelce and RB Jerick McKinnon will represent the offense. DT Chris Jones and LB Nick Bolton will represent the defense. This year it seems that only P Tommy Townsend will represent the special teams unit.

This is the fifth consecutive season that Mahomes and Kelce have been selected by their teammates as playoff captains. It’s the first time for each of McKinnon, Bolton, Jones and Townsend.

Most of the selections this year are self-explanatory. Mahomes has a clear command of the team in the locker room and in the huddle. Kelce is one of the longest-tenured players on the team. McKinnon’s a salty veteran who is having a breakout campaign. Bolton is the man with the green dot on defense. Jones is the most veteran player on the defensive side of the ball. Townsend is having a killer year and was a First-Team All-Pro selection.

If you had to vote on a team captain for the playoffs, who would you choose? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comment section down below or on Facebook and Twitter.

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