Tag: Studs and Duds

Studs and duds from Packers’ 37-8 loss to 49ers in Week 12

Breaking down the studs and duds from the Packers’ 37-8 loss to the 49ers in Week 12 of the 2019 season.

The San Francisco 49ers turned the Green Bay Packers from a contender into a pretender on Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium, the site of a complete dismantling of Matt LaFleur’s team on Sunday night.

The Packers are now 8-3, with two complete meltdowns in the last four weeks.

Here are the studs and duds from the Packers’ 37-8 loss to the 49ers:

Studs

OLB Za’Darius Smith: Credit Smith for taking advantage of one of the Packers’ few favorable matchups. He gave backup left tackle Justin Skule a lot of trouble on the edge. The Packers defensive captain beat Skule clean for a sack in the first half, which eventually led to a rare punt. Twice, he helped the Packers get off the field with quick pressures and hits on Jimmy Garoppolo. He helped provide a second of hope in the second half when he beat a double team and wrestled Garoppolo down to force a stop to start the third quarter. There was no quit in No. 55.

Duds

C Corey Linsley: The Packers’ veteran center is one of the team’s most consistent players, but he had a really tough night in San Francisco. He was at least partially responsible for three of offense’s bad runs. D.J. Jones beat him clean for a run stuff on the second series. Later, on fourth down in 49ers territory, Linsley couldn’t get movement and Aaron Jones got stuffed for no gain. The interior of the 49ers defensive line just overpowered him at times. The struggles leaked into his distribution. On several shotgun snaps, Linsley forced Aaron Rodgers into making really tough catches at his shoetops. A few times, blitzing 49ers linebackers planted him on the ground in the passing game.

QB Aaron Rodgers: It feels cruel to put Rodgers in the “duds” category, given the constant pressure in the pocket and disappearing act from the secondary options in the passing game. But a quarterback can’t drop back to pass 41 times and deliver only 66 net passing yards without shouldering at least some of the blame. The pressure got to Rodgers early and it affected him the rest of the way. Remember when the Patriots made Sam Darnold see ghosts? The 49ers did the same to Rodgers. Even once the game was decided, the offense showed no urgency and Rodgers took no risks to create a big play. If there’s any tangible trust in a receiver not named Davante Adams, Rodgers didn’t show it Sunday night. When it’s all said and done, it’s possible this game will go down as the worst statistical performance of Rodgers’ Hall of Fame career.

LG Elgton Jenkins: The first few series were ugly for the rookie left guard. He’s been fantastic as a pass blocker this season, but he really struggled with the size and speed of DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead. The first series was a nightmare. On the third play of the game, Buckner blew past him and was in position to light up Aaron Rodgers. On the very next play, Buckner beat him to the inside and stuffed Aaron Jones. On third down, Buckner beat him to the outside and forced Rodgers up into the pocket for the strip-sack. Armstead knocked him to the ground on a stunt on third down on the second series.

RT Alex Light: The second Bryan Bulaga went out of the game, Bosa moved to the left side of the defense and went to work on the inexperienced backup. A brutal matchup on paper played out exactly that way on the field. Bosa was too fast and too strong for Light. The Packers tried at times to give him help, mostly with chips from running backs and tight ends, but the 49ers did a good job of scheming up one-on-one matchups. Stunts gave Light and Billy Turner a lot of trouble, although the 49ers were doing a lot of holding. On one third down sack, Bosa held Light and allowed Armstead to stunt to the outside and make the play on Rodgers in the pocket.

P JK Scott: It’s tough to figure out what’s happened to Scott, the Packers’ streaky second-year punter. He hit six punts and didn’t have a single kick over 41 yards. This was a game where the Packers absolutely needed a big night from their punter, both to help a struggling offense and flip the field for the defense. Even in perfect conditions, Scott failed to get lift and distance in his kicks and often put the defense in bad spots.

WR Geronimo Allison: He has a lot of fans inside Lambeau Field but Allison is just about unplayable at this point. His third-down drop on the first drive helped set the tone for the nightmare on offense. His three catches gained all of nine yards, with a long of just four yards. Who knows why the Packers keep keeping him the ball at the line of scrimmage and asking him to get yards after the catch. He’s not fast or slippery. It was a tough call, but he got flagged for blocking in the back, short-circuiting another drive.

KR/PR Tremon Smith: He returned two punts for -3 yards and two kicks for 41 yards. On both punt returns, he went backwards and got caught from behind. His second return was a risky play after catching the ball on the bounce. In the second half, Smith let a kickoff bounce at the 2-yard line. He’s lucky it bounced through the end zone for a touchback. The best the Packers can hope for at this point is getting the football at the 25.

CB Kevin King: In-breaking routes continue to terrorize him. On back-to-back snaps in the first quarter, King got beat on a slant by Deebo Samuel and a deep in-breaker by Emmanuel Sanders. Later, George Kittle beat him clean for a big gain on another in-breaking route. The long touchdown to Kittle in the third quarter probably wasn’t on King. The Packers were in a three-deep zone, and when Adrian Amos vacated the middle of the field, King was in a no-win situation, especially when Jaire Alexander was late getting depth in his zone. Teams don’t even bother attacking Alexander anymore because King is the far easier prey.

Studs and duds from the Lions’ 35-27 loss to the Cowboys

Who played well and who did not in the Lions’ loss to the Cowboys

“Well, at least they made a game out of it” is quickly becoming the title of the 2019 Lions season.

The Lions played basically the same exact game they have nine other times this season and the outcome was the same as it has been six of the last seven; another loss. This slide has taken its toll on everyone, and it’s a big bag of yuck right now. Fans – justifiably, aren’t interested in watching the same thing week by week, and it’s already time to start looking towards the NFL draft, something fans of this team know all too well.

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Here are the studs and dud of the loss.

Stud: Bo Scarbrough

At this point in the season, with the Lions season slipping away week by week, all you can do is look for small victories or reasons to smile. Bo Scarbrough getting his first work in the NFL and scoring on his 3rd touch was the highlight of the loss.

Scarbrough has had horrific luck with injuries throughout his life dating back to his high school days, which was the main reason he was available to sign with the Lions deep into the season. He finished with 12 rushes for 55 yards and a touchdown. Had the Lions not been playing from behind so much, could have had much more.

Dud: Justin Coleman

Coleman – like the rest of the defense – has hit a wall the past few weeks. Whether it was Randall Cobb, Michael Gallup or Tony Pollard out of the backfield, Coleman couldn’t handle it. He fell down on one long pass and was turned around on the very next play. When he was creating turnovers early on in the season, it was easier to forgive his mistakes in coverage. Now that he’s not creating those, it’s becoming tougher to justify his price tag.

Stud: Jeff Driskel

If this Lions defense – high priced and highly drafted across the board – could stop anyone, we would be talking more about how good Jeff Driskel has looked in relief of Matthew Stafford these past few weeks.

Driskel’s numbers aren’t eye-popping, but he’s taken care of the football and led some solid drives over the past two starts. His pocket presence leaves a lot to be desired, much like every backup quarterback in the league, but his mobility and football IQ has been on display. He finished with 260 total yards and two touchdowns with zero turnovers. It’s another solid performance from the backup. He’s not been the reason behind the two losses.

Dud: Matt Patricia

While shockingly the Lions stopped the run better than anyone could’ve expected, the rest of the gameplan on defense was in shambles…as it has been since Week 4. And there’s no one else to blame higher than Patricia. This is his defense. He and Bob Quinn built it. And it’s bad.

You can blame injuries, but they’ve been just about league average overall. You can blame Paul Pasqualoni, but it’s clear he’s just the guy taking orders from the head coach. After the opening drive-forced fumble and subsequent three-and-out, the Cowboys drives look like this: field goal, touchdown, punt, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, punt. They *averaged* 61 yards per drive. Dak Prescott threw for 444 yards.

This is on the head coach. And it’s getting worse by the week.

Stud: Darius Slay

People are going to remember his two near interceptions and point to this as a rare letdown from Slay, but he had three PBU’s and, if not for a great play by Tavon Austin, could’ve had his second interception of the year. He and Trey Flowers are the only two players on defense that are having a good year.

Dud: Home “support”

First off, I don’t blame anyone for not showing up to Lions games anymore. I’ve been as critical of this team and coaching staff as anyone, and if fans don’t want to spend their hard-earned money watching this team give up back-breaking drives at an alarming clip or see countless penalties and moronic lapses in judgment every other play then I don’t blame them. Go see a movie with your family, shovel your driveway, read a book or enjoy a great album. Frankly, it’s outrageous that many fans came out today anyway. They don’t deserve the support.

But, it doesn’t change the fact that this basically wasn’t a home game for the players. There were more “let’s go Cowboys” chants than I’d like to admit and every touchdown the Cowboys scored just made them louder.

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Again, I don’t blame the fans one iota. It’s on the players and coaching staff to win games so that people want to watch their team. And the Lions aren’t fun to watch anymore. They were earlier in the season, sure! But week by week, the same problems arise and nothing is being fixed. I don’t know where the team goes from here, but something needs to change.

Studs and duds from Packers’ 24-16 win over Panthers in Week 10

Studs and duds from the Packers’ 24-16 win over the Panthers at a snowy Lambeau Field in Week 10.

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The Green Bay Packers rebounded from a forgettable trip to Los Angeles with a memorable win over the Carolina Panthers at a snowy Lambeau Field in Week 10.

Matt LaFleur’s team is now 8-2 and in possession of a top-two seed in the NFC entering the bye week.

Here are the studs and duds from the Packers’ win:

Studs

DL Kenny Clark: Statement game from No. 97. He was a step away from at least three sacks, and he put himself in the backfield on at least eight different passing plays. The Panthers often tried blocking him one-on-one with center Matt Paradis but that was a big mistake. Clark was too strong and too quick. On the second play from scrimmage, Clark walked Paradis into the backfield and took down Christian McCaffrey after a short gain. Later, he diagnosed the third-down screen and was the first defender there to make the stop. He’ll be thinking about those missed sacks during the bye week, but don’t be surprised if he explodes for a multiple-sack game at some point over the final six weeks.

OL Elgton Jenkins: Another standout performance from the rookie offensive lineman. He didn’t allow a single pressure and was the primary hole-opener on several explosive runs. On 3rd-and-9 on the Packers’ first touchdown drive, Jenkins looked beat but recovered, passed off the stunt and then completely eliminated rookie Brian Burns from the rush. His block at the point of attack opened up Aaron Jones’ first touchdown run. In the third quarter, he dominated. Several chunk runs by Jamaal Williams all came behind Jenkins’ blocking.

WR Davante Adams: A week after producing only 41 receiving yards on 11 targets, Adams turned his 10 targets into 118 yards. He caught a pair of passes over 30 yards, including one that set up a touchdown and another that converted a 2nd-and-26. His 38-yard catch was a thing of beauty. He won off the line, stacked the cornerback vertically and then waited until the last second to put his hands up to make the catch, giving the cornerback no chance to find the ball or make a play. On the Packers’ first touchdown drive, Adams’ patient route from the slot produced an easy 15-yard completion. His receiving yards total would have been well over 150 had he completed a catch on a deep shot from Rodgers in the second half. Donte Jackson broke it up at the last second. With a slightly better throw, Adams might have made the catch uncontested and scored.

OLB Za’Darius Smith: It’s hard to believe he didn’t have a sack. Several times, he won immediately but couldn’t get Kyle Allen on the ground. On one rush, he jab-stepped hard inside and beat the left tackle clean, forcing a holding penalty and eventually creating a sack for Tyler Lancaster. Two plays later, he was in the backfield in under two seconds but Allen got rid of it. He’s always an effective rusher on the inside against guards.

OLB Preston Smith: Both of his sacks came on third down. The first was the result of pure speed and quickness around the corner. He got to the outside shoulder, accelerated through contact and chased down the quarterback in the pocket. Kyle Allen was lucky to hold onto the ball. The second sack looked similar. He used quick hands and feet to get the edge and turn the corner, and Kenny Clark’s interior pressure kept Allen right in Smith’s aim as he entered the pocket. Finally, Smith finished off the game’s last play with a stop after Kyler Fackrell hit Christian McCaffrey in the backfield.

RB Aaron Jones: He’s such a special player. He made Luke Kuechly miss in the hole on his 5-yard touchdown run to open the game. On his 28-yard scamper in the second half, he made a sharp cut inside, burst into the second level and beat the diving tackle attempt of the safety. At times, it looks like he’s gliding across the turf at a different speed than everyone around him. His third touchdown was a perfect example. Three defenders had him boxed in but he exploded into the second level and left all three in the dust. Safeties must have nightmares about trying to tackle him in the open field. In the fourth quarter, Jones turned a sure-fire loss into an explosive run when he sprinted outside and turned the corner after the Panthers plugged up the middle. He also had a 16-yard catch negated by a penalty, and Rodgers missed him wide open in the middle of the field for what likely would have been an easy catch-and-run touchdown in the third quarter.

S Adrian Amos: Two point-saving plays make Amos worthy of a spot here. He read Kyle Allen’s eyes and should have had an end-zone interception in the third quarter, but his play on the ball still created an easy pick for Tramon Williams behind him. That took at least three points off the board. Later, Amos ranged over from the middle of the field and knocked away a two-point try.

Duds

WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling: He played only 11 snaps. It’s clear Jake Kumerow and Allen Lazard have passed him on the depth chart. On his one target, Valdes-Scantling had a disappointing effort at the catch point of a deep shot from Aaron Rodgers. Over the last three games, he has one catch for four yards.

P JK Scott: Just like last year, Scott struggled in the cold, wintery conditions. He averaged 35.3 yards per punt and twice gave the Panthers excellent field position with poor kicks, including a 32-yarder out of bounds in the first half. A pair of punts inside the 20-yard line in the second half helped redeem the performance slightly. He must be better in adverse weather conditions.

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