Preseason Week 1 post game thoughts

[Old Guy]

13 hours ago, StatKing said:

Its really not that hard to understand. We are a team that is strapped for cap, he's on a cheap contract and no other team wants him. I dont understand why people think there's a market for him.

You have absolutely ZERO facts to back this statement up. NONE! 

4 hours ago, StatKing said:

At this point all it is about is optics. They know Love cant play, if they thought he had the potential to be a franchise QB they wouldn't have gave a 38 year old QB a market setting deal that runs through his entire rookie contract.

Tom Brady is playing and he's 45. Rodgers is the BEST quarterback in the NFL with no signs of slowing down and you can't figure out why we would have extended him? We can get out of Rodges contract in two years if we want to very easily, but of course those facts don't suit your narrative. 

If you can't admit Love has made progress, which was on full display Friday night, maybe sit this discussion out. You are putting out ridiculous **** to try and justify your bias. Love may not turn into the next Rodgers or Favre, but for the record, Rodgers was pretty close to where Love is currently in year three of his career. Just a little history for some perspective. 

I can't wait to see Love next week. I have a good feeling he's going to show much improvement over this past week. Maybe that will quiet you down a little bit, but it's doubtful. You seem hell bent on riding this narrative right off a cliff.  

Edited August 14, 2022 by Old Guy

[hitnhope]

Love has improved, but still has a long way to go to being a QB that you can win with.

He simply has poor ball placement on far too high a percentage of his passes.  His arm is strong enough, and he is seeing the field better than in past 2 years.    It's like he is throwing to an area rather than having the focus to place the ball in a precise spot.   On Friday his best passes were downfield where receivers had more time and space to adjust.   On the short passes where placement was critical the location was poor. 

He's like an MLB pitcher with great stuff, but can't throw strikes.  It just doesn't work.

[AlexGreen#20]

Doing my rewatch now:

Play #0 Kickoff. Bad holding penalty to back everything up

Play #1 That first run was a better 2nd level block from Newman away from being a TD. Nice jump cut by Goodson to read Runyan's block at the line. Nice job by Hanson on the reach block. Nice job by Nijman and Myers getting to the second level and getting on a guy. Very impressive blocking. 

 Play #2 Doubs in the slot doesn't do enough to hold up the LB from Runyan to get there. If they had gotten even a hand on the guy, this is likely a first down.

Play #3 I think Love missed this throw by a bit, but nowhere near as much as it might seem due to Deguara getting pulled back. Deguara also overplayed the stack here  when the target point is the sideline. Protection was also solid though Nijman was ceding ground.

Play #4 39 yard punt net. Bad. 

Play #5 3-4 single high against 21 personnel. Really nice job stretching this out by Heflin and Garvin. Shemar Jean Charles is the benefit of the strong fits inside. Really nice tackle by a CB to make it happen. Gain of 2

Play #6 3-4 single high against 21 personnel. Some people might be blaming TJ Slaton for blowing the contain with his rush here. **** that. The other 4 guys rushing need to also be putting pressure on the QB. QB scramble for 7

Play #7 3-4 single high against 22 personnel. Just a little undersized personnel wise for the short yardage. Hero work from Galei or Quay Walker might have forced a 4th down attempt here, but nothing to be really upset about. Gain of 2 

Play #8 3-3 muddle high against 11 personnel. Keisean Nixon just got put in a bad spot dealing with the QB rollout and the WR. Gain of 8

Play #9 3-3 single high against 11 personnel. Heflin just got killed on this reach block. Gain of 6.

Play #10 3-4 single high against 12 personnel. Isaiah McDuffie shoots in for a loss here after the 49ers starting RT completely whiffs on the block. Love to see it from the depth at ILB. Loss of 3.

Play #11 2-4 single high against 02 personnel. Checkdown to the TE in the flat before being promptly tackled by Keisean Nixon for a gain of only 4. Nice tackle by him. 

Play #12 2-4 double high against 11 personnel. Pass to the opposite sideline on an out route. Rico Gafford covered it up nicely and forced the WR out of bounds before he could get his feet down. Another nice pressure by TJ Slaton.

Play #13 FG is good. Quay Walker appears to be the rover.

Play #14 Kickoff. For my own sanity I'm going to pretend that Amari Rodgers was told to bring everything out of the endzone for practice reps and that in a real game he doesn't take this out.

Play #15 Curl-flats concept. Love throws this ball like he expects Goodson to either have run this as a slant to the 2 yard depth or to have turned it into a curl route based on the freezing linebacker. Considering the frustration that Rodgers has had with these concepts over the past several years, I'm starting to think this is an issue that's endemic to the program.

Play #16 Love me some good zone-read. Extremely well executed by Love.

Play #17 Blocked it very well, and really nice vision by Goodson. Got him matched up 1v1 with Karar Holloman who managed to bring him down. I watch that play and can't help but think if that's Aaron Jones getting the ball, that's a TD.  Goodson's a solid backup, but he's not dangerous.

Play #18 Beautiful screenpass, extremely well blocked all the way down the field. Myers and Hanson especially.

Play #19 Not available on the replay.

Play #20 Nice throw from Love to Juwan Winfree on the short out route from the slant. 

 

 

 

 

[mikemike778]

50 minutes ago, Old Guy said:

You have absolutely ZERO facts to back this statement up. NONE! 

Tom Brady is playing and he's 45. Rodgers is the BEST quarterback in the NFL with no signs of slowing down and you can't figure out why we would have extended him? We can get out of Rodges contract in two years if we want to very easily, but of course those facts don't suit your narrative. 

If you can't admit Love has made progress, which was on full display Friday night, maybe sit this discussion out. You are putting out ridiculous **** to try and justify your bias. Love may not turn into the next Rodgers or Favre, but for the record, Rodgers was pretty close to where Love is currently in year three of his career. Just a little history for some perspective. 

I can't wait to see Love next week. I have a good feeling he's going to show much improvement over this past week. Maybe that will quite you down a little bit, but it's doubtful. You seem hell bent on riding this narrative right off a cliff.  

Love had definitely shown progress, his reads are better and he looks far more composed.

The problem is he wasn't very good at throwing the ball. I don't blame him for the first two interceptions  but his passing for most of the game wasn't very good. He missed passes he should be making and his ball placement was poor a number of times. He didn't really seem to have much rythem but was able to bail himself out of trouble with the occasional good pass. I was looking forward to seeing him but was a bit disappointed. 

Its only one game and there will obviously be rust. There have been plenty of games when Rodgers radar looks to be switched off.  I'm just not sure he has it in him to be a consistently good passer of the ball. I do honestly want him to succeed and its nice to have a QB who can run again. 

[CWood21]

12 hours ago, StatKing said:

Its really not that hard to understand. We are a team that is strapped for cap, he's on a cheap contract and no other team wants him. I dont understand why people think there's a market for him.

As we've seen this year (and previous years), the salary cap is flexible.  And it's not like the market for backup QBs is overly expensive.  At the end of the day, there's really only two assumptions you can make.  The first is that the Packers never received anything remotely viable that was worth moving on from Jordan Love (i.e. a Day 3 pick) or teams weren't willing to meet the Packers' expectation.  If the Packers were truly committed to Aaron Rodgers as much as you think they are and they got a viable trade offer for Jordan Love, Gute deserves to get fired for that alone.

[cannondale]

Please. Of course he's shown progress. How do you not ? But neither he or the Packers can afford him to be on a 8 year plan.

Against the Chiefs I saw him rip a deep out laser. I also saw him throw a swing pass that was damn near end over end. I don't have the resources to look back at the 49er game, but it seems he throws a lot of butterfly balls. And unless I'm blind, I saw at least 2 that traveled nose up. Rodgers mentioned being so precise that body catchers throw off his timing. Think about that for a second. Whether or not the running back should have been turned the other way on the swing pass, Love had eyes on him long enough to adjust and he didn't, or couldn't, or was trying to hit the bull mascot. Could have been a pick 6. And that's not the first time he has had problems with a simple swing pass. Usually he air mails them. The pass to Winfree, you just can't do it. Leaving your guy hung out to dry. That could have easily been a pick. Props on the Doubs TD, but which NFL QB couldn't make that throw ? There has to be something with his release that is just not repeatable. It's almost like he has trouble whenever he has to take something off a throw. I saw something last year about arm throwers vs wrist throwers and it made all the sense in the world. Clements has apparently cleaned up his footwork. One can only hope there is something else he spots that can bring everything together, but he clock is ticking fast.

Edited August 14, 2022 by cannondale

[CWood21]

4 hours ago, StatKing said:

At this point all it is about is optics. They know Love cant play, if they thought he had the potential to be a franchise QB they wouldn't have gave a 38 year old QB a market setting deal that runs through his entire rookie contract.

When was the last time a team (not the player) walked away from an MVP-caliber quarterback?  I don't think there's a SINGLE example.

[StatKing]

7 hours ago, CWood21 said:

As we've seen this year (and previous years), the salary cap is flexible.  And it's not like the market for backup QBs is overly expensive.  At the end of the day, there's really only two assumptions you can make.  The first is that the Packers never received anything remotely viable that was worth moving on from Jordan Love (i.e. a Day 3 pick) or teams weren't willing to meet the Packers' expectation.  If the Packers were truly committed to Aaron Rodgers as much as you think they are and they got a viable trade offer for Jordan Love, Gute deserves to get fired for that alone.

There was no viable trade offer for Love because nobody wants him. He was a reach when we drafted him and he's played poorly the limited opportunities he's gotten. Rodgers isn't worried about Love taking his job so there's no reason to just outright cut him.

I dont know how the Packers can be committed to Rodgers more than they already are, 150 million over the next 3 years is a pretty big commitment. 

[StatKing]

6 hours ago, CWood21 said:

When was the last time a team (not the player) walked away from an MVP-caliber quarterback?  I don't think there's a SINGLE example.

You're preachin to the choir my friend. I wasn't one of the many on this forum saying all last year Rodgers wasn't coming back. 

[CWood21]

12 minutes ago, StatKing said:

There was no viable trade offer for Love because nobody wants him. He was a reach when we drafted him and he's played poorly the limited opportunities he's gotten. Rodgers isn't worried about Love taking his job so there's no reason to just outright cut him.

I dont know how the Packers can be committed to Rodgers more than they already are, 150 million over the next 3 years is a pretty big commitment. 

You're speculating at best.  There were enough "rumors" going around before the draft that teams were exploring trading for Jordan Love.  I put more stock in those rumors than your bias that you've shown since you got here.

[ThatJerkDave]

On 8/13/2022 at 5:40 PM, Refugee said:

Nixon will also be in that category, although I would hope he could prove to be depth at DB.

I think Nixon and SJC are battling for the same spot.  And I think the loser of that battle also makes the team, he probably just sees a little less PT.  We may go lighter on the safeties this season and keep an extra CB.  The body type is pretty much the same, and none of the depth safeties have really differentiated themselves with positive play so far.  

[CWood21]

9 minutes ago, StatKing said:

You're preachin to the choir my friend. I wasn't one of the many on this forum saying all last year Rodgers wasn't coming back. 

My point exactly.  You don't walk away from an MVP-caliber QB.  The closest comparison I can remember is Peyton Manning, and he was coming off a pretty substantial neck injury that some thought might not allow Peyton Manning to play again, let alone at a high level.  Aside from that, the only other comparison I think you could possibly come up with is when the 49ers went with Steve Young after Joe Montana, but again that doesn't change the fact that Joe Montana was injured for the 1991 season.  Your entire logic about handing Rodgers a shiny extension as reason why they think Jordan Love won't be successful falls far short of the logic test.

[ThatJerkDave]

23 hours ago, HokieHigh said:

its not like i have watched 18 games of tape from both guys, but from the limited viewing...

 

winfree seems to be a better route runner, looks to have nice explosiveness out of cuts, and his hands seem reliable. at 6'1 he has a size advantage over rogers and most nfl cb's.

 

i dont see many high quality characteristics about rogers. i feel like at 5'9 you ought to have very good athleticism. he isn't reliable on special teams, though he does look a bit more quicker this year. i hope he catches on somewhere.

 

seems redundant on our roster with Cobb. most of all i like a good underdog story. i agree it is an uphill battle, but i think rogers has been given every advantage and not pulled away. 

I disagree, and here is why:  Amari Rodgers is, for the moment, a not as good version of Randall Cobb.  If (when) Cobb misses time, Rodgers is at least a player that profiles a lot like Cobb and can keep those wrinkles within the offense.  Rodgers can probably also do the Tyler Earvin/Tavon Austin stuff in the offense as well.  I don't believe that is Juwann Winfree's game.  I am not sure what Winfree does that is not already done better by Lazard, Watkins, Watson, or Doubs, already on the roster.  I also like Malik Taylor and Samouri Toure, but again, where do they fit on the roster? 

[HokieHigh]

31 minutes ago, ThatJerkDave said:

I disagree, and here is why:  Amari Rodgers is, for the moment, a not as good version of Randall Cobb.  If (when) Cobb misses time, Rodgers is at least a player that profiles a lot like Cobb and can keep those wrinkles within the offense.  Rodgers can probably also do the Tyler Earvin/Tavon Austin stuff in the offense as well.  I don't believe that is Juwann Winfree's game.  I am not sure what Winfree does that is not already done better by Lazard, Watkins, Watson, or Doubs, already on the roster.  I also like Malik Taylor and Samouri Toure, but again, where do they fit on the roster? 

Correct that winfree is a different role. I think Aaron jones should be able to fill in on some of that in case of cobb getting hurt. If it is a long term injury, cobbs career is over and we have a roster spot for a gadget player in FA

 

Im not a big fan of toure or taylor.

[Old Guy]

43 minutes ago, HokieHigh said:

Correct that winfree is a different role. I think Aaron jones should be able to fill in on some of that in case of cobb getting hurt. If it is a long term injury, cobbs career is over and we have a roster spot for a gadget player in FA

 

Im not a big fan of toure or taylor.

I'm skeptical about that right there. I know we split him out wide once in a while trying to get LB to cover him, but I don't see him as a slot. I think Rodgers is going to have to play poorly the next two games to lose his spot. 

We shall see though.