A 2008-esque loss, Packers (1-1) fall to the Falcons (2-0) - Week 2 postgame thread

[skibrett15]

Just now, vegas492 said:

To win in the NFL you need to run the ball and stop the run.  We did neither.

I'm not sure you need to run the ball to beat atlanta in the dome.  You sure as heck need to stop the run against that team though.

[Mazrimiv]

I'm just going to go ahead and blame Dillon for this loss because he is my new scapegoat for everything bad that happens.  I thought for sure it would be Savage, but Dillon has earned the title.  I've seen toddlers with better balance.

[vegas492]

7 minutes ago, Laces Out said:

oh for sure, i just think media is capitalizing on the 6/0 bit in two games to start the season, which isn't surprising.

I think Love's best throw this season was his incompletion in the corner of the endzone yesterday that the DB made a fantastic play on. That ball was a beauty.

So yeah stats can be goofy.

I thought that was a beautiful pass as well.

There were others, though.  I love the outs.  They were "gimmes".  Not many Qb's have the arm power for those throws.

I'm not following the media much, concerning Love and his stats.  I'm just happy that he looks the part right now.

[Old Guy]

1 minute ago, Mazrimiv said:

I'm just going to go ahead and blame Dillon for this loss because he is my new scapegoat for everything bad that happens.  I thought for sure it would be Savage, but Dillon has earned the title.  I've seen toddlers with better balance.

He seems to run with the anticipation of contact, too much forward lean. Except in short yardage situations, then he runs way too high IMO. 

But I'm just a dude on a keyboard, so what do I know. 

[skibrett15]

Dillon wasn't great but he had a much better 2nd half than first.

Can't see him keeping his snap share this high for too many more weeks.  Bottom line is that he's assignment sure and a solid pass protector.

Wilson and Taylor should see more snaps though as we go along - it will be a slow process and either Dillon will improve or get phased out.

[vegas492]

Observations....

Offense.  Sometimes you gotta tip your hat to the better team.  I'm not sure I've seen a DL control the LOS like the Falcons did.  Their DL were hugging our linemen and not letting them move much at all.  And they could ignore the perimeter because we didn't have anyone active, besides a WR, who could get outside.

That being said....I thought Newman held up well.  I tried hard to really watch the OL, but it was brutal inside.  No one could move.  I will say this, we must have been decent up the middle because Grady Jarrett didn't live in our backfield.  But we also didn't move him off the LOS either.

Good game from Reed.  Wondering why we didn't go to Musgrave more.  I guess I came away wondering why we couldn't throw in the 4'th.  We obviously couldn't run all game, but there were seams open.  I know that the corner we were picking on went out, but there should have been more yards to be had via the air.  Probably got outcoached on the offensive side.

Defense.  Really feel bad that we blew this game for Kenny Clark.  Dude was a gamewrecker early.  Wyatt showed good quickness.  Our EDGE guys failed us.  Rashaan Gary has to know better on the goal line.  Savage was flying up to the LOS often, but unlike last week, he was whiffing.  Though I won't ding him for it, sometimes he was coming up and needed a big hit to stop a play from getting a first down.  He was playing fast and hard.

Didn't care much for the zone defense.  Wish we would have held onto 2 more picks that hit us in the hands.

 

Overall.  Here's what I liked.  MLF was PISSED during his presser.  Didn't want to talk about #69.  Didn't make excuses.  Did say they got their butts handed to them and "gashed" all game long in the run game.  I hope he puts Barry on notice...and means it this time.

I did like Love's presser.  He too was PISSED.  He didn't want to be up there.  He took full blame for that 4'th down sneak that didn't happen.  He stood up there and took his medicine.  No deflection.

Douglass was interviewed.  He asked "How many points my offense score???  24.  24?  Yeah.  That should be enough, this one is on us (defense)."  He wasn't happy either.

Saw Reed getting interviewed by TVV after the game.  Nice little chit chat.  JA came up and said "He's only getting better, folks!".  Reed said "It's because I practice against you."  Nice exchange that shows despite me not liking the pick, Reed is for realsies.

We had stupid penalties that cost us points.  We couldn't ever figure out their run and when we went to the 2 DL set with 2 EDGE guys standing up, it was 8 yards, easily.  Our offensive play calling left a lot to be desired.

I feel like to win in the NFL, you need to be able to run and you have to stop the run.  We did neither.  But we were still in this game.  Couldn't finish.  Such are growing pains with a younger club.

[packfanfb]

13 minutes ago, Mazrimiv said:

I'm just going to go ahead and blame Dillon for this loss because he is my new scapegoat for everything bad that happens.  I thought for sure it would be Savage, but Dillon has earned the title.  I've seen toddlers with better balance.

Obvious sarcasm but in truth, Jones' injury was huge yesterday. I would say not having him was a bigger loss over Watson, Bak and Jenkins yesterday. The drop off to Dillon is that steep. 

Edited September 18, 2023 by packfanfb

[NFLGURU]

Plenty of blame to go around on this one:

Dillon is not a feature back.  He can't carry the load himself.  He needs to be in a complimentary role.  He's more effective with Jones in there.  As we found yesterday, when Jones is out all game, that changes a lot of what we can do.  I think you can win with Dillon/Jones but not with just Dillon.  Not sure how you address that at this point,  it probably went into the Jonathan Taylor talk a few weeks back, but thats pretty unlikely at this point. 

The defense was on the field almost a full quarter more than the offense.  The offense was done on drives in the 4th quarter before the defense got a chance to sit down.  

Debatable but I probably give Carlson a shot on the opening drive.  You are indoors and he has the leg to get it there.

Defense had to clean up the dropped interceptions, Gary got sucked in on the Ridder run and Douglass let him know about it.

The final drive opportunity was too big for Jordan Love.  Accuracy was off, looked unsure in the moment.  He needs work in that area.

On to the Saints.

Edited September 18, 2023 by NFLGURU

[vegas492]

2 minutes ago, packfanfb said:

Obvious sarcasm but in truth, Jones' injury was huge yesterday. I would say not having him was a bigger loss over Watson, Bak and Jenkins yesterday. The dropout to Dillon is that steep. 

If someone were to have told me we'd be without Watson, Jones, Bakh and Jenkins for this game, and we'd hold a two score lead in the fourth?  I'd have laughed.  But there we were.

[Old Guy]

3 minutes ago, NFLGURU said:

 

The final drive opportunity was too big for Jordan Love.  

 

He was definitely nervous you could tell. It was too big for him THIS time. That was invaluable experience which will bode well for him in future opportunities. 

He will learn and grow from this situation. For that alone, it was a long-term win. 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Old Guy

[NFLGURU]

1 hour ago, Packerraymond said:

The run defense has not earned this kind of defense. There is no grace period for the run defense like there is for our offense. Last year, they were one of the worst run defenses in NFL history as far as efficiency goes, and 2021 wasn't much better.

It's low hanging fruit because it's such a blatantly obvious flaw that even someone like my wife who doesn't give two ****s about football can watch the game with me and ask "why does the other team ever pass when you can just keep running for first downs." 

Yet we changed nothing. DC still in place, DL coach still in place, LB coach, still in place, scheme still in place. That signals, these guys are going to fix this. They did not, and it cost us another winnable football game. Making excuses for it is a losers mentality at this point as it will cost us more football games.

It's still early in the season and things can change, but I get where you are coming from.  My hope is MLF doesn't get that "Mike McCarthy Syndrome" and keep Barry around for several seasons past his usefulness like he did with Capers.

[LacyIsGood]

I wish more was schemed up for Musgrave in the 4th when the offense got in a funk.  Simple bootlegs as an extension of the running game.  Don’t love the spread look too often for Love down Watson and Jones

[skibrett15]

3 minutes ago, NFLGURU said:

It's still early in the season and things can change, but I get where you are coming from.  My hope is MLF doesn't get that "Mike McCarthy Syndrome" and keep Barry around for several seasons past his usefulness like he did with Capers.

you mean, like the last 2 years of ineffectiveness and a 3rd incoming?

[Ragnarok]

What has worried/disappointed me these first two games is the scripted plays.  Those first 15 or so plays that are set before the game starts.  Because Love has started out both games very poorly(he also finished this one very poorly which is also concerning), but you would think LaFleur was putting in plays Love is comfortable with.  Love hit an awesome rhythm in the middle of the game, but they need a rehaul on the early drives. 

Add into that our defense looking like we feared they would with Barry at the helm and a running game soft as Charmin, and we lost a game we really shouldn't have.

[NFLGURU]

7 minutes ago, skibrett15 said:

you mean, like the last 2 years of ineffectiveness and a 3rd incoming?

Yes, we may be there already, but I don't see anything changing during the season.  I think they let it play out. JMO

Edited September 18, 2023 by NFLGURU