J. Kapp 11 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 8:03 am
Good
Cousins improvising. I agree, some of it wasn't pretty, but that was more his unwillingness to slide. Of particular note was his very first time making a play off schedule, the 25-yard completion to Thielen on the Vikings' opening drive. He saw his escape route early, took it at the right time (before he had no chance to escape) and fired a strike. THAT is what we need.
Thielen is back. I'm not sure there's anybody in the league who's better at intermediate routes in the 15-25 yard range. Hoping he stays healthy.
Bradbury looked a lot better this game than he did at any time last year. I suppose part of that was because Clark was out, but he struggled against guys a lot less tough than Clark last year.
Kendricks was all over the field. Officially he had 7 tackles ... seemed like 27.
It's only one play, but Rudolph going down as soon as he made the catch late in the first half. If he had tried for more yardage, the clock would have run out. I heard on a radio show yesterday that the first words in the huddle when Cousins called the play were "Down, down," which means "get down as soon as you catch the ball." Good situational awareness, and a good job by Rudy to actually pay attention.
No fumbles.
Bad
Where on earth was Anthony Barr? Almost never heard his name called, but he did miss several tackles, so there IS that.
Cam Dantzler playing press coverage on the touchdown to Valdes-Scantling. Gotta understand the situation there. Keep the play in front of you, and the half will run out. He's young. He'll learn.
Brian O'Neill. Worst game I've seen him play in a long time. Yes, he was going up against the Smith brothers, but if he's our best O-lineman, he needs to step up.
Not much else, mainly because the rest of it falls into the "ugly" category for me.
Ugly
Where to start? OK, the lack of pressure. I realize Rodgers got rid of the ball quickly, but watching our line pass rush ... they were getting no push or speed upfield. I have no idea how it's going to get better against the Colts' outstanding O-line, but it needs to.
The second quarter. Offense: Safety, 3-and-out, interception. Defense: Great job on the goal-line stand. Bad job everything else. The game was lost over those 15 minutes. It seems like this happens far too often under Zimmer. We play 3 quarters of competitive football but fall on our faces for a quarter and lose.
The lack of crowd noise. It's pretty much unfair to allow Aaron Rodgers to stand there and call the play from the line based on what he sees. The rest of the NFL needs to take notice ... without crowd noise, Rodgers' experience is going to be tough to deal with.
Zero three-and-outs forced by our defense. One punt by Green Bay. Ugh.
The INT by Kirk. Just a terrible throw, forced to a covered Thielen, on the wrong side, and so, so costly. The best way to prevent Rodgers from getting a quick score before the half is not giving him the ball in the first place. You CANNOT make a turnover there. Instead of going into the half trailing 15-7 at worst, 15-10 or even 15-14 if you do things right, we fell behind 22-7. The only turnover of the game, and it was HUGE.
This club has yet to find a franchise QB. After Tark left who have we had?: Bob Lee, Percy's buddy Tommy Kramer, Wade Wilson, Brad Johnson, Rich Gannon, Daunte Culpepper, Teddy Bridgewater, TJ, and retreads like Randall Cunningham, Brett Farve, Jeff George, Donovan McNabb and the list goes on. Cousins probably isn't it either. Who are we bringing in after Cousins? Peyton Manning or John Elway???
