Packers Stock Report: Beating the J-E-T-S edition
The Green Bay Packers pulled Sunday’s win over the New York Jets out of their you-know-what.
Muhammad Wilkerson getting ejected, an untimely timeout (if you’re the Jets), an injury to Eric Decker and Jets’ offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg inexplicably ditching the option and misdirection plays that worked so well for his team in the first quarter.
It sounds like I’m saying the Packers had no business winning that game. That’s not true. Any time you come back from 18 points down to win an NFL game, you deserve all the credit in the world. But you usually need some help to make that comeback happen and the Packers got it.
After two games, I still don’t know what to make of this Packers team.
Save for two quarters, the defense has looked atrocious. The offense caught fire against the Jets, but still couldn’t drive down for the dagger touchdown in the fourth quarter.
There’s no way the Packers win Sunday without Aaron Rodgers making some great throws, yet he still insists on holding the ball forever and taking unnecessary sacks. Receivers are struggling to get consistent separation without a legit pass-catching tight end, but does that matter when you’re as good as Jordy Nelson?
It sounds like I’m complaining. I’m not. The Packers are 1-1 even though they haven’t put together a full game yet. The ceiling for this squad remains high, but a few leaks still need to be patched.
On to the stock report:
Rising
Jordy Nelson
For a while, it looked like Jordy Nelson was going to try and beat the Jets all by himself. Eventually, his teammates arrived at Lambeau Field and gave him some help. But until they showed up, Nelson made play after play to keep the Packers offense from completely imploding.
Josh Sitton
Kudos to Sitton and other players on the Packers’ offense for mixing it up in the end zone after Green Bay scored to take the lead. It’s usually silly to risk a 15-yard penalty in the name of “toughness,” but in this case it was completely justified. I’m sick of seeing teams unload on Rodgers and run over our defense as our players hobble off the field and get put on injured reserve. Fight back. Be mean. Tell the other guys to eff off. You could sense the fans at Lambeau loved seeing some attitude from the team in green and gold, too. And, hey, the Packers weren’t flagged and Wilkerson was ejected for throwing punches.
Mason Crosby
A kicker in the rising category over Aaron Rodgers? Yup, a kicker in the rising category over Aaron Rodgers. I kind of assume everyone recognizes Rodgers as a riser every week, so he has to go on a really good run before I officially put him there. That allows me to recognize players like Crosby, who absolutely drilled a 55-yard field when the Packers were on life support.
Steady
Randall Cobb
Jordy Nelson got all the praise (deservedly so) while Cobb went out and hauled in two touchdown passes and a key two-point conversion. Cobb seems to be having some trouble getting separation from DBs, but he’s been reliable in the red zone when Rodgers needs him most.
Tramon Williams
When the Packers defense was getting run over early, it wasn’t because of Williams. According to Pro Football Focus, Williams was targeted six times on Sunday. He allowed one catch for zero yards and had an important interception. Williams has transformed himself from a really good, yet kinda soft cover corner to a tough-as-nails, do-whatever-it-takes veteran leader in the secondary. It used to be maddening watching Williams get run over in the flat or play soft on opposing WRs. Williams no longer gets run over and he takes on any and all WRs.
Mike McCarthy
As loudmouth bloggers like me, fans at Lambeau and Packers fans in front of their TVs screamed at McCarthy to go for it on a couple of fourth downs in the first half, the coach kicked field goals. I even tweeted this. McCarthy ignored all of it and kept putting points on the board, confident that his team would come around and eventually put it together. They did. If McCarthy wasn’t Mr. Steady and listened to all the crazies like yours truly instead of putting points on the board, the Packers might be 0-2 today. McCarthy was far from perfect on Sunday, but he was steady on those difficult fourth down decisions.
Falling
A.J. Hawk
Remember how awesome it was to see the Packers offense go toe-to-toe with the Jets after Green Bay scored to take the lead? I thought that attitude and toughness would lead to a three-and-out on defense. But on the very first play, Jeff Cumberland (who?) caught a 14-yard pass in front of Hawk. It’s time to see what Sam Barrington can do next to Jamari Lattimore.
Letroy Guion
You can’t tell me that Ryan Pickett isn’t better than Guion.
Jarrett Boykin
Davante Adams appears to have passed Boykin on the depth chart, for now. Boykin got off to a slow start last season and picked it up. Let’s see if he does it again.
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