Oh No! Two In A Row!

Packers Fold To Field Goal For 2nd Straight OT Loss

Dolphins 23 - Packers 20

It seems like 2008 all over again. Remember 6-10? Remember losing every close game by 4 or less points? Injuries are no excuse. The Packers have the talent but simply are not executing.

Grading The Game At A Glance...

Offense: The o-line woes seem to be quietly carrying on without much media attention. It seems QB Aaron Rodgers is being asked to make the quick strike, throw the ball away, or get the heck out of dodge within 3 seconds of every snap. On defense, it's not a hard task to cover the field for 3 seconds, but beyond that it becomes a challenge to keep track of improvising receivers. 5 seconds. That's all it took for wide receiver Greg Jennings to gain enough separation to bring in a career long 86 yard TD catch on Sunday. If Rodgers can get that kind of time in the pocket, we can expect elite QB numbers like last season, when he had 30 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, and a QB rating of 103.2. This year, through 6 weeks, Rodgers has 10 Td's and 7 INT's, and a QB rating of 89.7. Those are not elite stats, and frankly, it's nowhere near the level Green Bay needs to see in order to pull off a pass-happy scheme. It all comes down to blocking up front. This translates into the running game as well. On the ground, halfback Brandon Jackson did average 4.4 yards per carry but saw the ball just 12 times for 53 total yards. Again, I'm puzzled by coach McCarthy's game plan, as Miami's primary weakness on defense is against the run. The media is routinely fed lines about how the Green Bay coaching staff is comfortable with its running game. It's time to put up or shut up. Opposing defenses no longer respect even the remote possibility of a run in a critical 3rd and short situation, which is evident in Green Bay's poor conversion numbers: 3-13 on 3rd down. Laughable. Despite some big plays, dropped passes and missed blocks up front again spelled defeat down the stretch. C

Defense: I have to admit, this rag-tag squad of substitutes really hung in there. "Bend don't break" is the motto. There was a lot of bending, as Miami earned 15 first downs through the air, and 8 on the ground, but Green Bay routinely did not break. The Dolphins were just 6-14 on 3rd down. The Packers even forced a turnover on a critical 4th down stop, and CB Tramon Williams nabbed his 2nd interception of the season. Down the stretch, however, the Packers allowed 150 rushing yards on 39 carries which again skewed the time of possession in favor of the opponent, 37:56 to 28:03. For the second straight week, the final blow came in overtime, when Miami muscled its way into field goal range and kicker Dan Carpenter handed down an all-to-familiar verdict. Sudden death. In the end, the Packers spent 4 quarters bending, and finally broke in OT. C

Special Teams: Two plays of note here. The first was a penalty on LB Robert Francois, who was flagged for lining up too close over the center on a Miami punt. The penalty provided 1st down yardage, and gave Miami possession after what was an otherwise timely 3 and out forced by Green Bay's defense. Coach McCarthy, Coordinator Shawn Slocum, and Francois himself have publicly bemoaned this call, stating they made a point to emphasize the possibility of this penalty, and that Francois was in fact lined up legally. The rule, enacted this past offseason, states that if a defensive man is lined up over center on a punt, he must be over a yard back from the line of scrimmage. Pictures will show Francois was 2 yards back. All bitching aside, the fact is that on a punt-defend play, where Francois would end up dropping back into coverage almost immediately anyway, he should have been instructed to be 3, 4, even 5 yards back. No amount of photo evidence can reverse this extremely detrimental penalty. The second play of note, and the real problem for Sunday's special teams effort, was a terrible 37 yard punt by Tim Masthay in overtime that gave Miami the ball at their own 48 yard line. This sealed the loss for the packers. F

Again, the split goes to the low grade because the team ultimately lost this contest. D+

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In my game preview, I believe I said that despite Miami's average of 16.5 points per game, Green Bay should expect to have to put up more than 23 points to win this game. Sometimes being correct is a tough pill to swallow, as the Packers fell in OT 23-20. This week, I'll try to take a deeper-than-usual look at Green Bay's next matchup, which is at home versus Mr. Photogenic and his Minnesota Vikings. I don't want to give anything away, but I'm not too optimistic going into this one. Packers Fans should take solace in the fact that we've now entered the heavy, craft-brew season...