Special teams were once again atrocious, and McCarthy needs to fire Slocum yesterday, but this loss gets blamed squarely on the offense.
My top concern isn't Jordy Nelson's patented 7-yard kick returns, or Mason Crosby, or the injuries to Clay Matthews and Jermichael Finley and half of the defense. No, my top concern is that our amazing quarter-back Ronnie Rodgers has spent the majority of this young season ignoring his best wide receiver - Greg Jennings.
Sure, he's got a few touch-downs, but Jennings has disappeared for insanely-long stretches of play, as has the offense as a whole, and those two droughts almost always correlate. Jennings is a weapon that must be used. I watch other teams and most of them actually target their top wide-out. Not the Packers, though. I find it hard to believe he is really being double- or triple-teamed on every snap, and even if he is drawing extra attention, there are ways to feed him any-ways. It's baloney. What good is spreading the ball around to 15 different receivers if you can't score points? Better I think, to use your best weapons more heavily.
Maybe this is on Greg, and I'll have to watch more VHS tape to see if I can pick some-thing up, but I've got to think this is a game-planning deal here by Mike McCarthy. Or maybe Rodgers isn't looking at him when he's the primary read. I don't know. What I do know is Greg Jennings isn't touching the ball enough, and the offense hasn't been producing like it should.That unit basically had three shots to win the game, and they managed one long field goal that hit the post. Un-acceptable.
What else stood out?
- Terrible start. Pat Lee almost fumbles the kick-off. Donald Lee does fumble. Jermichael gets hurt. Ouch.
- Jenkings, Mike Neal and Raji got some good pressure and McNabb looked off all game... at least until Clay Matthews got injured. Then the pass-rush disappeared. Go figure.
- Brandon Jackson ran well, and I finally pegged it: He looks and runs like Wicket the Ewok, from the teeth to the scampering, bouncing style of play. Maybe that's a good thing. Or maybe it's like Marshall Falk said a few weeks ago, that he 'runs to darkness'... I think that's a valid criticism, but we do need to run more, especially when Rodgers is stinking it up.
- If Mike McCarthy was an Ewok, he probably wouldn't use his spear or any of his booby-traps, even though they were his best available weapons.
- I put down at least 8 tacos today, so it wasn't a total loss.
That's all I got folks, good-night,
FG
