2018 Green Bay Packers Season Thread: 6-9-1: Mike McCarthy Fired, Philbin Interim HC

[JohnBriggs12]

Pro Football Focus graded-out the Packers’ O-Line as 7th best in the NFL during the regular season.

 

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-2018-nfl-offensive-line-rankings-all-32-teams-units-after-week-17

 

Impossible. Any Packer fan around will tell you that the O-Line is garbage.

 

Interesting stat: 45 out of the 53 times Rodgers was sacked this year, the sack happened later than 2.5 seconds after the snap.

 

There's no question that Rodgers propensity for holding on to the ball looking to make big plays was the cause not only of a lot of sacks but also the need for throwing it away. Worse is that it was often on third and manageable. The running game even against good defenses generally could get them 6-7 yards on first and second down. Converting the 3rd down plays should have been easy. But not with this team and Rodgers deserves most of the blame.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

The fact that PFF graded the Packers offensive line 7th in the NFL is either a damning condemnation of PFF or simply another piece of evidence that offensive line play has truly fallen off a cliff, a sentiment that's been floating around for 3-4 years now.

 

Again, this season was the 2nd worst offensive line I've seen Rodgers play with, 2008 being the one that I think was easily worse. His offensive lines have usually been extremely good, so it's a big of a misleading thing to say, but I absolutely refuse to buy this line as some kind of juggernaut. It's not. It has two very good players in Linsley and Bakhtiari, and just going off the eye test, the others get pushed around routinely.

 

There were a few seasons where Daryn Colledge was the obvious weak link on the OL, and they're playing with 3-4 of him right now. My guess is that as the NFL moved toward being so pass-heavy, teams cheaped out on OL and once you had a blindside protector you could fill the other spots with guys who simply buy you a second or two.

 

But PFF has worn thin with me. Every year we get totally mediocre guys held up by their metric that nobody understands or can explain besides them. QB #13 Tom Brady has looked pretty good this year, lmao. And don't forget S #2 HaHa Clinton Dix! Oh and remember, the Packers signed a top 10 corner when they got Tramon Williams!

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Pro Football Focus graded-out the Packers’ O-Line as 7th best in the NFL during the regular season.

 

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-2018-nfl-offensive-line-rankings-all-32-teams-units-after-week-17

 

Impossible. Any Packer fan around will tell you that the O-Line is garbage.

 

Interesting stat: 45 out of the 53 times Rodgers was sacked this year, the sack happened later than 2.5 seconds after the snap.

 

PFF grades Rodgers 89.9, the highest player on the Packers offense. You're all about PFF when it boots the o-line while their highest graded offensive player is the heart of the problems on offense. Interesting.

[adambr2]

There's no need for you to condescend. I fully realize that Rodgers is still the best player on the Packers' offense and the offensive troubles this year were a cumulative result of numerous things. I simply have pointed out in the past that the offensive line as a whole gets a bad rap from fans, gets underappreciated and isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Could they use an upgrade at guard? Of course.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I'm not sure how that's condescending. In fact, the "That's impossible" comment comes off as a lot more condescending, imo.

[MrTPlush]

Rodgers getting sacked after 2.5 seconds almost every time and all the throw-a-ways proves how absolutely terrible our receivers were at getting open.

 

All that time to generate plays and what did we do with it? NOTHING. Does Rodgers hold onto it too long sometimes and not go for short yardage plays? Sure, but I would argue in every previous year of his career that was just fine. Because when he got extra time he made big things happen more often than not...it worked. It surely didn't work this year when no receiver could get open to make plays.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

With Cobb missing as much time as he did and Jordy Nelson gone (not that he should have been retained) the Packers WRs were noticeably bad at coming back to the ball on broken routes when Rodgers would do his dancing around. It was something I watched for every week and saw as a problem routinely. Even Adams doesn't really do it, as he's more dependent on beating guys with a first move and placing himself perfectly where the ball is going.

 

Allison has learned it, which is why I think Rodgers likes him, but he was hurt most of the year too. The younger guys just never got it. It was one thing that Kumerow did better than almost anybody they had this year. Cobb has made a career out of doing it.

[FVBrewerFan]

Rodgers getting sacked after 2.5 seconds almost every time and all the throw-a-ways proves how absolutely terrible our receivers were at getting open.

 

All that time to generate plays and what did we do with it? NOTHING. Does Rodgers hold onto it too long sometimes and not go for short yardage plays? Sure, but I would argue in every previous year of his career that was just fine. Because when he got extra time he made big things happen more often than not...it worked. It surely didn't work this year when no receiver could get open to make plays.

 

Could mean a lot of things. Maybe the offense was so predictable that defenses knew the routes based on down and distance as much as the receivers did. Also, maybe the initial read was open, but Rodgers surveyed the field looking for a bigger play.

 

Bottom line, new staff needs to look at the film and make changes based on what they're seeing. Passing game just wasn't hitting on all cylinders, and I don't think it was one big thing, it was a lot of small things.

[adambr2]

I'm not sure how that's condescending. In fact, the "That's impossible" comment comes off as a lot more condescending, imo.

 

Maybe if it was directed at you or anyone in particular, but it wasn't. I just hear many fans of of the opinion that basically our O line is trash and we just need to focus on fixing that and we'll be fine. It gets old, because it's not all on them and the truth is we do have at least 3 very solid starters on the line which includes at least one elite one. I can't for the life of me figure out why people want to run Bulaga out of town, who performed well, finally stayed healthy, and isn't expensive.

 

It's a combination of things and unfortunately it was the perfect storm this season. They need more weapons at receiver, Rodgers needs to be a little more coachable and yes we could use an upgrade at guard.

 

I'm at the point where I'm absolutely willing to go all-in on Antonio Brown. We're basically starting over with a 35 year old QB which is not a great place to be, the time to play this conservatively is over.

[LouisEly]

It has two very good players in Linsley and Bakhtiari, and just going off the eye test, the others get pushed around routinely.

The question isn't whether they get pushed around, the question is whether they get pushed around more than the average team. Not trying to be condescending, but how many other teams have you watched as much as the Packers? If the answer is "none", then I don't see how you can definitively tell that they are worse than average. What PFF is giving you is a ranking, not a grade.

 

Rankings are exactly that - they only tell you relative placement. Sometimes they only give you the tallest midget.

[CheezWizHed]

Agreed. I'm sure PFF's ratings need refinement as 7th seems very high to me, but they are simply trying to normalize rating a position where there are no objective stats (sacks and hurries aren't always the fault of the OL). So normalizing at 2.5 seconds isn't perfect, but a way to measure everyone objectively.

 

Frankly, I think Rodgers needs to do his OLine a favor and hit the RB open in the flat every now and then instead of dancing back there waving people around trying to get 20 yards when he needs 5. He should be watching Brees' film this offseason.