Not a lot of people within the organization wanted to talk about it, and even some fans were hesitant to say it, but Sunday was an absolute must-win game for the Green Bay Packers. The Dolphins were massively beat up on their offensive line, didn’t have their starting quarterback, and have struggled on the road this season. Meanwhile, Green Bay at home has been one of the few bright spots for this team.

If Green Bay wanted to have any chance of getting back into the thick of things in the NFC, they had to win vs. Miami. A loss could have and probably would have been catastrophic to both the season, and potentially to Mike McCarthy’s coaching career in Green Bay.

So what do you do when your back is against the wall and you’re in a must-win situation? You get the ball to your best players on offense and put the game in their hands. Green Bay did exactly that on Sunday by specifically featuring Aaron Jones much more prevalently, while also making a concerted effort to find Davante Adams in the red zone. The results spoke for themselves.

Here’s a look at the full grades for the Packers vs. the Dolphins.

Top 3 Offensive Players

Aaron Jones +1.70
Davante Adams +0.95
Corey Linsley +0.90

Top 3 Defensive Players

Kenny Clark +1.45
Jaire Alexander +1.05
Dean Lowry +0.80

A reminder that Kenneth Duane Clark Jr. recently turned just 23 in October. pic.twitter.com/xchFAiDHgM

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 14, 2018

Bottom 3 Offensive Players

David Bakhtiari -1.30
Equanimeous St. Brown -0.60
Byron Bell -0.50

Bottom 3 Defensive Players

Josh Jackson -0.85
Clay Matthews -0.45
Nick Perry -0.45

Quarterback

Aaron Rodgers +0.6

There’s still something just a hair off with Aaron Rodgers and a big piece of evidence was the throw that was well behind MVS on the intermediate crossing route. This was the third week in a row where Rodgers has either been late or completely missed that exact throw. It’s been open all three times and he hasn’t been able to make the play.

MVS has a solid two steps. He throws that ahead of him it’s an easy play. Throws it well behind him. pic.twitter.com/L1dcUoVYpt

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 13, 2018

He’s still playing winning football and he helped Green Bay get out to an early lead, but there are just some missed opportunities that you don’t expect out of Rodgers. He also missed a touchdown late in the game to Davante Adams who beat his man on a post route but Rodgers air-mailed it and it fell incomplete.

Green Bay played better and they deserved to win this game, but Rodgers will have to begin to play at the level he’s capable of if Green Bay wants to make a serious run.

Running Back

Aaron Jones +1.70
Jamaal Williams +0.05

Feed. Aaron. Jones!!!! The snap totals were much more encouraging this week as Jones played 42/57 snaps on offense. When Jones is on the field, good things happen.

.@Showtyme_33 you are a delight.

Tip of the cap to @Linsley71 as well. pic.twitter.com/7DJqYeCrWp

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 13, 2018

Wide Receiver

Davante Adams +0.95
Marquez Valdes-Scantling +0.40
J’Mon Moore -0.40
Equanimeous St. Brown -0.60

MVS didn’t have a monster game but it was his most consistent game from start to finish. He was able to work his way open, made some tough catches, and he continued to earn the trust of Aaron Rodgers.

There are definitely times where Green Bay misses some of their veteran receivers. Davante and MVS should receive the majority of the playing time regardless of who is healthy at wide receiver for Green Bay, but in this game especially, Rodgers and the Packers missed some of the consistency of Cobb & Allison.

Tight End

Jimmy Graham +0.80
Marcedes Lewis +0.30
Lance Kendricks +0.30

Marcedes Lewis had one of the biggest plays of the game when he caught a pass on 3^rd and 2 and took it 30 yards to avoid a three and out. It wasn’t anything spectacular by Lewis but he found himself wide open and made Miami pay for forgetting about him.

Green Bay has to find a way to get Jimmy Graham more involved and Graham needs to do a better job of trying to gain separation from man-to-man coverage. One thing that has been a welcome sight is that Graham has improved his run blocking and specifically his effort when run blocking over the past few weeks. There’s been a noticeable difference.

Nice effort from Kendricks and @TheJimmyGraham. Not necessarily known as road graders. pic.twitter.com/YVYRKK4X3o

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) November 12, 2018

Offensive Line

Corey Linsley +0.90
Bryan Bulaga +0.70
Lane Taylor +0.40
Byron Bell -0.50
David Bakhtiari -1.30

Even the best of the best can have an off day from time-to-time. That was the case on Sunday for David Bakhtiari. He struggled with Robert Quinn who had the right blend of speed and power to give Bakhtiari trouble. When Bakhtiari struggles it’s almost always with power and Quinn and company did a great job of keeping him off balance and never allowing him to get into a rhythm. I have no doubt that Bakhtiari will bounce back big this week against Seattle.

Corey Linsley deserves kudos for a really nice performance and really being one of the key catalysts to Aaron Jones’ big day. Linsley’s efforts often go unnoticed but he’s having a nice season and this was one of his better performances of the year.

.@Linsley71 (63) really is a world class football player. We, as a group, are not talking about it enough, pic.twitter.com/Cq8FG7ayBU

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) November 12, 2018

Defensive Line

Kenny Clark +1.45
Dean Lowry +0.80
Mike Daniels +0.50
Montravius Adams +0.25
Tyler Lancaster +0.10

.@Mike_Daniels76 doing Mike Daniels things. pic.twitter.com/ywJ00Umcum

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 14, 2018

The Dolphins were without the majority of their starting offensive lineman, which made this matchup easier for the Packers defensive lineman, but they were impressive all day long. There was no group more responsible for the Packers’ success on defense than their down linemen.

The last thing I'll say about this one is that @KCBoutThatLife should be your first team All Pro 1T. pic.twitter.com/2OFvI0BkwV

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) November 12, 2018

Kenny Clark continued his monster season and was once again the top graded player on defense. Dean Lowry started slow but was dominant at times in the second half and both Montravius Adams and Tyler Lancaster showed some impressive flashes.

Straight up raw power from mean @DeanLowry94. pic.twitter.com/Qn2gq7cWHx

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 14, 2018

Miami could not move Green Bay’s defensive linemen with any consistency and it was really the reason that they couldn’t get anything going on offense.

Coach: Hey Dean, go take out the center for Kenny...

Dean: pic.twitter.com/1ucwHM61lM

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 14, 2018

Edge

Kyler Fackrell +0.50
Reggie Gilbert -0.30
Clay Matthews -0.45
Nick Perry -0.45

This is the third time this season that Green Bay has had the opportunity to take advantage of some backup offensive lineman. Minnesota and Washington both had a starting tackle out for big portions of their respective games, and Miami was missing both of their starting offensive tackles. Green Bay once again couldn’t take advantage.

Kyler Fackrell continues to perform well and is by far and away the Packers best edge player this season. He’s now seeing increased snaps and will unquestionably continue to do so with Perry being hurt. Fackrell and Matthews are Green Bay’s best edge rusher combo at the moment, and it looks like we could be seeing more of those two together over the next few weeks.

I am going to tread into dangerous water here. If Kyler Fackrell is a useful rotational pass rusher, not only would it not be the first time that it took until year 3 for that to happen at that position but it would also mean he's not a bust. That's a legit pass rush move. pic.twitter.com/uOEmMBCSwd

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) November 12, 2018

Linebacker

Blake Martinez +0.45
Antonio Morrison +0.05

Josh Jones played a decent amount of linebacker in addition to his safety snaps this week, but outside of Martinez and Jones, snaps were tough to come by. Martinez played every snap, while Morrison only played 14. No other linebacker, including Oren Burks, played a snap.

Martinez had a really solid game, especially in the passing game. His instincts in coverage have been better this year and he continues to grow as a player. It’s easy to forget that Martinez is still only 24 years old.

Cornerback

Jaire Alexander +1.05
Tony Brown +0.75
Bashaud Breeland +0.05
Josh Jackson -0.85

I still don't know why Jackson is playing inside, but this would've changed the narrative about his rough day yesterday quite a bit. I want him to try and make that play 10/10 times. He makes that play, GB goes up 21-3 or 17-3 and that game is over. pic.twitter.com/OGgDHt8s0C

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) November 12, 2018

Sam Shields, Tramon Williams, Charles Woodson, and Al Harris were all insanely great cornerbacks when they were playing in their prime in Green Bay. That said, I’m not entirely sure that Jaire Alexander isn’t the most naturally gifted cover corner that I’ve seen in Green Bay during my time watching the Packers. I’m not saying he’s a better overall corner than any of them at this point, because he’s probably not, but from a pure coverage standpoint he’s right up there.

.@JaireAlexander, future All-Pro cornerback. Book it.  pic.twitter.com/yBKTEF8DxA

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 14, 2018

Meanwhile, what a performance off the bench from Tony Brown. I was really happy that Green Bay didn’t part ways with Brown over a couple of questionable penalties. He has natural press coverage skills and incredible speed. It was in very limited action, but he might have the ability to play some serious snaps for the Packers. I have loved what I’ve seen on tape from Brown in his sparse time on the field so far.

I told you I was excited about how @2TonyBrown played on Sunday. These were the first 7 pass plays that he was in for. Impressive stuff!!! pic.twitter.com/HfrIfVUXYN

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 15, 2018

Safety

Josh Jones +0.35
Raven Greene +0.35
Tramon Williams +0.00
Kentrell Brice +0.00

I thought this was the best group performance from the safeties in a game this year. It wasn’t earth shattering but all four players played well when they were in the game. I really like the pairing of Tramon Williams and Josh Jones. Jones looked aggressive and was surprisingly strong in coverage.

Raven Greene was another nice surprise off the bench as he looked like a natural playing safety. How crazy could it be that Williams, Greene and Jones didn’t get any real snaps at safety until recently, but they could be the best three safeties on the team? Either way it was nice to see some solid play from the safety position—if that stays the same it’ll be a huge improvement from earlier in the season.

Let’s play along at home. How would you grade this play by Raven Greene? On the one hand he makes a nice play on the ball, on the other hand he drops a fairly interceptable pass that would have taken points off the board... vote below. pic.twitter.com/mAyrYEAwcE

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 14, 2018

2018 Grades: https://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/grading-the-pack-2018-regular-season-totals-547

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How I Grade

• Each player starts by getting a zero or neutral grade on a play. If they performed as expected on a play, their grade stays at zero.
• For a slightly above or below average play, the player gets graded -0.1 or +0.1. The vast majority of grades on the vast majority of plays are graded -0.1, 0, or +0.1.
• The highest and lowest grades on an individual play are +2.0 and -2.0 respectively. These would be large, game-changing plays.
• I won’t grade a play negatively if I cannot tell which player was at fault.
• Most of the time it’s difficult to tell the play, so I’m not grading on the execution of the play call as an NFL coach would.
• The goal of this exercise is to grade every snap over the course of the season to get a long-term view of which performers are performing well and which are not meeting expectations. This is very similar to what Pro Football Focus tries to achieve. Is it perfect? No. But what you are getting is a consistent grader who is watching specifically Packer games and putting multiple hours into every week to breakdown film and assign grades.
• Grades are for offense and defense only (including two point conversions). Special teams does not factor in.