Packers Snap Counts: Week 9 Vs. The Lions
The Packers lose decisively to a team that is not much better than they are.
The Packers elevated CB Kamal Hadden from the practice squad given that Jaire Alexander was out. Hadden has been on the practice squad since August and was previously elevated for the week four meeting with the Vikings. CB Robert Rochell had been the first CB elevation but he is out of elevations, though Rochell is still on the practice squad. It is not clear what the plan is for Rochell; roster spots are scarce as it is and presumably Marshawn Lloyd and Luke Musgrave are going to return from injured reserve at some point. The healthy scratches and players who did not play should be looking over the shoulders. The inactive players due to injury were CB Jaire Alexander, OC Josh Myers, and S Evan Williams. The healthy scratches were DE Brenton Cox, WR Malik Heath, OT Travis Glover. OT Andre Dillard and QB Malik Willis were active but did not play.
OFFENSIVE LINE:
| Player | Snaps | % | ST |
| Walker | 65 | 100 | 3/14% |
| Morgan | 65 | 100 | 3/14% |
| Rhyan | 65 | 100 | 3/14% |
| Tom | 65 | 100 | 3/14% |
| Jenkins | 65 | 100 | |
| Monk | 3/14% | ||
| Telfort | 3/14% | ||
| Dillard | DNP | DNP |
This looks like the best personnel for the Packers offensive line. The line opened holes for the running backs, particularly Jacobs. The Packers gained 138 yards on 23 carries, for a 6.0-yard average. They allowed just 2 quarterback hits (no sacks) and just 1 tackle for loss. Most of the running plays were "successful" with very few stuffs/stops. The Lions did manage to get some pressures on Love, but they were well within a reasonable number. Jenkins will remember how to snap the ball. The Packers continue to have false start and other pre-snap penalties called on them with far too much regularity.
RUNNING BACKS:
| Player | Snaps | % | ST |
| Jacobs | 36 | 55 | |
| Brooks | 17 | 26 | 5/23% |
| Wilson | 13 | 20 |
Jacobs had another excellent day. He gained 89 yards on 10 carries in the first half, including a 37-yard burst. That is a 5.2-yard average even without the long run. Due to various mistakes, the score held Jacobs to 3 rushing attempts for 6 yards in the second half. If a team wants to pound it on the ground, they have to avoid penalties and mistakes that get the team too far behind to run the ball. It looked like Chris Brooks was the preferred #2 RB early. Brooks got just 1 carry for 4 yards and he caught 2 of his 3 targets for 13 yards. The one he did not catch was on a 3rd and 5 at the Detroit 12-yard line. It looked like a drop to me, and it looked like he probably would have scored a touchdown had he handled the catch cleanly. Instead, the Packers settled for a field goal. The Packers dropped at least 3 passes on third downs to end drives. After getting just 1 carry for 3 yards in the first half, Emanuel Wilson had 3 more carries for 25 yards in the second half and he caught a pass for 1 yard. Brooks looks rock solid in pass protection. Wilson has greatly improved in that department, as well.
QUARTERBACKS:
| Players | Snaps | % | ST |
| Love | 65 | 100 | |
| Willis | DNP |
Love completed 23 of 39 passes (58.97%) for 273 yards (7.0-yards/attempt) with one killer interception (Pick 6) and a 69.7 passer rating. His receivers too often don't do him any favors, although Jayden Reed made a spectacular catch to help out his quarterback. I would add that there were somewhere between 3 and 6 drops, as some might be arguably plays that weren't an outright drop but would have been a nice catch had the receiver come up with it. At least three of the "drops" came on third downs to end drives and a couple left points on the field. Love's adjusted completion percentage could easily be over 70%.
It could be said that the whole team does not do enough favors for Love: long returns on special teams get called back for hold or a block in the back; players decide to field a punt at the half yard line; or there are false starts or illegal motion penalties. Moreover, Love sometimes does himself some disservices. The Packers are not just the youngest team in the NFL, they are also very young at the skill positions that handle the ball, save for Josh Jacobs. Is Love a 4-year veteran entering his 5th season or is he a second-year starter? Love, just before he was about to get sacked, tossed a pass that I thought was a wounded duck to the end zone where Wicks came back for it and turned it into a touchdown. Some observers called that letting your guy go up and make a play and I called it a wounded duck. In today's game, Love tried a little touch pass over the arms of a defender who was about to crush him, but it looked like a wounded duck to Safety Kerby Joseph, who pounced on it for a pick six to make it a 17-3 game. Love was about to be sacked on another play later in the game and once again tossed up another wounded duck along the right sideline which was nearly picked off. Love has to get on the right side of the line that divides making something happen and protecting the ball.
TIGHT ENDS:
| Player | Snaps | % | ST |
| Kraft | 65 | 100 | 5/23% |
| Sims | 12 | 18 | 5/23% |
| Fitzpatrick | 1 | 2 | 5/23% |
Kraft playing every snap is interesting. Kraft caught 4 of 6 passes for 34 yards. On a 3rd and 6 ast the Detroit 28, Kraft just plain dropped a pass which would have good for a first down. McManus promptly missed the 46-yard field goal, so the score remained 7-3, Detroit. He did make some nice blocks. Sims had no targets. He also threw some nice blocks.
WIDE RECEIVERS:
| Player | Snaps | % | ST |
| Doubs | 54 | 83 | |
| Reed | 44 | 68 | 4/18% |
| Watons | 37 | 57 | |
| Wicks | 35 | 54 | |
| Melton | 11 | 17 | 6/27% |
Reed again led the Packers with 113 yards, catching 5 of 6 targets. While I don't think much of his 41-yard reception in the middle of the field with 5 seconds left in the first half and no timeouts, he made a wonderful catch as well. He has no rushing attempts. Watson caught 3 of 7 passes for 37 yards with a long of 19. The announcers said Love overthrew one deep pass, but Watson clearly slowed down and drifted towards the middle of the field only to watch the ball sail over his head. I do not know if Watson lost it in the lights or just made a poor adjustment. I am not even counting that as a drop since he was not near the ball, but he was open and the ball hit the ground. Doubs caught 4 of 5 for 28 yards. Melton caught 1 of 2 passes for 19 yards. Wicks did not catch any of his targets, and one of them was not a drop.
The Packers went 0-4 on third down attempts and 0 for 1 in red zone attempts in the first half, which put them in a hole. The Packers finished 3 of 12 on third downs and 1 of 4 in red zone conversion attempts, thought they converted a two point attempt with a pass to Watson.
DEFENSIVE LINE:
| Player | Snaps | % | ST |
| Clark | 37 | 65 | |
| Slaton | 31 | 54 | 7/32% |
| Wyatt | 26 | 46 | |
| Brooks | 15 | 26 | 8.36% |
| Wooden | 11 | 19 | 4/18% |
| Gary | 36 | 63 | |
| Van Ness | 24 | 42 | 16/73% |
| Enagbare | 22 | 39 | 10/42% |
| Smith | 21 | 37 | |
| Mosby | 5 | 9 | 12/55% |
Slaton had 4 tackles (2 solo) and a costly neutral zone infraction near the goal line. Wyatt had 2 tackles (1 solo) and Wooden had an assisted tackle and a quarterback hit. I believe Wooden left the game. Brooks and Clark had no statistics. The Lions have a justifiably vaunted offensive line. The Lions running backs gained 138 yards on 28 carries for a 4.93 yard average. Since Goff and WR Raymond combined for 4 rushes for -14 yards, the Lions as a team gained 124 yards on 32 carries for a 3.9-yard average. Nonetheless, the Lions made few mistakes and their running backs consistently found good running room (a/k/a huge holes) on their rushing attempts. It was more consistent than spectacular, but it was impressive.
The Packers had 4 quarterback hits altogether: 1 from Gary, 1 from Wooden, 1 from Mosby, and 1 from Nixon. Mosby plain old just beat first team All-Pro Pennie Sewell, which is heartening. Gary and Mosby shared a sack on their hits. Since Goff completed 18 of his 22 passes (81.82%), I suppose that means he was only pressured on at most 3 of his passing attempts. He rushed 3 times for minus 2 yards with a long of zero yards. The driving rain probably prevented the NFL QB with the smallest hands from having a huge day; instead, Goff settled for an extremely efficient completion percentage and 145 passing yards.
LINEBACKERS:
| Player | Snaps | % | ST |
| Walker | 57 | 100 | 4/18% |
| Wilson | 42 | 74 | 15/68% |
| Cooper | 38 | 67 | 5/23% |
| McDuffie | 19 | 33 | 6/27% |
| Hopper | 13/59% |
Walker played every snap. He had 12 tackles (7 solo). Cooper had 6 sacks (3 solo), and he drew a holding penalty while he was on the punt coverage team. Cooper appears to be eating into McDuffie's snaps. McDuffie is still a nice player to have on the roster. He had 5 tackles (1 solo) and a tackle for loss. Eric Wilson had 3 tackles (1 solo). With the penetrating style of the line, there are going to be some gashes. The Lions had runs of 18 and 12 yards. Otherwise, the Lions had consistent, solid gains when they ran the ball. I saw Walker in the same gap with another gap once or twice. I would say the Lions' offensive line won the battle by decision rather than by a knockout.
SECONDARY:
| Player | Snaps | % | ST |
| Bullard | 57 | 100 | 12/55% |
| Nixon | 57 | 100 | 10/45% |
| McKinney | 57 | 100 | 8/36% |
| Stokes | 37 | 65 | |
| Valentine | 35 | 61 | 3/14% |
| Ballentine | 15/68% | ||
| Anderson | 15/68% | ||
| Hadden | 4/18% | ||
| Olapado | 9/41% |
Nixon had 6 tackles (4 solo) and 1 QB hit. He was called for a hold (the kind that often does not get called) and he can't turn his head around, though it probably did not matter on the TD catch he allowed. McKinney had 5 assisted tackles and Bulard had 4 tackles (3 solo). Stokes had 3 solo. Valentine had 3 tackles (1 solo). The Packers' defense only gave up 17 points to the high-powered Detroit offense which had a good run game going and a quarterback with all day to throw. No doubt the weather was an assist, but this seems like a good result to me.
SPECIAL TEAMS:
McManus made 30 and 38 yard long field goals and missed from 45. He had no extra point opportunities since the Packers elected to go for 2 on their only touchdown. Whelan was fine.
TE: 1.20
RB: 1.02
WR: 2.78
OL: 5.01
IDL: 2.10
Edge: 1.89
ILB: 2.73
DB: 4.26
Photo courtesy of Mark Hoffman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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Comments (51)
Razer
November 04, 2024 at 06:35 am
Not sure that I would depict the Lions as "not much better" than the Packers. Lions controlled this game and had us trying to punch above our level. The most glaring disparity was at QB. Seems like Love is regressing. We talk about drops but catching a wet ball thrown half a body behind is not ideal. More importantly, Love is not processing the field info as well as last year. And please - STOP - the desperate interception tosses. Take the sack ffs.
Overall, a very discouraging loss, mostly because we made so many mistakes.
Thegreatreynoldo
November 04, 2024 at 06:58 am
I should probably have written that I don't think the Lions have much if any more talent than the Packers. They do seem to be disciplined (save Branch and the DB guy).
IF (underline if), if the Packers had played a clean game (no more than say 1 drop pass), no more than a couple of penalties of a normal nature, and no turnovers, who wins this game?
The Packers had 411 total yards to 261 for the Lions. TOP was close but in Detroits favor. GB ran more plays.
Packerswire wrote 4 dropped passes on third down: Kraft on the 3rd and 6 play, Brooks at the 5 yard line, Wicks on a 3rd down in Detroit territory and Wicks again in the end zone (though I think that's harsh to call that one a drop). 10 penalties!
Reed had 3 receptions each over 25 yards on 3 different drives. They led to 3 points because of field position.
LLCHESTY
November 04, 2024 at 07:52 am
You can't average a penalty almost every 5 snaps and expect to win, though I think 4 of them were on one drive. The offense really needs to get out of its own way and get rolling. LaFleur also needs to explain to Love what happens to your odds of winning when the opposing defense scores. I saw a stat that Herbert has gone 6 games without an interception, Love really needs to start a streak like that.
Coldworld
November 04, 2024 at 08:54 am
Perhaps, if we actually converted more scoring opportunities then his mindset would be less tilted towards saving plays. It’s circular I suspect. The rest of the team squanders too many scoring opportunities to win (penalties, drops) as you point out. That seems to push Love into a place where these decisions arise.
Thegreatreynoldo
November 04, 2024 at 10:03 am
A couple of the penalties were on special teams. But your point stands.
LLCHESTY
November 04, 2024 at 11:33 am
My mistake, I thought I read there were 10 just on offense not 10 overall. I think Valentine had one on defense too.
jlc1
November 05, 2024 at 03:05 pm
And everything is in that underlined if. Until we don't expect this team to beat itself Detroit, and too many other disciplined teams, are better teams. I for one am not expecting discipline soon, certainly not after the bye week. MLF teams are far too often really flat after time off during the season or postseason.
Guam
November 04, 2024 at 08:22 am
".....we made so many mistakes."
The Packers ran 65 offensive plays plus another 9 that were called back due to penalties - 74 offensive snaps overall. Of those 74 snaps, 9 were penalties, 5 were drops, 3 were bad snaps, 1 was a pick six and 1 was a missed field goal. That's 19 mistakes in 74 plays - 25% of the Packer offensive plays were miscues. You can't win a ball game with that many screw ups.
LaFleur, the offensive coaching staff, and the offensive players need to focus their bye week on cleaning up these errors. Otherwise this season is going to be a long one for them and the fans.
Coldworld
November 04, 2024 at 12:17 pm
In the end one has to ask did the Packers have enough talent to beat the Lions? In my opinion they do but not all of it was on the field and the Lions were better prepared mentally and organizationally on offense in particular. This is not the first time that has been the case when a LaFleur team had faced a good opponent playing well.
At some point the scaled tip and repeated inability to make a team better not worse than the sum of its parts overtakes the appreciation for good tv communication and some sporadically clever play design.
I think I finally passed the rubicon on rewatching this. LaFleur is not going to lead a team to a Superbowl. He may just get very lucky and ride one, but he won’t lift them above their potential against a good team that plays to its level. It’s going to be a long, wasteful, painful waste of this roster till that sinks in.
NFLfan
November 04, 2024 at 09:35 am
@R-Love is injured though fans and GB staff keep their heads in the sand.
NickPerry
November 04, 2024 at 06:36 am
Thanks TGR... The pick 6 Love threw was as boneheaded of a play as the other pick 6 he threw this year. He's been starting for 2 years and in the NFL 5 years. Starter or not, he HAS to know he can't throw that ball! Love was compromised yesterday and it showed on that pick 6.
Love should have never played in this game. I think Willis would have given them a better chance to win, especially in the conditions they played in.
SicSemperTyrannis
November 08, 2024 at 12:13 am
Even if Willis wouldn't have given them an outright better chance to win. JL10's strained groin can't be improved for the outing, and the offense with Willis at QB is very different. If it worked that's one thing, and if it didn't they could have brought JL10 in. I thought that was the obvious strategy, Monday before this game.
fireball
November 04, 2024 at 06:38 am
Wow. Talk about a bad game by the Packers.
And I'm getting real tired listening to Love talk about how he has to clean up his interceptions.
And the endless penalties by the Packers.
The Packer defense actually only gave up 17 points, but the vaunted Love and his 55 million dollar a year contract could not overcome that?
Of course, obviously, Matt LaFleur should have started Willis instead of Love. But I knew he wouldn't. And he stayed with Love, worse yet.
Ahead of time, I was pretty sure Detroit would win. Even so, it pisses me off.
Cheezehead72
November 04, 2024 at 06:52 am
Love has learned that from his HC. How many times have heard MLF say that he needs to call more running plays and then he goes to passing the ball.
Since'75
November 04, 2024 at 06:42 am
Ironic that pre game opinion had the Lions at a disadvantage because of the wind and rain, when in reality, it looked like the Packers, the weather caused problems for.
GregC
November 04, 2024 at 07:20 am
And it was such a glaring difference. It looked like the Packers were playing in the rain and the Lions were not. The Packers practiced in the pouring rain on Thursday, and it didn't do them any good. I think the difference is that the Lions were playing within themselves. The Packers were pressing and trying to do too much. The Lions receivers were catching routine passes. The Packers were trying to catch deep passes and passes that were thrown hard that they had to reach for. Still too many drops, but you are asking for trouble playing that kind of football on a wet day.
PeteK
November 04, 2024 at 09:12 am
The many penalties prevented us from running the ball more, which would have made a big difference.
Coldworld
November 04, 2024 at 09:44 am
Not converting scoring opportunities and handing them 6 did the bulk of it. Jacobs was averaging 7 yards per carry through the first half, but I do agree sometimes we took ourselves out of even that range.
Thegreatreynoldo
November 04, 2024 at 12:03 pm
Jacobs averaged 8.9 yards per carry in the first half. Without the 37 yard run it was still 5.2 per carry. Jacobs gained 6 yards on 2 carries in the 2nd half.
T7Steve
November 04, 2024 at 06:47 am
65 snaps to 57. Do the snaps during a penalty other than pre-snap count TGR? If those count, all the penalties would even out the snaps pretty close.
Drops and penalties were the difference between the wins against the lesser opponents. Can't overcome the turnover pick six with all those against a good team.
I think the D line held up against what was being proclaimed the best O-line in the NFL. They didn't beat them, but I didn't see them getting pushed too far to affect the LBs who should have been able to plug the holes and take time from Goff.
I think the Lions seemed to be just coasting and not chancing turnovers. They seemed able to move down the field (except for a couple nice stops by the D in the third) if they really wanted to do anything but use up the clock.
Thegreatreynoldo
November 04, 2024 at 07:04 am
It depends on whether the play counted. Offsetting penalties, repeat first down for example is not a play. False starts don't count as a play. Offside but the officials let the play go are plays if the penalty is not accepted. If it is accepted, then it is not a snap. I probably should be able to convey this explanation better, but I hope you get the idea.
T7Steve
November 04, 2024 at 07:39 am
You did good, I understand. Thanks.
It's what I thought. Pre-snap, no count. During play, count (offensive/defense holding type). Same with special team plays although if on returns there's no extra snap added.
Cheezehead72
November 04, 2024 at 06:50 am
How can you start off the article with "looks like the best personnel for the offensive line"? We have not tried every combination. Maybe you meant looks like the best personnel that we have seen so far. I stand by my comment last week that they should have used Monk at center and left all other players alone. Jenkins had bad snaps. He is good but he is a parttime center and a better guard. Yes Monk might have had bad snaps in those conditions but I do not remember Detroit having a bad snap. Once again there were too many penalties o the O-line. They did block good for the RBs but we have a play caller that likes to call passing plays. First and goal and he calls 3 passes then tries to run it in.
Speaking of the HC in those conditions Love should not have played. Love was able to drop back and stay in the pocket and pass the ball but think of what might have happened if we had a QB that was a treat to run the ball and did not have a groin injury. MLF if you did not notice it was raining hard and the wind was blowing. Willis would have been a better choice.
Recievers must catch the ball. I will leave it at that. You cannot win if you are dropping the ball. The RBs showed up. MLF should have used them more.
The defense held them to 24 points. Oh thats right actually it was 17 points because Love threw a pick 6. Overall they did their job. Yes they need to learn how to tackle. They allowed too many good runs but they did get some good stops. They were inconsistent. The pass defense was good considering Williams and Alexzander were out.
Overall I would like to know what might have happened if we started Willis or at least brought him in after the pick 6.
Thegreatreynoldo
November 04, 2024 at 07:27 am
I stand corrected. You are technically accurate. I had not really considered Monk (I did remember reading your comment a few days ago). Then again, I gave Dillard and Glover no consideration, either. Monk seemed worth keeping after watching him in TC and preseason. I am not sure where he is at now.
Coldworld
November 04, 2024 at 08:57 am
Monk needs a year in the weight room and nutrition plan. I think he could be decent, but he needs more mass/power as well as some more honing at C. Smaller school guy who only recently switched to C. This O is very much more complex and he needs more functional strength.
Guam
November 04, 2024 at 10:47 am
TGR: The fact that the Packers moved Jenkins to center rather than play Monk is a pretty good indication the coaching staff believes Monk isn't ready yet. I like Monk as a fifth round pick, but as both ColdWorld and I have noted he likely needs a development year before he is ready to play. Don't know if he lacks functional strength to handle NFL DTs yet or he is not good with the line calls in a more complex offense than they ran at Duke or some other issue, but the coaching staff has twice preferred to shift around Jenkins and others rather than insert Monk.
dobber
November 08, 2024 at 07:58 am
I suspect the calculus isn't Monk > Jenkins or Jenkins > Monk as much as it is (across the interior): Jenkins-Monk-Rhyan/Morgan < Morgan-Jenkins-Rhyan
T7Steve
November 04, 2024 at 07:50 am
Jenkins might miss a snap or two for now, but I think he's the one that knows best and should be making the line blocking calls all the time, even when Myers or Monk is playing center. The line might be able to see the center better and since the center's out front might be able to see better so maybe Jenkins should keep that job.
I thought it strange that last week they moved Ryan to the left and this week kept him at right. The inside run blocking did seem improved, however.
Coldworld
November 04, 2024 at 09:02 am
It may be that this week Morgan had some practice at left and Rhyan is more used to right now. It showed how much better we could be in the run game. How many RB yards if we don’t implode in the second quarter?
After a smart play last week Brooks had the dumbest non QB play yesterday when he ran down the clock not getting out of bounds just prior to half time. He also dropped an easy catch for that killed a red zone drive and likely would have bern a n easy TD. E. Wilson just reminded his why he should be the second RB in line to run the ball or receive it.
RCPackerFan
November 04, 2024 at 07:02 am
A few thoughts...
RUNNING BACKS:
Brooks 17 Wilson 13
This is interesting to me. Brooks has essentially overtaken the 2nd RB position.
I am hoping Lloyd can come back after the bye. I think he would add a spark to the backfield.
WIDE RECEIVERS:
Wicks 35 Melton 11
Do we need to have a conversation of if Melton should start getting more snaps and taking snaps away from Wicks? Wicks has not been consistent enough. He has the ability to get open but if he can't catch the passes when he does, whats the point. I consider he had 2 drops. 1 for the TD, and one would have been a first down. I get the TD was behind him, but he was able to get his hands on it. Have to pull it in. Lets not forget the QB is playing injured as well. Help your QB out.
DEFENSIVE LINE:
Mosby got 5 snaps and had a sack on one of them. I don't know how many attempts he had at rushing the QB in those 5 snaps. I know the talk is that Sewell tripped over his RG. Which he did trip, but it was Mosby's power that really knocked him off balance. Something about Mosby reminds me of Za'Darius. I would like to see him get more opportunities. Especially when the other DE's are struggling.
SECONDARY:
Quick note. Oladapo played. I saw him on ST's.
Thegreatreynoldo
November 04, 2024 at 07:34 am
Olapado: 9 plays/41% on STs. Missed him. Oops.
I love Wicks' potential. I had this same back and forth with Coldworld. Can't say that his ability to get open offsets the sheer number of drops. My thought is and has been that he just needs to play through it. My perseverance is running thin. Can Melton/Heath give us more if they got some or most of Wicks' snaps? Still a lot of games to go. We really need a WR to step to be a volume receiver - or spread it around, I guess. It would be nice to have something, a go to, in difficult situations.
RCPackerFan
November 04, 2024 at 08:57 am
No worries. i just wanted to add that.
I kind of wonder if Wicks is one of those guys that you need to get the ball to early in the game to get his mind in it. We have had WR's that way before. You have to get them engaged early.
Yesterday probably from the rain, but we had 2 of our most reliable hands drop passes. Doubs and Kraft both dropped passes.
jannesbjornson
November 04, 2024 at 09:48 am
Wicks is the #5 guy, at best. If you dropped one ball, Holmgren would have them on the pines.
WD
November 04, 2024 at 07:33 am
Way too many penalties! The worst was when Detroit was 4th and goal and the Packers were drawn offside by the snap count. Then the next play Lions scored a TD. Unbelievable! Detroit didn't embarrass us the Packers embarrassed themselves. Then there were the dropped passes....only by the Packer receivers. College scouts before the draft indicated that Wicks dropped a lot of passes in college. Just sayin.
Secondly, stop playing a QB that has lost his mobility! Even the announcers were questioning the wisdom of that coaching decision. Obviously Malik should have started the 2nd half. In fact in hindsight he should have started from the beginning. Jordon has temporarily lost his ability to throw on the run without aggravating the injury which obviously has not healed. Thank God for the bye. I get tired of how hearing how every loss is a learning opportunity. The problem is they are not learning!
tobinrote
November 04, 2024 at 08:01 am
TGR is being somewhat kinder to Love than I would have been. This game was actually winnable, with the D holding the Lions to 17, but for Love killing it, or perhaps MLF killing it by playing Love. we are stuck with an overpriced underperforming QB and I see no remedy. Love consistently is slightly off on routine throws, and yes true is receivers did him no favors yesterday, and off big time with his decision making. Like TGR i saw two potential pick sixes that just by a hair did not happen. One wonders what Love is seeing or not seeing that leads him to make those bad decisions, and bad throws.
Thegreatreynoldo
November 04, 2024 at 10:27 am
I guess. A while back I criticized Love's TD pass to Wicks at the goal line while Love was falling backwards and under heavy duress. I thought he just chucked it up there but Andy Herman defended it for the most part. And I watched Mike Wahle and he just said Love threw a 50/50 ball so his guy could go make a play on it, and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't - you just have to live with it. Of course, Wahle played with Brett Favre, so he got accustomed to bad decisions.
It just looks to me like Love makes bad decisions under pressure. Just take the sack or be decisive and throw it away a little sooner. The internal clock needs to speed up a bit.
Coldworld
November 04, 2024 at 08:49 am
Overall I don’t care too much about the opponents. We can’t control how good they are or how well prepared. We knew this Lions team was playing very well. We knew it was organized.
I care how we play with respect to our potential. This season it’s not been close to the level I would see as par. We are, collectively underperforming. Despite stand out individual performances, the team as a whole contrives to either shoot it self down or just make the game tight against lesser opposition about 90% of the time.
To me, that’s the definition of a team badly coached and prepared: when there’s more talent out there than results suggest. When that talent can’t gel in unison and worse, when there’s some better talent healthy and sitting. Worse still when we don’t seem to learn from play that that is the case.
This season has started to highlight what LaFleyr is good at and it’s not leadership or personnel or even standard game plans. It’s tinkering with gadget calls on a white board. About the only time he’s stood out is his game plan for Willis. Even in that he showed his real caution.
What we saw yesterday confirmed that Walker is not the best MIke, individually or as a group leader. We also saw that Myers missing produced perhaps the best half of run blocking by a Packers OL since Linsley departed. We also saw that E Wilson is the second back we should want getting the ball and that Wicks is going to drop critical passes.
Not one of those things likely surprises anyone, or shouldn’t if they have eyes open. Yet it seems to surprise this coaching staff, be it LaFleur, Haffley or Stenavich. If you don’t put the best talent out there then in this league you don’t win when it matters.
This team had the talent to beat the Lions yesterday but was not constructed or prepared in a way to deliver on it. That could be the epitaph for the LaFleur era. It’s been consistent when we are truly tested for 2/3 of a decade.
T7Steve
November 04, 2024 at 09:43 am
You're not wrong but, that's pretty stiff judgement for a man coaching the youngest team. Should they have learned more about how to coach them? Maybe, but it's something that will go up and down, good and bad, but I think gradually on the rise. injuries will have a bigger roll on this team than an older team that can surround its youngsters with vets.
The youth's no excuse on the O-line, however, where they aren't so young anymore.
Coldworld
November 04, 2024 at 09:47 am
We were the youngest team last year. We are 9 games in. There were how many rookies on O anyway? Is it the rookies mostly penalized? I think that excuse is a lot thinner than you do. Threadbare now really.
T7Steve
November 04, 2024 at 10:17 am
No. I wasn't giving the coaches an excuse or pass on the youth. Just that the team as a whole is trending upward. Not steadily, but up and down, generally up. And for sure not on the O-line.
Thegreatreynoldo
November 04, 2024 at 10:33 am
I agree with you on the offensive line personnel.
I agree on w you the ILB personnel.
I agree with Valentine over Stokes.
Hafley's results are pretty good, so.....
I suppose LaFleur's results are pretty good, but....
SicSemperTyrannis
November 08, 2024 at 12:26 am
For two seasons I've said that MLF's strengths are all at OC and his weaknesses are all at HC. I was really hoping he'd take on somebody as HC and drop to OC, move Stenavich to O line, but no I didn't think that would actually happen.
NFLfan
November 04, 2024 at 09:48 am
30% of the GB Defensive players are subpar: (And, most of these sub-par players are concentrated together rendering those 'rooms' inconsequential)-corner and pass rush
Would the Lions be choosing to play Valentine, Stokes, Nixon, Gary, Smith, LVN, Walker, Slaton, McDuffie?
I think Gary would have been disciplined by a Lion's coach by now.
So, GB has to rely on 'take-aways' and over-reliance on Williams, McKinney, Wilson.
The Offensive players are too young and inexperienced to carry the spotty Defense.
Guam
November 04, 2024 at 10:53 am
So the defense holds a Lion's offense that has been averaging over 40 points per game in the last four games to just 17 points and our offense only scores 14 points (and gives away 7 points), but the defense is to blame for this loss? Seriously?????
Bitternotsour
November 04, 2024 at 10:15 am
Third and 7 inside the 50 Detroit KNOWS it's going for it on 4th down. Third down inside the 50 and Matt LaFleur's testicles are sucking up inside his abdominal cavity.
Coldworld
November 04, 2024 at 11:52 am
That 46 yard field goal attempt was against the wind too I believe. Just a little more salt in the wound if true.
Dick-theBruiser-Afflis
November 04, 2024 at 11:18 am
The overall season MISTAKE - Love (Love 32nd in Interception to Pass Attempt %, 4.2% - DEAD LAST) and ACCURACY statistics generated over 9 games on "smallest hands" Goff (1st 74.9%) and 7 games on Love (30th, 61.3%) cleanse us of the propaganda and bullsh*t excuses and leave us with truth and reality.
The law of large sample sizes and big numbers washes out lies and bullsh*t and any week to week aberrations, deviations from the norm, unusual occurrences and gives us the NORM.
This loss is 95% on Love. And the Lions win 95% on Goff.
Of any position the QB has the greatest influence on what happens in the game.
The emotional swing and momentum swing the QB can create in such a physical adrenalin drive sport dwarfs everything else.
Once again, Jordan created that emotion and momentum swing with his idiotic play - Jordan is what he was when Gutekunst drafted him - the QB that led all of college football - FBS and FCS - in interceptions in 2019-20 season.
I feel sorry for Jordan, because he is a nice kid and pretty honest in his press conferences, including yesterday's after the Lions game.
I don't feel sorry for Gutekunst at all.
Gutekunst has destroyed what was a Super Bowl contender and pissed on and disrespected Packer veteran after Packer veteran, destroying team leadership and chemistry in the process - Gutekunst does that because he fears the power of veterans leadership in the locker room and he is insecure in his position as GM and knows he never deserved to be in that position in the first place.
Gutekunst makes these bold, head scratching, antagonistic, unpredictable choices in an attempt to offset the correct perceived reality that Gutekunst never played the game at any high level and has no idea of what is going on in terms of team leadership in the locker room and off the field and on the field.
The Gutekunst paid propagandists and those needing access to the locker room and 1265 Lombardi Avenue to make their $$ will continue to make excuses for Jordan - "rust", "injured", "receivers dropping passes", "poor protection", "poor play calling", "interceptions are ok" and sophist style comparisons to the "Gunslinger" Favre, without telling you that the only years the Packers made it to the NFC championships and Super Bowls were the years Favre had his lowest interception to pass attempt % percentages.
"It is all about the people" - the fish out of water Gutekunst doesn't get this . His couple paid propagandists in this commentary section go into hiding in the immediate aftermath of the obvious when reality is most clear. They will be back after new propaganda is issued and disseminated from above to distract, befuddle and confuse the loyal fan base.
Last year at this time Gutekunst got rid of veteran locker room leader Rasul Douglas who saved several games for the Packers and has been great with Buffalo since joining them.
In the offseason Gutekunst got rid of the 7 year Veteran Packer and loyal locker room leader Aaron Jones screwing Jones over $1 million guaranteed - soon after paying NFL record $75 million guaranteed signing bonus to then under contract for 2024-25 after Jones 2 years in a row had renegotiated his contracts for the team.
After Gutekunst's illogical drafting of Jordan in 2020 - now a sunk cost - In a logic driven world now in November 2024, the Packers should have both Jacob and Jones and the Packers should be evaluating Jordan Love to see how the Packers can get some value from him. But we are in "Gute World", so what does "Gute" do next - trade Malik? trade Jaire? trade Doubs?
The Pack - the men in the locker room - wili also be back despite the propagandists and Gutekunst's destruction.
Go Pack Go.
Coldworld
November 04, 2024 at 11:53 am
Repeating this post multiple times?
Dick-theBruiser-Afflis
November 04, 2024 at 01:36 pm
Ah the Gutekunst Blog Monitor Police has arrived.
A paid Gutekunst propagandist appears in each article to scapegoat Lafleur, the kickers, the defensive coordinator, etc. etc. to protect Gutekunst from the criticism he deserves.
18,645 posts you have there I see - with that number of posts you either have no life or are paid to be here for "public relations"/propaganda purposes, no different than any other political or business blog.
There is no one close to you on this Packers blog in number of posts and you appeared around the same time Gutekunst did.
You are a piece of work and certainly not a true Packer fan.
Coldworld
November 04, 2024 at 04:18 pm
That number of posts is over a very long time. Well before Gute was made GM. They were all different too. Something you should work on.
Thegreatreynoldo
November 04, 2024 at 12:27 pm
Something different: PFF grades for the Lions
(snaps first in parenthesis):
53/WR Amon-Ra St. Brown – 82.7
48/TE Sam LaPorta – 79.4
57/RG Kevin Zeitler – 78.7
57/RT Penei Sewell – 76.8
57/QB Jared Goff – 76.2
The highest graded Lions all played a ton of snaps - over 90%.
44/WR Tim Patrick – 60.9
57/LG Graham Glasgow – 60.7
22/RB Jahmyr Gibbs – 58.6
22/WR Kalif Raymond – 51.0
34/TE Brock Wright – 49.7
65/FS Kerby Joseph – 87.7
60/LB Jack Campbell – 78.5
62/CB Carlton Davis – 78.5
65/LB Alex Anzalone – 72.5
54/DT Alim McNeill – 70.6
Lowest PFF-graded defensive players
28/CB Amik Robertson – 40.0
10/DT Chris Smith – 39.8
36/OLB James Houston – 37.4
11/DE Pat O’Connor – 30.1
33/DE Al-Quadin Muhammad – 29.9
PFF Thinks I'm An Idiot:
12/ TE Ben Sims: 83.2
13/ RB Emanuel Wilson: 77.3
44/ WR Jayden Reed: 77.3
65/ LT Rasheed Walker: 73.3
65/ RT Zach Tom: 73.3
35/ WR Dontayvion Wicks: 40.6
54/ WR Romeo Doubs: 43.5
65/ RG Sean Rhyan: 51.5
17/ RB Chris Brooks: 53.6
65/ C Elgton Jenkins: 56.5
Tom allowed 2 pressures and had a false start but still got a good grade. Wicks had 2 drops and no catches. Doubs had a drop and a false start. Rhyan allowed 2 pressures, had a false start, and graded poorly in the run grade. Brooks had a drop but was a good pass blocker. Jenkins graded poorly as a run blocker and had 3 bad snaps.
Love's grade was 68.3. He had an adjusted completion percentage of 80. He was dinged for INT and mishandled snaps and for struggling when pressured. JOrdan Morgan's grade was 62.6. Je allowed 4 pressures including the QB hit during which Love tossed his INT. Morgan threw some good run blocks but was inconsistent and he was flagged for holding. [How does all that get a slightly above average grade? PFF did not like the run blocking of Morgan, Jenkins or Rhyan. How then did the Packers run over the Lions in the first half? And if the run blocking was so bad, why isn't Josh Jacobs in the top offensive graded players? I don't understand how these things can all be true.]
19/ LB Isaiah McDuffie: 89.5
21/ DE Preston Smith: 72.7
57/ S Javon Bullard: 71.3
35/ CB Carrington Valentine: 67.2
57/ S Xavier McKinney: 65.7
15/ DL Karl Brooks: 32.8
42/ LB Eric Wilson: 38.6
37/ DL Kenny Clark: 39.7
57/ LB Quay Walker: 50.4
24/ DE Lukas Van Ness: 51.5
Some of lowest graded players played a lot of snaps. McDuffie was far and away the highest graded player against the run. [Is that an oops on my part? Wilson supposedly was awful. I haven't been much of a fan of Quay. Very mixed bag here on my part at LB.] Bullard didn't allow a catch and was good against the run. [Nice to see Bullard bounce back.] Valentine missed a tackle but did not allow a completion in 15 coverage snaps.
Brooks was bad against the run. Eric Wilson struggles against the run, missed a tackle and allowed 3 completions. Clark had no pressures and was bad against the run. Walker tackled well but struggled against the run. [Does that mean Quay missed his gaps and/or didn't take on blockers?] Quay allowed SIX completions. LVN had a pressure and a run stop but missed 1 tackle. [I don't understand why Quay is as high as he is and why LVN is as low as he is - 1 missed tackle?]