Game 5: Pack at Dallas - 3:25 FOX

[HKPackFan]

I didn't watch any preseason for a change but my brother said Jones looked legit in preseason and he read somewhere IN PRESEASON, that the coaching staff likes the way he runs, because his running style, FITS EXACTLY with GB's running scheme so look for Jones to eventually start getting more PT.

I don't think they waited too long. I'm sure they've been watching him progress every day and once they felt he was ready to handle some of the assignments they put him in there.

I love the Jones/Ty mix. Jones can be the cowbell, and Ty be the back with lots of options and potential for trickery with screens and flats and stuff. A bit like Lacy/Starks, but with a lot more potential with Ty's receiving skills.


I also need to apologize to Davante, I was so hyped about him in his sophmore season I was disgusted and ready to vomit with his horrible second year. He came back last year, and this year he's been amazing. Some really difficult grabs he's made in critical moments.

Also, I don't care if Janis plays offense ever again, but if he can pull off some of those awesome special teams plays he's the new Jarret Bush and that's a big complement.

[HKPackFan]

I also watched this on tape delay and stealth watched at work, and was literally having heart palpitations watching the last couple of drives of that game. I had a crazy amount of stress, and adrenaline rush and it actually took me a while to calm down.

And OMG Rodgers is just on another level. LIKE OMG, It's **** incredible. Enjoy this guys, as a fan of football it doesn't better than the QB play we are watching right now.

Sometimes I see the opponent's WRs and they have no one around them for a couple yards, the opposing QB has nice big windows to throw into, and then you see Rodgers with these tight windows of basically a defender on top of the WR but rodgers finds a few inches of space here or there and makes a play. It's absolutely incredible. I don't know, have we seen this type of QB play before. It's mind boggling. Unbelievable.

[thomchatt3rton]

I think the topic that's being overlooked here is we now have a legitimate 1 - 2 punch. I was never sold on Williams. He didn't do a single thing other than pass block. Now, with Jones spelling a healthy Monty (and we can now let Monty get healthy w/ Jones showing an ability to gain yards) or mixing a Monty/Jones backfield...we have a legitimate backfield. To me, that's the real story.

We have that legit 1-2 punch if Jones is legit, yes.

You're not wrong- having two quality backs is great. Not only does it make for a good backfield but in addition, it gives us the flexibility to put Ty back at WR, should that become necessary or desirable.

[bizarro]

The Packers are 4-1 and they've been beat up since week 1. This is a time to celebrate. Who'd have thunk after this inauspicious start to the season - blessed with W's over L's - I'd be most lamenting the long snapper situation?!?!?

[HKPackFan]

This is for your Rileman. Make sweet love to this one line.....

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/10/8/16445474/aaron-rodgers-green-bay-packers-comeback-win-dallas-cowboys


Aaron Rodgers, Lord of the One-Man Comeback, Crushed the Cowboys by Himself Again
The Packers never seem to give their QB what he needs—but he manages to perform the most astonishing feats when he’s all alone


The Dallas Cowboys scored with 1:13 remaining to take a 31–28 lead on the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, and it was then that I knew they would lose. Yes, technically the Cowboys had a better chance of winning with a three-point lead than they had a few seconds earlier with a four-point deficit. But they left Aaron Rodgers 73 seconds to score; 62 seconds later, he threw the game-winning touchdown to Davante Adams

Packers-Cowboys is reliably one of the most watched games of the NFL season, and for good reason. Last year’s NFC playoff matchup was a 34–31 thriller that featured three scores in the final two minutes, capped by Rodgers improvising one of the most important plays of the season. The teams played an amazing game in the 2014 playoffs, too, a 26–21 Packers win — although that’s memorable for a different reason. Sunday’s contest was just as brilliant, a 35–31 game that delivered two go-ahead touchdowns in the final two minutes. I’d like the Packers to play the Cowboys every week; the NFL would like the Packers to play the Cowboys every week. Basically everybody besides Cowboys fans would like the Packers to play the Cowboys every week.

Sometimes it seems like Rodgers is all alone, and that never seemed so apparent than in the closing seconds on Sunday. The Packers had given up 31 points and more than 400 yards of offense to the Cowboys, which is why Rodgers needed to chase a score in the closing minutes in the first place. Green Bay was short three points in part because kicker Mason Crosby missed two extra points for the first time in his career, and the Packers’ attempt to make up for those misses with a two-point conversion that failed. On the final drive, 32 yards from the end zone, Green Bay ran a draw play to Aaron Jones, the rookie running back drafted in the fifth round and forced into action following Ty Montgomery’s injury in Week 4. That play went nowhere, forcing the Packers to burn their final timeout with 29 seconds to go. The bad run had brought up third down, which meant the Packers would have been unable to spike the ball to stop the clock and bring the field goal unit onto the field if Rodgers failed to get a first down. Facing third-and-8, the snap from center Corey Linsley was low, forcing Rodgers out of rhythm, and the pocket almost collapsed, leaving Rodgers at risk of taking a sack that could have taken Crosby out of field goal range.

Rodgers had been beset by just about everybody: Green Bay’s holey defense, its shoddy offensive line, the previous play call by his maddeningly uncreative coaching staff, even his typically reliable kicker.

So he did the thing himself, dodging the Cowboys defensive line and scrambling 18 yards downfield, getting out of bounds to stop the clock with 21 seconds remaining

Rodgers twice targeted Adams in the end zone. The first attempt didn’t work, but he tried again.

Yes, it often seems like Rodgers is all alone. But as a neutral observer, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Few players in league history have been more excellent than Rodgers when desperate, from Hail Mary after Hail Mary to Sunday’s gutty run and pinpoint throw. Sometimes, he has to seem like he’s on a team all by himself to remind us that he’s in a league of his own.

[dools644]

This is for your Rileman. Make sweet love to this one line.....

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/10/8/16445474/aaron-rodgers-green-bay-packers-comeback-win-dallas-cowboys


Aaron Rodgers, Lord of the One-Man Comeback, Crushed the Cowboys by Himself Again
The Packers never seem to give their QB what he needs—but he manages to perform the most astonishing feats when he’s all alone


The Dallas Cowboys scored with 1:13 remaining to take a 31–28 lead on the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, and it was then that I knew they would lose. Yes, technically the Cowboys had a better chance of winning with a three-point lead than they had a few seconds earlier with a four-point deficit. But they left Aaron Rodgers 73 seconds to score; 62 seconds later, he threw the game-winning touchdown to Davante Adams

Packers-Cowboys is reliably one of the most watched games of the NFL season, and for good reason. Last year’s NFC playoff matchup was a 34–31 thriller that featured three scores in the final two minutes, capped by Rodgers improvising one of the most important plays of the season. The teams played an amazing game in the 2014 playoffs, too, a 26–21 Packers win — although that’s memorable for a different reason. Sunday’s contest was just as brilliant, a 35–31 game that delivered two go-ahead touchdowns in the final two minutes. I’d like the Packers to play the Cowboys every week; the NFL would like the Packers to play the Cowboys every week. Basically everybody besides Cowboys fans would like the Packers to play the Cowboys every week.

Sometimes it seems like Rodgers is all alone, and that never seemed so apparent than in the closing seconds on Sunday. The Packers had given up 31 points and more than 400 yards of offense to the Cowboys, which is why Rodgers needed to chase a score in the closing minutes in the first place. Green Bay was short three points in part because kicker Mason Crosby missed two extra points for the first time in his career, and the Packers’ attempt to make up for those misses with a two-point conversion that failed. On the final drive, 32 yards from the end zone, Green Bay ran a draw play to Aaron Jones, the rookie running back drafted in the fifth round and forced into action following Ty Montgomery’s injury in Week 4. That play went nowhere, forcing the Packers to burn their final timeout with 29 seconds to go. The bad run had brought up third down, which meant the Packers would have been unable to spike the ball to stop the clock and bring the field goal unit onto the field if Rodgers failed to get a first down. Facing third-and-8, the snap from center Corey Linsley was low, forcing Rodgers out of rhythm, and the pocket almost collapsed, leaving Rodgers at risk of taking a sack that could have taken Crosby out of field goal range.

Rodgers had been beset by just about everybody: Green Bay’s holey defense, its shoddy offensive line, the previous play call by his maddeningly uncreative coaching staff, even his typically reliable kicker.

So he did the thing himself, dodging the Cowboys defensive line and scrambling 18 yards downfield, getting out of bounds to stop the clock with 21 seconds remaining

Rodgers twice targeted Adams in the end zone. The first attempt didn’t work, but he tried again.

Yes, it often seems like Rodgers is all alone. But as a neutral observer, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Few players in league history have been more excellent than Rodgers when desperate, from Hail Mary after Hail Mary to Sunday’s gutty run and pinpoint throw. Sometimes, he has to seem like he’s on a team all by himself to remind us that he’s in a league of his own.

The "previously maddening call" was a run-pass-option. Rodgers chose to run.

[MickeyDavis]

Adams talked to King from the Packers plane on the flight back to GB

This is what Davante Adams remembers about the hit heard ’round the NFL, the savage, Bednarikian helmet-to-helmet hit from Chicago linebacker Danny Trevathan in the Week 4 Thursday night game:

“Nothing, really,” he said from his seat on the Packers’ plane after Green Bay’s 35-31 win in Texas. “I couldn’t recall anything. My first memory is when I got to the hospital. Then things started coming back. I vaguely remember scoring a touchdown the play before the hit. It got called back, and then the hit happened on the next play. I remember a little bit then, but then I started to remember more as time went by and I got a little less foggy.”

“Did you see the play?” I asked.

“Yeah, I saw it,” he said. “My fiancée showed it to me. She showed it to me on her cell phone—it was already on YouTube. When I saw it, it kind of made me sick to my stomach. I got a little heated watching it. As time went by, I started to remember everything.”

“Shocked you weren’t hurt worse?”

“Absolutely. Absolutely. God was really looking out for me there that night. An angel was there, to bring me back to life. My neck hurt a little bit from the whiplash of the hit, but that was about it. To come out of it fine, and then to play the next week, it’s amazing. A blessing.”

“Did Travathan reach out?”

“He did. He hollered at me, and I talked to him. It made me feel better, knowing there was no intention on his part. He’s not a dirty guy. It was just kind of a dirty hit. That’s how the game goes sometimes. No bad blood. I moved past it.”

[trwi7]

Have to give credit to Aaron Jones on that first run play. He could've cut that back inside and probably picked up an extra 5 yards but knew saving the timeout and stopping the clock was more important so he made sure to get out of bounds.

[MickeyDavis]

Have to give credit to Aaron Jones on that first run play. He could've cut that back inside and probably picked up an extra 5 yards but knew saving the timeout and stopping the clock was more important so he made sure to get out of bounds.

You can't teach instincts and football IQ. That was a heads up play.

[trwi7]

Facing third-and-8, the snap from center Corey Linsley was low

This is friggin' annoying too. Not only is every damn snap low, there's also nothing on it so Rodgers has to look down to get the snap and wait forever for the ball to get there. Not saying you have to fire a missile at him but you have to do better than snapping every ball at his shins.

[ReginaldDwight]

Have to give credit to Aaron Jones on that first run play. He could've cut that back inside and probably picked up an extra 5 yards but knew saving the timeout and stopping the clock was more important so he made sure to get out of bounds.

You can't teach instincts and football IQ. That was a heads up play.

Aaron Jones might have had the best game of his career yesterday, gonna be interested to see if he stays as decisive as his was yesterday now that he will get some more work.

[LUKE23]

It's very clear that King and Jones are monumentally important to this defense. I think with those two, and Martinez's improvement, we can at least be an average D this year.

[dools644]

Jones sure looks like the real deal to me. They haven't had a RB in a long, long time who can jump cut like that. He has vision that nobody has had besides Starks early in his career.

Rodgers has a lot of faith in him too - he liked him before yesterday but went to him twice on RPOs with under a minute left.

[LUKE23]

Yeah, I'd like to see Jones be the primary guy on 1/2 down. Montgomery can come in during passing situations. Jones is just a more instinctual runner than Monty is.

[crkone]

Not bad to beat a decent desperate team at their home.

[dools644]

Definitely a great win but lost in the glory is the 9-minute drive the defense surrendered to lose the game in most cases. Really, that pass on 2nd down from Dallas is why they lost. The defense had to get off the field and once again, did not. That needs to be a takeaway here. I was screaming at them to give up the TD with 3-4 minutes left because I knew they would, eventually. I was glad Dallas had the ball with as much time left at the start of the drive because I thought we'd get it back, and we nearly didn't.

In the end, it's a huge win because of the potential seeding implications. The Packers have a long stretch of very winnable games now. They need to pad their record because I don't want to visit Atlanta again, and I also think it's vital to be up multiple games on Detroit going into the final week. Maybe neither will matter in the end but this is why they need to win these games. They need HFA or at least a bye to make things easier on themselves for once. This defense needs all the intangible advantages it can get. Yes, it's injured, but I doubt it's ever going to be healthy. At this rate that bye will provide much-needed rest.

But either Dallas managing the clock properly or Rodgers not performing another miracle, and the conversation today is all about firing Dom Capers.

Not bad to beat a decent desperate team at their home.

[RubberSoul]

Facing third-and-8, the snap from center Corey Linsley was low

This is friggin' annoying too. Not only is every damn snap low, there's also nothing on it so Rodgers has to look down to get the snap and wait forever for the ball to get there. Not saying you have to fire a missile at him but you have to do better than snapping every ball at his shins.

Not only that but he let Irving get by him in the blink of an eye and blow up Rodgers after the terrible snap. Does he not practice snapping the ball because it was a problem throughout the game.

[Jollay]

I would caution that J. Jones and Martinez are still extremely poor in coverage by NFL standards.

But as someone who has been most critical of the ILBs and TT's inability to procure them, Martinez has come out of nowhere the last three games and surprised me a ton. Instead of just being a body focused on not making mistakes he's now being aggressive. Nobody would be more pleased to be wrong about him than me if the trend holds.

I continue to think that with Jones, King and Martinez's continuing improvement, plus the FAs, we might finally have enough to get us over the hump.

We just have to be better and smarter though than MM and Capers have been. Capers cannot allow a long drive like he did yesterday with soft coverage--he has to gamble and give up the long TD if necessary. Our corners have to get more physical on the line too, even if they get beat more deep.

MM called some great plays yesterday but some of the **** I'm seeing is Rhodes-esque. We have to do better.

Finally, we need to send late draft picks for vets if necessary this year--to plug injury holes, at corner, wherever. Rodgers is simply too God-like to not go all in before we have to pay him more (which he deserves every penny).

[MickeyDavis]

Any news on Burnett?

[Ron Swanson]

Hamstring injuries are tough. I'm actually more worried about King in concussion protocol. At least at safety you have Brice and Jones to fill in. The secondary again looking like a MASH unit if neither guy is able to go.