Some may say this is too bold. Others may say this isn't bold enough. Here's my opinion. Starting C Evan Dietrich-Smith is out. If RT Bulaga is out as well, the Jets are going to be able to limit the time Rodgers has to make good decisions. On the other hand, Aaron Rodgers is really good. At the end of the day, I think the Packers will score exactly 24 points against the Jets. The question at Lambeau comes down to whether the Jets score more or less than 24. Of course the Jets have yet to play, but we as fans don't have to prepare for specific matchups like the players do, so speculate away.
The Packers showed the same thing tonight that we saw last year. - Without Rodgers they are a 3 - 4 win team and would be a complete and total disaster down there with the Raiders and Jags. - Their defense sucks and any team with a decent running game gives them fits. - Their offensive line is average at best with their starters. Now missing 2 they are bottom 8 in the NFL. - They never replaced Finley which was affecting them in a big way. - When they don't run for 125+ yards they lose nearly every single time. The Packers are just one more example in the NFL right now of why the QB position is now extremely overvalued. You have to run the football if you want to win. Period. Last year 11 of the top 16 teams in terms of rushing yards finished with an 8-8 record or better. Only 6 teams in the bottom 16 went atleast 8-8. ALL 4 teams in the Conference Championship games last year finished in the top 15. This is also the exact reason why the media is going to have shit all over it's face by the end of the year when it comes to the Jets. They were 6th best in rushing last year and went 8-8, which surprised pretty much everyone. Then they go get CJ2K and could potentially have the #1 rushing attack and the vast majority of predictions have them with 5 - 7 wins mainly because our questions in the passing game. It doesn't matter. Run the football effectively and have a QB that can make a play here and there when you need it and doesn't turn the ball over and you will be a top 8 team in the league. That's essentially what the Seahawks have mastered right now.
As fans I think it's all good if we get ahead of ourselves. Let's just hope the team doesn't do the same. That's honestly the only way I could see us losing. It's game 1 at home though. I don't think it will be an issue.
The Jets may be able to pressure Rodgers like the Hawks did but can they back up the coverage while Rodgers is improvising? That's what killed the Packers, it wasn't the pressure. Rodgers succeeds vs pressure because his receivers uncover playing schoolyard football and maybe 4 or 5 secondaries in the league are capable of stopping that if he gets away from the initial sack.
Rodgers will make some more plays against the Jets next week then he did against the Seahawks, but the Jets D-Line is better then the Seahawks right now and won't even give him a chance to scramble as often as the Seahawks did tonight. When he scrambles next week though the Jets will have issues. Lacy is out with a concussion too which most likely means he will miss the game. With the Packers atrocious defense, and already mangled offensive line, the Jets will have a golden opportunity for a statement win. Either way I think the Packers are in for a really tough season this year and will be extremely fortunate to make the playoffs, and if they do it will be because they play in a garbage division. Yes the NFC North is trash and I have been saying it for months, even though most people think last year's records from those teams were a fluke. They had the worse division winner record in the NFL at 8-7-1. Packers defense is a total wreck. Bears is a mess that may get a little better this year. Lions back 7 may be the worst in the league. The Vikings defense gave up 30+ points per game last year. All of those teams are exactly the same. 2 or 3 Superstars on offense (Rodgers, Nelson, Lacy, Johnson, Bush, Marshall, Jeffery, Forte, Peterson, Jennings), and the rest of the team is trash. If the Jets don't go at least 3 - 1 against the NFC North, they don't deserve a playoff berth.
I agree the nfc north builds their teams how the media wants them to build , with a franchise Qb elite weapons and screw the rest of the team
A bit harsh, but I think you're for the most part right actually. The OL is the worst worry. I've said it to others, I'll say it again. No group in the NFL has more injury problems than the Packers OL does. Every year there are multiple guys on IR at some point, and every week there are some out, or on the injury report at very least. Notice how when Bulaga got hurt, that's when the game blew open? It might be the worst OL unit in the league with the new injuries. I don't agree about Finley though. He had stone hands, and never was the 900, 1000 yards a year type. In fact his best year ever was 767 yards, and 8 touchdowns. Quarless isn't anything special, but he is a slight downgrade only imo. The other Rodgers who they just drafted looks promising as well. He should start showing up in the box score more, and more as the year goes on, just like Jace. (fingers crossed) Also, the Packers have talent in the secondary, have Clay, and Peppers. They have talent on defense, but they have a few big holes too. They have great WR, and a solid, solid RB group. IMO it's just that the few big holes on D, and the lack of OL, make the team look worse than it is...and plus you just watched ONE game.
It could go either way. Seems like their OLine isn't the best and their run game (especially minus Lacey) won't be very good against our pretty dominant DLine. However they do have some pretty good receivers and one of the best QBs in the game going up against a pretty bad secondary. Hard to say who comes out on top.
I believe this is going to be a game where if the Jets can get real pressure on Rodgers with 4 or 5 guys they have a solid chance to shut the Packers down. 1. The Packers aren't going to be able to run on the Jets. 2. With 6 guys in coverage the Jets will have a defender just about everywhere they need to. 3. The coverage may not be very good at times but often all you need is a guy in the vicinity to make the QB, even Rodgers, throw a different pass than he would have to a wide open receiver. If I was Rex I'd be counting on 4-5 guys to get pressure and going Cover 2 for a lot of the game with an occasional 7 man rush to keep Rodgers guessing.
They only scored 9 last time against Ryan. Rodgers doesnt scare me, that Oline is horrible. I think we can keep him to 17 or less.
You need to take into account that they were going against the most dominant defense in the league last night. While good, the Jets D isn't on that level. If the Packers truly do have all these O Line injuries and Lacy out then I'd give the Jets a puncher's chance. The keys to the game will be giving Geno enough time to throw and not letting Rodgers pick the secondary apart. Jordy Nelson looked good last night. So did Cobb. I think containing their passing attack will be a huge challenge for our D.
