We won again! And I'm not just talking about the game. We went to the same bar as we went last week, and just like before there were more Packers fans there (a whopping 5 of us!) so they played the whole game WITH sound!!! Yay! Super cool hu?
Anyway onto the game. The defense started out strong with...Daniels getting a sack early on. (I had to look up who he was because I had no idea. He was our 4th round draft pick, and a rookie DE out of Iowa.) Cobb had an amazing 40-some yard punt return. And I am pleased to say I feel like he is making some great decisions on special teams about when to go for the extra yards and when to take a knee.
I don't know what the deal is with Crosby, but I hope he gets it sorted out soon. he's missed like 5 of his last 9 field goals with the ball swinging widely to the right it seems right at the end of the arc. I don't know much about kicking, so I really cant do much speculating, but something is amiss for sure.
Our running game was the most productive it's been all year. I thought both Starks and Green did a great job moving the ball down the field and setting up pass plays. And they get some nice rushes for more than 2 yards (which it feels like has been our average the last 8 weeks.) I just can't say enough about how happy I am to see the ground game improving.
Rodgers had a pretty good game I thought. He had a couple errant passes that were probably his fault, but the interception was just one of those freak events that are nobody's fault...well, not Rodgers anyway. He made a really great fumble recovery a few plays later too. I saw the ball come out and not a Packer in sight and then all of the sudden there was Rodgers coming from the left, totally horizontal, flying in the air and diving on the ball! LOL. It was pretty amazing, especially since the last time I'd seen him (on the screen) he was way in the backfield. It was a great play, and in my opinion more than made up for the bad passes he made earlier.
I saw Jeff Saturday make a couple great blocks down field. That was cool. And James Jones made another incredible catch for a TD. He is just getting better and better every week. Awesome! Tom Crabtree's TD was nice, especially after he dropped a wide open pass a few plays earlier. Speaking of dropped balls, we had a few of those yesterday that I wasn't so happy about. Driver had one that was right on the numbers, and a couple other guys I can't remember. Randal Cobb had another spectacular game, and I am glad to see that he's not developing a cocky attitude about it. He is a solid, versitele, dependable player, and I am sure Rodgers is enjoying having him on the field. I still don't have anything good to say about Jermichael Finely.
Seeing Nelson go out with a sprained ankle, and then Bulaga with...whatever happened to him, and then Mathews wasn't so encouraging, but at least next week is our bye, so hopefully they have time to heal up.
The O-line did great, especially considering they had to do the old "switcharoo" moving Lang to fill in at right tackle for Bulaga and Detrich-Smith filling in for Lang at guard. To be honest, I almost thought they played better than when Bulaga was in. But I'd have to watch the game again to state that with any certainty.
The defensive line did pretty good, and Williams did a good job in his match up with Larry Fitsgerald. Hawk turned in another solid performance.Walden had a nice game, as did Casey Hayward, and Desmond Moses. All those guys have really stepped up and done a nice job this season. We have a lot of talent on our defense right now. They combined for an interception, and then later in the game Walden made a crucial stop on third down. I think it may have one of the key moves that drove away any last hope the Cards had to come back and win. If that didn't do it then Jarret Bush's recovery on the Mathsay punt certainly did. I don't care for Bush on the D, but he's been pretty great on special teams.
Over all, it was a really good game I thought. All phases were present, and carrying their own weight. I thought the newer guys stepped in and played great, and the veterans performed the way they are supposed to. I thought the play-calling was good (although I generally prefer to see more no-huddle), and for the most part execution was right on. WooHoo! A nice way to head into the bye!
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