IN SEARCH OF CONSISTENCY
So-so first half of season for Packers
Minnesota is in free fall at 5-3. Detroit is 5-4, winning about every other game on coin-flip heroics at the end.
That’s why the cheeseheaded locals aren’t yet screaming in the streets of Green Bay in a blind panic. They know that, at 4-4, the Packers probably are just a short victory run from regaining the NFC North perch.
But like the rest of us they can plainly see that quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy’s offence are out of sorts. Big time.
The whole team, in fact, appeared flat in Sunday’s homefield, 31-26 loss to then 3-5 Indianapolis, a game not as competitive as the charitable score suggests.
Rodgers afterward not only spoke in surprisingly frank terms about his team’s psyche, he volunteered how upset he was about the confusion on the sideline over the status of his top playmaking wideout, Randall Cobb.
Cobb played on only 33 per cent of Green Bay’s offensive snaps. Most didn’t come until the Packers fell behind 31-13 with just under 10 minutes remaining.
McCarthy explained he was impressed Cobb was even out there. The receiver had been listed as questionable with a hamstring injury.
“Personally, I was not expecting him to play, so I took a conservative approach with him and used him only when we needed him,” McCarthy said. “Obviously we needed him in the second half and he gave us everything he had.”
Apparently, McCarthy’s conservative plan for Cobb did not get communicated to Rodgers.
“It was very frustrating,” Rodgers offered afterward, unprompted. “I didn’t quite understand what Cobb’s status was, so we got him in there the last couple of drives but, yeah, it was frustrating.”
Even more frustrating, Rodgers said, was the team’s fragile psyche.
“We’ve got to be a little tougher. That’s the mark of a team. We talk about that all the time at my locker. How you deal with adversity says a lot about the kind of players you’ve got, and the kind of team you’ve got. We’ve got to respond a little bit better.”
Time and time again on Sunday, Rodgers could not find anyone open to throw to, or just wasn’t on the same page as his receivers, even on simple passing-tree throws. Injuries are part of it. Nowhere near all of it.
“We’re just not healthy right now,” Rodgers said. “We’re waiting on some guys to get back, and like I said last week, it’s a work in progress.”
It had better start progressing faster, and soon. Or panic indeed will set in. And McCarthy’s seat will get a heckuva lot hotter than it already is.
Stat of the week: Entering their game Monday night in Seattle, the Buffalo Bills ranked fifth in the league in red-zone offence, having scored touchdowns on 68.2 per cent of their forays inside the 20 (15-of-22). And the Bills ranked third in the league in red-zone defence, having prevented touchdowns on 57.7 per cent of the opposing teams’ forays inside the 20 (17-of-26). That’s pretty good.
Guess the Bills must really be struggling in that 60-yard swath between the 20s.
Hero — Melvin Gordon, RB, Chargers:
He’s in full ascent now, in Year 2, after an injury-plagued rookie season. The 15th overall draft pick in 2015 had his best game as a pro in Sunday’s 43-35 defeat of Tennessee. He carried the ball 32 times for 196 yards, and added 65 receiving yards on four catches for 261 yards from scrimmage.
Zero — Chris Boswell, PK, Steelers:
Maybe he didn’t know that onside kicks must travel 10 yards, not 10 centimetres. Maybe his leg was sore. Maybe he thought he was at Riverdance rehearsals. Or maybe he just miss-hit the football. Whatever the reason, Boswell’s flubbed onside attempt near the end of Pittsburgh’s 21-14 loss at Baltimore will go into the Football Follies annals. He tried to misdirect the kick, approaching it from the left as if to kick toward the right, but placing his left plant foot to the right of the ball, and swinging his right kicking leg behind and then to the left of his plant leg — presumably to fool the Ravens’ hands team and kick it toward the left, or middle. A foolhardy play.
Stock up — Panthers’ defence:
Since opening the season 1-5, Carolina has won two straight coming off its bye. And the biggest reason is its defence has tightened up, especially on the ground. A week ago Arizona rushed for just 24 yards in a 3020 loss, and Sunday in L.A., the Rams’ run-dependent offence netted just 59.