2012 WK7 GB @ STL Inside The Game (Analysis/Interviews/Grades)

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Big plays make difference in win over St. Louis
Green Bay Press Gazette
by Pete Dougherty on Sunday, October 21st, 2012

Rodgers and the offense have come to life the last two weeks, and against the Rams they twice used a tactic they turned into an art form last season — the free play on a defensive offsides penalty — to strike for quick points that were a difference in this game.

“Both those long balls would probably not have been thrown if we had not jumped in the neutral zone,” Fisher said. “So, (Rodgers says) ‘Let’s just take a shot,’ and he’s really smart.”

Said Cobb: “It was a free play, just get open, that’s all it is. I saw the flag and I ran to where I thought I’d be open, and then I saw (Rodgers) move out of the pocket a little bit, so I came back to my left and threw my hand up hoping he’d see me.”

“(Cobb) is a playmaker, he really is,” right tackle Bryan Bulaga said. “Keep getting the ball in his hands. I know Aaron has come out and said he’s going to be a heck of a player, and I think we already see that.”
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Wrap-up: Packers 30, Rams 20
espn.go.com
by Kevin Seifert on Sunday, October 21st, 2012

RodgersWatch:
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has caught fire. (In a good way.) Over his past two games, Rodgers has completed 73 percent of his passes for 680 yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions. It's been five years since a quarterback has thrown a combined nine touchdowns without an interception in back-to-back games, according to the NFL.

Quote to note:
Speaking about Cobb, Rodgers said: "He's a star in the making. He's a big-time player." continue

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Rants and Raves: Nelson knocks out stellar first half performance
Green Bay Press Gazette
by Mike Vandermause on Sunday, October 21st, 2012

Rant:
Dezman Moses appeared to take a clean shot to the shoulders of Rams running back Steven Jackson on a third-down incompletion in the third quarter but was called for unnecessary roughness for what was deemed to be launching his arms toward Jackson’s head. Chalk up yet another blown call by the officials this season.

Rave:
Packers fans were out in force and chants of “Go Pack Go” could be heard throughout the game in the Edward Jones Dome. Some players thought there were more Packers fans than Rams fans at the game. continue

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Rookie Hayward makes 4th pick in 1st NFL start
Green Bay Press Gazette
by Rob Demovsky on Sunday, October 21st, 2012

“He’s a young guy that has tremendous ball skills,” Packers defensive back Charles Woodson said. “You see him when that ball’s in the air, he’s always in good position to get that ball. So we felt like with him having that type of game, he’d be all right.”

“It’s just a feel thing,” Tramon Williams said. “It’s kind of like a quarterback with a clock. Well, a defensive back has a clock, too. You get your hands on the receiver, go through your progression and you look back for the ball. He has a clock, and obviously he’s getting some good balls.”continue

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Rodgers continues his rebound against Rams
Green Bay Press Gazette
by on Sunday, October 21st, 2012

Rodgers’ sharp play (132.2 rating) in the Packers’ 30-20 win Sunday came a week after he’d injured his calf against Houston.

“I didn’t feel great pregame,” he said. “I felt real good Thursday practicing; Friday was (only) OK. For whatever reason, the last couple days I haven’t felt good but was hoping it would loosen up. It did loosen up during the game.” continue

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Steady drive extends Packers' lead
jsonline.com
By Tyler Dunne on Sunday, October 21st, 2012

Weeks from now, this drive will be long forgotten. There was nothing memorable about it. No circus catches, no Houdini acts by the quarterback. Aaron Rodgers says himself this "wasn't the prettiest drive."

But that's the beauty of it - it was businesslike. At the Edward Jones Dome, fresh out of halftime, the Packers needed to answer. And with a 12-play, 80-yard marathon that melted nearly seven minutes off the clock, the Packers punched in a touchdown to spark their 30-20 win.

"We had to go the long way," Rodgers said. "We had to go 80 yards, and it was methodical, and we converted third downs. We needed drives like that. We've had some big plays. We've had some quick-strike scores. But against a real good defense, to be able to - in the second half, when we needed scores - to take drives downfield and keep them going and finish them off was important for us. It was a good growth experience for us."
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Notebook: Early onside kick pulls wool over Rams' eyes
Green Bay Press Gazette
Rob Demovsky and Pete Dougherty on Sunday, October 21st, 2012

All-day Jones
At the start of the season, Brad Jones was the Packers’ No. 4 inside linebacker. But Sunday against the Rams he played every defensive snap and was the defense’s signal caller.

Jones stayed on the field in the nickel defense, along with inside linebacker A.J. Hawk, and remained the lone linebacker in the dime personnel. Jones finished with two tackles and one quarterback hit. continue

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ReFo: Packers @ Rams, Week 7
profootballfocus.com
by Sam Monson on Monday, October 22nd, 2012

Saturday Overmatched by the Big Men
Jeff Saturday has never been the biggest of centers, and with his age getting up there now he is always likely to struggle against the biggest and strongest defensive tackles the league has to offer. He was able to use sound technique and some help from his guards to keep a clean sheet in pass protection over the 42 snaps he was asked to do it, but he struggled badly in the run game (-3.5 in that area), leading to several plays that were blown up deep in the backfield as he was worked backwards into the running back by multiple Rams defenders.

He was able to bookend these plays nicely in the game, with the first run of the game for Green Bay going nowhere because Kendall Langford walked Saturday a few yards deep before making the stop. Similarly he was badly beaten on the first play of what should have been the game-icing drive as Michael Brockers just took him on a journey deep into the backfield causing a 2-yard loss when the Packers needed to gain yardage to see out the game. In the end Rodgers was so good it didn’t matter, but this may prove to be an issue long-term

The Tale of Two DEs
Chris Long (-4.3) may be the more experienced of the pair, but it was Quinn (+4.3) who shined in this game while Long found himself struggling to even make an impact. In 38 pass rushes, Long was completely blanked by the right side of the Green Bay line, and the only time he really showed up in the game was when he was jumping offside, trying to gain an advantage in a battle he was badly losing.

Game Notes
– Randall Cobb caught everything thrown his way (eight from eight) and beat six different Rams defenders on those catches.

– The Packers went deep six times in this game (20+ in the air) — twice to the left, twice to the right, and twice down the middle.continue

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Originally posted by titmfatied:
Saturday Overmatched by the Big Men
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Post Game Presser Transcripts
packers.com

RAMS HEAD COACH JEFF FISHER

(On if there were things that he conceded to Rodgers when he was gameplanning)
“Well, you like to keep him underneath and not give up the big shots. ‘Jenks’ (CB Janoris Jenkins) is watching flags fly on the first touchdown pass and he should’ve been playing defense and got caught out of there. He’ll learn from that. You’ve got to make him try to take his stuff underneath and then get into third down and then make a play on third down and get off the field. And then also know that field goals, at times, are wins for your defense. Then of course, you’ve got to score more points, we’re not scoring points, not enough points to beat a team like this on offense.”

(On what made Packers WR Jordy Nelson so effective)
“Jordy’s a big target that runs bettter than, I think, people think and he’s outstanding out of frame. He can make the tough catch. He doesn’t drop balls. He gets open and they’re really on the same page most of the time.”

(On if he had experience coaching in games where the opponent’s fans traveled so well)
“Yes. I’ve expereinced that before. That’s just a tribute to the Packer organization – the tradition and history of the Packers. They travel well. They do that wherever they go. We’d like to get our organization to that point, so we travel well as well.”

(On what the key was for Green Bay in eliminating the Rams’ sacks)
“Yes, we got some pressure on them. Well, they made some adjustments. They started banging the ends. They started chipping ends because that’s where we were getting our pressure in. We nearly had him down three or four more times. We just couldn’t because his mobility’s extraordinary.”

RAMS RB STEVEN JACKSON

(On if they needed to score touchdowns instead of field goals against Green Bay)
“They’re red hot right now. They have one of the best quarterbacks in football. We knew it was going to be a challenge. We have to continue to get better at that.”

RAMS DE CHRIS LONG

(On how the Packers played)
“This was par for the course for them. They threw the ball around the yard and played a really good game. You’ve got to take your hat off to them.”

RAMS DE ROBERT QUINN

(On trying to get to Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers)
“He’s definitely an elusive quarterback. I don’t know if he gets credit enough for being elusive.

RAMS LB JAMES LAURINAITIS

(On what Packers QB Aaron Rodgers does well)
“I think what he does the best is that he’s good at improv. He escapes to make the deep throws and maneuvers in the pocket. That’s something that he does really well. He did that today a couple of times. (He) maneuvered around guys was able to break out of the pocket and chuck it deep. He’s going to make throws that other quarterbacks won’t.”

(On Rodgers making adjustments at the line of scrimmage)
“He’ll make a lot of adjustments. I don’t think he goes to the extent that (Denver Broncos QB) Peyton (Manning) does where you have no idea if he’s actually checking something or if he’s bluffing. He’s going to put his offense in the best play possible and when you’re a defense, you just have to react to it. When you play a team that’s truly a west coast (offense) team like this, you know you’re going to get a lot of different stuff out of multiple looks.” continue

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Free Head Exam: Green Bay Packers
espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth
by Kevin Seifert on Monday, October 22nd, 2012

Opponents have had decent success against the Packers this season while playing back in coverage and sending only four pass rushers. Sunday, however, quarterback Aaron Rodgers torched the Rams' standard rush by completing 20 of his 24 throws against it for two touchdowns. Two of the completions went for at least 30 yards, and a total of 11 went for first downs.

But this might be the portion of the season where Rodgers serves notice that no scheme can keep this offense down for any length of time. When the Rams blitzed him on the goal line in the first quarter, he calmly threw a back-shoulder pass to receiver Jordy Nelson for a three-yard touchdown. It was Nelson's 20th touchdown reception since the start of the 2011 season. Only New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (22) has more. continue

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Packers vs. Rams: Dud Of The Week
acmepackingcompany.com
By Devin Shanley on Oct 22, 2012

LG T.J. Lang.
Lang didn’t have a good game….Michael Brockers basically owned him through the first half. Brockers owned him in the run game. Brockers owned him in the passing game. It was ugly. Lang slowly get better as the game went on, but this is the second week in a row where we’ve seen Lang getting pushed around… and worse, getting pushed backwards. continue

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Burwell: Even Rams fans have to appreciate Rodgers
stltoday.com
BY Bryan Burwell • Post-Dispatch Sports Columnist

There were so many moments during the course of the Rams' 30-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers when the most natural instinct of every Rams loyalist was to want to scream in agony and holler in pain because the Packers' otherworldly quarterback kept finding ways to kill the home team.

He beat the Rams with his feet, his arm and his mind. He beat them avoiding the rush. He beat them throwing with accuracy into ridiculously tight coverage and he beat them with audibles at the line of scrimmage, changing the plays before and sometimes after the snap, dinking and dunking it all over the field at a whim.

"I've been a fan of his since our college days when he was at Cal and I was at Oregon State," said Rams running back Steven Jackson. "He's always been one of those guys that I'd pay to watch play because of how well he competes.

"What happened to us today was one of those games where — what do they say in baseball — just give him a tip (of) your hat? Yeah, well that's what happened to us today," said Jackson. "Just tip your hat to Aaron Rodgers, because he beat us." continue

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Christl/Baranczyk column: Packers putting Cobb to better use
Green Bay Press Gazette
by Eric Baranczyk and Cliff Christl on Monday, October 22nd, 2012

Cobb
Unless he was in the backfield, Cobb was used as the slot receiver and usually matched up against Finnegan, who was ranked the second-best cornerback in the league before the season by Pro Football Weekly. Yet Cobb finished with 8 catches and 108 yards from scrimmage.

He can plant and explode so DBs don’t have time to close on him. That’s why he gets yards after the catch. Plus, in the slot, he can go in motion and run all over the place and that creates other matchup problems. With Finnegan on Cobb, it opened up the perimeter for Nelson and James Jones.

Something else to consider is that when Cobb lines up in the backfield, he puts pressure on the safeties, as well. They have to at least eyeball him, which means they might hesitate and not get as good a jump on a deep ball to the outside.
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Rating the Packers vs. Rams
jsonline.com
Oct. 22, 2012

Report Card

RECEIVERS (4½)
The Rams started out playing press man, but after Jordy Nelson beat CB Janoris Jenkins twice for 67 yards in the second series and nickel back Bradley Fletcher on a back-shoulder fade for a 3-yard TD, they played off basically the rest of the afternoon. The Packers' spread sets forced CB Cortland Finnegan to the slot, where he was a constant thorn against the run game but wasn't a factor outside, where his value might have been even greater. Randall Cobb did make three catches for 26 yards with Finnegan playing off coverage against him. Finnegan went to Nelson's head three times on tackles, and was penalized once.

OFFENSIVE LINE (2)
At least Saturday was efficient in protection, but neither T.J. Lang nor Josh Sitton fared well in either phase. Lang was bull-rushed by Brockers for a sack in 2.9 seconds and bull-rushed by 339-backup Kellen Heard for one hurry and beat by Quinn for another. Like Saturday, Lang was responsible for 2½ "bad" runs. He was shoved by Brockers on a run for minus-2 and didn't get the job done pulling on two carries. Sitton, who yielded two half pressures and 1½ "bad" runs, pulled ineffectively on one stutter play and was late getting off to MLB James Laurinaitis on a zone run. In general, aggressiveness and downfield hustle was in short supply.
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All 22:
Total View: Packers vs. Rams
totalpackers.com
by Shawn on 10/24/2012 at 2:23 pm

3:20, 4th quarter — ... the offense and Aaron Rodgers would end the game with an 80-yard drive in 10 plays following the Rams’ TD.

After a Green run got zero, Rodgers hits Cobb with a shovel pass out of the backfield and the maligned offensive line blocks it perfectly as Cobb picks up 11.

Then, on 3rd-and-7, the Packers line up with Cobb alongside Rodgers in the shotgun again. Cobb runs a circle route, Rodgers throws it to him, and Cobb eludes Rams linebacker Joe Dunbar to get the 1st down. I find this play extremely fitting in the dome where Marshall Faulk used to do the same on 3rd down for the Rams.

...

The Packers offensive line struggled again in the first half on a fast track, in a loud environment. Marshall Newhouse continues to have problems with the speed rush, and though he only allowed one sack, he was bailed out a couple times by Rodgers. T.J. Lang had his worst game this season. He was manhandled several times by Rams rookie Michael Brockers, and this and Jeff Saturday’s inability to block the Rams linebackers were two big reasons why the Packers were unable to run the ball. On the plus side, Bryan Bulaga owned Chris Long and Josh Sitton continues to be strong. continue

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Packers Video: Alex Green Is Fine, Line Needs to Block Better
jerseyal.com
by Jersey Al Bracco on October 24th, 2012

Alex Green is fine, people. In fact, less than 12 months off of ACL surgery, he’s damn fine. While we all want instant gratification, Green deserves more time to get fully healthy and another offseason to get stronger. Green is better than Cedric Benson in all but one category, pushing the pile.

The problem with the Packers’ running game is the offensive line. There just aren’t a lot of clear holes there for the Packers running backs. There also isn’t much of a downfield push, either. In fact. the opposite is often true; opposing defensive linemen spend a lot of time on the Packers side of the line of scrimmage.

Take a look at this video of the first running play of the game:
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Home Sweet Home Away from Home
packersuniforms.blogspot.com
Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Yes, you read that correctly. Those are our Packers.

In St. Louis.

Wearing their green home jerseys.

So what happened?

St. Louis is playing the Patriots in London next week as part of the NFL's "International Series". The Rams are the designated home team, so they will be wearing blue, and have reportedly already shipped their uniforms to Wembley. continue

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and have reportedly already shipped their uniforms to Wembley.

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Originally posted by titmfatied:

Rodgers hits Cobb with a shovel pass out of the backfield and the maligned offensive line blocks it perfectly as Cobb picks up 11.