Offensively there was a lot to feel good about except for the red zone problems. I would hope Associate Head Coach Tom Clements and Aaron Rodgers will get together without Mike McCarthy in the room and figure out how to score touchdowns from 20 yards in as well as they do from 20 yards out.
QUARTERBACKS:
(27-of-43 for 295 yards, 2 touchdowns, no interceptions with 4 sacks)
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| Aaron Rodgers Zeroing In |
For the second year in a row Rodgers looks a bit tentative on his throws. I noticed last year his accuracy was off and it was again Thursday night against the Patriots. He completed 11-of-19 for 117 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions for a quarterback rating of 76.0. He had two tries for touchdowns from the red zone and missed on both. Not a good outing for him.
He missed twice on the first drive with incompletions to Davante Adams from the five to the right and to Eddie Lacy from the two to the left. After going four-and-out from the New England 43 the Packers drove from the Patriots eight from the Packer 14, but once again couldn't punch one in. First down was an incompletion to Adams in the middle followed by a one-yard completion to Adams to the left and another incomplete pass to Adams to the right. FIELD GOAL resulted. Rodgers was also sacked twice, including on the first play.
Scott Tolzien looked good. He went 10-of-16 for 107 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions for a rating of 102.9. He showed a good pocket presence and a nice touchdown on his longer throws, especially his fourth-and-one from the New England 26 to Jeff Janis for the touchdown. Now that was a great play and if you haven't noticed it came from outside the red zone.
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| Brett Hundley in the Pocket |
Brett Hundley also looked good and that is coming from someone who is not a Hundley fan. He also looked polished. He went 4-for-6 for 60 yards and a touchdown with a Rodgers like rating of 138.9. I liked how he made his progressions and his throws were very crisp. His touchdown pass to John Crockett was a nice play with nice execution and to give credit where credit was due it came from inside the red zone at the 10. It was a especially nice play by Crockett and the blocking. For Crockett it was only his second receiving touchdown in his collegiate and pro career.
Matt Blanchard also looked good going 2-for-2 for 11 yards (89.6). At this point I would say Blanchard didn't do anything good enough and Hundley not bad enough for Blanchard to beat out Hundley.
RUNNING BACKS:
(34 carries for 133 yards (3.9 average) and one touchdown)
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| Alonzo Harris Up the Middle |
The running game was hit or miss. Rookie free agent Alonzo Harris from Louisiana-Lafayette was the leading rusher with 41 yards on seven carries (5.9 average). But if you take away his 25-yard touchdown run he averaged 2.7 yards a carry behind the second string line of (left to right) of Jeremy Vujnovich, Lane Taylor, JC Tretter, Josh Walker, Don Barclay.
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| Eddie Lacy Finds a Hole |
Lacy gained 36 yards on five carries (7.9), and if you take away his 15-yard run on his first carry he still averaged 5.3 yards, so he looked in mid-season form. Let's hope he continues to average five yards a carry behind the starting line of David Bakhtiari, Josh Sitton, Corey Linsley, T.J. Lang, Brian Bulaga. James Starks also looked in mid-season form despite gaining 12 yards on five carries.
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| John Crockett Breaking Free |
John Crockett seemed to me to running real well after coming off an ankle injury However, his stats didn't look good (10 carries for 26 yards). He ran behind the third string line of Fabbians Ebbele, Andy Phillips, Garth Gerhart, Matt Rotheram, Josh Walker). I want to see more of him. He was a dynamic runner from North Dakota State with 1,994 yards on 368 carries and 21 touchdowns along with and another 397 yards on 30 catches and one touchdown his senior year.
Rajion Neal also looked good to me, but his stats weren't that great either with 15 yards on four carries and nine of those yards came on one carry.
Fullbacks John Kuhn and Aaron Ripkowski were mainly blocking backs. It was funny that tight ends Andrew Quarless and Richard Rodgers lined up in the backfield before Kuhn.
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