Position Evaluation: Offensive Line

The offensive line of 2017 was a mess, but a predictable mess because the offensive line has been Ted Thompson’s red-headed stepchild since he became Head Honcho in 2005 and released All-Pro right guard Marco Rivera and left guard Mike Wahle right off the bat to sabotage Mike Sherman and it worked as the Packers fell from 10-6-0 and 13 straight years of .500 or better teams and four straight playoff appearances to 4-12-0 and the beginning of two straight non-playoff teams.

The Great, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Great

Aaron Rodgers:

What can you say about a player who almost single-handedly put this team on his shoulders, including Sunday with a 9-play, 75-yard drive in 62 seconds to beat the Cowboys in Dallas.

Rodgers: “I just focused on my breathing on the sidelines and try to calm myself and remind the guys about some little things. The first play of that 2-minute was a conversation we had coming out of halftime actually about the leverage and coverage style in that 55, 2-man coverage and what kind of route we thought we could get in that situation.”

The most amazing thing about the drive was it wasn’t supposed to be for the win, but only for the tie to send it into overtime.

Rodgers: “I was thinking touchdown. We had time. We had a time out. The key to a good 2-minute drive is the 1st play. You have to get some positive yards. We had a good concept front side and kind of alert backside, which actually set up the entire final sequence, hit Davante on a back shoulder to start the whole drive. That ultimately sets up the winning pass, because he’s playing high shoulder first play we go back shoulder. He’s playing lower shoulder on the last play. We go over the top with a high throw.”

13 Steps Forward, 5 Steps Back And John Fox

The win over da Bears proved 2 things the Packers are better than da Bears and Mike McCarthy is better than John Fox. Beyond that everything else that came out of the game is pure speculation.

The Packers offense, despite the offensive line shuffling once again, and the loss of Ty Montgomery, Jamaal Williams and Davante Adams, continued to produce. Aaron Rodgers was great with 4 touchdown passes and no interceptions, despite having his 300-yard game streak broken, and the game plan allowed him to be sacked only twice.