We may not be the most dominant 4-1 team in the history of the nfl, but at the end of the day, what counts is the record and it speaks for itself. As we say every week, a win is a win is a win in the nfl and wins on the road are just brutal. We played hard and gutted out a win with a huge play at the end by the defense. We got VERY lucky at the end because even with the big sack and fumble, the packers offensive lineman was literally on the ball and i have no idea how he failed to fall on it.
Not our best performance on offense, we didnt run very well, didnt stop the run very well, didnt pressure favre very well and couldnt put the game away despite numerous chances, but we took care of the football again and that really kept us ahead. We have put ourselves in a position to take early control of the west with a win next week vs seattle and potentially put ourselves on track for a very special season as we head into the bye week before we hit the brutal portion of the schedule.
We are 4-1. While many will say that the whiners stink and that we should have beaten them, we could have easily or should have lost both to arizona and possibly today. We beat a top caliber team in denver as well. I will take the 4-1 and lets see how "for real" we are when the defending nfc champs come to town next week coming off their bye week.
THE GOOD
The interesting thing about this win was that there really werent many if any spectacular individual performances. A number of guys played very well, but we didnt make a lot of deep plays against a suspect packers secondary. We played hard as a team and its a team win for sure.
Bulger was excellent again. He took what the defense gave him and made some nice throws, especially deep in our own end. However, he also made two very bad throws and was very lucky that they werent picked off, one of which could have completely changed the game (the ball that hit harris in the hands at the goal line)
The offensive line protected pretty well. Another very strong game by pace and barron. Of course, the good pass protection was balanced by the numerous false starts and lousy run blocking, especially in the first half.
Some one off comments. Nice punt return by mcdonald, nice catch by the klopper (we need to throw to him more often), nice third down conversion and run down the sideline by tony fischer, an actual pass breakup by travis fischer which i hope someone will confirm because i thought i must be hallucinating, and what i thought was a pretty good game from stephen jackson, not his best, but not bad.
Very strong game for matt turk. What a huge upgrade for us at that position.
The first half red zone performance was critical. We got clobbered in the first half, but due to the turnover and our 2-2 red zone conversions, we had the lead.
I liked that linehan stayed with the run even though it wasnt working. It was much more successful in the second half.
Jimmy Kennedy was also very strong, i thought it was his best game as a ram. I think he was in on the fumble at the end.
THE BAD
Terrible red zone performance in the second half kept them in the game. Our short yardage rushing is terrible and we need to find a way to improve at the goal line.
The injuries to holt and spoon, both of whom came back (both ankles i believe), and the injury to bartell, which looked the most serious. Keep all of your fingers crossed on holt and spoon.
Lack of pressure on favre most of the game. Whoever was blocking leonard did a heck of a job on him all game.
Inability to stop the run in the first half at all. Really lousy.
Our failure to throw more to klop. He is open and has done very well when the ball is thrown to him, we need to make better use of him.
We have to do a better job of putting teams away. This is really the same issue as the terrible red zone performance in the second half, but also our failure to make a first down at the end.
Tye hill wasnt terrible today, but he got toasted for the td, i thought he was on the guy reasonably well, his lack of height hurt him on that play.
Spoon dropped an INT in the end zone that cost us. He should make that play.
I thought some of the playcalling was lousy. The trick play with jackson on third and two was terrible. If you want to run in that spot, which is fine, split four wide receivers and run a draw for him. This also circles back to my point that we cant run straight ahead on third and short and make a yard. I think we need to throw more to klop, which should help prevent teams from packing all those guys into the box on us. why do we always run up the middle on first and goal from just inside the ten?
THE UGLY
All the false starts on the Offense
Bulgers bootleg. That play works if no one expects it, otherwise, its an ugly bust. I like the qb draw with bulger better, although that is not a ringing endorsement. We need jackson up the middle for the one crucial yard.
Wilkins' out of bounds kickoff.
SUMMARY
I will take any win at any time. Ramming speed to all, bring on the seahawks. We are going to find out this week if we really have a football team or if we have just been getting very lucky against crappy teams. As long as we can continue to win the turnover battle, we are going to have a chance to win just about every game. As i have been saying since before the preseason started, the key for this team in the long run is the red zone offense. The defense is improved, but it needs a lot of help from the offense and we need to put teams away. That will come from getting tds rather than field goals, especially inside the ten yard line. The better the opposition, the more critical the red zone performance is going to be.
Ramming speed to all
general counsel
Linear Mode
