Review: Packers Shutout Lions 26-0

Senior Writer JC

Summary: QB Rodgers passed for 358 yards and two touchdowns as the Packers beat the toothless Lions 26-0.  RB Grant had 90 yards rushing.  WR Driver set a franchise record for receptions, while he got 7 receptions for 107 yards.  K Crosby kicked 4 field goals.  The Packers revamped 3-4 defense had five sacks and three interceptions to ice the shutout win. 

Game Highlights:  NFL.com.   Jsonline.    Espn.  

Game Balls:  1.  LB Matthews  2.  LB Barnett  3.  WR Driver  4.  S Martin   5. CB Harris.

Quotes:

1. Coach McCarthy: “We were not in sync in the protection aspect of it. That was evident with the five sacks. In the ability of the quarterback to get the ball out to our perimeter people and let them make plays, we did that at a high level today.”

2.  LB Matthews: “We were able to do that (bring pressure) a few more time today and have success. As an outside backer that likes to rush, hopefully they’ll continue that.”

3. QB Rodgers: “I should have checked the protection to the left.  I knew McBride was free.  I was unfortunately trying to get   away from him and throw it away, but he wrapped me up.  Definitely that one was my fault.”

4. Coach Capers: “Matthews can play physically and he can also finesse. He took the ball off Peterson and ran it in for a touchdown vs. the Vikings and gave us good pressure today.  He’s given us a playmaker.”

5. Coach Campen: “You can’t have guys running through gaps and sacking the quarterback. That’s embarrassing. That should never happen, but it happened a couple times.  That reflects bad on me.  Just the same old story.  We didn’t handle their pressure well.”

Report Card Grades–Good, Bad, & Ugly: LA vs. USAT

Pass Offense—B vs.   B+. QB Rodgers completed 29 for 37 passes for 358 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, one fumble, and a 113.7 passer rating.  Still, he made some bad decisions and the protection breakdowns (five sacks) & penalties led to failures in the red zone. WR Driver set a franchise record for receptions. The receivers had a very good day especially Driver, Jennings, Jones, Finley, & Lee.  On the offensive line, communications errors and poor protection adjustments resulted in two sacks, QB Rodgers ran into another sack and maybe held the ball too long on another sack, and LT Colledge allowed the fifth sack.

Rush Offense—B- vs.  C-.  The Lions used a great deal of an eight-man front and a single-safety coverage throughout the game.  For three quarters due to these low opportunities favoring a cushioned short passing game, RB Grant startedly slowly. Yet, he finished with 24 carries for 90 yards averaging 3.8 yards and 3 receptions for 17 yards. The Packers have to execute better, especially against blitzing linemen filling gaps.  Rookie FB Johnson looked good gaining experience.

Pass Defense—B+ vs.  A. The Packers held the Lions to 71 net yards facing only backup quarterbacks.  QB Culpepper was just 6 for 14 for 48 yards, 1 interception, and 2 sacks.  QB Stanton was just 5 for 11 for 57 yards, 2 interceptions, and 3 sacks. The big plays included 3 interceptions and 5 sacks.

Rush defense—B+ vs.  B+. The front seven played a solid game holding the Lions running game to 78 net yards.  LBs Barnett, Kampman  & Matthews had outstanding games.  The Lions were 0 for 10 on third downs.

Special teams—B vs.  B-. On a windy day, the kickoff and punt coverages were solid enough to win. The kick and punt returns were average, except for PR Williams who got one return for 45 yards.  K Crosby hit four field goals.  P Kapinos had 2 punts averaging a solid 41 yards.

Coaching—B vs. C. The Packers started fast getting an early 14-0 in the first quarter. Then the offense struggled for the rest of the game showing a sloppy performance due to stupid penalties, protection breakdowns, gaffes, and bad decisions being ineffective in the red zone. They had 13 penalties for 130 yards, 3 fumbles, & 2 turnovers.  In the red zone, they were only 1 for 5. 

Overall Game—B. The Packers had 435 net offensive yards, but the Packers should have had three more touchdowns, but protection breakdowns and poor decisions on Rodgers’ part resulted in something other than pay dirt.  The offense continues the same old issues that need to be improved. However, the 3-4 defense had a command performance looking better in the running, pass pressure, & coverage areas.  

CBS Sports Prisco’s Overall Grade: A  “QB Rodgers had a big day throwing it, but this game belonged to the defense. The Lions did nothing all day long. The Green Bay defense needed a game like this.  Getting a shutout is a bonus.”

CTV.com Good, Bad, & Ugly: Good–Driver, Matthews, & Rodgers; Bad–Barbre, McCarthy, & Campen; Ugly–Clifton.

Rodgers vs Favre series: week 6.  “Silver Fox” Vikings 6-0.  Packers 3-2.

Commentary:  Lions headlines made two amusing points: “The Really Bad News? The Packers Weren’t Good” and “Packers Poor, Lions Pathetic: Even With Sloppy Performance, Packers Win.” Simply, the Pack played grade B enough to win. 

Preview: The Packers have a good road game test against the Browns. The fans will be happy when the Pack go to 4-2 looking forward to Favre-A-Palooza: Round 2.