Green Bay Packers: Positives, negatives from Week 12

Positives and negatives from the Green Bay Packers’ Week 12 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Packers suffered a heartbreaking loss on the road to the Steelers on Sunday Night Football. A last-second field goal handed the team their sixth loss of the year and further damaged their potential playoff standing.

The Packers are now 5-6 on the year and drop to just 1-5 since the injury to Aaron Rodgers. Desperate to accumulate as many wins as possible while they tread water in the NFC North, they suffered another blow on national television.

Here are some positives and negatives from the loss.

Positive: Brett Hundley

After several shaky starts filling in for Rodgers, Brett Hundley got off to a strong start against the Steelers, hooking up with Randall Cobb for a touchdown in the first quarter. A screen pass to Jamaal Williams and a deep ball to Davante Adams accounted for his other two touchdowns for the day.

Even though Pittsburgh let Green Bay off the hook with some blown coverages, the Packers have to be encouraged with the poise Hundley showed. He was able to withstand the Pittsburgh rush despite playing with his third-string running back and without his starting right tackle.

Negative: Tight ends

Even before Martellus Bennett‘s departure in the most unprofessional of ways, the tight end position in Green Bay has been average at best. Still, somehow since Jermichael Finley‘s departure all the way back in 2012, the Packers have been devoid of a top-flight tight end on offense.

Further complicating things, Lance Kendricks and Richard Rodgers have been porous as well. Kendricks was brought in to be the second tight end in an offense that desperately needed to get better at run blocking and deeper at the position. Rodgers is proving to be one of the worst offensive draft picks in Ted Thompson‘s tenure as general manager.

Positive: Jamaal Williams

Jamaal Williams has been thrust into the lineup due to the injuries to Ty Montgomery and Aaron Jones. Devante Mays has completely lost the confidence of his head coach, leaving Williams as the last remaining cog in the offensive backfield.

Williams ran the ball 21 times for just 66 yards, but showed a strength in the trenches to withstand the initial contact and fall forward for extra yards. He also was on the receiving end of one of Hundley’s three touchdown passes. The Packers are still somehow searching for their long-term answer at the running back position.

Negative: Pass rush

This will unquestionably be one of the biggest points of emphasis for the Packers this offseason. Clay Matthews and Nick Perry are getting paid like elite pass rushers, but have yet to actually provide the desired results off the edge. The Packers don’t know what they have yet in Vince Biegel, while Kyler Fackrell shouldn’t even be on the roster anymore.

Green Bay needs to consider moving on from Matthews

after this season. He has failed to be the star pass rusher that the team had all those years ago. Matthews has just 3.5 sacks on the season and is clearly becoming one of the most overpaid players at his position and possibly across the entire NFL on defense.

Positive: Damarious Randall

Damarious Randall had his best game of the season and possibly as a Packer against the Steelers. Randall was extremely active disrupting pass patterns against one of the best receiving corps in the NFL. He allowed a quarterback rating against him of under 10, and intercepted Ben Roethlisberger in the first half.

The Packers were awful against the pass last year, and Randall’s recent play has to be encouraging for the front office, who are still looking for their long-term stalwarts at the position. Quinten Rollins is done for the season with an Achilles injury that he suffered against the Vikings, meaning Randall’s role with the team is only much greater.

Negative: Geronimo Allison

Geronimo Allison has disappeared from the face of the earth. After a promising second half to the regular season last year and an impressive playoff run, Allison has been nonexistent on offense. The team was confident in cutting two of their late round picks, DeAngelo Yancey, and Malachi Dupre in large part because of their interest in what Allison could provide to the team going forward.

The Packers will likely address the receiver position again in this coming year’s draft because of the surprising lack of production from the lower parts of the depth chart. Trevor Davis and Allison have barely seen time on the field.

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Davis’ role has been diminished to a punt returner only, and Allison’s lack of improvement has been one of the biggest disappointments the team has had this season.