Well, we can’t say the season is over even after the Green Bay Packers dropped an embarrassing 38-31 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at home on Sunday.
That’s because the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears as just as inept as the Packers. Both of those teams also lost on Sunday. Detroit is now out of the the playoffs a week after leading the division. The NFC North will come down to next week’s showdown between the Packers and Bears in Chicago.
So, yes, the Packers could be hosting a playoff game at 8-7-1. I know everyone is real excited about that.
Anyway, here are five more thoughts on the latest debacle.
Fuck you, Ted Thompson
First, you hold out Aaron Rodgers even though both he and coach Mike McCarthy think he’s ready to play. Great and thanks. Second, we’re tired of complaining about the shit personnel the Packers have on defense. There are so many problems on that side of the ball and they were all evident once again on Sunday. The Packers lost this game because of their defense and we’ve said that after about six of the Packers’ losses this year. Your draft picks suck, golden boy. Your talent evaluation sucks. Your approach at building a team sucks. This season has proven it. Does John Schneider want to come back from Seattle? That guy knows how to build a team.
Alright, we’ll give you Micah Hyde
Ted has pretty much swung and missed on most of his draft picks in recent seasons, with the exception of guys like Randall Cobb and Eddie Lacy. And Micah Hyde. Hyde was one of the only bright spots on an embarrassment of a defense. He had six tackles and defended a pass on Sunday. He was also a spark on special teams. Hyde averaged 33.4 yards per kick return and his final return set the Packers up to tie the game. They didn’t, of course, but that was no fault of Hyde’s.
Special teams… man
Despite Hyde’s efforts, overall, the Green Bay Packers special teams units are awful. That’s primarily because their coverage units can’t stop anyone. Antonio Brown averaged 20.5 yard per punt return on Sunday. Emmanuel Sanders returned a kick for 54 yards. Then there was the fake punt that the Packers were totally clueless on. We’d like to blame special teams coach Shawn Slocum because there have been other years where the Packers special teams have been one of the worst units in the league. However, it’s tough to do that because there’s no consistency. Year after year, Thompson turns over the bottom of the roster. He fills it with developmental guys. Most of them are undrafted free agents. Those guys have some warts. Those are also the guys who are playing special teams. Should we even be surprised that the Packers make mistakes in kick coverage? Not really. That’s no excuse for it, though.
How did the Packers lose this game?
If you look at the game stats without seeing the score, you’d assume the Packers won on Sunday. They had five more first downs than the Steelers. They had a seven minute advantage in time of possession. They had more passing yards and the rushing yards were even. The turnover battle was also even. Both teams scored four times in the red zone. So what the hell? Essentially, the game was two plays — Cortez Allen’s pick six of Matt Flynn in the third quarter and Flynn’s inability to score on the final play.
Goodbye, B.J.
Hey, it’s been fun. Remember when you made that pick six and then did that dance? Yeah, that was awesome bro. We’ll always remember that. However, you’d outlived your usefulness in Green Bay. Most guys play out of their ass when they’re in a contract year. You, on the other hand, are playing the worst football of your career in your contract year. We don’t want or need your fat ass anymore. We can get some undrafted free agent from North Texas who will do as much as you do on the field. Don’t worry, though. Some desperate team will throw you $8 million a year to take up space in the buffet line. For the record, Raji had zero tackles on Sunday. That’s the sixth game this season where he’s failed to register any sort of statistic.