Snap Judgments: Week 5

After rethinking about Sunday’s game against the Giants, here are three things worth discussing:

1) Once again, the Packers were outsmarted on both sides of the ball. This has been an alarming trend all season. While the defending NFC North champs managed to overcome Matt LaFleur and Joe Barry in Weeks 2, 3, and 4, they couldn’t on Sunday against the Giants. Just as concerning as the questionable playcalling on offense and defense is the inability of the coaching staff to assess talent. Jake Hanson had no business starting at right guard in the opener at Minnesota, and Royce Newman has been only slightly better the past four games. Hopefully, if and when David Bakhtiari is able to play 60 minutes at left tackle, Yosh Nijman will move to right tackle, and Elgton Jenkins will slide inside. Until then, why not give rookie Zach Tom a chance? He had a very good training camp, and it’s hard to imagine him being a bigger liability than Newman. It’s also time to admit that Rasul Douglas isn’t a good fit at nickel back, and Darnell Savage is a disaster at free safety. Having the two veterans swap positions is something that should’ve been considered months ago, but if that’s too drastic, at the very least move Jaire Alexander to the slot and send Savage to the bench. The only thing worse than the former No. 1 pick from Maryland’s inability to cover the middle of the field is his inability to tackle in space. And while no amount of personnel changes will totally fix things if LaFleur and Barry don’t get their heads out of their respective asses, making a few moves couldn’t hurt after almost losing to rookie Bailey Zappe and actually losing to Daniel Jones.




2) After the Giants went 91 yards in over eight minutes to tie the game at 20 in the fourth quarter, four-time MVP and $150 million quarterback Aaron Rodgers decided to throw the ball three straight times on the next possession – twice deep down the field to tightly covered receivers. Mind you; the Packers were averaging over five yards per carry against one of the NFL’s worst run defenses. The end result was a 3-and-out that lasted all of 26 seconds and forced an already exhausted and demoralized defense to return to the field without any opportunity to rest and recover. Was I surprised by the playcalling? Unfortunately, not in the least. In fact, here’s what I wrote in my game preview posted 24 hours earlier:

The Giants are 28th in the league against the run…. A heavy dose of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon will be the way to go on Sunday. Unfortunately, Rodgers seems intent on throwing the ball all over England… Here’s what he said when asked by reporters if he’s like LaFleur to turn him loose: ‘Hell yeah, of course. Matt’s kind of in a grumpy mood right now. When he gets a little bit of rest and will be in a better mood, we’ll talk about airing it outa little bit more.’ Based on how the Giants are playing defense this season, that discussion would be best put on hold.

Well, Rodgers did indeed “air it out.” The Packers threw the ball 19 more times they ran it on Sunday, including those three ill-advised long tosses late in the game. It’s difficult to know whether to blame the person theoretically calling the plays (LaFleur) or the person who has full authority to change any run to a pass (Rodgers). The only thing I know for certain is that if the head coach was in a grumpy mood before the game, I shudder to think of his mood after the game.

3) At this point, Amari Rodgers is simply taking up space. The former Clemson standout has played only five snaps on offense all season, and Sunday he was replaced on kickoffs by rookie Christian Watson. That left bringing back punts as Rodgers’ only job, and he’s not close to good enough in that role to justify a spot on the 53-man roster. Would releasing a player picked in the third round of the 2021 draft be embarrassing for general manager Brian Gutekunst? Of course, but that shouldn’t be a factor in his decision-making. There are probably a dozen veterans on practice squads around the league or even on the street who could help the Packers more than Rodgers. Plus, there’s a pretty decent chance he could clear waivers and be re-signed to the practice squad, which is where he belongs. And if he gets claimed, so what? The odds of the 23-year-old blossoming with another team are slim, and the Packers would add some salary cap space. Moving on from Rodgers would allow Gutekunst to bring in an experienced kick returner and spare Watson from that duty. A player who stands 6-foot-4 and can’t seem to stay healthy doesn’t need to be doing such a dangerous job. Jordy Nelson, who was an inch shorter than Watson, lasted less than a month in that role very early in his career with the Packers.

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