1. Complete Domination - The Packers game against the Lions was one that, for whatever reason, many of us seemed to be worried out. Much of that might have to do with memories of Dre Bly old, but as soon as I saw that the Lions weren't in their Thanksgiving throwbacks, my confidence was restored. The Packers did struggle a bit early, especially with their red zone opportunities, but eventually found their rhythm and ripped off a 34-12 victory. The main reasons for the Packers' 7th victory this season was because of the defense and the air attack. Rodgers had another solid day, going 28/39 with 348 yards and three touchdowns. Pretty good performance overall on Thanksgiving by the Pack.2. Having Said That... - Things did get a little dicey early, as Jordy Nelson fumbled the kickoff on the game's opening play. The Lions did capitalize after that, but the Packers recovered quickly. It took awhile to put some real points on the board because the Packers stalled out on a few of their drives, but eventually they turned it around and picked up the win. Rodgers fumbled later in the game as well, but that proved not to be harmful. Not a perfect game (they still had seven penalties) but like I said, a good performance overall.
3. Defensive Hardware - This was something that we had talked about before the game today, and it ended up coming out of Troy Aikman's mouth during the broadcast, and that is the Charles Woodson has to be the defensive player of the year. Hell, this guy might even garner MVP votes with the way he's been playing. Thursday was no exception, as Woodson had two interceptions (one for a touchdown), a fumble recovery and a sack. Not too mention that he basically shut down Calvin Johnson and made Matt Stafford have to look elsewhere in the passing game. All of this was especially needed in response to the Al Harris injury. Aikman also mentioned that while Woodson has always been good, his play during the last month has been especially dominant. Plus, the guy just threw down two million for a children's hospital in Ann Arbor! There's no need to wait, give this guy the defensive player of the year award right now.
Not only that, but give Clay Matthews the defensive rookie of the year award as well. Matthews has proved that Ted Thompson's move of trading up to draft him was a stroke of genius, and he continues to give us everything that A.J. Hawk hasn't been able to. The sack he had where he chased Stafford around in a circle was hilarious, hilarious because of how awesome it was. Great performance by him and the rest of the defense today. Also kudos to Tramon Williams and Nick Collins for coming up with interceptions.
4. The Crosby Woes - Last week I filled some space by giving Jeremy Kapinos some love, but this week I'm filling space by worrying a bit about Mason Crosby. He's a good kicker, and the field goal he missed was 40+ yards, but lately I haven't had the same confidence in him that I did last season. Nothing else to add there, just wanted to bring it up.
5. Galloping Gobbler - Donald Driver gets the player of the game award from the Fox crew, even though Joe Buck can't go two minutes without saying how stupid he thinks it is. Even still, Driver seemed excited to win the award and was a riot in the postgame interview. He deserved it too, as he snagged seven balls for 142 yards and a score. Great game by Driver, and congrats again on the Galloping Gobbler.
So with the win, Green Bay is now 7-4 and somehow in the driver's seat for the first NFC Wild Card spot. They have a good chunk of time off, and will next take the field next Monday night against the Ravens.
0 comments:
Post a Comment