RS12
Well-Known Member
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- Was there ever a question where Dak Prescott was going with the ball when facing that 3rd-and-5 situation in the final minutes? The Packers came with a double gut “A” gap blitz, which put Morgan Burnett in coverage one-on-one with Jason Witten. Travis Frederick picked up Jake Ryan to his left, which left Ezekiel Elliott on Blake Martinez on the right. Prescott knew that he didn’t have much time to get rid of the ball -- but with those two blocks, he was able to do just that. Witten was able to get separation on Burnett, secure the ball and get the first down to extend the drive. The next play, Elliott went 29 yards to put the offense in position to kill more clock and finish the game with a Dan Bailey field goal.
- You have to be impressed with Anthony Brown and the way he has filled in for Orlando Scandrick. Brown might not have Scandrick’s cover ability, but where he has him beat is as a physical tackler. Brown finished the game with 10 stops and several were the open field, one-on-one variety. His tackle of Jordy Nelson early in the second quarter on third down forced the Packers to kick a field goal instead of extending the drive. Later in that same quarter, he tackled Randall Cobb on a screen for a six-yard loss that put the Packers behind the chains. Initially I didn’t feel like he was as comfortable playing on the outside as he was in the slot, but that wasn’t the case. He had a couple of snaps where I thought he was a little late to react but overall, he performed his job well.
- The dime package is becoming the go-to defense for Rod Marinelli. In it, he forces the quarterback to take underneath throws instead of those big ones down the field. I thought Marinelli did a great job of frustrating Aaron Rodgers with this look. He was able to clog throwing lanes that kept him off balance. What was interesting was that even with Morris Claiborne out of the lineup, he still played it with Byron Jones and Jeff Heath getting work in the slots. For Heath it was by far his most extensive work in having to play man coverage. You would never think that he could play in that scheme, but he only had one play where he was beaten off the line by Ty Montgomery out the slot.
- On the Lucky Whitehead jet sweep for 26 yards – give credit to Ronald Leary and Geoff Swaim for some big-time blocks. Leary was able to hook Kenny Clark which, got Whitehead to the corner and Swaim was able to take care of Demetri Goodson to get him up the field.
- I loved the route that Cole Beasley ran for his second touchdown. Beasley came off the line like he is going to block on the play as the ball is going away. He was almost walking off the line and LaDarius Gunter was totally fooled by the lack of effort. Once Beasley felt Gunter slow down – he exploded to the outside away from him in space. It was a great sell by Prescott on the fake going to his left. When he spun back to his right, he got a key block by Jason Witten on Datone Jones to get him on the edge. It was a simple pitch and catch for the touchdown.
- It’s now been back-to-back games where the opponent’s best defensive player(s) were not a factor in outcome. Last week, Geno Atkins was held off the stat sheet and this week, Clay Matthews and Nick Perry had very quiet games for how well they normally play. Great effort by this offensive line and tight ends to hold those players in check.
