Rush E Playable Sheet

[Matthias Briggs]

Afterwe were all told Jordan Love would be a work in progress this year, many are calling for him to be benched. Can you point out to these naysayers some of the great QB that had bad starting seasons. From what I can see Love is on pace with some of the greats. With a little patience I believe he could become something special. I can't stand our instant gratification society.

I don't think there's any point in comparing Love to anybody, because developmental timelines always vary. Anyone ready to give up on him after half a season simply doesn't know football. He has plenty of room to improve. He's also done a lot of intriguing and promising things. Those who aren't willing to let it play out can't be helped anyway.

The stoutness of the run defense has been important these last two weeks. We've seen fewer missed tackles, and we've seen guys getting off blocks to muck up the running lanes. Those efforts must continue. The Steelers run the ball better than either the Vikings or the Rams, so it'll be a bigger challenge.

The progress that might have me the most intrigued is what we saw on special teams. I know Anders Carlson missed a kick, but with Keisean Nixon's 51-yard kickoff return, plus a 15-yard punt return by him and a 22-yarder by Jayden Reed, maybe the Packers are hitting on something in their return game. It's worth watching.

Hope Watson is good to go. It was one catch like that at the beginning of the Cowboys game last year that saw him start to light it up. Hoping for similar pattern this year, because that could open things for others, too.

Indeed. Hauling in that one deep ball against Dallas last season really sparked him, and this entire offense. I don't think anybody would mind history repeating itself in that regard.

I'd never rule anything out, and I agree Rhyan played well in spot duty, but I don't think Jon Runyan has played poorly at all to lose his job, and you're not replacing Jenkins at the other guard spot. The fourth-and-1 offside penalties were unfortunate, but based on what Runyan said after the game, I don't think anybody told him the first flag was on him (the referee announced Nijman's number, incorrectly). I don't see the Packers turning over a position from an experienced player to a new guy just like that, especially with a defensive front like the Steelers on deck. It does appear Rhyan has made himself the next guard up, though, which is a climb on the depth chart from earlier in the season.

Mornin' Mike!

Maybe you won't have to wear your boxing gloves this week, eh? After watching how our O line seemed to handle Aaron Donald, maybe we've turned the corner and and this will carry over for the rest of the season

Different challenge this week, with the Steelers' two impressive edge rushers in Watt and Highsmith, plus a guy like Heyward on the interior. This is a tough group all the way across. It's not about zeroing in on one guy to stop from wrecking things. The Steelers have multiple guys who can do that.

Nice "Airplane" reference on the II this morning, Mike! I assume you review the game "all-22" video before producing your fine WYMM piece each week. Do you make note during the game of something to look for, or just let the "action come to you?"

Either/or. Sometimes I leave the press box with an idea of something I want to take a closer look at Monday morning. Other times I don't and just see what I see. It depends on the game and how it goes. Thanks for checking out the piece, though. It's one I really enjoy putting together every week.

I think it's a combination of a lot of things, including what you mentioned. Getting Jones and AJ Dillon on the field together and having Jones motioning around can really keep a defense on its toes. Some of it is opponent-based too, from what those defenses have struggled with on film.

Mike, I know the secondary has been getting a lot of props for their play last Sunday, but I thought the D-Line also had a great game, especially considering Kenny Clark got hurt. The 2 rookies really seem to bring it!

Agreed. Wyatt didn't have any real splash plays, but he was solid in there. Wooden had the fourth-down stop. Brooks deflected a couple passes. Slaton has started to become a force against the run and needs to keep it up. You have to like what the Packers have in that group right now, provided Clark can get back in there quickly.

I noticed what Douglas noticed. Every running play but 1 that series went right behind Rhyan and he had a hole open for them. The TD was the only exception and that was because 33 cut it back. Not asking for Runyan's benching, it was simply nice to see Rhyan get some productive snaps. Jars on the shelf.

We've been hearing that from some folks. Plenty of others get it on their phones no problem. All we've been suggesting is check the cookie settings and other configurations that might be causing a problem. Because it's not a universal problem.

I think TOP had something to do with it, but the unit also has been plenty inconsistent on its own. It was doing fine on third downs until Cousins suddenly tore them up on a bunch of third-and-longs. That's not a TOP issue. Even without Douglas, the coverage in the back end against Kupp and Nacua was vastly improved over what we've seen in other games, too.

I doubt it, but there's no discounting the value he's had when filling in. McDuffie has slowly but surely grown as a player over the last couple years since he arrived. Campbell and Walker are the guys they want out there most of the time, though, as long as they're healthy.

Winnable game this week, IMO. Pickett's been off all year, so I think our defense should be able to hold up, esp. if the secondary plays like it did last week. It comes down to whether last week's offensive production was a fluke, or a sign of things to come. What's your feeling about the team, going into this game?

This game is all about being able to hang in there for 60 minutes. Four of Pittsburgh's five wins have come when trailing after three quarters, then the shut out the opponent in the fourth quarter and get the score(s) they need. They've won by playing grind-it-out, crunch-time football. The Packers have to be ready to do the same.

I don't think so. It's just one of those things. The drought is 50-plus years but it's only five games (regular season). I might be writing more about that history later this week, so stay tuned.

That's way above my pay grade. Not sure how the Packers will go about it, but Alexander looked healthy and like himself this last game, so that might influence the decision. Pickens is averaging 17.4 yards per catch. That's the stat that catches my eye.

I appreciate having more play calls for 33, but it still seems that we throw too many sideways passes instead of looking down the field more. That backwards pass landing out of bounds could have been a disaster.

That was just a checkdown and Love was trying to avoid the sack. With a 7-point lead in the fourth quarter, he's got to protect the ball better there, and he knows it. The more designed swing passes and such are being run to set up other looks in the middle of the field, and we saw some of that working. You have to be able to execute the whole playbook for plans to work as intended.

I think the whole offense is looking for more of that. Christian Watson's contested catch right before that was a big one, too. Sometimes individuals need to make plays, other times everyone has to execute to perfection. Whatever it takes.

I do my best not to take it for granted that I get to watch live football at Lambeau Field on a regular basis. Going to other stadiums is a nice change of pace, but Lambeau is the best venue in the NFL. It really is.

Mike, that was an interesting tidbit Gutey shared at his presser regarding the 3rd round pick for Douglas, and his expectation that with it being a top 100 pick, that someone from the Packers top 50 on their board would be available. That feels like he revealed "double secret probation" kind of info!

I thought it was interesting, too, though I don't think he's revealing anything other teams don't already know. It's confirmation as to how different every team's draft board is. Sure the top 15 or 20 players are probably the same, or close to it, but after that there's a ton of variance.

Hard for me to tell in the press box. I'm so zoned in on the live blog I pretty much block everything else out. The loudest I can recall the stadium since the return of fans post-Covid was probably the Minnesota game late last season, when Keisean Nixon took that kickoff to the house.

As my schedule has had me watching games on a small screen or reading your blog, I got a true sense of how young the faces of the players are when I watched the game on the big screen. It put things in perspective for me!!

I know the Packers don't want to keep talking about the youth of the team, but it is a reality. This is the youngest team I can recall being around. Some of the players are younger than my son, which puts it in perspective for me.

Harris is climbing toward 4 yards per carry on the season. He's currently up to 3.8. But Warren has given the run game a spark. He's got a 4.7 average on 56 attempts, with a long of 22, so that average isn't skewed by a long-distance run or two.

The league hasn't taken it away. Celebration time has been shortened, so as Aaron Jones said after the last game, players have to decide if they're going to jump in the stands or celebrate with their teammates. There isn't time to do both.

All of the above in some respects. The Packers are still figuring things out at LT, with Nijman taking over for Walker but then leaving the Rams game with a back injury. Jenkins wasn't quite himself when he first came back but seems to have settled in again. Myers is improving and becoming more consistent. Both Runyan and Tom played through injuries for a couple of weeks but they seem to be more full strength now, too.

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