Fuller's Packers Report Card - Week 14: 10-3 Never Looked So... Above Average?
A win is a win in the National Football League, but another tight battle against another poor NFC East team didn't ease too many of my concerns with the postseason looming less than a month away.
Unsurprisingly, Aaron Rodgers (B) was an excellent game manager down the stretch, but throwing under 200 passing yards and only one score isn't too memorable. In contrast, Aaron Jones (A+) put the offense (dare I say the whole team?) on his back with 192 Total Yards and a Touchdown, hustling for yards after contact through some pretty stale offensive drives. Davante Adams (B-) had a humble 4 catches for 41 yards, Jimmy Graham (B) added a couple big gains to his mediocre season resume, and the remaining corps of Allen Lazard (C), Geronimo Allison (C-), Jake Kumerow (C), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (n/a) and Marcedes Lewis (C) barely showed up. Backup Robert Tonyan (B) at least pulled in a touchdown catch from his one target, while rookie Jace Sternberger (D+) dropped his touchdown target. Aside from Bryan Bulaga (C-) giving up too much space to edge rushers a handful of times, the O-Line had a better performance than the stat-line of 4 Sacks Allowed would portray.
On defense, All-Pro Kenny Clark (A) finally played like one, getting into the backfield numerous times with the likes of fellow pass rushers Za'Darius Smith (A-), Preston Smith (B), Rashan Gary (B-) and Kyler Fackrell (B-). Speaking of All-Pros, Blake Martinez (A-) had a double-digit tackle day without giving much yardage to Washington's backs. Jaire Alexander (B) locked up Terry McLaurin for most of the game, Darnell Savage (B) forced a fumble and held his own, and Adrian Amos (A) added both a Sack and an Interception to his season total with one of his best performances as a Packer. Mason Crosby (A-) proved to still be Mr. Clutch by making both Field Goal Attempts and both extra-point tries, a major difference-maker in a five-point victory. JK Scott (C+) had a complacent day punting, but in one of the best positive surprises of the season, newly-claimed punt returner Tyler Ervin (B-) had the three-longest Green Bay punt returns on his first four tries, all less than a week after arriving from Jacksonville.
I'm all for this winning football, but can we make it a little prettier guys?
OVERALL: B-
Offense: C+ QB/RB: B WR/TE: C OL: B-
Defense: B- DL: B- LB: B DB: B Special Teams: B
BEST GRADE: A+: RB Aaron Jones
Even if the passing game looked better than an uncoordinated JV squad through most of the game, Aaron Jones put this entire Packers offense on his back. His 16 carries for 134 Yards and a touchdown already makes him one of the most important players in the game, but when you add in his team-leading 6 Receptions and 58 Receiving Yards? Anytime your running back leads the team in both rushing and receiving yards, that's a high-impact player. 22 Touches for 192 Yards and a score? Now THAT is a game-ball-deserving box score entry.
WORST GRADE: D+: TE Robert Tonyan
Not many in the Green & Gold performed worse than the average of "C", but oddly enough, it was the second week in a row where a backup Tight End takes home the worst grade. To be fair, Jace Sternberger barely saw the field as the fourth-string Tight End (half the teams in the league don't even have four Tight Ends), but his "one shining moment" was dropping a relatively-catchable Touchdown pass from Mr. Rodgers. It wasn't a failure of a game for Sternberger, but it's safe to say he's more than happy forgetting his Week 14 contributions moving forward.
MVP Watch: A lackluster day from Davante Adams (3.35 GPA) cut into his 1st-place lead, but not by much. Mason Crosby (3.17 GPA) is still a good distance back in second, and Aaron Jones' (3.14 GPA) game-MVP performance put him ahead of Za'Darius Smith (3.10 GPA), Aaron Rodgers (3.05 GPA) and Preston Smith (3.04 GPA) for third.
STATS OVERVIEW:
Passing - Rodgers: B (18/28, 195 Yds, 1 TD, 0 INT, 96.6 Passer Rating; 5 Rush, 16 Yds)
Rushing - A. Jones: A+ (16 Rush, 134 Yds, 1 TD; 6 Rec, 58 Yds); J. Williams: C (7 Rush, 24 Yds)
Receiving - Adams: B- (4 Rec, 41 Yds); Graham: B (3 Rec, 49 Yds); Lazard: C (2 Rec, 19 Yds); Tonyan: B (1 Rec, 12 Yds, 1 TD)
Defense - 1 Interception (Amos), 2 Forced Fumbles (Z. Smith, Savage) and 4 Sacks (Clark 1.5x, P. Smith, Amos, Fackrell 0.5x)
Questions? Comments? Concerns? General Feedback? Can this 10-3 Packers team win out and clinch home-field advantage for most of the playoffs? Let me know!
Thank you and God Bless,
Samuel R. Fuller
