Packers Embarrassed by Lowly Chiefs...Fall to 13-1

The first loss of the Packers' season came when nobody was expecting it. We had heard predictions of the Lions being the first and then the Giants and later the Raiders. But none of these were up to the task. No, it was the 5-8 Kansas City Chiefs that welcomed the challenge of facing an undefeated Packers' team. Less than a week after firing their head coach, and starting a recently acquired QB off of waivers the Chiefs looked more prepared, more motivated, and like the better team on Sunday afternoon. The Packers looked flat, unfocused, confused, and sloppy. It was embarrassing. Here's my analysis:

Things I Liked

Tim Masthay - Masthay was the one bright spot in the Packers' debachal of a game in Kansas City. He boomed every punt (he had several opportunities) and one even went for a career best 71 yards!

Things I Didn't Like

Aaron Rodgers - For the first time all season Rodgers completed less than 50% of his passes. He finished with an 80 QB rating. With the exception of the 2 TD drives, he looked nervous in the pocket, out of sync, off target, and had trouble finding open receivers.

Offensive Line - The o-line was beaten up badly. Even before the injuries started, they couldn't protect Rodgers. They opened some nice holes for Ryan Grant to run, but the Packers didn't run the ball that often. Then the injuries started. First Bulaga left witha knee sprain, then his replacement (Derek Sherrod) left for the season with a broken leg. This could be a HUGE problem for the remainder of the season and playoffs. Maybe Mark Tauscher is still available...?

Defense - The defense was not very good. Granted they came up with a handful of goal line stands, otherwise this game would have been even more lopsided, but they made the Chiefs look like a top tier offense. They couldn't tackle, they couldn't cover, and I dont remember them even getting close to Kyle Orton. In reality, the Chiefs have one of the worst offenses in the league and hadn't broken 10 points in over 3 weeks. Pathetic.

Receivers - It seemed like every time Rodgers threw a good pass, the receiver would drop it. And most of them came on 3rd downs. Finley dropped at least 3, Driver dropped 1 and so did Jones, Crabtree, and Nelson. The only player I saw catch all of the passes thrown to him was rookie Randall Cobb. This unit obviously missed Greg Jennings.

I could probably keep going with this, but it's starting to depress me. We're still 13-1 and one more win will give the Packers the 1st seed in the NFC for the playoffs. The season is not over, and if the patchwork offensive line can protect Rodgers at all then I think we will be fine for the playoffs. Jennings should return and this team has good veteran leadership and the ability to motivate itself and rebound from adversity. Up next, the Packers are at home with a chance to sweep the Bears and clinch home-field advantage. GO PACK!

Packers Do Enough to Squeak Past Bucs...10-0 and counting...

Thankfully, ugly wins count. It's the mark of a good team. When everything seems to go wrong and you still come away with a victory. The Packers did not look like an undefeated team yesterday against a sub-par Buccaneers squad, but a win is a win and the Pack are 1 step closer to making the playoffs. Here's my analysis:

Things I Liked

Jordy Nelson - He is becoming an excellent receiver, and just makes it that much harder for teams to defend the undefendable Packers' offense. I wish I had drafted him on my fantasy team.

BJ Raji - Raji didn't do anything special on Defense that I noticed. But it was fun to see him plow through the line on a 1 yard TD plunge for his 2nd career touchdown.

Tim Masthay - Masthay fumbled twice on the same play without being touched...normally this would be a bad thing. But anytime your punter scrambles for a 1st down rather than getting a punt blocked, it's a good thing. I laughed out loud, shook my head, and was happy when it happened. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

Donald Driver - Driver has quietly been having a solid season and is still an integral part of our offense. Didn't do anything spectacular, but had a few key catches that went relatively unnoticed. I think he deserves the credit for them.

Tramon Wiliams - Tramon came up with 2 Interceptions against the Bucs, making his season total 4. His 2nd also sealed the game for the Pack. As bad as this defense is, they seem to come up with a big play everytime it's needed.

Things I Did Not Like

Aaron Rodgers - Rodgers looked flustered and off target for a lot of the game. Granted he still threw for 299 yards and 3 TDs, but he also threw a costly INT. And when our defense plays that badly we can't afford for him to look bad at all.

Defense, defense, DEFENSE!!! - The defense was just flat out BAD. There is no excuse for there to be a wide open receiver on every play or for LeGarrett Blount to break 6 tackles and run for a 50+ yard TD. I keep expecting improvement, but it's just not happening.

Hopefully the defense comes to play on Thursday against the Lions. Happy Thanksgiving and GO PACK!