Well, that went out the window against the very pass-happy San Diego Chargers.
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The fans inside Lambeau Field erupted with a collective sigh of relief. We knew they were going to play man, so that’s when I lick my chops to see if they could cover me. The Packers averaged 7.8 yards per rush and 7.4 per pass, compared to San Diego’s 2.8 and 7.2.
Rivers threw for two touchdowns. Ben Roethlisberger has done it twice.
It was a historic effort but one that will likely be forgotten sooner than it should because the result was a loss.
Actually, is this Rivers’ best overall game? The addition of Graham was supposed to be Seattle’s ticket to Super Bowl 50, but the Seahawks and Ravens, Sports Illustrated’s other Super Bowl pick, are struggling so far. Notable quarterbacks below that threshold include Sam Bradford, Cam Newton and Drew Brees. Overall the team has 134 yards receiving, 17 catches, no touchdowns.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (left) talks with his Chargers counterpart, Philip Rivers, after Green Bay’s win. Take a look at the list of active quarterbacks who earned a spot in the 500 club. San Diego piled up 548 yards and had a 16-minute advantage in time of possession.
The Chargers have yet to play the Broncos this season.
“If you have a chance to study their offense, (Rivers) is so accurate with the football and the at-the-line offense and the command of recognizing the defense and so forth, you’ve got to give him a ton of credit there”, Packers coach Mike McCarthy said.
Easy to say the game-winning deflection on San Diego’s last play, but that was all set up by Datone Jones stuffing Danny Woodhead on the previous play.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy called it the “biggest play of the game”, and had Randall not broken up the pass, the Chargers could have forced overtime (with the ensuing extra point kick) or gone for the victory with a 2-point conversion attempt. These are the type of games that you need in between the dominating performances to get your stats to those ridiculous levels.
Starks made McCarthy’s choice for the starter at running back on Sunday look good right off the bat. He would later add another score on a brilliant 65-yard run, and closed the game with a higher season-long rushing total and yards-per-cary than Lacy in 2015.
Kenosha native Melvin Gordon, who set a plethora of rushing records at Wisconsin last season, was held to 29 yards on seven carries. Indeed, the Packers will have the best of both worlds when they get back: They haven’t come close to reaching their potential and yet they’re 6-0.
Woodhead’s worst runs – in context, not yardage – came late in the game on the final drive.
-RUN DEFENSE: A-minus. With Rivers’ throwing the football all over the place and with great frequency, the Chargers just about abandoned running it. When they did, the results were mostly pedestrian and with little harm. On the first play, Rivers threw a short pass to Gates that the tight end turned into a 21-yard gain.
Through six games, Rivers has completed 177 of 253 passes for 2,116 yards, with 12 touchdowns and five interceptions. The Packers would be better off making him inactive and allowing him to fully rest the injury.
It also probably helped that wide receiver Keenan Allen got knocked out of the game after catching 14 of 15 passes thrown to him.
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Instead, they went three-and-out, and the Chargers went down the field for a touchdown on the final play of the first half to pull within seven points. Last year, the only players with more than 17 sacks were J.J. No one had more than two grabs. It’s really no different than the way we’ve operated.
