His name is Bobert Paulson. His name is Bobert Paulson. His name is Bobert Paulson.
The Denver Broncos crushed the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football, winning by a final score of 29-10. In truth, the score could have been even worse. The Broncos dominated the Packers in all facets of the game, maintaining their own perfect record and putting themselves forward as a contender for the Patriots in the AFC. Peyton Manning played as well as he has all year, the Bronco running game got off the ground, and of course the defense continued its stellar play. From the Packer perspective, the game appeared as followed:
The Good: Not Much
The Packers, as noted, were bested in virtually every way possible in this affair. What good, then, came of it? Perhaps the recently vanquished undefeated season had left some Packer players resting on their laurels. On defense, although the team started strong play has been slipping lately. Particularly in the front seven, the Packers appear to have slowed down significantly, and are no longer getting after opposing quarterbacks as they were to open the year. Unsurprisingly, opponents are passing better. Offensively, Aaron Rodgers masked weak play by the offensive line through six weeks. A seventh proved too much. If this serves as a wake-up call for some players, perhaps it will be a positive.
The Bad: Run Defense
With everyone getting beat on basically every down, it is hard to pick on just one player or group of players. But coming into the game the Broncos had an awful run offense. Against the Packers, they ran for 160 yards on 34 carries, good for 4.7 yards a pop. Making teams one dimensional is always a big win for a defense, and picking on a weakness makes that possible. The Packers were unable to do so.
The Ugly: False God(gers)
Aaron Rodgers had, in this writer’s estimation, the worst day of his career. He passed for just 77 yards while completing 14 of 22 attempts, a paltry 3.5 yards per attempt. Throws more than a few yards downfield were inaccurate, and though he was not intercepted, Rodgers fumbled on a play that led to a safety. Further, Rodgers looked extremely uncomfortable in the pocket. That is understandable given the siege laid on him by the Broncos, but the Packers are going nowhere with that kind of performance from the MVP. Here’s betting he turns it around soon.