As horrific as Sunday was, I thought Jayden Reed and Matthew Golden both had some very impressive receptions, and Josh Jacobs’ incredible catch in the corner of the end zone shouldn’t get buried either. What other encouraging signs from Denver are worth remembering heading into Saturday?
I know the pass protection got overrun late, but against that pass rush, I thought the Packers held up rather well for the bulk of the game. I also saw more “get the ball out quick” throws than I recall seeing in a while, and they were successful. I know I just said the Packers aren’t going to reinvent themselves, but they might have discovered some new options out of necessity.
Mike, I’ll go against the grain here and propose that, as devastating as the Parsons injury may be, the availability of Christian Watson may be even more important to this team. If you accept the premise that the NFL has become an offense-first, QB-driven league, the Pack is still in good shape as long as Love remains upright. And there is absolutely no question that right up until early in the third quarter Sunday, the O has looked unquestionably improved with the return of WR9. One game at a time …
I’m not going to downplay, or put on the scales, in any way, shape or form the loss of Parsons. Elite players are often the difference between wins and losses, and he’s among the very elite. The plays he made at crunch time against the Cowboys, Cardinals, Steelers and Giants were a big reason the Packers won (or didn’t lose) those games. That said, Watson’s emergence has been instrumental, if not necessary, for the offense to return to its current level after Tucker Kraft’s injury. Whether or not Watson is back Saturday night, his eventual return to the field will factor considerably in the offense’s fortunes.
Anthony from Southington, CT
Here’s the bright side. If you look back at 2010 we had quite the injured reserve list that season as well.
Sure, but Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji weren’t on it. Look, I appreciate everyone’s enthusiasm and recall of that singular season, and I certainly hope we can talk such comparisons a month from now. But this team must first show it can overcome a larger slice of adversity than anyone bargained for. I eagerly await the answer.
Insiders, are ACL injuries complete freak, random, dumb luck injuries or are they a ticking time bomb that would have happened at some point? Like, if Parsons happened to need to sit the play out because his shoe was untied, would he be okay still or was that ACL doomed from the start?
I’ve long wondered the same thing, harkening back to watching Jordy Nelson tear his ACL because he took a minimal two-footed jump to catch a pass and landed a little wrong. I honestly don’t know the answer to your question, and there probably isn’t a definitive answer anyway.
Darin from Madisonville, KY
Not downplaying what Micah means to this team, but this was a pretty darn good defense even before the trade. The gut punch to me is that this means we will start next season without him too.
I’m not putting anything past that guy.
Curious minds want to know … are the readers who are complaining about the deep shot to Watson (that possibly could have been a TD had Love not been hit) the same readers who previously complained about LaFleur being too conservative? Maybe science will one day come up with a solution allowing us all to have it both ways … and while they are at it, a way for professional athletes to protect their ACLs. C’mon Science, it’s 2025!
Ha, appreciate the levity. When it comes to coaches, all I know is everyone prefers to blame them as much as possible. If LaFleur had run Jacobs into the Broncos’ first-down wall waiting for him right after the long TD run, leading to second-and-long and eventual three-and-out, the Inbox would’ve been full of the “conservative” narrative again.
Regarding going for 2 when down by 14, the analytics are actually in favor of this. I’ll try to avoid the math, but in short with a PAT chance of 98%, two-point conversion success at 45% and winning in overtime at 50%, when you crunch the different combinations you reach a win probability of 56% with two-point conversion vs. 48% with PAT and overtime (credit to the Reddit user who did the math and posted it).
Oh, I know what the math says, and I do understand it. But I believe there’s also a layman’s fallacy that two-point plays being roughly 50-50 means failing on the first one somehow boosts the chances of the second one being successful, when the second one is as much 50-50 as the first one, like individual coin flips. That’s why I advocate for kicking the PAT on the first TD and giving yourself the option to go for the tie or lead on the second score.
