The Packers stayed undefeated with a home victory against the Broncos Here’s what we saw:
Rodgers Is Not Who He Was… Yet
Once again, it felt like Aaron Rodgers wasn’t quite himself. Sure, there’s plenty of reasons (coming back from injury, new offense, no preseason, etc), but we’re almost a month into the season and he’s still not looking like an MVP. However, much like last week, he was better than the box score showed. If Danny Vitale gets an extra inch for the touchdown pass, Bob Tonyan just keeps running his route to get a big touchdown, and MVS doesn’t let a wet ball slip right through his mitts, things might have felt a little different.
Some people will criticize the spike-like throws when he didn’t like the look, but I think it was smart football. He avoided sacks (and, even more importantly, unnecessary hits), didn’t risk an interception, and safely ended the down. This was a game where it felt like the Packers were always in control – there was no need to take unnecessary risks in the rain. He’s still not in midseason form, but it’s not midseason yet, either, so let’s not get to concerned yet.
Run Defense
I was a little concerned that the Broncos ground game would find success with Montravious Adams, Raven Greene, and Oren Burks all out with injuries. They did, racking up 149 yards rushing on a wet track. Hopefully they clean things up before facing the Eagles in 4 days. Philadelphia doesn’t have a flashy ground game, but they do have well-rounded rushing attack that averages 100 yards a game.
Overall Defense
Despite the rushing yards that they gave up, the defense did its job and then some. They applied pressure, they generated turnovers, they bailed out the offense and special teams when they put the Broncos in favorable spots. Most of all, they did it with style. There’s a vibe around this group, an energy that is special. That will be tested the week after their first loss, but they look ready to handle anything. It’s been a long time since the Packers had a group like this.