Mike from West Bloomfield, MI
Not sure if this is a question but … Does Christian Watson being on the field make that big of a difference for our passing game? Seemed like every time he was on the field he or someone else was wide open.
I’ve always believed defenses play the Packers differently when Watson’s out there. Maybe not all the time, but a lot of the time.
Love was stellar. Don’t think it’s a coincidence his best game this year came on the same day Watson returned. What is the limit for this offense with a (nearly) full arsenal?
Twenty-eight points in one half is probably pretty close to it. But that was only one half.
Great game! I was talking to my Dad at halftime and said, “Trust me, we are about to blow these guys out.” I wasn’t kidding. Did you have the same feeling?
Can’t say I did, but I knew there was plenty of time for the Packers to get going. Making the Steelers kick four long field goals provided the opportunity to swing the game.
Two weeks in a row our offense has looked dormant for 29.5 minutes and dynamic for the last 30.5. Why the slow starts, and what can the team do to get the offense on track faster?
Nothing’s easy in this league, especially on the road no matter how many visiting fans infiltrate the stadium. Look what happened to the Vikings, Bears, Niners and Cowboys on the road this week. As long as the game isn’t out of reach, I’ll take a strong finish over a fast start any day.
I haven’t seen as much conversation recently as in the past about this team’s “identity.” It seems like, at least since the Dallas game, this is the team that punches back. It’s not always pretty, but there is just no quit in this team. They’re never not in it, and they’re never not fighting. Also, 20 straight completions? Are you freaking kidding me?
I’ve never not seen fight in a LaFleur team. But this particular squad is showing an ability to not just get back up after getting knocked down, but go on the attack as though it never got knocked down in the first place. That feels somewhat rare.
The second-half Packers are a real problem for the rest of the league. It’s a game of adjustments, and it seems that they are making the right ones as the game progresses. Kudos to the coaches for adapting and to the players for executing. 5-1-1 coming back home feels pretty good!
The Packers just finished a stretch of four road games out of five and went 3-1-1. That’ll play. Now they’ve got three of four at home, before three of four on the road again. It’s a weird schedule regardless of opponent, but one chunk (as well as game) at a time.
Nathan from Williamstown, MA
Mike, a lot of people (on the live blog and on the Internet after the game) were questioning if Brandon McManus should have even played. While the attempt before halftime was not pretty, the 57-yarder did what every other kick from that spot by someone not named Boswell does, and all the other kicks were perfectly fine. Can you disabuse us of this notion that the Packers somehow didn’t check if McManus’ leg was full strength, or test out his range in warmups?
There’s no way they send him out for a 57-yarder if he hadn’t proven pregame it’s in his range. I wondered if the big swing there aggravated something and affected his kick right before half. Only McManus knows. Glad he bounced back in the second half, as a veteran should. Let’s see what the next week brings.
Hi Mike, in the second quarter, the run game of the Steelers got better and better. That enabled AR8 to click on his passes quickly. Were you able to notice an adjustment at halftime that changed the outcome?
All I noticed was the Steelers quit running the ball. On 11 of their first 12 snaps in the second half, Rodgers dropped back to pass.
Did you see that Aaron Rodgers was a bit teary-eyed before his first play? I don’t think it was emotion, he appeared to take a sniff of a small capsule or packet. Does he use something to amp himself up? He appeared to take the packet from his chin strap and then a sniff while calling his first play.
He likes those smelling salts, apparently. If he used those a lot in Green Bay, I wasn’t aware of it. Teams can’t provide them anymore but players are free to use them on their own.
Not that I thought Jordan Love had any self-doubt before, but I see this as a “passing of the torch” moment. Our QB must be brimming with confidence right now. Bring on the next level!
The torch was passed when Love was one of the better QBs in the league over the second half of 2023. Rodgers can keep the Steelers in the hunt in the AFC, but Pittsburgh’s defense looks too dependent on takeaways right now.
