Packers-Ravens: Green Bay Wins Flag Fest

It’s official: with Monday night’s 27-14 victory over the Baltimore Ravens, the Green Bay Packers are sitting in the driver’s seat for the playoffs. The team controls its own destiny—win three of four and there is no mathematical possibility of missing the playoffs; win two of four and there is little chance of it, especially if those two wins are against the three NFC opponents remaining.

The remaining schedule is kind to us Cheeseheads: barring an Aaron Rodgers injury, Green Bay will be the favourite in Chicago and at home against the Seahawks. The Packers might also be favoured at the struggling Steelers and/or in Arizona should the Cardinals have their playoff position set by the last week of the season.

Right now, Green Bay even owns the tiebreak over every potential wild card team but the Eagles. In all, I would put the Packers’ odds of making the playoffs above 2:1.

However, there are some very alarming things that arose out of the Ravens’ game. For example, the Packers benefited from some questionable officiating.

It also seemed like on a couple of occasions the officials were persuaded into making a call by the Packers. For instance, Ray Lewis clearly was guilty of a facemask against Greg Jennings, but the flag came in only after pleading from the aggrieved team. Likewise, Derrick Mason clearly pulled Charles Woodson past him for his only downfield catch, but he had already made the catch and been tackled by the time the laundry came flying in.

Actions this late smack of being home team calls, even if they are correct. The referees also missed at least one blatant pass interference penalty on the Packers (despite them getting flagged for four of them), and they may have given the home team a favourable spot on the first drive. There was also a question raised about the clock operation leading to the two-minute warning that was never answered, so we do not know if that unfairly allowed seven seconds to run off.

Not that I am complaining. (Actually, I am sort of complaining: I expect a level playing field, and never have felt any comfort in the “what goes around comes around” attitude.)

Here’s a look at how the Packers units measured up:

Quarterback: B-

In some ways, this is an unfairly low grade for Rodgers. He was the victim of four drops, one of which resulted in an interception; without these, he completes 75 percent of his passes and gets 300 yards, with three scores and just one pick.

But the drop by Donald Driver was not the best pass, and his other pick, while the equivalent of a punt (an argument I used to make all the time for the Old Guy), was a dumb decision. In 40 passes, you can expect two drops, so he was only really let down on two. (Mark Tauscher also caught a deflection, and while it took three yards off Rodgers’ totals, it helped his completion percentage; it was also a great catch, so maybe Tausch should lead the pass-catching drills this week.)

Rodgers also missed a few open receivers, usually throwing high, and while he moved around well in the pocket (dare I say he has matured in terms of avoiding sacks?), the reality is he was not under duress to excuse such misses. Still, 26-40 (.650) for 263 yards (6.6 per attempt) and three scores to two picks is a good performance. Add four carries for 30 yards and just one sack for seven, and Rodgers accounted for 286 yards on 45 plays—a 6.4-yard average per play is pretty good.

Running Back: D

The only reason this unit ranks this high is that the Ravens came in as the best rush defense in the league in yards per carry; the fact that they were lacking Terrell Suggs and Ed Reed meant much less to their rush defense than the pass defense. Ryan Grant had just 41 yards in 18 carries (2.3 average), with a long of eight. Ahman Green did pretty well, getting 23 yards on five carries (4.6), but that still gave the unit 23 carries for just 64 yards (2.8).

Korey Hall and Brandon Jackson contributed just three catches for 27 yards, meaning the backs had 26 touches for 91 yards (3.5 average)—this might be acceptable for one player against a very good defense like the Ravens have, but not an entire unit. That being said, they did manage to help the Packers kill the clock and keep the Ravens honest.

Receivers: B-

Here we have to downgrade the corps because of the four dropped passes and Driver’s fumble lost that set up the Ravens’ first score. But we must also consider that they drew five pass interference penalties and acknowledge that the ball is harder to catch in the cold.

In all, they still accounted for a solid but unspectacular 22 receptions for 239 yards (10.9 average) and three scores to compensate for the drops and fumble. Jermichael Finley led the unit in catches (seven), yards (79), and touchdowns (two) despite missing time with a minor knee injury. Jennings was close behind with six catches for 77 yards (12.8 average), and Driver did get the other score among his three catches and 31 yards (10.3).

Offensive Line: D

Rodgers being sacked only once and not having to run for his life to avoid more than a couple others was the line’s biggest task. However, it is not that impressive a one considering the Ravens came in with just 21 sacks in 11 games. Coupled with the failure to open holes for the running game, albeit a tall order against this defense, nearly pulls this down to a failing grade.

Defensive Line: B+

While the line once again was almost invisible on the stat sheet (six tackles, three assists), they were not on the field. They plugged the line to allow the linebackers one of their better games and were largely responsible for holding the Ravens solid rushing offense to just 66 yards on 21 carries (3.1 average) and just one score to go along with a fumble. The five tackles for loss (14 yards in total) were largely from the line’s penetration.

Linebackers: A-

They combined for 16 tackles and seven assists, three sacks, an interception, and a fumble forced. (Desmond Bishop’s fumble recovered was on special teams.) Rookie Clay Matthews led the way with five tackles, an assist, two sacks, and the forced fumble.

Baltimore did get some production out of their tight end, Todd Heap, but not only is he a formidable weapon, but some of his coverage responsibilities were on the safeties. In all, he and Ray Rice combined for eight catches and 69 yards, just an 8.6-yard average.

Defensive Backs: B+

True, they are partially responsible for Joe Flacco’s low completion percentage (.417), but not much more than his receivers or Joe himself. However, they did come up with two interceptions and gave up only one score and seven catches for 68 yards (9.7 average). They also supported their teammates with 12 tackles. Were it not for a few plays in which they were responsible for Heap’s coverage, this grade would be an A.

Special Teams: D

With the offensive line giving up just eight sacks in the last five games, this is fast becoming the team’s worst unit. Jordy Nelson did well on the only legitimate kick return (38 yards), but averaged about two yards per punt return. Evan Dietrich-Smith fumbled on his five-yard return of a short kick and the Packers were lucky to get the ball back. On the Ravens only other kick (another short one), they called for a fair catch.

Jeremy Kapinos had three punts with just over a 34-yard net, one of which was fair caught at the 17 for a sub-30 yard net and another for a touchback; his other was returned for six yards. Kick coverage once again allowed a huge return (68 yards), but a relatively modest 25-yard average considering that breakdown.

Mason Crosby missed his first field goal attempt under 40 yards (38) this season, and while I can tell you first hand how much harder it is to kick in the cold, you have to make kicks that short. His only successful kicks were from 28 and 32, and not one of his six kicks made it into the end zone.

I originally wrote this article for Sports Scribes.