The Packers need to beat the Jets today, not only to rinse off the stink of what happened in Seattle, but to dispose of a team representing “that guy.”
You know, “that guy.” He’s the loudest guy in the bar even though nobody cares what he has to say. He’s they guy who hasn’t accomplished anything in life but demands you treat him like a big shot.
“That guy” listens to Nickelback and thinks Buck Cherry is a good rock band. To “that guy,” the comments section of newspaper websites is a great place to go for enlightened political discourse.
The Jets are the “that guy” of the NFL.
Loudmouth Rex Ryan. Tim Tebow running around without his shirt in the rain. Constant media attention even though they haven’t been any good since when my dad was a teenager. The Sanchize.
The Packers need to send the Jets back to New York where their “that guy” schtick is more accepted.
You know what’s probably going to happen: The Packers will win 48-2 and Jets fans will be like, “Yeah, we lost, but at least our city has big tall buildings and more than just Applebee’s for restaurants.”
Whatever, New York Jets fans. The Packers have 13 championships in their city, so take that.
Here are five reasons the Packers will beat the Jets, and one reason why “that guy” might prevail.
Bouncing back
The Packers have lost their last two season openers, only to come back the next week and completely knock the snot out of their week 2 opponent.
- In 2012, the Packers beat the Bears 23-10, picking off four Jay Cutler passes. It got so bad, Cutler started verbally and physically assaulting his offensive line.
- In 2013, Aaron Rodgers threw for 480 yards and four touchdowns as the Packers beat the team from Washington with the Stupid Name 38-20. RG3 still hasn’t recovered from the thrashing.
- In 2014, the Packers (will hopefully beat the Jets so bad that Rex Ryan gets fat again).
Cory Linsley
This dude is strong. It’s too early to judge just how good the rookie center will be, but at least it doesn’t look we have to worry about the center position like we’ll have to worry about right tackle if Bulaga misses time.
Pass defense
Under Dom Capers, the Packers defense still looks lost. However, the secondary seems to be competent in pass coverage. It’s impossible to completely shut down a team’s passing game these days. Average quarterbacks like Matthew Stafford and Tony Romo still routinely throw for 4,000 yards and 30-plus touchdowns. Good secondaries today make plays on the ball in key moments and compete physically with receivers and tight ends who are bigger and stronger than they are. And they do it as the rulebook is re-written to prevent them from being successful at their jobs. With Sam Shields, Tramon Williams, Casey Hayward and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, the Packers appear equipped to compete with good passing teams and control mediocre passing attacks like what the Packers will see from the Jets.
Aaron Rodgers
Rodgers posted a QB rating of 81.5 in the Seattle loss. Since 2011, Rodgers has posted QB ratings under 90 in consecutive games only once. Rodgers, like the Packers, usually bounces back after a tough game.
Antonio Allen
The Packers were so scared of Seahawks’ CB Richard Sherman that they completely ignored the third of the field where Sherman lined up. The strategy backfired since the Packers did little on the Sherman-free two-thirds of the field they chose to work with. Allen is a converted safety who made his first start at cornerback in the Jets’ win over the Raiders on Sunday. He played fine, but he wasn’t tested deep since the Raiders are incapable of throwing the ball more than 14 yards downfield because they’re the Raiders. The Packers are not afraid to stretch the field and they will test Allen deep. Get ready for a couple of guys named Jordy and Randall, Mr. Allen.
Unfortunately, it’s not all duckies and bunnies in Packersland. Sometimes, the Packers don’t win, either because the other team cheats or the Packers get bored from winning so often. If the Packers lose to the Jets, it could be because of…
Seattle/San Francisco-lite
The Jets have a tough defense. They run the ball well, and their quarterback is young and mobile. All three of these of things give the Packers fits.
Do those traits remind you of two other teams that the Packers haven’t been able to beat over the last two seasons?
The Jets are a not-as-talented version of the 49ers and Seahawks. They do many of the same things San Francisco and Seattle do, just not as well. However, perhaps they do them well enough to beat the Packers…
(Gulp)
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Adam Czech is a a freelance sports reporter living in the Twin Cities and a proud supporter of American corn farmers. When not working, Adam is usually writing about, thinking about or worrying about the Packers. Follow Adam on Twitter. Twitter .
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The #1 reason the Packers will win…
AR is something like 10-0 when he’s coming off a game he lost with a passer rating below 100. When he has a game below his standards, he comes back with a vengeance.
Seems strange that even by game two, we really have no idea what this team is. Most rational people expected to lose the SEA game, just not 312-6 (that WAS the score, right). But all we learned was that the D is roughly the same, we actually might miss James Jones, and our coaches can draw up a perfect scheme that doesn’t always make it to the field. This game is actually the one where we get to know whether it’s 11-5 or 8-8.
Despite the schtick, all points well taken except one. You use stats to suggest that the Pack can not play poorly twice in a row. That might be more trustworthy were the Packers not in the midst of a several year decline, setting new lows all the time. The causes of this downtrend have little or nothing to do with AROD. It has everything to do with the GM and the HC. The GM keeps whiffing on defensive players in the draft and the HC keeps singing the virtues of his DC from yester-year, one Dom Capers. Unless the Pack can’t field a competant player at RT today, I would expect a stand-off between the Jets’ defense and Packers’ offense, the strength of both teams. So the game will be decided by the Jets’ offense vs the Pack’s defense. As long as they keep carting AJ Hawk on to teh field, I will keep predicting the defense will melt-down. Add to that the possibility that the entire Packer DL may melt-down to the big and physical Jets OL and you have the recipe for a Jets victory. The fact Vegas is giving the Jets 8.5 points is Christmas in September. Keep believing in TT/MM Packer fans. They both suck at everything they do. And you are too blind to recognize the ass-clowns for what they are.
Hey … I – “listens to Nickelback and thinks Buck Cherry is a good rock band” wtf?