Green Bay Packers: Week 8 MVP and other Awards

The Green Bay Packers suffered a disappointing 28-22 loss to the Vikings, so let’s find some silver linings with some awards or maybe awards for things that weren’t so great.

Offensive MVP – Davante Adams

Davante Adams only had 53 yards receiving against the Vikings, but he made his seven catches count, with three of them going for touchdowns. In fact, those were the only three touchdowns of the game for the Green Bay Packers. Honestly, I was expecting more from Adams as I’m sure many other Packer fans were against a depleted Minnesota cornerback group. The wind hindered the ability to throw the ball down the field, but Aaron Rodgers still went to Adams a lot, targeting him 12 times.

When he hit him on short out routes, it was essentially an extension of the run game, with Adams taking five or six yards and having little resistance from his defender. Multiple times, Vikings’ cornerbacks were playing outside leverage to deny this, but his route running ability got them to turn their hips and he beat them to the sideline anyway. Maybe a few more of those types of plays should have been in order. Robert Tonyan and Jamaal Williams were also in contention for Offensive MVP, Tonyan leading the team in receiving with 79 yards and Williams having another day of over 100 yards from scrimmage with Aaron Jones sidelined.

Defensive MVP – Jaire Alexander

This is easily the hardest award to hand out this week. The defense simply did not do their job at all and to say anyone was “Most Valuable” is questionable at best. They generated no turnovers and had only one sack, along with just two other tackles for loss. I could just give it to Dean Lowry who had the sack or Adrian Amos who led the team in tackles and had one of those tackles for loss, but that seems like a lazy copout.

Instead, I’m going with Jaire Alexander who once again shut down opposing receivers. Now, take their numbers with a grain of salt because Kirk Cousins wasn’t forced to throw all day because of their run game, but the starting receiver tandem of Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson combined for just six catches and 53 yards. A few weeks in a row, Alexander has arguably been a snub for this award, so in a week when no one else deserved it he’ll take it home.

Unpredictable Hands Award – Equanimeous St. Brown & Marquez Valdes-Scantling

On the Pat McAfee show on October 13th of this year, Aaron Rodgers praised Equanimeous St. Brown for his great hands and how he catches the ball with his hands and not his body. Those comments instantly popped into my head on Sunday when St. Brown dropped a third down pass that he had in his hands and controlled until he hit the ground.

The next drive, he made a nice 12-yard reception to move the chains on fourth down. St. Brown has to make those catches consistently to continue to stay on the field. This is the area where Rodgers is definitely missing Allen Lazard, a guy who has sure hands and Rodgers always looks for on third and fourth downs when he needs someone to make a play.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling, on the other hand, has had problems with his hands all year. He’s always had the speed to take the top off the defense, but he’s had trouble hauling in those big throws. He’s had troubles with shorter passes as well, even when they’ve schemed him wide open to be able to use his speed in space. However, this week on third and five he made a great catch with his hands for 19 yards and netted the Green Bay Packers a first down. These two guys have all the athleticism to succeed in the NFL, but they need to finish the play with a catch when they use their physical tools to get open.

Giant Headache Award – Packers Run Defense

The last two seasons, the Packers have had a very potent offense under Matt Lafluer. The best way to stop a potent offense and Hall-of-Fame quarterback is to keep them off the field. Every time the Green Bay Packers lose a game, the main culprit is the run defense. In those six losses under Lafleur, they’ve allowed 177.2 rushing yards per game. Another potent offense, that of the Kansas City Chiefs, has dealt with the same issue in that time frame, allowing 171.8 rushing yards per game in their five losses.

The main question here is whose fault is it, Mike Pettine for his scheme or the guys on the field? And after much thorough analysis, I can say with absolute certainty that the answer is 100% definitely YES. Even with Kenny Clark back, the defensive line needs big help and the lack of a draft pick at that position was even more puzzling to me than the lack of a wide receiver in this years draft.

The two rookie linebackers, Kamal Martin and Krys Barnes, will develop into solid pieces and Martin’s explosiveness is encouraging, but they’re not there yet. The entire team struggles with tackling and while Dalvin Cook is a tough guy to bring down, just trying to put a shoulder into him is unacceptable. That being said, while Pettine played with beefier personnel on Sunday, he needs to make sure they are more gap sound and maybe just letting Za’Darius Smith roam around wherever he wants isn’t very effective in pursuit of gap integrity. With the 49ers on the schedule for a Thursday night game in a short week, they’ll have to figure these issues out or they’ll get run over by a very depleted squad.

Celebration of the Week – Ifeadi Odenigbo

Alright finally, time for a fun award and we can leave all that negativity in the past. Wait…a Vikings’ player won celebration of the week? Yes, indeed, because no Green Bay Packers made a good enough effort on Sunday. However, Odenigbo doing the airplane and celebrating a fourth down stop, only to find out that Jamaal Williams did, in fact, get the first down, was pretty funny.

It’s not funny enough to top any of the other celebrations from this year and I won’t have a Vikings player beating any Green Bay players on my list. Plus, a Viking in last place in yet another list other than just the standings seems fitting. So congratulations to Ifeadi Odenigbo on being the first non-Packer to win this prestigious award.

Celebration of the Year Leaderboard

1. Aaron Rodgers – Hingle Mccringleberry
2. Soul Train Line
3. Za’Darius Smith – Rest in Heaven Breonna Taylor
4. Jamaal Williams – Being a complete goofball
5. Chandon Sullivan – Lambeau Leap
6. Ifeadi Odenigbo – Premature Airplane

So the big question: Is Mike Pettine to blame or is it more on the guys on the field for the Green Bay Packers’ failed attempts at run defense? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or on Twitter @DairylandXpress.