Green Bay Packers Post Bye Week Superlatives

Green Bay Packers Post Bye Week Superlatives Part III

Best Moment: Rasul Douglas’ Interception in Arizona

There are a few factors that led to me calling this the best moment of the season so far. For starters, it was only Rasul Douglas’ third game with the Green Bay Packers. Second, it clinched a massive road win that gives the Packers the advantage over Arizona in the playoff race. And third, when Green Bay signed Douglas, he was sitting on the Cardinals’ practice squad–which I imagine made that moment all the more special for him.

Since then, Douglas has shown that this was not a flash in the pan moment, but rather Green Bay had found a diamond in the rough. Douglas has been targeted 44 times this season and is allowing a completion rate of just 52 percent and 11.2 yards per catch. He also has four pass breakups, two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

As Rodgers said following the Rams game, “how was this guy on the practice squad?”

Rookie of the Year: Eric Stokes

If he was healthy, I’d probably give this award to Josh Myers, given his level of play before sustaining his knee injury, but instead, I’ll select Eric Stokes.

Stokes has certainly taken some lumps, which is to be expected — his performance in Minnesota was particularly rough — but overall, and considering that this secondary has been without Jaire Alexander, he’s held his own, showing a lot of promise along the way.

According to PFF, Stokes has been targeted 68 times and allowed a completion rate of 51.5 percent at 13.5 yards per catch. He has one interception, and his seven pass breakups are tied for the 10th most among cornerbacks this season. Even when he’s been beat initially, we’ve seen that speed and athleticism of his allow him to make up that lost ground.

Most Disappointing: Mason Crosby

Now, I’ll start by saying that not all of the missed field goals fall 100 percent on the shoulders of Mason Crosby. There have been bad snaps, poor holds, and terrible blocking. But at the end of the day, it’s up to Crosby to make the kicks–and he just hasn’t.

Crosby is only 18/27 on field goal attempts this season, and his nine misses are the most since his horrid 2012 campaign, where he finished the year 21/33. Special teams have already cost the Green Bay Packers a game or two, and if the field goal unit does not figure things out, it’s only a matter of time before it costs them once again.

"“We have to be good. We have to be right. We have to be automatic every time we take the field,” Crosby said via SI. “That is what it needs to be, and that is the expectation. So, we’re not looking at, ‘Oh, we’ve got to work, it takes time,’ all these things. I’m never going to make an excuse there. We’re working through it, we’re working on it now. We will be good, and we will get it right because this team deserves that. We have something special here, and we have to make sure we execute at a high level.”"