11/1/22 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Tuesday
1 November 2022 Sports
Tuesday Sports
From Wayne Mausser
The Packers will have to find some answers soon if they have plans of making the postseason. The previous time the Green Bay Packers lost four straight games, they followed it up with a remarkable stretch run that ended just one step shy of the Super Bowl in 2016 .But it doesn’t look like that will happen this year.
Green Bay (3-5) is two games below .500 for the first time in coach Matt LaFleur’s four-year tenure after falling 27-17 at Buffalo. The offense isn’t showing enough balance and the defense isn’t getting enough stops.
“We’ve got all the talent in this locker room that we need,” running back Aaron Jones said after rushing for 143 yards against the Bills. “We’ve just got to put it together now.”
The Packers have some major holes general manager Brian Gutekunst could try to address before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
“It really comes down to opportunity,” LaFleur said Monday. “If the right opportunity presents itself, I know that Gutey’s all on board of trying to upgrade our roster. You’re always trying to do that. But we’re not just going to do a silly deal.”
The Packers knew their receiving unit would be a major concern heading into the season following the trade of two-time All-Pro Davante Adams to Las Vegas, but injuries have made the situation even more dire.
Rookie second-round pick Christian Watson returned after missing two games with a hamstring injury, only to leave with a concussion in the first quarter. The Packers also were missing Allen Lazard (shoulder) and Randall Cobb (ankle). Cobb is on injured reserve and will miss at least two more games. Watson’s injury left Sammy Watkins, Amari Rodgers and rookies Romeo Doubs and Samori Toure as Green Bay’s only available wideouts.
Green Bay is scoring just 18.1 points per game to rank 26th of 32 teams.
The Packers defense has also struggled. Green Bay ranks 29th in yards rushing allowed per game (141.3) and 25th in yards allowed per carry (4.9).
“We need to be more physical,” LaFleur said. “I think you look at the teams that are toughest to deal with in this league, especially from a defensive standpoint, and physicality, it jumps out to you. There were moments where we’re not always getting that.”
While the Packers have given up the second-fewest yards passing per game of any NFL team, quality receivers such as Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs and Washington’s Terry McLaurin have thrived against this secondary.
LaFleur was asked if he’d consider a midseason firing of defensive coordinator Joe Barry.
“Absolutely not,” LaFleur replied.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers believes Green Bay’s defense needs a little more assistance from its offense.
“We’ve got to help our defense out a little better early in the game,” Rodgers said. “When we went on a run back in ‘16, we started those games faster so we could play more one-dimensionally on defense. We just haven’t done that. We haven’t put up any points early in games to get our defense to have a chance to pin their ears back and get after the passer.”
The Packers ran for a season-high 208 yards against a Buffalo defense that had been allowing the fewest yards rushing per game of any team before Sunday.
The Packers are off today before getting ready for their third straight road contest Sunday in Detroit against the Lions.
In Monday Night Football Cleveland won the bragging rights over in-state rival Cincinnati with a 32-13 home victory over the Bengals. The Browns improved to 3-5 while the Bengals fell to 4-4.
Cleveland led 11-0 at the half and 25-0 at the end of three quarters before Cincinnati was able to score 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Browns quarterback Jacoby Brissett was sharp, completing 17-22 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown pass to Amari Cooper, who had nine catches on the night for 131 yards. Running back Nick Chubb also pounded out 101 yards on 23 carries and scored twice.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was 25-35 for 232 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. The Bengals were able to rush for only 36 yards on ten carries.
Jrue Holiday hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 45.3 seconds left and finished with 25 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks edged the Detroit Pistons 110-108 on Monday night to extend their season-opening win streak to six games.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 31 points and Brook Lopez had 24 to help the Bucks remain the NBA’s only undefeated team. Bobby Portis added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Cade Cunningham scored 27 points and Bojan Bogdanovic added 23 for the Pistons. Jaden Ivey scored 19, Hamidou Diallo 13, Isaiah Stewart 11 and Saddiq Bey 10 for Detroit.
One night after beating the defending champion Golden State Warriors to snap a five-game skid, the young Pistons nearly took down another NBA heavyweight.
Although they never led, the Pistons rallied from a 16-point deficit to tie the score at 105-all when Cunningham found Isaiah Stewart under the basket with 57.6 seconds left. Holiday answered by sinking a step-back 26-footer on Milwaukee’s next possession.
Major League Baseball postponed Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night because of rain. The Phillies and the Astros will play Game 3 on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET at Citizens Bank Park. Right-hander Lancce McCullers Jr. (4-2, 2.27 ERA) will start for the Astros against left-hander Ranger Saurez (10-7, 3.65 ERA). First pitch is at 7:03 CDT.
Games 4 and 5 will be played Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Games 6 and 7 in Houston, if necessary, will be pushed to Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Share |