Gary Seymour, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
After James Jones had hauled in his third touchdown pass of the young season, announcers of the Green Bay Packers-Seattle Seahawks game mused aloud about how the Packers’ wide receiver could have flown under the radar of the Oakland Raiders and New York Giants, both of which had cut Jones in the preseason.
“Let’s not forget who’s throwing him the ball in Green Bay,” one of them reminded, pointing out that there was no such luxury for Jones in Oakland and New York.
With quarterback Aaron Rodgers running the show, the next-man-up deal looks to be a workable thing.
Two weeks into the season, nobody is suggesting that wide receiver Jordy Nelson isn’t sorely missed. But there is the sense that, after dropping 27 points on the Seahawks without their best receiver and their best running back, the Packers this season are going to be as good as their starting quarterback can be.
Jones didn’t suddenly regain the magic he was unable to produce in Oakland or New York. He’s the same player, only now on a better team. Salary cap issues may have factored into the equations in Oakland and New York. It’s possible that Jones at his price tag wasn’t considered appreciably better than whomever else the Raiders and Giants had on their rosters making less money.
Whatever the reasons for his having been released, Jones is among a throng of talented wide receivers who can flourish in a good offense run by a quarterback of surpassing skill.
Jones wasn’t the only next man up who manned up, either. Running back James Starks ran for 95 yards after Eddie Lacy, the Packers’ leading rusher, went out with an ankle injury in the first quarter.
Nobody made a bigger defensive play for the Packers than linebacker Jayrone Elliott, who made two of them.
“If you’d asked anyone who they thought would be the one to make the big plays, I don’t think many would have guessed him,” Packers linebacker Clay Matthews said.
That wasn’t a slam on his teammate, but more of an affirmation that over the course of a memorable season there are a lot of unsung heroes who get their turn in the limelight.
Elliott jumped the passing lane on a screen pass in the fourth quarter with Seattle driving and hanging onto a 17-16 lead, intercepting the short pass and setting up the winning scoring drive.
On returning the interception, he fumbled, setting off a wild scramble for the ball, which the Packers recovered.
It was suggested afterward that maybe Elliott shouldn’t have tried to run after the pick, and just tucked it away and fallen down instead. In retrospect, this may have been the most advisable strategy. Retrospect is always efficient like that when it comes to strategy, although it’s also worth rembering that after a fourth-quarter interception against Seattle in last year’s conference championship game, Packers safety Morgan Burnett was taken to task for the opposite. He dropped to the ground, not wanting to risk a fumble, and afterward had to hear about how that play typified the Packers’ getting too conservative, playing to not lose instead of playing to win.
So, it’s resolved: In that situation, the second-guesser’s handbook calls for the defensive player to always attempt to gain yards by running, with the understanding that he never fumbles.
Elliott also forced the turnover that extinguished the faint hopes that Seattle harbored in the last minute. It was an unforgettable game for the second-year pro.
The Packers played a great team game, but not a perfect game. Free safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix led the team with nine tackles, but he also missed an interception on a catchable deflection of a third-quarter pass that would have stopped the Seahawks, who trailed 13-10. Two plays later, Seattle went up 17-13.
The Packers also committed a few unnecessary penalties, like lining up offside on defense.
For every negative aspect, though, there was a silver lining. The Packers’ special teams, so famously out to lunch the last time the teams met, were outstanding. They held Seattle’s dangerous return man Tyler Lockett to 79 yards on four kick returns, and kicker Mason Crosby was straight money, hitting four out of four field goals.
Not bad for a team destroyed by injuries.