Star Ratings: Packers vs. Falcons

The final star ratings of the year. It’s always a fun thing to put together on Monday morning. There’s not much to be excited about in this game. You lose by 23 points, and your backup quarterback finds his way into the game, something must have went terribly wrong. For the second time, we were at the gates of a Brady-Rodgers Super Bowl and got denied in the championship game. Starting to feel like LeBron vs. Kobe where we never actually got the Finals matchup we wanted.
Five Stars
Jordy Nelson – Everyone I talked to said playing with broken ribs would be a very hard thing to do. Jordy Nelson made it look easy. He finished with six catches, 67 yards and a touchdown. That’s a hell of an effort for a guy with two broken ribs and the flu. Nelson looked great out there and had quite the range of mobility.
Four Stars
Jared Cook – He may be a three star with his drops, but Jared Cook deserves some love for the postseason plus down the stretch. Cook had another solid game with 78 yards on seven catches and a touchdown. Cook continues to be Rodgers’ safety blanket when times get tough and it’s great to see Rodgers have that again especially with a tight end.
Three Stars
Aaron Rodgers – At some point, this was going to happen, right? Rodgers looked more mortal than he has in the past eight weeks. He didn’t look as sharp as he did last week versus Dallas or the week before against New York. Who knows if the flu bothered him more than the other guys, or if it’s just a bad outing by him. He still threw for 287 yards with three touchdowns. I do think Mike McCarthy asked him to do too much early on.
Two Stars
Dom Capers – Rough day for Capers. It’s not his fault the injuries happened to this team, but the lack of creativity bothered me a bit. Why not try someone new on Julio Jones as Ladarius Gunter got bullied around the field? How about different blitzes to get to Matt Ryan? Capers took his punishment from Kyle Shanahan. This won’t get Capers fired, but I wonder how long he has left to coach.
Clay Matthews – Other than the play against New York to force a turnover, Clay Matthews disappeared in the playoffs. Matthews did not play well. He couldn’t make it off the edge versus Dallas or Atlanta. Capers didn’t move him around enough in these games to be effective. They needed to see more from the veteran.
One Star
Ladarius Gunter – He had some moments this season, but the playoffs were hot garbage for the most part. I hope he’s not a part of the team next season.
Damarious Randall – This year’s Davante Adams. Think I made that comparison on one of these blogs, but it’s true. Randall played out of position this season and will be poised for a bounceback.
Charlie.