The Packers did not exactly shut down Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers in their Sunday night road victory in Week 8, but they certainly made things more difficult on him as the game wore on. Rodgers was 24-for-36 passing, with two touchdowns, but was limited on making the big throws, as Rodgers threw for only 218 yards–an average of 6.1 yards per attempt.
It was Rodgers’ worst game since a Week 3 win over the Patriots. And it came with the Packers making a notable change on the defensive back side, with veteran free-agent signee Nate Hobbs finally benched in favor of Carrington Valentine.
It was a move Packers fans had been calling for in the early weeks of the season, as Hobbs–signed from the Raiders this offseason–has struggled to establish himself in Green Bay. Hobbs had offseason knee surgery and missed Week 1, but has struggled since his return, allowing opposing quarterbacks a 121.4 completion rate when he is targeted this season. That number was 87.2 last year with the Raiders for Hobbs.
Packers Played Carrington Valentine Nearly All Defensive Snaps
Valentine, meanwhile, was solid in his performance against Rodgers. He had seen his playing time dwindle over the course of the season, until he was limited to just two snaps in Week 7, before he was given 62 snaps on Sunday, to just four for Hobbs.
Valentine did give up a touchdown to receiver Roman Wilson with 2:16 to go and the game all but decided, but even on that play, Valentine closed quickly on Wilson and knocked the ball out of his hands–only after replay was it determined that Wilson had made the catch.
There’s still plenty of time in the season, but it certainly looked as though the Packers were planning to continue with Valentine as the primary corner opposite Keisean Nixon, keeping Hobbs on the bench.
Carrington Valentine ‘Got an Opportunity’
Coach Matt LaFleur explained the thinking in moving Valentine to a bigger role:
“CV got an opportunity and he went out there and I thought he played really competitively the entire game, and I know even on the touchdown catch, I just loved how he competed for the football. I thought that was big-time, and it didnât go our way in that, in that moment.
“But I thought all in all, he showed physicality. He was challenging guys. There was just no gimmes. And I thought that was big-time because thatâs how we want to play. We may be in a three-deep zone defense but you still got to be sticky in some regards in your coverage. You canât be just giving up freebies all the way down the field.”
Packers CB Competition Still Ongoing
That sounds like LaFleur indicating that Hobbs was, in fact, giving up freebies too often for the team’s liking. And in fairness to Hobbs, he might just not be fully healthy at this point. Besides which, Nixon also had some struggles in Week 8, so it is possible that Hobbs could get back on the field by outplaying Nixon.
“I think when we look at a lot of these situations, you know, we always talk about how itâs going to be a competitive situation, and it was just that,” LaFleur said. “A lot of it comes down to not onlyâI mean obviously, everybody sees how you perform in a gameâbut what nobody sees is what weâre doing on a daily basis in practice. …
“At the same time, itâs going to continue to be a competitive situation because we still have a ton of confidence in Hobbs. All of those guys, Keisean, theyâre all gonna be competing for playing time.”
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