Ok, last one, then we’re on to Cincinnati.
Following the general logic that teams pay their best players the most, I looked at the contracts.
Of the top 15 players for the Packers and the Falcons, there are some similarities:
- Both have their QB as the highest paid player. Ryan is a $23.75 million cap hit. Rodgers is a $20.3 million cap hit.
- Both QBs played every offensive snap
- For the 2nd highest player, both teams have high profile guys. Those guys are Julio Jones and Clay Matthews. Again, both of those players played the whole game.
- Each has a guy that doesn’t see much time on the field. The Packers have Mason Crosby, and the Falcons have a backup QB in Matt Schaub.
- Both teams have 3 offensive lineman in the top 15. Packers are Bulaga, Bakhtiari, and Taylor. Falcons are Mack, Levitre, and Reed.
So far, pretty even.
Of the remaining 12 players, I’ll call that the “core matchup”.
This is how that matchup breaks down:
For the Packers, they were missing their 2 starting tackles before the game even started. Jordy and Daniels each only played 7 snaps in the game. Brooks also was out the whole game. I highlighted those in red because they had no impact on the game.
I also highlighted players that played part of the game. The Packers lost Cobb and House. The Falcons lost Vic Beasley.
The Packers were without 5 of their top 6 of this core group and overall only had 5 of the total 12. The Falcons had 11 of 12.
What did you think was going to happen?