Matt Flynn is Not Aaron Rodgers (but Seattle can make believe for a series)

This was a boring series with most of the damage done

Here:

1-10-GB 30 (12:44) #10 M Flynn in at QB. 10-M.Flynn pass deep middle to 16-B.Swain to SEA 49 for 21 yards (29-E.Thomas) [94-K.Vickerson]. PENALTY on SEA-94-K.Vickerson, Roughing the Passer, 15 yards, enforced at SEA 49.

And if you'd like to know what happened, well, it is not entirely clear.

Kelly Jennings is burned. That is one possible explanation. He starts in man coverage on Brett Swain and Swain is free over the middle at the time of the reception.

If Jennings is not in man coverage, Earl Thomas does no react fast enough to close and cover Swain. That might be true regardless. He gets the tackle, for what that's worth.

The linebackers are sucked in by play action, and so if underneath coverage was needed to block throwing lanes and make the zone work, then the linebackers were badly out of position.

Seattle achieved a little pass rush. Kevin Vickerson broke through and managed to slap Matt Flynn's helmet and that forced the penalty. It wasn't minor, in that it was clearly a penalty, but Vickerson didn't clobber Flynn or intend damage. I think he was caught attempting a tip and his hand just followed through into Flynn.

The combined yardage put the Packers into Seahawks territory.

1-10-SEA 34 (12:15) PENALTY on GB-73-D.Colledge, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at SEA 34 - No Play.

1-15-SEA 39 (11:55) 10-M.Flynn pass short middle to 87-J.Nelson to SEA 20 for 19 yards (21-K.Jennings).

Another dysfunctional zone? Tough to say. It certainly looked dumb.

Green Bay sets with two wide receivers right. Jennings sticks on the left. Marcus Trufant covers the outside receiver and Thomas the inside. Sort of.

Thomas never really moves. Nelson angles in so that he is between Will Herring, David Hawthorne, Earl Thomas, Lawyer Milloy and Kelly Jennings. Jennings closes from the left for the tackle. The play breaks down in a very similar spot: middle and roughly twenty yards deep.

Discouraging.

1-10-SEA 20 (11:18) 32-B.Jackson left tackle to SEA 14 for 6 yards (79-R.Bryant, 36-L.Milloy).

Colin Cole is doubled back-back-back. Vickerson is blocked out. Chris Clemons is turned and contained. Aaron Curry circles in and closes a lane to the left sideline. David Hawthorne takes a bad angle and is worked over when Daryn Colledge peels off the double team. Red Bryant closes from the right to cap the run, but I have to tell you, unless Lofa Tatupu can really whip this unit into shape, I am becoming steadily less confident about the Seahawks run defense.

Clemons is a downgrade. Cole is still Cole. The linebackers look sloppy. It's up to Tatupu, Milloy, Brandon Mebane and maybe Red Bryant at end.

Oh and Trufant.

2-4-SEA 14 (10:42) 32-B.Jackson right end to SEA 16 for -2 yards (23-M.Trufant).

Curry strings this play wide. That's good. He knocks back and sheds Andrew Quarless and then flashes into Brandon Jackson's rushing lane. Jackson surges right and behind pulling right tackle Breno Giacomini. Trufant wraps under and around Giacomini and tackles Jackson for a loss of two.

3-6-SEA 16 (10:01) (Shotgun) 10-M.Flynn pass incomplete deep left to 17-C.Dillon.

Heavy blitzes work on young and jittery quarterbacks but frequently fail completely against competent signal callers. This works because Flynn panics, but the blitz is garbage.

Seattle initially rushes six, and as is often the case, generates what little pressure it generates through its ends: Clemons and Curry. The blitz looks all kinds of confused: Seahawks running behind Seahawks and offensive linemen just waiting to pancake them. Nevertheless, Flynn gets nervous and throws before he has to.

He targets Charles Dillon. Dillon is manned up against Wilson. Dillon loses Wilson with his break but Wilson is able to kind of recover. Thankfully the pass is uncatchable. Wilson is around Dillon, but facing the wrong direction and showing no indication he knows where the ball is or going.