Green Bay Packers: Studs and duds from playoff win over Seahawks
Stud: Davante Adams, WR
It was clear from the get-go on Sunday night that the Packers were going to look for Davante Adams in favorable matchups as the star wide receiver was targeted twice on the first drive from scrimmage, catching both passes for 34 yards and a touchdown. That was just the start of Adams’ huge night.
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For whatever reason, a banged-up and underperforming Seahawks secondary deployed little-used defensive back Ugo Amadi to try and defend Adams and the elite route-runner put him in a blender time and again. Moreover, Matt LaFleur and Rodgers recognized this and just peppered Adams time and again.
When it was all said and done, Adams caught eight of his 11 targets on the day for 160 yards and two touchdowns, including a gorgeous 40-yard touchdown catch-and-run. He was a superstar for a passing game that needed to rise to the occasion and get after Seattle’s defense.
Stud: Jaire Alexander, CB
Looking at the Packers cornerbacks and how they physically match up with Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf, many people assumed that the bigger Kevin King would hang with the latter given his size while Jaire Alexander would be left to handle the speedy Lockett by himself. Largely, however, that was not the case.
Alexander found himself on the much bigger Metcalf quite a bit on Sunday night and he was fantastic in that regard. One week after the Seattle rookie set records for a playoff debut, he was limited to four catches for 59 yards on five targets.
While the Packers corner was not perfect and was part of Lockett going off for 136 yards, his overall efforts, which included a crucial sack on a Seahawks two-point conversion attempt, showed the star playmaker that Alexander is for this Green Bay club.