Injury Updates

Greg Jennings- All of Packer Nation let out a sigh of relief when the news broke that Greg Jennings' knee injury is not severe. He is expected to be out 2-3 weeks. I personally see no reason why he should play before the Packers' 1st round playoff game (5 weeks).

Brandon Saine- Saine suffered a concussion against the Raiders and is expected to be ready to play on Sunday at Kansas City.

Ryan Pickett- Pickett is in the same boat as Saine.

Josh Sitton- Sitton is expected to return to practice this week after missing 2.5 games with a knee injury. His status is still in question for Sunday.

Chad Clifton- There is a chance that Clifton could return to practice this week. But I wouldn't get my hopes up. I expect to see Marshall Newhouse and Derek Sherrod split reps again against the Chiefs.

That's all I got. Go Pack!

Injury Update: Chad Clifton

Mike McCarthy stated that starting Left Tackle Chad Clifton will miss "a number of weeks" with a "significant hamstring injury." This is not good news for the Packers, and it will not surprise me if this is the end of Clifton's career in Green Bay.

The good news is that Marshall Newhouse held up well in his place, and will be the likely starter against the St. Louis Rams this week.

There is a chance that Bryan Bulaga could return against the Rams as well and would likely return at Right Tackle. If Bulaga is unable to go, then rookie 1st round draft pick Derek Sherrod will get the nod at RT.

Both young tackles played well against Atlanta, and if Newhouse continues to improve and protect Rodgers in the coming weeks Clifton will be out of a job by the time he is able to return.

As always, stay tuned for more updates. GO PACK!

"We Can Only Beat Us." Packers reach 5-0...

Donald Driver made the statement after the game on Sunday night that there is only one team capable of beating the undefeated Green Bay Packers...and it's themselves. I agree with this statement and I believe it was a true statement in 2010 as well. When the Packers play the way they are capable, there is no team in the NFL that can beat them.

The Packers moved to 5-0 with a 29-14 win over the Atlanta Falcons last night. It started off rough, but the Pack stayed the course and came up with a big win. Here are my thoughts on the game:

Things I Liked

Defense - The defense finally made the kind of impact we had been hoping they would all year. I would still like to see more pressure on the QB and for Capers to use Clay Matthews in more of a variety of looks. But all in all it was good to see the defense pick it up after giving up 2 quick scores.

Receivers - Rodgers hit 12 of them, tying a Packers' record. Nobody can defend the Packers' passing attack.

Marshall Newhouse & Derek Sherrod - The 2 young tackles were thrust into active duty with injuries to Bulaga and Clifton. I was more impressed with Newhouse who started the game at Right Tackle and then when Clifton went down shifted to Left to allow Sherrod to take over the Right. Rodgers was sacked 3 times after Clifton went out, but all 3 came from interior pressure.

Poise - Being down 14 points is nerve racking. But the team and coaching staff remained calm, stuck with the game plan, and came out on top. It's great to see our team playing with confidence.

Things I Did Not Like

Dropped Passes - Jermichael Finley dropped 2 big-time passes. 1 for a Touchdown and the other for a 3rd down conversion. The 3rd down conversion is less of an issue because he was hit by 2 defenders, nevertheless he still should have made the catch. He redeemed himself with a big catch in the 4th quarter, but it would have been nice to be winning at half time.

Slow Start - The defense missed tackles and assignments, and Ryan Grant fumbled on the first drive of the game putting the Pack in a 14-0 hole. Thankfully this did not ultimately affect the result of the game.

Clifton Injury - The fill-ins were satisfactory at Tackle last night, but it makes me nervous to think that they could be our starters for the remainder of the season. Will Bulaga play Left Tackle when he returns, or will we keep Newhouse at that spot? More on this in the days to come.

Ultimately, I am very happy with the win against a very good team at their stadium. Tune in tonight to find out of the Lions can beat the Bears and remain atop the division (and league) with the Packers. Go Pack!

Update: Bulaga Injury

Coach Mike McCarthy explained that Starting Right Tackle Bryan Bulaga sustained a knee bruise and sprain in Sunday's win over the Bears. The Packers may have "Dodged a bullet" here because on film the injury certainly looked like it could have been season ending. The full extent of the injury is not known as the team doctors will continue to do tests this week.

Although the Packers have not made an official statement on Bulaga's status, I would be surprised if he was able to go against the Broncos this Sunday. If he is not ready, then Marshall Newhouse - who played well against the Bears - will likely get the start. It is likely that we will see 1st round pick Derek Sherrod suit up for the first time in Green and Gold as well. But we hope he doesn't have to get into the game beacuse of injury. Go Pack!

Packers Outplay Bears, Move to 3-0

It's always nerve racking for me leading up to the Packers-Bears matchup. Especially the one at Soldier Field. There aren't many things that can slow down the Packers' potent offense, but the bears defense and the crappy field in Chicago seem to do a decent job every year.

But it seemed like McCarthy and the Packers had a great gameplan ready this time to kill the bears...Here are my thoughts:

WHAT I LIKED:

JerMichael Finley - This is the most obvious of anything that we saw in the game. Finley finally showed the dominance we have been expecting of him all season. I expect this to be a trend that will continue and the Packers' offense will only get better the more that Finley is involved in it.

Ryan Grant - Grant put up 89 yards on 15 carries. We had thought up until yesterday that Starks was starting to move into the featured back role for the Packers, but seeing Grant play well is a good sign for us.

Matt Forte - We have agreed all week that the Packers' focus needed to be to stop RB Matt Forte and that if the defense could do that, it would be a W for the green and gold. Forte had 2 yards on 9 carries and only a couple of catches for minimal yardage...impressive.

Morgan Burnett - With the loss of Nick Collins, someone in the secondary needed to step up. Burnett looked great yesterday with 2 INTs. Let's hope this continues.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE:

Charlie Peprah - I understand that Peprah is a significant downgrade from 3-time Pro Bowl Safety Nick Collins, but Charlie was out of position, missed tackles, and was the reason for several big plays for the Bears. I expect him to improve, but we are lucky that it didn't result in a closer game or a loss.

Penalties - Thankfully none of these killed us like they did in the Packers-Bears game last October, but there were too many false starts and delay of games. Simple mental errors that can easily be avoided.

Bryan Bulaga - Bulaga's injury raises concerns with our already shake offensive line. Marshall Newhouse is the backup, and while he didn't make any glaring errors that I saw, I have a feeling that if Bulaga's injury is lingering we may be in for some trouble.

Pass Rush - The Pack's D amassed 3 sacks and a few more hits on Cutler, but I was not impressed. With the Bears depleted offensive line, I was expecting Jay to be on his back all afternoon. This needs to improve for the Packers to get to Super Bowl XLVI.

Special Teams - The crazy play the end of the game concerned me, we got lucky with the holding call. But I just don't understand why we would kick the ball to Hester at all. Crosby needs to kick touchbacks every time and Masthay should just kick the ball out of bounds.

All in all, I am very happy with the win and it's great to be on top of the division (in a tie with the LIONS?! Crazy!). I feel a lot better after the win yesterday than I did before. Bring on the Broncos! GO PACK!