And Then There was One...Packers are 6-0

After a slow start, the Packers showed that they were the superior team in the 2nd quarter with 3 Aaron Rodgers Touchdown passes. The second half was quiet, leaving the final score at 24-3. Granted, the Rams have not won a game yet this season, so this is not really considered a big win. But every game is important, and this is a conference win that could end up being important in the seeding at the end of the season. Here is my game analysis:

Things I Liked

No Huddle Offense - The Packers' offense just seems to get better and become more complex every week. The no-huddle gives opposing defenses yet another thing to worry about when preparing for the most potent offense in the NFL.

Linebackers - Clay and the rest of the Packers' linebacking corps looked very good on Sunday against the Rams. Bradford was under duress for a majority of the game and Clay Matthews looked the best that I had seen him all season.

Scoring Defense - The D kept the Rams out of the end zone and gave up 2 field goal attempts (only 1 was successful). Bend but don't break has been how the defense has been described this season. I think that is accurate.

Things I Did Not Like

Dropped Passes - I noticed drops by at least 3 receivers on Sunday. Donald Driver, Jordy Nelson, and Greg Jennings all dropped passes that hit them in the hands. Jordy's was on a 3rd down, and Jennings' drop resulted in an INT. We can afford to make these mistakes against the Rams, but when we face a legitimate team these situations could be the difference between a win and a loss.

Defense - The defense gave up over 400 yards again yesterday. This is not acceptable. Even though the Rams only put up 3 points, I would like to see the Defense show a little bit more pride in themselves and learn to wrap up and not miss tackles.

AJ Hawk - It was unacceptable to see Hawk's obscene gesture on the field after a first quarter sack on Sam Bradford. He needs to realize that he is on TV and he can't act however he wants. Apparently he will not be fined, although I think he should be.

Not much else to say here, the Packers were the better team from start to finish. Next week the Pack will be in Minneapolis to take on the Vikings. Will we see Christian Ponder make his first NFL start? More to come...GO PACK!

Too Many Weapons? Receiver Playing Time

James Jones may be questioning his decision to re-sign with the Packers for the 2011 season as he is 6th in the playing time rankings through 3 games (See Chart Below).

2011 Playing Time: Packers
Player Plays Pct.
Greg Jennings 166 of 204 81.4
Jermichael Finley 159 of 204 78.0
Donald Driver 112 of 204 54.9
Jordy Nelson 106 of 204 52.0
James Jones 38 of 204 18.6
Randall Cobb 36 of 204 17.6
Source: ESPN Stats & Information

I don't know why Jones has been riding the pine for the majority of the season as the Packers definitely made it a priority to re-sign him over other free agents (Cullen Jenkins). It could be his costly drops and mistakes in crucial game situations. Or maybe the other receivers have just looked better in practice. Regardless, I have been surprised to not see Jones on the field more.

As we've seen before, the Packers are only 1 injury away from a backup becoming a capable starter and Jones fits in to that category. There is also the question of how much longer Donald Driver will be able to keep up his amazing pace at the age of 36, in which case Jones would be the logical replacement unless it's Jordy Nelson. But the return of JerMichael Finley, the emergence of Nelson since the Super Bowl, and the presence of dynamic rookie Randall Cobb has put Jones on the bench 81% of the time through the first 3 games.

The Packers are the only team (to my knowledge) where the 6th receiver (including TE) could be a starter on almost any other NFL team. Jones' playing time will be something to keep an eye on as the season progresses. GO PACK!

Who's to Blame?

After coming off a disappointing loss to the Queens making the Pack 4-3, it was reasonable to think that we would enter the second half of the season with a winning record. Even with 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter it looked like it was in the bag. The score was 28-17 when the Packers' special teams buckled for the second time in the game giving up a huge return which would result in a quick buccaneers' TD cutting the score back to 3. From there, the offense could not move the ball, and the defense could not stop Josh Freeman (rookie QB making his first start) ultimately ending in a loss, a 4-4 record, and a shower of Gatorade for Bucs' coach Raheem Morris' first NFL win. So, who's to blame for the loss? For the mediocre record? For the disappointing season thus far?

My vote...EVERYONE! The fact is that this team is just not as good as all packer fans thought during the pre-season. The defense still gets no pressure on the QB (the fact is that we're even worse than we were in 2008). The offense is productive, but can't move the ball when it really needs to. The O-line is still having trouble protecting Rodgers and Aaron is still having trouble getting rid of the ball quick enough. And don't even get me started on the special teams, I believe that they had the most to do with both of the last 2 losses. I think it all comes back to coaching.

Packers' President Mark Murphy has publicly come out and said that both Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson are being watched more closely now. And if they don't make the necessary changes in the final 8 games, I believe that at least 1 of them will be looking for a job come February.

I believe the talent is there and that we have the players to be a good team (we're only 5 starters different from the 2007 NFC Championship team). For some reason we just aren't able to put a 4-quarter game together on the field. Let's hope for some improvement this week against the Cowboys. I believe it will make or break the season. GO PACK!

Catching Up - Sorry for the Delay

It’s been a while since our last post, but there is good news…IT’S FOOTBALL SEASON!!!! A lot has gone on in the past couple of months that we haven’t blogged about. Raji’s contract issues (resolved), injuries to offensive and defensive players, a traitor signed with the queens, 3 unbelievable pre-season games, a victory over da Bears (thank you Jay Cutler for those 4 ints), and an awful performance against the Bengals resulting in a loss.

In a nutshell, those are the major things that have happened since June. Sorry we missed them. Anyway, this season so far has been disappointing for me. The Pack gave us all visions of a division championship and hopes for a long play-off run during their domination in the preseason. The starting offense/defense outscored opponents 73-10. I don’t care who you are, that’s impressive! But something went seriously wrong when the regular season started, and I’m not sure what it is. I believe that the switch to 3-4 is transitioning just fine as can be seen by the 7 turnovers that they’ve forced in the first 2 games of the season. And when Raji enters the line-up I expect to see some noticeable improvement on the defensive side of the ball. The offense however, is a different story. They have no excuses. The line can’t protect Rodgers, the receivers are dropping balls that hit them in the hands, grant isn’t getting enough carries, and we’re ranked 25th in the NFL in passing offense. The truth is the Packers should have won the game against the Bears by a lot more than 6 points. Jay Cutler looked like Rex Grossman and gave the offense good field position and plenty of opportunities to score a ton of points, but the offense (other than a couple of good plays) didn’t look good at all. And against the Bengals Greg Jennings didn’t even have 1 catch. Rodgers has been hit and sacked way too many times. I think improved play from the o-line will do wonders for the offense. It will give Rodgers some confidence to step up in the pocket and not have to run for his life, and provide some stability for the running game. And if the receivers decide to stop dropping balls that would be a welcomed change as well.

I’m not out to bash the Pack, and I haven’t given up on the season like a lot of the nay-sayers whose comments I’ve read on other blogs. I think there’s a favorable schedule ahead for the Packers, and I believe that the offense will rebound this week against the Rams. Plus Raji should return for his first regular season NFL game this week, which should prove helpful in stopping the run. GO PACK!