Bretsky's Babbles- GAME ONE WINNERS AND LOSERS

[Bretsky]

WINNERS

1. AJ Hawk- For all the criticism he's taken, AJ Hawk looked very capable against the Chargers. I know after that first pass, our collective reaction was "OH NO". But after that play AJ Hawk played a very good game and was around the ball often. Still looks a little raw but I feel a lot better about him now than I did before the game.

2. Aaron Rodgers- I've been Aaron Rodgers greatest critic up to this point. I now see some hope. Rodgers looked poised out there and made some good decisions. I once thought he'd be average at best, but if he continues to develop he has some similarities on the field with Matt Hasslebeck. Now in NO WAY am I admitting I was wrong on my past AROD views, but I do have hope now. 9/11 for 124yds with 1 int

3. Tyrone Culver- I remember this guy and loved the pick from the start; he lit up the UW Badgers a few times. The guys a hitter and that early play he made was huge. He also seems like a very good tackler and made some plays. Truth be told, I'm wondering why he wasn't picked higher so maybe I'm missing something........speed or attitude ? Regardless he was very impressive. 8 Solo Tackles..WOW

4. Greg Jennings- We'd all be singing his praises if not for that key drop on fourth down. That does worry me. If he's going to start he has to make the easy catch in traffic knowing he's going to get hit. He didn't do that last night. That being said, besides Driver nobody on that team runs better routes and was open more last night than Jennings. And the guy made some nice plays. 4 Catches for 68 yards

5. Jon Ryan- Unlike BJ Sanders, the guy's got power on that leg. I see huge potential with this guy and have often noted we need a power leg guy in Green Bay. No excuse in the world for BJ Sanders hanging around this guy. The special teams coach needs to work with Ryan to improve his hang time, but if this guy gets cut for BJ Sanders I'll puke.

6. Tracy White- Truth be told, I know next to nothing about this LB. But I noticed him last night and that should be a players goal in preseason. Make somebody notice you. He was flying all over the field and LB last night and ended up with 5 Tackles. The pleasant surprise of last night.

LOSERS

1. Samkon Gado- To me he just looked slow and timid; on opening kickoff he seemed very leery and unsure of where to go and that's what I took from Gado's play last night. He doesn't look comfortable in this offense. 3-6 Yards

2. Roy Manning- We were all singing praises to this rookie last year; last night he looked like junk. He needs to find that spark from last year or he'll be gone before he knows it.

3. Mark Tauscher- One of my favorite players, but was beaten too many times when he was in last night. We're going to get bad games at times from the rookies; we can't afford to have a bad game from Clifton or Tauscher.

4. BJ Sanders- This guys leg was just weak weak weak. Correct me if I'm wrong, but every 3rd round draft pick I can remember from Sherman turned out to be shit, and it took two draft picks to go up and get this leg of lump.
A kicker lacking leg strength does not belong in Lambeau

5. Al Harris- This may be nitpicking too much; the pass rush for the most part was non-existant, and when you put a CB on an island you are suppose to be able to get to the QB. But Harris just seemed a step slow tonight and turned the wrong way a couple times. However, he's the least of our worries with this team.

NOW on to the major worry:

6. The Packers OFFENSIVE LINE- I've said it once, and I'll keep saying it. Green Bay's success will be determined by the offensive line this year. Our defense will be fine barring injury, but this unit lacks experience and Ted Thompson chose to not sign any major OL and roll with the young guys. We will either glorify him for this or trash him for it one year from now.

Last night the starting unit stunk against a strong Charger defense that had matchup problems written all over it. Just look at the stats.

18 Rushes for 44 yards and a 2.4 yards per carry average. 5 Sacks and Multiple Pressures.

This line needs to improve and improve now for any success in 2006; last night it looked like 2005 when the starters were out there.


FEEL FREE TO ADD YOUR OWN, RIDICULE, COMMENT...ETC

[woodbuck27]

As usual I have to agree with you B.

This analysis is honest and accurate. :mrgreen:

Time for some cuts. BJ Sander will be among the first. He's gone !

Ted ??

GO PACKERS ! HOLD THE FAITH ! !

[BallHawk]

Was Rodgers INT just a bad throw or just a great play by Cromatire.

[Bretsky]

Was Rodgers INT just a bad throw or just a great play by Cromatire.

Both; it was overthrown and would have been hard for the WR to knock down. That play should have been overturned though as he bobbled the ball and the ref missed it.

[BananaMan]

Excellent list, B.

Tracy White is a LB from Seattle that we picked up in FA this offseason. TT drafted him while in Seattle.

But, if Steve Josue (remember him?) is any indication, the coaches don't really care how a LB does against backups, even if he is flying all over the field.

And yeah, as long as Ryan doesn't screw up massively, the job is his.

[red]

i was going to do my own take on the game and call it "rat droppings", but i'll just post here instead

hawk started to play better last night and showed he will be ok like TT said

a-rod was very impressive

jennings looked good except for the drop, it looked to me like the cb made a good play to puch it out from behind, but i only saw one replay

ryan has what BJ lacks, potential

and yes b, i think i did a thing awhile back and showed that almost all of shermans 3rd round picks are no longer with the team, or soon to go. and he had alot of 3rd round picks

a couple losers for me were boeritawhatever. who was lucky he just got his knee down on the fumble, and then the radio made it sound like he didn't really go after the INT that rodgers threw. i don't see him making the team

and carroll, why can't he learn to quit holding his guy and shut the f@ck up. he had two times where a pass wasn't completeted on him and both times he could have been called for holding or pass interference. he's still a liability

and yes, the o-line is something to worry about. they almost got brett killed a few times in the first 5 minutes of the game. rivers had all day to throw, brett had about 2 seconds on every pass

[GBRulz]

good points, B....but until our o-line improves, what can we expect to see from any of our RB's?

and having Gado return kicks? What's up with that?

[BallHawk]

Thanks, B.

[Bretsky]

Red,

Good points about Carroll; I have NO idea why, but even when he does have great coverage he always leverages those hands in and they could call a penalty every time. He needs to read better when to turn around to knock the ball away and stop playing grabby with the guy he covers.

Boerigter, it would not surprise me at all if he's gone. I'm praying Jennings and Gardner (who did OK) continue to emerge. I can't stomach having to rely on Fergy anymore, and he always makes two great plays in the preseason that are good enough for the coaches to dream and keep him around.

[Fosco33]

Overall Hawk played 'ok'. He had some moments of deserved optimism - but also was beat on a couple passes and got picked up by a RB easily on a weak blitz attempt.

Favre played 'ok'. He made some good throws but took too many hits. Key drops by Driver and Jennings lost a TD and stalled a redzone effort, respectively.

ARod looked shaky in the two minute drill but overall much more confident (poise). He didn't seem afraid to run and recovered his fumble on a sack. I hope he gets a lot more PT with the 1st string offense during preseason - meaning I think Favre can handle the offense without getting unnecessarily injured.

A few of Ryan's punts were impressive - especially from the nosebleeds (closest I'd come to a ball all night). Everyone in the stands (lots of Packer fans) - were like, "Who's that!" Given the great knowledge learned here, I was able to educate others on our next punter's background.

Packer fans shouldn't worry too much about this game - my feelings haven't changed on this season's potential.

[woodbuck27]

Good report Fosco33 and yes. hang in there.

Hope that the BBQ went OK for you. :mrgreen:

GO PACKERS ! HOLD THE FAITH ! !

[Patler]

Mt comments:

The interception - I didn't think the throw to Boerigter on the interception was that bad of a throw. I think the play did demonstrate why Boerigter is a long-shot to make the team. He should be here to allow the QB's to put balls up in "jump ball" situations like that. The receiver should catch it, or make certain the defender does not. We saw last year that Ferguson is not good at it. Boerigter appears to be no better. For being 6'3" and 220 lbs. he plays kind of small. If he can't provide that, he doesn't offer much to the team.

Harris - His play last night concerns me, but only because he looked a bit old and slow the last 4 games or so last year, too. I hope he hasn't hit a wall where he has lost a little quickness. He doesn't have enough to lose some and still be effective.

Manning - No surprise that Manning was less than stellar. He started fast last year, but really didn't offer much the whole second half of the season. White or Campbell are more likely to get a 6th roster spot at linebacker than Manning.

Underwood - If Underwood is lost for the season, it is a blow. Nothing but positives about him in TC. I believe he has 5 interceptions in camp. Leading tackler on ST last year. This would be a very disappointing loss.


The depth of the 2006 roster has already take some big hits, with Klemm and Barry out. If Underwood is too, that's not good. There is still a month before the first game.

[BallHawk]

Good observations, Patler.

[Bretsky]

The interception - I didn't think the throw to Boerigter on the interception was that bad of a throw. I think the play did demonstrate why Boerigter is a long-shot to make the team. He should be here to allow the QB's to put balls up in "jump ball" situations like that. The receiver should catch it, or make certain the defender does not. We saw last year that Ferguson is not good at it. Boerigter appears to be no better. For being 6'3" and 220 lbs. he plays kind of small. If he can't provide that, he doesn't offer much to the team.

Maybe I need to look at that play again.

As I recall, Boerigter didn't have the CB beat; I thougth the CB was behind Boerigter. So if you are going to go with a jump ball and give the guy a chance, you need to underthrow that a bit so he can go up and get it.

I was pretty frustrated by then so maybe I have the details incorrect, but the throw seemed to lead the CB and be a perfect throw for him. Boerigter might have had a chance to jump and knock it down but little chance to catch it.

Am I remembering it wrong ?

B

[Packnut]

I also have been a HUGE Rodgers critic but I saw improvement last night from last season so there is hope. He still has a bad habit of locking his eyes into his primary WR as soon as the ball is snapped. I believe it was the 3rd and 10 play from the SD 10 when he locked on to a WR on the left and because of it, the DB who had another WR in the end zone came up and helped make the play.

Someone on the Packer coaching staff need's to work with him on it.

[Bretsky]

I'm a lot more confident in MM"s ability to coach QB's than Sherman; I can at least say that.

[red]

The interception - I didn't think the throw to Boerigter on the interception was that bad of a throw. I think the play did demonstrate why Boerigter is a long-shot to make the team. He should be here to allow the QB's to put balls up in "jump ball" situations like that. The receiver should catch it, or make certain the defender does not. We saw last year that Ferguson is not good at it. Boerigter appears to be no better. For being 6'3" and 220 lbs. he plays kind of small. If he can't provide that, he doesn't offer much to the team.

Maybe I need to look at that play again.

As I recall, Boerigter didn't have the CB beat; I thougth the CB was behind Boerigter. So if you are going to go with a jump ball and give the guy a chance, you need to underthrow that a bit so he can go up and get it.

I was pretty frustrated by then so maybe I have the details incorrect, but the throw seemed to lead the CB and be a perfect throw for him. Boerigter might have had a chance to jump and knock it down but little chance to catch it.

Am I remembering it wrong ?

B

at this point i was listening to the game in bed, and wayne and larry said that it was a 50/50 ball, and MM or TT said with 50/50 balls its up the the WR to make the play or prevent the int. they said with his size he has to go up and make a play, and he didn't

i'll have to watch the replay tomorrow to see for sure

[Rastak]

M3 also showed pretty good judgement on throwing the red flag....that's a positive and can be pretty important during the real games.

[red]

M3 also showed pretty good judgement on throwing the red flag....that's a positive and can be pretty important during the real games.

its better then what we saw of sherman. he'd still be looking at that clipboard trying to figure out if he should throw the reg flag on not

they had a little piece on tv right before the game talking about how the whole attitude at 1265 has changed with MM being there. they said sherman refused to use other peoples inputs and everyone was walking on egg shells over there worried that they would do something to upset the easily upsettable sherman. then they gave the cell phone on the news conference as an example.

they said the attitude now is a lot more relaxed and free like a good company should be run

[Cheesehead Craig]

Not too worried about the defense, they are pretty young there and will make mistakes. I remember last pre-season when the D could not stop anyone at all, they turned it around during the season. Sure it would be nice to see some domination in a game, but I'd rather have these performances in the regular season vs preseason.

OL... New scheme, and 2 rookies on it, it's going to stink to start with. I expect them to show improvement as they get more time against other teams and can let loose. It's about getting repititions and gaining confidence at this point.

[Patler]

As I recall, Boerigter didn't have the CB beat; I thougth the CB was behind Boerigter. So if you are going to go with a jump ball and give the guy a chance, you need to underthrow that a bit so he can go up and get it.

I was pretty frustrated by then so maybe I have the details incorrect, but the throw seemed to lead the CB and be a perfect throw for him. Boerigter might have had a chance to jump and knock it down but little chance to catch it.

Am I remembering it wrong ?

B

No, I think you are remembering it correctly. It was by no means a perfect throw, but it wasn't completely overthrown either. I thought Boerigter had a chance to get his hands on the ball, but just wasn't strong going after it. I also thought it was a pretty good play by Cromartie, going after the ball the way he did. Taking all that into consideration, I didn't think it was all that bad of a throw by Rodgers. Not perfect by any means, but it certainly had a chance for something other than the interception, too.

[rbaloha1]

Boerighter lacks ball awareness and needed to make a better play on the ball.

The offensive line improved as the game progressed. The 2 rookie guards, for the most part, locked up their men with great hand placement. The rush was from the outside, with the tackles and rbs getting beat. I agree w/TT in that they did not game plan for the blitzes and are very unfamiliar with the 3-4. Nonetheless, favre was on the ground way too much.

Overall, I was not pleased with Hawk. Yes, he made some good hits but his spotty coverage, inability to shed blockers , play at the point of attack and blitzing are a concern. The scheme needs to be tweaked which emphasize his superior sideline to sideline skills and cover up his weaknesses.

I did not support this pick, but A-rod was a pleasant surprise. He reads his progressions well, places the ball in nice spots and throws a very catchable ball. If Favre plays like last season, the coaching staff should have no hesitation in putting A-rod in the game.

[son of a vic]

I question the play call. Jump balls should be thrown into the end zone, not the five yard line. The risk isn't worth the reward (no points).

[HarveyWallbangers]

My Winners and Losers:

WINNERS

Aaron Rodgers--I feel very good about Rodgers this year. He played very well.

A.J. Hawk--He was around the ball a lot, and made a lot of tackles near the line of scrimmage.

Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila--He had one sack and got his hand on Rivers two other times.

Brett Favre--He played under control. He didn't force anything when he was getting pressured. He was 5 for 10 for 66 yards and had 2 clear drops and Driver had a chance on another ball in the end zone that was a pretty solid throw.

Tyrone Culver--He seemed to be around the ball a lot.

LOSERS

Abdul Hodge--He was horrendous in coverage.

Al Harris--He stunk for the three series he was in there.

Najeh Davenport--He looked indecisive and plodding. Those are the only words I can come up with.

Aaron Kampman--He was invisible.

Junius Coston--This team has to find a backup OT from another team.

QUESTIONABLE

Greg Jennings--started out very poorly... dropping two balls. One was on fourth down. Made a nice sideline catch and caught a deep ball also.

Jon Ryan--good leg strength, but two were close to being blocked and two had low hang-time.

[GBRulz]

It was five years ago that Bill Schroeder led the Packers with 918 yards and nine touchdowns in 2001. Since then, Brett Favre has completed 1,367 passes, but none of them were to a white wide receiver.

found that excerpt from an article on packersnews.com

So, is that saying that for Boerighter to make the roster is a long shot? :roll:

[fan4life]

I did not support this pick, but A-rod was a pleasant surprise. He reads his progressions well, places the ball in nice spots and throws a very catchable ball. If Favre plays like last season, the coaching staff should have no hesitation in putting A-rod in the game. Sorry aloha, but if Favre had thrown that INT, you would be roasting him alive. If you think MM is going to pull Favre out of a game in which the Packers are clearly overmatched - and #4 is trying too hard to win - for the Arod I've seen in last night's game and the scrimmage.... well, I've got some land in Florida to sell 'ya.

Arod may throw a few nice passes and move the ball when there's no heat on him, but as soon as the going got tough last night, he melted (2-minute drill and scoring drive killed by int.) He's had several chances to show that he's ready for prime-time, and flunked most of them.

I'm not damning him, mind you. He's still green. But he's a long, long way from showing the kind of stuff that would prompt a coach to yank Favre for.

[woodbuck27]

I did not support this pick, but A-rod was a pleasant surprise. He reads his progressions well, places the ball in nice spots and throws a very catchable ball. If Favre plays like last season, the coaching staff should have no hesitation in putting A-rod in the game. Sorry aloha, but if Favre had thrown that INT, you would be roasting him alive. If you think MM is going to pull Favre out of a game in which the Packers are clearly overmatched - and #4 is trying too hard to win - for the Arod I've seen in last night's game and the scrimmage.... well, I've got some land in Florida to sell 'ya.

Arod may throw a few nice passes and move the ball when there's no heat on him, but as soon as the going got tough last night, he melted (2-minute drill and scoring drive killed by int.) He's had several chances to show that he's ready for prime-time, and flunked most of them.

I'm not damning him, mind you. He's still green. But he's a long, long way from showing the kind of stuff that would prompt a coach to yank Favre for.

NO KIDDING !! I agree with you.

GO PACKERS !

[SD GB fan]

i still stick with wat i said before..its gonna be a hard few first weeks but we shud be rolling after bye week. at least i hope so

[digitaldean]

Winners:
Rodgers - Yes it was against reserves, but all in all he did fine.
Hodge - They actually moved Barnett to the outside for a play last night. Let's hope this starts something!
KGB - That's because he was the only one on that sorry D-line to get a sack.
And as much as it pains me.....
Fergy - Made a great catch on the long 3rd down pass from Brett. I don't hold hop on this being a trend, though.
Jon Ryan - made BJ Sander look like the pond scum of a draft pick that he is. His holding skills may make Sander go bye-bye very quick.

Losers:
O-Line: They allowed too much penetration on the run. Too many zone blitzes not picked up. And this was a SD team without Donnie Edwards.
D-Line: Except for KGB, NO ONE made any headway. And they were without Roman Oben, one of their best linemen.
Davenport: His lack of power, was evident.
Charles Woodson: Tries juking a defender on that 59 yd kick from SD. All he does is juke himself out of his jock and fall on his butt.
Sander: Better start packing, BJ. Ryan's only bad kick came when he got a 1-hopper of a snap. His last one was a 50+ yarder that went out of bounds.
Refs: They called the game like the Packers played. 2 calls overturned (s/b 3 with the last pick). The unsportsmanlike was lame and the driving the QB was nonsensical, costing GB 2 points. Plus missing the horse collar (now illegal) tackle on Brett didn't help either.

[b bulldog]

Hawk made alot of tackles around the line of scrimmage? 2 tackles and 3 assists. It is too early to complain about him but those numbers aren't eyecatching for the 5th overall pick, are they? As poorly as Hodge played he ended up with more tackles and was decent against the run. The pass is another story!

[HarveyWallbangers]

Three of Hodge's five tackles were on pass plays that he gave up the completion. Give me a break! He was pathetic. I'd venture to say that on all of Hawk's assisted tackles, he was the guy primarily responsible for the tackles. These stats are for losers. It doesn't take an NFL scout to see that Hawk was solid and Hodge couldn't cover me.

[TOP HAT]

I AGREE WITH B..ESPECIALLY ABOUT CULVER...A REAL POSITIVE AMONG
THE IMPACT, WILL GET BETTER, ROOKIES ON THE TEAM. A GOOD SIGN
IN AN OTHER WISE AWFUL PERFORMANCE WITH DEJA VU CONCERNS. WE NEEDED ANOTHER GOOD CB FROM THE DRAFT WITH THE CUTS COMING DURING NEXT 30 DAYS.


:cool: :cool: :cool:

[son of a vic]

If the o-line blocks like it did last night.pulling Brett out of the game won't be an option. Unless Favre can play Q.B. in the prone position, out cold on the stretcher. Rodgers will probably get the job the same way Brett did------------------injury.

[fan4life]

If the o-line blocks like it did last night.pulling Brett out of the game won't be an option. Unless Favre can play Q.B. in the prone position, out cold on the stretcher. Rodgers will probably get the job the same way Brett did------------------injury. And I'll be pulling for Arod, believe me. I just won't expect to win.