TOP HAT
08-14-2006, 10:42 AM
I MADE THIS POINT OVER OFFSEASON, EITHER WAY ROOKIES NEED TIME TO DEVELOP AND NO SUSTAINABLE PASS RUSH TO GO WITH KGB.
SAME POINT IN EXCELLENT REVIEW ARTICLE ABOUT LAST SUNDAY'S GAME:
Packers/Chargers Game Review BY Big Legend Packer Chatters:
Without getting to worked up, I just finished watching and analyzing the game for the second time.
Favre's play was neither good nor bad. One thing is apparent however, the guy can still play. I reviewed some game tape from the late nineties and if he has lost anything, it's a bit of quickness in the pocket. His arm may not be as good as it once was, but it has not diminished drastically. I would say arm strength is at about 85-90% as is foot quickness. It is the players that surround him that create any noticeable ineffectiveness in my opinion.
Lets take a quick glance at the offense.
The QB play overall wasn't bad at all when one considers the uncomfortable feeling they must have had in the pocket. I thought AR looked very solid and that first throw by Martin showed excellent arm strength.
The RBs ran hard but with very little running room they were hard to gauge. I notice that backs missed a number of blocks and the failure to cutback a few times cost them some in the running game.
The WRs I thought were pretty darn solid overall with some very nice grabs made by Jennings and Gardner. Jennings did drop a few balls but made some nice grabs including the Marvin Harrison grab along the sidelines.
The TEs - Where the heck were the TEs?
The O-Line was beat up pretty good by the blitzing Chargers which I think caught everyone by surprise! The two young rookie guards appeared late on a number of snaps and failed to seal there areas opposition. When they were able to man up, I thought they did alright for the first real test. If this zone scheme is going to work, the interior of the line must get off the ball quicker to prevent the defense from penetrating. This I thought was the major problem against the Chargers. It also was evident that there was some real confusion while pass protecting by the interior of the line in regards to switching up during the rush. Junius Coston up to this point is no NFL left tackle!
Defense - I was hoping to get a better look at what will make up the interior of the Packers defensive line. With Pickett and Allen exiting so early no real opinion can be made. As a whole I thought the guys that did make up the D-Line held up rather well against the run. Cole was solid and Jolly was likewise.
The ends were adequate but nothing more. KGB is still a situational pass-rusher and Kampman was steady if nothing else. The main concern is the pass rush! The unbelievable amount of offensive plays by the Chargers was in my opinion the failure of the LB corp and secondary from stopping very little on third down or almost any passing situation.
The LB corp was active and gets a passing grade versus the run. I did notice a number of Packer LBs over pursuing one time and then getting sucked up inside the next time. This is mental and not anything physical. White was all over the field but was constantly failing to make plays while over-running plays on numerous occasions. He did show all out effort which did result in being around the football. Both Hawk and Hodge can certainly be lauded for solid play in their first go around. Against the run for the first time they did fine, but their pass coverage skills where sub-par! Barnett like the others was fine against the run but mediocre in pass-coverage. Ben Taylor is really a nice player and Manning gets a acceptable grade as well. Improve on the pass-coverage and this unit should be real good.
The secondary gets mixed reviews. Harris I thought played a bit soft a number of times while Woodson played very well overall. Carroll should play the game with his head. He still gets burned on double moves and continues to use his hands instead of his feet far to often. I think they found a solid player in the safety from Fresno St. in Culver. The Horton kid would have a tough time covering me. The Packers must get better play out of their number three and four corners. Very darn few plays made by the secondary which allowed drives by the Chargers to continue.
The PK job is still up in the air while the punting job is a foregone conclusion as far as I am concerned. The coverage units I thought were adequate while the return game was poor due any lack of close quarters wedge which has been missing for a couple of years now. I thought the Packers blocking on returns was very poor. There was just no place to run for the Packers return men.
All in all not bad. It certainly could have been worse. My biggest concerns after the first preseason game - The O-line and lack of a pass-rush!
SAME POINT IN EXCELLENT REVIEW ARTICLE ABOUT LAST SUNDAY'S GAME:
Packers/Chargers Game Review BY Big Legend Packer Chatters:
Without getting to worked up, I just finished watching and analyzing the game for the second time.
Favre's play was neither good nor bad. One thing is apparent however, the guy can still play. I reviewed some game tape from the late nineties and if he has lost anything, it's a bit of quickness in the pocket. His arm may not be as good as it once was, but it has not diminished drastically. I would say arm strength is at about 85-90% as is foot quickness. It is the players that surround him that create any noticeable ineffectiveness in my opinion.
Lets take a quick glance at the offense.
The QB play overall wasn't bad at all when one considers the uncomfortable feeling they must have had in the pocket. I thought AR looked very solid and that first throw by Martin showed excellent arm strength.
The RBs ran hard but with very little running room they were hard to gauge. I notice that backs missed a number of blocks and the failure to cutback a few times cost them some in the running game.
The WRs I thought were pretty darn solid overall with some very nice grabs made by Jennings and Gardner. Jennings did drop a few balls but made some nice grabs including the Marvin Harrison grab along the sidelines.
The TEs - Where the heck were the TEs?
The O-Line was beat up pretty good by the blitzing Chargers which I think caught everyone by surprise! The two young rookie guards appeared late on a number of snaps and failed to seal there areas opposition. When they were able to man up, I thought they did alright for the first real test. If this zone scheme is going to work, the interior of the line must get off the ball quicker to prevent the defense from penetrating. This I thought was the major problem against the Chargers. It also was evident that there was some real confusion while pass protecting by the interior of the line in regards to switching up during the rush. Junius Coston up to this point is no NFL left tackle!
Defense - I was hoping to get a better look at what will make up the interior of the Packers defensive line. With Pickett and Allen exiting so early no real opinion can be made. As a whole I thought the guys that did make up the D-Line held up rather well against the run. Cole was solid and Jolly was likewise.
The ends were adequate but nothing more. KGB is still a situational pass-rusher and Kampman was steady if nothing else. The main concern is the pass rush! The unbelievable amount of offensive plays by the Chargers was in my opinion the failure of the LB corp and secondary from stopping very little on third down or almost any passing situation.
The LB corp was active and gets a passing grade versus the run. I did notice a number of Packer LBs over pursuing one time and then getting sucked up inside the next time. This is mental and not anything physical. White was all over the field but was constantly failing to make plays while over-running plays on numerous occasions. He did show all out effort which did result in being around the football. Both Hawk and Hodge can certainly be lauded for solid play in their first go around. Against the run for the first time they did fine, but their pass coverage skills where sub-par! Barnett like the others was fine against the run but mediocre in pass-coverage. Ben Taylor is really a nice player and Manning gets a acceptable grade as well. Improve on the pass-coverage and this unit should be real good.
The secondary gets mixed reviews. Harris I thought played a bit soft a number of times while Woodson played very well overall. Carroll should play the game with his head. He still gets burned on double moves and continues to use his hands instead of his feet far to often. I think they found a solid player in the safety from Fresno St. in Culver. The Horton kid would have a tough time covering me. The Packers must get better play out of their number three and four corners. Very darn few plays made by the secondary which allowed drives by the Chargers to continue.
The PK job is still up in the air while the punting job is a foregone conclusion as far as I am concerned. The coverage units I thought were adequate while the return game was poor due any lack of close quarters wedge which has been missing for a couple of years now. I thought the Packers blocking on returns was very poor. There was just no place to run for the Packers return men.
All in all not bad. It certainly could have been worse. My biggest concerns after the first preseason game - The O-line and lack of a pass-rush!