Observations So Far

[Merlin]

Now that our preseason is half over and the direction of the team has come more into focus, I thought I would toss in my two cents worth as far as what I think. After we lost to the Chargers a lot of people I talked to thought that we were going to be in for a long season. I have since talked to many of them after Saturday’s win over Atlanta and they are sticking to their mantra.

I saw a lot of positive things after the Charger’s game. Two things of note that most people didn’t pick up on: 1) San Diego blitzed hard and often right out of the gate against our untested offensive line. This is something that is not usually done in the preseason because teams do respect each other and the injuries. Evidently Marty didn’t get the memo. I am not surprised our line had a problem with a 3-4 defense as well as the blitzes. Anyone who thought we were going to suck after seeing that needs to have their head examined. The Packers did not prepare for the Chargers as is customary in preseason. Therefore being that we only see a 3-4 defense 1-2 times a season isn’t a shock they didn’t do well. I think Marty blitzed a lot on purpose to take Favre out of the game (not to hurt him, but to make him non-effective which he was). That part was a good learning experience for our young line. 2) The second Charger TD was their 1st string line, QB and 2nd RB against our 2nd string defense. I thought we did pretty good against those odds. A lot of people thought we were going to get blown out. 7-0 was the real score in the case anyone was counting. It should have been 7-7 but Jennings dropped the 4th down pass. That would have been starters vs. starters. Not too bad if you ask me.

Positives: Barnett can play, no question about it. Hodge looked good and Hawk did also later in the game. Hawk looked lost in the first half. Neither of them pass defended very well, but hey they are rookies. Looking at the performance of our other LB’s, the starters are Barnett, Hawk and Hodge. Our Defensive line played very well. They got up field quick and outside of a few mistakes, they played reasonably well against the run. We have some good depth at CB and although I am sorry Underwood went down for the year, I think Culver can do the job. Our WR’s played fairly well. Jennings is the real deal. Even though he dropped a few, he looked like Donald Driver II to me and he is supposed to be faster then Driver. Hell, even Ferguson looked good. Gardner and Boerighter (sp?), looks like one of them is out. If I had to guess I would say Boerighter, after both games he didn’t get much playing time. Penalties were manageable and didn’t cost us like they did last year.

Negatives: They played tentatively. They were thinking to much and not reacting. I believe many players said this and it was evident. Hawk looked like a rookie most of the game. Woodson looked like an average CB and Harris looked old.

Atlanta:

Is it just me or is Michael Vick Overrated? You did notice that once the Packers got pressure on him, he got yanked out of the game. I am thinking someone was thinking injury so that’s why he didn’t play much. It could also be that he can’t throw worth a crap either. Having a gun for an arm doesn’t make you a good QB. Schaub could start for a lot of NFL teams so IMO with him in there it was starters vs. starters. The defense stepped up and played very well, even the 2nd and 3rd stringers. What I saw from Atlanta is that they don’t have any depth on their team. It looked like to me that after the first TD drive that they thought they were going to steam roll over us so they put it on cruise control. Our offense clicked and Davenport, even though he didn’t get a lot of yards, he got them all on his own. He kept his feet moving and pushed the pile many times. It seemed like the team was out there to play and play hard. If that is the kind of motivation McCarthy is providing then I think he is doing a hell of a job. I am impressed with Wells. I think he has stepped up so far, I hope he keeps it up. Spitz is also turning some heads. He appears to be having a good preseason. He is a lock to start. He has played both guard spots and showed he is versatile. The last guard spot could go to Moll after his good performance. Supposedly Colledge has an attitude problem. It looks like instead of playing musical chairs with the o-line that McCarthy is building cohesiveness in the line. If 4 of the 5 who are going to start are already obvious, then it is possible that we will have our line set by the next preseason game. Last year if you remember right, our line wasn’t set until the first regular season game. I like how well they played in this game. Jennings, he is on the roster, no doubt. It appears Boerighter is the odd man out. Ferguson looked awesome. To bad we haven’t seen that all these years. Did anyone else notice that Favre hasn’t thrown an interceptions in the two games? Did anyone else notice that our formations look like the old school west coast? We are running slants and check downs again. Something else you may or may not know, Sherman never let Favre call an audible. I have seen Favre call 3 in 3 quarters so far in the preseason. Two of them slants and the other a running play. I think Favre is going to be at home in this offense I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes to the Pro Bowl. Defensively, Hawk looked like a Pro. Woodson still looked average and Harris looked very good. Can you say Collins in the pro bowl???? He can flat out play, he is Leroy Butler II but with speed! Carol even looked fairly good. Once again, I thought our d-line played well.

The only negative I can find with the game was putting Favre in starting the 3rd quarter. Maybe McCarthy was testing the o-line, who knows.

Overall Obversations:

If the o-line gels (which it appears to be doing), we will have a much improved offense. It already looks improved and there are a few more rookies than last year.

Aaron Rodgers looks better, 100% better than last year. Hopefully McCarthy had something to do with this. Because last year, he couldn’t have started for any college team let alone an NFL one.

AJ Hawk gets better every game.

Greg Jennings is the #3 receiver, Ferguson is the #2. If Ferguson can stay healthy and keep up his play, look out.

Defense overall looks better then last year. Worried about the other safety though. We may have to pick up a free agent to backup Manual.

We definitely overpaid Woodson by what I have seen so far. For 10M I expect 10 picks and him giving up no TD’s, we will see.
Special Teams are horrible. Although I like Rayner kicking the ball in the end zone, what good is it if you give them 30+ yards and the return? Punters-Sander-Gone. Ryan has a stronger leg and although he doesn’t have the hang time, he is the better punter.

Losing Henderson for 3-6 weeks hurts this team a lot. He is a great player and leader. I know Leach is younger and supposedly blocks better, but you can’t teach the intangibles that Henderson has.

Favre appears to be “leading” more then he ever has in his career. He also appears to be having more fun then ever as well. His play has been respectable and he hasn’t made those mental mistakes as predicted. That is a good combination to have in your future HOF QB.

[Partial]

Woodson still looked average and Harris looked very good

Whhhhaaaaaaaatttt... I realize they have to pick on somebody and Harris is the obvious choice since he's the second corner, but he has looked very, very average thus far this preseason, where as Woodson has allowed one reception and make a great tackle immediately there after. Woodson has looked like a shut down corner in the sense he is on his man like white on rice.

As for the 10 mil per season = 10 picks no tds, that won't happen because no one has tested him yet. I have been preaching to you guys for awhile, watch some footage of when he was a Raider early in his career. He rides his man like a true #1 franchise corner (bailey, clements), and because of this fact Harris is going to be picked on a lot.

I sincerely hope that Harris is as good as he played last year, and he wasn't just the benefactor of Ahmad Carroll being picked on, because its very possible our season will rely on his ability to cover.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Positives: Barnett can play, no question about it. Hodge looked good and Hawk did also later in the game. Hawk looked lost in the first half. Neither of them pass defended very well, but hey they are rookies. Looking at the performance of our other LB’s, the starters are Barnett, Hawk and Hodge.

Everybody wants to believe in Hodge since he had a very good scrimmage (outperforming Hawk), but he hasn't shown me much in the preseason games. Hawk has been better in both games. Hodge has to do more in these games if he wants to challendge Ben Taylor at SLB.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I realize they have to pick on somebody and Harris is the obvious choice since he's the second corner, but he has looked very, very average thus far this preseason, where as Woodson has allowed one reception and make a great tackle immediately there after. Woodson has looked like a shut down corner in the sense he is on his man like white on rice.

I think Woodson has looked much better also. Harris has looked ordinary. I'm hoping that isn't a sign of things to come.

[Partial]

I realize they have to pick on somebody and Harris is the obvious choice since he's the second corner, but he has looked very, very average thus far this preseason, where as Woodson has allowed one reception and make a great tackle immediately there after. Woodson has looked like a shut down corner in the sense he is on his man like white on rice.

I think Woodson has looked much better also. Harris has looked ordinary. I'm hoping that isn't a sign of things to come.

Is it possible that Harris looked very good since everyone was throwing on Carroll?

[Scott Campbell]

Supposedly Colledge has an attitude problem.


I heard he had a blocking problem, not an attitude problem. What's your source?

[Pack_Attack]

If Woodson can lock down the other teams best WR rendering him useless, I could care less how many INT's he ends up with!!

[Merlin]

Supposedly Colledge has an attitude problem.


I heard he had a blocking problem, not an attitude problem. What's your source?

It was a discussion I read on another sight. Supposedly they are using his ego to motivate him to perform.

[Partial]

If Woodson can lock down the other teams best WR rendering him useless, I could care less how many INT's he ends up with!!

Woodosn is going to shine in forcing more sacks and erratic throws from the QB at other reads. If he is blanketing the primary receiver, that forces the QB to take additional reads and ideally by that time KGB is barreling down on him. If Harris plays well also, expect a lot of passes to tight ends and passes in the flat. Ideally, our linebackers can be the playmakers we hope them to be, then!

[Merlin]

I realize they have to pick on somebody and Harris is the obvious choice since he's the second corner, but he has looked very, very average thus far this preseason, where as Woodson has allowed one reception and make a great tackle immediately there after. Woodson has looked like a shut down corner in the sense he is on his man like white on rice.

I think Woodson has looked much better also. Harris has looked ordinary. I'm hoping that isn't a sign of things to come.

Woodson wears #21 right? If I am not mistaken, if the QB would actually look the direction of #21, he would see him beat on every play accept the vertical. #21 was behind the receivers A LOT. I think they didn't even look that way because of his name, it definitely isn't his play. Harris looked like shit in the first game and looked a lot better in the second. Maybe his name is enough for them not to throw at him, it sure isn't his play. they pick on Carol because he is a penalty machine.

[Merlin]

If Woodson can lock down the other teams best WR rendering him useless, I could care less how many INT's he ends up with!!

Woodosn is going to shine in forcing more sacks and erratic throws from the QB at other reads. If he is blanketing the primary receiver, that forces the QB to take additional reads and ideally by that time KGB is barreling down on him. If Harris plays well also, expect a lot of passes to tight ends and passes in the flat. Ideally, our linebackers can be the playmakers we hope them to be, then!

I hope so. Woodson hasn't shown anythinf accept a name. My biggest fear is that you are exactly right, tight ends AND because we have rookie LB's, they will make mistakes and it will cost us.

[Partial]

I realize they have to pick on somebody and Harris is the obvious choice since he's the second corner, but he has looked very, very average thus far this preseason, where as Woodson has allowed one reception and make a great tackle immediately there after. Woodson has looked like a shut down corner in the sense he is on his man like white on rice.

I think Woodson has looked much better also. Harris has looked ordinary. I'm hoping that isn't a sign of things to come.

Woodson wears #21 right? If I am not mistaken, if the QB would actually look the direction of #21, he would see him beat on every play accept the vertical. #21 was behind the receivers A LOT. I think they didn't even look that way because of his name, it definitely isn't his play. Harris looked like shit in the first game and looked a lot better in the second. Maybe his name is enough for them not to throw at him, it sure isn't his play. they pick on Carol because he is a penalty machine.

You're definitely seeing something different from I. I have watched the tape of the first half twice now, and Woodson looks to be in excellent position. He is generally on his man like a glove ala gary payton in basketball.

Harris on the other hand, looked to be playing pretty loose coverage and was giving up the comeback route. It looked like he was playing it safe and letting them get the completion but was always in position for a solid tackle.

[woodbuck27]

MerlinWizard222:

A post of inspiration and great detail. SOLID contribution Packer fan.

Question ONE

There has been some talk of Daryn Colledge and arrogance/impetuance. I don't want to be perceived as labeling him as such so, what do you have to support that claim? Just wondering??

Question TWO

I see that you are very impressed with Robert Ferguson's efforts, and I trust your observation of this man, and support that with ,Brett Favre deeming that Ferguson works very hard.Brett Favre in the past has gone right at R.F. for giving up on the ball. NO FIGHT.

We all have seen that last season,alot.

Is Robert Ferguson showing effort to get the ball and to get yards after the catch? Does he exhibit that toughness we saw once in him?

The aftermath of the Donovan Darius hit, seemed to me, to take away from his real gifts and R.F. talked - but no walk.

Is he back MerlinWizard222 ?

Does he appear to you MerlinWizard222, to have the instinct that we need of him, to protect the ball if he is out of position to make an easy pass?

otherwise . . . I am " in concert' with alot that you reported. It's really early but we show promise.

I REALLY enjoyed your excellent post MerlinWizard222.

Thank You Packer fan.

GO PACKERS ! FAN FAITH - THROUGHOUT THE SEASON !!

NO MATTER WHAT.

Behind OUR Team. :mrgreen:

[vince]

Thanks for the good post, Merlin.


Greg Jennings is the #3 receiver, Ferguson is the #2. If Ferguson can stay healthy and keep up his play, look out.
I would be happy to see Ferguson have a great year. FWIW, I really think that Jennings will be #2 and Fergy #3.

Obviously, we'll be counting on both of them big-time, but I'm not sure that Brett has the highest confidence in Fergy...

Did you see the bullet Favre forced into DD on an in route vs. the Falcons? Fergy was 10 yards to his right and wide open, but Favre forced the ball into Driver instead. That's tells me that Brett may not have the utmost confidence in Ferguson for some reason...

On the other hand, I think Brett is real high on Jennings and is quickly developing a good QB/WR repoire with him. TC reports have Jennings as the second leading receiver in camp...

I do like Fergie as a #3, but I'm not as high on him as our #2... Just my take...

[Fritz]

I do notice, Vince, that Favre tends to jam the ball into his favorite and ignore other people who are wide open. He used to force feed Javon
Walker, too, when Bubba was wide open. It's just Favre, maybe.

[woodbuck27]

I do notice, Vince, that Favre tends to jam the ball into his favorite and ignore other people who are wide open. He used to force feed Javon
Walker, too, when Bubba was wide open. It's just Favre, maybe.

Yes.I'm seeing that also Fritz.

Nice to see your back. :mrgreen:

GO PACK GO !!

[FritzDontBlitz]

great post merlin. i especially like your observations about how the chargers went apeshit with the blitz in a preseason game - i distinctly remember WATCHING a preseason game where the commentators were discussing how vanilla offenses and defenses tend to be in the preseason to keep from tipping their hand about what their opponents could expect in the regular season (can't say for sure, but i think al michaels makes that observation regularly during preseason). i downloaded that vid of the first half of the chargers/packers game, and not only did i see the chargers' defense blitzing early and often, but they were also running stunts and overloads that deliberately flooded the center/guard area with extra rushers. once i saw that i took the postgame naysaying with a grain of salt. i was tempted to write something similar to what you posted about the game but thought better of it, preferring to wait until game two in order to see how the pack looked against atl.

another thing i noticed - and i could post stills from the play if anyone would like to see them - is a play that was a glaring example of how great the zone blocking scheme will be plus how ill-suited najeh is for it. there was a run play to the right tackle area with najeh as the ballcarrier. when the ball was snapped all the linemen did their job and blocked down toward the right. as favre was handing off to najeh i suddenly noticed the entire defense had converged on the right tackle area najeh was bearing down on, with the only other defender being the man covering the lone receiver on the far left. when najeh took the handoff he dutifully plowed ahead toward the right tackle area like most rb's are taught to do, BUT IF HE HAD THE PROPER VISION he would have seen the huge open area just to his left with only one db matched up on a wr. as soon as i saw the play i thought "OMG, ahman green would have cut back and been in a footrace to the endzone on that play!!!!" why? because ahman is a cutback runner with patience and vision while samkon, najeh and noah are more traditional run-to-the-hole rb's. once we get a runner more suited to the zone scheme we will have a better idea of how well the run game is doing. i for one believe that mr green will come back at full strength, but even at 60% ahman will flourish in the zone scheme. but, i also feel the packers need to shop for another back suited to the style. maybe najeh and gado will pick it up in time, who knows...

in that same vid from week one i observed al harris' play since everyone has been ripping him so badly. people say he's loafing, dogging it, or that he's just looking old. here's a couple things i noticed about al from the charger game. the chargers initially thought they scored on a pass to wr jackson in the right corner of the end zone, but it was reversed after mccarthy mounted a replay challenge. when they showed the replay you could see harris was step for step with jackson forcing him to angle toward the sideline as he entered the endzone. phillip rivers laid the ball in perfectly - BUT, as soon as jackson touched the ball harris shoved him out of bounds before he could get his second foot down for a successful td catch. now, contrast that with ahmad carroll's coverage when he gave up a td to jackson on the very next play: jackson had got past carroll and was at least one or two steps ahead of him AND when he hauled in the pass he was at least two yards away from the sideline when he scored. harris showed excellent coverage even when he appeared to give up the score. another instance of harris showing great coverage was on a simple comeback route to another wr. harris was step for step again, but when the receiver made his break harris seemed to slip slightly as he tried to drive on the ball. harris hit the wr immediately and drove him out of bounds but gave up a first down - but, after viewing the clip a few times i realized that what harris was actually doing was attempting to make a pick that he might have had if not for the slip. the play was that close.

now, i am not able to see many packers games here in chicago because of the cities legendary hate (i call it envy lol) of green and gold, so i can't really dispute what others say is going on, but, in the things that i have seen i get the feel that things will not be as dire as so many claim. i will be watching the monday night game against cincy closely to see for myself...

[vince]

I do notice, Vince, that Favre tends to jam the ball into his favorite and ignore other people who are wide open. He used to force feed Javon
Walker, too, when Bubba was wide open. It's just Favre, maybe.
Yes, he does this without a doubt. I think it's due to Brett's comfortability in knowing where a receiver is going to be and whether or not he's confident he'll haul it in... It comes down to consistency of performance...

In the end, if Brett has more confidence/comfort with Driver and Jennings than Fergy - they'll be the guys on the field more because they'll be the guys producing...

That's why I believe Fergy'll be #3.

[4and12to12and4]

Man, there sure is a difference of opinion here of how good Harris, Woodson, and Fergy have played. I have watched both games multiple times slo moing, rewatching, keying in on guys, etc.. Woodson has played outstanding, usually blanketing his man. Harris is playing the way he has always played. Somewhat tight coverage, but he can't blanket guys like
Woodson, because he lacks the speed to catch up if he isn't behind him a bit. He has to play a little more conservatively. But, he has still done well. One thing that should be mentioned here is how well our entire defense has performed so far in not giving up the BIG play. I've watched most of all the preseason games around the league, and have seen many 40, 50, and 60 yard pass and run plays being broken. Sure, we have had our fair share of third down failures, but almost always right at or just a few yards past the marker. Our LB's and Db's have all been doing an outstanding job of making teams work their asses off to move the ball. Very tight coverages, and very mobile to the ball carrier. Also, almost all our guys have made sure tackles. Very few broken tackles even when our second and third stringers are in there.

As far as Fergy goes, he has caught all but one pass thrown his direction, and as mentioned here, is being ignored most of the time. That slant play that Favre went to Jennings and he scored on, Fergy was the wideout on the right side, and was open, but Favre didn't even look at him. He was looking back at Favre and was 3 yards deeper than Jennings. This is just one example. I have noticed this on numerous plays. It is an excuse to say that there is no trust with Favre and him. Favre needs to challenge him NOW, while the games don't count. He is doing everything asked of him, now Favre needs to look his way. Also, I have noticed that on EVERY play, Fergy busts his ass in blocking his guy out. He is very good at it, and is relentless in his blocking. I hope that Favre will give him a chance this year, because it seems as if he is ready to prove himself, and has done a great job the few times the ball has come his way. If he could get his hands on the ball 5 or 6 times a game, he will break one for a long gain, as Jennings did on that slant, he is very quick and powerful, and his attitude seems to be very good. Just my observations.

[HarveyWallbangers]

That slant play that Favre went to Jennings and he scored on, Fergy was the wideout on the right side, and was open, but Favre didn't even look at him. He was looking back at Favre and was 3 yards deeper than Jennings. This is just one example. I have noticed this on numerous plays. It is an excuse to say that there is no trust with Favre and him. Favre needs to challenge him NOW, while the games don't count. He is doing everything asked of him, now Favre needs to look his way. Also, I have noticed that on EVERY play, Fergy busts his ass in blocking his guy out. He is very good at it, and is relentless in his blocking. I hope that Favre will give him a chance this year, because it seems as if he is ready to prove himself, and has done a great job the few times the ball has come his way. If he could get his hands on the ball 5 or 6 times a game, he will break one for a long gain, as Jennings did on that slant, he is very quick and powerful, and his attitude seems to be very good. Just my observations.

The slant pass that Jennings scored on was thrown by ARod.

[Packnut]

Well if it's any indication so far, QB's are not gonna throw at Woodson. How do you get 10 picks if the ball ain't thrown your way?

[Green Bud Packer]

[quote="MerlinWizard222"]Sherman never let Favre call an audible. quote] favre is enjoying football again. allowing him to call audibles will keep him more focused and he'll make more plays. audible calling will cut down on his interceptions as he'll be the one dictating to the "d" not vice versa as it was under the worm and rossley's version of the west coast run and poop "o".

[Merlin]

Woodbuck27:
As far as Colledge goes, All I have heard are rumors and speculations from other posters and some sport announcers. I can't confirm or deny it. With the emergence of Moll and Spitz as the starters, I suspect it may not be true and if it is I sure hope they are using it to get his ass in gear because frankly, he sucked out there.

Ferguson is a whole other story. He has always been the guy to make the ridiculously hard catch and the drop the easy ones. With all of the slant, hook and out routes we have been running (and it doesn't hurt that the ball is impaled into his chest by Favre), he may have found his place in this offense. Sherman's offense relied more on the receiver to think, not react to the coverage. Don't ask Ferguson to think, tell him the route to run and he will be there. Personally, I gave up on Ferguson after the Darius hit. I was at that game, 12 rows up at the end of the field it happened in. It was a cheap shot, pre-meditated (Darius lined him up for it if you watch the replay) and if it were me, I would have quit the game. Last year Ferguson was so gun shy it wasn't even funny. He talked a big talk but never came close to walking the walk. So far this preseason, he has run some beautiful routes and caught the ball even when he knew he was going to get clobbered. Driver, Jennings and Ferguson all look like the same guy out there in those slant routes. And they all have performed well with a few drops by Jennings (which is to be expected in preseason).

I disagree that Favre is throwing to a specific receiver. I think Favre is throwing a specific route. In the West Coast Offense your receiver routes are pretty standard. One goes on a deep route, one goes up the middle, one slants and the FB or RB goes to the check down. The reason this offense is so successful is because of how the routes are run. You never saw the "pick" route or crossing routes from Sherman. Although "picks" are illegal, you can run them legally if the routes are run correctly. Crossing routes can tie up the defenders to when run correctly. Favre has been hitting the hot read more often then the 1st read. That is usually the slant or the check down. The catch that Driver made in the Atlanta game on a medium slant route where the defender was right on him, the ball was throw exactly where it needed to be. Not many QB's in the league would have even throw that pass and that is the dimension that you get with Favre. I know that Driver has been getting a lot of balls, but Favre is by no means zeroing in on him. His route running ability and the WCO are clicking right now. Favre keeps going back to Jennings and Ferguson, even after they drop one. Last year, if you dropped a pass, he wouldn't throw your way again. I think he sees that now and is going to do his best to find the right read and get the ball there.