Packer Question Marks Going Into Jacksonville and the Season??????

[Maxie the Taxi]

1. Jordy? Will he, can he pickup where he left off (stretching the field and drawing double-coverage away from our other WR's?

2. (related) Will Cook be the difference-maker we all expect him to be?

3. DL? How will the DL hold up against the run, especially while Pennell is on furlough? Can Lowry and Clark cut the mustard?

4. (related) ILB? Are Ryan and Martinez the answer or will Claymaker be forced to return inside to prevent us from being gashed up the middle?

5. OL? How will the left side of the line hold up absent Sitton?

6. Lacy and the run game? Will Stubby's dream of a dominant run game come true at last?

7. Arod? Will Rodgers return to form with Jordy being back, or has our MVP QB regressed to average?

8. FB? Is Ripkowski the second-coming of Kuhn, especially in the clutch?

9. Crosby? Will the new FG team of Crosby, Schum and Goode perform or falter out of the chute?

10. Adams? Will Devante Adams finally live up to his potential?

11. Killer instinct? Can Arod and Stubby keep the pedal down and avoid Hail Mary finishes?

12. Injuries? Can we avoid being bit early by the injury bug?

13. Pass rush? Maybe the most important question. Can we put serious pressure on the QB?

14. Will/can Capers field a top 5 defense which would just about put us in the SB?

[Patler]

Yes, yes, no, no, yes, yes, not sure, yes, yes, no, no, hope so but not predictable, yes, anyone's guess.

[pbmax]

Yes, yes, no, no, yes, yes, not sure, yes, yes, no, no, hope so but not predictable, yes, anyone's guess.

Which of the two questions in #4 are you saying no to? Two young guys making it or Matthews returning inside?

[Patler]

The predominant question!
(No, the young'uns won't be enough.)

[Maxie the Taxi]

I think most of the questions cannot be answered definitely prior to the season starting. It's fun to speculate but "We'll have to wait and see" is applicable to all.

I think the defense is the biggest question of all going in. If somehow Capers can bring it all together and the talent we have bears out, we could pull off a 15-1 type season. That's one mighty big "if" though.

[Harlan Huckleby]

15. Will the team enter Jacksonville dazed and misfiring following the Sitton fiasco?

edit: OK, you sort of addressed that with #5. I refer to the spiritual dimension.

[Maxie the Taxi]

15. Will the team enter Jacksonville dazed and misfiring following the Sitton fiasco?

edit: OK, you sort of addressed that with #5. I refer to the spiritual dimension.I think the spiritual dimension will disappear completely once the game kicks off. We're only obsessed with it because we've got too much time on our hands and not enough real football meat to digest.

[gbgary]

my questions are all on the o. d was fine last year and will be again this year...maybe even better.

jordy is #1. he's "full go" this week. since it was a non-contact injury i don't think that first tackle will be the decider in his head. it's that first heavy cut, spin move, or awkward landing, that will get him over the mental hurdle.

aaaannnd as usual the o-line is a huge question mark...especially after the events of this week. who F'n knows?!

adams' consistancy, montgomery's injury return...and how they will effect the o are unknowns. of the two i'd say montgomery's successful return is more important.

all else is good.

[Maxie the Taxi]

^^^Hope you're right. All I can say about defense is there was quite a bit of turnover this year compared to last...a lot of substitute parts this year that are untested.

[Tony Oday]

Ass kicking blowout that is so Epic Ras becomes a Packer Fan.

[hoosier]

I don't know, I gotta bad feeling about this season. In recent years I've had good feelings and the season has invariably ended on a shitty note, so hopefully my downer is a good sign.

[Upnorth]

I think most of the questions cannot be answered definitely prior to the season starting. It's fun to speculate but "We'll have to wait and see" is applicable to all.

I think the defense is the biggest question of all going in. If somehow Capers can bring it all together and the talent we have bears out, we could pull off a 15-1 type season. That's one mighty big "if" though.

There is no fun in not answering these questions so in response
1)Yes. and lets hope he does.
2)even if he drops a lot (like his history indicates) he will force more coverage to his part of the field opening additional space else where.
3)we have one, yes and hope so. (you have three questions on 3)
4)Martinez looks better than what we have seen lately IMO
5)Thats the million dollar question, however at least it is a guard and not a tackle
6)yes
7)I think ARod rebounds
8)I dont remember questioning the FB blocking during preseason.
9)NO idea, but slocum is gone so it cant be worse than 2 years ago, can it?
10)close, but as a fan i expect perfection, so no
11)bwahahahah, yeah, stubby staying aggressive, hahahahahah!
12)when do we start a fire the trainers thread?
13)we will be at least top 7 this year, if not better
14)I think our DL is the same, ilb better olb much better and one of the best secodaries in the league, so maybe not top 5 but definitely top 10.

[Maxie the Taxi]

^^^Good answers. Except we have to improve our rush defense without Clay in the middle and without BJ (all year) and Pennell (1st four games).

[run pMc]

I think they'll be fine in the middle with what they've got, and that they kept extra safeties to have one (Burnett?) play close to the line or as a "moneybacker" a la Barron/Buchannon.

[HarveyWallbangers]

1. Yes. Knock on wood.

2. Yes.

3. They will struggle early in the year while Pennel is out and the youngsters get up to speed. They'll get better as the season goes on.

4. Yes. I think we'll get better play out of the ILB group. Clay will not be a full-time ILB--although they'll move him around to get the best matchup for him rushing the passer.

5. The leftside will struggle, causing much consternation until Linsley comes back. Then, Spriggs will need to play, but struggle initially.

6. Dominant? No. They'll be solid enough.

7. Yes. It wasn't just Jordy who was injured. The Packers were 6-0 until Montgomery went out. Adams was never right. Cobb had his own injuries to deal with.

8. He's a different player than Kuhn, but we'll hardly notice him.

9. I have a bad feeling Crosby will struggle out of the shoot.

10. Depends on expectations. I think he'll be similar to what he was his rookie year, more explosive, but he won't be a stud.

11. I don't know what this even means.

12. We hardly ever do.

13. They'll be above average.

14. Top 5? No. Top 10? Yes, but it depends on how you are grading it. I'm not just depending on yards/game.

[Maxie the Taxi]

ANSWERS AFTER FIRST GAME...

1. Jordy? Will he, can he pickup where he left off (stretching the field and drawing double-coverage away from our other WR's? Maybe. Jordy looked healthy. But I was expecting to see his fabled slant route for a TD

2. (related) Will Cook be the difference-maker we all expect him to be? Maybe. He was pretty good but only one catch and his name wasn't called as much as I expected.

3. DL? How will the DL hold up against the run, especially while Pennell is on furlough? Can Lowry and Clark cut the mustard? Yes. The DL held up great against the run. Clark participated. Lowry didn't.

4. (related) ILB? Are Ryan and Martinez the answer or will Claymaker be forced to return inside to prevent us from being gashed up the middle? Yes, especially after the first couple series. I'm satisfied these two will keep Clay at OLB. And Clay was a difference-maker today.

5. OL? How will the left side of the line hold up absent Sitton? Pretty well, all things considered. It wasn't a disaster some expected. Though the story is far from complete.

6. Lacy and the run game? Will Stubby's dream of a dominant run game come true at last? No. Even with Lacy's bursts, 95 total rushing yards is pretty puny. And the rushing game failed at key moment on the goal line (last drive for a FG) and with five minutes left in the game.

7. Arod? Will Rodgers return to form with Jordy being back, or has our MVP QB regressed to average? After he shook the rust off, he looked like an MVP QB to me.

8. FB? Is Ripkowski the second-coming of Kuhn, especially in the clutch? Not yet. Rip made one good block that I can remember.

9. Crosby? Will the new FG team of Crosby, Schum and Goode perform or falter out of the chute? 50/50. FG kicking was sound; punting not so much.

10. Adams? Will Devante Adams finally live up to his potential? Yes and no. He dropped one and then made a fantastic catch. Probably more good than bad.

11. Killer instinct? Can Arod and Stubby keep the pedal down and avoid Hail Mary finishes? My heart is still in my throat, so no. Stubby reverted to conservative playcalling at the end of the game and at the goal line. This game should not have come down to the last few seconds. And the last series the Packers had the ball with all the forced time-outs was nuts. When the chips are down, Stubby is a conservative coach.

12. Injuries? Can we avoid being bit early by the injury bug? Yes...hopefully...so far.

13. Pass rush? Maybe the most important question. Can we put serious pressure on the QB? Yes, but not Denver-type elite pressure. Not yet. All in all, Clay had a great day and I was satisfied...especially on the last play the Jags had the ball. Capers called a full-out blitz. I see great things on the horizon.

14. Will/can Capers field a top 5 defense which would just about put us in the SB? Probably not top five. They gave up 348 yards and 23 points, which is pretty good. Defense played well.