Bretsky
10-31-2006, 08:01 AM
Rating the Packers vs. Arizona: Cardinals carry a big stink
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Oct. 30, 2006
On the Packers
Bob McGinn
E-MAIL
Green Bay - To figure out how good the Packers are, you must decide how bad the Cardinals are.
Clearly, Arizona was pathetic Sunday in its 31-14 loss at Lambeau Field. Coach Dennis Green's team showed a lack of heart, cohesiveness and technique, on both sides of the ball plus special teams. The Cards have lost seven straight games for a reason. At this point, they stink.
On the other hand, Green Bay refused to play down to its level of opposition and turned in its most complete game of the season.
The Packers' O-line and Chad Clifton have no problem handling the Cardinals and defensive end Bertrand Berry.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
TE David Martin is starting to put it all together just when the Packers really need him. The Cardinals paid for not paying him more attention.
PLAY OF THE WEEK
Ten minutes left, third quarter. Packers lead, 21-7. Fourth and 1 at the Arizona 29. Disdaining a field-goal attempt, Mike McCarthy sends out an I formation and two tight ends. The Cardinals counter with a 5-2 defense. The call is a zone stretch play to the left. On the play side, David Martin pushes DE Bertrand Berry out, Chad Clifton is uncovered and goes up to block SS Adrian Wilson, and Daryn Colledge blocks DT Antonio Smith. C Scott Wells engages NT Chris Cooper, then shoves him into Smith and the pair go down in a heap. FB Brandon Miree leads into the hole on CB Eric Green. MLB Gerald Hayes charges into RG Jason Spitz, then scrapes to his right as Ahman Green begins to cut up through left tackle. At the 27, Hayes is able to hit Green in the left arm with his right shoulder. Green staggers for an instant, then leaps forward and pounds down to the 19 for a 10-yard gain. When the Packers score another TD a few minutes later, their lead is insurmountable.
STAT OF THE WEEK
The dual 100-yard rushing performances by Ahman Green and Vernand Morency were extremely rare. It has happened twice before in Packers history, both by HB Eddie Lee Ivery and FB Gerry Ellis: November 1980 in Minnesota and December 1985 against Tampa Bay. Green Bays opponents also have done it three times: November 1955 in Chicago (HB Bobby Watkins, FB Rick Casares), October 1975 by Miami (HB Mercury Morris, FB Don Nottingham) and November 1978 by Dallas (HB Tony Dorsett, FB Robert Newhouse).
RECEIVERS (4)
The Cards clogged the short zones, daring Brett Favre to throw deep to his makeshift corps of wide receivers. Favre did only once but, thanks to shoddy tackling by Arizona and elusive running by Green Bay, the Packers gained 114 of their 180 receiving yards after the catch. Donald Driver showed off his broken-field ability with 30 post-catch yards out of 48. Cornerbacks Antrel Rolle, Eric Green and David Macklin gave Driver too much respect and he caught key short passes. He also delivered two crushing crack-back blocks. The only drop was by Driver. First-time starter Ruvell Martin didn't offer vertical stretch, but he showed fine hands on a 19-yard reception. The Cards made a mistake by almost ignoring David Martin. In reality, Martin has become the No. 1 tight end and is starting to play like it. He was fairly dynamic in the passing game.
OFFENSIVE LINE (4 1/2)
The Cards' undersized defensive front kept standing up and catching blocks. They were awful. Every team in the NFL can shut down the run with a five-man line. Arizona couldn't. Nevertheless, every starter for Green Bay played well. There was no penetration in the ground game. Chad Clifton steered RE Bertrand Berry wherever he wanted him to go. Mark Tauscher has become an adroit cut blocker, both at the DL and LB levels. LE Chike Okeafor, light but crafty, never got a sniff against Tauscher. Inside, Scott Wells was too quick for backup NT Gabe Watson and worked well onto linebackers. Daryn Colledge kept running his feet on contact and managed considerably more movement than usual. Jason Spitz had two poor cut blocks that resulted in "bad" runs but was flawless in protection. Even though coordinator Clancy Pendergast rushed five or more on 38% of passes, the only pressure charged to the O-line was Clifton's holding penalty against Berry that wiped out a 48-yard bomb to Driver. With nobody at his feet, Favre could step up.
QUARTERBACKS (4)
Almost perfect protection made Favre's life easy. With legitimate wide receivers, it would have been the day to attack vertically. Without them, Favre bought into McCarthy's conservative game plan and didn't turn the ball over. In fact, he was never even close to an interception. With Pendergast overloading his front, Favre checked into some better plays at the line. He was responsible for two "bad" runs, once when he didn't make a check and another when he bobbled a shotgun snap and missed the handoff to Noah Herron. McCarthy called four bootlegs, the most since Week 2, and they're almost always beneficial for Favre. It wasn't one of his banner days for accuracy or making improvisational plays. But just managing the game was more than good enough against this outfit.
RUNNING BACKS (4 1/2)
The Packers are going to miss Vernand Morency. Before suffering a back injury he played just 16 snaps, but it was enough for him to gain 101 yards in 11 carries and nail down a spot in the club's future. Morency gets to top speed in an instant. His reads were 10 times better than last week, too. Ahman Green has been such a consistent performer throughout his career. By the standards of most backs, he always runs hard. What made Sunday interesting was seeing how Green performed with running room on almost every attempt. He doled out punishment. He smelled the end zone. He went after linemen with cut blocks in protection that generally worked. The key for the fullback in the zone scheme isn't blowing defenders up. Rather, it's thinking on your feet as the front-side blocking unfolds and getting in the way of the right people. Brandon Miree (41 snaps) did that.
DEFENSIVE LINE (3)
Coordinator Bob Sanders blitzed more than he has all season, including sending five or more on five of Arizona's first 11 drop-backs. It made sense in an effort to mix up rookie QB Matt Leinart and a reconfigured O-line. The Packers needed the boost because their four-man pressure wasn't much. As usual, Aaron Kampman (61 snaps) led with two sacks and four pressures, with most of his damage coming against new RT Reggie Wells. But Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (50), who was double-teamed on just 17% of passes, didn't accomplish a whole lot against massive LT Leonard Davis. Colin Cole (38) started ahead of Corey Williams (15) and alongside Ryan Pickett (49), with Johnny Jolly (23) also playing inside. But the D-tackles' play at the point and rushing the QB left much to be desired. That's why Edgerrin James, who showed a glaring lack of burst and change of direction, was able to post his best game (84 yards) in a month. The Cards' guards and center are as marginal as they can get, and Leinart basically is a stationary target.
LINEBACKERS (4)
Sanders unleashed Nick Barnett as a blitzer and undoubtedly liked what he saw. Barnett beat LG Chris Liwienski for a partial sack in the first half and then made a great athletic play in the second half by hopping over RB Marcel Shipp for another partial sack. Barnett didn't have good position on a 22-yard pass to TE Leonard Pope but broke up two passes and made a tough hit on the goal-line. It's hard to fault A.J. Hawk on the goal-line for failing to prevent James' 1-yard TD because he had just spun off a block and didn't have time to get low. Hawk had another active day. Brady Poppinga isn't being exploited anymore in coverage.
SECONDARY (4)
Charles Woodson played well for the second straight game. With Larry Fitzgerald sidelined, Woodson covered speedster Bryant Johnson and limited him to one 9-yard catch. He jumped underneath two crossing routes to Johnson, deflecting the first and intercepting the second. Those require reactions that can't be coached. Woodson also displayed powerful hands re-directing Johnson at the line. Al Harris covered a much bigger man, Anquan Boldin, all over the field and yielded four receptions in 11 attempts for 47 yards. After tackling poorly last week, Harris was physical this week. Boldin didn't catch the ball well but part of that might have been Harris getting under his skin. Harris dropped an easy interception at the Arizona 25 and also had a bad holding penalty on a third-and-25 incompletion. Patrick Dendy was OK against slot man Troy Walters except on his blown coverage that resulted in a 17-yard TD pass. Safeties Marquand Manuel and Nick Collins both were beaten deep but were saved by a penalty and overthrow. Manuel made three jarring tackles.
KICKERS (2 1/2)
Dave Rayner deserved most of the blame for the botched fake field goal. He hit a field goal from 42 yards. Also, he averaged 65.5 yards and 4.0 seconds of hang time on six kickoffs. Punter Jon Ryan's two attempts averaged 53.5 (gross), 42.0 (net) and 4.08 (hang time).
SPECIAL TEAMS (3)
Woodson eluded a total of seven tacklers, averaging 12.3 yards against one of the NFL's worst punt-coverage units. When Woodson was out, newcomer Shaun Bodiford popped one for 19. Coverage was good. Position coach Mike Stock accepted responsibility for failing to communicate the fake better to Rayner. After drawing merely four penalties in the first six games, the kickoff team went offside twice.
OVERALL (4)
Archive
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Oct. 30, 2006
On the Packers
Bob McGinn
Green Bay - To figure out how good the Packers are, you must decide how bad the Cardinals are.
Clearly, Arizona was pathetic Sunday in its 31-14 loss at Lambeau Field. Coach Dennis Green's team showed a lack of heart, cohesiveness and technique, on both sides of the ball plus special teams. The Cards have lost seven straight games for a reason. At this point, they stink.
On the other hand, Green Bay refused to play down to its level of opposition and turned in its most complete game of the season.
The Packers' O-line and Chad Clifton have no problem handling the Cardinals and defensive end Bertrand Berry.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
TE David Martin is starting to put it all together just when the Packers really need him. The Cardinals paid for not paying him more attention.
PLAY OF THE WEEK
Ten minutes left, third quarter. Packers lead, 21-7. Fourth and 1 at the Arizona 29. Disdaining a field-goal attempt, Mike McCarthy sends out an I formation and two tight ends. The Cardinals counter with a 5-2 defense. The call is a zone stretch play to the left. On the play side, David Martin pushes DE Bertrand Berry out, Chad Clifton is uncovered and goes up to block SS Adrian Wilson, and Daryn Colledge blocks DT Antonio Smith. C Scott Wells engages NT Chris Cooper, then shoves him into Smith and the pair go down in a heap. FB Brandon Miree leads into the hole on CB Eric Green. MLB Gerald Hayes charges into RG Jason Spitz, then scrapes to his right as Ahman Green begins to cut up through left tackle. At the 27, Hayes is able to hit Green in the left arm with his right shoulder. Green staggers for an instant, then leaps forward and pounds down to the 19 for a 10-yard gain. When the Packers score another TD a few minutes later, their lead is insurmountable.
STAT OF THE WEEK
The dual 100-yard rushing performances by Ahman Green and Vernand Morency were extremely rare. It has happened twice before in Packers history, both by HB Eddie Lee Ivery and FB Gerry Ellis: November 1980 in Minnesota and December 1985 against Tampa Bay. Green Bays opponents also have done it three times: November 1955 in Chicago (HB Bobby Watkins, FB Rick Casares), October 1975 by Miami (HB Mercury Morris, FB Don Nottingham) and November 1978 by Dallas (HB Tony Dorsett, FB Robert Newhouse).
RECEIVERS (4)
The Cards clogged the short zones, daring Brett Favre to throw deep to his makeshift corps of wide receivers. Favre did only once but, thanks to shoddy tackling by Arizona and elusive running by Green Bay, the Packers gained 114 of their 180 receiving yards after the catch. Donald Driver showed off his broken-field ability with 30 post-catch yards out of 48. Cornerbacks Antrel Rolle, Eric Green and David Macklin gave Driver too much respect and he caught key short passes. He also delivered two crushing crack-back blocks. The only drop was by Driver. First-time starter Ruvell Martin didn't offer vertical stretch, but he showed fine hands on a 19-yard reception. The Cards made a mistake by almost ignoring David Martin. In reality, Martin has become the No. 1 tight end and is starting to play like it. He was fairly dynamic in the passing game.
OFFENSIVE LINE (4 1/2)
The Cards' undersized defensive front kept standing up and catching blocks. They were awful. Every team in the NFL can shut down the run with a five-man line. Arizona couldn't. Nevertheless, every starter for Green Bay played well. There was no penetration in the ground game. Chad Clifton steered RE Bertrand Berry wherever he wanted him to go. Mark Tauscher has become an adroit cut blocker, both at the DL and LB levels. LE Chike Okeafor, light but crafty, never got a sniff against Tauscher. Inside, Scott Wells was too quick for backup NT Gabe Watson and worked well onto linebackers. Daryn Colledge kept running his feet on contact and managed considerably more movement than usual. Jason Spitz had two poor cut blocks that resulted in "bad" runs but was flawless in protection. Even though coordinator Clancy Pendergast rushed five or more on 38% of passes, the only pressure charged to the O-line was Clifton's holding penalty against Berry that wiped out a 48-yard bomb to Driver. With nobody at his feet, Favre could step up.
QUARTERBACKS (4)
Almost perfect protection made Favre's life easy. With legitimate wide receivers, it would have been the day to attack vertically. Without them, Favre bought into McCarthy's conservative game plan and didn't turn the ball over. In fact, he was never even close to an interception. With Pendergast overloading his front, Favre checked into some better plays at the line. He was responsible for two "bad" runs, once when he didn't make a check and another when he bobbled a shotgun snap and missed the handoff to Noah Herron. McCarthy called four bootlegs, the most since Week 2, and they're almost always beneficial for Favre. It wasn't one of his banner days for accuracy or making improvisational plays. But just managing the game was more than good enough against this outfit.
RUNNING BACKS (4 1/2)
The Packers are going to miss Vernand Morency. Before suffering a back injury he played just 16 snaps, but it was enough for him to gain 101 yards in 11 carries and nail down a spot in the club's future. Morency gets to top speed in an instant. His reads were 10 times better than last week, too. Ahman Green has been such a consistent performer throughout his career. By the standards of most backs, he always runs hard. What made Sunday interesting was seeing how Green performed with running room on almost every attempt. He doled out punishment. He smelled the end zone. He went after linemen with cut blocks in protection that generally worked. The key for the fullback in the zone scheme isn't blowing defenders up. Rather, it's thinking on your feet as the front-side blocking unfolds and getting in the way of the right people. Brandon Miree (41 snaps) did that.
DEFENSIVE LINE (3)
Coordinator Bob Sanders blitzed more than he has all season, including sending five or more on five of Arizona's first 11 drop-backs. It made sense in an effort to mix up rookie QB Matt Leinart and a reconfigured O-line. The Packers needed the boost because their four-man pressure wasn't much. As usual, Aaron Kampman (61 snaps) led with two sacks and four pressures, with most of his damage coming against new RT Reggie Wells. But Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (50), who was double-teamed on just 17% of passes, didn't accomplish a whole lot against massive LT Leonard Davis. Colin Cole (38) started ahead of Corey Williams (15) and alongside Ryan Pickett (49), with Johnny Jolly (23) also playing inside. But the D-tackles' play at the point and rushing the QB left much to be desired. That's why Edgerrin James, who showed a glaring lack of burst and change of direction, was able to post his best game (84 yards) in a month. The Cards' guards and center are as marginal as they can get, and Leinart basically is a stationary target.
LINEBACKERS (4)
Sanders unleashed Nick Barnett as a blitzer and undoubtedly liked what he saw. Barnett beat LG Chris Liwienski for a partial sack in the first half and then made a great athletic play in the second half by hopping over RB Marcel Shipp for another partial sack. Barnett didn't have good position on a 22-yard pass to TE Leonard Pope but broke up two passes and made a tough hit on the goal-line. It's hard to fault A.J. Hawk on the goal-line for failing to prevent James' 1-yard TD because he had just spun off a block and didn't have time to get low. Hawk had another active day. Brady Poppinga isn't being exploited anymore in coverage.
SECONDARY (4)
Charles Woodson played well for the second straight game. With Larry Fitzgerald sidelined, Woodson covered speedster Bryant Johnson and limited him to one 9-yard catch. He jumped underneath two crossing routes to Johnson, deflecting the first and intercepting the second. Those require reactions that can't be coached. Woodson also displayed powerful hands re-directing Johnson at the line. Al Harris covered a much bigger man, Anquan Boldin, all over the field and yielded four receptions in 11 attempts for 47 yards. After tackling poorly last week, Harris was physical this week. Boldin didn't catch the ball well but part of that might have been Harris getting under his skin. Harris dropped an easy interception at the Arizona 25 and also had a bad holding penalty on a third-and-25 incompletion. Patrick Dendy was OK against slot man Troy Walters except on his blown coverage that resulted in a 17-yard TD pass. Safeties Marquand Manuel and Nick Collins both were beaten deep but were saved by a penalty and overthrow. Manuel made three jarring tackles.
KICKERS (2 1/2)
Dave Rayner deserved most of the blame for the botched fake field goal. He hit a field goal from 42 yards. Also, he averaged 65.5 yards and 4.0 seconds of hang time on six kickoffs. Punter Jon Ryan's two attempts averaged 53.5 (gross), 42.0 (net) and 4.08 (hang time).
SPECIAL TEAMS (3)
Woodson eluded a total of seven tacklers, averaging 12.3 yards against one of the NFL's worst punt-coverage units. When Woodson was out, newcomer Shaun Bodiford popped one for 19. Coverage was good. Position coach Mike Stock accepted responsibility for failing to communicate the fake better to Rayner. After drawing merely four penalties in the first six games, the kickoff team went offside twice.
OVERALL (4)
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