HarveyWallbangers
10-15-2007, 01:07 AM
It was an ugly win, but it's somewhat encouraging to me that the other teams have praised the Packers on several occasions this year.
Hitting the breaks
By BOB McGINN
Green Bay - They can't even come close to running the football, their passing game isn't overly explosive, they can't cover tight ends, they give up too many big plays, they've fumbled 11 times in the last three games and their rookie field-goal kicker crumpled the moment the weather turned.
No one fears the Green Bay Packers, nor should they. But when it comes to feasting on breaks and getting the most out of their personnel, no team in the National Football League has done more than the Packers.
Another chapter was written in the Packers' storybook season Sunday at Lambeau Field, a 17-14 victory over the bumbling Washington Redskins that, by most performance barometers, should have been a defeat.
On a drizzly 46-degree afternoon, the Packers parlayed their one gain of more than 18 yards into an early touchdown, their only worthwhile drive of the second half into a field goal and Corey Williams' strip of Santana Moss that became Charles Woodson's 57-yard touchdown return into their latest "how did they pull that off?" triumph.
"Regardless of injuries, mistakes we're making, lack of balance, we're 5-1," Brett Favre said. "But I think we need to look at the negatives more than the positives."
Dallas' drubbing by New England left the Cowboys and Packers atop the NFC. In the NFC North, the Packers enter their bye week three games up on cellar-dwelling Chicago, the two-time defending champion.
The Redskins (3-2), regarded by coach Mike McCarthy as the best team the Packers have played, practically gave the game away.
Coach Joe Gibbs' club dropped three passes on third down in first-down territory, Moss dropped a 40-yard bomb at the Green Bay 15 and Jason Campbell overthrew a wide-open Brandon Lloyd by inches on what should have been a 37-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.
"Sick," Redskins vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato said when asked to describe the mood of the team leaving Green Bay. "Defensively, we played well. We held them to 225 yards. But we left a lot of points on the field. The quarterback (Campbell) played well. We've just got to help him."
Singed for 208 yards by halftime, the Packers' defense rose up in the second half and held the Redskins to 96 yards and four first downs. The fourth-quarter pass rush, so critical in the victory two weeks ago at Minnesota, did it again.
Starting from their 29 with 4 minutes left, the Redskins had to punt after Aaron Kampman bull-rushed tackle Stephon Heyer for a third-down sack.
Per usual, the Packers couldn't grind out a first down and had to punt. To make matters worse, long snapper Rob Davis hiked it to Jon Ryan with 16 seconds left on the play clock, a gaffe for which McCarthy was quick to accept blame.
"I was in a conversation on the third-down call," he said. "That's no excuse. That's poor time management."
By this point, the Redskins' offensive line was so depleted (minus four starters) that Gibbs had no alternative but to reinsert right tackle Todd Wade, who had a groin injury.
A pressure by Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila on first down. A sack by Kampman on second down. A hurried incompletion on third down. And a fourth-down pressure by Williams, with 20 seconds left, wrapped it up.
"I'm not a GM but some teams are built to stop the run, which they do very well, and then they get after you at the end," said Washington guard Pete Kendall, a 12-year veteran. "As long as their defense keeps playing as well as they are, that's a very good football team. I don't know if that's going to be 12 wins or what but that team has a chance to win every week."
Back in August, the Packers' coaches talked about a winning formula in which Favre would limit his mistakes, the defense would hold firm and the special teams would do their fair share.
On Sunday, the Packers played without center Scott Wells (eye) and guard Junius Coston (ankle) and basically didn't even try to run. Favre underthrew open deep receivers four times, including three to Greg Jennings, and saw a 23-yard touchdown pass to James Jones wiped out by Mark Tauscher's holding penalty.
Still, they won.
"Mike is doing what he has to do to give his team a chance," said Gregg Williams, the Redskins' assistant head coach-defense and Buffalo's head coach from 2001-'03. "He did a very, very good job giving his team a chance to stay in the ball game with a depleted offensive line. I think Mike is keeping them in the ball game with his play choices and his packages.
"With as solid as they're playing on defense and keeping the score at a minimum and being extremely patient . . . when Brett is patient, and you allow him to dink and dunk, they're going to be dangerous. I wouldn't be surprised if we see each other again later this year."
Linebacker Randall Godfrey, a 12-year veteran who started for the 14-2 San Diego Chargers last year, said: "I know they'll win over 10 games. I think the defense is pretty good."
Linebacker London Fletcher, a 10-year veteran with two Super Bowl starts for St. Louis, said: "We've played a few common opponents and I've constantly seen their defense. They play hard. They've got some playmakers.
"I love the way their corners play. (Nick) Barnett is playing great for them. The whole front seven, it's hard to say where a weakness is."
On offense, the Redskins tried to run wide, had more success early than late and settled for 94 yards. Tight end Chris Cooley doesn't see much man-to-man coverage but when the Packers tried it, he burned Brady Poppinga and Atari Bigby, among others, for seven catches and 97 yards in the first half.
The Packers cooled Cooley in the second half with some bracket coverage and the momentum of their pass rush. It forced Cooley to stay in and block on occasion, making life even more problematic for the competitive, poised Campbell in just his 12th start.
"I thought their crowd noise was a big factor," said tackle Chris Samuels, an eight-year veteran. "We had difficulty hearing the signals. We really couldn't make the calls or the adjustments. At all."
The crowd of 70,761 saw McCarthy even his record at Lambeau Field to 6-6 after a 3-5 start. Missed field-goal attempts of 46 and 38 yards Mason Crosby exposed a shortcoming the Packers didn't know they had.
"The thing I'm looking for is a complete game from our football team," McCarthy said. "We just weren't very sharp. But we'll take it, that's for sure."
When the Packers last started 5-1, it was 2002 and they went on to a 12-4 record, No. 3 playoff seeding and first-round ouster by Atlanta.
"We could be very easily sitting here 6-0 and we very easily could be 3-3 or whatever," Favre said. "We've definitely put ourselves in good position. If we can improve, which I think we can and we should, we can be pretty good."
Hitting the breaks
By BOB McGINN
Green Bay - They can't even come close to running the football, their passing game isn't overly explosive, they can't cover tight ends, they give up too many big plays, they've fumbled 11 times in the last three games and their rookie field-goal kicker crumpled the moment the weather turned.
No one fears the Green Bay Packers, nor should they. But when it comes to feasting on breaks and getting the most out of their personnel, no team in the National Football League has done more than the Packers.
Another chapter was written in the Packers' storybook season Sunday at Lambeau Field, a 17-14 victory over the bumbling Washington Redskins that, by most performance barometers, should have been a defeat.
On a drizzly 46-degree afternoon, the Packers parlayed their one gain of more than 18 yards into an early touchdown, their only worthwhile drive of the second half into a field goal and Corey Williams' strip of Santana Moss that became Charles Woodson's 57-yard touchdown return into their latest "how did they pull that off?" triumph.
"Regardless of injuries, mistakes we're making, lack of balance, we're 5-1," Brett Favre said. "But I think we need to look at the negatives more than the positives."
Dallas' drubbing by New England left the Cowboys and Packers atop the NFC. In the NFC North, the Packers enter their bye week three games up on cellar-dwelling Chicago, the two-time defending champion.
The Redskins (3-2), regarded by coach Mike McCarthy as the best team the Packers have played, practically gave the game away.
Coach Joe Gibbs' club dropped three passes on third down in first-down territory, Moss dropped a 40-yard bomb at the Green Bay 15 and Jason Campbell overthrew a wide-open Brandon Lloyd by inches on what should have been a 37-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.
"Sick," Redskins vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato said when asked to describe the mood of the team leaving Green Bay. "Defensively, we played well. We held them to 225 yards. But we left a lot of points on the field. The quarterback (Campbell) played well. We've just got to help him."
Singed for 208 yards by halftime, the Packers' defense rose up in the second half and held the Redskins to 96 yards and four first downs. The fourth-quarter pass rush, so critical in the victory two weeks ago at Minnesota, did it again.
Starting from their 29 with 4 minutes left, the Redskins had to punt after Aaron Kampman bull-rushed tackle Stephon Heyer for a third-down sack.
Per usual, the Packers couldn't grind out a first down and had to punt. To make matters worse, long snapper Rob Davis hiked it to Jon Ryan with 16 seconds left on the play clock, a gaffe for which McCarthy was quick to accept blame.
"I was in a conversation on the third-down call," he said. "That's no excuse. That's poor time management."
By this point, the Redskins' offensive line was so depleted (minus four starters) that Gibbs had no alternative but to reinsert right tackle Todd Wade, who had a groin injury.
A pressure by Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila on first down. A sack by Kampman on second down. A hurried incompletion on third down. And a fourth-down pressure by Williams, with 20 seconds left, wrapped it up.
"I'm not a GM but some teams are built to stop the run, which they do very well, and then they get after you at the end," said Washington guard Pete Kendall, a 12-year veteran. "As long as their defense keeps playing as well as they are, that's a very good football team. I don't know if that's going to be 12 wins or what but that team has a chance to win every week."
Back in August, the Packers' coaches talked about a winning formula in which Favre would limit his mistakes, the defense would hold firm and the special teams would do their fair share.
On Sunday, the Packers played without center Scott Wells (eye) and guard Junius Coston (ankle) and basically didn't even try to run. Favre underthrew open deep receivers four times, including three to Greg Jennings, and saw a 23-yard touchdown pass to James Jones wiped out by Mark Tauscher's holding penalty.
Still, they won.
"Mike is doing what he has to do to give his team a chance," said Gregg Williams, the Redskins' assistant head coach-defense and Buffalo's head coach from 2001-'03. "He did a very, very good job giving his team a chance to stay in the ball game with a depleted offensive line. I think Mike is keeping them in the ball game with his play choices and his packages.
"With as solid as they're playing on defense and keeping the score at a minimum and being extremely patient . . . when Brett is patient, and you allow him to dink and dunk, they're going to be dangerous. I wouldn't be surprised if we see each other again later this year."
Linebacker Randall Godfrey, a 12-year veteran who started for the 14-2 San Diego Chargers last year, said: "I know they'll win over 10 games. I think the defense is pretty good."
Linebacker London Fletcher, a 10-year veteran with two Super Bowl starts for St. Louis, said: "We've played a few common opponents and I've constantly seen their defense. They play hard. They've got some playmakers.
"I love the way their corners play. (Nick) Barnett is playing great for them. The whole front seven, it's hard to say where a weakness is."
On offense, the Redskins tried to run wide, had more success early than late and settled for 94 yards. Tight end Chris Cooley doesn't see much man-to-man coverage but when the Packers tried it, he burned Brady Poppinga and Atari Bigby, among others, for seven catches and 97 yards in the first half.
The Packers cooled Cooley in the second half with some bracket coverage and the momentum of their pass rush. It forced Cooley to stay in and block on occasion, making life even more problematic for the competitive, poised Campbell in just his 12th start.
"I thought their crowd noise was a big factor," said tackle Chris Samuels, an eight-year veteran. "We had difficulty hearing the signals. We really couldn't make the calls or the adjustments. At all."
The crowd of 70,761 saw McCarthy even his record at Lambeau Field to 6-6 after a 3-5 start. Missed field-goal attempts of 46 and 38 yards Mason Crosby exposed a shortcoming the Packers didn't know they had.
"The thing I'm looking for is a complete game from our football team," McCarthy said. "We just weren't very sharp. But we'll take it, that's for sure."
When the Packers last started 5-1, it was 2002 and they went on to a 12-4 record, No. 3 playoff seeding and first-round ouster by Atlanta.
"We could be very easily sitting here 6-0 and we very easily could be 3-3 or whatever," Favre said. "We've definitely put ourselves in good position. If we can improve, which I think we can and we should, we can be pretty good."