motife
10-30-2007, 05:49 PM
INSIDE FOOTBALL with Eric Baranczyk: Week 7
Posted: Oct. 30, 2007
As told to former Packer Insider columnist Cliff Christl, Eric Baranczyk, an assistant high school football coach and a former player and coach at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, offers a weekly analysis of the Green Bay Packers with a Inside Football slant.
Grant
I liked what I saw of Ryan Grant. He ran behind his pads a little bit. He had a low center of gravity. Instead of fiddly-footing around and trying to pick holes, he put his foot in the ground and hit it up in there. It showed in his numbers: 104 yards, 22 carries. You can see why the Packers saw something in him and traded for him. I think he looks head and shoulders above DeShawn Wynn when it comes to decisiveness.
You know who Grant kind of reminded me of as I watched him was Dorsey Levens. Grant is bigger than he looks: 6-1, 225. That's a pretty good-sized back. And he was able to lower his shoulder when he needed to and he showed a little bit of pop. Twenty-four yards was his biggest run, but a lot of those seven-, eight-yarders looked awful nice. With Dorsey Levens, he was a guy who could make you pay because he had a little bit of speed, but also could lower his shoulders and get through the hole. I'm not saying at this point that Grant is another Levens, but he showed me a little bit of that. He got his chance and was able to hold onto the ball and make some yards. And any time, you're hitting it up in there and coming out the other end, you're seeing something in there. Obviously, he was seeing a hole or where guys were moving, whereas DeShawn Wynn always seemed tentative to me.
I think Wynn is done. Tell me this: Don't you think when Mr. Grant rolled out of bed Tuesday morning he wasn't feeling a little bit of pain? We all know he'll be sitting in the cold tub over there at 1265 Lombardi. You have to be able to take a few lumps and if you can't do that, you can't play running back. You get thumped every play. If I was a player on that team, I'd just be shaking my head at that guy (Wynn): "Come on, you can't play more than a couple plays without getting a boo-boo."
The O-line
The offensive line pass blocked pretty darn good again. And they got what? One hundred and five yards rushing or whatever. That was a good sign for them. But at the end when they needed to get three, four yards at a crack and run the clock out, they really struggled. On that final possession of regulation when they could have maybe put the game away, Grant carried five times for eight yards. They couldn't get off the ball, move the pile and take it to them at the point of attack. They do a nice job of pass blocking, but they don't run block to save their butt. They got 100 yards rushing, so you can't say they were all bad in this game. But when everybody in the whole stadium knows it's going to be a run, your offensive line has to be able to take over and get you two or three or four yards or whatever you need. And in those situations, it didn't happen.
Jennings and Jones
We've talked all year about how the Packers don't have anybody to stretch the field. Well, maybe they do now. It's hard to argue with 79- and 82-yard touchdown passes against pretty darn good corners. Last year, everybody said Greg Jennings didn't have that breakaway speed to stretch the field. Well, he has done it twice now this year. And James Jones beat Champ Bailey, the best cornerback in football. That means teams are going to have to honor those guys. The Broncos didn't have a safety over the top on either play and they paid for it.
Jones and Jennings didn't get fast overnight, but what I don't think some people understand is how important strength is. You can be the fastest guy in the world and not be able to get downfield. You have to have strength to get off the line of scrimmage, especially against press coverage, and then you have to stay in the field. When you're running 9s, or what some people call flys, those corners are constantly on you trying to force you out of bounds. So the receivers have to have strength to make that play. I think with Jennings and Jones, it's a combination of two things: Experience and strength. What they've learned is how to run routes. They're not Randy Moss. But there is football speed and pure speed. Obviously, those two guys have the football speed to beat two pretty good corners. It's not just being the fastest guy on the field. He doesn't always win. It's just as much about knowing what you're doing and using your skills against the other guy. And Jones and Jennings are strong guys, and are able to maintain their space out on the field.
Favre
Favre was light outs, huh? He sure likes those prime-time games. On those deep balls this week, he was stepping into it, following through. He wasn't just throwing off his back foot, leaning back. That was the difference between those two deep balls and the deep balls against Washington. And, of course, there was no Sean Taylor back there. Plus, again, Favre was great on play-action. On that last one to Jennings that was a play-action pass where Favre froze everybody. You watch Favre on play-action and you see the other team's linebackers just freeze.
Defense and disciplined football
That defense played well again at the line of scrimmage. Aaron Kampman had another big game. Johnny Jolly is running down screen passes. But, again, the one thing where that defense fell down a little was when it needed to make the stop, it didn't get off the field. A lot of it was just stupid stuff. They're just not disciplined at times. As good as Nick Barnett has been this year, he still has games where he's too undisciplined. On that run by Selvin Young at the end of the game, Barnett should have dropped the guy, but he missed and Young gets to the 4-yard line. Instead of coming to balance, Barnett flew in there uncontrolled and fell off the guy.
Kampman is so sound. One of the things I like best about him is something you don't hear much about: The plays away from him. He doesn't just get on his horse and ride. He understands there are cutback lanes and he always just comes down the line of scrimmage with his shoulders square. Then, at the last second, he'll jump in and get in on the play. That's a smart player. Stupid, undisciplined players will just take off running and that's when runners cut back on you for big gains. Out of that whole defense, I'd say Kampman is the only one who plays disciplined football all the time. The other guys do it, but not consistently.
The Packers talk about wanting to be a top five defense. And that's the difference. The top five defenses play disciplined football. They don't overrun plays. They don't just run around looking for the big hit. I know that's the hard part. You don't want them to lose their aggressiveness, but they still have to read their keys. That goes for guys like Brady Poppinga, Barnett. When you're aggressive and you start thinking you're the greatest player in the world, you try to cover three, four gaps and that's what happens: You overrun plays. That's what happened early in the fourth quarter on that sweep off the top by Selvin Young, everybody overran it.
I'm not saying they're a bad defense. I'm just saying if they want to get to the next level, they have to be more disciplined and play better as a unit. If they could just rope it down a little bit, they maybe could be world-beaters. And, then, maybe they'd get off the field on that last drive. If you don't get off the field when you need to get off the field, it's going to come back and hurt you at some point.
Bigby
Atari Bigby needs to get his head out of his butt. You like his aggressiveness, but you can't be stupid. He didn't need to interfere on that one play - he was right there. On the hit out of bounds, there was no reason for that. When he started to attack, the guy was already out of bounds. He didn't have to blast him. And tell me why he needed to kick the football? If you're down 52-7 and they're still throwing downfield against you, maybe kicking the football isn't such a bad idea. But for gosh sakes, you're winning a close game in the fourth quarter and you kick a football!
On the other hand, I don't know if Bigby is starting to get exploited in coverage a little bit or if it's just a play-action thing against their defense. If you watch the Packers' defense closely, those safeties and linebackers are coming downhill like right now. So those low-hole plays open up a little bit. The safeties and all the linebackers are so aggressive against the run, they're playing catch-up sometimes on the pass.
Harris and Woodson
I want to say this delicately because Al Harris and Charles Woodson are good players. But when guys start playing super physical, it's usually because of some limitation and it's usually speed. How many illegal contacts do Harris and Woodson get a game? I understand it's part of their game: "You're not going to run by me. I'm going to light you up." But it's also them covering up deficiencies in their game. Like Michael Jordan, he went from a slam-dunker to a shooter. Woodson and Harris have changed their game. That's what makes a savvy, smart player. But I think they need to understand they have five yards to do that. Maybe not everybody would agree with me. But you nail them within five yards and then that's it. You can't continually have all these penalties. If you have one every other game or so, okay. But these guys are each getting one or two a game it seems.
Posted: Oct. 30, 2007
As told to former Packer Insider columnist Cliff Christl, Eric Baranczyk, an assistant high school football coach and a former player and coach at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, offers a weekly analysis of the Green Bay Packers with a Inside Football slant.
Grant
I liked what I saw of Ryan Grant. He ran behind his pads a little bit. He had a low center of gravity. Instead of fiddly-footing around and trying to pick holes, he put his foot in the ground and hit it up in there. It showed in his numbers: 104 yards, 22 carries. You can see why the Packers saw something in him and traded for him. I think he looks head and shoulders above DeShawn Wynn when it comes to decisiveness.
You know who Grant kind of reminded me of as I watched him was Dorsey Levens. Grant is bigger than he looks: 6-1, 225. That's a pretty good-sized back. And he was able to lower his shoulder when he needed to and he showed a little bit of pop. Twenty-four yards was his biggest run, but a lot of those seven-, eight-yarders looked awful nice. With Dorsey Levens, he was a guy who could make you pay because he had a little bit of speed, but also could lower his shoulders and get through the hole. I'm not saying at this point that Grant is another Levens, but he showed me a little bit of that. He got his chance and was able to hold onto the ball and make some yards. And any time, you're hitting it up in there and coming out the other end, you're seeing something in there. Obviously, he was seeing a hole or where guys were moving, whereas DeShawn Wynn always seemed tentative to me.
I think Wynn is done. Tell me this: Don't you think when Mr. Grant rolled out of bed Tuesday morning he wasn't feeling a little bit of pain? We all know he'll be sitting in the cold tub over there at 1265 Lombardi. You have to be able to take a few lumps and if you can't do that, you can't play running back. You get thumped every play. If I was a player on that team, I'd just be shaking my head at that guy (Wynn): "Come on, you can't play more than a couple plays without getting a boo-boo."
The O-line
The offensive line pass blocked pretty darn good again. And they got what? One hundred and five yards rushing or whatever. That was a good sign for them. But at the end when they needed to get three, four yards at a crack and run the clock out, they really struggled. On that final possession of regulation when they could have maybe put the game away, Grant carried five times for eight yards. They couldn't get off the ball, move the pile and take it to them at the point of attack. They do a nice job of pass blocking, but they don't run block to save their butt. They got 100 yards rushing, so you can't say they were all bad in this game. But when everybody in the whole stadium knows it's going to be a run, your offensive line has to be able to take over and get you two or three or four yards or whatever you need. And in those situations, it didn't happen.
Jennings and Jones
We've talked all year about how the Packers don't have anybody to stretch the field. Well, maybe they do now. It's hard to argue with 79- and 82-yard touchdown passes against pretty darn good corners. Last year, everybody said Greg Jennings didn't have that breakaway speed to stretch the field. Well, he has done it twice now this year. And James Jones beat Champ Bailey, the best cornerback in football. That means teams are going to have to honor those guys. The Broncos didn't have a safety over the top on either play and they paid for it.
Jones and Jennings didn't get fast overnight, but what I don't think some people understand is how important strength is. You can be the fastest guy in the world and not be able to get downfield. You have to have strength to get off the line of scrimmage, especially against press coverage, and then you have to stay in the field. When you're running 9s, or what some people call flys, those corners are constantly on you trying to force you out of bounds. So the receivers have to have strength to make that play. I think with Jennings and Jones, it's a combination of two things: Experience and strength. What they've learned is how to run routes. They're not Randy Moss. But there is football speed and pure speed. Obviously, those two guys have the football speed to beat two pretty good corners. It's not just being the fastest guy on the field. He doesn't always win. It's just as much about knowing what you're doing and using your skills against the other guy. And Jones and Jennings are strong guys, and are able to maintain their space out on the field.
Favre
Favre was light outs, huh? He sure likes those prime-time games. On those deep balls this week, he was stepping into it, following through. He wasn't just throwing off his back foot, leaning back. That was the difference between those two deep balls and the deep balls against Washington. And, of course, there was no Sean Taylor back there. Plus, again, Favre was great on play-action. On that last one to Jennings that was a play-action pass where Favre froze everybody. You watch Favre on play-action and you see the other team's linebackers just freeze.
Defense and disciplined football
That defense played well again at the line of scrimmage. Aaron Kampman had another big game. Johnny Jolly is running down screen passes. But, again, the one thing where that defense fell down a little was when it needed to make the stop, it didn't get off the field. A lot of it was just stupid stuff. They're just not disciplined at times. As good as Nick Barnett has been this year, he still has games where he's too undisciplined. On that run by Selvin Young at the end of the game, Barnett should have dropped the guy, but he missed and Young gets to the 4-yard line. Instead of coming to balance, Barnett flew in there uncontrolled and fell off the guy.
Kampman is so sound. One of the things I like best about him is something you don't hear much about: The plays away from him. He doesn't just get on his horse and ride. He understands there are cutback lanes and he always just comes down the line of scrimmage with his shoulders square. Then, at the last second, he'll jump in and get in on the play. That's a smart player. Stupid, undisciplined players will just take off running and that's when runners cut back on you for big gains. Out of that whole defense, I'd say Kampman is the only one who plays disciplined football all the time. The other guys do it, but not consistently.
The Packers talk about wanting to be a top five defense. And that's the difference. The top five defenses play disciplined football. They don't overrun plays. They don't just run around looking for the big hit. I know that's the hard part. You don't want them to lose their aggressiveness, but they still have to read their keys. That goes for guys like Brady Poppinga, Barnett. When you're aggressive and you start thinking you're the greatest player in the world, you try to cover three, four gaps and that's what happens: You overrun plays. That's what happened early in the fourth quarter on that sweep off the top by Selvin Young, everybody overran it.
I'm not saying they're a bad defense. I'm just saying if they want to get to the next level, they have to be more disciplined and play better as a unit. If they could just rope it down a little bit, they maybe could be world-beaters. And, then, maybe they'd get off the field on that last drive. If you don't get off the field when you need to get off the field, it's going to come back and hurt you at some point.
Bigby
Atari Bigby needs to get his head out of his butt. You like his aggressiveness, but you can't be stupid. He didn't need to interfere on that one play - he was right there. On the hit out of bounds, there was no reason for that. When he started to attack, the guy was already out of bounds. He didn't have to blast him. And tell me why he needed to kick the football? If you're down 52-7 and they're still throwing downfield against you, maybe kicking the football isn't such a bad idea. But for gosh sakes, you're winning a close game in the fourth quarter and you kick a football!
On the other hand, I don't know if Bigby is starting to get exploited in coverage a little bit or if it's just a play-action thing against their defense. If you watch the Packers' defense closely, those safeties and linebackers are coming downhill like right now. So those low-hole plays open up a little bit. The safeties and all the linebackers are so aggressive against the run, they're playing catch-up sometimes on the pass.
Harris and Woodson
I want to say this delicately because Al Harris and Charles Woodson are good players. But when guys start playing super physical, it's usually because of some limitation and it's usually speed. How many illegal contacts do Harris and Woodson get a game? I understand it's part of their game: "You're not going to run by me. I'm going to light you up." But it's also them covering up deficiencies in their game. Like Michael Jordan, he went from a slam-dunker to a shooter. Woodson and Harris have changed their game. That's what makes a savvy, smart player. But I think they need to understand they have five yards to do that. Maybe not everybody would agree with me. But you nail them within five yards and then that's it. You can't continually have all these penalties. If you have one every other game or so, okay. But these guys are each getting one or two a game it seems.