HarveyWallbangers
11-06-2007, 11:36 PM
INSIDE FOOTBALL with Eric Baranczyk: Week 8
Young talent
I'm a believer that this is a good football team. And the key is that they're going with young talent. That's what good teams do; teams that stay at the top. They don't fool around. When guys get older and start to slip, they say goodbye. Look at Pittsburgh. They let Joey Porter go and took some grief for it. He was their sack leader, a Pro Bowl linebacker just two years ago. But he slipped a little last year and they let him go, and started playing this James Harrison. Here's a guy who came into the league as a free agent and now he's in his fourth year and he gets a chance to start, and if you saw him Monday night against Baltimore, that SOB is good.
I think that's the difference now with the Packers. Ted Thompson came in and he pretty much cleaned house and went with young talent. And that talent is showing up in every phase of the game. For example, the special teams for the Packers for the last four, five years have been pretty much non-factors, if not horrible. Now, you see those special teams getting a little better.
I'm like everyone else. I'll complain sometimes and wonder why they didn't go after this free agent or that free agent. But when you get a young guy - as opposed to a guy who has been in the league five, six years - you're not getting a guy who wants to do it his way. Instead, you get a guy that you can mold into your scheme. And I think it's showing up, especially, with the receivers in the passing game and the Packers' defensive line.
Look at what happened Sunday. Compare the Packers' defensive line in the fourth quarter with Kansas City's defensive line in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs' line is pretty young, too, and that Jared Allen is a heck of a player, but they started to fade as the game went along. The Packers have both depth and young talent - they're rotating all the time - and by the fourth quarter, they're still fresh. They're playing well and making plays when they need to make plays. If you watched the Chiefs in the fourth quarter, their first step wasn't as fast and they weren't getting home. How many snaps can that Alfonso Boone run? They got tired and the Packers didn't.
Tight end is another example where the Packers have benefited from getting the old guard out of there and moving the new guard in. Donald Lee does a nice job of running routes and getting where he needs to be, not just lumbering out there like Bubba Franks. Lee makes nice cuts and he catches the ball. Lee just brings more to the table than Bubba Franks. He not only can make a nice catch, he can run after the catch. In my mind, Franks never could run after he caught the ball. And he never had that knack for getting to the seam; that spot behind the linebackers and in front of the safeties. You have to be able to run to do that and I never thought Franks had the field speed to do it.
Jennings and Jones
I think Greg Jennings is really showing himself as a solid football player. He has a nose for the end zone. He and James Jones are both really strong. And in that offense, if you want to run slants and those little short digs, you've got to have some size and strength at wide receiver. That's another position where I think the Packers have made some good decisions. With Jennings and Jones, it's giving them more options. It opens up the playbook when a team has to sit back in Cover 2 because of your outside threats. You see that No. 89 on Jones and sometimes you think Robert Ferguson, but Jones is a different player. He catches the ball, gets open and he doesn't get hurt.
Grant
I thought Ryan Grant had another good game. You don't have to rush for 150 yards to be effective. I saw Ryan Grant make yards when the offensive line screwed up. He pushed forward and got extra yards a couple times. He lowered his shoulder again. I think he looks like a capable running back. He has a better average than Ahman Green. There's another example. Green just had too many hits on him. Grant was the Packers' third or fourth choice at running back, but that's how the league works sometimes. They acquired him late and it takes some players a little while to get in the mix of things. But now his number was called and he's handling it. Now, at least, the Packers have a guy that other teams must respect. He's not going to be the focus of their offense, but I think he's a good player and he can get better.
Favre
People talk about Favre being more disciplined this year, but I think just as big a difference is that he has better weapons. It's really important for a quarterback to have confidence that guys can make plays for you. Yeah, he's playing great, but a quarterback can't do it by himself. Remember how bad it was when there was nobody out there; when he was throwing to guys like Ferguson and Antonio Chatman, and throwing 20-some picks a year. He was always forcing the ball into tight spots because that's all there was was tight spots. He either had to take a sack, throw it out-of-bounds or force it in there. Now, they've got receivers who get a step on a guy and get open.
Hall
Korey Hall is an improvement over the William Henderson of the last few years, but for a guy who was a linebacker, I've been a little disappointed, especially Sunday. I don't think he dropped the wood. When he came up on blocks, I thought his feet stopped and he was high. He's not a Sam Gash, Mack Strong kind of guy. I thought with him being an ex-linebacker, he'd come in there and blow people up, and you're not seeing that.
O-line
I thought putting Scott Wells back in there in the second quarter was the best thing they did all day, if for no other reason than getting Tony Moll out of there. Tony Moll is a tackle, not a guard. He missed blocks. He didn't get to the second level. His feet were all over the place. I think Jason Spitz at least gives them a little bit of mentality in there. He's not playing great, either, but at least he's an a-hole. The line, again, didn't run block very well. Daryn Colledge didn't play well again. Donnie Edwards and Derrick Johnson, Kansas City's outside linebackers, are pretty good players and those guards just couldn't cut them off. The guards have to be able to get the back-side linebackers and they didn't get it done.
Chad Clifton can pass block. His upper body strength is so good, he can take someone like Jared Allen and block him. I still see that lack of flexibility or agility run blocking. He doesn't play with a low pad level. But with pass blocking, you don't need to be as low. You can afford to be up like a tripod a little bit. Left tackles who can pass block can play forever and never have to run block in their life.
Pickett
Ryan Pickett should be a household name. The guy is just solid. You watch Sunday and that whole Packers' defensive line played with low pad level. They played with tenacity. Pickett is a two-gapper. Teams have to double-team him. They can't afford to single block him or he will get off and make the play. He has a great first step laterally. Once he gets moving laterally, he gets it done. Those first few feet, I think he could run with anybody. That Chiefs' offensive line is bad, but the Packers didn't play down to the competition and that was the difference Sunday.
Scheme vs. tight ends
With Tony Gonzales, he isn't just a tight end. He doesn't just line up at the end of the line. They line him up in a wing position, split like a wide receiver. They moved him around. But one of the things you saw late in the game was that Aaron Kampman lined head-up on him and jammed him at the line of scrimmage. That takes away from Kampman's pass rush, but the Packers needed to get off the field and Gonzales was the only guy catching balls. I think that's something the Packers might need to do more of with tight ends: Jam them at the line of scrimmage. Put a linebacker in their face. Fritz Shurmur used to do that a lot. The Packers don't run that over-front now, but they might have to think about it. Gonzales is special, but everybody's tight end is catching balls against them. I'll tell you right now, if they don't do something, when they play Dallas, if Jason Witten is on your fantasy team, start him.
Bigby
Atari Bigby has been another good addition. Some teams might have stuck with a guy (Marquand Manuel) they paid a lot of money for and who had more experience. Yes, I know, Bigby has some maturing to do and I know he really struggled to cover Tony Gonzales Sunday. But the Packers took a chance there and, for the most part, it's paying off. They've got a guy who is a good tackler. They have a guy who is aggressive. They've got a guy who is around the football. Again, he has to mature. He's so aggressive and his first step is always forward, and that's usually all it takes to allow a guy to get behind you. But I really like how physical he is. I like safeties who bring a hammer. I think it really helps the run defense.
Young talent
I'm a believer that this is a good football team. And the key is that they're going with young talent. That's what good teams do; teams that stay at the top. They don't fool around. When guys get older and start to slip, they say goodbye. Look at Pittsburgh. They let Joey Porter go and took some grief for it. He was their sack leader, a Pro Bowl linebacker just two years ago. But he slipped a little last year and they let him go, and started playing this James Harrison. Here's a guy who came into the league as a free agent and now he's in his fourth year and he gets a chance to start, and if you saw him Monday night against Baltimore, that SOB is good.
I think that's the difference now with the Packers. Ted Thompson came in and he pretty much cleaned house and went with young talent. And that talent is showing up in every phase of the game. For example, the special teams for the Packers for the last four, five years have been pretty much non-factors, if not horrible. Now, you see those special teams getting a little better.
I'm like everyone else. I'll complain sometimes and wonder why they didn't go after this free agent or that free agent. But when you get a young guy - as opposed to a guy who has been in the league five, six years - you're not getting a guy who wants to do it his way. Instead, you get a guy that you can mold into your scheme. And I think it's showing up, especially, with the receivers in the passing game and the Packers' defensive line.
Look at what happened Sunday. Compare the Packers' defensive line in the fourth quarter with Kansas City's defensive line in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs' line is pretty young, too, and that Jared Allen is a heck of a player, but they started to fade as the game went along. The Packers have both depth and young talent - they're rotating all the time - and by the fourth quarter, they're still fresh. They're playing well and making plays when they need to make plays. If you watched the Chiefs in the fourth quarter, their first step wasn't as fast and they weren't getting home. How many snaps can that Alfonso Boone run? They got tired and the Packers didn't.
Tight end is another example where the Packers have benefited from getting the old guard out of there and moving the new guard in. Donald Lee does a nice job of running routes and getting where he needs to be, not just lumbering out there like Bubba Franks. Lee makes nice cuts and he catches the ball. Lee just brings more to the table than Bubba Franks. He not only can make a nice catch, he can run after the catch. In my mind, Franks never could run after he caught the ball. And he never had that knack for getting to the seam; that spot behind the linebackers and in front of the safeties. You have to be able to run to do that and I never thought Franks had the field speed to do it.
Jennings and Jones
I think Greg Jennings is really showing himself as a solid football player. He has a nose for the end zone. He and James Jones are both really strong. And in that offense, if you want to run slants and those little short digs, you've got to have some size and strength at wide receiver. That's another position where I think the Packers have made some good decisions. With Jennings and Jones, it's giving them more options. It opens up the playbook when a team has to sit back in Cover 2 because of your outside threats. You see that No. 89 on Jones and sometimes you think Robert Ferguson, but Jones is a different player. He catches the ball, gets open and he doesn't get hurt.
Grant
I thought Ryan Grant had another good game. You don't have to rush for 150 yards to be effective. I saw Ryan Grant make yards when the offensive line screwed up. He pushed forward and got extra yards a couple times. He lowered his shoulder again. I think he looks like a capable running back. He has a better average than Ahman Green. There's another example. Green just had too many hits on him. Grant was the Packers' third or fourth choice at running back, but that's how the league works sometimes. They acquired him late and it takes some players a little while to get in the mix of things. But now his number was called and he's handling it. Now, at least, the Packers have a guy that other teams must respect. He's not going to be the focus of their offense, but I think he's a good player and he can get better.
Favre
People talk about Favre being more disciplined this year, but I think just as big a difference is that he has better weapons. It's really important for a quarterback to have confidence that guys can make plays for you. Yeah, he's playing great, but a quarterback can't do it by himself. Remember how bad it was when there was nobody out there; when he was throwing to guys like Ferguson and Antonio Chatman, and throwing 20-some picks a year. He was always forcing the ball into tight spots because that's all there was was tight spots. He either had to take a sack, throw it out-of-bounds or force it in there. Now, they've got receivers who get a step on a guy and get open.
Hall
Korey Hall is an improvement over the William Henderson of the last few years, but for a guy who was a linebacker, I've been a little disappointed, especially Sunday. I don't think he dropped the wood. When he came up on blocks, I thought his feet stopped and he was high. He's not a Sam Gash, Mack Strong kind of guy. I thought with him being an ex-linebacker, he'd come in there and blow people up, and you're not seeing that.
O-line
I thought putting Scott Wells back in there in the second quarter was the best thing they did all day, if for no other reason than getting Tony Moll out of there. Tony Moll is a tackle, not a guard. He missed blocks. He didn't get to the second level. His feet were all over the place. I think Jason Spitz at least gives them a little bit of mentality in there. He's not playing great, either, but at least he's an a-hole. The line, again, didn't run block very well. Daryn Colledge didn't play well again. Donnie Edwards and Derrick Johnson, Kansas City's outside linebackers, are pretty good players and those guards just couldn't cut them off. The guards have to be able to get the back-side linebackers and they didn't get it done.
Chad Clifton can pass block. His upper body strength is so good, he can take someone like Jared Allen and block him. I still see that lack of flexibility or agility run blocking. He doesn't play with a low pad level. But with pass blocking, you don't need to be as low. You can afford to be up like a tripod a little bit. Left tackles who can pass block can play forever and never have to run block in their life.
Pickett
Ryan Pickett should be a household name. The guy is just solid. You watch Sunday and that whole Packers' defensive line played with low pad level. They played with tenacity. Pickett is a two-gapper. Teams have to double-team him. They can't afford to single block him or he will get off and make the play. He has a great first step laterally. Once he gets moving laterally, he gets it done. Those first few feet, I think he could run with anybody. That Chiefs' offensive line is bad, but the Packers didn't play down to the competition and that was the difference Sunday.
Scheme vs. tight ends
With Tony Gonzales, he isn't just a tight end. He doesn't just line up at the end of the line. They line him up in a wing position, split like a wide receiver. They moved him around. But one of the things you saw late in the game was that Aaron Kampman lined head-up on him and jammed him at the line of scrimmage. That takes away from Kampman's pass rush, but the Packers needed to get off the field and Gonzales was the only guy catching balls. I think that's something the Packers might need to do more of with tight ends: Jam them at the line of scrimmage. Put a linebacker in their face. Fritz Shurmur used to do that a lot. The Packers don't run that over-front now, but they might have to think about it. Gonzales is special, but everybody's tight end is catching balls against them. I'll tell you right now, if they don't do something, when they play Dallas, if Jason Witten is on your fantasy team, start him.
Bigby
Atari Bigby has been another good addition. Some teams might have stuck with a guy (Marquand Manuel) they paid a lot of money for and who had more experience. Yes, I know, Bigby has some maturing to do and I know he really struggled to cover Tony Gonzales Sunday. But the Packers took a chance there and, for the most part, it's paying off. They've got a guy who is a good tackler. They have a guy who is aggressive. They've got a guy who is around the football. Again, he has to mature. He's so aggressive and his first step is always forward, and that's usually all it takes to allow a guy to get behind you. But I really like how physical he is. I like safeties who bring a hammer. I think it really helps the run defense.