Highs and Lows of Preseason Games So Far

[SnakeLH2006]

Haven't seen a topic on this so here goes...

Highs:

1) Jordy looks awesome on KR (even though Stock said he's going with Blackmon and TW after his breakout game)
2) Our core is healthy (been holding out the old vets like Cliffy, Wood, AH for the most part)
3) Arod has been tested hardcore lately after the Niner game, so hopefully has a feel for the reg. season
4) Lumpkin looks like a find (according to some Sentinel like source: according to Bennett, Lumpkin has proven to be good in protection, too, and if the Packers feel the rookie has more upside they may be willing to take a chance on him.)...if Wynn makes this team, I'll shit (on him and make sure it's on him, he's an ignorant beyotch....does not deserve to be a Packer, maybe a Falcoln or Viking).
5) Hodge has been a newborn beast
6) Other than DD drops, the WR core looks good (Ruvell is tearing it up)

Lows:

1) O-Line looks the mess
2) Arod looks shaky at best (needs to throw the ball away instead of taking sacks....young QB jitters)
3) Rook QB's look like rookies (need a veteran QB)
4) Defensive ST looks shaky (too many big returns)
5) No rookies look like sure-fire difference makers this year for the most part (vs. previous years)

Thoughts??

[Bretsky]

My low is the OL so far

We've had plenty of time to get a formidable OL here the past few years; no more excuses and AROD needs the OL to perform.

It's time for these guys to begin to excel. With all the cap space we had I agree with Bedard that Green Bay should have paid Mike Wahle to come back in case they continue to underperform as a unit.

[SnakeLH2006]

My low is the OL so far

We've had plenty of time to get a formidable OL here the past few years; no more excuses and AROD needs the OL to perform.

It's time for these guys to begin to excel. With all the cap space we had I agree with Bedard that Green Bay should have paid Mike Wahle to come back in case they continue to underperform as a unit.

True, but that would have cost $3 million in cap space and undermined cutting him in the first place. Besides, how is our O-Line much different than last year when GB was #1 in the league in QB Sack % with Favre getting sacked 15 times in 650 plus attempts and Arod 4 times in 32 attempts. (For the mathematically challenged that's 1 in 45 dropbacks vs. 1 in 8...and this preseason doesn't lie). He needs to dump the ball off/away. Am I the only one who saw the last game and thought Arod was jittery/needed to throw the ball away? Our O-Line is slightly above average (but made to look damn decent with a veteran QB last year....not trying to harp it, but Arod needs to know when to throw it away....almost as if he doesn't want an incompletion aka D. Carr or doesn't know WTF is going on....the pressure wasn't that bad).

[Maxie the Taxi]

I like Lumpy. He's a find and a keeper. (Put him in the backfield with Grant )

I also like Flynn. He's a natural leader.

Jordy has a chance to be a difference maker as season goes on, just turn him loose like Jones last year and Jennings the year before.

I can't get too excited about the preseason games themselves. McCarthy doesn't seem to put much stock in winning them, just learning from them. So I'll wait for the regular season to start before I really get an idea of the team's progress.

In the old days the preseason wore on forever and coaches played their vets to win. Nowadays teams with good records in the preseason seem to do poorly in the regular season and vice versa.

[Maxie the Taxi]

P.S. The D-line has definitely been my biggest disappointment, especially Jolly's legal deal and Harrell's health. We went from deep to shallow in seven months.

[Bretsky]

I'm not convinced Lumpy makes the team; each year we see this great story from an underdog we really like. Then reality often bites. I remember a DL I really liked last year and he didn't make the final cut. Think he ended up with somebody else. I bet Lumpy gets cut and then we hope to sign him to the practice squad.

[mraynrand]

I think the highs as usual are getting to see guys play that will never touch the field in the reg. season. Another high is that if you just watch the starters, the Packers have been OK. Some mistakes - dropped passes, etc. - but OK starters.

The thing that always makes me upbeat about the preseason is that you know that many times the Packers will call plays on offense specifically to test a guy or guys in a particular formation. Since the coaches have to look at certain guys to make decisions on them, they don't always call plays that are best for down and distance. So drives can sputter, because you want your rookie QBs to pass more, or you want to see if a RB can catch a screen pass or a check down, for example. On defense, the Packers let Bush hang in single coverage - maybe they were trying to get as many looks as possible. But they really didn't help him - no double coverage, less safety help, and no blitz pressure on the QB. Hung out to dry - probably intentional to an extent. TESTING PLAYERS - that's what happens in preseason - and for a solid Packer team with most starting positions already locked up, that's what the coaches care most about. Still, it can be painful to watch...

[Spaulding]

Where do I start? I know it's the preseason and thus to take things with a grain of salt but I thought that led to offenses seeing vanilla defenses. If this held true (I know the 49ers play a 3-4 which is known to give us fits as well as blitzed a lot) I was hoping to see a precursor to what we could expect during the regular season - a talented offense.

Guess the game of leap frog on the line, drops by WR's and Grant holdout/hamstring issue is leading to many of the problems.

Defense is pretty much what I expected with us not not showing/tipping our schemes for the regular season much and also missing Pickett, Hawk and only playing the starters briefly.

[Fritz]

The lowlights have been both the offensive and defensive lines.

TT has drafted enough of these guys by now - come on, Colledge, WTF? And Coston - a perennial back-up? I know ffensive linemen develop more slowly, but it's time. Let's go.

The highlight of the preseason so far has been that I went on a real, actual date with a woman I kinda like.

[Pugger]

I have a sneaking suspicion that many of the starters not playing in these games because a injuries would be playing if these were regular season games. Not having all of our guys in there it is difficult to ascertain how well we'll play come Monday night against the queens. I remain hopeful we'll have a good season mainly cuz I'm an optimist. It is fun to see the back-ups play. These guys give it there all cuz they know these games are their auditions for all of the teams incase they don't make the Packers' squad.

I agree about concerns about the O line. You would hope the guys would be playing better but maybe they'll gel in the next couple of weeks. Jackson seems to still want to dance around. I wish he was more decisive - of course if there isn't a hole there isn't much he can do. Let's hope the WRs stop with all these drops. I find DD's drops very surprising. Let's hope this isn't a pattern.

You can tell Pickette isn't in there on the D line. I hope Hawk isn't seriously hurt. It didn't help with Woodson AND Harris out last weekend. With so many of the starters not in there last week who can tell how they are progressing?

For me I hope to see improvement in the play of the starters tomorrow (I won't see the game until the NFL Network replays the game later on). If we win the game, great. If not I won't lose any sleep...

[BZnDallas]

I think the highs as usual are getting to see guys play that will never touch the field in the reg. season. Another high is that if you just watch the starters, the Packers have been OK. Some mistakes - dropped passes, etc. - but OK starters.

The thing that always makes me upbeat about the preseason is that you know that many times the Packers will call plays on offense specifically to test a guy or guys in a particular formation. Since the coaches have to look at certain guys to make decisions on them, they don't always call plays that are best for down and distance. So drives can sputter, because you want your rookie QBs to pass more, or you want to see if a RB can catch a screen pass or a check down, for example. On defense, the Packers let Bush hang in single coverage - maybe they were trying to get as many looks as possible. But they really didn't help him - no double coverage, less safety help, and no blitz pressure on the QB. Hung out to dry - probably intentional to an extent. TESTING PLAYERS - that's what happens in preseason - and for a solid Packer team with most starting positions already locked up, that's what the coaches care most about. Still, it can be painful to watch...

good post!!... i agree, i was going to say something close to that but couldn't find the words... you made it sound much more elegant than i would have...

[Tony Oday]

I think the biggest low is no running plays. I would think we would want to open up the pass by running the ball.

[retailguy]

The lines - both of them.

And considering football is won in the trenches, we've got a lot of work to do...

I'm really concerned about the OL. Less concerned about the DL, but sadly, it's no longer a strength. Looks like we've got 4 really good linebackers though...

[retailguy]

I think the biggest low is no running plays. I would think we would want to open up the pass by running the ball.

It's a new strategy. We're going to open up the pass, by passing. The RB is going the way of the fullback... They're both going to block, along with the TE, to give ARod 3 seconds instead of 2 to get rid of the ball.

[Tony Oday]

I think the biggest low is no running plays. I would think we would want to open up the pass by running the ball.

It's a new strategy. We're going to open up the pass, by passing. The RB is going the way of the fullback... They're both going to block, along with the TE, to give ARod 3 seconds instead of 2 to get rid of the ball.

Oh I thought we were going to run the run n shoot this year. No TE no RB just hike and quick slant...

Seriously has anyone done the breakdown pass vs run plays? Just wondering.