Nick Collins

[packers04]

Ive been thinking about making a post about this same topic but looks like you beat me to the punch. Nick Collins has looked like a stud these past two weeks. and that INT for 6 was just extra cheese on the pizza so to speak. hope he keeps it up. like you guys said, if all these guys keep playing well, we better have the money for all these great players. Fucking Free agency... boo.... heheh i wish we just owned all the players we get for ever. lol.

[Zool]

The three pronged attack of T.O. Whitten, and Barbre are going to test our safeties pretty heavily.

They'll need to give Al some help over the top against Owens, blanket Whitten over the middle, and give run support against Barbre.

We traded them a guard to play RB?

Seriously though, if Caleco Bigby ends up not playing, that is not a good thing. Rouse appears to have the sophomore blues.

Barber/Barbre stop nitpicking.

I agree we'd be better with Bigby at full strength, but I think we might have judged Rouse too harshly for his play on Sunday. Sure he screwed up on the two TD's by Johnson, but the guy had just sprained his ankle four days before the game. He also made one good play during that 20 yard throw to Roy Williams when Harris was off the field and Tramon forgot his assignment. Rouse was the last line of defense on that play and did his job. So it wasn't a complete bust of a game, and when healthy Rouse should be able to perform.

1 good play for every 2-3 bad plays with a good amount of INT's mixed in. That sounds way to familiar to me from the safety spot.

[Zool]

The three pronged attack of T.O. Whitten, and Barbre are going to test our safeties pretty heavily.

They'll need to give Al some help over the top against Owens, blanket Whitten over the middle, and give run support against Barbre.

We traded them a guard to play RB?

Seriously though, if Caleco Bigby ends up not playing, that is not a good thing. Rouse appears to have the sophomore blues.

In the spirit of your post....that would be Coleco!

Shit. Its way less effective if you misspell in your post about someones misspelling. Stupid spellchecker.

[Joemailman]

Collins dad was sick last year and he missed much of the off-season program. Maybe it's a combo of his personal life being in better order and him being prodded by the threat of Rouse taking his job. He said this was the first offseason he was in the off-season program and he feels like it's paying off.

When Rouse came in it was the same thing I remember last year. He takes really bad angles. Guys run right around him and by him. Collins usually just mows them down.

The knock on Rouse coming out of college was that he was stiff. Couldn't change direction well. That's why he was available in the 4th round despite his combination of size and speed. The lack of flexibility was obvious on at least one of CJ's TD's. He's probably better suited for free safety than strong safety.

[boiga]

The knock on Rouse coming out of college was that he was stiff. Couldn't change direction well. That's why he was available in the 4th round despite his combination of size and speed. The lack of flexibility was obvious on at least one of CJ's TD's. He's probably better suited for free safety than strong safety.

Like I said earlier, the guy sprained his ankle on Thursday. Why are you blaming him for not being able to change directions on a bum ankle? The only reason he was in the game at all is because Peprah was injured as well, and even injured Rouse is better than Bush.

Despite Zool's reference, I'm not going to relegate Rouse to minisharper status until we see his performance through a couple of games at full health.

[3irty1]

Make that three solid games in a row. He might have already doubled his career interceptions this year.

[BobDobbs]

He has definitely been making his presence felt this year. He's been dropping some punishing hits. On Austin's first long pass it looked like everyone slid over toward TO and that's what allowed Austin to get so wide open. I don't know if that was his man, but watching the replay I was thinking if the other two guys ( I think it was Woodson and Williams) are moving with TO and you're the safety maybe you should start closing on Austin before he comes open and Romo throws it to him.

He did run down a very speedy receiver at the four or so and that shows his speed. I've seen him catch some fast guys from behind including AP.

One thing I was wondering about was his interception and return. It was a big time play, but a risky choice to return it out of the endzone. It wasn't like he had an open lane, he almost got tackled at the one. I was thinking if that was Darren Sharper doing that would people be jumping all over him like they were after the Buffalo game some years back?

At what point do we want a guy to try and make plays and at what point do you want him to just play "Smart"?

[3irty1]

He has definitely been making his presence felt this year. He's been dropping some punishing hits. On Austin's first long pass it looked like everyone slid over toward TO and that's what allowed Austin to get so wide open. I don't know if that was his man, but watching the replay I was thinking if the other two guys ( I think it was Woodson and Williams) are moving with TO and you're the safety maybe you should start closing on Austin before he comes open and Romo throws it to him.

He did run down a very speedy receiver at the four or so and that shows his speed. I've seen him catch some fast guys from behind including AP.

One thing I was wondering about was his interception and return. It was a big time play, but a risky choice to return it out of the endzone. It wasn't like he had an open lane, he almost got tackled at the one. I was thinking if that was Darren Sharper doing that would people be jumping all over him like they were after the Buffalo game some years back?

At what point do we want a guy to try and make plays and at what point do you want him to just play "Smart"?

I think that Austin catch was on Collins. It seemed to be some type of zone we were in and the coverage was his assignment.

I think you've got to judge the choice to return the int by results in which case let him run. Wouldn't be surprised if McCarthy said something to him though.

[HarveyWallbangers]

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080922/PKR01/80922205/1058/PKR01

Collins wasn’t at fault on WR Miles Austin’s 63-yard reception in the third quarter. Austin, in motion from the outside of a twins-right formation, ran a deep diagonal from behind WR Terrell Owens. It appeared CB Charles Woodson should have picked up Austin in the match coverage; instead, Woodson trailed underneath Owens, who was well-covered on a corner by CB Tramon Williams, and Austin was wide open. Only Collins’ hustle prevented a touchdown.

It was the second straight game Rouse played well overall in place of Atari Bigby but made multiple errors on big plays. Rouse also missed a tackle on RB Marion Barber’s long run of 25 yards when he collided with MLB Nick Barnett — a play that left Barnett with a strained elbow.

[Guiness]

One thing I was wondering about was his interception and return. It was a big time play, but a risky choice to return it out of the endzone. It wasn't like he had an open lane, he almost got tackled at the one. I was thinking if that was Darren Sharper doing that would people be jumping all over him like they were after the Buffalo game some years back?

IMO a defensive player should always try to run an INT out of the endzone, shouldn't they? The alternative is to give up the safety and possession. I guess it depends on whether you trust you O to move the ball from your 1, or prefer to try and let the D get a stop.

The downside is if he fumbles it, and it is recovered by the opposing team who then converts, but I think I'm willing to take that chance.

[HarveyWallbangers]

IMO a defensive player should always try to run an INT out of the endzone, shouldn't they? The alternative is to give up the safety and possession. I guess it depends on whether you trust you O to move the ball from your 1, or prefer to try and let the D get a stop.

The downside is if he fumbles it, and it is recovered by the opposing team who then converts, but I think I'm willing to take that chance.

I'm confused. If he kneels down, then it's a touchback. I tend to agree though. Unless there is a couple of guys right there at the 5 yard line, run it out. You can get big returns on those. Offensive guys don't tackle very well. I think most kickoffs should be returned also though--unless they are like 7-8 yards deep. The 20 yard line isn't great field position anyways. If you kneel on it, you give yourself one less chance of a big play. Usually, the worst case scenario is that you lose 5 yards of field position.