2010 Opener: The Official Packers -v- Eagles Game Thread

[HarveyWallbangers]

I'm worried. I think this might end up being our toughest game, if Kevin Kolb is as good as I think he'll be.

McCoy is an all around RB. Not in Westbrook's class, but okay. Their WR corps is very good. Plus, they have a good TE in Celek. They have a veteran OL that is solid and healthy. They have Trent Cole and rookie Brandon Graham at DE. That could be quite the combination. Bunkley and Patterson at DT are solid. Bradley could be a future star at LB. They now have Ernie Sims. They have Asante Samuel at corner with a solid veteran and a rookie at one safety. Hopefully, we can exploit their corners. It will be tough. Really, outside of QB their team is every bit as good as our team, and they are playing at home. Plus, you can't count out the coaching of Andy Reid.

[RashanGary]

Stinks to be missing Neal already. Harrell will have to perform.

It's going to be a tough game though. The Vike/Saint game made me realize how hard W's are to scratch out.

A SB is a huge accomplishment. I think I'm done thinking ahead. I'm just hopeful to see a W this week.

[RashanGary]

OMG. . . I'm juiced. We have deadlines at work, so I'm really busy but I just realized it's opening day eve!!

[gbpackfan]

There is rain in the forecast for tomorrow. Opening in Philly, with rain, and a defense that couldnt stop anyone in the preseason has me very worried for tomorrow. I want the pack to win bad, but Im predicting an upset. Packers 17, Philly 31. The Packers turn the ball over 3 times. God I hope Im wrong.

Any particular reason why you think rain will be more of a problem for the Packers? Eagles throw the ball as much as the Packers do, if you're thinking the rain will hamper the passing game.

Because the Packers had a hard time holding onto the ball in during the dry preason. Add rain to the mix and I smell FUMBLES!

Dont mind me, Im just being overly concerned. I think Im gunna puke.

[HarveyWallbangers]

It's opening day. Go Pack Go!

[Tarlam!]

That interview was lengthy but a really good read. I really like M2 and that just reinforced it.

He's M3.

Mike Holmgren #1
Mike Sherman #2
Mike McCarthy #3

In whose lexicon? I can understand calling him

"Mike3"
"M squared' (MM)
"M2" (MM)
"MM"
"MJM"

I have never seen much reason to call him "M3" just because of the three "Mikes".

The posters at JSO (Before the great migration) had a thread discussing his appointment. They also debated what to nickname the guy. M3 was the consensus choice and RG gave the reasoning behind it. He's been M3 in my lexicon ever since.

[channtheman]

That interview was lengthy but a really good read. I really like M2 and that just reinforced it.

He's M3.

Mike Holmgren #1
Mike Sherman #2
Mike McCarthy #3

In whose lexicon? I can understand calling him

"Mike3"
"M squared' (MM)
"M2" (MM)
"MM"
"MJM"

I have never seen much reason to call him "M3" just because of the three "Mikes".

I think most call him MM same as how most refer to Ted Thompson as TT.

[bobblehead]

I feel like the little kid on christmas morning. I woke up early, and I can't wait til 1:15 when mom lets me open my first present....God I hope it isn't clothes.

[vince]

Gotta love Clay Matthews - and wonder about the education he got at USC...

Packers 2010: Defense promises Year 2 surprises
By JASON WILDE
jwilde@espnwisconsin.com

PHILADELPHIA – Clay Matthews’ math was a little off, but his point was clear.

“Statistically, within the first two (regular-season) games, 60 percent of plays are unscouted,” the Green Bay Packers second-year outside linebacker said. “Did you know that? One out of every three plays.”

Uh, Clay … one out of every three plays would be 33 percent. Just what math classes were you taking – or skipping – at USC?

Not that such numbers apply to the 2010 Packers defense as it prepares for Sunday’s regular-season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Chances are, what the Eagles see from defensive coordinator Dom Capers with be more like the 60 percent number Matthews threw out initially.

Afforded the luxury of keeping most of his defense under wraps in preseason because the Packers are now in Year 2 in his 3-4 scheme, Capers went ultra-vanilla during the exhibition season, using essentially the same ready list for the team’s four preseason games against Cleveland, Seattle, Indianapolis and Kansas City as he did for the annual Family Night Scrimmage the first weekend of training camp.

“We took a little different approach this year, this being the second year, than we did last year,” said Capers, whose ready lists contain all the defensive calls he feels comfortable using in a game – lists that were significantly longer during the preseason last year. “Last year, we felt we had to try to get a number of things in, take a look at them, see how they looked (in game situations). (This year), we worked basically from the same ready list throughout the preseason, and that was by design.

“We installed our whole package (in practice). Now, from week-to-week, there’s always one or two new things that maybe you put in that you haven’t worked in training camp. But we felt good about our installation, and we felt good coming out of the preseason in terms of the volume that we’d asked them to perform in the games.”

Fans who recall last year’s preseason defensive game plan probably remember the Packers’ 44-37 victory over the defending NFC-champion Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium in the third exhibition game most vividly.

That night, Capers unleashed a significant portion of his playbook on the Cardinals, with impressive results: Five Arizona turnovers (two interceptions, three fumbles), with cornerback Charles Woodson foreshadowing his NFL Defensive Player of the Year form by forcing three fumbles, two of which the Packers recovered. While the No. 1 defense allowed its only touchdown of the preseason that night, it was dominating on every other possession.

Contrast that with this year, when Capers seldom called a blitz – even his basic ones – in games. He watched as the No. 1 defense – or what amounted to the No. 1 defense, given the number of players like Matthews (hamstring) who missed time with nagging injuries – allowed seven touchdowns and a field goal while forcing only five punts and one turnover in 14 preseason possessions.


“I think it was good for us,” said Woodson, who didn’t travel to the team’s two road games while Matthews’ hamstring kept him out of all four games, right outside linebacker Brad Jones’ shoulder kept him out of the last three games and defensive end Cullen Jenkins’ calf kept him out of the final two games. “I think last year, we came out and we threw a lot at the preseason just to get guys a feel for the way Dom was going to be calling games.

“This being Year 2 in the system, we’ve (already) seen a lot of what he’s called, so you don’t necessarily have to do it in preseason. You can scale back a little bit, do some base defensive coverages and then once the season starts, really put the pedal to the metal.”

What’s even more valuable, according to Capers, his position coaches and the players, is the experience the defense gained last season, when the Packers ranked No. 2 in the NFL in total defense, including No. 1 against the run and No. 5 against the pass, while leading the league in takeaways (40).

“There’s just a better understanding that comes with it after a year,” said safeties coach Darren Perry, who started as a rookie for Capers in 1992 in Pittsburgh and was there to see the defense improve in Year 2. “That first year, you’re looking at a whole different defensive system that hasn’t been exposed to a lot of guys. So you’ve got to be careful of how much you do, because you don’t want to slow those guys down (mentally).

“In Pittsburgh, we never did as much as we’re doing now. So the learning part is a lot tougher. Then, we evolved to the whole system of zone blitzes. We’d add one every week once the season started. Here, we start out right from the get-go.”

While Capers won’t talk about just how mad-scientist he can get with different blitzes and schemes this season, he will allow that the experience of last season gives him the opportunity to use considerably more of the 150 or so defenses he has in his playbook. During last season, he unveiled “Big Okie” (a base package with linebacker Brandon Chillar playing safety) and “Psycho” (a nickel package with five linebackers and only one down lineman, Jenkins), and there figure to be even more oddities this year.

“The biggest thing is the guys have a better understanding,” Capers said. “The more you’re around it, the more you see how things fit together. They get a feel for the progression of things.

The other benefit of being in Year 2 of the scheme, according to head coach Mike McCarthy, is that it allows Capers and the defensive coaches to play to their players’ strengths more because they know the players’ better.

“You go through an offseason (and) you have an opportunity to tailor your schemes towards the players that you know you’re going to have here,” McCarthy said. “We feel we’re very familiar with our players, their skill sets. We like the packages that we’ve put together (even though we) didn’t really use any of them in training camp. We’re going to get them ready to go, and it will start in Philadelphia.”

Added Capers: “Because we’ve been through a year with guys, we’ve seen how they’ve responded in situations, we’ve seen how they respond when you give them more to work on mentally. We’re always going to do what we feel we can execute efficiently. If we’re going to make mental errors or technique errors, it’ll get cut way back what we do. I just think you have to play the percentages. You aren’t going to beat many people if you beat yourself.”

Not that there aren’t concerns on defense, beyond the limited work the starters got together in preseason. While Capers’ defenses in New Orleans, where he worked as secondary coach under coach Jim Mora, Pittsburgh (defensive coordinator) and Carolina (head coach) all improved in Year 2, his defenses in Jacksonville, Houston and Miami actually were worse in Year 2 statistically.

On teams where he was the defensive coordinator or head coach, the Steelers’ defensive ranking went from 13th in 1992 to third in 1993; the Panthers went from 23rd in 1995 to 10th in ‘96; the Jaguars went from fourth in 1999 to 12th in 2000; the Texans went from 16th in 2002 to 31st in '03); and the Dolphins went from fourth in 2006 to 23rd in '07.

The most obvious area where the Packers must improve is against elite quarterbacks, as they were carved up by Minnesota’s Brett Favre (twice), Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger and Arizona’s Kurt Warner. Not surprisingly, those games accounted for four of the Packers’ six losses on the year.

Favre completed 24 of 31 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions and no sacks in the first meeting at the Metrodome and followed it up by completing 17 of 28 for 244 yards and four touchdowns – again with no sacks or interceptions – at Lambeau Field; Roethlisberger set a Steelers record with 503 passing yards while throwing three TD passes (although the Packers did record five sacks in that game); and Warner was brilliant in the Cardinals’ 51-45 overtime NFC Wild Card victory in January, completing 29 of 33 throws for 379 yards with five TDs, one sack and no interceptions.

“When teams are looking at, ‘How do you beat the Green Bay Packers?’ – they’re going to look at those games,” Perry said. “People will look at who exploited our defense, and they’re going to look at Pittsburgh, Minnesota and Arizona, the teams that gave us problems and put up yardage against us. We have to make sure we have an answer for that. We have to have an answer.”

If they have the answers, they’ve kept it under wraps so far. And although the Eagles’ Kevin Kolb – making his first start since taking over for departed six-time Pro Bowler Donovan McNabb at quarterback – may not qualify as an elite passer yet, Sunday will be the unveiling of those potential answers.

“We’ll see some new things, some guys in some new positions, some different pressures to throw the quarterback off a little bit,” Matthews said. “There’s so many variations of the defenses that we have. We’ll have to wait to see. I couldn’t tell you how much more we’re putting in. But we’ll be ready.”

Listen to Jason Wilde every weekday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on “Green & Gold Today,” and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jasonjwilde.

[vince]

This promises to be a really fun game.

1. Will Burnett and Shields hold up against the assault that will undoubtedly be launched on them?
2. Will the Packers be able to confuse and pressure Kolb early and often to protect their young DB's.
3. Can Finley open up the offense?
4. Can the Packers run on the Eagles undersized front 7?
5. Will Rodgers have time in the pocket vs. the Philly attacking D?
6. Will Rodgers make good decisions reading the Eagles' D?
6. Will the coverage teams be able to contain Jackson?

GO PACK GO

[Patler]

That interview was lengthy but a really good read. I really like M2 and that just reinforced it.

He's M3.

Mike Holmgren #1
Mike Sherman #2
Mike McCarthy #3

In whose lexicon? I can understand calling him

"Mike3"
"M squared' (MM)
"M2" (MM)
"MM"
"MJM"

I have never seen much reason to call him "M3" just because of the three "Mikes".

I think most call him MM same as how most refer to Ted Thompson as TT.

Yup, that's what I have done, too. Never could understand "M3"

[mraynrand]

2. Will the Packers be able to confuse and pressure Kolb early and often to protect their young DB's.

Barring injuries, it seems that this will determine the ultimate fate of the Packers this year. If they are reasonably good at it, they could go all the way. If they suck at it, well, just refer back to last season.

[Scott Campbell]

I'm worried. I think this might end up being our toughest game, if Kevin Kolb is as good as I think he'll be.

McCoy is an all around RB. Not in Westbrook's class, but okay. Their WR corps is very good. Plus, they have a good TE in Celek. They have a veteran OL that is solid and healthy. They have Trent Cole and rookie Brandon Graham at DE. That could be quite the combination. Bunkley and Patterson at DT are solid. Bradley could be a future star at LB. They now have Ernie Sims. They have Asante Samuel at corner with a solid veteran and a rookie at one safety. Hopefully, we can exploit their corners. It will be tough. Really, outside of QB their team is every bit as good as our team, and they are playing at home. Plus, you can't count out the coaching of Andy Reid.

Philly is loaded on both sides of the ball. They were a playoff team last year. I'll never understand how they're a 3 point dog at home.

[The Leaper]

Philly is loaded on both sides of the ball. They were a playoff team last year. I'll never understand how they're a 3 point dog at home.

Kolb is still an unknown factor despite success in limited action...things are different when you are "the man". Our #1 priority in this game should be pressuring the kid.

This game scares me simply because of Andy Reid...the guy is a hell of a coach. He's better than McCarthy, so any advantage we have in terms of players is somewhat marginalized by the advantage Philly has with Reid.

And point spreads are all about getting the betting to be equal on both sides...and have nothing to do with the actual probability on which team has the best chance for success. The media coverage of the Packers is driving lofty expectations.

[MichiganPackerFan]

That interview was lengthy but a really good read. I really like M2 and that just reinforced it.

He's M3.

Mike Holmgren #1
Mike Sherman #2
Mike McCarthy #3

Thanks i never got the M3. However, I've seen it used and blindly accepted. This mornings f-up was a directly product of a combination of excess vodka, a little tequila, minimal sleep and getting to work early on a saturday morning.

And why the hell wasn't I invited?

Apparently, because I had a full onslaught of Self-Centered Prick Syndrome