Where the blame really lies

[vince]

http://packersnews.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20101213/PKR07/101213147/Baranczyk-Christl-column-Hard-to-win-without-stars

The run blocking

The pad level the Packers’ line plays with isn’t conducive to running the ball. When you play against guys who are bigger and stronger like the Packers did Sunday, you’ve got to play with better leverage. Granted, the guards and center had their hands full. Ndamukong Suh is everything he was cracked up to be. Corey Williams has been resurrected now that he’s back in a 4-3 scheme and playing next to Suh. Suh might be playing as well as any defensive player in the league right now.

Scott Wells, Josh Sitton and Bryan Bulaga usually play with decent pad level. But even Sitton struggled in this game. First-and-5, 14:01 to go in the third quarter, Suh crossed Sitton’s face so fast that Sitton didn’t have a chance, and it was a loss of 2. The same with Wells. That’s his game: To out-technique people. But Suh and Williams were too good for him to handle.

Chad Clifton never gets pad level and Daryn Colledge isn’t much better. When Colledge got hurt, the Packers put in Jason Spitz and he got tossed around like a rag doll. Then T.J. Lang, a bigger guy, came in and he didn’t give them a boost, either.

The pocket also was getting collapsed in the middle of the line. Even without Kyle Vanden Bosch, the Lions have a good front four. And adding Suh covers up for a lot of weaknesses in that back seven.

For example, with their zone scheme, the Packers are combo blocking at the point of attack almost every play. But if the blockers can’t release because of the penetration of the other team’s tackles, they’re not going to be able to pick off linebackers, who make the plays. With the pressure they got from their front four, the Lions didn’t have to blitz and expose their weaknesses at corner.

The offensive tackles

It appears that Clifton might be running out of gas and Bulaga might have hit the proverbial rookie wall. Both look as if they’re wearing down.

Bulaga isn’t the same player he was earlier in the year. It looks as though he’s losing weight. He’s not shocking people anymore with his initial punch in pass pro. Part of it against the Lions was that they line their defensive ends up so wide. But both those tackles were on skates the entire game.

Clifton is getting beat to the edge. That’s a bad sign for a tackle. That’s a speed and quickness issue. His drop-step doesn’t seem to be as quick as it was at mid-season.

[vince]

http://packersnews.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20101213/PKR01/101213195/Notebook-Each-offensive-lineman-had-losing-performance-coach-says

James Campen didn’t mince words when it came to assessing the play of his offensive linemen in the Packers’ 7-3 loss at Detroit on Sunday.

“Every one of the guys had a losing performance,” Campen, the Packers’ offensive line coach, said on Monday after grading the film.

The poor play up front was the overriding factor in the upset loss at Ford Field. Other than two explosive gains on quarterback scrambles, one of which got starter Aaron Rodgers concussed and knocked out of the game, the Packers had no running room. Running backs Brandon Jackson (seven carries), James Starks (six) and Dimitri Nance (two) combined for 31 rushing yards largely through no fault of their own.

The Lions, who rarely blitzed, recorded eight quarterback hits and four sacks.

Campen chalked it up to things like footwork, hand placement and pad level, the latter of which was both a problem in the running game and on some of the bull rushes that created pressures and sacks.

“It really stings you more when you’re not fundamentally sound, and you allow that to happen because your own individual technique is not where it should be. To get physically beat in some of those instances is embarrassing.”

Safe to say, it wasn’t a pleasant Monday film review in the offensive line meeting room.

“These guys will respond, and they will come back to work, and they will remember this,” Campen said. “This cannot happen. To have all of us getting beat, players at times are going to have a tough day, but then you rely on the next guy to pick you up. That’s being a teammate and working together. But too many times it was all of them.”

The Packers lost starting left guard Daryn Colledge on the second play of the game. He sustained a left knee injury while trying to tackle Detroit’s Brandon McDonald, who recovered a fumble by Packers tight end Andrew Quarless. Jason Spitz finished the first half in Colledge’s place but then was benched in favor of T.J. Lang, who in the words of offensive coordinator Joe Philbin did “OK, I guess” and was “average.”

The surprising part about it was the Lions didn’t do anything fancy. In many cases, they rushed only four. But their front seven dominated in the running game.

“When you have five negative (yardage) runs, four sacks, two penalties, you’re going backwards,” Philbin said. “It’s hard enough to get a first down. It’s tough to stick with the run game when you have five negative runs in the ball game.”

[Joemailman]

http://packersnews.greenbaypressgaze...nce-coach-says

Campen chalked it up to things like footwork, hand placement and pad level, the latter of which was both a problem in the running game and on some of the bull rushes that created pressures and sacks.

“It really stings you more when you’re not fundamentally sound, and you allow that to happen because your own individual technique is not where it should be. To get physically beat in some of those instances is embarrassing.”

Many coaches will say you play the way you practice. The above quote might make some wonder what the coaches have been focused on in practice.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Campen chalked it up to things like footwork, hand placement and pad level, the latter of which was both a problem in the running game and on some of the bull rushes that created pressures and sacks.

“It really stings you more when you’re not fundamentally sound, and you allow that to happen because your own individual technique is not where it should be. To get physically beat in some of those instances is embarrassing.”

Many coaches will say you play the way you practice. The above quote might make some wonder what the coaches have been focused on in practice.

Winner winner chicken dinner!

[ZachMN]

This sits squarely on MM and TT- the o Line is inconsistent and has been since they let Wahle and Riveria go. It is the coaches responsibility to have a fundamentally sound team and you start with the line. The fact that Colledge is still on this team speaks volumes. I have watched him literally turn and watch d linemen chase down our running backs while doing nothing. For me they better get some road graders in here and be able to run at will and the passing game will take care of itself all that bs 5 receiver crap get some conditioned 330 pounders who can go no huddle and wear out defenses with run after run after run don't let them sub players in then pass all over them too many coaches make it so complicated yet BB seems to do the obvious and win with "scrubs"