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I am not a hater of the Packers as much as some of you would like to disagree with me, but for now that is the title of this post. I saw a lot of good things out of the Packers last night, and some poor, but the Packers demonstrated in the first week of the season why they should be considered a strong canidate for a Super Bowl repeat.
Offensively the Packers look dominate. The beginning of this season reminds me of the beginning of the 1996 season where the Packers offense looks to be in mid season form already. With Rodger at the helm this offense seemed to do what ever they wanted against a mediocre Saints defense. Outside of a couple of poor blitz reads and pickups throughout the game by Finnley, and Rodgers the offensive line looked strong in pass protection. Clifton demonstrated why he can still play this game at a high level at 36 years old. TJ Lang jumped offsides twice but he is twice the run blocker that Colledge is or was, plus he didn't get beat in the passing game. Lang is the right choice at left guard and if he can settle down pre snap he is going to have a really fine year. Sitton is a road grader. On Kuhn's touchdown he and Wells cleared out the nosetackle and pushed him right into the second level of the defense.
This Passing game is off the chart with these back shoulder throws. Tough pass to thow, tough pass to catch. The timing has to be perfect and Jennings and Rodgers make it look easy. Jordy Nelson is the legit number 3 receiver, if not Aaron Rodgers's number 2 receiver. James Jones is looking like the odd man out. Finley is filthy, if anything Rodgers looks too much to Finley and might have to watch out with trying to force balls into his big tight end. He actually had a nice block on a running down teaming with Crabtree to form a seam. Randall Cobb is simply the steal of the 2011 draft. He is the Packers most dangerous open field runner and that is saying alot with Jennings and Driver on this team. On his touchdown catch he made two Saints look like Pop Warner players.
Rodgers was sharp 90% of the game but he did let the rush get to him at the end of the game when he didn't step up in the pocket and buy time for his tight end to get open across the middle. Instead he forced it to Kuhn. He missed some throws on third down, but all in all he is cerebral with his disection of defenses and honestly Payton Manning has nothing on Rodgers when it comes to running an offense. Again Rodgers is starting this season like Favre started the 1996 season in total control.
Starks and Grant are going to form a great tandem. Both averaged over 4.5 yards a carry and later in the year both should still be fresh. Starks was the hot hand in the second half, he has a great feel for the zone scheme and picks his lane and is up the field. He is tall but he has great body lean and seems to always fall foward. Grant will make more of an impact as the season grows, but he had a decent game, needs to play faster, he had openings that he needs to take advantage of for larger gains.
Defensively the Packers held their own against a tough and fast Saints' offense. Brees is a great field general and when he has time he is going to pick a defense apart. The Packers played nickel all night long with only two down linemen, I personally didn't like the look so early in the game, but it allowed the Packers to get early pressure with inside blitzes, but the Saints corrected their mistakes and the Packers had a hard time getting to Brees in the second half with just rushing three or four. In fact I have no clue why the Packers would even consider rushing 3. Mathews is relentless but he can easily be handled when he is only one of three rushers. Mathews is at his best when the Packers are in a 3 down front. Against Brees it doesn't matter how many defenders are in coverage he is going to find an open receiver if he has time.
Tackling has to get better, but the only tackling these guys do is in games so I expect it to get better. AJ Hawk made a great play as time expired. If that was pass interference then there is no hope for this league. He looked like Superman flying threw the air, in fact he got to the ball before he made contact with Sproles.
Special teams great returns, horrible coverage. Needs to get cleaned up in a hurry if the Packers want to be a complete team and make a dominating run to the Super Bowl.
Hater out.
Offensively the Packers look dominate. The beginning of this season reminds me of the beginning of the 1996 season where the Packers offense looks to be in mid season form already. With Rodger at the helm this offense seemed to do what ever they wanted against a mediocre Saints defense. Outside of a couple of poor blitz reads and pickups throughout the game by Finnley, and Rodgers the offensive line looked strong in pass protection. Clifton demonstrated why he can still play this game at a high level at 36 years old. TJ Lang jumped offsides twice but he is twice the run blocker that Colledge is or was, plus he didn't get beat in the passing game. Lang is the right choice at left guard and if he can settle down pre snap he is going to have a really fine year. Sitton is a road grader. On Kuhn's touchdown he and Wells cleared out the nosetackle and pushed him right into the second level of the defense.
This Passing game is off the chart with these back shoulder throws. Tough pass to thow, tough pass to catch. The timing has to be perfect and Jennings and Rodgers make it look easy. Jordy Nelson is the legit number 3 receiver, if not Aaron Rodgers's number 2 receiver. James Jones is looking like the odd man out. Finley is filthy, if anything Rodgers looks too much to Finley and might have to watch out with trying to force balls into his big tight end. He actually had a nice block on a running down teaming with Crabtree to form a seam. Randall Cobb is simply the steal of the 2011 draft. He is the Packers most dangerous open field runner and that is saying alot with Jennings and Driver on this team. On his touchdown catch he made two Saints look like Pop Warner players.
Rodgers was sharp 90% of the game but he did let the rush get to him at the end of the game when he didn't step up in the pocket and buy time for his tight end to get open across the middle. Instead he forced it to Kuhn. He missed some throws on third down, but all in all he is cerebral with his disection of defenses and honestly Payton Manning has nothing on Rodgers when it comes to running an offense. Again Rodgers is starting this season like Favre started the 1996 season in total control.
Starks and Grant are going to form a great tandem. Both averaged over 4.5 yards a carry and later in the year both should still be fresh. Starks was the hot hand in the second half, he has a great feel for the zone scheme and picks his lane and is up the field. He is tall but he has great body lean and seems to always fall foward. Grant will make more of an impact as the season grows, but he had a decent game, needs to play faster, he had openings that he needs to take advantage of for larger gains.
Defensively the Packers held their own against a tough and fast Saints' offense. Brees is a great field general and when he has time he is going to pick a defense apart. The Packers played nickel all night long with only two down linemen, I personally didn't like the look so early in the game, but it allowed the Packers to get early pressure with inside blitzes, but the Saints corrected their mistakes and the Packers had a hard time getting to Brees in the second half with just rushing three or four. In fact I have no clue why the Packers would even consider rushing 3. Mathews is relentless but he can easily be handled when he is only one of three rushers. Mathews is at his best when the Packers are in a 3 down front. Against Brees it doesn't matter how many defenders are in coverage he is going to find an open receiver if he has time.
Tackling has to get better, but the only tackling these guys do is in games so I expect it to get better. AJ Hawk made a great play as time expired. If that was pass interference then there is no hope for this league. He looked like Superman flying threw the air, in fact he got to the ball before he made contact with Sproles.
Special teams great returns, horrible coverage. Needs to get cleaned up in a hurry if the Packers want to be a complete team and make a dominating run to the Super Bowl.
Hater out.
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