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I just wanted to put in my two cents about this game, and didn't know where to post it, so to hell with it, I decided to start a topic and call it "the state of the Packers".
I think that some of us here are probably scared shitless at this point whether we want to admit it or not. Last night had the look of a very good team playing against a very brutal team. (for those whose heads are still spinning, the Packers are the team I referred to as brutal)
So, is that accurate? Are we doomed to watch a team get knocked around and beaten badly every week this year? It's possible, but I say no. Here's my take on the "State of the Packers".
First off, at least the Chargers weren't galloping 40 and 50 yards per play while our defense ran into each other and missed a bunch of tackles. I only saw maybe two badly missed tackles all game. That is GOOD for such a young defense. Sure, the Chargers had a couple of very long drives, but the good thing is that the reason they needed 10 minutes to score is because we were pretty damn tough on first and second down. Especially when they ran on those downs. I know, I know, LT wasn't in there, but in watching, there were about as many holes for their backs as their was for ours. (slight exaggeration). That is huge. Great defenses ALWAYS start with shutting down the run. Once you do that, your LBs and DBs will eventually make plays off the pass game. Our run defense was very respectable.
Secondly, I saw sure tackling. Remember the beginning of last season, we were missing tackles everywhere? Bates said it was because guys weren't going on instinct because their minds were on their assignment. Yet, in this game, I didn't see a defense taking horrible angles and missing tackles all over. For the most part, all of these guys wrapped up their man and didn't allow a ton of YAC. Think about it, it seemed like everyone was just a step too late. Just a step. That is attributed to having to "think" about where to go before you go. That split second makes all the difference. Once this young defense doesn't have to think and can simply react, once these guys are comfortable with what their assignments are, and sure of the guy next to them, those sure tackles will start to become hardnosed, punishing gang-tackles. This may take a while to develop, let's give them time. This young defense will give us reasons to whince this year, it's a new system for many and a new league for some, but the talent is there, and, I bet that they will give us many a reason to cheer also.
Third, I'm convinced that our passing game is fine. We don't need to worry about who our #2 and #3 receivers are going to be. Our passing game had absolutely no right to have ANY success at all last night. We had NO run game to back it up. Favre can get it done with the talent we have out there in the receiving corps. Aaron Rodgers looked better than OK out there. AR looked, IMO, great. His arm is strong, and his biggest weakness last year was his inability to sense pocket pressure. He looks great shifting around in the pocket and had a couple of successful runs. I thought AR showed that he has really turned the corner, and there is simply a confidence and presence about him that wasn't there last year. And as far as Fergy goes, he did about as much as Driver did. He caught a KEY 28 yard catch on Favre's only good drive. At least he didn't have any drops. Jennings had two, so let's go easy on Fergy for at least a week. By the way, he may only had one catch because they only threw it to him once. And I tried to review many plays to see if he was getting open, but he was usually not on the same side of where the play was and was offscreen. Regardless, our QB's look very good, and this should be a strength as was last year. (Even though many claim it wasn't).
This all leads me to THE concern this year. Our season is going to be determined by one thing, our run game. I think that if we can get that, everything else will fall in place. Our drives will be elongated, keeping the defense fresh, and our pass game won't be under 3rd and long pressure every ten yards. And by the way, this defense was ranked #1 against the run last year, and their strength is their 3-4 defense and the deceit it brings because you never know who is going to be assisting on the rush. This is the hardest type of defense our young line could possibly have to deal with, because they never know WHO is coming, and they are still just trying to figure out what to do when they DO know who's gonna be in front of them.
So, yeah, we looked very bad to the naked eye, but knowing what we know about where our team is in terms of youth, scheme, timing, and chemistry, there WERE pos that MM will be able to build on.
I will say this, I think that MM is going to have to realize that for at least the first part of the season, he is going to have to rely on an offense more like Holmgren established. Dink and dunk on first down to open up holes, because the line will need time together before they can "establish" a run game on it's own merit. I hope he makes this adjustment, and if he does, I hope we fans are smart enough to realize he's not "giving up" on the run, because, it is going to take more than three games for these guys to understand this scheme and know where their neighbor is going to be. It looks like a mess out there because this system relies heavily on trusting the guy next to you to and knowing which defender he is going to pick up. And right now, we can't watch Colledge and Spitz and co. and judge how good they CAN be because right now, they are doing good just to know where they are suppose to be.
Think about it. Our very good, established, guards got beaten pretty badly yesterday. So, does that mean they suddenly don't have any talent? Of course not, it's because they too are almost like rookies in this new system. They are also "thinking" rather than "reacting". So, we live and die by our running game and pass protection ... at least these are SOLVEABLE. It's just time that is needed. I believe for the most part the talent is there. So, anyways, after a day of sulking and pondering, this is ... JMHO on the State of the Packers. Feel free to call me a homer and tell me I'm full of shit.
I think that some of us here are probably scared shitless at this point whether we want to admit it or not. Last night had the look of a very good team playing against a very brutal team. (for those whose heads are still spinning, the Packers are the team I referred to as brutal)
So, is that accurate? Are we doomed to watch a team get knocked around and beaten badly every week this year? It's possible, but I say no. Here's my take on the "State of the Packers".
First off, at least the Chargers weren't galloping 40 and 50 yards per play while our defense ran into each other and missed a bunch of tackles. I only saw maybe two badly missed tackles all game. That is GOOD for such a young defense. Sure, the Chargers had a couple of very long drives, but the good thing is that the reason they needed 10 minutes to score is because we were pretty damn tough on first and second down. Especially when they ran on those downs. I know, I know, LT wasn't in there, but in watching, there were about as many holes for their backs as their was for ours. (slight exaggeration). That is huge. Great defenses ALWAYS start with shutting down the run. Once you do that, your LBs and DBs will eventually make plays off the pass game. Our run defense was very respectable.
Secondly, I saw sure tackling. Remember the beginning of last season, we were missing tackles everywhere? Bates said it was because guys weren't going on instinct because their minds were on their assignment. Yet, in this game, I didn't see a defense taking horrible angles and missing tackles all over. For the most part, all of these guys wrapped up their man and didn't allow a ton of YAC. Think about it, it seemed like everyone was just a step too late. Just a step. That is attributed to having to "think" about where to go before you go. That split second makes all the difference. Once this young defense doesn't have to think and can simply react, once these guys are comfortable with what their assignments are, and sure of the guy next to them, those sure tackles will start to become hardnosed, punishing gang-tackles. This may take a while to develop, let's give them time. This young defense will give us reasons to whince this year, it's a new system for many and a new league for some, but the talent is there, and, I bet that they will give us many a reason to cheer also.
Third, I'm convinced that our passing game is fine. We don't need to worry about who our #2 and #3 receivers are going to be. Our passing game had absolutely no right to have ANY success at all last night. We had NO run game to back it up. Favre can get it done with the talent we have out there in the receiving corps. Aaron Rodgers looked better than OK out there. AR looked, IMO, great. His arm is strong, and his biggest weakness last year was his inability to sense pocket pressure. He looks great shifting around in the pocket and had a couple of successful runs. I thought AR showed that he has really turned the corner, and there is simply a confidence and presence about him that wasn't there last year. And as far as Fergy goes, he did about as much as Driver did. He caught a KEY 28 yard catch on Favre's only good drive. At least he didn't have any drops. Jennings had two, so let's go easy on Fergy for at least a week. By the way, he may only had one catch because they only threw it to him once. And I tried to review many plays to see if he was getting open, but he was usually not on the same side of where the play was and was offscreen. Regardless, our QB's look very good, and this should be a strength as was last year. (Even though many claim it wasn't).
This all leads me to THE concern this year. Our season is going to be determined by one thing, our run game. I think that if we can get that, everything else will fall in place. Our drives will be elongated, keeping the defense fresh, and our pass game won't be under 3rd and long pressure every ten yards. And by the way, this defense was ranked #1 against the run last year, and their strength is their 3-4 defense and the deceit it brings because you never know who is going to be assisting on the rush. This is the hardest type of defense our young line could possibly have to deal with, because they never know WHO is coming, and they are still just trying to figure out what to do when they DO know who's gonna be in front of them.
So, yeah, we looked very bad to the naked eye, but knowing what we know about where our team is in terms of youth, scheme, timing, and chemistry, there WERE pos that MM will be able to build on.
I will say this, I think that MM is going to have to realize that for at least the first part of the season, he is going to have to rely on an offense more like Holmgren established. Dink and dunk on first down to open up holes, because the line will need time together before they can "establish" a run game on it's own merit. I hope he makes this adjustment, and if he does, I hope we fans are smart enough to realize he's not "giving up" on the run, because, it is going to take more than three games for these guys to understand this scheme and know where their neighbor is going to be. It looks like a mess out there because this system relies heavily on trusting the guy next to you to and knowing which defender he is going to pick up. And right now, we can't watch Colledge and Spitz and co. and judge how good they CAN be because right now, they are doing good just to know where they are suppose to be.
Think about it. Our very good, established, guards got beaten pretty badly yesterday. So, does that mean they suddenly don't have any talent? Of course not, it's because they too are almost like rookies in this new system. They are also "thinking" rather than "reacting". So, we live and die by our running game and pass protection ... at least these are SOLVEABLE. It's just time that is needed. I believe for the most part the talent is there. So, anyways, after a day of sulking and pondering, this is ... JMHO on the State of the Packers. Feel free to call me a homer and tell me I'm full of shit.
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