And the PackerRat gameball goes to.......

[RashanGary]

Newhouse is fine. He gets destroyed by the best of the best. . . . . He's young, improving. . . . . He'll get us through.

[Brandon494]

So you guys still think Clifton is going to have to fight to get his starting job back from Newhouse?

[Deputy Nutz]

First off Newhouse has gotten Rodgers flattened in almost every game he has started at left tackle. Again you can write off two knockdowns or two sacks out of 60 some plays and say that ain't to bad, but in terms of %s as an offensive lineman that is a bad day, combine those over 8 weeks you are not having a very good season.

Newhouse isn't horrible enough for the Packers not to get to the Super Bowl, if is funny how a good QB can cover the mistakes of his offensive line. Rodgers is mobil, his pocket awareness has gotten better and he doesn't get creamed, he knows where the pressure is coming from.

Barbre was terrible.

Sherrod must be way off track this season. I heard it mentioned in another thread and I understand draft and develop but apparently there is way more development needed with this guy.

I don't think Clifton is going to be back, he is falling apart. He can't even rehab without hurting another part of his body.

[RashanGary]

And Clifton sucked when he was in too. He didn't get all idiot awkward like Newhouse does. His technique was good. He just got shoved straight backwards every game. To his credit, his body was between Rodgers and the defender on just about every play, except the plays where he was in Rodgers lap.

At best, we have Clifton, a barely average LT at this point. At worst, we have Newhouse, probably a bottom 3 LT in the league.

I'm not a fan of Newhouse right now. Everything for HH is so damn dramatic, it makes it hard to come into a thread and agree with him when he's so over the top about it. I'm in the boat that thinks he still has some promise. He flashes, but some OL, especially the ones who haven't grown up with NFL style technique, take a year or two to develop. I'm not convinced Newhouse is close to his ceiling.

[mraynrand]

Newhouse fell apart too. He lost his composure against Pierre-Paul and Allen in Barbre-like fashion. The fact that he didn't give up as many sacks is due to AR. It wasn't just a matter of a few bad plays, which is understandable against elites, Newhouse was on ice skates.

This just isn't true.

[Upnorth]

So you guys still think Clifton is going to have to fight to get his starting job back from Newhouse?

No I don't thionk their will be a fight, I unfortunatley think Cliffy is done. I hope I am very wrong, but it looks that way as his rehab seems to be going the same way Tauschers did.

HH, he did not get destroyed by JPP or Allen. Against Allen he was fairly settled in the second half (he did get some help but allen is a top 5 DE) and he had a few strong series against JPP (without much help at all). They did beat Newhouse, but did not destroy him. He is the best backup LT in the league and to me is still in the top 15 of starters (ie about average as a starter). I don't have a lot of fancy stats to back this, but I do have two points. One read your weekly posting of Mcginn's review and that tells you a fair amount. Two Arod has a Passer rating of 125(ish) and has had Newhouse as his LT for most of that time. If Newhouse was crap two things would have happened by now; he would have been replaced or Arod would be doing much much worse.
Just wastching the games tells me he passes the tests most of the time and if he continues to develop he may become our starter for a decade. If he has reached his potential then he is the best backup in the league and we have him thank god. He is still learning and improving, not great but good enough right now.

[pbmax]

This just isn't true.

I will offer that while McGinn said he was too far forward over his toes and unable to recover, his worst play I saw he was sitting back on his heels unable to pivot or move quickly. But this got better the farther into the game he went. Could be a combination of his growing comfort and JPP being a little out of gas.

But on the subject of losing his composure, no. Barbre looked at times willing to commit a penalty (personal foul variety not simply holding) but Newhouse stayed with his technique. Newhouse struggled, Barbre collapsed.

[Upnorth]

One last point, Buluga is one hell of a RT, but who here thinks they would leave him there if the team really thought Newhouse was as bad as some of you think? They would not risk ARod just to keep Buluga at RT.

[mraynrand]

I will offer that while McGinn said he was too far forward over his toes and unable to recover, his worst play I saw he was sitting back on his heels unable to pivot or move quickly. But this got better the farther into the game he went. Could be a combination of his growing comfort and JPP being a little out of gas.

But on the subject of losing his composure, no. Barbre looked at times willing to commit a penalty (personal foul variety not simply holding) but Newhouse stayed with his technique. Newhouse struggled, Barbre collapsed.

I think this is on the money. Newhouse blew a bunch of plays but hung in there. And he did end up winning the war of attrition

[mraynrand]

One last point, Buluga is one hell of a RT, but who here thinks they would leave him there if the team really thought Newhouse was as bad as some of you think? They would not risk ARod just to keep Buluga at RT.

True, but they did help Newhouse. Chips here and there and a few double teams with Lang. I don't have numbers, but Bulaga seemed to be completely on his own most if not all the time.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Newhouse is fine. He gets destroyed by the best of the best. . . . . He's young, improving. . . . . He'll get us through.

maybe

[Harlan Huckleby]

One last point, Buluga is one hell of a RT, but who here thinks they would leave him there if the team really thought Newhouse was as bad as some of you think? They would not risk ARod just to keep Buluga at RT.

Remember, Barbre blew-up at right tackle. Its not not like you can really hide a weak pass blocker there. Moving Bulaga would weaken two positions. There is a small amount of truth to what you are saying.

Some of you who are calling me Chicken Little need to look to my good friend Bob McGinn. His reviews of Newhouse were just as damning in tone after MN & NY as I have been. After MN, he said the pack might have to consider crazy legs Sherrod.

[mraynrand]

Bob McGinn: His reviews of Newhouse were just as damning in tone after MN & NY as I have been. After MN, he said the pack might have to consider crazy legs Sherrod.

Your review and McGinn's were not the same. And yes, the Packers might have to look at Sherrod. But they did that in the ATL game and found him lacking. That's why they moved him to the right and Newhouse to the left in that game in the first place.

The obvious conclusion is that Newhouse can't be trusted to stand up to top tier RDE or ROLB talent all on his own for an entire game. On pass plays with deeper routes, he will often need the help of a double team or a chip.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Your review and McGinn's were not the same.

Wrong, your spin not withstanding, McGinn identified Newhouse's weaknesss as a major problem, in contrast to the "What, me worry?" tone by many here.

[mraynrand]

Wrong, your spin not withstanding, McGinn identified Newhouse's weaknesss as a major problem, in contrast to the "What, me worry?" tone by many here.

Kindof a strawman there. Who doesn't think it's a problem? The relative seriousness of the problem is where the disagreement lies, and we just differ. hasta luego