CHARLES WOODSON

[Bretsky]

Showed up yesterday.

We can question the contract.

We can question whether he can be more dedicated.

But there is one thing we should not question.

He's the best player in our secondary right now.

[Bretsky]

Woodson turns the corner
He overcomes injuries in top-notch outing
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Oct. 22, 2006
Miami - The Green Bay Packers weren't certain until Saturday that cornerback Charles Woodson would be able to play against the Miami Dolphins.

Charles Woodson sets off on a 23-yard interception returns for a touchdown.

If they had known he was going to play the way he did Sunday, they wouldn't have had a single doubt about him.

In probably his best game since Week 4 of the 2004 season, Woodson overcame thigh and rib injuries that limited him to one day of practice over the past two weeks and turned in a Grade A performance against the Dolphins.

Woodson made the play that turned the game around, intercepting quarterback Joey Harrington on the first series of the third quarter and returning the ball 23 yards for a touchdown. It was his first encounter with the end zone since 1999, his second season in the National Football League.

"It's been a long time, man," Woodson said. "It was real good."

That would be one way to describe Woodson's overall performance. To date, he had done nothing special for the Packers and even dropped what could have been a game-saving interception against the St. Louis Rams two weeks ago.

But playing in the heat of Dolphin Stadium, he apparently found his groove. Woodson had six tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, an interception and three passes broken up. Not since he had four pass break-ups and 10 tackles against the Houston Texans two years ago has he performed so well.

The performance comes on the heels of speculation that Woodson had lost interest in the game and was well past his prime.

"That was probably the momentum shift right there," receiver Donald Driver said of Woodson's interception. "A big tipped ball and he takes it to the end zone. He had to come out and play. A lot of people say he wasn't this and that but he showed people he still has it."

Had he simply had his game-changing interception, Woodson's day would have been mostly complete. The Packers were down in the dumps after blowing a field-goal opportunity at the end of the first half and needed something positive to happen to them soon.

On the second play of the second half, something did. Harrington ran a bootleg to his left and threw the ball to tight end Randy McMichael, who was running a crossing pattern to the sideline. Harrington led him perhaps a bit too far, but McMichael got a hand on the ball and tipped it right to Woodson.

In a split second, he was on his way down the sideline and into the end zone to put the Packers ahead, 13-10.

"Charles did a great job," defensive coordinator Bob Sanders said. "It was great coverage on his part. He has a knack for the ball. That's part of the reason we got him because can do those things."

Woodson, who has had his share of coverage breakdowns this season, played zone coverage the way it's designed on the blackboard. He covered receiver Wes Welker as he ran straight at him and then dropped off to help linebacker A.J. Hawk on McMichael.

"Pretty much when you see a quarterback roll out to one side, the receivers flow that way," said Woodson, who signed a seven-year, $39.03 million free-agent deal with the Packers in the off-season.. "Once I saw the quarterback play-action and roll out, I know he's going to come back outside, so my goal was to be in position to make the tackle, get to the ball. It just so happened he tipped it."

Asked if he thought it was a drop on McMichael's part, one of an estimated three he had for the game, Woodson said, "Yeah, I think he should have had it."

Woodson wasn’t the first to make big plays for the Packers. Linebackers Brady Poppinga and Nick Barnett both had first-half interceptions that set up field goals. But Woodson continued to make plays as the game wore on.

He nearly saved the Packers’ bacon on a 44-yard swing pass to running back Sammy Morris in which Barnett, Poppinga and safety Marquand Manuel failed to bring him down. Woodson caught Morris from behind and knocked the ball out of his hands only to see it roll out of bounds before a teammate could grab it.

In addition to that play and several pass break-ups, Woodson got his first sack blitzing from the slot in the first quarter.

As a whole, the secondary played well in the first half, holding Harrington to 110 yards passing on 8-for-17 accuracy. In the second half, Harrington threw 45 times, completing 25 for 304 yards and two touchdowns, but only an 80-yard touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter provided any challenge to the Packers’ lead.

"You think back to the St. Louis game," Woodson said. "We missed three interceptions, myself, Al and I think A.J. missed one. We make those plays we win the game. Today we got our hands on some balls and were able to get the ball back for our offense. Anytime you do that, you got a good chance of winning."

[chewy-bacca]

well, he was yesterday, finally. If this is a glimps of things to come, or just a freak accident, time will tell. I hope this gets him going.

[Patler]

This is a comment I've been meaning to make for several weeks. Woodson maybe has had some coverage breakdowns (which GB DB hasn't?), but he definately is not disinterested in the game, as some have suggested. Why do I think that? His punt returns. The guy is fearless on punt returns. He catches punts in crowds without fair catching it, fights for yardage, spins, twists and takes big hits on many of them as a result of his unwillingness to go down. A disinterested player does not do that.

[run pMc]

I agree. Woodson was by far the best player in the secondary yesterday. Al Harris didn't do too badly either. Dendy was OK. I know Blackmon saw some action but didn't know that he made an impact. (I missed part of the game)

Anyway, I'm hoping this will give the D some confidence, and keep some people off Woodson's back. The contract was big, but he earned it on Sunday against MIA.

[chewy-bacca]

we all know he loves to return punts, heck I bet he is lookin to get on as a WR right now. it was the early CB play that had some of us worried. missing the OTAs didnt help. if hes "coming into is own" now, good for him, I hope he keeps it up!

[chewy-bacca]

Dendy was OK.

penalty free, yes? No 50 yard bombs? hes ok in my book!

[HarveyWallbangers]

Woodson has been decent, not great, for most of the year. People need to quit looking at his contract. He wasn't going to live up to it this year, but that thing was severely front-loaded. It will have little affect on our future cap. It's money, quite frankly, that we needed to spend just to get to the minimum salary on the year.

[Patler]

Woodson has been decent, not great, for most of the year. People need to quit looking at his contract. He wasn't going to live up to it this year, but that thing was severely front-loaded. It will have little affect on our future cap. It's money, quite frankly, that we needed to spend just to get to the minimum salary on the year.

That's exactly right. Woodson just happened to be the beneficiary of the situation. An upgrade over Carroll paid more than he otherwise might have been offered, just because of the cap situation the Packers have.

[BooHoo]

Woodson is a huge upgrade over Carroll. I am glad Carroll is not here anymore. As the season continues I am hopeful the secondary gets their act together and excels.
Commenators on radio had some "not so nice stuff" to say about Nick's (safety) play yesterday. Evidently, he was out of position several times. Maybe we don't have this communication issue solved yet.

[vince]

Woodson has been decent, not great, for most of the year. People need to quit looking at his contract. He wasn't going to live up to it this year, but that thing was severely front-loaded. It will have little affect on our future cap. It's money, quite frankly, that we needed to spend just to get to the minimum salary on the year.

Absolutely, Harv. Last game he went from decent to solid, and this game, from solid to good. He'll probably maintain at "good", but that's a number of steps up the ladder from "roasted" and "toasted", where Ahmad Carroll regularly resided.

[ahaha]

I thought he showed great heart and desire in the Eagles game. He ran into a pile and stripped Moats near the goal line. And after getting hurt on a pass defense, he came in a few plays later and played most of the rest of the game. Also against the Rams he was hurting, but kept playing.

[FritzDontBlitz]

Woodson is a huge upgrade over Carroll. I am glad Carroll is not here anymore. As the season continues I am hopeful the secondary gets their act together and excels.
Commenators on radio had some "not so nice stuff" to say about Nick's (safety) play yesterday. Evidently, he was out of position several times. Maybe we don't have this communication issue solved yet.

nick collins bit on play action to allow the receiver to get behind him on miami's first td, woodson was expecting safety help in the middle. other than that, i didn't see collins as much of a liability in coverage.

i should also mention that green bay seemed to go conservative on defense after ahman's td run, preferring to give up huge chunks of yardage in the passing game while the clocked ticked away. still, had barnett made the tackle on reggie brown at the line there would have been no huge catch and run to speak of.

woodson played a leadership game yesterday. he was everywhere, as the box score will tell you.

[mraynrand]

woodson played a leadership game yesterday. he was everywhere, as the box score will tell you.

I liked the fact that the Woodson INT was a team effort. Hawk covered the receiver coming out into the flat, and he forced Harrington to throw the ball wider and flatter. It became a tough pass to get your hands on. Woodson cleaned up, but he did so because he was in the correct position. I know Barnett missed that tackle yesterday, but when Hawk and Barnett are on the field in the nickle they sure cover the passes in the flats well. I watched a couple of other games and other teams really feast on passes in the flat against slower LBs.

[Deputy Nutz]

Straight up Woodson is the best athlete and defensive back we have. Bottom line is that the secondary as a whole is under performing.