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Rating the Packers vs. Dolphins: Having some fun in the sun
Packers able to overcome several obstacles
Posted: Oct. 23, 2006
On the Packers
Bob McGinn
Green Bay - They had to wear their green jerseys in tropical heat. They had no time to prepare for the shocking absence of Chad Clifton because of the flu. And they were playing a team with its back to the wall.
On Sunday, the deck was stacked against the Packers at Dolphin Stadium. But after surviving Miami's best punch, they took control in the second half with a flurry of sterling individual efforts and pulled off a sizable upset.
Here is a rating of the Packers against the Dolphins, with their 1 to 5 football totals in parentheses:
RECEIVERS (4½)
Greg Jennings paid for almost playing too big for his body in the final 20 seconds of the first half. Showing no regard for life or limb, Jennings went into a crowd, yanked a 14-yard completion away from S Jason Allen and suffered an ankle injury that ended his afternoon. With Robert Ferguson out, that left Donald Driver, Ruvell Martin and Chris Francies. Of the 14 passes thrown to Driver, he caught 10 for 93 yards. He tormented FS Renaldo Hill, who was pressed into slot duty against Driver because of injuries, and was overmatched. Driver made one of the greatest plays of his career in the third quarter on a corner route in which he outfought Allen and Hill in the end zone for a 34-yard TD. Two officials ruled it incomplete but Driver pleaded his case to Mike McCarthy and earned a hard-to-win reversal via replay. With the outcome in doubt midway in the fourth quarter, Driver again proved worthy of McCarthy's trust by circumventing DE Vonnie Holliday for 6 yards on a fourth-and-1 reverse. You had to like Ruvell Martin's toughness. He delivered a nasty crack-back block on LB Donnie Spragan and battled for the ball in tight quarters. The same goes for Francies. David Martin might have had the best game of his career with a spectacular diving catch and a spectacular catch in the end zone of a tipped ball that fell near his shoelaces and should have been intercepted by SS Travares Tillman. Bubba Franks is missing too many blocks.
OFFENSIVE LINE (3½)
Clifton's replacement, Daryn Colledge, might have given up 10 sacks and five tackles for loss to the great Jason Taylor if McCarthy didn't get him off the island that he inexplicably left him on during the first quarter. When McCarthy finally started to scheme ways to protect Colledge, the rookie was fine and the offense clicked. Neither of the rookie guards, Jason Spitz and Tony Moll, played very well. Spitz gave up three "bad" runs, including a third-and-1 play when he committed the cardinal sin of giving up the inside gap and NT Keith Traylor pole-axed Ahman Green. Spitz partially made up for it with a terrific block on LB Zach Thomas that sprung Green for his 70-yard TD. Moll played too high and kept getting bounced in pass protection. C Scott Wells is doing what he can to land a lucrative extension. He was the only lineman without responsibility for a "bad" run, sorted out the multiple Miami fronts for his three rookie linemates, never got run over by Traylor and was more than a match on the second level for Thomas, who had just seven tackles. Mark Tauscher was up and down against DE Kevin Carter, a cagey veteran. He also was overpowered twice by DE Matt Roth.
QUARTERBACKS (4½)
A lesser field general might have gone to pieces after Taylor blind-sided him into a pair of early sack-fumbles. Not Brett Favre. He set out making do as usual. He didn't try a seven-step drop all day. By the onset of the second quarter, the idea was to move the pocket and keep in more blockers to frustrate Taylor. On four of his 14 snaps from shotgun, Favre rolled left and threw effectively, which some quarterbacks just can't do. He went through his progressions, put the ball in good locations for his receivers and didn't throw many bad balls. Well, two interceptions were dropped, but no one's really counting. The Dolphins began to blitz in the second half but Favre hung tough, made some helpful checks at the line and got the better of coordinator Dom Capers.
RUNNING BACKS (4)
Playing his first game in a month, Green played 45 snaps, avoided any fumbling issues and didn't seem rusty. He ran it tough inside, found cutback lanes and gave effort as a blocker. Hill had the angle on the 70-yard TD but didn't have a chance of catching Green, who obviously still can run. FB Brandon Miree (39 snaps) was the target of three passes. However, not a single pass went to a running back. You'd be hard-pressed to find the last time that happened in Green Bay. Vernand Morency had 14 snaps compared with Noah Herron's nine but didn't do much with them. Morency continues to make too many shaky decisions on stretch plays. Miree isn't an explosive blocker but ends up where he's supposed to be.
DEFENSIVE LINE (3)
Immobile Joey Harrington dropped back 66 times but the rush was just average from Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (five pressures) and Aaron Kampman (3½ pressures). "KGB" didn't get much done until the fourth quarter, when LT Damion McIntosh tired badly. One thing about Kampman (69 snaps) and Gbaja-Biamila (62), they can run all day regardless of conditions. Without injured Cullen Jenkins, the other tackles kept stalling out on their rushes. As usual, the best inside player was Ryan Pickett (47). Corey Williams (45), Colin Cole (38) and Johnny Jolly (20), who made his debut, all were just so-so. Jolly showed impressive instincts by coming off a trap block by LG Jeno James and stuffing RB Ronnie Brown for a short gain. Mike Montgomery (28) was far more effective than rookie Jason Hunter (14). Showing a spin move for one of the first times, the hard-working, improving Montgomery beat McIntosh for a sack.
LINEBACKERS (4)
Another player on the upswing is Brady Poppinga. His interception off a zone pass drop couldn't have been drawn up any better. He found the right spot, caught the ball and brought it back for 21 yards. Later, Poppinga took away Harrington's throwing lane with good end-zone position against Randy McMichael. Nick Barnett made an easy interception of a ball that was dropped by McMichael. Coordinator Bob Sanders sent more linebackers this week and they accounted for six pressures, including 2½ by Poppinga. But Barnett can't afford to miss a tackle at the line as he did on the 44-yard dump-off pass to scrub third-down back Sammy Morris. A.J. Hawk is resilient, strong, dependable and tough. He's highly consistent.
SECONDARY (2½)
Charles Woodson had a banner day. He showed marvelous hand-eye coordination on his 23-yard interception return for a TD. He really had to earn his sack by bursting by McMichael off the edge. And he forced Morris to fumble at the end of his long run. However, he gave up on the 8-yard TD pass to Marty Booker and once again had problems preventing a pedestrian slot receiver (Wes Welker) from getting free just about whenever he wanted. Marquand Manuel missed Morris about 10 yards downfield and then fanned one-on-one against WR Derek Hagans on his 13-yard TD reception. Al Harris was more than adequate in coverage matching up with explosive Chris Chambers but also missed four tackles. Harrington completed six of 11 passes for 91 yards against struggling nickel back Patrick Dendy, who gave way at times for rookie Will Blackmon to debut. Although the Dolphins' net passing total of 381 yards was inflated, it's also true they dropped about seven passes.
KICKERS (4)
Impressive Dave Rayner kicked counters of 42 and 34 yards, kicked non-counters of 55 and 40 yards and averaged 69.7 yards and 4.07 seconds of hang time on seven kickoffs. Jon Ryan's six punts had averages of 43.7 (gross), 36.5 (net) and 3.69 (hang time).
SPECIAL TEAMS (4)
The coverage units swarmed all over Welker, a returner of merit. Despite a strained thigh, Woodson insisted on returning punts and kept making the first tackler miss. Playing William Henderson's wingback spot on the field-goal protection team, Montgomery drew a costly facemask penalty.
OVERALL (4)
Packers able to overcome several obstacles
Posted: Oct. 23, 2006
On the Packers
Bob McGinn
Green Bay - They had to wear their green jerseys in tropical heat. They had no time to prepare for the shocking absence of Chad Clifton because of the flu. And they were playing a team with its back to the wall.
On Sunday, the deck was stacked against the Packers at Dolphin Stadium. But after surviving Miami's best punch, they took control in the second half with a flurry of sterling individual efforts and pulled off a sizable upset.
Here is a rating of the Packers against the Dolphins, with their 1 to 5 football totals in parentheses:
RECEIVERS (4½)
Greg Jennings paid for almost playing too big for his body in the final 20 seconds of the first half. Showing no regard for life or limb, Jennings went into a crowd, yanked a 14-yard completion away from S Jason Allen and suffered an ankle injury that ended his afternoon. With Robert Ferguson out, that left Donald Driver, Ruvell Martin and Chris Francies. Of the 14 passes thrown to Driver, he caught 10 for 93 yards. He tormented FS Renaldo Hill, who was pressed into slot duty against Driver because of injuries, and was overmatched. Driver made one of the greatest plays of his career in the third quarter on a corner route in which he outfought Allen and Hill in the end zone for a 34-yard TD. Two officials ruled it incomplete but Driver pleaded his case to Mike McCarthy and earned a hard-to-win reversal via replay. With the outcome in doubt midway in the fourth quarter, Driver again proved worthy of McCarthy's trust by circumventing DE Vonnie Holliday for 6 yards on a fourth-and-1 reverse. You had to like Ruvell Martin's toughness. He delivered a nasty crack-back block on LB Donnie Spragan and battled for the ball in tight quarters. The same goes for Francies. David Martin might have had the best game of his career with a spectacular diving catch and a spectacular catch in the end zone of a tipped ball that fell near his shoelaces and should have been intercepted by SS Travares Tillman. Bubba Franks is missing too many blocks.
OFFENSIVE LINE (3½)
Clifton's replacement, Daryn Colledge, might have given up 10 sacks and five tackles for loss to the great Jason Taylor if McCarthy didn't get him off the island that he inexplicably left him on during the first quarter. When McCarthy finally started to scheme ways to protect Colledge, the rookie was fine and the offense clicked. Neither of the rookie guards, Jason Spitz and Tony Moll, played very well. Spitz gave up three "bad" runs, including a third-and-1 play when he committed the cardinal sin of giving up the inside gap and NT Keith Traylor pole-axed Ahman Green. Spitz partially made up for it with a terrific block on LB Zach Thomas that sprung Green for his 70-yard TD. Moll played too high and kept getting bounced in pass protection. C Scott Wells is doing what he can to land a lucrative extension. He was the only lineman without responsibility for a "bad" run, sorted out the multiple Miami fronts for his three rookie linemates, never got run over by Traylor and was more than a match on the second level for Thomas, who had just seven tackles. Mark Tauscher was up and down against DE Kevin Carter, a cagey veteran. He also was overpowered twice by DE Matt Roth.
QUARTERBACKS (4½)
A lesser field general might have gone to pieces after Taylor blind-sided him into a pair of early sack-fumbles. Not Brett Favre. He set out making do as usual. He didn't try a seven-step drop all day. By the onset of the second quarter, the idea was to move the pocket and keep in more blockers to frustrate Taylor. On four of his 14 snaps from shotgun, Favre rolled left and threw effectively, which some quarterbacks just can't do. He went through his progressions, put the ball in good locations for his receivers and didn't throw many bad balls. Well, two interceptions were dropped, but no one's really counting. The Dolphins began to blitz in the second half but Favre hung tough, made some helpful checks at the line and got the better of coordinator Dom Capers.
RUNNING BACKS (4)
Playing his first game in a month, Green played 45 snaps, avoided any fumbling issues and didn't seem rusty. He ran it tough inside, found cutback lanes and gave effort as a blocker. Hill had the angle on the 70-yard TD but didn't have a chance of catching Green, who obviously still can run. FB Brandon Miree (39 snaps) was the target of three passes. However, not a single pass went to a running back. You'd be hard-pressed to find the last time that happened in Green Bay. Vernand Morency had 14 snaps compared with Noah Herron's nine but didn't do much with them. Morency continues to make too many shaky decisions on stretch plays. Miree isn't an explosive blocker but ends up where he's supposed to be.
DEFENSIVE LINE (3)
Immobile Joey Harrington dropped back 66 times but the rush was just average from Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (five pressures) and Aaron Kampman (3½ pressures). "KGB" didn't get much done until the fourth quarter, when LT Damion McIntosh tired badly. One thing about Kampman (69 snaps) and Gbaja-Biamila (62), they can run all day regardless of conditions. Without injured Cullen Jenkins, the other tackles kept stalling out on their rushes. As usual, the best inside player was Ryan Pickett (47). Corey Williams (45), Colin Cole (38) and Johnny Jolly (20), who made his debut, all were just so-so. Jolly showed impressive instincts by coming off a trap block by LG Jeno James and stuffing RB Ronnie Brown for a short gain. Mike Montgomery (28) was far more effective than rookie Jason Hunter (14). Showing a spin move for one of the first times, the hard-working, improving Montgomery beat McIntosh for a sack.
LINEBACKERS (4)
Another player on the upswing is Brady Poppinga. His interception off a zone pass drop couldn't have been drawn up any better. He found the right spot, caught the ball and brought it back for 21 yards. Later, Poppinga took away Harrington's throwing lane with good end-zone position against Randy McMichael. Nick Barnett made an easy interception of a ball that was dropped by McMichael. Coordinator Bob Sanders sent more linebackers this week and they accounted for six pressures, including 2½ by Poppinga. But Barnett can't afford to miss a tackle at the line as he did on the 44-yard dump-off pass to scrub third-down back Sammy Morris. A.J. Hawk is resilient, strong, dependable and tough. He's highly consistent.
SECONDARY (2½)
Charles Woodson had a banner day. He showed marvelous hand-eye coordination on his 23-yard interception return for a TD. He really had to earn his sack by bursting by McMichael off the edge. And he forced Morris to fumble at the end of his long run. However, he gave up on the 8-yard TD pass to Marty Booker and once again had problems preventing a pedestrian slot receiver (Wes Welker) from getting free just about whenever he wanted. Marquand Manuel missed Morris about 10 yards downfield and then fanned one-on-one against WR Derek Hagans on his 13-yard TD reception. Al Harris was more than adequate in coverage matching up with explosive Chris Chambers but also missed four tackles. Harrington completed six of 11 passes for 91 yards against struggling nickel back Patrick Dendy, who gave way at times for rookie Will Blackmon to debut. Although the Dolphins' net passing total of 381 yards was inflated, it's also true they dropped about seven passes.
KICKERS (4)
Impressive Dave Rayner kicked counters of 42 and 34 yards, kicked non-counters of 55 and 40 yards and averaged 69.7 yards and 4.07 seconds of hang time on seven kickoffs. Jon Ryan's six punts had averages of 43.7 (gross), 36.5 (net) and 3.69 (hang time).
SPECIAL TEAMS (4)
The coverage units swarmed all over Welker, a returner of merit. Despite a strained thigh, Woodson insisted on returning punts and kept making the first tackler miss. Playing William Henderson's wingback spot on the field-goal protection team, Montgomery drew a costly facemask penalty.
OVERALL (4)
you know what they say
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