Winners and Losers quick Take

[wist43]

James Jones is making me a believer... It's one thing to catch a slew of balls running unmolested drag routes, but Jones showed some good route running ability last night - and, of course his hands have been impeccable.

He's not as explosive as Jennings, and his ceiling is probably as a #2 - but, I'll give TT credit on this one to this point - Jones is much better than I thought he'd be.

[Badgepack]

If Brandon Jackson keeps getting this many carries in preseason and early games he will be worn out by week 7. Nice to see he can catch the ball out of the backfield though.

[Brohm]

MM said a lot of White's runs were do to an adjustment they made to the inside-ZB scheme. If that is the case, why didn't they make that adjusment sooner? I'm sure having the Jags 3's in there helped as well.

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

Jackson really didn't impress me much yesterday. I didn't see much burst or power when he was running like I used to see with AG. I know there wasn't much room to run, but I didn't see much fight in his running. That’s not to say he didn't do some thing well because he did, but he still has a long way to go.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I think Jackson will be fine, as long as he pass blocks. That's the biggest question for me. Like most RBs, he'll get what the OL gives him. Ahman had a lot of games against good defenses that looked a lot like yesterday (not much room to run).

[Merlin]

Ingle Martin, Most likely the Packers are going to cut him after his performance tonight. He didn't have a lot of time but he threw three passes with one of them being an interception that was returned for a touchdown. He looked uncomfortable in the pocket and didn't seem to be able to create anything on his own. The Packers will most likely part with Martin, and either sign another QB or sign Paul Thompson to the practice squad.

He should be cut why? Because he forced a bad throw? If so, cut Favre as well. He looked uncomfortable in the pocket? Cut Rodgers as well. He didn't seem to be able to create anything on his own? Cut Rodgers as well. Typical, you rate a guy who has always been thrown in with the 2nd and 3rd teams far more harshly then you would ever rate Rodgers. Rodgers looked okay with the starters (for the first time in a very long time). He threw the ball well save one pass that should have been picked off (the first one where Rodgers never read the safety per usual). Other then that, he stared down his primary receiver as usual, didn't feel the pressure as usual, never really stepped up in the pocket to avoid pressure as usual and looked uncomfortable in the pocket. This was just with the 1st team offense. Rodgers looked like crap with the 2nd string as he always does. He didn't create anything on his own, he looked uncomfortable in the pocket. So you let one QB off the hook why? Oh yeah, because the announcers said that teams are starting to go with 2 QB's instead of 3 and that McCarthy was quoted as saying that they will keep the best 53 players basically regardless of their positions. I think you need to step away from the kool-aid.


Tyrone Culver, couldn't run with a tight end down the middle of the field on a 3rd and goal from the 30. Most likely he is out as the 4th safety and opens an even wider door to Aaron Rouse and Marquand Mannuel.

Culver had good position on the play. He didn't have the size to make the play on a well thrown ball. Typical, a guy you don't like doesn't make one play and we should cut his ass. Did you ever wonder how a tight end got that far downfield? Go look at the play and tell me the safety over the top was the only one who should have had coverage on the play. Rouse & Manual are in the running for what? First to get cut? Although Rouse has played better he has been inconsistant and Manual hasn't done much right since he came to the Packers. Al Harris played very poorly but he isn't on your coveted list?


As far as our running game, the line wasn't nearly as much to blame as was Jackson. Jackson didn't make the right decisions. On at least two plays, there was no one on the outside and he cut into the rush. On at least three plays he juked himself into a short gain. The ZBS relies more on the running back to make the right decision then it does on line creating gapping holes. Jackson has looked good at times but he didn't look very good in this game. White looked good be he is a downhill runner. Morency is a one cut back but he isn't an option right now. Herron looked poor in this game as well.

[cheesner]

Re: Run Game

Can't score points without being able to run the ball. I hope everyone who kept stating all off-season about how our run game would be fine was paying attention last night. There is a reason why teams pay RB's an un-godly amount of cash. It's one position where being cheap does'nt work.

It look's like the whole ZBS is turning into a huge mistake. At least with a Pro type power game, you can gain a couple of yards with a small push. We don't even have that now. Jackson is'nt the kind of back that can make defenders miss.

Easy to predict our offense now. Same ole stuff. Good running defenses will shut us down. Favre will be forced to throw 30+ times and with teams not respecting the run and in-experienced WR's, the picks will come and then we can hear all about how it's the QB's fault from the ignorant. We should be getting used to this script.......

Thank God for our D, cause they will determine our success this season.

If yesterday was week 1 of the NFL season, and we kept our starters in, I believe we are 1-0 today. That is a good win over a good team. The Jags are known as a better, if not the best, run defense in the NFL. You have to take what they give you, and we would have won last night. The O-Line is still developing and did much better in the first 2 games. Why do you throw in the towel so easily? As far as RBs, I am not sure that LT does that much better last night with what BJ had to work with. The Jags wanted to stop the run at the risk of giving up the pass - which BF exploited. There are things to work on, of course, but last night, overall, the 1st offense was a success.

[Noodle]

Based on what I saw of him at Nebraska, this is Jackson: a good one-cut back who can pop a 12-15 yarder and will rarely get thrown for a loss. Good balance, good hands, catches and runs well in the flat, runs a little high, good acceleration out of the cut, but does not have a home run top gear.

But he's no power back, he needs a chance to make his cut. AG could bull his way for 2 or 3, but you can't expect that from Jackson. The kid is going to need his OL to do their dang jobs.

[Harlan Huckleby]

I think Jackson will be fine, as long as he pass blocks. That's the biggest question for me. Like most RBs, he'll get what the OL gives him.

Nah, the running backs that just get what the oline gives them get cut, or are back in the depth chart. Jackson has to get better or the packers are screwed. Every team needs a featured back who can work some magic.

[Packnut]

Re: Run Game

Can't score points without being able to run the ball. I hope everyone who kept stating all off-season about how our run game would be fine was paying attention last night. There is a reason why teams pay RB's an un-godly amount of cash. It's one position where being cheap does'nt work.

It look's like the whole ZBS is turning into a huge mistake. At least with a Pro type power game, you can gain a couple of yards with a small push. We don't even have that now. Jackson is'nt the kind of back that can make defenders miss.

Easy to predict our offense now. Same ole stuff. Good running defenses will shut us down. Favre will be forced to throw 30+ times and with teams not respecting the run and in-experienced WR's, the picks will come and then we can hear all about how it's the QB's fault from the ignorant. We should be getting used to this script.......

Thank God for our D, cause they will determine our success this season.

If yesterday was week 1 of the NFL season, and we kept our starters in, I believe we are 1-0 today. That is a good win over a good team. The Jags are known as a better, if not the best, run defense in the NFL. You have to take what they give you, and we would have won last night. The O-Line is still developing and did much better in the first 2 games. Why do you throw in the towel so easily? As far as RBs, I am not sure that LT does that much better last night with what BJ had to work with. The Jags wanted to stop the run at the risk of giving up the pass - which BF exploited. There are things to work on, of course, but last night, overall, the 1st offense was a success.

If you read the interviews from Jax players after the game, it was clear they did'nt do any game-planning for GB. All the teams we play early on have good to great run D's. They will game-plan.

I've watched the 1st half 4 times and our line did not do well with the run game. It was the same shit as last year where the back-side comes free. You cannot win if you can't run the ball on a consistent basis and we can't.

[Harlan Huckleby]

As far as our running game, the line wasn't nearly as much to blame as was Jackson. Jackson didn't make the right decisions.

I agree 100%. Didn't Jackson come out early in the draft? He doesn't even have that much experience as a starter in college ball. I expect he is going to improve throughout the year.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Nah, the running backs that just get what the oline gives them get cut, or are back in the depth chart. Jackson has to get better or the packers are screwed. Every team needs a featured back who can work some magic.

Ummm... I didn't mean he could never make a guy miss or never break a tackle. However, in the grand scheme of things, 95% of RBs will have good stats if their OL blocks well. They won't if their OL doesn't block well. Shaun Alexander was MVP two years ago. They lost Steve Hutchinson, and he looked prettty ordinary last year--even before he got injured. Jamal Lewis has run for 2000 yards when his blocking was good. Not so good otherwise. Ahman Green has looked ordinary in many games. Great in others. Depended mostly on the blocking.

I think Jackson has good cutting ability, and he broke tackles last week. He showed both abilities on the videos from his college days. He's looked good on the runs he got blocking. Most of the time he hasn't had room. I came away thing our run blocking was poor last night, and that worries more than anything else. Unlike you, I don't think there were a ton of holes last night that he missed out on. Seems like we had this conversation about Ahman Green a lot last year. Some people would argue that Ahman wasn't any good anymore. Some others thought the run blocking was poor. Most likely a combination.

I haven't seen many obvious holes that he's missed out on--although I've seen a couple of runs like that. I saw Ahman miss some last year though too. This kid isn't Ahman in his prime, but I don't think he'll be a huge disappointment nor a stud this year. I think he'll be a Dominic Rhodes-type back.

[Harlan Huckleby]

95% of RBs will have good stats if their OL blocks well. They won't if their OL doesn't block well.

Its true, almost no running backs are successful when the defense is getting penetration. And a generic running back can probably get get good stats behind excellent blocking.

Ahman Green's forte was yardage after contact. He didn't necessarily plow-over the defenders, but he bounced forward and regularly turned 3 yard gains into 5 yard gains. Corey White has a similar running style, but will never be able to do that, even if Corey White can get good stats behind great blocking.

It's a chicken or egg argument. John Elway won a super bowl when he got a SPECIAL running back to complement him. Shaun Alexander is special. Most Super Bowl teams, and play off teams for that matter, have a special back.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Ahman Green's forte was yardage after contact. He didn't necessarily plow-over the defenders, but he bounced forward and regularly turned 3 yard gains into 5 yard gains. Corey White has a similar running style, but will never be able to do that, even if Corey White can get good stats behind great blocking.

Ahman, in his prime, was a special RB. He might have been the greatest runner in Packers history. Maybe second or third behind two Hall of Famers. This kid isn't going to be that. However, Ahman wasn't that last year. He basically got what the OL gave him--outside of his one long run against Miami.

[Harlan Huckleby]

I agree, that's why i didn't care that they lost him.

And Houston doesn't have a special running back now either.

I think Chicago has one, Benson. They had two last year.

Jackson may be special. They NEED him to become special.