Official Winners & Losers of Week 2

[4and12to12and4]

Jennings won't lose his job.

Driver plays the flanker normally, Jennings plays the split end. Driver is the better receiver and is better at beating jams so he lines up as a back.

Right now, Driver is playing split end and Jones is playing flanker. I guess it is probably helping Jones beat press coverage, but DD is their big play receiver and he isn't the first option on these passes with Jennings out.

Once Jennings is healthy, he'll be a great #2 option, and Driver/Jennings will play the slot, Jones will play the flanker, and the other will play the split end.

With Jennings smoothness, DDs effectiveness after the catch, and JJ's physicality, that is a pretty solid 3 receiver set.

Comletely agree; Jennings is a more fluent route runner and is faster than Jones. Jones should be much more effective when Jennings has the 2nd best CB covering him It will be nice when that day comes

If Jennings doesn't get back soon he will have to win his job back before he can lose it. He has been a nonfactor since game 5 last season. It doesn't matter how fast or fluid he is if he is on the sidelines or hampered by yet another injury. At some point they will have to plan without him.

Maybe I"m wrong, but I thought he was relatively healthy in college. But I agree he needs to step up and do so fast; my hope is if he's near health he takes off next week and comes back strong the last thirteen games

Dead on. In fact, there were articles written with him quoting why he stayed injury free due to the way he moves and adjusts his body to avoid real hard tackles. However, these are bigger, stronger defenders running after him now. Time will tell. Hamstring injurys happen all the time. But, when you're injured in both years out of college, it does start to make you wonder if we've got another Fergy on our hands. Hopefully not.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Dead on. In fact, there were articles written with him quoting why he stayed injury free due to the way he moves and adjusts his body to avoid real hard tackles. However, these are bigger, stronger defenders running after him now. Time will tell. Hamstring injurys happen all the time. But, when you're injured in both years out of college, it does start to make you wonder if we've got another Fergy on our hands. Hopefully not.

I think this is fair.

[Patler]

Dead on. In fact, there were articles written with him quoting why he stayed injury free due to the way he moves and adjusts his body to avoid real hard tackles. However, these are bigger, stronger defenders running after him now. Time will tell. Hamstring injurys happen all the time. But, when you're injured in both years out of college, it does start to make you wonder if we've got another Fergy on our hands. Hopefully not.

I think this is fair.

Young players in all sports also have to learn that as a professional, once the season starts, you are rarely ever completely healthy. They all have to learn to play with injuries both big and small. I'm not suggesting his hamstring is one that he could play with. This very well could be the medical staff being cautious with him. However, there were comments last year that the ankle injury he had and the way he allowed it to take him out of his game was a rookie's approach to being a professional and one that he needed to learn to get beyond. Luckily, he has a great example to follow in Donald Driver. In a walking cast on Wednesday, start the game on Sunday!

[Fritz]

That was a pretty damn good throw by Manning on the Bigby play. If that ball is in any other spot, he probably doesn't complete it. It happens. Look at the long throw from Favre to Jones. The defense wasn't bad. If the threw is off a little, it gets picked. Favre threw it in his breadbasket from 40+ yards away.

I don't doubt the throw. It was spot on. I'm just saying I would expect our safety to come up with a PD on that play, given how he had time and was facing the ball. I wasn't heartbroken about the defense on the play. I just wouldn't praise Bigby was all I was saying.

Skin that is one creepy avatar.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Young players in all sports also have to learn that as a professional, once the season starts, you are rarely ever completely healthy. They all have to learn to play with injuries both big and small. I'm not suggesting his hamstring is one that he could play with.

McCarthy said this week that Jennings had a setback last week because he wasn't honest with the medical staff (pushing to play). Sounds like a guy that wants to play through injuries--like he did last year. Unfortunately, that also means that, when you do play hurt, there are times you aren't going to be near the player you'd be at 100%.

[Patler]

Young players in all sports also have to learn that as a professional, once the season starts, you are rarely ever completely healthy. They all have to learn to play with injuries both big and small. I'm not suggesting his hamstring is one that he could play with.

McCarthy said this week that Jennings had a setback last week because he wasn't honest with the medical staff (pushing to play). Sounds like a guy that wants to play through injuries--like he did last year. Unfortunately, that also means that, when you do play hurt, there are times you aren't going to be near the player you'd be at 100%.

Yes, he played last year, but I remember a comment from one of the coaches after the season that implied Jennings let the injury bother him too much. He let it change the way he played. It was sort of a "He needs to toughen up" type of comment.

That was the point I was trying to make. It's one thing to be on the field. It's another to play well, even when injured. Jennings played, but he did not necessarily play well the last 10 games or so last year.

The real test is not whether he wants to play, or even whether he actually does play. The test is whether he plays just as well when injured (or at least as well as the injury will allow). Jennings did not show that last year, at least based on the comment I read from one of the coaches.

[Fritz]

I really liked what Jennings flashed at the beginning of last year, and so I am concerned that he cannot seem to stay on the field. I am reluctantly okay with him sitting out one more week if it means he's going to be back afterward and up to snuff, but I am concerned with this issue of his health.

Having him, Driver, and Jones in the lineup at the same time might actually create some matchup problems for other teams.

[LaFours]

Way to go Nutz! Looks like you ripped this stuff off of some dude on another forum.

[Joemailman]

I don't think Al Harris played very well, and I'd have left him out of the winners discussion. Didn't he get two flags and get beat badly for the TD?

Who brought up Al Harris as a winner? His play and Woodson's play was average on Sunday.

Under the Team Defense sub-section in Winners you wrote "Al Harris gave up a touchdown in the second quarter to Burris, but other than that had good coverage most of the day."

I thought Al's play was a little less than avearage for him.

I think Burris is a tough match up for any corner due to his height and overall size. Harris plays a physical game and that can lead to giving up a play here and a play there against a big athletic receiver. Harris had to have his hands on him otherwise he would have been beaten like a mule all day. two penalties on a guy like Burris isn't great but it isn't horrible.

I thought Bigby's help on the TD was terrific. That ball just barely got over him. I'd be tempted to lump Bigby in with the winners.

According to Leroy Butler, Packers were in "Quarters" coverage, so Burris was Bigby's man to cover:

A: This is real easy. Quarters coverage is if you take the football field and split it into four quarters. Both cornerbacks have the outside quarters of the field and cover the two wide receivers. The two safeties are 8 to 12 yards deep. It's four across the board. I'll cover the guy who comes in my quarters you cover the guy in your quarters. For example, the Packers were in a quarters coverage when Plaxico Burress scored on that post route. He got behind Atari Bigby. He has to play deep to short. Everybody has a quarter and if Plaxico had gone back out to the corner it would have been the cornerback's man, Al Harris. But he was throwing it to Bigby's quarter. That's not on Al Harris, it's on the safety. There should be no deep passes completed in quarters coverage. Everything should be in front of you.