Biggest Questions that Remain?

[ND72]

Darren Sharper was one of the best safeties in the NFL in the early 2000s, and yet there were plenty of Packer fans who thought he sucked.

That was me. Darren Sharper still makes big plays, but rarely when they are needed....and, he gives up big time TD's, first to Randy Moss...now to Donald Driver

[ND72]

Why is Collins getting beat up on?

He takes some questionable angles and, as we saw against the Bears and Desmond Clark, will end up in the wrong area on a play.

see, i have to disagree with that. I watched a Madison packer show that showed that Green Bay was "Man Over"...but Collins was man on Benson, while Bigby was the "Over" in the middle of the field. They playfaked to Benson, which brought Collins in cause that's his man, and Brady POOPinga was man on Clark (which any team with a TE needs to love that we put POOP on the TE). POOP sucked in on the playaction, and only Collins reacted to Clark running downfield, which by then was way too late.

[Carolina_Packer]

Yeah, and I don't think BP was just being gentlemanly to his teammate and taking the blame so that Nick wouldn't be lambasted. Why would you do that, otherwise, unless it was the truth and you felt bad that it was the deciding play of the game.

[retailguy]

For me, I'm absolutely flabbergasted that the Packers are 5-1. I still have difficulty believing it is true and that I'm not living in some parallel universe, or the focus of the next Candid Camera episode.

Yeah, I've got concerns with the run game, but more so with the OL. I just am not feeling good about the long term ability to run block. Yes, the pass blocking has been stellar, but the run blocking has been abysmal, or worse. The running backs would be adequate with better blocking. I'm not sure any of them will ever be superior, but I guess they all have talent, or they wouldn't be in the NFL, so, we'll see. I firmly believe that a lot of the "stars" in the NFL got there, not necessarily because they are superior athletes, but because they were placed in the right situation at the right time, and unlike the failures in the NFL, they knew how to capitalize on that moment. So, our running situation is dire, but not hopeless. Wynn has more talent than the average 7th rounder, still concerned about his work ethic, but, he seems to be the best hope for 2007. Jackson has more long term potential but he's really banged up, and Morency is/and always was/ stop gap. The OL needed clear coaching to switch to a pulling scheme if that's what they're really doing, or coaching to teach them how to properly cut block if they're not. So that's on Philbin and his staff.

My biggest concern for the remainder of 2007 comes when some opposing defense finds the "blueprint" on how to stop our short pass WC offense. It will happen, there are a lot of talented coaches out there that we face the rest of the year. I really thought that Greg Williams would figure it out, and I thought he had the secondary to pull it off, but, he really didn't bring too much. That surprised me. Lovie pulled it off, but not with anything dramatic or unusual.

Point is, I believe someone will figure out how to stop the short pass. We're playing really one dimensional right now. If an opposing defense figures out how to take away the short pass, will the running game be able to pick up the slack? No defense can take it all away. Figuring out what to do when the Packers face that situation is the "catalyst" towards playoffs in 2007. I think that call rests with McCarthy and his staff. If they have a plan for this, and it happens, and their plan works, this team is in great shape, and I'll have a major mea culpa to give very soon. If not, we could be in for a roller coaster ride... Either way, it promises to be a fun remainder of 2007.... Much better than what I had predicted, either way.

Now back to the parallel universe concerns...

[4and12to12and4]

Greg Williams did figure it out, our offense only scored 10 points.

[4and12to12and4]

Why is Collins getting beat up on?

He takes some questionable angles and, as we saw against the Bears and Desmond Clark, will end up in the wrong area on a play.

He makes some really great plays, like the INT return against the Bears in the final games last year. But then again, he's dropped at least 2 INTs this year that he should of had.
Collins isn't playing badly, but he can do so much better. If he was just "a guy" I wouldn't get on his case as much. But Nick is so athletically talented that he should be playing at such a higher level. I, as many do, have high expectations for him.

All DB's drop potential interceptions, that's why they are DB's and not WR's.

[Carolina_Packer]

For me, I'm absolutely flabbergasted that the Packers are 5-1. I still have difficulty believing it is true and that I'm not living in some parallel universe, or the focus of the next Candid Camera episode.

Yeah, I've got concerns with the run game, but more so with the OL. I just am not feeling good about the long term ability to run block. Yes, the pass blocking has been stellar, but the run blocking has been abysmal, or worse. The running backs would be adequate with better blocking. I'm not sure any of them will ever be superior, but I guess they all have talent, or they wouldn't be in the NFL, so, we'll see. I firmly believe that a lot of the "stars" in the NFL got there, not necessarily because they are superior athletes, but because they were placed in the right situation at the right time, and unlike the failures in the NFL, they knew how to capitalize on that moment. So, our running situation is dire, but not hopeless. Wynn has more talent than the average 7th rounder, still concerned about his work ethic, but, he seems to be the best hope for 2007. Jackson has more long term potential but he's really banged up, and Morency is/and always was/ stop gap. The OL needed clear coaching to switch to a pulling scheme if that's what they're really doing, or coaching to teach them how to properly cut block if they're not. So that's on Philbin and his staff.

My biggest concern for the remainder of 2007 comes when some opposing defense finds the "blueprint" on how to stop our short pass WC offense. It will happen, there are a lot of talented coaches out there that we face the rest of the year. I really thought that Greg Williams would figure it out, and I thought he had the secondary to pull it off, but, he really didn't bring too much. That surprised me. Lovie pulled it off, but not with anything dramatic or unusual.

Point is, I believe someone will figure out how to stop the short pass. We're playing really one dimensional right now. If an opposing defense figures out how to take away the short pass, will the running game be able to pick up the slack? No defense can take it all away. Figuring out what to do when the Packers face that situation is the "catalyst" towards playoffs in 2007. I think that call rests with McCarthy and his staff. If they have a plan for this, and it happens, and their plan works, this team is in great shape, and I'll have a major mea culpa to give very soon. If not, we could be in for a roller coaster ride... Either way, it promises to be a fun remainder of 2007.... Much better than what I had predicted, either way.

Now back to the parallel universe concerns...

Yeah, as someone posted after you, I think for the last 6 quarters, they have figured out how to defense the Packers offense. I put this in the original post: Here's the article with the Tampa2 illustration: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=676160