Good, Bad, Ugly, Harrell

[Cheesehead Craig]

Collins played a real nice game today. Didn't get beat deep and came up huge on that 4th down run early on. Showed some real speed there.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Collins played a real nice game today. Didn't get beat deep and came up huge on that 4th down run early on. Showed some real speed there.

He also made the play on Bigby's interception. Terrific play there. He made about 3 or 4 outstanding plays. Bigby blitzed more and was effective. Harrell was solid.

As for Crosby, I'm not sure a 52 yarder into the wind at Lambeau in December is that makeable. If it is, any attempt is makeable. I thought that was a poor decision by McCarthy there.

[BallHawk]

As for Crosby, I'm not sure a 52 yarder into the wind at Lambeau in December is that makeable. If it is, any attempt is makeable. I thought that was a poor decision by McCarthy there.

Agreed. That'd be a questionable playcall if you had Robbie Gould as your kicker, yet alone a rookie.

[Joemailman]

Collins played a real nice game today. Didn't get beat deep and came up huge on that 4th down run early on. Showed some real speed there.

That was an unbelievable play. Looked like Hawk was going to get the tackle, and then Collins came flying into the picture. I think next year a safety combo of Collins and Rouse could be special.

[pbmax]

Harrell looked fine, made a nice play moving down the line to his left, squeezing the hole and hitting the RB. Went for four, but as there was space, if he doesn't get there, the RB could cut and go long.

I saw him walk the guard backward during one rush. Needs to be on the field more so he can learn how to be consistent.

Unnecessary roughness is a true judgment call. If Jenkins was for Hochuli's crew, I don't know how Sapp's Clifton hit wasn't. Unless its just a protect the QB thing.

[MJZiggy]

I thought they said today that the rule got tweaked after Sapp hit Clifton...

[The Leaper]

As for Crosby, I'm not sure a 52 yarder into the wind at Lambeau in December is that makeable. If it is, any attempt is makeable. I thought that was a poor decision by McCarthy there.

I don't think it was a poor decision. Crosby has the leg to get it there...and had enough distance on that kick and only missed by a couple of feet.

I agree that is certainly wasn't a given...maybe Crosby hits that kick 4 out of 10 times. However, I think it was worth taking the chance rather than try to convert a 4th down that I think had 3 or 4 yards left. The chances of converting that aren't much better than 4 out of 10 either...and you don't get 3 points for it.

[The Leaper]

The Jenkins personal foul was a good one. No reason at all to go after a QB like that. I realize it's football and guys get hit, but the refs protect QBs and Jenkins should have known that.

I agree...but it is still a stupid rule. The last time I checked, the QB was still a football player. If they throw an INT, and are wandering around in the general vicinity of a runback in la-la land, they deserve to get blasted.

Did Jenkins give him a good lick? Yeah. It did not seem over-the-top though. Jenkins could've laid the kid out for 12 months like Sapp did to Clifton if he had wanted to. That was where I took issue with the Sapp hit...he was clearly looking to hurt Clifton by launching through him. I didn't see that in the Jenkins block. He leveled the guy, but he didn't drive through him in a way that would lead to a major injury.

However, you are correct that with the current rules, the defensive guys have to know the QB is virtually off-limits after an INT in terms of knocking them to the ground.

[chain_gang]

As for Crosby, I'm not sure a 52 yarder into the wind at Lambeau in December is that makeable. If it is, any attempt is makeable. I thought that was a poor decision by McCarthy there.

I don't think it was a poor decision. Crosby has the leg to get it there...and had enough distance on that kick and only missed by a couple of feet.

I agree that is certainly wasn't a given...maybe Crosby hits that kick 4 out of 10 times. However, I think it was worth taking the chance rather than try to convert a 4th down that I think had 3 or 4 yards left. The chances of converting that aren't much better than 4 out of 10 either...and you don't get 3 points for it.

I agree take a chance on a long field goal. We were already up big, Oakland hadn't done much on O all day, and it gives our rookie kicker some experience trying to boot a long fg in the cold, during game situations to prepare him for later down the road, when we may need one. Only way he gets used to kicking in lambeau is by doing it.

Question?
Are they doing like Crosby's Fg kicking outside during the week, or is he kicking inside? I know longwell used to practice Fg's outside once the weather turned cold. If they're not, maybe they should, and they kickoffs also.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I just felt that the FG wasn't needed. Crosby had missed a makeable FG earlier, but rebounded and made his second. I felt there was a good chance he'd miss. Confidence in a kicker is fragile. I thought it'd be better to leave him with good vibes after his make. Now, he has to wonder why he missed 2 of 3--even though both were long kicks in tough conditions.

[The Leaper]

Now, he has to wonder why he missed 2 of 3--even though both were long kicks in tough conditions.

He won't question the second miss. He hit the ball well on that one...just missed by a couple feet on a 52 yarder. Outdoors, in 20 degree weather, into the wind...missing by a couple feet from 52 isn't going to shake your confidence if you are worth a damn.

The first miss was ugly. He needed to make another kick into the wind just to get that first one off his mind. The second one, even if missed, will give Crosby confidence that he has plenty of leg and doesn't need to overkick it.

[Merlin]

I didn't see anything out of Harrell today that made me go "wow". He looked average to below average. I would expect a lot more from a #1 pick who has basically had all season to learn and get stronger (2 seasons to get stronger). I am seeing a Jamal Reynold's type of player right now. Looks good for a few snaps, then looks below average. And then, gets injured. The only blessing is that Harrell didn't get injured. But he has also pretty much been injured the past two years.

I will give him another season to get it together but I am not holding my breath on this one.

[Partial]

2 seasons to get stronger?!??!??

What on earth are you talking about? He couldn't lift until right before the combine and even then he was held out by McCarthy out of off-season lifting workouts.

[Zool]

2 seasons to get stronger?!??!??

What on earth are you talking about? He couldn't lift until right before the combine and even then he was held out by McCarthy out of off-season lifting workouts.

P, just let it go man. Stop playing the game, unless you like the game. Then by all means keep going. Keeps the forum interesting.

[Merlin]

I wish I cared enough to bring up the "Rayner is horrible" threads from last season after he missed some FG's ugly in the cold. I guarantee what was said about him was way worse then what has been said about Crosby to this point.

And that in a nutshell is the only issue I have with the posters here. They get all high and mighty with their drivel and then when something like this happens, not a one of them will step up and say "I was wrong".

Face it, Crosby had almost no wind and missed one FG horribly and then on a kickoff from the 45, he dropped the ball on what? The 5 yard line? Why wasn't the ball kicked into the stands?

He didn't look good yesterday (and not the first game he didn't look good either) and for those of you who are sitting there going "but but but but" and were all over Rayner for the same thing, it's time to grow up.

Or are you going to go back to the first game of the season and his game winning field goal and hang onto that? It doesn't matter the excuse you want to pull out of your ass, these problems are eerily familiar...