SB Nation - Atari Bigby

Packers-Ravens Retroactive Live-Blog

Mitchell_M — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:13:49 -0000

It's been two months since I've really been active on the site. For some of you, that is a terrible tragedy. For many, many more, it is a source of endless joy. But today I decided to cater to the minority and make my presence known by throwing a mini-fiesta with my DVR, a bowl of Reese's Puffs, and a strong pot of coffee.

Before we get going with the retroactive live-blog, let me just share some of the knowledge I've gained over the course of working for 80 out of a possible 168 hours in a week:

There are few things more traumatic than the transition from college-life to real-life. I imagine it's somewhat like being born, except you're slightly more conscious and slightly less sticky.

Unlike most co-eds, I worked my way through and avoided drinking my way out of school, but nothing can truly prepare you for the real world. There's chores? You have to do them, otherwise you're living in filth. There's bills? You have to pay them, otherwise a large Italian gentleman will break your ribs. There's family gatherings you'd rather not attend? You have to go to them, because you don't have the homework excuse anymore.

Real life blows, I'm going to grad school.
Trying to keep in shape? Don't work overnights. You will have no energy whatsoever during the daytime hours. I play basketball to keep myself in shape and satisfy my over-competitiveness, and I love it. But I haven't played in two months, and I've gotten noticably soft. Amazing, considering I've lost weight.
Dry spells. Guys, when women say that they're too tired, it's generally a toss-up between them actually being tired and not wanting to deal with you. When a guy says it? Definitely tired.
Caffeine has an odd effect after consuming too much for it. The most noticeable symptom is when you're lying down after finally getting home and you get the ringing in the ears. It keeps me up for at least half an hour, and my mom (who worked 3rd shift for over a decade) says it doesn't go away. Awesome.
Watching sports is a major hassle. Not only do I miss the majority of my Sunday NFL-watching, but working nights has ruined any chance I have of watching any NBA games during the week. DVR has been my best friend, but it somehow isn't enough.

On to the live-blog! I DVR'd this last night and watched it immediately as I got home. I did not check the score at any time on Monday night, and I have no knowledge whatsoever of the outcome. Enjoy!

Pre-game observations:

I forgot how cool of an environment Lambeau is on national TV at night. Other cities have their stadiums surrounded by other big buildings with big, bright lights, but Lambeau sort of stands alone in the still-tiny Green Bay. It's kind of cool, even though it's quaint.
Another thing I forgot? Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski are still in the MNF booth. Let's put it this way: it took roughly two minutes for Gruden to make the first (of what I predict will be many) "Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood" jokes. Ugh.
Ed Reed is announced as inactive for the game. Good timing to get the Ravens without their ball-hawk extraordinaire, not to mention good time by ESPN's cameras, who immediately cut to Reed spitting an enormous loogie. Between that and the beard, he looks like a homeless guy (who makes roughly 100,000x my salary).
Ray Lewis may have lost a step or four, but he's still quite the motivational speaker. It's like if Lil' Jon was coherent and dread-less.
The Nike Kobe and LeBron puppets are back. Frowny-face.
And here comes the Ray Rice love. Am I pleasantly surprised by my alma mater's best football product? Yes. Am I ecstatic to have drafted him (against my then-better judgement) in the ninth round of my keeper league? Yes and yes.

Alright, enough of that. Let's play some ball, gentlemen.

First Quarter!

15:00 - Green Bay receives, and Jordy Nelson avoids both tacklers and fumble-itis all the way to the 43-yard line. Decent start.

14:34 - A play-action draw pass? Sounds terrible, but it gained 7.

13:59 - So that's why we still have Brandon Jackson. Excellent scramble by Rodgers to find Jackson in the flat for the first down.

12:44 - Ravens call a timeout (symptom of missing Ed Reed #1), and the next thing we see is Jimmy Football. If someone were to kick him in the groin, I would not object. Extra points for wearing a Billy Mays mask and demanding royalties from Budweiser.

12:32 - ESPN shows a graphic illustrating Aaron Rodgers' awesomeness on 3rd down, and he promptly finds James Jones for a first down. Outstanding blitz pickup by both Chad Clifton (the blocker) and Scott Wells (the center).

11:22 - Korey Hall and Josh Sitton pancake Ray Lewis, opening a hole for Grant to gain a first down. In other news, Did you know that Ryan Grant is 8th in the league in rushing yards? When did that happen?

10:08 - ESPN continues the Rodgers love-fest by displaying his red-zone stats. Apparently, he has 30 TDs and 0 INTs over the past two seasons when inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Yikes.

9:17 - Mark Tauscher comes up with a tipped pass and gets tackled for a loss. I'd criticize his decision to catch it versus batting it down, but whenever linemen get the ball, they seem so damn happy. I can't ruin it for him.

8:41 - Mason Crosby nearly shanks a 28-yarder. The Green Bay offense stalls in the red zone again, settling for the "easy" 3. Sadly, neither are surprises this season.

8:30 - Le'Ron McClain's smile is hilarious. Mark Clayton looks like 50 Cent. I can't wait to see the offensive linemen.

8:30 - And for good reason. Not only is Marshal Yanda's name funny, but he looks like an uncomfortable 7th grader who hasn't gotten used to his new body yet.

7:40 - Good containment on Ray Rice in the flat, but not good enough. First down, Baltimore.

7:01 - Flacco tightropes for a just-barely first down after being flushed out of the pocket. He may have looked like an idiot doing it, but it was probably better than getting pasted by Cullen Jenkins. I'll make fun of him either way.

5:05 - Bad decision by Nick Collins to go for the pick instead of batting down the ball. Another first down for Baltimore.

4:18 - Well, a fumble recovery certainly absolves Collins of any wrongdoing on the previous play. Clay Matthews is closing in on the "if a huge defensive play happens he must've had something to do with it" status currently held by Charles Woodson.

4:08 - Ryan Grant tries to return the favor, but his right knee looked like it could be down. Maybe. Possibly. Could go either way. This time, it goes the Packers' way.

3:48 - A great play by Dominique Foxworth that was (un)fortunately flagged as interference. The replay shows a grab or two, but probably

3:39 - No matter, Rodgers throws it directly to Tom ~~I-can't-spell-his-last-name-unless-I-check-the-recap-which-will-ruin-the-ending~~ Zbikowski.

2:06 - Now that's how you commit pass interference! Thanks ~~Atari Bigby~~ Tramon Williams! /facepalm

1:52 - Nick Collins makes everyone forget about Williams' transgression by picking off an ill-advised flea-flicker pass into quadruple coverage. Yeah, Flacco shouldn't have done that.

0:00 - An underwhelming first quarter filled with above-average defense and one boneheaded interception for both sides. 3-0, Green Bay.

Second Quarter!

14:52 - B.J. Raji sheds a block and drops Ray Rice for a big loss. Lucky he didn't get called for face masking, but a good play nonetheless.

14:12 - Derrick Mason just barely misses a catchable ball to force 4th down. I thought veteran receivers were supposed to make that play? I guess having Donald Driver on your team gives you a skewed expectation for aging wideouts.

13:14 - Great adjustment by James Jones to come back and grab the ball for a first down. He's definitely taken control of the 3rd WR spot on this team lately.

11:59 - By my count, that's three catches in this game that Jennings should have had but failed to come up with. This troubles me.

11:55 - Punting inside the 50-yard line? Greg Easterbrook would be appalled, then proceed to write a 10,000 word article about it. Shoot, if I included random interstellar factoids, referred to certain teams by ridiculous self-coined nicknames, and added superfluous cheerleader facts that allowed me to post their photos, I'd be Greg Easterbrook.

11:13 - Trey Wingo informs us that Jimmy Clausen will be entering the 2010 NFL Draft. Brady Quinn advises him to stay in school.

11:06 - Charles Woodson gets busted for mauling Derrick Mason. The groping wasn't necessary, Chuck.

11:01 - Clay Matthews asserts himself all over Joe Flacco. Jared Gaither doesn't know what just happened.

10:21 - Offsides on Clay Matthews? Jared Gaither claims to know what happened on the previous play.

9:48 - I know Jordy Nelson was dynamite at Kansas State, but I haven't seen enough promise out of him to merit keeping him on punt returns. Then again, it's more important to keep Woodson and Williams fresh, and Will Blackmon made his yearly trip to I.R. early this season.

8:30 - Haloti Ngata owns Daryn Colledge to drop Ryan Grant at the line. I wonder how long until Colledge loses his spot?

7:51 - It's plays like this that got Frank Walker traded. Thanks for the yardage!

7:42 - Ahman Green exhibits remarkable blitz pickup to spring Jermichael Finley on a big gain. Mike Tirico noted this, and Gruden promptly refers to him as Brandon Jackson (twice!) before correcting himself.

5:08 - Jermichael Finley makes another big play, thanks to another great third down throw from Rodgers. First and goal, Packers.

4:35 - I'm no psychic, but as soon as I saw Finley split out wide, I saw the quick fade coming. Fantastic throw, outstanding catch, b-e-a-utiful play. 10-0, Packers.

4:35 - I just remembered my fantasy football situation. Going into this week, three teams in my division were 7-5, with me among them. I play one of them this week and the other next week, and the other already has his victory wrapped up. I'm up 130-24 in a game I need to win to move into a tie for first place and help secure a playoff spot next week (the final week of the season). My opponent has Aaron Rodgers, Jermichael Finley, and the Packers defense playing. I have Ray Rice. Man, am I glad that his other players (Adrian Peterson, Reggie Wayne, Ricky Williams) all laid eggs.

2:00 - The two-minute warning comes up, and Mike Tirico just got done "highlighting" the Packers' 38-28 loss to Tampa Bay. In the team meeting the described, he said that the offensive line stood up and said something to the effect of "hey, you have to help us out too". I hope I misheard him.

1:50 - Rodgers gets the first on a sneak, and a fight nearly breaks out because Brandon Jackson is protecting Rodgers from what he thought was a late hit. Whether he was right or wrong, it is nice to see that kind of fight in your team.

1:24 - Donald Driver goes flying, earning Baltimore its 11th pass interference penalty on the year, leading the league.

1:18 - Green Bay ruins the momentum by giving up their first sack of the game. /facepalm

1:09 - And Rodgers gets it right back with a 20-yard scramble right up the middle. I take back my /facepalm.

0:38 - Rodgers delivers a Jon-Gruden-Quarterback-Fraternity-Approved LASER to Greg Jennings' back shoulder. Nice, except for Gruden's rambling.

0:32 - Rodgers connects with Donald Driver for a score, punctuated by two acrobatic leaps by Driver (one into the end zone, one into the stands). The Packer fan in me is ecstatic: the fantasy football owner is frantic.

0:00 - A solid defensive stand by Green Bay keeps the shutout alive. 17-0 Green Bay, at the half.

Halftime observations:

None. I have to be at work again in 8 hours (as of 1 PM), and I haven't slept yet. But the score doesn't lie. This game is totally worth staying up for.

Third Quarter!

14:07 - I don't know how they practiced for the past week and a half, but Green Bay is absolutely starving Ray Rice. He's trying his damndest, but he can't make anything happen. Why'd I start him against the #1 defense again?

12:31 - Brad Jones notches a sack from the strong side. Rookie 7th round pick? No matter. Boring name? Who cares? Buried on the depth chart? Not for long, I hope.

12:05 - Ryan Grant doesn't gain a ton of yards on this play, but it looks as if he's churning his legs and fighting for extra yardage more than I'm used to seeing from him. Did anyone else notice this?

9:57 - Rodgers gets time in the pocket, makes even more time, dances around, and finally gets sacked. Somehow, the play is negated by an illegal hands-to-the-face penalty. It seems like one of those games for Green Bay tonight.

9:30 - Then Scott Wells gets called for holding. Yep, it's definitely one of those games for Green Bay tonight, even if the score doesn't reflect it.

9:04 - Wow, I'm going to stop complaining about stupid penalties. I almost feel bad for Ravens fans. P.I. number twelve on the year for Baltimore.

8:27 - Jermichael Finley re-injures his knee. Not at all happy to see that.

8:23 - Nice connection to Driver that results in a fumble that quite possibly could be ruled an incompletion, if it was reviewed. Blah, a 17-0 lead in the third quarter shouldn't be this frustrating.

8:01 - Jon Gruden: "Somebody has to rescue the Ravens' offense right now." Yeah, that's Ray Rice's job, and he didn't come in today.

7:50 - As if on cue, Ray Rice rips off a big run. Jon Gruden gets to feel smart, and I lose a little bit of my soul.

6:07 - Jon Gruden praises Charles Woodson's ball-raking ability. The adolescent-me giggles uncontrollably.

5:18 - "Nobody strips a ball like Charles Woodson!" Adolescent-me is now crying with laughter.

5:13 - Todd Heap drops a sure-fire 1st and goal, then Tramon Williams forces Mark Clayton to drop one in the end zone with a slightly-more sneaky arm bar. Illegal? Yes. Effective? Absolutely, that's why it's illegal.

3:35 - I don't know what the refs were talking about before this drive, but they are letting the defense play. You don't see many drives last this long against a defense that's getting away with everything.

3:28 - A free play and a Kelley Washington touchdown deflates the stadium. The play gets challenged, but I'm skeptical.

3:28 - Modern Warfare 2 commercial, set to Eminem's "Til I Collapse". Best 30 seconds of non-football I've seen today. Get that game, if you can handle it.

3:28 - Turns out that I was right; the score stands. Green Bay is out of challenges for the game, unless of course they used the item cheat and got one for free. 17-7, Packers.

3:22 - Evan Dietrich-Smith comes up with the kickoff. My immediate thought: "This cannot end well." Of course he fumbled, but Green Bay was lucky enough to regain possession.

3:14 - Jared Johnson gets an interception off of Driver's shin. I'm not liking this third quarter. Too much bad mojo.

3:07 - More bad mojo with Tramon Williams' P.I. in the end zone. Actually, this one is relatively tame compared to other plays the refs have allowed tonight (today?).

2:58 - Willis McGahee pushes his fantasy-irrelevant self in from the 1. Makes my Ray Rice decision feel even better. 17-14, Packers. /double facepalm

2:43 - Jennings manages a nice gain on a 3rd and 10 slant. I was just about to start considering wondering whether or not Green Bay was possibly maybe starting to lose it.

1:52- Ray Lewis nearly decapitates Greg Jennings, and the flag takes forever to come in. But it does, which is all that matters.

0:42 - A Mark Tauscher hold takes Green Bay out of the red zone the same way they got in: on the yellow cloth road.

0:00 - I knew this game seemed too sloppy to be a blowout. 17-14, Packers, but our guys are in scoring position.

Fourth Quarter!

14:50 - Mason Crosby shanks a field goal, leaving the drive with nothing to show for it. Same score, same story. I sure hope the defense can regain its first-half composure.

13:53 - Flacco unleashes the dragon deep, Derrick Mason gets past Charles Woodson and makes the catch over him, but somehow got called for offensive pass interference. At this point, I don't know which team is trying to give the other team more breaks, honestly. And an unsportsmanlike penalty on Mason is tacked on at the end of it. A huge gain turns into a huge loss in a heartbeat. 3rd and 32 (!).

13:05 - So of course Baltimore decides to run the ball and Ray Rice nearly fumbles. Green Bay gets the ball back with decent field position.

12:30 - And here comes the replay of the Mason interference/unsportsmanlike penalties. There was definitely a hook-and-push around Woodson's waist, and Mason follows up that number with a plea for leniency to the referee. Pretty standard, right? Nah, just kidding, he pretty much shouted in the ref's face, "What the f--- was that, man?" Yeah, that's a flaggin'.

10:31 - Jermichael Finley gets another touchdown after a couple of nice short passes to get within 20 yards. Aaron Rodgers' red-zone stats improve, Jermichael gets the "Mr. Monday Night" nickname, my fantasy team starts to quiver in terror, and the score jumps to 24-14, Packers.

10:21 - Ah, Green Bay special teams, you never cease to disgust me. A massive kick return puts the Ravens deep into Green Bay territory. Then again, how hard is it to juke out Mason Crosby? The goalposts do it to him on a weekly basis.

9:46 - Tramon Williams earns yet another pass interference flag in the end zone. I thought there was a cap to how many times a player could get flagged for the same thing over and over?

/conveniently forgetting the Ahmad Carroll era

9:30 - How? How? How does a cornerback make that play? Tell me how Charles Woodson just stopped McGahee when he had a massive opening to go through? Between that and flustering the Ravens to the point of calling a timeout, I'm pretty sure Charles Woodson should gain an edge for the DPOY award after tonight.

8:47 - Joe Flacco rolls nearly 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage, avoids a sack, and tosses it nicely into Tramon Williams hands. Mike Tirico exclaimed "That is terrible!" as the ball was still in the air! I cannot believe Flacco made that throw. Downright Bad Favre-esque. Kudos to Williams for not retreating into the fetal position after all the penalties tonight.

8:38 - Still trying to figure out the last three plays of that Baltimore drive. Tackle for loss, timeout, interception, all from within the 5-yard line. When's the last time Green Bay came up with that kind of stop?

7:12 - Baltimore's defense forces a 3-and-out as the King of Third Down and James Jones miscommunicate on a fly-stop route.

6:48 - Yeah, Joe Flacco's having a bad day. This time he throws it right into the hands of A.J. Hawk, who was quietly having another solid game (which is EXACTLY WHY WE DRAFTED HIM! FOR QUIET, SOLID GAMES!) before this play. Back-to-back interceptions for the Unibrow, and I'm almost sad to see it. Remember, my fantasy team is up 130-24, but I'm playing Rodgers, Finley, and the Packer defense while starting Ray Rice. The offense I can deal with, but this stifling defense is killing me!

6:00 - Ahman Green smashes his way to gain a short first down, and the running out of the clock commences. How much time can they milk from the clock?

2:56 - Turns out they can burn a whole lot of time. Interesting graphic on Green Bay receivers, going from Sharpe to Brooks to Freeman to Driver to Jennings.

2:15 - "Hey Coach Gruden, I found a pair of your old practice shorts." If there's a better setup for a pasty white guy wearing green-and-gold short-shorts in below-freezing weather, I've never seen it.

1:56 - Crosby avoids the shank-osaurus and makes it 27-14, Packers. Solid lead.

1:52 - Gruden brings up the possibility of a Vikings-Packers rematch in the playoffs. I say, don't get ahead of yourself, but the prospect of facing what might be a slowly-fading Favre, a possibly nicked-up Peterson, and a banged-up defense in Minnesota isn't nearly as terrifying as it seems.

0:29 - Fittingly, Clay Matthews chases Flacco down for his second sack of the day. Ted Thompson deserves all the slack in the world for having the stones to trade up for this guy. He could draft Jimmy Clausen next season and I'd still like him.

0:00 - The sack is the last play of the game, and the Packers earn the win, 27-14.

Post-game thoughts:

Not many, again due to my exhaustion. But I will say this: the offense played relatively well, Aaron Rodgers carried the team with his passing. The defense was stifling for much of the game, and Charles Woodson should be the front-runner for DPOY, and even in the conversation for defensive-players-who-deserve-the-MVP-but-won't-get-it-because-they're-not-a-quarterback-or-running-back (if he wasn't already). The playcalling was really well thought out on both sides of the ball, and the execution of many of the plays was awfully impressive.

But two things stand out as glaring negatives. First was the penalties. So many penalties. If Baltimore didn't flag it up more than we did, it would stand out more. Tramon Williams has a lot of talent, but he cannot ~~get caught using~~ use that armbar anymore. It simply costs too much yardage. And Chad Clifton needs to get his business together, because he's smarter than he's playing.

The second thing was the final score. 27-14 seems like a solid win, but with all of the opportunities that the Ravens gave up, it should have been a much wider margin. Playoff teams win games like this soundly, which the Packers did. They should, they're a playoff team. But championship teams beat their opponent senseless when they come up with as many takeaways as they did (4).

All that said, this is Green Bay's fourth straight win after falling to 4-4. You can't ask for a better setup for the final quarter of the season.

And my fantasy team? They hung on for a 137-80 victory, largely because I had actually started Rashard Mendenhall instead of Ray Rice. See what working third shift does to you?

Analysis: The Backup Safety

Brandon — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:00:30 -0000

by Jeffrey Phelps - AP

View full size photo »

With the return of SS Atari Bigby, to play alongside FS Nick Collins, the safety position is as solid as it has been all season. But the lack of depth behind the starters was exposed when Bigby missed 3 games.

Coming into the season, it looked like free agent S Anthony Smith would be the top backup, but he was surprisingly cut after the final preseason game. The backup job initially went to S Aaron Rouse, but his only start, the loss to the Bengals, was the final straw and they wisely decided to release him. Though he resurfaced with the Giants, and has become their starter, it's not because he's playing well. At this point, the Giants have no other options. The Packers also traded for S Derrick Martin before the season started, but he was bad in the Vikings game at Minnesota and hasn't played on defense since. Now he's suffered a concussion and it's not clear whether he'll be able to play next Sunday. After Rouse was released, they signed S Matt Giordano, but when asked whether Giordano was up to speed, McCarthy only said "he's been working." So apparently he's not up to speed. Now the Packers found themselves right back to where they started, and put a waiver claim in on Smith, but they lost out to the Jaguars.

Right now CB/S Jarrett Bush has to be the top backup for either safety position, and it's likely he's the best option of any the other backup candidates I've written about. Who's the best option at this point?

Midseason Report: the Cleveland Browns' Offense (Part II)

rufio — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:54:31 -0000

In Part I, I broke down three plays that I felt exemplified the Browns' offensive woes this season. Here, I will break down two plays that did go our way.

The Browns may lack explosive playmakers who could allow us a good offense, but by studying exactly what it is that has (and hasn't) worked for us, a solid offensive coordinator could put together a competent offense without any personnel changes.

Play 1

After stopping the Packers on 4th and 1 midway through the first quarter, the Browns took over at their own 30 yard line. We lined up in a singleback formation with WRs Mohammed Massaquoi and Mike Furrey lined up to the left of the formation, along with TE Michael Gaines. Jamal Lewis is in the backfield, and TE Greg Estandia is on the opposite side of the formation:

I actually like what the coaching staff did with this formation for a couple of reasons.

First, it is hard to run a Cover-2 against a trips formation, so we should have already taken some of Green Bay's defensive options.

Second, double TE sets usually have a built in advantage against an odd front: they match up fairly well with 3-4 OLBs, and Daboll could play a cat/mouse game with Green Bay DC Dom Capers (alternating between keeping the TEs in to block the OLBs and then releasing them to catch passes).

Third, before TE Michael Gaines goes in motion, look at the right side of our line vs the left side of Green Bay's defense above. If we were to run to the right, we'd outnumber Green Bay 4 to 3 on that side. If we executed our blocks well, we could momentarily double-team NT Ryan Pickett, then have RG Rex Hadnot relase to block ILB A.J. Hawk at the second level. Jamal Lewis wouldn't face a potential tackler for 10 yards.

We do end up bringing Gaines in motion, and DA sees that Green Bay is once again in a Cover-1 look:

The motion not only reveals something about the coverage, it also causes confusion between LB Nick Barnett and S Atari Bigby:

Whatever switch Green Bay wanted to happen didn't happen. DA quickly notices that Gaines is wide open, and checks down with an accurate, easy to catch pass

The ball has some touch on it but is still thrown with enough zip that Gaines is able to catch it in stride with enough space between him and the sideline to secure the ball and turn upfield for a nice gain.

Play 2

Later in that same drive, we lined up in a strong I formation with Massaquoi and Robiskie at WR, Estandia at TE, and Vickers and Lewis in the backfield. Green Bay showed a Cover-3 shell before the snap (again), by walking CBs Al Harris and Charles Woodson back before the snap.

Green Bay was walking a safety up into the box all day and basically daring our WRs to beat them through the air. Anderson notices and makes a check:

After the snap Anderson, FB Lawrence Vickers, and RB Jamal Lewis all do a great job of selling a little play-action fake. It isn't a full on "stick it in his gut and pull the ball back out" fake, but with a quick twitch by DA and good salesmanship by Vickers and Lewis, Woodson bites.

Above, you can see Woodson take one false step, and that's all the Browns needed. DA sees that Robiskie has Woodson beaten, but he also notices FS Nick Collins coming over from his centerfield responsibility (out of screen) to cover Robiskie.

DA knows that with the free safety out of the picture, CB Al Harris is truly on an island against Massaquoi. He also knows that because GB is playing a Cover-3, Massaquoi should be wide open on his route, a slant/deep in.

DA throws a great ball, right on Massaquoi's numbers. 20 yards, a first down, and a facemask penalty for good measure.

After a very brief review of what is and isn't working for the Browns' offense, here are my reccommendations:

Simplify the playbook. There is too much wild experimentation, too many plays, and to little mastery of the plays we run. We need to establish some success in moving the ball, and then we can add wrinkles from week to week. Experiment, sure. But first and foremost make sure people know where they need to be and can play fast, "without thinking".
Use the Giants' "Omaha" call. We don't need to use the word "Omaha", but we should have a word that our QB uses to indicate that the snap count is live. Prior to saying the "hot word", whoever our QB is can use the hard count to try to get the defense to show their hand. We should use this at least 50% of the time. Eric Mangini wants to make this a disciplined, intelligent football team, so our strategies should reflect that. This would require our players to be more disciplined than the opposing defense, but could get us some real advantages.
Run when there are 7 in the box, pass when there are 8. The "Omaha" call would give us the upper hand as to determining this (see how those things go hand in hand and they aren't just randomly thrown together?). Far too often, we are trying to run with 8 in the box.
Run the same concepts from different formations. Yeah, it is a little "college offense-ish", but we might actually move the ball if we did it. If we run the ball with a Power O play, run the Power-O play with 2WR, 3WR, 4WR, and from the Wildcat. If we are going to run the Smash passing concept or the Slants concept, run it out of several formations. Have a few plays that work better against MOFO (middle of field open) coverages like cover-2 and cover-4, and some that work well against MOFC (middle of field closed) coverages. Build around the core concepts of the offense.
Find an identity. What exactly are the core concepts that we build around? If we had no idea what the defense was doing and we needed 4 yards, how would we try to get those yards? Run? Pass? Inside? Outside? Do we stretch the field horizontally? Are we looking to make big plays or take short, easy passes? Will we win with strength? Speed? Right now, I don't think we even know what we like to do.

Midseason Report: the Cleveland Browns' Offense

rufio — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:02:43 -0000

So far this season, our offense has scored 58 total points, for an average of 8.3 points/game. That simply isn't going to get the job done in the NFL.

At times, I have wanted to throw my TV out of my third floor window. At others, I have wanted to lace up my cleats to see if I can run a seam route better than Robert Royal.

Why exactly are we so bad? Where do we need to improve? Is there anything positive to take away from our offensive performance amidst the sea of ineffectiveness?

I finally got my hands on some game film, so I decided to take a look at this past Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers. I will break down three plays that didn't work here, handing out blame to the guilty parties. Look for a breakdown of some plays we ran effectively to be posted Saturday night.

Play 1

This is a play we ran very effectively last year (check out my comment with screenshots). If all goes as planned, Josh Cribbs goes in motion and blocks down on a defender on the line of scrimmage, then LT Joe Thomas pulls around Cribbs, lead blocking along with FB Lawrence Vickers.

I love this play, as it suits our strengths. It allows Cribbs (a tough, physical player for his size who isn't afraid of contact) to catch someone off-guard and light them up. It allows Joe Thomas (a ridiculously athletic man for his size) get out into space and engulf a smaller defender. It allows Vickers (an above-average athlete at FB) to lead block in space, and it runs away from one of our offensive weaknesses; the right side of the line.

The problem with this play starts with the fact that we have RB Jamal Lewis in the game over RB Jerome Harrison. Harrison is much faster than Lewis. Sure, the defense might know we like to run outside with Harrison, but who cares what they know if they can't stop us?

The second problem is that for whatever reason, Cribbs isn't exactly sure who to block:

You can see him ready to block but not taking anyone on above. It was a bit of a weird front, as Green Bay had moved the FS Nick Collins up to the line of scrimmage bewteen ROLB Clay Matthews and RDE Cullen Jenkins. I have a feeling that Cribbs thought he was to block the SS, who TE Greg Estandia took on immediately after the snap.

In this situation, it is better for Cribbs to block the "wrong" guy, but to be wrong decisively. Instead he waits and waits, and even lets RILB A.J. Hawk run right by him...

...and make the tackle.

Who's at fault?

QB: hard to blame Anderson on this play, as it was a solid play call, and could have resulted in a solid gain if DA did everything exactly as he did above.
WRs: Cribbs needs to block someone. Even if he gets the "wrong guy", Vickers or Thomas can adjust an pick up whoever Cribbs lets through.
OL: every lineman pretty much did their job. The play could have resulted in a solid gain even if they did everything the same as above.
RB: I can't put the blame on Lewis for this play. A faster/better back could have gotten more yards, but when you are getting hit behind the line of scrimmage as a RB, someone else messed up.
Coaching: I know that if the coaches always used Lewis to run inside and Harrison outside we'd be predictable. But is this alternative any better? We simply don't have uber-versatile players right now, so why not put the players we do have in position to succeed? Harrison is good at running outside. Lewis is not. Put Harrison in for this play, and then if teams start catching on, throw the changeup.

Play 2

Early in the second quarter, we ran another play that epitomized what is wrong with our offense.

I like that our coaching staff tried something different, lining Hank Fraley up at Tight End. The problem with the personnel package we used, however, is that it failed to create the mismatches we wanted. Fraley does one thing as a TE, and that is block.

Green Bay knows the pass is less of a threat--especially to the bottom of the screen--with Fraley at TE. Because of this, they are able to walk their SS up to put 8 men in the box:

Against an eight man front, we only have seven blockers available (5 OL, 1 TE, 1 FB), which means the defense will have an unblocked player available to make the tackle even if we are able to make and sustain all our blocks. This is why Bernie Kosar always advocates throwing the ball against an 8 man front when he is the color man during our preseason broadcasts.

DA can reasonably suspect that Green Bay is in man coverage because CBs Charles Woodson and Al Harris are lined up directly over WRs Brian Robiskie and Mohammed Massaquoi. Facing man coverage and an 8 man front, we should be in great position to pass the ball. DA can guess with some confidence that Green Bay is playing Cover-1, facing anywhere from a 4-6 man rush. So, DA checks to a pass:

Because of our substitution of Fraley at TE, we aren't in much better position to pass the ball. Green Bay is able to send 6 rushers while still playing man-to-man on all of our receiving options and having deep "centerfield" safety help.

After the snap, rookie WRs Massaquoi and Robiskie struggle to get off the line of scrimmage against press coverage. Further exacerbating the delay in getting open, both WR are running relatively slow developing routes. We are running the "switch" concept (see WRs X and Y, ignore the others):

When DA hits the back of his drop, the WRs are no where close to where they need to be. Instead of looking them off and checking down to FB Lawrence Vickers, who is open and could probably pick up a solid gain, Anderson continues to stare down the WRs.

Compounding the problem is the fact that DA doesn't have another player running a route because RB Jamal Lewis is pass blocking and our other eligible receiver is OL Hank Fraley, who isn't ever a threat to catch a pass.

After hesitating, DA fires a dangerous pass almost right to LB Nick Barnett. He was lucky this wasn't a pick 6.

Who's at fault?

QB: DA can not throw this high risk, low reward pass--at worst it should have been a throwaway over Vickers' head and out of bounds. He also probably shouldn't be checking to a pass with 6 OL in the game. Lastly, when he saw our WRs struggle to get open, he should have looked them off and checked down much sooner. Additionally; why is this a 5-step drop and not a 7- or even 9-step drop for such long-developing routes? If he knows the blitz is coming and that he has to get rid of the ball quickly, why is it not a 3-step drop with quicker developing routes?
RB: Lewis may have whiffed on his block. I can't tell if he was supposed to chip and then release in to the flat or not. Either way, he could have slowed the pass rush more.
WR: They need to get off the press. It doesn't look as bad real-time as it does in the stills, but they could still help Anderson out.
OL: they picked up the 6 man pressure fairly well.
Coaching staff: Why simply sub Fraley in the game at TE? It's a pretty clear signal that we are going to run. Furthermore, it's not at all versatile (something that the coaches want our offense to be) because Fraley is only in there to block. It takes our offense from 5 receivers down to 4. Why not go with an unbalanced line instead, leaving a TE on the field? Why not go with another TE instead of 2 WR, creating a mismatch (our power vs. their speed)? Why is there not a better "hot" route on this play, with the blitz looming?

Play3

We come out in a singleback shotgun formation with WR Mohammed Massaquoi at the top of the screen, and WRs Brian Robiskie and Chansi Stuckey, along with TE Greg Estandia in a trips formation at the bottom of the screen.

DA sends Estandia in motion across C Alex Mack, and then back to his original place in the formation:

This isn't just motion for the sake of motion; it is designed to tell us something about the coverage. Green Bay shows that they are playing man coverage on Estandia because LB Brandon Chillar follows Estandia in motion. This implies that the Packers are also playing man coverage on our other receivers.

Off the snap, Estandia stays in to block, but our protection scheme is such that he has to cross paths with RT John St. Clair to pick up the blitzing LB Chillar (who was trying to deceive us and is actually blitzing, not covering Estandia). Initially, I thought Mack blew our pass protection because he wasn't blocking anyone off the snap...

but Mack actually knew exactly what was coming, as Green Bay's rushers stunted. Anderson, knowing he has Massaquoi basically one-on-one, stares him down. Massaquoi has a step, but Stuckey seems to be getting open behind S Atari Bigby.

I have to blame the play design here. Against Cover-1, there is usually a LB or S playing a short zone in the middle of the field (a "robber"). To me, it's clear that if Stuckey were running an out or a corner route here, he would be open for the 1st down, as there is no help in those areas of the field.

In 2007 when DA was at his best, he was trying to fit balls in to tight spaces, and he was throwing some jump balls (high risk), but he was also taking shots downfield (high reward). He goes that route again here, but he makes a really weak effort. At this point, he has held on to the ball long enough that he knows he is probably going to get hit. Instead of stepping up into the pocket and taking that hit ("like a man"), he tries to avoid the contact...

...and because he doesn't step into his throw, he ends up grossly underthrowing Massaquoi...

...right off of Al Harris' foot. I don't need to talk about how bad of a throw that is, but it should be especially embarrassing because he wouldn't just take a hit for the benefit of the team.

Who's at fault?

QB: DA's arm is supposed to be his strengh. He needs to suck it up, step up, and take this hit.
WR: Stuckey is open, and Massaquoi has a step and a half on Al Harris. I can't see Robiskie's route after it's stem. A WR can always be more open.
RB: Jerome Harrison actually picks up a blitzing linebacker fairly well for a 210lb. man. He could have done a better job, but this play isn't on him.
OL: They could have done a better job, particularly RT John St. Clair. He does have to switch places with Estandia, making it tough to recover.
Coaching staff: I don't know if Estandia was supposed to stop his motion in the backfield and be lined up more like an H-back, but a switch like what happened shouldn't happen, especially on the right side where we are having enough problems pass blocking. K.I.S.S. Why is Stuckey running a square in/post? Here is another example of not putting our players in position to succeed; Harrison is the worst pass protecting back on our roster. Clearly, Green Bay was not worried about him catching the ball, so why put him in the game, only to have him do what he isn't good at doing? Why not have Lewis or Vickers in there to pass block?

Verdict

Here is where I place the blame, from least blame to most blame:

OL: At least in the Green Bay game, the pass protection wasn't bad. Maybe St. Clair really wanted DA to be the quarterback, because he didn't play anywhere near as bad as he used to with Quinn under center (see: Broncos game). He isn't the long-term answer, but I expect the line to continue to improve because of Mack and (hopefully) a healthy Rex Hadnot.
RB: Lewis certainly isn't what he used to be, but Harrison has shown he can be dangerous. Still, both our RB's weaknesses are being highlighted far too often, with their strengths being ignored or underutilized. I would love to be finding out what James Davis could do right now.
WR: Both Robi and MoMass will improve with time, and if they are going to excel in the NFL, they probably don't do so consistently this year. We lack a WR who can consistently get open against straight man or man-free coverage.
QB: He isn't getting much help from his wideouts or the play calling/play design, but DA looks like he is a step slow in reading the defense, he is forcing short throws that he shouldn't make, and he isn't utilizing his own strengths.
Coaching staff: Our players look undisciplined, confused, and out of position. Daboll looks like a jack of all trades but a master of none, his offense lacks any sort of coherence, and he looks like he is out-smarting himself. In my opinion, we should simplify our offense.

We should work three or four runs that we can run out of any formation and master them. We should take three or four passing concepts/route combinations and master those. Ideally, a few of the runs compliment a few of the passes (play actions with the same blocking patterns, etc,) and they'd compliment each other. Once we have the simple things down, then we can put in the wrinkles and the tricky pass protections and the counter punches. As it stands now, we have nothing to counter off of.

The Fight For First Place: Round Two

Mitchell_M — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:41:12 -0000

Some are calling it the "Game of the Century". Others are calling it the "Hostile Homecoming". Still others are calling it "Favre-Packers v.2.0".

Me? I call it Week 9 of the NFL season.

Admittedly, our opponent this week is eerily similar to the team that handed Green Bay its second loss of the season. We know this team very well, and the only major change is the injury to their star cornerback. Therefore, the actual matchup preview will be abbreviated. Those of you who hate my lengthy previews: commence rejoycing.

MIN rushing vs. GB defense: Adrian Peterson is still scary-good, as is the offensive line that blocks for him. Phil Loadholt has been somewhat hampered by a few nagging injuries, as had Steve Hutchinson, but both seem to be back to normal now. Peterson's rushing stats have actually been underwhelming in 2009, putting up yardage totals of 85, 55, 63, and 69 in four of the last five weeks.

Green Bay gets a major boost to its rush defense compared to the week 4 version of the team now that Atari Bigby is healthy and playing. The defensive line has also been playing well; B.J. Raji and Cullen Jenkins have managed to get consistent penetration and break up plays as they develop. The linebackers, most notably A.J. Hawk, have been streaky, but I attribute that more to having a surplus of contributors (Hawk, Nick Barnett, Brandon Chillar, Aaron Kampman, and Clay Matthews) and a vast array of sub packages.

Advantage: Still Minnesota, but not as much as before.

MIN passing vs. GB defense: Well, Brett Favre is not playing the same way he did to start the season. He's thrown 79 passes in the last two games, including 50 in last week's incredibly fluky loss to Pittsburgh. He has shown the ability to make any throw at any time, including the deep ball, where he puts it in a place where only his receiver can adjust and catch the football.

Minnesota's receiving corps is somewhat of a question mark. Bernard Berrian is dealing with hamstring problems, Percy Harvin is dealing with illness/shoulder issues (isn't he always?), leaving 2009 breakout Sidney Rice and 2008 Playgirl centerfold Visanthe Shiancoe as the main passing targets. I'd include Chester Taylor on this list, but he nearly got decapitated trying to catch a wildly-overpowered bullet dropped a short screen pass that led to the Vikes' first loss.

Besides Atari Bigby's return, the most important development between Week 4 and now is Dom Capers' realization that Aaron Kampman is effective out of a three-point stance. By shifting him to end on passing downs, Capers has enormous flexibility with his nickel and dime packages. Remember when we saw Kampman in coverage on the play where Favre had 8+ seconds to find a receiver? Don't expect to see that again.

Advantage: Minnesota, if you go by the numbers, but Green Bay has closed the gap.

GB rushing vs. MIN defense: Goodbye 2008 Ryan Grant, hello 2007 Ryan Grant. After seemingly endless questions regarding his ability, his fit in Green Bay, and the deservedness of his contract, Grant had his first breakout game in seemingly forever. This doesn't mean the questions don't still stand, but at least we know he is still capable of what got him his money in the first place. Brandon Jackson takes the place of oft-injured DeShawn Wynn, and might be a better fit as a change-of-pace back.

The offensive line looks much different than it did in the previous meeting, most notably with T.J. Lang likely filling in for Chad Clifton (re-aggravated ankle injury) at LT and Scott Wells possibly taking over for Jason Spitz (back injury). Wells has a huge chip on his shoulder after losing the job to Spitz in pre-season, and Lang has something to prove as a rookie protecting Aaron Rodgers' blind side from The Mullet. Combined with the potential availability of Mark Tauscher, the offensive line is nebulous, to say the least.

Minnesota has regained the notorious run defense that made them famous earlier in the decade, coming in at 5th in the league. Pat Williams' decline has seemed to have stalled for the time being, and the Vikings have avoided major injury to crucial players in their front seven (E.J. Henderson is the only starter listed any lower than questionable).

Advantage: Minnesota by a considerable margin.

GB passing vs. MIN defense: Aaron Rodgers is surpassing more expectations than anyone could have reasonably laid out for him. Every notable stat in the NFL has Rodgers among the leaders. First in yards per attempt (9.3), second in QB rating (110.8), tied for third for fewest interceptions (2), sixth in yards per game (283.7), and eighth in completion percentage (65.8).

Donald Driver has been crucial to Rodgers' success, as the 34-year old receiver leads the team in catches (27) and yards (479), not to mention sick one-handed grabs while his other hand is held by a defender (two). Greg Jennings has been unusually quiet in the first half of the season, and James Jones had to overcome a rough start before he got back on track. The absence of Jordy Nelson and (likely) Jermichael Finley puts more pressure on Donald Lee and Jake Allen, newly-promoted off the practice squad.

Minnesota leads the league in sacks with 25. That statistic is more than enough testament to their talent against the pass. However, with Antoine Winfield dealing with a foot sprain, he may or may not be available for Sunday, and likely won't be 100% if he does play. Karl Paymah and Benny Sapp will team up to replace Winfield's presence, and it's highly likely they won't come close.

Advantage: Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers put up his best statistical game of the season despite getting sacked 8 times. If he gets that number cut by half, it will be a long day for fans of the purple squad.

Preliminary verdict: This game is easily the most important game for Green Bay of the season. I cannot imagine a way for Green Bay to remain relevant in the playoff picture if this game ends up putting the Packers at 4-3. The second tier of NFC teams is too good to risk going for a wild-card berth, especially when the team is only 1.5 games out of first place in the division.

If Green Bay wants to win, they need to do three simple things. They are, in no particular order,

Run directly at Jared Allen. Pull guards, lead with Quinn Johnson, double team him. As a smaller DE, he is less effective against the run, and if there's any hope of stifling his pass rush, it's making him tired early in the game.
Test the Minnesota safeties. With Winfield possibly out and definitely limited, Madieu Williams takes the brunt of the coverage duties. That is a weakness worth exploiting.
Wrap, swarm, and strip AP. Clay Matthews' signature play of his young career is the strip-fumble TD of Adrian Peterson. That might not happen again, but the gang tackling and proper mechanics must if the defense expects to limit Peterson's production.

All of these things must happen in order for Green Bay to win. Not one, not two, but all three. If Jared Allen gets after Rodgers, thus preventing Rodgers from throwing downfield, and Minnesota keeps the ball by using Peterson to chew up the clock, the Vikings will have this game in the bag.

I have no idea how this will play out. I'm certain it will be as entertaining as it will be hard-fought. There's no love lost between these two teams (not to mention their respective quarterbacks), and I expect nothing but the maximum effort from both.

That being said, let's get 'em.

Poll

What outcome do you see for Week 9 vs. Minnesota?

Big GB win.

122 votes

Slim GB win.

288 votes

Too close to call.

94 votes

Slim MIN win.

87 votes

Big MIN win.

94 votes

685 votes | Poll has closed

Preview: Vikings at Green Bay Packers

Brandon — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:00:39 -0000

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Though there are 10 regular season games remaining for the Packers, this should be the biggest remaining game on their schedule. Still, it's not a must-win game. The NFC North becomes very tight at the top if the Packers win, but even if the Vikings build a comfortable 3 game lead in the division, they still have to contend with the 2nd half of the season. They'll have to keep winning because the Packers will not go away.

Here's how the teams matchup, official NFL rankings from NFL.com:

Team	Run Offense	Pass Offense	Run Defense	Pass Defense
Packers	13	10	12	4

Team	Run Defense	Pass Defense	Run Offense	Pass Offense
Vikings	10	20	12	13

As far as the Packers offensive strategy goes, I discussed it yesterday. I don't expect them to use RB Ryan Grant a whole lot, but they might have success running the ball if they tried. Still, the alternative is that QB Aaron Rodgers has another great game against them. In their last meeting, the Vikings had 9 QB hits and 8 sacks, but Rodgers still managed 384 yards and 2 TDs. The Vikings pass defense hasn't gotten any better since then, and they'll probably be without injured Pro Bowl CB Antoine Winfield.

I'm really looking forward to watching the Packers run defense take another shot at RB Adrian Peterson. They held him to 55 yards (2.2 yards/carry) in their last game. Back to what I said earlier about QB Brett Favre, I expect he'll have another game like he had last week in Pittsburgh. He'll have some success against them, but he won't have a repeat of his big game in Minneapolis. The return of SS Atari Bigby should make a big difference this time around.

Packers 27, Vikings 20.

That's More Like It

Mitchell_M — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:15:11 -0000

More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP

So this is what it's like to have open lanes.

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Last week's blowout of Detroit was the least exciting 26-0 victory I had ever studied. There were numerous miscues, stupid penalties, awful pass protection, and reaggravated injuries.

This week's 31-3 blowout of Cleveland? Much more exciting.

As usual, I'm going to start off by analyzing the negatives. Yeah, yeah, simmer down, there weren't that many this time. Once again, what follows are all impressions that I got despite not watching the game. (Sidenote: If anyone has a problem with me breaking down the games using NFL.com's video packages, play-by-plays, and box scores, please e-mail me for information on my favorite charity, Mitchell's DirectTV Fund.)

8 penalties for 70 yards. While they cut the yardage lost to yellow flags from last week by 50%, this is still far too many flags. Some of them were just downright sloppy (Al Harris' facemask of Mohamed Massaquoi, 12 men on the field, Atari Bigby's unnecessary roughness). Others were fairly normal calls (Brady Poppinga's defensive holding, Donald Lee's offensive holding and offensive pass interference, Al Harris' illegal contact).

I can live with the holding penalties (provided they occur at lower rates), but the sloppy mistakes really bother me. Especially Harris' facemask, where he overran the receiver and reached back to grab whatever he could, despite having help on the tackle.
Jermichael Finley's short day. Before the game, one of my friends was debating whether he should start Finley or Owen Daniels in fantasy football. I was adamant that Finley was going to have a career day against Cleveland and that Daniels would struggle against San Francisco's linebackers. Had he listened to me, he would have gotten the dreaded double-whammy of a starter getting hurt and the benched player going off for a point explosion.

Finley has looked really good in 2009, and has shown improvement each and every week. Seeing him in street clothes before halftime was not an encouraging sign, even if they didn't need him against the Browns.

I have yet to see any news regarding Finley's diagnosis and how much time he will miss. As soon as I do, I'll post an update. Especially since one of today's problems was...
Stalled drives. I know I shouldn't complain about a day where the offense gets both a 1-yard run and a 5-yard pass for touchdowns. But in the early going, the Packers had their first drive stall at the Cleveland 32-yard line. Later, on the first drive of the second half, they had a drive stall at the Cleveland 37-yard line, and followed that by settling for a field goal after getting 1st-and-goal from the Cleveland 8-yard line.

While this might be considered nitpicking (mainly because it is nitpicking), the fact that the offense had three drives stall in the opponent's territory is somewhat worrisome. Against Cleveland, you can get away with it, but heading into the toughest part of the 2009 schedule, the offense needs to sustain every drive it possibly can.

If Jermichael Finley is healthy, this will probably be a lesser problem going forward. A big target like that is a major asset, especially deep in enemy territory. However, if he's going to miss significant time, it's up to the rest of the offense to step up and make scores happen whenever they cross midfield.

See, that wasn't so bad, was it? Now let's talk about the positives.

Donald Driver and the Fountain of Youth. When I was in grade school, my favorite subject was social studies. Social studies was a fancy way of combining history and political science, which ended up being my concentration in college. One of my favorite stories in this subject was Ponce de Leon searching for the fountain of youth in Florida. Clearly, he was looking in the wrong spot, since Donald Driver has evidently used it in the Midwest.

While Driver only had 2 catches for 84 yards, his 71-yard touchdown came off of a beautiful hot read by Rodgers, who saw the seam in coverage and zipped it between the defenders and into Driver's chest. From there, Driver showed off the acceleration, angular running, and body control that made him the franchise reception leader. He might not be AP, but he can still get it done in the open field. Just ask Eric Wright.

At 34, Driver is leading the team in catches (27), yards (479), and touchdowns (3). While this is awesome in so many ways, it's curious that Greg Jennings' numbers are not at the same levels. Jennings had another relatively quiet day (5 catches, 52 yards), and his stats for the season are modest by his historical standards.

Some readers attribute this to the new development of defenses double-covering Jennings to prevent big plays. I tend to agree with this assessment, especially since Jennings hasn't seen consistent double-coverage in his career yet. Plus, it explains why Driver has been able to make so many big plays; he has less defenders in his way.
Aaron Rodgers' short day. Anytime your starting quarterback has a line of 15/20 for 246 yards and 3 scores by the middle of the fourth quarter, it's time to give the backup some reps. That's exactly what happened today, and it is a welcome sight.

It helps that Rodgers was able to avoid what little pressure Cleveland managed to throw his way and come away unscathed. Today's zero sack performance by the offensive line lowered the per-game average from 5.0 to 4.1. We can build on this!
T.J. Lang = LT of the future? If you would have asked me in September where Lang would have ended up this season, I would have told you that he would either be on the bench or in the rotation at RT. I never would have thought he would have made such a good case for starting at LT. Chad Clifton's ankle injury will likely keep the mainstay tackle sidelined for a few weeks, and we already know that Daryn Colledge can't handle the position.

Lang, however, has looked solid in his three week audition. He gets excellent force behind his initial punch, but more importantly, he follows through by creating contact with the defender. While Detroit and Cleveland are not defensive stalwarts, keeping a man of that size at bay is impressive, and Lang now has the inside track towards starting against Jared Allen next week.

Will T.J. Lang be able to protect Rodgers' blindside from the best pass rusher in the league? I don't know. But I do know that he will give Rodgers a much better chance than a gimpy Chad Clifton or Daryn Colledge, who clearly belongs at LG.
Ryan Grant earning his paycheck. Raise your hands if you're happy to see Grant put up a dominating rushing performance (27 carries, 148 yards, 1 TD).

OK, now raise your hands if you're irritated it took this long to happen.

While Grant's struggles are well-documented on this site, I place myself in the "better late than never" camp when it comes to success on the ground. A consistent run game gave Green Bay a 10-minute edge in time of possession, and the workload allowed Grant to get into a rhythm and bust off some good carries.
Red zone defense. The Browns had an abysmal offensive showing, but they still were able to move into striking distance (inside the Green Bay 5-yard line) on two seperate occasions. The fact that the defense held them to no touchdowns and only one field goal speaks volumes of the defensive effort yesterday.

Charles Woodson again showed why he deserves to at least be in the conversation for DPOY (even if he won't win it) with a pick and a forced fumble. Aaron Kampman got good pressure all day, and came away with a sack. Cullen Jenkins and B.J. Raji consistently got penetration, which opened up plays for the linebackers. Jenkins also recorded a sack and a forced fumble. A.J. Hawk and Nick Barnett registered seven and six tackles respectively, and generally looked like they belonged on the field.

All in all, the defense looks active and aggressive, creating pressure from various positions and angles, flowing to stop the ball, cutting off running lanes from ball carriers, and forcing quarterbacks into bad throws. Sounds like a good recipe going forward to me.
Scoreboard watching. It's not even close to playoff time, but many of us were keeping tabs on the other teams in the NFC North that were in action. Seeing Chicago getting blown out by Cincinnati did wonders for some Packer fans' confidence, as it shows just how much the Bengals were overlooked at the beginning of the season. Likewise, seeing the Vikings' luck run out in Pittsburgh was equally therapeutic, even if the two biggest plays in the 4th quarter (Favre sacked, stripped, and the fumble returned for a TD and Chester Taylor's inability to snag a short screen pass that was thrown a bit too hard) were somewhat fluky.

The most important result from the weekend is Green Bay improving to 4-2 while Minnesota falls to 6-1 and Chicago to 3-3. Moving into second place in the division and only 1.5 games behind the leading Minnesota Vikings isn't the ideal scenario we imagined back in September, but it's a far sight better than it could be.

Recap: Green Bay Packers Dominate Browns 31-3

Brandon — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:00:29 -0000

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Just a great game for the Green Bay Packers. They clearly outplayed a lesser team. The biggest stat, box score from ESPN.com, was 460 yards on offense for the Packers, and only 139 for the Browns. RB Ryan Grant had 151 total yards by himself.

The offensive line gave Grant a lot of room to run, and there were no sacks on QB Aaron Rodgers. LT T.J. Lang looked good in this game, getting into the 2nd level to make blocks all over the field. He also kept pass rushers off Rodgers's blind side, he even cleared that side of the field on Rodgers's long 19 yard scramble. Rodgers completed 75% of his passes and seemed to have no trouble finding open receivers. The defense held the Browns to 2.8 yards/carry (21 for 58), and it was another dismal day for QB Derek Anderson (12 of 29 for 99 yards and 1 INT). The special teams really struggled, but the Browns offense couldn't do anything with good field position or second chances. Penalties were a problem again (8 for 70 yards).

There were a couple injuries during the game. According to Mike McCarthy, TE Jermichael Finley and WR Brett Swain both have knee sprains. It's too early to tell, but I expect they'll both miss next week's game. Grant was hurt in the 3rd quarter, but he did come back. Also, DE Cullen Jenkins and LB Brandon Chillar were injured, but then returned. WR Greg Jennings got some dirt in his eye, and he should be fine.

Complete play-by-play recap after the break. This was an important game to win, and not lose sight of, before the Vikings come to town next week. We've got lots to talk about this week.

Packers vs Browns coverage; Packers vs Browns recap; Packers vs Browns boxscore; Dawgs By Nature.

Play-by-Play from NFL.com:

First Quarter:

2-M.Crosby kicks 69 yards from GB 30 to CLV 1, out of bounds.

This was the first of two kickoffs by K Mason Crosby that went out of bounds. I guess they were a little too concerned about WR Joshua Cribbs.

(12:44) 25-R.Grant right tackle ran ob at GB 18 for 4 yards (24-E.Wright).

This was the first of 6 carries on the opening drive by Grant. I had been hoping they would run the ball more, but this drive was ridiculous. They moved the ball 60 yards for almost 7 minutes, and it ended on a failed 4th down attempt.

(4:34) 3-D.Anderson pass deep middle to 11-M.Massaquoi to GB 36 for 22 yards (31-A.Harris). PENALTY on GB-31-A.Harris, Face Mask (15 Yards), 15 yards, enforced at GB 36.

This happened on one of the 2 good drives the Browns managed. They went 70 yards in over 6 minutes, and apparently saw something they liked in the matchup of CB Al Harris and rookie WR Mohamed Massaquoi. Obviously this play was won by Massaquoi, but in all Anderson attempted 8 passes to the rookie, that was his only catch, and usually Harris was in coverage. Overall, a win for Harris.

(:06) (Shotgun) 3-D.Anderson pass incomplete short right to 87-M.Furrey (56-N.Barnett).

Maybe he could have picked it off, but it was a great play by LB Nick Barnett to break up the short pass and force them to settle for a FG.

Second Quarter:

(12:22) 12-A.Rodgers pass short right to 41-S.Havner for 45 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Finally some pass attempts. Maybe all the 1st quarter running plays were just setting up this pass to TE Spencer Havner. It was 3rd and 1, an obvious running play, but Havner was left uncovered and he turned it up the sideline all the way for a TD.

(11:09) 15-D.Zastudil punts 40 yards to GB 28, Center-64-R.Pontbriand. 38-T.Williams to GB 33 for 5 yards (54-B.Costanzo). PENALTY on GB, Defensive 12 On-field, 5 yards, enforced at CLV 32 - No Play.

This was the 12 men on the field play on a 4th down punt, which gave the Browns a 1st down. Swain was injured on the previous kickoff and McCarthy said it caused a communication/coaching error.

(10:56) 31-J.Lewis right tackle to CLV 37 for no gain (97-J.Jolly, 79-R.Pickett).

The Browns tried to run right up the middle for most of the game, and usually had nowhere to go. This was a play clogged up by DE Johnny Jolly and NT Ryan Pickett, but they didn't have any better luck when NT B.J. Raji and DE Cullen Jenkins played. The Browns aren't a great running team, but they did even worse than usual against the Packers defense. LB A.J. Hawk and Barnett were left unblocked a lot, and they led the team in tackles.

(7:12) 12-A.Rodgers pass short left to 80-D.Driver for 71 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

The Browns showed Rodgers a look he had seen in practice this week, he knew right where to throw the ball, and WR Donald Driver did the rest. Great play by Driver to run past the rest of the secondary, and fend off CB Eric Wright, who was the last man to beat.

(5:15) (Shotgun) 3-D.Anderson pass short right intended for 80-B.Robiskie INTERCEPTED by 21-C.Woodson at CLV 40. 21-C.Woodson to CLV 15 for 25 yards (35-J.Harrison).

Looking back at the last two games, Anderson has attempted 8 passes to rookie WR Brian Robiskie, and he only has 1 reception. Anderson and Robiskie seemed to be running different plays. The learning curve for a rookie WR can be steep.

(2:00) 25-R.Grant left tackle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.

After the INT, the Packers had to go 15 yards for the TD. They attacked the weak Browns run defense with 12 yards by Grant, and 3 yards rushing by Rodgers.

(:30) (Shotgun) 3-D.Anderson sacked at CLV 49 for -7 yards (74-A.Kampman).

LB Aaron Kampman has looked much better these last two weeks. He had 5 QB hits last week, and 3 more against the Browns. Including this sack.

Third Quarter:

(11:04) (Shotgun) 12-A.Rodgers pass short middle to 41-S.Havner to CLV 15 for 12 yards (22-B.McDonald). PENALTY on GB-86-D.Lee, Offensive Pass Interference, 10 yards, enforced at CLV 27 - No Play.

A game to forget for TE Donald Lee. He had at least one drop, a big holding penalty in the 1st half, and then this penalty, which did nothing to help Havner on the reception.

(10:28) 2-M.Crosby 55 yard field goal is No Good, Wide Left, Center-61-B.Goode, Holder-10-M.Flynn.

It was 4th and 20, but this whole play seemed rushed. Up 21-3, I was expecting a punt to keep the Browns in bad field position. Instead they attempted a 55 yard FG that missed wide left.

(9:06) 3-D.Anderson pass short right to 16-J.Cribbs to GB 44 for 3 yards (21-C.Woodson). FUMBLES (21-C.Woodson), RECOVERED by GB-54-B.Chillar at GB 48. 54-B.Chillar to GB 48 for no gain (55-A.Mack). Cleveland challenged the incomplete pass ruling, and the play was Upheld. (Timeout #1 at 08:56.)

CB Charles Woodson won't get any statistical credit for the fumble recovery, which seems unfair since it was all because of him. The Packers forced 2 turnovers and Woodson (unsurprisingly) was responsible for both.

(4:22) (Shotgun) 12-A.Rodgers pass short right to 25-R.Grant to CLV 1 for 3 yards (50-E.Barton).

Great play by Browns LB Eric Barton, who stood up Grant at the goal line and forced the Packers to settle for a FG.

(2:01) (Shotgun) 3-D.Anderson pass incomplete short right to 83-G.Estandia. PENALTY on GB-51-B.Poppinga, Defensive Holding, 5 yards, enforced at CLV 36 - No Play.

The drive should have ended there on 3rd and 10, but LB Brady Poppinga grabbed the receiver and gave them another chance.

(1:51) (Shotgun) 3-D.Anderson pass short left to 35-J.Harrison ran ob at CLV 47 for 6 yards (56-N.Barnett). PENALTY on GB-20-A.Bigby, Unnecessary Roughness, 15 yards, enforced at CLV 47.

SS Atari Bigby said he took his eyes off of RB Jerome Harrison and he shouldn't have been near him.

(1:29) 31-J.Lewis left tackle ran ob at GB 22 for 16 yards (21-C.Woodson).

The Browns actually got something going on this drive. It was only their 2nd real scoring opportunity. RB Jamal Lewis had 25 yards rushing on the drive (and 22 yards the rest of the game). This isn't a criticism. I'm just pointing out how good the Packers defense was the rest of the game.

(1:02) 3-D.Anderson pass deep right to 86-M.Gaines to GB 1 for 21 yards (54-B.Chillar).

I'm not a fan of Chillar in coverage against TEs. He allowed two TDs during the St. Louis game, and this near TD pass down to the 1 yard line. A great goal line stand forced an incomplete pass on 4th down.

Fourth Quarter:

(10:19) 25-R.Grant right tackle pushed ob at CLV 5 for 37 yards (26-A.Elam).

I thought Grant was going all the way.

(9:47) 12-A.Rodgers pass short left to 89-J.Jones for 5 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Nice play by WR James Jones to shield the defender away from the ball. I'm surprised this was the first (and only) pass attempt to him. They rarely had 3 WRs in the game. Usually they had 2 TEs and Havner played a lot.

(8:56) Flynn in at qb 25-R.Grant right guard to GB 14 for 3 yards (93-J.Trusnik).

A QB Matt Flynn sighting. A true sign the game was over.

(6:25) (Shotgun) 3-D.Anderson sacked at CLV 45 for -11 yards (77-C.Jenkins). FUMBLES (77-C.Jenkins), and recovers at CLV 45. 3-D.Anderson to CLV 45 for no gain (74-A.Kampman).

Great play by Jenkins, beating Pro Bowl LT Joe Thomas for the strip. This play started in Packer territory, down 31-3, the Browns couldn't get anything going and were forced to punt again.

(4:34) 10-M.Flynn pass short right to 85-G.Jennings to GB 37 for 12 yards (24-E.Wright).

And Flynn gets to complete a pass too.

A Most Delicious Matchup

Mitchell_M — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:58:37 -0000

Mmm...Browns...

Now, I know what you're thinking. Historically this season, I've been more negative than some of you would care for. I look at it as being more realistic, but at the same time it comes off as having a serious lack of faith in the team.

Allow me to attempt to salvage my reputation by coming out and saying that this is easily the best matchup of the year for the Packers and that they should absolutely roll on the Browns. Why do I say that? The answer is after the jump.

CLE rushing vs. GB defense: Jamal Lewis used to be the workhorsiest running back in the NFL. He's fallen off, to say the least (67 carries, 233 yards, 0 TDs). Jerome Harrison was supposed to be change-of-pace back in the vein of Leon Washington, Chris Johnson, and Darren Sproles. Needless to say, he has not realized that potential yet (61 carries, 228 yards, 0 TDs). Rookie James Davis looked promising, but was lost for the season. The Cleveland stable of running backs, ranked 18th in yardage, is mediocre at best.

The offensive line isn't much better. Joe Thomas (6'6", 312) is a stud at LT, but he specializes more in pass protection. The rest of the line is not nearly as studly. Eric Steinbach (6'6", 295) is an athletic LG who can move in space, but has historically had problems with sustaining blocks and keeping his base. Rookie center Alex Mack (6'4", 311), backup center/starting RG Hank Fraley (6'3", 310), and RT John St. Clair (6'6", 320) are merely average.

Green Bay has surprisingly turned into a surprisingly stout run defense over the course of the season. They're ranked 16th against the run, but the difference between 10th ranked Tennessee and 20th ranked New England is less than 20 yards. Nick Barnett seems to have recovered fully from his ACL injury, Brandon Chillar has continued to excel as a rotation linebacker, Clay Matthews had a small coming-out party last week, and A.J. Hawk has been relegated to the bench for over 75% of the defensive snaps.

Advantage: Green Bay. Having finally settled on a rotation for the front seven, the defense is starting to hit its stride.

CLE passing vs. GB defense: The only bright spot in the passing offense is rookie WR Mohamed Massaquoi. The Georgia product may not be able to recreate Braylon Edwards' production (or drops), but he has already established himself as a productive member of the NFL. Mike Furrey, former St. Louis safety turned receiver, is a homeless man's Wes Welker. From there, it's all downhill in Cleveland.

Derek Anderson once submitted a stat line of 2/17 for 23 yards and kept his job. That's how bad the quarterback situation is in Cleveland. Between him and Brady Quinn, it's hard to declare a winner. Quinn is easily more accurate than Anderson, but Anderson has the arm that can make all the necessary throws. If you somehow combined them into a super-conglomerate-quarterback, they might be servicable. But until then, Eric Mangini will have to continue choosing between dukey and doo-doo.

And by the way, how in the world does Eric Mangini still have a job? The Brady Quinn Era lasted all of 2.5 games. The second-best player on offense (and second-leading receiver) was Braylon Edwards, who's now a member of the Jets. They were reportedly shopping Joshua Cribbs before the deadline, presumably because they don't want to have any success on special teams.

Green Bay finally is starting to figure out a rotation of linebackers that work well with blitz packages, especially on passing downs. The group of Matthews-Barnett-Chillar-Kampman has produced well, especially when Kampman moves onto the line. Al Harris, Charles Woodson, Nick Collins, Tramon Williams, and finally healthy (for now) Atari Bigby are licking their chops this week. It might get ugly.

Advantage: Definitely Green Bay. The only thing preventing this defense from dominating this week is injuries.

GB rushing vs. CLE defense: Cleveland has a defense which has been exploited like a British colony. Their 30th-ranked run defense is anchored by Shaun Rogers. Is it any coincidence that all the teams that the 6'4" 350 lb. mammoth tackle has played for have been awful against the run? Probably, especially now that Cleveland defensive star D'Qwell Jackson is out for the year. But the rest of Cleveland's front seven are non-descript. Robaire Smith and Kenyon Coleman are the main ends, with former Packer Corey Williams rotating in. Eric Barton, Kamerion Wimbley, David Bowens, and David Veikune will have to step up to replace Jackson's leadership.

Meanwhile, rumors abound of Ryan Grant's imminent departure from Green Bay. Well, perhaps "imminent" isn't the right word, but those in charge at 1265 are not pleased and have been looking for ways to improve the position. Whether or not Ahman Green can be considered an improvement is yet to be seen. In any case, Grant is still producing at a slightly-above-average clip (3.8 ypc). Perhaps his numbers are lower because of the offensive line? After all, Grant did finish last year on a relatively strong note, so maybe he is getting primed for a second-half explosion, a la Cedric Benson in 2008.

Advantage: Green Bay, because Cleveland sucks more at stopping the run than Green Bay does at establishing it.

GB passing vs. CLE defense: I played defensive back in high school, and I was good enough to not get burned on a regular basis. One week, I caught the flu, and tried playing in that week's game after starting to get over it. Two long pass plays later, I was riding the pine for the rest of the game and didn't start the next week.

The point is, if any of the Browns' defensive backs were among the players who caught the flu, they will be in for a long day.

The Browns' pass defense is ranked 23rd, a number that would likely be worse if Cleveland weren't constantly losing and having opponents run the clock out against them. The corners (Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald) are actually not horrible players, but they're constantly left alone by the putrid safety tandem of Brodney Pool and Abram Elam. If you thought Derrick Martin and Jarrett Bush were bad, wait until you see Wright matched up against Donald Driver and pass him off to the safety who isn't there.

Speaking of Green Bay's receivers, they have certainly stepped up in the last few weeks. Seven Packers have over 100 yards receiving on the season, and Driver, Greg Jennings, James Jones, Jordy Nelson, and Jermichael Finley are all averaging over 15.0 yards per catch. As long as the drops don't come back, these guys will get open and get yards.

Oh, and Aaron Rodgers is awesome. Let's hope he stays healthy despite his dangerous work conditions.

Advantage: Green Bay by a long shot.

No-longer-so-preliminary verdict: The biggest thing that worries me about this game is the potential for the team to fall into a trap, given the looming November 1st visit from a certain NFC North team. But before we start repeating the Admiral Ackbar message from Week 3, recognize exactly how different this team is in Week 7. With Atari Bigby healthy, a more suitable replacement for Mark Tauscher, and the reunion of Aaron Kampman and the 3-point stance, this Packers team is far more capable than they were in the first quarter of the season.

Poll

What outcome do you see for Week 7 against Cleveland?

Big GB win.

505 votes

Slim GB win.

61 votes

Too close to call.

6 votes

Slim CLE win.

24 votes

Big CLE win.

16 votes

612 votes | Poll has closed

A Somewhat Depressing Blowout

Mitchell_M — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:03:02 -0000

Green Bay had several things going for it this week. In no particular order, they were:

Coming off the bye week
Getting Chad Clifton and Atari Bigby back from injury
Playing Detroit at home
Playing against a team missing it's best QB (Matthew Stafford) and WR (Calvin Johnson)

All together, these things pointed to a dominant Green Bay victory. And, in the end, it was, if you consider only the final score (26-0). So then why did this feel like a letdown? Short version: we saw the same old problems surfacing again. Long version: after the jump.

Here are some things that I saw that I didn't like. As usual (sadly), these are all impressions that I got despite not watching the game.

13 penalties for 130 yards. Green Bay netted 435 yards. They allowed Detroit to gain 149. Their 130 yards lost to penalties were over 25% of their offensive gains and nearly 90% of Detroit's. That is absolutely unacceptable. Let's do a rundown of how many of what penalty there were:

5 personal fouls - 75 yards
3 false starts - 15 yards
2 holding - 20 yards
2 illegal formation - 5 yards
1 illegal contact - 5 yards

False starts happen, even though they shouldn't. Holding happens way more than it's called. Illegal contact happens almost as much as holding. Even illegal formation happens, even though it's a stupid penalty that you should get out of your system in high school. But personal fouls? Absolutely ridiculous. Unless there's a brawl, there's no way any team should get called for five personal fouls in one game. I have no idea whether or not these were legit penalties, but the fact that Packer players were in position to have these penalties called in the first place infuriates me.

You know what that says to me? On-field discipline is a major problem. In a way, that's almost worse than off-field issues. Personal fouls cost the team 3/4 of a football field, while the rest of the penalties combined for 1/2 a field. This will kill you against an opponent with a better offense. I don't care how young a team is; you ABSOLUTELY CANNOT be whistled five times for 15 yard penalties. I cannot express in a family friendly manner how angry I am over these penalties.

Of course, penalties have been a problem all year. The Packers have been flagged 43 times (4th in NFL) for 359 yards (3rd in NFL). Mike McCarthy said that it was something they would have to fix. You had a bye week, coach. And even that didn't keep the team from putting up a season-worst performance penalty-wise. Ugh.
Five sacks for 30 yards. If the penalty yardage wasn't bad enough, tack on the losses to Detroit's pass rushers. Now, I have respect for Julian Peterson and Cliff Avril. They are the best pass rushers on a team that doesn't perform well in this department. Still, they combined for 3.5 sacks, which is not good. But Turk McBride, a player who had one tackle all season before Week 6 and isn't even listed on Detroit's depth chart on NFL.com, had 5 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

I know Clifton was dealing with an injury. I know the offensive line has been all shuffled and jumbled around this season. I know Mark Tauscher isn't ready yet. But you cannot give up five sacks a game! Yet that's exactly what they're doing (5 games + 25 sacks = 5.0 sacks/game average)!

In other news, Aaron Rodgers' contract was renegotiated to include extended medical coverage, a personal chiropractor, yoga classes, and sleep therapy. Because if the season continues this way, he will end up more messed up than Ryan Leaf. If there was any debate as to whether the Packers' O-line is broken, I think this should settle it.
30 rushes for 107 yards. This statistic isn't even that bad. But then you consider that the majority of the yards were gained by Ryan Grant (24 carries for 90 yards), which still isn't that bad. But then you look at the drive chart for the game, and you realize that nearly half of his yards came on the game's final drive, when Green Bay simply took advantage of a tired Lions' defense for the final 7 1/2 minutes (where Grant totalled 41 yards on 7 attempts, including a 22-yarder, resulting in his final stat line). Before the 7:52 mark in the 4th quarter (when the score was already 26-0), Ryan Grant had 14 carries for 49 yards.

Again, I didn't watch the game. I don't know if the lackluster running performance was the fault of Grant, the O-line, or just good run defense by Detroit. But surely the Packers can do a better job establishing the run against a team that is less than notorious for it's run-stopping. Even with Jason Spitz as a surprise inactive, you have to take it to a team that boasts Grady Jackson as their primary run defender.

Again, this falls to Mike McCarthy. For someone who still uses a workhorse back approach, why didn't he give Grant more carries in the first three quarters of the game? Detroit was a team ripe for the pounding, and Green Bay desperately needs to foster some sort of momentum for their rushing attack to build off of for the remainder of the season. They certainly haven't developed any momentum in the first 4 games. Unless, of course, the season is destined to end on January 3rd, which I sincerely hope it does not.

Okay, so those were all the things that bothered me. Here's what impressed me:

Zero. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. As a former defensive player, nothing quite compares to the feeling you get when you shut out an opponent. I think the best analogy in sports is a no-hitter in baseball, where everyone from the catcher to the pitcher to the outfielders does their job just right. That's what happened today on defense for Green Bay.

The Lions' quarterbacking duo of Daunte Culpepper and Drew Stanton combined to produce this line: 11/25 for 105 yards and 3 INTs. While that might be a good day for Jamarcus Russell, that's a terrible day for an NFL quarterback, and that's exactly what Dom Capers' 3-4 defense is designed to do. It's fitting that Atari Bigby got the final interception in the end zone to seal the shutout, considering his absence forced the defense into a more conservative (read: more crappy) approach.
Clay Matthews. I know I already talked about how well the defense played as a whole, especially against Detroit's passing game. And of course Matthews wasn't the only one responsible, as Aaron Kampman, Al Harris, Nick Barnett, and Michael Montgomery all came away with sacks. But Matthews' 2 sacks were just another example of how dynamic of a player he is becoming. I barely knew who he was before the draft, and I was clueless as to why Ted Thompson would trade back into the first round to grab him. But I am glad he did. Now the question is: which linebacker has to lose snaps in order to get Matthews on the field more?
Another interception for a defensive lineman. Remember my whole tirade above about poor discipline? Cullen Jenkins' read of the screen pass was the exact opposite. When an end or tackle gets that much penetration with minimal resistance, that means he either beat his man beyond recognition, or there's something unusual happening. In this case, it was the latter, and Jenkins immediately halted his rush to disrupt the screen pass. A wonderful play.
Green Bay's receivers. I made a big deal out of the erratic and sometimes frustrating play of the Packers' receiving corps. Well, today they all came to play. Greg Jennings' one-handed grab in the first quarter was a beautiful play, as was James Jones' juke of Marquand Manuel for a 47-yard TD. Even Jermichael Finley continued his development, putting up 54 yards on 5 catches.

But the big story from Lambeau was Donald Driver's record-setting catch in the first quarter, leaving him as the sole leader in receptions in Green Bay history. Of course, his 7 catch, 107 yard performance on the day was nice, but there's something about the story of a 7th round pick becoming a franchise leader in a major category that makes you smile, win or lose. Congratulations, Donald. You're a class act both on and off the field, a true role model, and a top receiver in the history of one of the NFL's premeire franchises.
Aaron MF'ing Rodgers. Of course, someone has to get Donald the ball so he can break that record. And Aaron Rodgers did that, and so much more.

Now, let's not go crazy, because Rodgers wasn't perfect. His fourth quarter interception to former Badger LB DeAndre Levy was simply underthrown, and Jones was closely covered anyway. Rodgers also danced around too much when faced with a collapsing pocket, which led to his fifth sack and a fumble recovered by Larry Foote.

But there was little else Rodgers did poorly. He bought time when he had to, and met with thrilling success on two occasions in the third quarter (especially the play where he faked one way, started out the other direction, then went back in the original direction and, as he was falling backwards, fired a strike to Jermichael Finley off his back foot). All his throws were crisp, and he did an excellent job providing space for his recievers to work after the catch. His 78.4% completion rate and his 113.7 passer rating were stellar, despite his protection issues.

Altogether, this was a decent game all-around. Not great, because the offense surely could have played better. But the defense was outstanding, and even the special teams performed well after Jordy Nelson got hurt. There were things we can take away from this games as positives, but still significant flaws that must be addressed before visiting Cleveland. I'm torn between optimism and pessimism, but perhaps you could sway me one way or the other in the comments section.