SB Nation User Blog: Brandon

Packers 27, Seattle 17

Brandon — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:29:02 -0000

This is a short one. I worked all day, and stayed up way past my bedtime to watch a recording of the game. A few things stood out in this one.

QB Charlie Frye is awful. He has no accuracy on passes beyond 10 yards. WR Koren Robinson made an outstretched catch on one overthrown pass, but CB Tramon Williams and CB Charles Woodson each had an INT on passes over 10 yards that were off target. He gave them no chance to win.

Seattle's offensive line is really inconsistent. They usually provided good protection, but DE Aaron Kampman made the right side of their line (Locklear and Womack) look foolish at times. Seattle's biggest play, a 50 yard run by RB Julius Jones, was called back on a hold by LG Mike Wahle. Night and day difference from last week when the Packers barely sniffed Atlanta's QB Matt Ryan on the pass rush because Atlanta's o-line is playing very well. The play by their respective offensive lines is why Atlanta is one of the big surprises this season and Seattle is one of the big disappointments.

WR Jordy Nelson. It was only 4 catches, but this was his best game yet. He caught all the passes early in the game. Before this game, most of his receptions came late in the games when the Packers were behind and the defenses were playing off. Seattle's secondary is really struggling, CB Marcus Trufant is supposed to be their shutdown corner and they threw right at him all game, but with WR James Jones out again, they really need a 3rd WR who can produce and keep the double teams off Driver and Jennings. Jennings had the big game, his big catch came when he got a step on Trufant in single coverage, but if teams have to respect Nelson it will help Jennings too.

Finally, QB Aaron Rodgers. His 4th game with a QB rating over 100, second straight game he's done that while struggling with his bad shoulder. The game against Dallas was an average 80 QB passer rating, and his only bad QB rating game was at Tampa when his stats were dragged down by 2 INTs that were completely not his fault. He had a costly fumble against Seattle, but that was his only major miscue. He's still the team MVP.

Open Thread: Green Bay at Seattle

Brandon — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:26:36 -0000

Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks
Sunday, October 12th, 2008
Noon CST, FOX
This is an open thread for the game.

Wow, RB Brandon Jackson is out. He's sick, so it's sudden and shouldn't last longer than a week, but the Packers didn't need any more players out. With the exception of Giacomini and Brohm, every other player listed as inactive is out with an injury.

The biggest news is QB Matt Hasselbeck is out. With him gone their offense should be pretty one dimensional.

Inactives from the Insiders Blog:

Packers players on the inactive list for today's game:

S Atari Bigby
CB Al Harris
RB Brandon Jackson
DE Jason Hunter
T Breno Giacomini
WR James Jones
DE Michael Montgomery
QB Brian Brohm (No. 3 QB)

The Seahawks' inactive list includes:

K Brandon Coutu
QB Matt Hasselbeck
G Mansfield Wrotto
DT Red Bryant
WR Jordan Kent
WR Deion Branch
TE Jeb Putzier
DE Baraka Atkins

Friday Injury Report for Week 6 at Seattle

Brandon — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:18:27 -0000

I'm late with the injury report because my day job is making me work seven days a week at the moment, and I'm a little tired of scanning the weekly carnage. There's always someone new on it.

S Aaron Rouse and FB Korey Hall are back and should start on Sunday, but now WR James Jones is out again. It's still at least another week until S Atari Bigby is back. LT Chad Clifton has been working with trainers all week and should be back, although the team might be better off if he waits another week or two. Also, backups that had been playing for injured starters, like DE Jason Hunter, CB Pat Lee, and DT Michael Montgomery, are hurt too.

The Packers finally gave up on RB Kregg Lumpkin, after watching him sit for the past three weeks with a hamstring injury and placed him on I.R., while former starting RB DeShawn Wynn was signed off the practice squad and takes his place. I wouldn't be surprised to see Wynn get a carry or two.

The good news is that it's possible that all 11 offensive starters will be healthy and starting together for the first time this season. They aren't all 100%, but it's something. The defense will be missing at least three starters (Jenkins, Harris, and Bigby) and it's possible that Hawk and Pickett will miss the game too. With 3 to 5 defensive starters out, plus CB Charles Woodson is playing through a broken toe and DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila is still slowed after recovering from knee surgery, it's easy to see why there have been struggles on the defense with all those injuries.

Player	Pos.	Injury	Friday Participation	Friday Status
Atari Bigby	S	Hamstring	Did Not Participate	Doubtful
Chad Clifton	T	Hamstring	Limited Participation	Probable
Korey Hall	FB	Knee	Full Participation	Probable
Al Harris	CB	Spleen	Out	Out
A.J. Hawk	LB	Groin	Limited Participation	Probable
Jason Hunter	DE	Hamstring	Did Not Participate	Doubtful
James Jones	WR	Knee	Did Not Participate	Questionable
Pat Lee	CB	Back	Did Not Participate	Questionable
Kregg Lumpkin	RB	Hamstring	Did Not Participate	Questionable
Michael Montgomery	DE	Ankle	Did Not Participate	Doubtful
Ryan Pickett	DT	Knee	Limited Participation	Questionable
Aaron Rodgers	QB	Right Shoulder	Limited Participation	Probable
Aaron Rouse	S	Knee	Full Participation	Probable
Charles Woodson	CB	Toe	Limited Participation	Probable

Should The Packers Trade for Tony Gonzalez?

Brandon — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:03:07 -0000

Kansas City isn't the worst team in the NFL, at least they've won a game, but they are a couple years away from returning to the playoffs. Their season is over, and now they're looking around and wondering what teams would offer for Pro Bowl TE Tony Gonzalez, and it's rumored the Packers are interested.

There are a lot of reasons why the Packers shouldn't trade for him. He's 32 years old, his best days are certainly behind him, and it would probably take him a while to get used to the offensive system. But Kansas City is eager to get something done before the trade deadline and it's rumored they are only asking for a 3rd round pick in return.

The Packers don't have a true receiving threat at tight end. TE Donald Lee had a good 2007 season, but he's better known for his blocking and is a receiver second. He's having a good 2008 season, but he's clearly not the first option on any pass play and I doubt anyone is game planning to stop him. Gonzalez would give opposing defenses something else to think about. Plus he's actually healthy! Always something to consider as injuries continue to plague them.

Gonzalez also managed to upset a bunch of people when he complained about not breaking the tight end receiving yardage record during the Chiefs lone 2008 victory. At the price of a 3rd round pick, it's worth checking into, but a trade for Gonzalez would make a lot more sense for the other teams mentioned in the article, Buffalo, Philadelphia, and the NY Giants.

Poll

Should the Packers trade for Tony Gonzalez?

Matt Hasselbeck Is Out

Brandon — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:26:28 -0000

QB Matt Hasselbeck hasn't practiced all week and backup QB Seneca Wallace hasn't been able to practice either. Former Cleveland starting QB Charlie Frye had been getting all the reps with the first team and the scout team, so Seattle signed a QB for the practice squad just so Frye didn't have to throw all the passes in practice.

I've been assuming Hasselbeck would skip practice, but be good enough to play on Sunday.

Instead Frye will get the start on Sunday. At least one Seattle fan is hoping Frye will spend the entire game handing the ball off to RB Julius Jones.

This changes everything. Frye doesn't have the arm to throw downfield, so this allows the linebackers and safeties to play closer to the line. Seattle was having a lot of trouble getting all their new receivers adjusted to the complex offense and now throw in a QB who has even less experience with them. Now this is a game the Packers should win, and it becomes a huge problem if they can't win against a team that is sinking as bad as Seattle.

Tony Mandarich Interview

Brandon — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:04:28 -0000

On of my fellow SB Nation bloggers, BigBlueShoe over at Stampede Blue, had the chance to interview former Packer Tony Mandarich. I hadn't realized there was a five year gap between his Packers and Colts days. I guess I was just enjoying the young Brett Favre era to think too much about him.

I had to look back to try and remember why they finally gave up on him and per the NY Times they said he sat out the 1992 season on the Packers I.R. "with a thyroid condition and post-concussion syndrome."

''I was sick of football,'' Mandarich said of his feelings at the time he was released. ''I ended up resenting everything that pro football represented. I was tired of all of it, the media, football and practice. I just had enough. I put too much pressure on myself and I talked way too much when I came out, probably to get more money.''

Since Shoe is a Colts guy, not much was said about Green Bay, but he's aware he screwed up while with the Packers:

"Well , at 11 months sober I decided... well, I mean, I decided much earlier than that, but at 11 months sober I was ready to try to break back into the NFL by trying to get some workouts. And the Philadelphia Eagles said, listen, we have a scout flying through Cleveland on his way back to Philly. And if you want to drive to Cleveland and work out for him, we will take a look. I was just grateful for that after all the nonsense I had created in Green Bay. I was happy that someone would even at least take a look at me."

The Packers Will Win on Sunday!

Brandon — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:54:21 -0000

I answered a few questions from Mike Tanier at Football Outsiders:

What's Gone Wrong:Brandon Benson of Acme Packing Company came aboard to help me with these bullet points. 1) Injuries, and more injuries. "Eleven starters were listed on last week's injury list," Benson said, "including Cullen Jenkins, who then went on the IR, and Aaron Rouse, who has started the last two weeks for Atari Bigby. Hawk, Woodson, and Rodgers didn't practice all week but still started. Chad Clifton has been listed every week this season, usually sitting out at least one practice a week, and he finally had to take a seat mid-game vs. Atlanta." 2) Poor run defense has allowed teams to sit on the clock late in games. "It's basically the same front seven as last season and not loaded with a bunch of veterans in decline, so I'm at somewhat of a loss about it." 3) The running game is not holding up its end of the bargain. "They missed center Scott Wells. He was out the first three games, so he might help if his back is improving. McCarthy denied it in a press conference, but they might be better off without Clifton right now. They're also missing starting fullback Korey Hall."
Angry Local Columnist Speaks Wisconsin columnists don't appear to be very angry. That's because a) They are an accommodating bunch; b) they blew most of their rage neurons during the Summer of Favre; and c) their attention this weekend was focused on the Brewers. Speaking of the Brew Crew, how's this for a pay-per-view spectacle: Prince Fielder vs. Gilbert Brown in an eat-off.

But unlike my gloomy outlook, he expects the Packers to win on Sunday at Seattle:

Seattle Seahawks
What's Gone WrongDoug Farrar filled me in on the Seahawks woes. 1) Receivers? Who are they? "Mike Holmgren runs an execution offense," Doug told me. "It requires precision from each player, and the complexity lies in that precision. Players must know their routes. They must know the tempo, which is ruthlessly fast at its best." The Seahawks have been forced to patch together their receiving corps all year, and now Deion Branch is once again hurt. 2) The secondary has gone from a strength to a weakness. Farrar singled out Brian Russell as the primary culprit. "The best analogy I can come up with for Russell's timing on pass plays is Billy Rosewood, Judge Reinhold’s character in the Beverly Hills Cop movies. In every film, they'd do the bit where Axel Foley and the other cops arrest the bad guys, cuff them and start rounding them up into the cars. That's when Billy screams in, guns blazing, demanding that everyone drop their weapons and put their hands over their heads. Brian Russell is Billy Rosewood." 3) The transition from Mike Holmgren to Jim Mora has the team going in two directions at once. "In my mind, this is the main problem. Half the front office is wrapping it up, and the other half is looking forward to next year. Tim Ruskell's doing both. Without a united focus, you will get your ass handed to you in the NFL."
Angry Local Columnist Speaks Art Thiel, Seattle Post Intelligence "As a bedraggled group, the Seahawks used the bye week to work up as dull, dreary and lifeless a game as they have produced in a long while."
Pick:Mike Holmgren's last face-off with his former team should be more glamorous than this. The PACKERS should carve up that bad Seahawks secondary, even at Qwest.

Preview: Green Bay at Seattle

Brandon — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:39:59 -0000

This week is a little different. Instead of waiting to find out if QB Aaron Rodgers would actually play, the Packers are starting to show some signs of good health. I'm coming around to the idea that the last three losses were due in large part to bad timing. All the injuries on the defensive line (Pickett, Jenkins), at linebacker (Hawk), and safety (Rouse, Bigby, Collins) have happened at the same time they took on three teams that can run the ball (Dallas, Tampa, and Atlanta). Pickett, Hawk, and Collins have been playing through their injuries, but it still must slow them down and it can't be helping. Jenkins isn't coming back, but Rouse is back at practice and Bigby shouldn't be too far behind. Unfortunately they have to play against another good run offense on Sunday.

Most everyone knows that Seattle has been dealing a flood of injuries to their wide receivers, and QB Matt Hasselbeck has been unable to practice this week, but otherwise their team is good health. Seattle has gotten blown out in their two New York games (Buffalo and NY Giants), lost at home to San Francisco, and only has one win against the lowly, lowly St. Louis Rams. But over the last two seasons, they've shown that they play a lot better at home.

Rankings from Football Outsiders:

Teams	Run Offense	Pass Offense	Run Defense	Pass Defense
Packers	27	17	29	3
Seattle	8	28	10	29

The pass offense and Rodgers are not getting any love from the numbers at Football Outsiders. They knock Rodgers down because the Packers have gone up against some lousy pass defenses (Dallas and Atlanta; Detroit might be one of the worst all time) and he threw 3 INTs when he actually played against a top 10 pass defense (Tampa). The pass offense and Rodgers are better than 17th, especially now that all the wide receivers are healthy.

Seattle is like Atlanta because they can run the ball and can't stop the pass. Seattle's RB Julius Jones is having a very good season. Rodgers might have a big game against Seattle, but he threw for over 300 yards against Atlanta and that didn't win them the game.

This will be another close game because the Packers will be able to come from behind any deficit with their pass offense, and Seattle can't blow out anyone with their injured and strugging pass offense. Can the Packers stop Julius Jones? If they can, then Seattle's offense is punchless like they were last week when the NY Giants held them to 187 yards on offense.

The Packers have been held under 20 points only once this season, but Seattle hasn't been held under 30 points at home this season. The Packers defense is similar to San Francisco's (poor against the run, solid against the pass) and Seattle managed to scrape together enough offense for five scoring drives against the 49ers while one of their TDs came on a fumble recovery. As bad as Seattle played last week, if the Packers can't give themselves an advantage by being able to run the football, or stop the run which would shut down Seattle's offense, two things that they haven't managed done well in the first five games, this looks like another Packer loss. I can't believe I'm writing this, but Seattle 23, Packers 17.

Poll

Change My Mind! Tell me the Packers will win on Sunday.

Talking About Injuries

Brandon — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:54:23 -0000

When the press asked Mike McCarthy questions yesterday, almost all of them were about injuries. Who's hurt? Are they going to play on Sunday?

Right now this season is reminding me a lot of 2005. In 2004, the Packers won the division for the 3rd straight season. Then in 2005, WR Javon Walker had a season ending knee injury in week 1, and then RB Ahman Green was out for the season a few weeks later. Chicago started out slow, going 1-3 in the first four games, but then went on a tear to finish 11-5 and win the division. Injuries hurt the Packers, and a slow start didn't stop Chicago from winning a weak division.

Obviously things are different now in 2008, there are probably a dozen things everyone reading this post could point out and any or all of them may be a good reason why 2005 won't repeat itself, but it's something on my mind.

Poll

Are the Packers going to overcome the injuries and overtake Chicago for the NFC North lead?

Mike McCarthy Speaks!

Brandon — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:02:42 -0000

There isn't much to get out of a press conference, but sometimes a few interesting bits fall out. This post game press conference was about injuries, penalties, and the awful run defense.

The problem with the run defense is that they're trying to hard? I'm not buying that lemon. I guess poor gap control is coach-speak for not getting the job done.

The run defense, really the biggest thing that factored for us in run defense was a number of times, it's almost like we took turns doing it, was guys trying to do too much. I think that's something you try to guard against, you try to practice against, because that's emphasized. Maybe they read your guys' articles too much. But when you've got a problem, run defense is all about gap control, the proper technique and playing to the guy next to you. And the way we're situated and organized on defense, it's very evident when something goes wrong, someone not being in their gap. We had it a number of times where the defender had his head in the right gap, he has his gap in control, and then he pulls out trying to make the play.

The first thing I thought when DT Cullen Jenkins was lost for the season was that the interior pass rush would vanish. I thought they got some pressure on QB Matt Ryan, but it didn't show up on the stat sheet. McCarthy said Atlanta put a chip block on DE Aaron Kampman and DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila to slow them down. They could send LB A.J. Hawk to blitz more, but that might not be a good idea if he's not 100%, and they can't blitz LB Nick Barnett either because he's vanished this season. I don't know where their pass rush will come from the rest of this season.

There was a number of five-man pressures, and frankly we had a number of one-on-ones, if you watch the film closely, that we didn't win. I thought Bob was aggressive with the number of five-man pressures, man free, that we had called in the game. We didn't do a very good job pressuring the quarterback.

Poll

SB Nation User Blog: Brandon

Packers 27, Seattle 17

Open Thread: Green Bay at Seattle

Friday Injury Report for Week 6 at Seattle

Should The Packers Trade for Tony Gonzalez?

Should the Packers trade for Tony Gonzalez?

Matt Hasselbeck Is Out

Tony Mandarich Interview

The Packers Will Win on Sunday!

Preview: Green Bay at Seattle

Change My Mind! Tell me the Packers will win on Sunday.

Talking About Injuries

Are the Packers going to overcome the injuries and overtake Chicago for the NFC North lead?

Mike McCarthy Speaks!

Can the defense be improved this season?