- Great game for the Packers. Dominated the game.
- Desmond Bishop was beaten pretty badly on that pass to the Denver TE. But just as the TE was about to score, he caught up and caused a huge fumble at a huge moment in the game. He also had a nice sack in there. 9 tackles 1 assist to lead the team in tackles. Desmond Bishop is getting to be as good as I thought he’d be.
- Rodgers was unreal. His pass in the first half to Jordy for the long TD was sensational. As my wife said – she knew it was a TD the moment the ball left his hands. I remember feeling sort of like that whenever Joe Montana threw the ball. It was frustrating to play against him because you knew the second he committed to a pass it was almost certainly going to be a good decision and a good result. Yes, I’m comparing Rodgers to Montana – he’s that good (and more mobile).
- Whenever Rodgers scrambles I get seriously nervous that he’ll take a shot to the head and be out for a long time. I don’t like it. But he’s so good at it. He’s reach for the TD was great.
- I like how James Starks runs. I loved that one run when he blasted a Denver CB trying to make an awkward tackle. That was impressive and the play reminded me of the Nigerian Nightmare Christian Okoye. But he can also be elusive and he seems to just have that football instinct that TT seems to be able to sniff from miles away. He was also valuable as a receiving back with 5 catches for 38 yards.
- Our pass defense remains questionable. Orton did throw 3 picks, but he also had 3 TDs and at times looked too comfortable out there. As much as the Collins’ loss hurts, I think the pass defense suffers more than anything from a lack of a pass rush. I couldn’t believe how much time Orton had to carve us up. Even the best secondary is going to give up passes when there is zero pass rush. Bishop had the only sack on a blitz call. Orton is a decent QB and can be a quick decision-maker, but we should have gotten to him more often than we did. There is very little happening on the right side of the defense w/re to pressure on the QB. That has to change. I really want that S’oto guy to get a chance soon because Walden isn’t bringing it.
- Clay Matthews has 1 sack this year through 4 games. Yes, he’s getting double-teamed etc, but not all the time. And he only has 14 tackles. We have to find a way to get him more involved making plays.
- AJ Hawk only has 15 tackles this year. Getting tackles “may not be his role” as some like to say – but then what is his role: not tackling, not sacking, not making plays and allowing lots of passes over the middle? Ok, that was a bit out of control – he hasn’t been THAT bad. But it just seems he hasn’t been doing much this year.
- Desmond Bishop, on the other hand, has 36 tackles, 2 sacks and a forced fumble.
- While Brandon Lloyd showed why he was the leading WR in the NFL last year (he was REALLY good yesterday), I was a bit concerned about how easily he was getting past Tramon. A few of the plays he made against Shields, but a good number of them were against Tramon in straight up coverage. Lloyd is very fast and quite quick, but so is Tramon. I figured Lloyd would actually struggle against Tramon but he didn’t at all. Were it not for a hands-to-the-face penalty against Denver, Lloyd would have had over 185 yards receiving. (He ended up with 136.)
- McGahee had an easier time running than he should have. He had 15 rushes for 103 yards. He’s still a good back for sure, but our D was not too strong against the run yesterday.
- Overall, quality win. You can’t lose when your offense is so thoroughly dominant. Nicely done fellas.
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packergeeks 
October 3, 2011 at 11:18 am |
How long before Cobb passes both Jones and Driver on the depth chart? Jones had a very nice game and it was great to see Driver get a TD, but Cobb just jumps off of the screen. He is a threat every time he touches the ball and I am sure opposing teams are glad to face Driver in the slot instead of him. Like DeSean Jackson and Percy Harvin in thier respective first years, I see Cobb emerging as the season progresses and the offensive coaches realize that this guy is someone that can give defenses fits and open up the entire field.
The defense has been very spotty at times, but with the way the NFL is going and the way the Pack can move the ball on offense, I wonder if Capers and MM have just decided that a defense that is aggressive and takes enough chances to force a handful of negative plays and/or turnovers is worth the occassional big plays they will also give up. While the numbers may be ugly, they can live with it if they get just a few stops or turnovers a game because that amount of stops is enough with the way the offense puts up points. In this line of thinking, because passing is such a big part of the game, you might as well press the issue, and force the other team to go for big plays with the startegy that our offense will always be able to make more big plays than the other team, and our defensive ballhawks will usually be able to take a few more away than they give up. Sort of like NO defense when they won the superbowl in ’09. On the other hand, this could all be wishful thinking on my part.
Nice to see Starks rebound with a rugged, prodictive game.
October 3, 2011 at 11:35 am |
Raymidge – I agree re Cobbs. he is electric. I’m thinking McCarthy is trying to figure out how to work him in. what a luxury for us to have to really think hard about how we’re going to work in all the talent.
Interesting theory re the defense. I’d say it is like the Saints’ philosophy – and also somewhat like the Pats philosophy as well. Statistically, I don’t know that the Pats’ successful teams had great defenses – they have won primarily with offense. It does make sense to some extent. One of the things I think McCarthy has struggled with is how to balance the offense to give the defense enough time to rest. It’s a real dilemma – do you throw all the time and score in 2 minutes like that one drive yesterday or do you run a bit to give your defense a breather. I think you may be right – that he’s starting to conclude scoring should be the priority – essentially accepting the defensive bruises that come with it.
October 3, 2011 at 11:45 am |
On the defense… They struggled early last year too. Might be wrong, but the defense didn’t dominate a truly good opponent until the Jets sometime around mid-season.
The problem is the pass rush. It’s this simple, Jenkins > Wynn, and Zombo > Walden. The second one might be a stretch, but early I keep getting that feeling. I get the sense that the more time Capers has with the defense the better it will become. We’ll get back Neal and Zombo. I get the feeling Capers is relearning this defense, and once he knows how to best put the pieces together many of the mistakes will be go away.
That said, maybe the 2010 defense played a bit better than they were actually capable of.
October 3, 2011 at 2:33 pm |
If we’re thinking about improving the very disappointing rush with Johnny Jolly – scrap that idea. The fat man with the runny nose has done it again. Aressted in Houston this weekend for drug possession and tampering with evidence. What an idiot and waste of such mnagnificent talent.
Capers it’s time to change the plan – IT AIN’T WORKING.
Packers #5 in Offenssive Yards
#1 Scoring
#28 Defensive yards
#19 Defensive Scoring
#5 turnover ratio
Turnovers are still good and have probably helped in the wins. D yards are terrible. D scoring unacceptably high. Scoring and Yards for the offense are absolutely great. Thanks o AR and MM for this. I’m happy to see MM deliver some of that killer instinct and not letting up and coasting. The On-side in the first half delivered that blow early. I think at the very least that play made the Broncos wonder just what’s next.
Atlanta with Turner and Ryan could be a test of the defense. I’m worried about Abrams pulling a dirty play on AR. He’s done it once this year and is not above doing it again. Protect AR is a key.
October 3, 2011 at 3:46 pm |
I suspect that CM-3 is not completely healthy. His quad is probably worse off than has been admitted. Last year, when he was not double teamed, he would, more often than not, just abuse his man. Not this year, however.
October 3, 2011 at 4:49 pm |
A good pass rush hides a lot of things behind it. Shields isn’t quite the same player as last year because he has to hold coverage for a month and half. It’s also not helping the new safety duo we have on the back end. Same with the ILB’s. If the pass rush doesn’t get better then Shields, Burnett/Peprah, and Hawk all suffer. Get a consistent pass rush like the last six games of last year and it makes their life a bunch easier. So, if the defense is going to get back to last year’s form then Matthews will have re-elevate his game and someone will need to step up on the other side. If that doesn’t then we’ll continue to get a bend and hopefully not break too often defense and it will be up to offense to out-score the other team and control the clock. So far it has been working.
I also heard Mason Crosby is PISSED. No field goal attempts this week and his legs are freaking sore from all the running he does on kick-off coverage units.
October 5, 2011 at 10:26 am |
on that note – Cullen Jenkins has 4 sacks so far this year.
October 4, 2011 at 12:52 pm |
I agree on the pass rush being the source of the problem. Interestingly, Capers seems to blame it on the DBs (http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/packers-coaches-looking-to-fix-safety-problem-of-leaky-unit-131027253.html) but I agree with you and said so in my own blog (http://wcoffensive.blogspot.com/2011/10/packers-and-lions-both-still-undefeated.html)
October 4, 2011 at 1:47 pm |
Offensively? No question. The defense (with the exception of Woodson’s pick-6) looked really bad for the first 2+ quarters.
It’s shocking just how bad the Packers bit on the run when the Broncos ran that flea-flicker. Everybody completely ignored Brandon Lloyd streaking downfield on that play 😦
Yes. After the way he got stuffed by the Bears, I was really glad to see him put up some quality carries in this game.
These two items are closely related. Matthews just hasn’t been the disruptive presence he was last year; Dom Capers needs to figure out how to fix that, quick.
D∈T
October 4, 2011 at 2:44 pm |
With ya Dave. With the defense playing the way they are every game is a big Question Mark, every week I say to myself Dom’s too good of a coach to let this continue. He’s working on a solution. And I sincerely believe he is. We will be seeing that change soon. Hopefully Sunday night.
October 6, 2011 at 10:49 am |
Morgan Burnette needs to learn to stay put. A J Hawk needs to cover the middle and forget about blitzing. He’s too slow. Every team we have played has done an excellent job picking up the blitzes, evern when they send the house. I wonder if they are being telegraphed somehow or maybe there’s so much game film available they are becoming too predictable. I am actually kind of glad that Dom has backed off blitzing so much the last two weeks. We were actually quite lucky to get out of Carolina with a win. There’s a lot oif room for improvement on the defense but as Ron says, I’m sure Dom will get it fixed.
If the theory that the offense can score so much that the defense doesn’t have to be great is an actuality then MM can’t be playing to protect a lead any more and will need to keep his foot on the gas like last Sunday.