Game thoughts Pack vs Balt

• Charles Woodson’s tackle on 1st and goal from the 1 against Willis McGahee for a 2 yard loss was the play of the game. Yes, the ensuing pick by Tramon was huge too, but it was Woodson’s unreal tackle that set up that pick because it made Balt mistakenly think they had to call a pass play (which was dumb – don’t know why they don’t just give it to Rice every time down there, he’ll get in eventually).
• AJ Hawk’s interception was definitely nice – anytime you pick it off it’s nice. But the announcers made too much of it (like they did often last night). Part of the reason Hawk could stay with Todd Heap last night is because Heap was coming off a recent injury and was already among the slower TEs in the league. Hey, I think Hawk has upped his level of play recently and I’m not writing this as knock on him – again a pick is always a good thing. I’m just trying to temper any unfounded excitement that Hawk may have turned a corner w/re to his coverage abilities.
• I’m still not sold on the job TT has done here, but last night he had to feel good as five of his big acquisitions/draft picks stood out: Woodson, Rodgers, Finley, Matthews and Raji.
• Mike Greenberg of Mike and Mike in the Morning (ESPN radio) made a similar comment to mine from last night re the officiating – he hated it. He argued that while there were some bad fouls that had to be called, the officials got way carried away. I agree. It’s a reputation thing now, unfortunately for the Packers. You know the NFL’s officiating office forewarned this crew beforehand that there SHOULD be lots of fouls, so they were more inclined to call it tight. I just wish officiating were more consistent from game to game.
• As a preface to what I’m about to say, I don’t dislike Jon Gruden and Jaws – and both drawn upon some quality football knowledge as commentators, and I don’t mind them trying to keep it light. But I tired quickly of the laudfest going on, as it were. A player couldn’t just make a nice play. Both Gruden and Jaws had to talk up every play like it was the stuff of miracles. There were some great plays definitely, but there were also some very average plays that were made out to be great. Chris Collinsworth has far more credibility up in the booth in my mind. It’s interesting, as I consider NBC’s Sunday Night games vs ESPN Monday Night games, the latter seems to be so much more of a choreographed production – the former is just watching a good football game with knowledgeable commentary. In fact, at one point last night I wondered if ESPN corporate had given a clear mandate this off-season to the broadcast group to try to be more positive or something – it was like watching a YMCA youth basketball game where everyone’s a winner.
• Our defense was very active last night. It was clear that Flacco was rattled and a bit unsure of what was coming next. That’s a credit to Capers. Outside of some pass interference calls, our secondary was solid last night. Collins and Bigby did a nice job holding the fort back there. And Collins’ read on the flea-flicker, the one play I thought Balt could pull off to really hurt us – was great, and that was an especially nice scoop catch for the pick too.
• Our defense also played very tight in coverage. It seemed that there were more than a few plays where Flacco rolled out or bought himself more time and still had nowhere to go. Both the LBs and the secondary were strong in coverage.
• BJ Raji has a presence on the line. I can’t remember seeing such a big person move so quickly and so easily get low to make plays. Barnett, Hawk, Jones and of course Matthews were very good last night – especially Matthews.
• Mason Crosby has reached a very interesting point, from a coaching perspective. He is obviously struggling big-time mentally (though the snap was bad on the miss). He just doesn’t look comfortable out there especially before his kicks. As a coach, it seems there are 3 ways to handle this: threaten to bring competition in, just bring competition in or cut him outright and sign another kicker. Crosby has now been marginal for 1.5+ seasons. If I were coach, I’d handle this like how Jim Mora handled Olindo Mare’s early season struggles this year – miss another critical one or easy ones, and you’re likely gone. After that threat (which I believe Mora made in a press conference), Mare made 17 in a row. (Matt Stover may be available soon if Indy reinstates Vinatieri who has been injured. John Carney may also be available as NO may release him.)
• I think Josh Sitton has a fair amount of nasty in him. It just seems like he has the QB’s back and really, the back of every Packer all the time. I think more and more national folks will be talking about him over the next couple years as a force on the Packers’ line.
• Aaron Rodgers is very very good. Even on the unlucky turnover plays (except the first pick), Rodgers put the ball on the money for his WRs last night. Just very quality play from him.
• Nicely coached game last night especially by Capers. McCarthy drew up some nice play calls at the right moments too. I do think we should have been able to score more against that defense – they just weren’t nearly as good as many think they are. And I continue to have concerns re our red zone offense (need to improve our TD percentage). I think our fortunate recent schedule has helped McCarthy almost build back his own confidence – he just seems far more tuned into games than earlier this year. I really like that he let Dietrich-Smith have it after that near-unnecessary roughness penalty. I wish the cameras would have shown more of that, but it was clear he wasn’t happy. It was a good coaching moment.
• Picking up Ahman Green when we did was smart. He is a savvy veteran who knows how to pick up the blitz, he still runs hard like he used too because he still plays hungry like he used to. Smart pick up. My guess is he’s also had a positive effect on more of a mentoring level on both Grant and Jackson.
• Overall, I was pleased with the game. I got nervous there in the 3rd quarter, but Rodgers/McCarthy pulled us through by getting us a big TD to go back up by 10 (24-14). The Packers seem to be about 1 quarter shy of being an upper tier team. If they would have held Balt to 3 or 7 points last night and not bled like they did in the 3rd quarter, I would be feeling extra good. For now, I still feel good about this team, especially with the hope that we’re improving w/each game.
• I want to make special mention of the fact that Dom Capers and Mike McCarthy took a lot of criticism when the team dropped to 4-4. I was critical myself because they deserved it. But they have responded. Sure, the schedule hasn’t been too tough – but the fact is, the coaching staff responded, made some changes, and most importantly, got key results. This was a huge win last night and my hope is that the confidence will carry over to the next few games. We are hot at the right time here.