All Pack … All the Time.
by TheVegas on August 27th, 2008 • No Comments »
August 27, 2008
You hear it from so many people. “Games are won in the trenches”. And by the trenches, we of course mean up front, the offensive and defensive lines. Personally, I’m not a football player, nor a football coach, so I can’t attest to the truth of that statement. But considering that I’ve heard it time and time again from NFL coaches, analysts, and experts, I’m going to assume there’s some truth to that.
If that’s the case, I’m a bit worried about the Green Bay Packers at this point in time.
I’m normally quite the optimist when it comes to the Packers or anything in life, in general. I figure there’s no need to get down on yourself or look on the negative side of things. It will only make things worse.
But the offensive and defensive lines of the Green Bay Packers, the “trenches” as they say, are two key positions that I worry about a bit.
First off, the offensive line. I know it’s only practice and only preseason games, but the whole musical chair game at center and guard is getting old. Maybe this gives the coaches a better look at who can play what position the best and it might even possibly make the O-line better, as the players become accustomed to playing more than one position, making players more versatile and useful on game days. You could argue that.
But for me, I just wish they could have named a definite starting five, get them a couple of weeks of work together, getting used to one another and gelling as a unit.
Injuries have made this almost impossible. Scott Wells has been out for a little while now, Sitton could be out for a few weeks, and just with those two injuries, that changes everything around. Spitz moves to center, Moll hops into right guard and Barbe and Colledge fight it out for the left guard. But then come opening night, if Wells is back, that switches everything around again. Hell, I’m even starting to get confused at what natural position these guys originally played.
If I had it my way, I would start, from left to right: Clifton, Colledge, Wells, Spitz, Tauscher. Those are our five best, if you ask me. I don’t think starting a rookie right away is the best idea, especially come opening night againt Minnesota’s monstrous front four.
Onto the defensive line.
Wasn’t this supposed to be a position of strength coming into 2008? Now look at where we are at. Arguably the biggest question mark on the entire team come opening night is the defensive line.
The trade of Corey Williams, at the time, looked to be a smart move on Thompson’s part, given the depth behind C-Will and the fact that he got a 2nd round pick out of it.
Not so much, anymore.
Harrell is on the PUP list (surprise, surprise), Pickett hasn’t been able to do anything all preseason long, Jolly is high on narcotics and beating up on our own offensive lineman. (Sorry, maybe that’s uncalled for, but I always feel the need to bring about the codeine incident when talking about JJ). All joking inside, Jolly is our best healthy DT right now.
Did anyone else realize how much it looked like we miss Pickett during the Denver game? That 99 yard drive, with numerous 7+ yard runs, was excruciating and it was like we had no interior defense to generate any kind of run stopping ability. I’m hoping Pickett is back for Minnesota, but even if he is, will he be 100% ready to go? Doubtful.
At the ends, I’m content with Kampman and Jenkins. Kampman is our best defensive player and Jenkins is undervauled, in my eyes.
KGB presents some concerns, though. He practiced for what, 30 minutes, the other day and his knee “didn’t respond very well” according to McCarthy. Did the knee actually respond? What did it say to McCarthy? “I’m KGB’s knee and I’m not doing too good. Take me off the field.”
I’ve always been a huge fan of the BeerMan, but this injury is taking much longer to heal than many of us anticipated. That’s not a good sign. I thought he was a quick healer. Hopefully, it doesn’t end up being too serious. We don’t have much of a pass rush as it is and even though KGB plays primarily on passing downs, he would be greatly missed.
If the “trenches” of the Green Bay Packers don’t get better and/or healthier come opening Monday night, a win against the Minnesota Vikings won’t come easy at all, considering they have one of the best rushing attacks and run defenses in the entire league.
(Shout out to Tundra Vision for making me think about this. Check out his longer, more in-depth look at the interior lines of the Pack.)
Packers
by TheVegas on August 26th, 2008 • No Comments »
August 26, 2008
Here in my new place at college, we FINALLY got the internet up and running for good late last night. It feels wonderful. I felt naked without it and that’s incredibly sad. I spent all day yesterday doing stuff like going to class and cleaning around the new apartment. You know, unimportant stuff. Nothing like Packers football.
Just wanted to make some comments about the roster moves announced yesterday. In case you haven’t seen it for some reason, the Packers released four players and placed Justin Harrell on the PUP list, to get their head count down to 75. DeShawn Wynn, Ryan Powdrell, Chris Francies, and Ryan Considine were released.
No real surprises. I figured, and was hoping, that Wynn would be cut, but didn’t think that would happen until the final cut-down.
I was never a fan of Wynn. He didn’t seem like a team guy or that hard of a worker for a professional football player. He constantly injured from the day he got here. His “accountability” was zilch and you all know how important that is in McCarthy’s eyes. He won’t be the only running back to be left off the roster, either. They’ll probably only keep three halfbacks, so that means after Grant and Jackson, only one will make it out of Herron, Morency, and Lumpkin. I’m hoping that Lumpkin makes it, but I think they’ll keep Morency.
The other notable move of the day was the placing of Harrell on the PUP list. Wow. Didn’t see that one coming…
You do know I’m joking.
Supposedly you can’t judge a draft pick until after three years, but I say right now that Harrell is pretty much a bust. I was banking on him getting a full offseason workout under his belt and really contributing in the trenches this season. So much for that. With him down for atleast six weeks and Pickett still hurting, what used to be a deep position for us now seems to be very thin. Will Thompson pull a trade before the opener? Don’t be surprised. Although it will probably be somebody we’ve never heard of.
Final Cuts Prediction
While I’m on the topic, I figured I would make my predictions for the final 22 cuts (correct me if that number is wrong) that will be coming sometime Saturday.
I know there’s one more preseason game left, but I’ll assume for argument’s sake that nothing dramatic happens that would greatly alter my predictions.
22 players to be cut Saturday. Through the eyes of Vegas:
RB Noah Herron
RB Kregg Lumpkin
FB Ryan Powdrell
FB Corey White
WR Jake Allen
WR Johnny Quinn
WR Taj Smith
WR Brett Swain
TE Joey Haynos
TE Evan Moore
G Junius Coston
C Brennen Carvalho
G Ryan Keenan
T Orrin Thompson
DT Conrad Bolston
DT Alfred Malone
LB Tracy White
LB Danny Lansanah
LB Spencer Havner
CB Joey Porter
CB Scorpio Babers
S Tyrone Culver
There you have it. I’m not sure how the whole practice squad things works, to be completely honest with you. Is it a 45 man active roster plus 8 practice squad-ers for a total of 53? Or is it 45 man active, 8 inactive, and then the practice squad. Excuse my confusion.
The Atari Attack Final Roster.
The draft is finally over and here’s my final roster.
QB - Eli Manning, NYG
QB - Aaron Rodgers, GB
RB - Marion Barber, Dal
RB - Reggie Bush, NO
RB - Laurence Maroney, NE
RB - Julius Jones, Sea
RB - Ladell Betts, Was
RB - Andre Hall, Den
WR - Larry Fitzgerald, Ari
WR - Roy Williams, Det
WR - Chris Chambers, SD
WR - Ronald Curry, Oak
WR - James Jones, GB
TE - Owen Daniels, Hou
K - Shayne Graham, Cin
DEF - Pittsburgh Steelers
What says you about The Atari Attack? Gosh, that’s such a good name. Almost as good as Scorpio Babers.
Packers
by TheVegas on August 22nd, 2008 • One Comment »
August 22, 2008
To all of my loyal readers. All 50 or so of you. Surprisingly, this blog gets between 75-100 visitors everyday, which isn’t bad at all. But it’s not me who is responsible for that traffic. All of the credit goes to PackOne, who is the original creator of this great Packers blog. He spent a lot of time “advertising” and getting Packer fans and football fans to visit his blog on a daily basis when he first set everything up. He’s done a wonderful job in attracting readers to this blog and I’m glad to see that even though I run most of the action here now, the blog still gets a good amount of readers. Keep visiting on a daily basis and tell your friends to visit too! It’s the right thing to do. Trust me.
Anyhow, back to what this post was originally supposed to be about.
Again, to all of my loyal readers:
I am currently in the process of moving into a new apartment at the school I attend, Millersville University, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I spent all day today and I will spend most of tomorrow moving stuff in and getting everything situated.
Because it’s a new place and because all of my buddies and I are just moving in this weekend, we won’t have cable and the internet until Sunday night at the earliest, possibly even later than that.
So, because I’ll be moved in permanently tomorrow morning, and classes start up Monday, an update from your favorite Packers blog may not be available for a couple of days.
Just wanted to let ya’ll know so you don’t think TheVegas has abandoned his fellow Packer fans. Once we get the internet set up, I’ll be back and BETTER THAN EVER.
Until then, may the G-Force be with you. 30 minutes until kickoff time…
GO PACK GO!
P.S. Make sure and check out the newest feature here at the Packer page. In our pursuit to bring you everything football, we have implemented an NFL Video player on the sidebar. Enjoy broadcasts from Profootball Talk, Press Pass, and other insiders. We hope you enjoy it.
Packers
by TheVegas on August 21st, 2008 • 2 Comments »
August 21, 2008
Kevin Seifert, who does an excellent job in covering the NFC North for ESPN.com’s NFL divisional blogs, has put out an APB to all readers to inform him of their favorite NFC North blogs. We all know that the Viqueens, Bares, and Lie-ins don’t matter at all when it comes to football, as they’re just there for the Packers to trounce 6 times a year, so basically Seifert just wants to hear from all the best Packer blogs.
Okay, so maybe that isn’t the whole truth, but e-mail him anyhow and let him know about your favorite Packer blogs, including yours truly, of course.
I’ve already done so myself, suggesting this blog, and some others that I read on a daily basis, including Brats and Beer, Cheesehead TV, packergeeks, Railbird Central , and Tundra Vision.
There are others that I read of course, but way too many too name and unfortunately, I don’t have the time to read each and everyone of them everyday. Sad, I know. If you’re out there reading this and want to let me know about a Packers blog you write or one that I should know about, feel free to drop a comment and let me know!
Packers
by TheVegas on August 20th, 2008 • 2 Comments »
Yes, I’m Sending You to Another Packers Blog
Just wanted to give a shout-out (how exactly do you spell that word?) to one of my favorite Packer blogs, Cheesehead TV.
The creator of the site, who goes by “packeraaron” updates this Packers blog numerous times throughout the day.
I usually don’t miss a post. It’s great Packers information and Packers opinion. I recommend that you bookmark Aaron’s blog. It’s definitely one of a kind.
He recently added a few new pages to his site to make it even more user friendly. Check it out for yourself.
The Atari Attack Fantasy Team Update
For those of you who care, and I’m sure it’s very few, here’s an update on my fantasy team that I’m currently in the middle of drafting:
6th round: Eli Manning, QB, New York Giants
7th round: Chris Chambers, WR, San Diego Chargers
8th round: Julius Jones, RB, Seattle Seahawks
Okay, go ahead and bash me for drafting Eli as my quarterback. But I really don’t think he’s as bad as some make him out to be. After all, he did lead that incredible playoff run last year. And you know I cringe saying that, being a Packer fan and all. (I still can’t believe we lost to ELI MANNING at LAMBEAU FIELD on the COLDEST DAY IN ALL OF ETERNITY for a trip to the SUPER BOWL) Okay, just had to get that out.
Anyhow, despite not being the best real life QB the past couple of seasons, he still manages to put up top 12 QB fantasy points, making him worthy as a starting fantasy QB. Add in some increased confidence from that unbelievable playoff run last year and I think you might have an Eli Manning who finally “gets it”.
I certainly hope I’m right. Although, I hold firm in saying that Eli still looks like a 12 year old boy who just won a contest to be an NFL quarterback for a day.
For you Packer fans out there, and I’m assuming that’s the majority of you who are reading this, I’m planning on targeting Aaron Rodgers as my backup. And not just because he’s the Packers QB. I truly believe he’s going to surprise a lot of people outside of Green Bay and be a very capable backup fantasy quarterback. He’s got the weapons around him to throw for 3200 yards, and 22+ TDs. I’ll take that.
Packers
by TheVegas on August 19th, 2008 • 3 Comments »
August 19, 2008
That’s the word, according to this story over at the website of the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Directly from the article:
“After a so-so 2007 season that prompted the Green Bay Packers to give free-agent linebacker Brandon Chillar a two-year, $5.3 million contract and let him compete for the strong-side starting job, Poppinga has elevated his level of play to the point where even with two more preseason games to play, there’s little chance he will lose his starting spot.
“Brady’s had his best camp and his best preseason to date,” linebackers coach Winston Moss said after Tuesday’s practice. “He’s played really well (and) done some very good things. He’s as physical as ever, so it’s been all positive with Brady.”
I’m sure McCarthy or LB coach Winston Moss won’t actually come out and proclaim Brady the “winner of the competition” or anything like that. But it looks like the incumbent Poppinga won’t lose his job.
Not too surprising. He had his share of coverage breakdowns last year, but I thought he really came on towards the end of the year.
Chillar was the one who had to come into Green Bay and really impress the coaches to steal the job away from Poppinga. He really hasn’t shown much to warrant the starting spot over the energetic Poppinga, but he will still provide us with quality depth at the position.
Read More »
Packers
by TheVegas on August 17th, 2008 • 14 Comments »
August 17, 2008
Appalling, awful, despicable, servile, troublesome, unpleasant, wretched.
Those are synonyms of the word “ugly” that I just found on thesaurus.com.
Pick any of them. That’s how you can describe the Packers performance last night against the 49ers.
Maybe a little harsh, considering it’s only the preseason. But it’s still not something you want to see.
I’ve mentioned before that you can’t take a whole lot away from preseason, good or bad. But that doesn’t mean you can completely ignore it and chalk it up to being “only preseason”.
Unlike some people, I’m not going to greatly lower my expectations of the 2008 Packers due to one blowout loss in the preseason.
But it’s obvious some work needs to be done.
Quick Thoughts
I didn’t get to see the game, unfortunately. Sadly, preseason Packer games on TV are not one of the perks of living in Reading, Pennsylvania. (In fact, there really aren’t any perks. At all.)
It’s really not worth much, considering I was only able to follow the game via NFL.com’s GameCenter, but here are some quick thoughts about the game, from what I read about on numerous Packer sites and the highlights I saw on NFL.com.
- Was the offensive line trying to get Rodgers hurt? Okay, he may have held the ball too long on occasion, but isn’t pass protection supposed to be a strong point of our offense? He was sacked FOUR times in one half of play. That’s supposed to happen to the old David Carr in Houston. Not a Packers QB.
- More dropped balls? Seriously? I saw Driver dropped another catchable ball and that’s very out of character from him. And Lee’s drop in the endzone? Preseason, practice, game, whatever…very unacceptable. Especially when you’re wide open. (Yancy Thigpen, 1995 seasons, Christmas Eve game at Lambeau Field, anyone?)
- What’s up with McCarthy completely abandoning the run game in the first half? Granted, the Niners controlled the ball most of the half and we didn’t run many plays, but I think we had a total of 3 rushing attempts in the first half.
Read More »
Packers
by TheVegas on August 15th, 2008 • No Comments »
August 15, 2008
The second game of the Packers preseason schedule kicks off tomorrow night, 8:00 pm Green Bay time, in San Francisco.
Unfortunately, I’ll be working until 10:00 pm (9:00 pm Green Bay time. Right?) Anyhow. I’ll miss the first hour of the game. And by “miss”, I mean I won’t be able to follow the animated helmets move across the animated field, while getting a written play description beneath that, on NFL.com’s GameCenter.
While it’s better than nothing, it’s hard to get excited over:
2-7-GB 33 (11:37) 32-B.Jackson right end to GB 31 for -2 yards (59-B.Johnson).
And seeing the “G” helmet move backwards a half centimeter on the screen.
Back to the game.
Five Things To Watch
(Yeah, I know, a lot of Packer sites do this before the games. Bear with me.)
1. Aaron Rodgers. Again? Of course. He’ll probably be on everyone’s “watch” list during every game of the 2008 Packers season. And rightfully so. McCarthy plans to play his starters approximately double the amount they saw in the Bengals game, so I’m guessing we’ll see Rodgers and the first team offense for almost a half.
It’s going to be against another weak defense, but hopefully Rodgers looks good again during extended action.
2. More time with the first team offense for Jordy Nelson. Jennings probably won’t go again and neither will Ruvell Martin after taking a dirty hit from a Bengals CB Marvin White. (By the way, he was fined for the hit). This leaves the door open for my boy Jordy. If I haven’t said it already, I’ll confess that I have a man-crush on Jordy Nelson. I think he will one day be a special player.
Nelson should get an entire half to work with Rodgers and the first team offense, especially when the Packers go three wide. It doesn’t seem like Rodgers has made as good of a connection with Jordy as he has with the other WRs, namely Jones and Martin, but I hope they can get on the same page for a few 12-to-87 connections on Saturday night.
Read More »
Packers
by TheVegas on August 14th, 2008 • No Comments »
August 14, 2008
Check out the PackersHome.com Podcast brought to you by PackOne and Tromadz. As always, the two work well together in creating this unique podcast, something you don’t see too much on other Packer blogs.
Hawk Injured
AJ Hawk? Injured? That’s something you don’t hear too often. Hawk’s going to be out the rest of the week with a chest injury he suffered during the Bengals game on Monday night.
He missed practice today and yesterday, and I believe I read somewhere that Hawk has never missed a day of football practice before due to an injury, in the pros, college, or high school.
This may be a slight exaggeration, but looking back on his time in Green Bay, I can’t recall a time when I remember him being injured.
In general, the Packers as a team are pretty banged up, but luckily, no injuries have gotten to be serious. Yet. Knock on wood.
Preseason Game Two Coming Up
Following this afternoon’s practice, McCarthy said he plans to play his starters 30 or more plays, which is double of what we saw against Cincinatti.
You think our boy Aaron is eager to get out there and play the team who passed on him with the #1 pick in 2005? It’s only preseason but you can bet Rodgers is looking to put up more than 10 points in the second game against San Fran.
Sporting News Today Plug
Have you heard of the Sporting News Today? It’s the first ever, 100% online sports related newspaper. You get in every morning, via your e-mail.
I love it. I use it mainly for NFL news. There’s usually two main NFL articles a day and they also have an “Inside Dish” section, which is a little blurb about each team in the NFL. I highly reccommend it.
That’s it for today. Check back tomorrow for a “What To Look For” entry regarding Saturday night’s preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Packers
by TheVegas on August 13th, 2008 • No Comments »
August 13, 2008
You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?
That’s the question I have for Vikings defensive tackle Pat Williams.
I don’t have a problem with trash talking. It makes things interesting. But I have more respect for trash talkers when it comes from someone on a proven, winning team.
Not someone from the Minnesota Vikings, who have made the playoffs once in the last 8 seasons.
Here’s the trash from the Vikings 317 pound interior linemen.
(Taken from Michael Silver’s column at Yahoo.)
On the Favre saga: “Damn, that’s their problem,” Williams said. “They’re going through all that as a team, trying to figure out if Favre or (Aaron) Rodgers was the man, while we’ve got the same team we had all offseason. I’m glad they got all that darn press, ‘cause when we go down there it’ll be the kid’s first start and his first damn loss.”
“I’m going to try to crush all of ‘em,” Williams said. “That’s been the focus of my whole summer – the Green Bay Packers”.
Oh, and Jared Allen has more.
“Playing Green Bay on Monday night to start the season – that’s everything you want,” Allen said. “Hopefully, I can put my helmet square in the back of his spine. If I can do that and knock the ball loose, it’ll be a good day.”
Williams isn’t done yet.
“They had a nice year last year, but they don’t understand that Brett made those guys better than they were,” Williams said. “He has the game all figured out, and you’ve got to factor all that into the equation. Brett Favre would throw the ball when the receivers hadn’t even made their cut yet, and it would be there waiting for them. Those guys had it good.
“People think it’s the system, but it ain’t no damn system. Brett Favre just knows where his guys are going to be at all times, and I don’t think Aaron Rodgers has got that yet.”
Wow. That’s a lot of talking from a guy on the Vikings defense, who the Packers ran all over last year at Lambeau. Not to mention that the end result was a 34-0 shutout, favor Pack.
Locker room material for the Pack? Possibly.
Talk all you want, Vikes. Hope you can back it up once September 8th rolls around. Oh, and maybe you can manage a field goal or something this time, too!
Packers
