Thursday Feb 09

What We Learned Against the Colts

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Written by John Rehor Thursday, 26 August 2010 22:31


GreenBay Packers Quarterback Aaron RodgersPreseason game number three is in the books with a 59-24 thumping of the Colts. The third preseason game is viewed as the dress rehearsal for NFL teams. With that in mind, a few takeaways from tonight’s game:





  • First kickoff return by the Colts 33 yards (sigh)
  • Colts first drive. 2 plays, 67yards, TD. Long run and long TD pass. Terrible start.
  • Nelson first kickoff returner for the Packers. Still not happy with this.
  • First 3 plays on Packers offense running plays. Sending the message that they will not abandon the run and getting Grant some good work.
  • Donald Driver with a one handed TD catch-guy just does it game after game after game
  • Brandon Underwood is the target for opposing defenses. Exposing some major weaknesses every week with him
  • BJ Raji is going to be a force. He has to be for the defense to work.
  • Better push coming from the defense tonight, but still not getting to the QB. 
  • Ryan Grant looks very good tonight. Running hard and finding the cutback lanes.
  • Tramon Williams, who I picked as the secret to the defense for this season , looks terrible. He is not staying with the receivers. 
  • Jermichael Finley will be a Pro Bowler this year. Book it.
  • Frank Zombo looks every bit the part of OLB. Sack, forced fumble. Guy is going everything right.
  • Korey Hall recovering a muffed punt in the endzone was a great thing. Nice high punt by Masthay. Probably earned the punting job tonight.
  • Morgan Burnett-you made me a believer tonight. 
  • I picked James Jones as the secret to the offense. Tonight he showed why. Tough YAC and catching everything. 
  • TJ Lang started the second half ahead of Giacomini at RT. Breno, you’re done.
  • AJ Hawk played with the second team defense…and I was not sad. 
  • Matt Flynn has command of this offense. It’s his arm strength that concerns me.
  • Charlie Peprah is flying around the field. He may not make the team, but he is playing with fire.
  • Quinn Johnson-if he was consistent, would be a beast fullback. He attacks defenders.
  • Graham Harrell looking a little better tonight. Practice squad a possibility rather than outright cut.
  • 50 plus points in the preseason. Against the defending AFC Champs. Opposing defenses take note.
  • Jason Chery with a punt return for a TD. Has some serious wheels on him. Deserves another look at punt returns next week. 
  • Sam Shields with another late game interception. Seems to do it every week. May beat out Bush for a roster spot after all.
  • For all of the criticism of the preseason, the Packers looked the part of a Super Bowl contender tonight. 


That’s it for now. There will be more in depth analysis over the weekend. 



Written by :
jrehor
 

Comments  

 
0 # Mike Davidsen 2010-08-27 12:35
Agree with what you said about Zombo - I loved what I saw out of him last night. Unfortunately, I still think that no matter what, we're going to have to rely on a quicker d-line. Mike Neal gave us some great push last night, filling in for Cullen Jenkins. I'm more optimistic about the pass rush when I see improvement against a good Colts' o-line and when I see Dom Capers dial it up a bit.
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0 # John Rehor 2010-08-28 08:32
Neal and Harrell were getting good push against the Colts line. Remember too the defense was again playing very vanilla until the 2nd quarter-then they started to dial it up a little. I think the second quarter on was just a taste of the D for this year. But the Nickel back issue has got to get fixed. Fast
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0 # Jerzeymagoo 2010-08-28 09:02
I'm very excited going into this season. I think the O looks increadable, but I think they need 2 tighten up the D & the special teams. I was also impressed with the play of Zombo. I think the biggest key this year is 2 keep Rodgers healthy. The O line needs 2 continue 2 play consistently. If Rodgers can stay healthy & not get sacked a ton of times he can outscore any team.
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0 # John Rehor 2010-08-28 09:10
My concern on the D is Nickel Back. Really not feeling confident with Underwood and Lee back there. As for Zombo, I would like to see the kid get another start vs the Chiefs. If he can play as well as he did vs the Colts, I think Jones could lose his starting spot. He was all over the field

Thanks for reading!
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0 # Packer Pete 2010-08-29 16:13
The play by Morgan Burnett and Charlie Peprah may convince MM that he has a solid rookie starter and a fair backup which could lead to the dismissal of the oft-injured and very unhappy Atari Bigby. As far as Justin Herrell, I watched him specifically for consecutive series and I was unimpressed. He got no push and ended on the ground a couple of times. If Harrell makes the team it's only because he's the last big body available. I can see three fullbacks again this year. Kuhn may also serve as the third halfback. Hall makes every other special teams tackle. I don't think MM and TT are ready to part with Quinn Johnson yet, willing to give him one more season. Two HB; 3 FB; 4 TE?
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0 # John Rehor 2010-08-29 18:37
-I think Bigby plays out his tender and does not return-if Burnett does prove to be the real deal, it does not hurt to have a solid vet backup, which is what Bigby would be. If Burnett doesn't work out, Bigby can step in. Either way, I think Peprah makes it for now because Bigby is injured.

-Last DL spot has to be between Harrell, Wynn, and Wilson. Harrell is a bigger body than the others, and has shown flashes, unlike the other two. My guess: Harrell makes the team, Wynn doesn't, Wilson to the PS.

-if Johnson could be consistent, he would be a beast FB. Unfortunately he's not. Plus, the other two are better receivers and much better on special teams. Lumpkin will probably make the team and he could play FB or RB. Again my guess: Hall and Kuhn make it, Johnson doesn't.

Thanks for reading.
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0 # Asshalo 2010-08-31 10:28
I'de second Michael's thoughts on Neal. I really think the DL will be better this year with Raji playing his true position and Neal providing depth. He's ready to start now. But, they have the depth to only insert him on passing downs, while Pickett can gobble up RBs on run downs.

I'm excited for Finley who has to be considered a pro bowl and even an allpro TE. He's going to create match-up problems for the defense that will trickle down to every skill player. It will be mucher harder to (1) eliminate Jennings from games (2) cheat against the run with Finley having that height not far from the line of scrimmage. The second is part of the reason Finley broke-off a huge play against the vikings in MN. Winfield was cheating all game and much of his success to that DL.
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0 # Asshalo 2010-08-31 10:29
* All Pro Candidate
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