GreenBay Packers Show They Have Answers
Last Updated on Thursday, 04 February 2010 00:36 Written by GreenBay Packer Nation Thursday, 10 December 2009 19:00
The night of the big Monday night game against the Ravens we posted some questions that the Packers needed to answer if they were going to pull off a win against Baltimore. Today we'll take a look at how the Packers answered those questions.
Is GreenBay's run defense for real?
I think the Packers made it clear that their run defense is the real thing. We already knew that the Packers' run defense was able to stop running backs like Adrian Peterson, Stephen Jackson, and Frank Gore. Yes, they struggled against Cedric Benson, but they've played well against some really good backs. Now we can add Ray Rice to the list of quality running backs the Packer run defense has stopped.
Can the Packers cover Rice out of the backfield?
The Packer linebacking corps was stellar all night. That included any passes the Ravens tried to throw to their running backs (which weren't many). The Packer linebackers still concern me when we come up against teams that use the Tight End a lot, but they've done just fine against running backs out of the backfield. The game against the Ravens didn't change that a bit.
Can the Baltimore offensive line keep the Packers off Flacco? Three sacks in the game, three bad decisions resulting in interceptions, and Joe Flacco checking over his shoulder for Clay Matthews' flowing locks bearing down on him... you be the judge.
Can the Ravens stop the Packer passing game?
Not the Ravens. Donald Driver sure did his part to help Baltimore stop the Packers passing attack as he dropped three passes, two of which he should have reeled in, but the Ravens didn't do much to stop the Packers. They tried a lot of pass interference but it didn't work well for them.
Can the Packer offensive line continue to protect Aaron Rodgers?
The offensive line made another step forward against the Ravens. They kept Raven defenders off Rodgers and gave him the time he needed to either find receivers, dump the ball off, or just plain run.
Is Baltimore better than their record?
Well, if they are, it says a lot about how good the Packers have collected themselves, and how much improvement they've had.
