AZ Game Notes

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HardRightEdge

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There were some things to like and lot to dislike.

Likes:

Bakhtiari: Very solid game, especially in pass protection. The guy moves like a LT and has good hand technique. He's clearly passed Newhouse and will start at LT. LT should be down the list of concerns.

Tyrone Walker: Runs routes beyond his UFA rookie years; very good hands. Not very fast, but a viable option out of the slot. If it comes down to an extended Nelson problem, I'd rather see Cobb wide and Walker in the slot than Boykin or Ross wide and Cobb in the slot. Those #4 and #5 guys better look out.

Francois: Very good game. Had a couple of good pass rushes even if he didn't get home; had a nice cut tackle on a middle run; closed fast on slot guy for a short gain. The rap has been he can make plays but blows assignments. Over the hump?

Jolly: Pleasant surprise. Getting off blocks and playing his a** off. He even showed a nice inside spin move on a pass rush. Solid chance to make it, something I did not expect. If he wasn't playing against second teamers I'd say he looked better than Raji half the time last season. 90 better step it up if he wants to be shown the money.

Daniels: Had a nice game, I thought. More Raji heat.

Franklin: Had one nice run. Looks like he's got some value. Need to see more, especially after contact.

Barrington: A couple of decent plays knifing in there. I can see why MM says he plays with recklessness. Need to see more.

Starks: I thought he ran well considering there weren't many holes. He's hitting guys and falling forward, which is a plus. That was a nifty reach for the goal line but too much trash to warrant a review overturn. He had one nice cut back in the backfield turning a loss into a 8 yd. gain.

Dislikes:

Backup QBs: It's evident why TT brought in Vince Young. Harrell is just not happening; Coleman's not any better but at least he has the excuse of being second year and playing with third stringers. If Rodgers were to go down early, we could be looking at our own Curtis Painter moment.

House was dreadful.

Safeties: McMillian was nearly as dreadful as House in coverage. He showed zero progression in pass D. After getting torched deep in the first drive (lucky it was overthrown), he let some slow TE get 5 yards separation underneath 20 yds. downfield (lucky it was dropped). He got pulled right after that second one and I don't think he got back on the field. It's looking like a platoon again with Jennings getting more snaps. Hyde had the back shoulder burn for the TD, but he had one very nice closing tackle on a back in space. He looks more safety than CB to me. Maybe he can bump one of these guys.

The first team run blocking was pretty lame.

Newhouse - 4th. year and he is what he is. That sack he gave up (to Abraham?) was a technically sh*tty effort and he generally wasn't moving like any kind of tackle. The sad news is he might still be the better pass blocker than Barclay.

Kick returners: Nothing positive to note about Ross or Franklin except nobody dropped the ball. When the punter out kicks his coverage, one should expect 10 yards. Both of these guys look tentative. Business decisions?

Green: He does look quicker; he's still not showing much after contact. B-Jax redux. When MM speaks favorably about Lacy or Starks, he sneaks in a "fall forward" comment. Green doesn't have that. Franklin makes him redundant.
 
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HardRightEdge

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I can think of worse things than planning on what to do with Clowney on the defense next season.

Funny you should say that because I typed the following in that last post then thought better of it:

"...fire Capers, switch to a 4-3 and draft Clowney."

I thought better of it because (1) I'm not a Capers hater and would like nothing more than to see him turn the corner this year, (2) assuming Capers does turn the corner, Clowney is not a good fit for 3-4; he's a 4-3 DE and (3) what the heck do you do with Matthews in a 4-3.

You just don't take a talent like Clowney and hope you can convert him to 3-4 OLB or slap 20 lbs. on him for 3-4 DE. He's a hand in the dirt guy; I see no highlight clips where he's standing up.
 

ivo610

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Funny you should say that because I typed the following in that last post then thought better of it:

"...fire Capers, switch to a 4-3 and draft Clowney."

I thought better of it because (1) I'm not a Capers hater and would like nothing more than to see him turn the corner this year and (2) assuming Capers does turn the corner, Clowney is not a good fit for 3-4. He's a 4-3 DE. You just don't take that kind of talent and hope you can convert him to 3-4 OLB or slap 20 lbs. on him for 3-4 DE.

I've seen scouts say he would work in either scheme but either way it would be a good problem to have. You might run some sort of hybrid to get the most out of him n Matthews.
 
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HardRightEdge

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Didnt you think Young was not a good pick up?

Are you asking me? If so, that's correct, I did not think he was a good pickup and I still don't, even if he beats out of the other guys. We lose either way.
 

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Are you asking me? If so, that's correct, I did not think he was a good pickup and I still don't, even if he beats out of the other guys. We lose either way.
Give him a chance.
I thought he did better than the other back ups overall.
He kept the Pack from punting by getting in a first down or two.
The announcers were going on about how he just got here and is still learning the new system and footwork and other stuff.
After all, A-Rod didn't win in his first game against Dallas either.
 
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HardRightEdge

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I've seen scouts say he would work in either scheme but either way it would be a good problem to have. You might run some sort of hybrid to get the most out of him n Matthews.

The scouts say that because he's an off-the-charts athletic talent, despite the fact they have not actually seen him do it.

Capers doesn't do hybrid. He does gadgets and disguises.

I'm afraid he'd be more valuable to somebody else than to us; we might just trade that pick.

I don't think I want to further engage in a Rodgers injury / 1-15 season discussion.
 
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HardRightEdge

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Give him a chance.
I thought he did better than the other back ups overall.
He kept the Pack from punting by getting in a first down or two.
The announcers were going on about how he just got here and is still learning the new system and footwork and other stuff.
After all, A-Rod didn't win in his first game against Dallas either.

There would have to be some serious concerns about a QB who may not be able to hold in his head more plays than are printed on his arm or who, at 30 years old, doesn't have NFL footwork.
 

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There would have to be some serious concerns about a QB who may not be able to hold in his head more plays than are printed on his arm or who, at 30 years old, doesn't have NFL footwork.
So do you think that an NFL QB who has been away from the game for a year should learn the whole playbook and know everything about every way the team does things he signed up with in a period of, what, 3-4 days?
I guess I'm willing to give him a break and be patient and see where this goes.
In the Packers coaching staff, I trust.
Best case scenario is that we will have a rock solid, instead of swiss cheese, O-line and A-Rod will always be fine and we don't need any of the back ups.

I'm guessing they brought in Young because of the lousy O-line from last year.
If that was the intention, then was Young the best or only available QB for the Pack or were there any other possibilities.
 
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HardRightEdge

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So do you think that an NFL QB who has been away from the game for a year should learn the whole playbook and know everything about every way the team does things he signed up with in a period of, what, 3-4 days?
I guess I'm willing to give him a break and be patient and see where this goes.
In the Packers coaching staff, I trust.
Best case scenario is that we will have a rock solid, instead of swiss cheese, O-line and A-Rod will always be fine and we don't need any of the back ups.

I'm guessing they brought in Young because of the lousy O-line from last year.
If that was the intention, then was Young the best or only available QB for the Pack or were there any other possibilities.

No, I don't expect him to learn the playbook in 3-4 days. I'm referencing his history as a guy who could not master playbooks, make progressions or read defenses.

He made the playoffs and 2 Pro Bowls with his legs. Now he's 30 years old, incapable of 4.5 speed and playing in an offense where running at the first opportunity will not be acceptable. I believe the most TDs he's thrown in a season is 12 or 14, with more INTs than TDs. I thought I could compare his career passing stats to Kevin Kolb, but then I found Kolb's were better when I looked at them a couple of days ago.

My point being, I'd rather lose running our offense than running a jailbreak offense. I find there are more reasons to dislike Young than even Tebow, and that's saying a lot.

I doubt Young makes it out of camp. Watch for a vet with West Coast experience at cut downs if one is available. A kicker at cut downs might not be a bad idea either.
 
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Forget Favre

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No, I don't expect him to learn the playbook in 3-4 days. I'm referencing his history as a guy who could not master playbooks, make progressions or read defenses.

He made the playoffs and 2 Pro Bowls with his legs. Now he's 30 years old, incapable of 4.5 speed and playing in an offense where running at the first opportunity will not be acceptable. I believe the most TDs he's thrown in a season is 12 or 14, with more INTs than TDs. I though I could compare his career passing stats to Kevin Kolb, but then I found Kolb's were better when I looked at them a couple of days ago.

My point being, I'd rather lose running our offense than running a jailbreak offense.

I doubt Young makes it out of camp. Watch for a vet with West Coast experience at cut downs if one is available. A kicker at cut downs might not be a bad idea either.
All we can do is wait and see what happens.

For now, coach likes him and understands like I do.

http://www.packers.com/news-and-eve...7-0-loss/d7c30135-2957-4b84-8889-8d297bbe1869

McCarthy expressed pleasure at having gotten Young some playing time. Young was signed this past Monday and had only practiced with the team for three days.

“My goal was to give him 10-12 snaps. Just let him go play quarterback. I thought he did some nice things. It was good just to get him out there. He hasn’t played football in a year,” McCarthy said.

Young completed a pass for seven yards, scrambled twice for 12 yards and was sacked once. It’s likely his playing time will be increased in St. Louis, and McCarthy’s postgame remarks made it sound as though Young is very much a consideration in the battle for the backup quarterback job.

“I’ll be honest with you, the thing about Vince Young
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is the man is a winner. He fits good into our room, but he’s at a disadvantage because he hasn’t been here. We’ll do a better job of getting him ready for St. Louis,” McCarthy said.
 
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HardRightEdge

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MM was quoted in your link on Harrell, "“I thought he did an excellent job of keeping us in clean plays. The productivity and sustaining drives is something we have to look at,” McCarthy said.

That means he's running our offense as intended, without actually succeeding at it. So, as I said, I'd rather see us lose running our offense than "broken play on 2". Winning and losing with this team has a clear dividing line...making the playoffs vs. not. None of these guys are the guy to get us on the right side of the equation.
 
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If it was serious, they wouldn't have been retaping it on the sidelines.

They ice it up, get the swelling down, take an MRI, then see where they're at. Retaping could be the player wanting to get back on the field, then somebody in authority thinks better of it. We won't know until we're told.
 

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Listening to the post game on WSSP , Gary Ellerson only said this about Jones.

Most times when an ankle is bad if back on the sidelines they are on crutches, or heavily wrapped..I didn't see the game nor his injury or him on sidelines..Just going by what an expert has said
 

Lex Luger

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Jolly looked good, even after a bunch a snaps which means he's conditioning is decent enough. He will make the team, and probably be a starter before end of the year. Him, pickett and raji is a great ********* when they dont have to take a bunch of snaps.

Running game still looks like a joke. No one can run block on this team. It isnt going to change. Coach yelling at you to run block better and try harder isnt going to work in the NFL. You cant grind out run blocking. Its not a matter of effort, its comes down to talent level.

You guys honestly think TJ Lang and Don Barclay, or Newhouse can become solid run blockers in the NFL? How are they ever going to beat guys like Suh, Ngata, or Peppers. They dont have the physical tools to do so. Good coaching cant turns scrubs into studs. Overachievers dont get better, and are team is full of them. SF has 3 1st rounders starting on OL, and we have 3 4th rounders. Injuries are no excuse. There are no excuses in NFL. Sherod is a bust, and quite frankly, so is Bulaga.

I couldnt believe how few snaps Bahktiari got? He should of taken as many snaps are Jolly at least. You cant hold out a rookie in pre season because youre worried he will get hurt. If player cant last through pre season, how can you count on them to finish regular season?

McCarthy talks a tough game, but dude doesnt back it up. He says the same thing every year since 2010, we're going to get better at run game, its our main focus. I don't blame him though, the real problem is Ted.

Sad thing is without Rodgers arm, our running game would be dead last in NFL. Both safeties would be directly on LoS. It would be worse than when Tebow is in there.
 

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Positives from last night: As far as I know, no one actually died, only several careers were placed on life support. That “game” also helped coaches making cuts: When asked by a player why he didn’t make it, the coach can simply refer to his performance last night.

All semi-kidding aside, that was about as ugly an exhibition of football as a Packers fan could dread. Particularly after the long wait for “real football”. And particularly after we were told this was a team with renewed focus wanting to begin to change its image as ‘soft’. It’s awfully early for a wake-up call but one was delivered non-the-less.

There was plenty of disappointment to go around but I was particularly disappointed in the lack of pressure by the defense early in the game. And I was disappointed in whoever that was wearing House’s jersey last night. That certainly wasn’t the player we watched last preseason.

The best part of the game IMO was the play of Bakhtiari. No small thing but it seems like it considering the cluster schtoop that was the rest of the game. One more positive: I don't see anyone here in full panic mode.
 

Lex Luger

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Anyone else notice how good DREW STANTON looked last night? Dude looked like a good NFL starting QB.
 

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The 2 players that I really didn't get a chance to watch were Perry and Brad Jones. Has anyone given any analysis on their performances?
 

ivo610

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I'm also somewhat surprised no one has panicked on here about last nights game
 
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I thought the secondary looked poor last night especially in the second quarter where in play in particularly they seem to run around like headless chickens !
 

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