Notebook: O-Line Eyes Redemption

wischeez

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From Packers.com

by Mike Spofford, Packers.com
posted 11/14/2008

The Green Bay Packers' offensive linemen haven't hidden from the fact that they had their worst game of the season in terms of pass protection last Sunday.

Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times and hit on at least a handful of other plays. The linemen weren't pleased with their performance as a whole, and the only way to erase it completely is to get back out there and prove it was just a bad day at the office.

"I think you just have to go back to work," veteran offensive tackle Mark Tauscher said. "It was a tough week. There's no question. We didn't play well as a unit, and we didn't give ourselves a chance to win on the offensive side of the ball.

"So you have to get back to work, not panic and start doubting yourself. You have to play with confidence and you build that confidence throughout the week in your preparation. I think we're really looking forward to getting back out there on Sunday. We want to show some improvement and do things a lot better obviously than we did last week."

Left tackle Chad Clifton was a full participant in practice both Wednesday and Thursday this week for the first time this season, which hopefully will add to the continuity of the group.

Center Scott Wells said the breakdowns last week were the result of either execution of techniques or recognition of defensive schemes. The individual periods in practice this week focused on techniques, while film study and the team periods were built around recognizing what the Bears do with their pressure scheme.

"When we gave up pressure, it was technique breakdowns -- hands in the wrong position, bad sets --or not recognizing the stunt they were running and not anticipating being able to pick it up," Wells said.

"Those are areas that we've worked on. I feel that we've improved that, and we'll see on Sunday."

The Bears haven't been overly dynamic rushing the passer this year, posting just 17 sacks and ranking 29th in the league in sacks per pass play.

With the importance of this game in the NFC North Division and playoff races, Tauscher believes the team as a whole needs to take the same approach as the offensive line, which is to not panic, and not to doubt the methods that have worked in the past.

"You don't start doing things that you're not accustomed to," Tauscher said. "You have to kind of stick to what you're built on, and in the past we've been able to do that. We've went through tough times. I think we started 1-4 (in 2004) and ended up going 10-6 and getting in the playoffs.

"You really need to stick to what you believe in and how you've gotten to be successful, and you have to kind of draw off those experiences."
 

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