TOP HAT'S WEEKLY GAME REVIEW:
Summary:
Setting several NFL records, Q Favre lead the unbeaten Packers to a tough 23-16 victory in the Vikings Metrodome. Favre completed 32 of 45 passes for 344 yards using a ball control passing game with 2 touchdowns, & no interceptions. Favre set a new NFL record of 422 touchdown passes. The Pack is 4-0. Favre threw vintage 3rd down touchdown passes to WR Jennings and WR Jones. The Packers struggled in the rushing game getting 46 yards on 20 carries. The Packer defense gave up big plays, but they kept the Vikings generally out of the end zone. The defense got 4 crucial sacks, a fumble recovery, & an interception. Packers DE KGB had two sacks in the game leaving him tied with the great DE White's franchise record of 68.5 sacks.
Quotes:
Woodson: “I don’t think it was a good day for us. Yeah, we held them out of the end zone, but we gave up way too much at times, way too many big plays. Those are things we’ve been good the first few games at eliminating. (Sunday) we gave up those huge runs, a couple passes. We just can’t do it.”
McCarthy: “I thought our pass rush was very good, particularly in the second half. The run defense struggled, Peterson was exceptional, he is an exciting young back. We need to do a much better job, teams are going to keep coming at us the same way as we move on to Chicago (this week). But I thought our pass rush was very good.”
Bradshaw: “Brett Favre is the best I have ever seen, and I’ve never said that about anybody. He’s simply the best. He’s got the strongest arm, athleticism, field presence, leadership, poise and tenaciousness. He plays hurt, he’s fun, he’s infectious. He has everything I want to see, including the game-time decisions, the strengths, and all the intangibles.”
Turning Point:
At the beginning of the 3rd quarter, in the Packers’ first offensive series using 9 minutes, P Ryan executed a [called off] fake punt on 4th down & gained 7 yards for a 1st down leading to a crucial field goal.
Report Card: The Good, Bad & Ugly
Passing offense: A
QB Favre had a record setting day completing 32 of 45 passes for 344 yards to ten different receivers with two touchdowns & 108.0 passer rating. Favre was brilliant making crucial plays to win the game. He did exactly that completing two touchdown passes on two third downs. The offensive line did a good job in pass protection, but they did allow one crucial sack [T Tauscher] & six knockdowns. G Colledge needs to be more steady. G Coston held his own against a nasty DT K. Williams. T Clifton missed a key block & gave up two pressures. As I predicted, the three-receiver, two tight-end formation has become an effective offensive weapon. TE Lee led receivers with 4 catches for 66 yards, but he had a crucial fumble in the red zone. WR Driver, WR Martin, WR Jones, & WR Jennings had good games. Returning veteran RB Morency caught 2 passes for 33 yards. Yet, the Packers were only one of three in the red zone offense.
Rushing offense: D
The rushing game struggled badly with poor backside blocking & execution getting only 46 yards on 20 carries averaging 2.3 yards per carry. RB Wynn did okay leading rushers with 10 carries for 20 yards. RB Grant had 3 carries for 17 yards, but he looked shaky losing one fumble. The Packers must have the option of a power formation running game, especially in short yardage. On two offensive drives, the Packers stalled failing to get one yard for a first down. As a reviewer said:
“In Sunday's victory over the Minnesota Vikings, the Packers were facing a third and inches from Minnesota's 15 yard line early in the fourth quarter, clinging to a 13-9 lead. Instead of pounding the ball in an attempt to gain a yard or two for a first down, Favre fired a laser to Driver that bounced off his hands for an incompletion.”
As Coach McCarthy said:
"The bottom line is we need to score points and move the ball up and down the field. We've been doing that for the last three weeks. We didn't do a good job in Week 1...but we need to work at it. I'm a run-the-ball offensive-minded person, but we're not doing it as well as we can right now, and I need to have more confidence in calling the plays. That's the hurdle that we need to get over."
Passing defense: B-
The Packer defense gave up a lot of yardage and a lot of big plays. For a forecasted top elite defense, they are 15th against the run and 23rd against the pass. While they had a solid pass rush, the coverage allowed a shaky backup quarterback to complete 21 of 39 passes for 258 yards with one touchdown. CB Woodson and CB Harris, fighting injuries, played good, but they got multiple penalties & gave up a few big plays. Backup CB Bush had mixed reviews giving up early receptions, having a solid middle & allowing a late touchdown pass. S Bigby played generally solid forcing a fumble & getting a crucial late interception. CB Blackmon played solid, but he and S Collins dropped easy interceptions.
Rushing defense: D
The rushing defense looked awful allowing 21 carries for 155 yards with several big runs. The critical mistakes appeared to be the lack of the defensive tackles to stay home in the middle trusting teammates and the failure of the linebackers to properly clog running lanes. DT Pickett had a stellar game. DT Jolly, DE Kampman, & DE Jenkins did poorly against the run. LB Barnett, LB Hawk, & LB Poppinga had an average game against workhorse rookie RB Peterson. They did a lot of grabbing & catching. LB Hawk was out-of-position in many plays due to drifting in coverage. They can play a lot better. These mistakes are correctable.
Special teams: B+
The special teams looked good except for one long kickoff return by KR Peterson. The special teams did not allow the Vikings to have good field position for most of the game. K Crosby kicked 3 for 3 field goals and his five kickoffs averaged 71.4 yards with 4.09 seconds hang time. P Ryan had 4 punts averaging 49.0 gross, 44.3 net, and 4.48 hang time. KR Williams and KR Bodiford averaged 22 yards per return.
Coaching: B+
Overall, the halftime adjustments improved the defensive running game. However, in the game plan, the failure to get a decent running game established and the failure to get first downs on two crucial 3 and 1 downs are simply unacceptable. Further, the fumble with less than two minutes left in the game was sloppy offensive execution. The team had four fumbles, two lost, and two costly turnovers.
Overall: A-
The Packers are unbeaten at 4-0 winning on the road in the Metrodome. The Vikings were fired up hoping to get an upset. The victory is a great win for the Packer nation. Luck and QB Favre are good enough to win four games. We have a long way to go. Now, the Pack can demolish the “unbearable” Bears at home.
SUGGESTIONS:
1. Power formation running attack, especially in short yardage.
2. An improved physical rushing defense filling all gaps.
Summary:
Setting several NFL records, Q Favre lead the unbeaten Packers to a tough 23-16 victory in the Vikings Metrodome. Favre completed 32 of 45 passes for 344 yards using a ball control passing game with 2 touchdowns, & no interceptions. Favre set a new NFL record of 422 touchdown passes. The Pack is 4-0. Favre threw vintage 3rd down touchdown passes to WR Jennings and WR Jones. The Packers struggled in the rushing game getting 46 yards on 20 carries. The Packer defense gave up big plays, but they kept the Vikings generally out of the end zone. The defense got 4 crucial sacks, a fumble recovery, & an interception. Packers DE KGB had two sacks in the game leaving him tied with the great DE White's franchise record of 68.5 sacks.
Quotes:
Woodson: “I don’t think it was a good day for us. Yeah, we held them out of the end zone, but we gave up way too much at times, way too many big plays. Those are things we’ve been good the first few games at eliminating. (Sunday) we gave up those huge runs, a couple passes. We just can’t do it.”
McCarthy: “I thought our pass rush was very good, particularly in the second half. The run defense struggled, Peterson was exceptional, he is an exciting young back. We need to do a much better job, teams are going to keep coming at us the same way as we move on to Chicago (this week). But I thought our pass rush was very good.”
Bradshaw: “Brett Favre is the best I have ever seen, and I’ve never said that about anybody. He’s simply the best. He’s got the strongest arm, athleticism, field presence, leadership, poise and tenaciousness. He plays hurt, he’s fun, he’s infectious. He has everything I want to see, including the game-time decisions, the strengths, and all the intangibles.”
Turning Point:
At the beginning of the 3rd quarter, in the Packers’ first offensive series using 9 minutes, P Ryan executed a [called off] fake punt on 4th down & gained 7 yards for a 1st down leading to a crucial field goal.
Report Card: The Good, Bad & Ugly
Passing offense: A
QB Favre had a record setting day completing 32 of 45 passes for 344 yards to ten different receivers with two touchdowns & 108.0 passer rating. Favre was brilliant making crucial plays to win the game. He did exactly that completing two touchdown passes on two third downs. The offensive line did a good job in pass protection, but they did allow one crucial sack [T Tauscher] & six knockdowns. G Colledge needs to be more steady. G Coston held his own against a nasty DT K. Williams. T Clifton missed a key block & gave up two pressures. As I predicted, the three-receiver, two tight-end formation has become an effective offensive weapon. TE Lee led receivers with 4 catches for 66 yards, but he had a crucial fumble in the red zone. WR Driver, WR Martin, WR Jones, & WR Jennings had good games. Returning veteran RB Morency caught 2 passes for 33 yards. Yet, the Packers were only one of three in the red zone offense.
Rushing offense: D
The rushing game struggled badly with poor backside blocking & execution getting only 46 yards on 20 carries averaging 2.3 yards per carry. RB Wynn did okay leading rushers with 10 carries for 20 yards. RB Grant had 3 carries for 17 yards, but he looked shaky losing one fumble. The Packers must have the option of a power formation running game, especially in short yardage. On two offensive drives, the Packers stalled failing to get one yard for a first down. As a reviewer said:
“In Sunday's victory over the Minnesota Vikings, the Packers were facing a third and inches from Minnesota's 15 yard line early in the fourth quarter, clinging to a 13-9 lead. Instead of pounding the ball in an attempt to gain a yard or two for a first down, Favre fired a laser to Driver that bounced off his hands for an incompletion.”
As Coach McCarthy said:
"The bottom line is we need to score points and move the ball up and down the field. We've been doing that for the last three weeks. We didn't do a good job in Week 1...but we need to work at it. I'm a run-the-ball offensive-minded person, but we're not doing it as well as we can right now, and I need to have more confidence in calling the plays. That's the hurdle that we need to get over."
Passing defense: B-
The Packer defense gave up a lot of yardage and a lot of big plays. For a forecasted top elite defense, they are 15th against the run and 23rd against the pass. While they had a solid pass rush, the coverage allowed a shaky backup quarterback to complete 21 of 39 passes for 258 yards with one touchdown. CB Woodson and CB Harris, fighting injuries, played good, but they got multiple penalties & gave up a few big plays. Backup CB Bush had mixed reviews giving up early receptions, having a solid middle & allowing a late touchdown pass. S Bigby played generally solid forcing a fumble & getting a crucial late interception. CB Blackmon played solid, but he and S Collins dropped easy interceptions.
Rushing defense: D
The rushing defense looked awful allowing 21 carries for 155 yards with several big runs. The critical mistakes appeared to be the lack of the defensive tackles to stay home in the middle trusting teammates and the failure of the linebackers to properly clog running lanes. DT Pickett had a stellar game. DT Jolly, DE Kampman, & DE Jenkins did poorly against the run. LB Barnett, LB Hawk, & LB Poppinga had an average game against workhorse rookie RB Peterson. They did a lot of grabbing & catching. LB Hawk was out-of-position in many plays due to drifting in coverage. They can play a lot better. These mistakes are correctable.
Special teams: B+
The special teams looked good except for one long kickoff return by KR Peterson. The special teams did not allow the Vikings to have good field position for most of the game. K Crosby kicked 3 for 3 field goals and his five kickoffs averaged 71.4 yards with 4.09 seconds hang time. P Ryan had 4 punts averaging 49.0 gross, 44.3 net, and 4.48 hang time. KR Williams and KR Bodiford averaged 22 yards per return.
Coaching: B+
Overall, the halftime adjustments improved the defensive running game. However, in the game plan, the failure to get a decent running game established and the failure to get first downs on two crucial 3 and 1 downs are simply unacceptable. Further, the fumble with less than two minutes left in the game was sloppy offensive execution. The team had four fumbles, two lost, and two costly turnovers.
Overall: A-
The Packers are unbeaten at 4-0 winning on the road in the Metrodome. The Vikings were fired up hoping to get an upset. The victory is a great win for the Packer nation. Luck and QB Favre are good enough to win four games. We have a long way to go. Now, the Pack can demolish the “unbearable” Bears at home.
SUGGESTIONS:
1. Power formation running attack, especially in short yardage.
2. An improved physical rushing defense filling all gaps.
