Jsonline:
Scoring no trivial pursuit
Getting in end zone key to turnaround
By LORI NICKEL
Green Bay - Who led the Green Bay Packers in touchdowns last season?
Donald Driver, who had more than 1,200 yards receiving and managed to play all 16 games?
No.
Bubba Franks?
No.
Ahman Green?
Hurt.
Any of the starters, any with Pro Bowl experience?
No.
It was Samkon Gado. Green Bay's desperate last-minute free-agent acquisition at running back played in eight games, five as a starter, and scored seven times.
"Yeah, but that's deceiving. Donald Driver had an amazing year last year," Gado said. "But he just didn't get in the end zone. Donald and I joke about this all the time: Three of my touchdowns were because Donald got tackled at the 2-yard line. If he wouldn't have been tackled, thos
e would have been his touchdowns."
Still, touchdowns were tough to come by for the Green and Gold in the forgettable 4-12 season, which means the new coaching staff is already studying closely their skill positions to determine who will get in the end zone and how.
Not one Packer was ranked among the NFL's top 30 in scoring last season, when Seattle's Shaun Alexander led everyone with 28 touchdowns.
Green had no touchdowns in his five games and fellow running back Najeh Davenport had two before he was lost to injury after five games. Driver scored five times. Receiver Robert Ferguson had three in 11 games. Fullback William Henderson was scoreless. Franks had one in eight games played. Of the other tight ends, David Martin had three in 12 games and Donald Lee had two, but none after Oct. 9.
Such a low number is really odd because last season, the Packers were better than their opponents in three offensive categories. In first downs, the Packers had 318 compared with their opponents' 280. They had more third-down conversions, 91 vs. 74. And they had more total yards, 5,118 vs. 4,690.
"You know what all those stats mean then?" Green Bay offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski asked. "Nothing. You know which one that only really means anything? Scoring.
"They got all that stuff, they did. They did a great job, first down and third down, all that, but if it doesn't equate to points. . . ."
It equals a dismal season. Green Bay scored 34 touchdowns last season, but its opponents had 37.
"Somebody told me a long time ago, you are what you are, and we were 4-12," general manager Ted Thompson said. "So, that's all we were."
The Packers were way below the best scoring teams like Seattle (57 touchdowns), Indianapolis (53) and San Diego (51) but still managed six more touchdowns for the regular season than defensive-oriented Chicago (28), the division winner. Still, take away the 52-3 victory over New Orleans, in which the Packers had had seven touchdowns (two by the defense), and the Packers had just 27 touchdowns the rest of the season.
So even though the Packers were outscoring their opponents overall for the first eight games despite their awful start, the reality is the Packers' defense was keeping games close and the offense was struggling, as its lineup shifted almost weekly because of injuries.
Next season, they must address three basics:
• One, the red zone. Green Bay didn't convert enough inside the 20-yard line.
• Two, turnovers. Green Bay was terrible in that area, with 45 turnovers - including 29 interceptions by Brett Favre - and only 21 take-aways.
"You can't turn the ball over," Jagodzinski said. "They were moving the ball but if you turn it over, you're not going to win in this league. If you win the turnover battle, you'll win 12 of 16 games."
• Which brings up the third point: playmakers. If injured playmakers like Green, Davenport and Franks score at their usual paces again, and new threats develop from among Marc Boerigter, Ruvell Martin, Greg Jennings or another new receiver, they'll probably turn it over less and score more.
"We had more yards, we had more everything, but we also had more turnovers," Franks said. "That's really the biggest factor. And then, most of our playmakers were out. I don't want to make excuses, but this is a different league. This is not college. You can't just throw guys in there and expect them to perform against the top guys week in and week out."
The Packers hope the introduction of a new philosophy on the offensive line will help the running game. It was just 2004, after all, when this offense helped lead the Packers to 50 touchdowns.
"We're headed that way," Franks said. "I like the new offense. I like the way they structured it. It helps our interior linemen out a little more and 'AG' (Green) has a lot of options. Last year he had maybe one or two. Now he has a lot more options. And once he produces, it opens up everything for us. That's really our main focus, because the way he goes, everyone else goes."
The players also think this offense could open up for everyone beyond Green.
"You don't need to be an all-star to do well in this offense," Gado said. "The history of this scheme, guys do well. It's simple. It just gets the defense moving side to side, which allows running backs to make different cuts. It gives us more options.
"This offense came from the Denver Broncos. Denver's been doing well since Terrell Davis was there. Mike Anderson, Olandis Gary, those guys were over 1,000 yards apiece. They're good backs but they're not premier backs, and they were doing well."
-------------------
I like Jags.
Scoring no trivial pursuit
Getting in end zone key to turnaround
By LORI NICKEL
Green Bay - Who led the Green Bay Packers in touchdowns last season?
Donald Driver, who had more than 1,200 yards receiving and managed to play all 16 games?
No.
Bubba Franks?
No.
Ahman Green?
Hurt.
Any of the starters, any with Pro Bowl experience?
No.
It was Samkon Gado. Green Bay's desperate last-minute free-agent acquisition at running back played in eight games, five as a starter, and scored seven times.
"Yeah, but that's deceiving. Donald Driver had an amazing year last year," Gado said. "But he just didn't get in the end zone. Donald and I joke about this all the time: Three of my touchdowns were because Donald got tackled at the 2-yard line. If he wouldn't have been tackled, thos
e would have been his touchdowns."
Still, touchdowns were tough to come by for the Green and Gold in the forgettable 4-12 season, which means the new coaching staff is already studying closely their skill positions to determine who will get in the end zone and how.
Not one Packer was ranked among the NFL's top 30 in scoring last season, when Seattle's Shaun Alexander led everyone with 28 touchdowns.
Green had no touchdowns in his five games and fellow running back Najeh Davenport had two before he was lost to injury after five games. Driver scored five times. Receiver Robert Ferguson had three in 11 games. Fullback William Henderson was scoreless. Franks had one in eight games played. Of the other tight ends, David Martin had three in 12 games and Donald Lee had two, but none after Oct. 9.
Such a low number is really odd because last season, the Packers were better than their opponents in three offensive categories. In first downs, the Packers had 318 compared with their opponents' 280. They had more third-down conversions, 91 vs. 74. And they had more total yards, 5,118 vs. 4,690.
"You know what all those stats mean then?" Green Bay offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski asked. "Nothing. You know which one that only really means anything? Scoring.
"They got all that stuff, they did. They did a great job, first down and third down, all that, but if it doesn't equate to points. . . ."
It equals a dismal season. Green Bay scored 34 touchdowns last season, but its opponents had 37.
"Somebody told me a long time ago, you are what you are, and we were 4-12," general manager Ted Thompson said. "So, that's all we were."
The Packers were way below the best scoring teams like Seattle (57 touchdowns), Indianapolis (53) and San Diego (51) but still managed six more touchdowns for the regular season than defensive-oriented Chicago (28), the division winner. Still, take away the 52-3 victory over New Orleans, in which the Packers had had seven touchdowns (two by the defense), and the Packers had just 27 touchdowns the rest of the season.
So even though the Packers were outscoring their opponents overall for the first eight games despite their awful start, the reality is the Packers' defense was keeping games close and the offense was struggling, as its lineup shifted almost weekly because of injuries.
Next season, they must address three basics:
• One, the red zone. Green Bay didn't convert enough inside the 20-yard line.
• Two, turnovers. Green Bay was terrible in that area, with 45 turnovers - including 29 interceptions by Brett Favre - and only 21 take-aways.
"You can't turn the ball over," Jagodzinski said. "They were moving the ball but if you turn it over, you're not going to win in this league. If you win the turnover battle, you'll win 12 of 16 games."
• Which brings up the third point: playmakers. If injured playmakers like Green, Davenport and Franks score at their usual paces again, and new threats develop from among Marc Boerigter, Ruvell Martin, Greg Jennings or another new receiver, they'll probably turn it over less and score more.
"We had more yards, we had more everything, but we also had more turnovers," Franks said. "That's really the biggest factor. And then, most of our playmakers were out. I don't want to make excuses, but this is a different league. This is not college. You can't just throw guys in there and expect them to perform against the top guys week in and week out."
The Packers hope the introduction of a new philosophy on the offensive line will help the running game. It was just 2004, after all, when this offense helped lead the Packers to 50 touchdowns.
"We're headed that way," Franks said. "I like the new offense. I like the way they structured it. It helps our interior linemen out a little more and 'AG' (Green) has a lot of options. Last year he had maybe one or two. Now he has a lot more options. And once he produces, it opens up everything for us. That's really our main focus, because the way he goes, everyone else goes."
The players also think this offense could open up for everyone beyond Green.
"You don't need to be an all-star to do well in this offense," Gado said. "The history of this scheme, guys do well. It's simple. It just gets the defense moving side to side, which allows running backs to make different cuts. It gives us more options.
"This offense came from the Denver Broncos. Denver's been doing well since Terrell Davis was there. Mike Anderson, Olandis Gary, those guys were over 1,000 yards apiece. They're good backs but they're not premier backs, and they were doing well."
-------------------
I like Jags.
