Post Game Impressions

[Murgen]

Feel free to add/discuss as I know I'm missing a bunch.

1. Preseason really means nothing.

2. GB's new Defense engineered by Dom Capers is surprisingly GOOD!!! And the LBs seem to play it well. Cutler had no idea what was coming, you could tell the D was a complete mystery to him and the 4 picks as a result.

The D kept good pressure on him all night. Welcome to the NFC NORTH Jay.

The D shutdown the run really well tonight. Did have some breakdowns in coverage but I'll attribute that to growing pains.

I thought Hawk was playing good tonight. I saw him in the mix of the action, and he did save that one TD when he forced Hester? out of bounds after he got past Woodson. Good to see Matthews in there.

Props to Al Harris on another game winning pick and I wish we could have gotten some playing time for Raji in there. Better safe than sorry though but I can't wait to see that once he is healthy.

3. Our Offensive RT Barbre got burned by Oguleye. Our O-line was inconsistent picking up the Blitz, and protection for Rogers was questionable. He took way too many hits tonight. Urlacher's hit on Roger's was brutal. Was glad to see Rogers get up after that. The Safety was Rogers fault as he could have NOT run into the End Zone.

I'm looking forward to seeing the O next week get into a better rhythm and stop dropping balls.

4. Both QB's had opening day jitters and both were under tremendous pressure. Roger's overthrew and underthrew receivers. Cutler looked HORRIBLE thanks to our D and his cruddy WRs stopping on routes. The love affair between Chicago fans and Cutler is officially OVER I'd say. They realize he is Human now. 3 bad passes in a row for Cutler which resulted in 2 missed picks, and the final one we saw Collins held on. A pass into quadruple coverage? Oh my! Josh McDaniels is looking like maybe he knew something.

5. Ref nearly cost us the game with that BS Illegal contact call. Man, that Ref should be reprimanted and shown a vides on HOW NOT TO BLOW CALLS. Send that guy back to the to the pee-wee leagues. Does he know this is the NFL. Probably a Bears fan...seriously.

6. Too many dropped balls by our WRs. Granted the throws seemed to be a tad high. Jennings made a gorgeous go ahead catch for the TD. That was pure gold.

7. Stupidest fake punt...EVER!!! Just no excuse in a 2pt game to run such a dumb play on your own 30 with 11 yards to go. Yeah, I know he was trying to catch Matthews.

8. Cutlers "It's just a game, No big deal" postgame was uncomfortable to watch. I almost felt bad for him. You could tell he was still in shock and his dumb face was showing bad.

9. We got a lot of work ahead of us, and all the preseason Hype is OVER. This team can be good, but they need to tighten down some loose ends before they can even think about playoff appearance.

10. No turnovers by the pack, and from what I could tell no serious injuries. I'm assuming Jolly had a cramp until I hear different.

11. I think our D is going to make the Bengals cry, and our O is going to score a ton of points on em.

 

[PackersRS]

Great post man! I agree with you in almost every topic. MM should've realized we were getting beat at the right side, and called either for a TE to be permanently blocking in there, or for Rodgers to throw the ball a lot quicker. But hey, what a gutsy call that PA to Jennings? That takes some huge cojones to make, after your line had been awful the whole day and your qb kept overthrowing and the Wrs kept droppping. That's how much faith MM have in them, and they delivered. We showed a lot of flaws, but this team is going deep into the playoffs.

 

[Packers]

The Stuttering Hour with Stuttering Steve

I agree with you on the fact that the Packers will go deep in the playoffs!! Our defense was awesome!! With Raji in there next week it will only get better!! Even the talking heads from FOX was saying before the kickoffs in the start of the afternoon games were saying that the Packers were going to the NFC confrence game and even to the Superbowl!!

Its going to be a great season....

Go Pack!

 

[GreenBayCracker]

Nick Barnett wasn't in on a hell of a lot lastnight, just 1 tackle and 2 assists. Might take him a game or two to get into the action once again.

That Johnny Jolly INT was something special. For a guy of his stature to lay out, and one hand a ball thrown (well, tossed) and come down with it, unreal.

I am excited to see the defence play more 3-4 even though when they line up it seems most times there are 4 on the line.

The offence had a hard time moving along, mostly due to the fact that the Bears d had a firm grip on the balls of a couple O-liners. All that matters though is that when it came down to the end, we got it done.

 

[Murgen]

Great post man! I agree with you in almost every topic. MM should've realized we were getting beat at the right side, and called either for a TE to be permanently blocking in there, or for Rodgers to throw the ball a lot quicker. But hey, what a gutsy call that PA to Jennings? That takes some huge cojones to make, after your line had been awful the whole day and your qb kept overthrowing and the Wrs kept droppping. That's how much faith MM have in them, and they delivered. We showed a lot of flaws, but this team is going deep into the playoffs.

Yeah, MM gambled, but it was a great move. Jennings one on one with a refurbished vasher, play action and them expecting a run. It was a perfect call. The rest of the night he did kind of get out called. But this time it paid of HUGE! That was the Aaron Rogers I know. When Rogers is relaxed he is dangerous and he looked relaxed on that play. Add in a bit of luck on the Vasher stumble and 7 points. Cap it off with an Al Harris complete embarrassment of Cutler and Knox and call it a W. Glad we got out of there with a W to be honest. That was way too close.

I also wanted to say, Jenkins and Jolly!!! Those guys don't get a whole lot of love, but they were a great anchor to that line and played like pro-bowlers! AWESOME job.


Chicago is soon to be 0-2 after next week. I usually root against the SB champ, but for that game, Go Steelers. Jay "Sad Face" Cutler is going to get another dose of the 3-4. I almost feel bad for him...nahhh. He's probably thanking God right now Polamalu is out.

 

[paco]

forgive me, I haven't read the previous posts yet, so I'm sure I'll mirror many thoughts. But here are some of the notes I made on the game....

Positives
*Rodgers coming through at the end of the game. He was knocked around and shook up all game long, but came through when he really needed to.
*Overall Defense. They blitzed from everywhere, gang tackled, batted down balls and got the turnovers. How can you ask for anything more?
*Penalties. Only 6 the whole game and 1 illegal contact and 1 holding call were bogus. This is a great imrovment over the last few years.
*Punting game. Kapinos did a decent job. Didn't do anything to make you groan.

Negatives
*RT play. Barbre was inconsistant, but was going against a quality DE. He did make some nice plays, but he needs to protect the QB better.
*Slow offense. The offense never really found a rhythm, especially the run game early. I'll chalk it up to jitters and the pressure for the first game, and a solid defensive day by the Bears.
*Dropped passes. Several would have been tough catches based on the throw, but the WR's need to pull in a few more.

My concern spots
RT - If Barbre doesn't imrove, Giacomini needs to be ready, or they need to give Lang some reps in practice to get him ready.
Safety - Collins and Bigby both got banged up. Rouse and Martin can't handle it alone. I'd like to see an upgrade here. Hopefully both are ok. But this is our weakest spot on the defense.

Players worth mentioning
Chillar, Jolly, and Jenkins on defense. Wow these guys looked good. Play of the game was easily Jolly's INT. Most WR's couldn't bring in that point blank rocket with 1 hand, but less a defensive lineman.

Rodgers and Jennings on offense. Rodgers came through when he was needed and Jennings was there at a few crucial times. They might end up being one of the best duos in the NFL before long.

Honerable mention
Jordy Nelson as PR/KR. He did an admirable job returning kicks. Especially on the opener. Not a shifty, make you miss guy. But he runs straight ahead and gives good 2nd effort. Too many returns lose yards trying to make big things happen. Just too bad he dropped his only 2 passes.

Jeremy Kapinos. Just for making us not even talk about the punting problems during the game. I'll take a 45 yd/punt average any day.

Early prediction on the Bengals...
Raji could be back. Offense will look to put up big numbers. Defense is jacked up. Packers 38 Bengals 17

 

[Hobbes09]

The game was a bit of a fluke in a lot of ways.

1) It was unusually hot for GB. 79 degrees at the start of the game and a lot of guys on both sides of the ball played slower than usual, sloppier than usual or both. Driver and Woodson being perfect examples.

2) We probably should have seen the line having problems earlier than we did. Barbre just had his first start and he was up against a longtime vet. There was just no contest. Experience can screw up anyone who's green and it did Sunday. Expect him to do much better against much more suspect opponents and slowly get better throughout the season as the games slow down for him more and more. I highly doubt he plays like this in Chicago.

3) Despite the obvious line problems, they were only a small portion of the picture. Yes they caused problems for Rodgers, but the offense would have been fine except for 5 (?!) dropped passes from Driver, Jones and Nelson, adding up to what would have been around 100 yards of offense and four first downs. That's a lot of production to let slip through your fingers and a lot of potentially sustained drives cut very short. It is also very uncommon for GB receivers. Even should Barbre not improve, I'd fully expect to find better production simply out of the fact that some of our receivers played their worst game in a long, long time all at the same time.

4) I know Bears receivers aren't good, but I really doubt they will continue playing this bad. They had a freakish number of blown routes. There will always be issues with their current set, but not this many.

5) I think our defense will really be tremendous, especially in picks. They know how to create pressure in so many different ways and are completely filled with ballhawks. Yes, Cutler is a gunslinger who makes mistakes and that is a big reason for many of the turnovers. He also has a lightning fast release and is talented at escaping pressure. I'm thinking four turnovers really isn't a fluke for this defense.

6) Rodgers wasn't as accurate as usual, but he still did very, very well. His throws, excepting one or two, might not have been dead center where he wanted them, but they were, again excepting those one or two, well within reach of his targets and well out of reach of defenders. This is with near constant pressure as well. A 92.0 passer rating is pretty good on most days, but considering the dropped balls and pressure I think you really have to hand it to him. This guy is very smart and has a great presence, in and out of the pocket.

 

[sjprintz]

Urlacher's hit on Rodgers was a big hit, and in my mind, a late hit. It should have been a penalty because Urlacher saw Rodgers release the ball, then hit him hard with his shoulder. If that hit occurs on Brady, its 15 yards.

However, poetic justice reigns in Green Bay. Urlacher hurts his wrist later in the game, needs surgery and is out for the season.

 

[packedhouse01]

My biggest concern is why wasn't the best linebacker on the Packer roster playing last night. Bishop does nothing but make plays.

 

[Dizzle498]

I don't see how you can be complaining about line backers, their entire Defense played fantastic. That was a warm night in Green Bay, and Cutler is no slouch. The D played great, so did the linebackers, cheers to them not changing anything.

 

[Zeppelinelite51]

Anyone notice when that Bears receiver lined up technically offsides, and then Harris got a penalty after he barely touched him... which meant it was 1st down and and not 4th... I was so scared that may have cost them the game there.

Sorry for repeating this.. just really pissed me off

 

[bad93ex]

There was a lot of dumb stuff going on during that game. The game was sealed after rodgers completed that 50 yard bomb to jennings.

 

[Hauschild]

A win is a win, but I expected a blow-out. I mean, Chicago has an average O-line, and below-average receivers. And, how in the world did their Urlacher-less D stop us so often??? Oh, yeah, Barbre.

Once again, the Pack's coaching staff shows absolutely no ability to adjust at half time. Whereas, the Bears' offense looked markedly improved in the second half.

So, I'll take the win, but I'm still disappointed in the offensive effort - shabby pass protection and no ability to run well, consistently.

 

[PackersRS]

A win is a win, but I expected a blow-out. I mean, Chicago has an average O-line, and below-average receivers. And, how in the world did their Urlacher-less D stop us so often??? Oh, yeah, Barbre.

Once again, the Pack's coaching staff shows absolutely no ability to adjust at half time. Whereas, the Bears' offense looked markedly improved in the second half.

So, I'll take the win, but I'm still disappointed in the offensive effort - shabby pass protection and no ability to run well, consistently.

They should've either stuck a TE to block permanently in the right side, or call for more quick slants and Rb checkdowns... I also expected a blowout, but after the MNF games, I gotta remember that week 1 is usually very odd. The way I look at this is, we had doubts about closing games and the D. We know the offense can took off. We're in a good track. But if we don't show up and play our best every week, we're not going to move the ball. It looked like they thought they could score whenever they wanted. Football is not like that, specially in a national game against the greatest rival.

 

[Murgen]

I think GB had a bit of overconfidence after easily scoring in the preseason. Welcome to the NFL. You can lose any game if you stumble. Your not playing against High school kids out there.

Every offense struggles the first game of the season. The Defenses are just ahead of the game. I have no doubt the O will settle down and start making plays as long as Rogers gets time to throw. FIX the O-line Mike!!! Mark Tauscher where are you!!!???

Rivalry games in Prime Time are usually tough fights. You watch the GB/Chicago game and then watch the other games on Monday and the intensity was 1/2 of the GB/Bears match up. It felt almost like a playoff game.

Seem to me GB held their own this time on the physical aspect of the game. Bears usually seemed more physical then us in the past, but this time we held our own and dished it back. I like that. I think the Bears were surprised how aggressive and physical GB played. I know Cutler was :lol:. How many bears had to leave the game and Urlacher out of the season. I'd say that was a physical game.

Now that Rogers has gotten the first game jitters out of his system and hopefully a lot of O-line corrections I'm hoping we see the O light it up when the Bengals come to town. Without a strong O-line though this team will struggle all year (Duh!)

 

[Pugger]

I guess after the game in an interview Rodgers said the bares were in a completely different defense than they'd ever seen! Aaron called it a cover 6? I have a sneaking suspicion that this new wrinkle the bares came out with was a big reason why our O struggled so much.

 

[DILLIGAFF]

I guess after the game in an interview Rodgers said the bares were in a completely different defense than they'd ever seen! Aaron called it a cover 6? I have a sneaking suspicion that this new wrinkle the bares came out with was a big reason why our O struggled so much.

I am not buying that story. Every team game plans special for each team.

 

[Murgen]

Isn't the cover 6 the same as the Dime Defense. I don't think it was the Cover 6 that was causing the issues, but the O-line not giving A-Rod enough time to go through his reads. And if they were in a Dime scheme, that is even more embarrassing that they got so much pressure on Rogers. I'm not an expert but from my recollections it looked like the Bears were rushing 4 with some LBs and safety blitzes. Wouldn't that be more a 4-3/Nickle package?

 

[Fazeman]

While watching the game, I started to realize that the potential for an offensive shoot-out would be tempered by what is fairly typical Packer/Bear football; defensive slugfest. Still, what made this defensive game better than most was the high intensity play from both teams.

 

[mike bat]

anyway you cut it ,, we won the game ... Now can we all just chill and watch the season with out all the ,, GREEN BAYS GOING TO THE BOWL hoop la ... If you watched the same game i watched ,, you seen the packers are no where near the super bowl ... we have big holes in this team ... i still think we can fill some of these holes ,, but lets be honist here were bound to loose a few ... as of right now ,, im just preying we see playoffs ... so we won ,, but i still believe we have alotta work to do to get this team ready for the season ...

ohh yea :chisux:

 

[PackersRS]

Well, to be fair, did you watch the Steelers OL?
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Cover six is when everyone except the safeties and 3 DL play 10 yards, I believe; The DL rush the passer, and the safeties play like cover 2. If it's 4 DL, then the CBs and LBs still play 10 yards, but farther from each other. It takes away those slants we use so often, but it does leave the defense vulnerable to both a flat underneat or a seam, so Arod's got nothing to complain about. He did came great at the end, but this game shouldn't have been so close. As much as Barbre blew a lot of drives, some he had no business missing.

 

[mike bat]

dont get me wrong ,, i dont think we are a bad team ... i just feel the team as a whole has to get on the same page ... there were a lot of plays that just didnt pan out .. Rodgers was being rushed ,, by a solid D .. i felt we just looked messy out there ,, nothing more ... i think if MM just gets the players on the same page we will look way better , as a play off team .. i think MM and his coaches could have done a better managment of that O line .. other than that we should fair well ... they will get on the same page ,, the question is when ? thats what has me worried ... well see ..

 

[Hauschild]

I guess after the game in an interview Rodgers said the bares were in a completely different defense than they'd ever seen! Aaron called it a cover 6? I have a sneaking suspicion that this new wrinkle the bares came out with was a big reason why our O struggled so much.

This is called "game-planning" - something Mac is terrible at.

Also, the Bears offense adjusted by quarter 3 and began to find success. However, the Packers coaching staff, once again, fail to make adequate adjustments at halftime. Barring the final play over an Urlacher-less defense, they sucked - plain and simple.

My 14-2 prediction was predicated on an improvement in coaching. The defense is doing its job, time for Big Mac to put down the Twinkies and buckle down. If they play against Cincy like Chicago, they'll struggle to win again.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/09/16/ochocinco-plans-to-do-the-lambeau-leap/

 

[Jess]

This is called "game-planning" - something Mac is terrible at.

Also, the Bears offense adjusted by quarter 3 and began to find success. However, the Packers coaching staff, once again, fail to make adequate adjustments at halftime. Barring the final play over an Urlacher-less defense, they sucked - plain and simple.

My 14-2 prediction was predicated on an improvement in coaching. The defense is doing its job, time for Big Mac to put down the Twinkies and buckle down. If they play against Cincy like Chicago, they'll struggle to win again.

Ochocinco plans to do the Lambeau Leap | ProFootballTalk.com

The Kyle Orton led Broncos beat Cincy. The Broncos D held Cincy to 7 points. Even if we struggle like we did against the Bears, we should still beat them by like 35. Lol.

 

[PackersRS]

This is called "game-planning" - something Mac is terrible at.

Also, the Bears offense adjusted by quarter 3 and began to find success. However, the Packers coaching staff, once again, fail to make adequate adjustments at halftime. Barring the final play over an Urlacher-less defense, they sucked - plain and simple.

My 14-2 prediction was predicated on an improvement in coaching. The defense is doing its job, time for Big Mac to put down the Twinkies and buckle down. If they play against Cincy like Chicago, they'll struggle to win again.

Ochocinco plans to do the Lambeau Leap | ProFootballTalk.com

I agree to some extent... He isn't terrible at game planning. He failed to do it last game, alright. Calling screens and putting a TE in there shold've considerably helped contain the pass rush. We'll see next game. Like you said, if we struggle on pass protection again, even thought they were a top12 D last year, things won't look good.
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About Ochocinco, Child, please! he's going to be greeted, alright...
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5jeNpBJ3xw]YouTube - Football Jerk denies gift to fans[/ame]