PACKERS DOMINATE SECOND PRESEASON GAME BEAT BILLS 31-21
Jerry Gilbert
Week two of the preseason brought a more difficult challenge to the Green Bay Packers. The challenge was met, and all the justifiable concerns about this being meaningless seem a little less important. This team is moving in the right direction.
It is important to remember that two years ago, with most of the same players, the Packers were 14-3 and playing in the Division Championship. The team has talent.
Last season, they lost their way, but talent was not the issue. In retrospect, there was some good fortune in 2007 that caused a team to over achieve, and their luck moved in the opposite direction in 2008, and they under achieved.
Head Coach Mike McCarthy believes that the way forward for the Green Bay Packers will depend on superior coaching. He overhauled his defensive staff and reenergized a pretty good group of offensive coaches. We are seeing the results in the preseason. The offense, in its first season with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, was pretty effective until they were close to the opposing end zone. There they frequently faltered. This unit is finishing. In the opener, it was two touchdowns in two drives. Against Buffalo, Aaron Rodgers led the starters to 3 touchdowns in four drives, and the other would have produced a field goal had they not tried to run the ball on fourth down. The offense is successful because they are running the ball and passing to the tight ends. Both those elements were lacking for much of last season.
While the basic offense under Mike McCarthy features mixing up personnel groups and ever changing formations, the offensive plays have been pretty basic. The difference is execution. The coaches are teaching these players to do it the right way. This preseason, Ryan Grant has rushed for two touchdowns. They were the same play, a basic sweep left and a sweep right led by the fullback. The players have been taught how to run that play and they made it work.
At tight end, McCarthy seems to have remembered that Donald Lee has good hands and Lee has been target on passing downs. But the big story is the maturation of Jermichael Finley. As a rookie Finley was full of himself, and he did not give full effort. This season he has worked on his blocking as well as his receiving, and he is on his way to being a real weapon at tight end. Buffalo tried to cover him with a safety, a linebacker and a cornerback and none of them could slow him down. It appeared in the first quarter that Rodgers could have completed a pass to Finley on every play. He has also thrown key blocks to help the running backs.
On Saturday, the crew broadcasting the game on TV to Wisconsin showed a graphic of the ratings of three defensive teams before the arrival of Dom Capers and in the first year of his tenure running the defense. Every defense rose from the middle of the pack or worse to at or near the top. Against Cleveland, the Packer Defense made big plays to prevent scores, but the Browns offense moved the ball consistently against the Green Bay starters. In week two, a good Bills offense was stymied by the Packer starters who as part of their shut out performance caused an interception and two fumbles. The swarming and sure tackling Packers played most of the half in the opponentŐs backfield.
Last year Green Bay Packers suffered through a disappointing year on Defense. Communication was poor, missed assignment were frequent, and penalties repeatedly took away fine plays. It must, however be remembered that the same group of players were playing pretty well in the last half of 2007, but 2008 brought too many challenges for them to overcome. The loss of Cullen Jenkins was huge. Losing Nick Barnett sealed the deal. And the players did not excel at the fundamentals of the game.
Dom Capers is fortunate to have Jenkins to solidify his three-man line. But Capers is producing superior linebacker play without Barnett. There is something in his scheme and his teaching that has made this defense significantly better than it was last year. The importance of teaching, even with full sized athletes, cannot be underestimated. The Packer Defenders have learned a new scheme, and the players are playing it well. A secondary, that muffed coverages last season, has excelled this summer while playing a conceptually more difficult system. Linebackers who had very few sacks a year ago are eluding blockers and hitting the quarterbacks. Players are playing better because they are receiving better coaching.
However, the system cannot be successful without athletes who play at a high level. On nearly every successful blitz, the tackler needed to defeat a blocker to reach the quarterback. The first team pass rush of the Packers was good against Cleveland and very good against the Bills. In game one, the second and third team defenders continued to outplay a demoralized Cleveland team. However, against Buffalo, the lower echelon Green Bay defenders were not superior, they did not dominate, and they gave up some scores. The film of the second half provided a valuable teaching moment to remind every player that proper technique and high effort are needed to make this defense successful.
I hope that Running Back Tyrell Sutton gets a chance against a first team defense in the preseason. Sutton has been the one consistent star of the Packer third team offense. Even near the end of both games, when everyone knew the Packers would run the ball, Sutton averaged about 5 yards per carry and moved the chains. If Sutton shows enough as a blocker and receiver, he can make this team.
Thanks to Tyrell Sutton, the Brian Brohm led second and third stringers were able to sustain one nice drive and score a touchdown. There were also two other factors in that drive. Jamon Meredith at left tackle, though playing against lesser competition, nevertheless appeared to be an upgrade over Tony Moll at that position. Brohm was not nervous in the pocket. Second, the game plan called for quick slants and quick outs on rhythm and Brohm connected. Other than that one drive, the offense was ineffective after the starters left the field. Without doubt Brian Brohm and his left tackle were a large part of that futility.
Arizona will be a good test for the Packers. Facing one of the top offenses in the league will challenge the 3-4 defense of the Packers. However, I cannot remember two dominating preseason performances such as we have seen so far. Bring on the defending NFC Champs.
