AllGreenBayPackers.Com

The Packers inability to bury a team like the Saints is one reason Green Bay isn't quite dominant.

The Green Bay Packers are 6-0 and should be 7-0 after feasting on Christian Ponder and the bumbling Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

The Packers have been the more talented team on the field for each of their games this season, sometimes by a wide margin. But despite the Packers fast start and obvious talent superiority, I wouldn’t call this team dominant….yet.

Extremely good? Yes. Ultra-talented? Yes. The best team in the NFL? Yes. Dominant? Not quite.

Here’s why:  Read more... (463 words + 1 image, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

• The Packers are 31st in the NFL in passing yards allowed. Opposing QBs have racked up 1,798 passing yards on Green Bay, an average of almost 300 yards per game. Passing numbers are up around the league, but this number needs to come down for the Packers to be dominant.
• The Packers are third in Football Outsiders DVOA ratings and Pro-Football-Reference.com’s simple ratings system. I don’t put too much stock in this type of analysis this early in the season, but these numbers do tell us that the Packers are not miles ahead of everyone else like a dominant team would be.
• A dominant team would have put away the Saints and the Panthers (and probably the Bears) much earlier than the Packers did. Instead of putting these games out of reach, the Packers let both teams hang around. A dominant team also would not have been shut out by the Rams in the second half, even if that dominant team was bored like the Packers probably were on Sunday.

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Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers gave the Green Bay Packers a serious upset scare at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday, as the rookie quarterback helped give the Panthers a 13-0 lead in the first quarter before the defending Super Bowl champions found their footing and took over in the second half. Three turnovers to start the second half helped the Packers score 16 points in the third quarter, and Aaron Rodgers found Jordy Nelson for an 84-yard touchdown pass that put the dagger in the Panthers’ upset bid.

Here are five observations from the Packers’ Week 2 win:

1. Concern in the secondary 

Many were quick to attribute the Packers struggles on defense in Week 1 to playing a passing magician in Drew Brees, but the fears were confirmed against  Newton and the Panthers. You could probably count 10 or so occasions where the Panthers had receivers wide open for completions. Newton spared no one, as Charles Woodson, Sam Shields, Jarrett Bush, Morgan Burnett, Clay Matthews and Erik Walden were all beat. It all equaled another 400-yard passing day against the Packers defense, who now ranks 32nd in the NFL in passing yardage.

Add in the fact that safety Nick Collins will miss the year due to a neck injury, and there are legitimate concerns in the Packers pass defense. There’s no way to sugar coat it two weeks into the season. They need to be better for the Packers to reach their high expectations in 2011.  Read more... (868 words + 1 image, estimated 3:28 mins reading time)

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Nick Collins left the Panthers game on a stretcher after suffering a neck injury in the 4th quarter.

Safety Nick Collins, a three-time Pro Bowler for the Green Bay Packers, will finish the year on injured reserve after suffering a neck injury against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. The heartbreaking news was delivered as the first point of order in Mike McCarthy’s press conference this afternoon.

“It’s tough. It’s something you never get used to as a coach,” McCarthy said. He offered no further details, but said it was too early to tell if he would require surgery.

Collins was injured in the fourth quarter of the game after an attempted tackle on Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart. During the play, Stewart tried to hurdle the oncoming Collins, whose head hit the underside of the runner’s leg. Collins’ neck bent awkwardly on the hit and sent him to the ground, face down and motionless.

While being carted off the field, Collins gave a slight wave to the crowd, signaling that he dodged the worst.

McCarthy mentioned during the post-game press conference that Collins was “still under evaluation” but that “all the feedback so far [was] positive.” The Green Bay Packers website later released a statement saying, “Nick Collins has normal feeling and complete movement in his extremities. As is standard protocol, he will be kept in the hospital overnight for observation.”  Read more... (829 words + 1 image, estimated 3:19 mins reading time)

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Photo from PackersNews.com

The Green Bay Packers invade Charlotte NC, today to take on the Carolina Panthers and record-setting rookie  QB Cam Newton. The Packers are certainly hoping for a more comfortable win than last week’s game against the Saints.

The Panthers were 2-14 last season, but have spent 144 million on seven players in an attempt to keep a young core together, ala Green Bay. They already looked like an improved team last week, with Cam Newton a huge improvement over Jimmy Clausen.

The Packers’ defense, however, will be looking to bounce back and show the NFl last’s weeks points surrendered were more attributable to the Saints’ high-powered offense than the packers’ defense not playing well.

Inactive for the Packers tonight are:

DB Tramon Williams, DE Mike Neal, LB Frank Zombo, CB Davon House, LB Vic So’oto, T Derek Sherrod, RB Alex Green.

I’m very pleased that Tramon Williams is being held out if he’s not 100%. He is way too important to the Packers for them to risk aggravating the injury further.

With Williams out, M.D. Jennings makes the first game-day roster appearance of his career. With Williams out, Shields starts and Bush plays at nickel. Since Bush is also a backup safety, Williams comes on in case emergency safety help is needed.

The Packers go with seven active offensive linemen again, with Marshall Newhouse and Evan Dietrich-Smith the only reserves. With Clifton’s knee aching a bit more this week, Packers continue to roll the dice with inexperienced backups and only two of them.  Read more... (1166 words + 3 images, estimated 4:40 mins reading time)

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The Green Bay Packers (1-0) and Carolina Panthers (0-1) face off in Week 2 of the NFL season Sunday.

The basics 

When: Noon CST, Sunday, September 18, 2011

Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC

TV: FOX, Ron Pitts and Jim Mora, Jr.

Radio: 620 AM WTMJ (Milwaukee); Packers Radio Network

Series: Packers lead, 6-4 (Panthers won last regular season game, 35-31, in Nov. 2008 at Lambeau Field)

Five things to watch

Cam vs. the doubters

In the past year or so, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has been doubted about everything from the authenticity to his smile to his ability to pick up a simple NFL offense. While his 422-yard NFL debut emphatically silenced most of those critics, they’ve been replaced by new doubters who think there’s no chance he’ll do well against a more talented Packers defense Sunday afternoon.

I, for one, hesitate to doubt Newton, who has risen to nearly every football challenge laid before him. There’s just something special about Newton that’s hard to attribute with stats or scouting terms. He has that “it” factor.

This will arguably be the biggest test of his football career, however, as Newton has never seen a defense as talented or multi-faceted as the Packers team he will face Sunday. Can he rise to this task as well? He might not lead the underdog Panthers to an upset win, but it’s hard to bet against Newton playing well, especially with Tramon Williams potentially on the sidelines.  Read more... (1067 words + 1 image, estimated 4:16 mins reading time)

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We’re kicking off our season-long series of “Know Your Packers Enemy,” where every week I will talk with a blogger from the Packers’ opponent of that respective week. We’ll breakdown each game from the view of the opponent’s blogger, who should be able to give us some valuable insight on the team they cover. And while Week 1 would have naturally seemed like the right time to start this series, you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to find a Saints blogger. Nonetheless, the Panthers in Week 2 will be our jumping off point. In our first edition, I talked with James Dator from Cat Scratch Reader, the Panthers blog on SB Nation.

Here is the exchange:

1. Zach’s Question: Cam Newton was going to be a talking point in this game even before his record-setting debut, but tell me a little bit about the excitement surrounding that performance in the Panthers fan base. I, for one, was completely blown away by some of the things he did against Arizona. How are fans reacting to Newton in Week 1 and leading into the Packers game?  Read more... (856 words + 1 image, estimated 3:25 mins reading time)

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