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Packers Preseason Perspectives

There is no getting around the fact that last week’s Packers – Browns game was ugly (for the Packers). Yes the Browns played their starters much longer than the Packers did, and yes the Packers had 18 players out with injuries, so excuses are readily available.  But the bottom line is, the Packers team on the field that night, did not look like the Super Bowl contenders we know they are.

The “chicken littles” were out in force, clucking that the Packers have not resolved their issues from last season. Never mind that it’s preseason game 2 and the Packers’ coaches mainly used this game to get tape on players to help their personnel decisions in a few weeks. Hell, we even saw some of the Ted Thompson haters crawl out of their caves.

But now that the dust has settled and we can perhaps look more calmly at the situation, here’s a selection of views on the Brown game, what it means or doesn’t mean and where the Packers go from here:

Over at Acme Packing Company the writer known as PackApologist was left feeling “sick” about the Packer’s performance Thursday Night.

Looking at this game from the Browns’ perspective, the commenters seem absolutely giddy about the Browns’ performance over at waitingfornextyear.com, a blog dedicated to Ohio sports teams.

Over at CheeseheadTV, in the aftermath of the Browns game, C.D. Angeli dares to ask the question: Have the Packers peaked?”  Read more... (379 words + 3 images, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

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Packers running back Alex Green vs. Browns

Green Bay Packers vs. Cleveland Browns:

My unfitered game day blog post of comments, observations and first impressions.

Inactive for Packers today:

It’s a long list:

WR Greg Jennings, WR Diondre Borel and TE Jermichael Finley, LB Desmond Bishop, WR Shaky Smithson, RB Du’ane Bennett, RB Brandon Saine, FB John Kuhn, FB Jon Hoese, CB Sam Shields,  CB Davon House, OLB Frank Zombo, G Ray Dominguez,  DT Johnny Jones, T Marshall Newhouse, T Derek Sherrod, TE Andrew Quarless,

Notes: Tonight is the 63 installment of the Midwest Shrine game. Big night for Alex Green, Casey Hayward and DJ Smith.

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Mike McCarthy Pregame Show on 620 WTMJ:

Lambeau Field: Great to be home – no place like Lambeau Field. Big night for some of our younger players – they’re excited about playing here tonight.

 New Stadium Additions: Anxious to scope out the conditions. Great work for us; 15-20mph winds expected. I’m very interested to see what info our coaches gather.

Cedric Benson:  I look for Cedric to come in and compete for a starting position. He looks to be in great shape. He’s an excellent inside runner, he’s a 220 lb running back .  He defintitely falls forward.

Reggie Wells: Reggie gives u flexibility, has played all 5 positions. He’s older obviously, so brings a lot of valuable experience to a young offensive line group  Read more... (977 words + 3 images, estimated 3:54 mins reading time)

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Is it possible for a preseason game to suck?

If it is, then the Green Bay Packers experienced it last Thursday in their 21-13 loss to the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium in their preseason opener.  Not only did the Packers lose, the starting offense came out flat with reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers posting a quarterback rating of 0.0 (yes, it’s a meaningless stat, but the offense looked putrid regardless).

Throw in a possible season ending hamstring injury to starting linebacker Desmond Bishop and the 2012 season opened with a rather loud thud for Packer Nation.

That said, it’s a new week and football returns to Lambeau Field tonight when the Green Bay Packers take on the Cleveland Browns.

The Packers enter the game a little healthier than in the game against the Chargers, they still have a ways to go before they can be declared ready to go before the regular season starts.  Greg Jennings is still out with a concussion and the Packers must be more worried about his health than they are letting on.  Marshall Newhouse finally returned to practice and should see his first game action of the season.

With the starters likely seeing very limited action once again, here are some things to look forward to as the Packers’ preseason schedule hits the halfway point:

James Starks has been put on notice  Read more... (851 words + 1 image, estimated 3:24 mins reading time)

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Before a way-less than capacity crown in Cleveland, the Green BayPackers saw their first real action of the 2011 season against Mike Holmgren’s Cleveland Browns:

Rodgers calls tails and wins the toss. Randall Cobb is back to return the kick and does a nice job extending the return for another 5-8 yds when it looked like nothing was there.

On the Brown’s first drive, Cleveland showed they knew exactly who to attack, going after Jarret Bush and Pat Lee. Lee with his man all the way but never turns to see the ball. It was Ahmad Carroll-like.

Packers kickoff team lines up in a three point stance to start. Intended to give them more explosion (quicker start with only a 5 yd run-up) and less chance of anyone cheating and going offsides.

Marshall Newhouse gets totally abused at right tackle. But what is he doing there? I don’t remember one report of his lining up there in practice, and he was a 3 year starter at LT in college. I guess they’re throwing him in there like they did with Bulaga?

Seems like when Matt Flynn is in trouble, he either doesn’t see or is afraid to throw downfield. Always goes to the closest guy.

Spencer Havner is a touchdown magnet. Footballs in the end zone are just drawn to him.

The Packers are doing a lot of juggling on the O-line in the first half. Lang and Sherrod aleternate at LG, then Lang goes to LT with Sherrod at LG. Then they swap.  All the while Newhouse is over at RT.  Read more... (496 words + 3 images, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

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