AllGreenBayPackers.Com

Overview: To kick off the next series of evaluations on AllGreenBayPackers.com, the ALLGBP staff are going to be analyzing each position group starting off with the specialists.  Overall, the specialists did a pretty good job keeping their names off the papers and blogs, outside of about 6 weeks of utter CROSBPOCALYPSE.

Where We Are Now

Here are the current suspects;

• LS Brett Goode (Undrafted, 2008)
• P Tim Masthay aka Ginger Wolverine (Undrafted, 2010)
• K Mason Crosby (6th round, 2007)

Listen to expanded coverage of this topic using the player below or download the podcast from the Packers Talk Radio Network on Itunes.

So that’s where we are.  Not much to report here; specialists are often drafted in the later rounds or not at all, and the Packers are no different, only using a 6th round pick on Crosby and picking up both Goode and Masthay off the free agent street.

• Goode: Goode again finished the season without a bad snap and even recorded a tackle in week 9 against the Cardinals, a pretty hard feat considering Goode has the least idea of what’s going on on the field since his head is between his legs at the beginning of the play.  Goode was also not responsible for any blocked or batted kicks which overall for a long snapper basically is a job well done

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Surviving Sundays With No Packers Football

The only thing you need to survive this Sunday without Packers football is Tom Silverstein’s story in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on the Packers front office and scouting operation.

Once again, the Packers were shorthanded at the NFL combine thanks to the departure of John Dorsey for Kansas City. In 2011, John Schneider left for Seattle and Reggie McKenzie departed for Oakland in 2012. All three of Ted Thompson’s right-hand men took general manager jobs.

You want your favorite NFL team to have as much talent as possible, both on the field and in the front office. It’s never a good thing to lose a talented player, just like it’s never a good thing to lose a talented executive. Silverstein’s story does a nice job of showing just how much of a team sport scouting, player evaluation and draft day can be.

However, every team has a star. On the field, the Packers have Aaron Rodgers. In the front office, they have Thompson.

As long as Rodgers is playing, the Packers should be good. As long as Thompson is the general manager, the front office should be fine.

I don’t get overly worried when Packers executives start making their annual exit from Green Bay for opportunities elsewhere. As long as Thompson is around, the Packers should remain on the right track. He’s the star. He’s the one that makes everything go.  Read more... (754 words + 1 image, estimated 3:01 mins reading time)

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1) Introduction: After the disasters that were Derrick Frost and Jeremy Kapinos, Tim Masthay was a godsend.  While Masthay will probably never be known for his big leg, Masthay’s forte is his accuracy and his “Aussie style” punts.  Much like long snapper Brett Goode and Mason Crosby, Masthay was also the recipient of a contract extension this year, a 5-year $6.005 million contract, which settles down the kicking unit for the next couple years at least.  Masthay has brought back consistency to punts and in stark contrast to the up and down season that fellow kicker Mason Crosby faced this year, Masthay was good from opening day to the divisional championship.

2) Profile:

Timothy James Masthay

• Age: 25
• Born: 03/16/1987, in Pittsburgh, PA
• Height: 6’1″
• Weight: 200
• College: Kentucky
• Rookie Year: 2009
• NFL Experience: 3 years

Career Stats and more:

3) Expectations coming into the season: While Masthay’s rookie season had it’s typicaly ups and downs, Masthay really became a reliable weapon on special teams in 2011 and it was expected that Masthay continue to win the field position battle for the Packers

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Masthay punted six times on opening day against the 49ers and pinned them back at their own 20 four times with only one touchback; it could be argued that Masthay was the Packers most consistent weapon that day.  Masthay’s worst game was probably week 15 against the Bears where he punted five times, twice went out of bounds and the other 3 were returned for 42 yards, the highest of the season.  If you want to talk about Masthay as a passer, he did managed to throw a special team touchdown in week 2 against the Bears but also threw a duck against Jacksonville, so the jury is out on that one.  Read more... (409 words + 1 image, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

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Some of McCarthy’s decisions have led to many questions about whether they will help or hurt the Packers from here on out

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has a track record that speaks for itself:

73 wins

37 losses

.664 winning percentage in regular season

5-3 record in playoffs including a Super Bowl Championship

Two appearances in the NFC Championship game

Three NFC North division titles

Not bad, right?  Even by the sky-high standards of the Green Bay Packers and their fans, those numbers exude success.  But McCarthy has become somewhat of an intrigue lately.  As we know, he calls the offensive plays for the Packers during games.  He has done so since his arrival in Green Bay.

At times, especially this season, he has had fans and analysts alike scratching their heads with some of his decision making.  Now, I realize that he gives quarterback Aaron Rodgers some freedom to alter the play at the line if Rodgers sees something he thinks he can take advantage of.  It’s hard to say exactly whether some of these offensive failures were McCarthy calls or Rodgers check-out’s.  Whichever is the case, McCarthy is responsible for all of it as head coach.  Read more... (1219 words + 3 images, estimated 4:53 mins reading time)

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Packers DL Ryan Pickett made some stylish plays on Sunday against the Lions.

Kevin Seifert had the following headline on his ESPN NFC North Blog post following the Packers 24-20 win over the Lions on Sunday: “Packers: Substance of 2012 > Style of 2011.”

Kevin went on to write how the Packers grind-it-out victories over the last five weeks might be more impressive and have them better prepared for the postseason than the string of blowout wins they had en route to a 15-1 finish in 2011.

For the record, I agree with Kevin. His post was spot-on. I just didn’t care for the headline.

The Packers had plenty of substance in 2011. You don’t go 15-1 on style alone.

And the Packers have had plenty of style so far in 2012. It’s just a different style than what we saw last season.

To casual football fans, style means long passes, beautiful catches, ankle-breaking runs and exciting punt/kick returns. Those are the plays that make Sports Center and go viral on the Internet.

The more hardcore football fans appreciate those types of plays as well, but also find plenty of style in other areas of the game.

To me, this third-and-goal play from Sunday highlights the type of style that hardcore fans appreciate and the type of stylish play that the Packers have been coming up with over the last five games.

A touchdown there gives the Lions a 7-0 lead and the Packers young and beat-up defense probably hangs its head a bit. Who knows where the game goes from there.  Read more... (531 words + 1 image, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

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Packers P Tim Masthay has been excellent in special team.

Special teams wraps up our midseason Packers grades report.

I feel like parent-teacher conferences are now over and it’s time for the student (the Packers) to try and find a way to get an ‘A’ on the final report card while the parents (Packers fans) keep nagging the kids to get their homework done and turn off the video games.

If you missed it, here are our grades for the offense and defense.

Kickoffs: A-
When the Packers are kicking off, it’s usually a good time to grab a snack or refill your beverage.

Out of Mason Crosby’s 47 kickoffs, 26 have went for touchbacks, ranking the Packers 10th in touchback percentage. When opponents do return it, they don’t go far, averaging only 24.4 yards with a long of 38.

This unit also forced a fumble that should’ve ended the game against New Orleans, but the refs botched the call.

It appeared that Crosby had at least one angle kickoff against the Cardinals where he tried to use the sideline to pin the returner inside his own 20. It worked and I wonder if we might see more of that down the stretch. You can afford to take some risks like that when you’re coverage has been excellent.

There’s always the chance that Mike McCarthy could call for an onside kick like he did against St. Louis. Crosby is excellent at onside kicks and the Packers recovered his only onside attempt.  Read more... (866 words + 1 image, estimated 3:28 mins reading time)

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The Packers need to keep Cardinals LB Daryl Washington as far from Aaron Rodgers as possible on Sunday

The Arizona Cardinals visit Lambeau Field this week in desperate need of a win, having lost their last four games after starting 4-0.  The Green Bay Packers have won three straight and want to head into their much needed bye week at 6-3.  Let’s jump into the key matchups that will determine the fate of this week’s game.

Offensive Lines vs. Pass Rush

Both Green Bay and Arizona head into this game in 1^st and 2^nd place, respectively, in QB sacks.  Each is also surrendering more than any team.  Many have already dubbed this game a “sack fest”.  Of course, games aren’t played on paper as we saw last week in the Packers/Jaguars game.

Each team’s offensive line has come under fire this season for inconsistent play.

Green Bay’s unit has struggled in their run blocking as well as in spots in pass blocking.  Newly acquired center Jeff Saturday hasn’t been what many Packer fans had hoped thus far.  Steady right tackle Bryan Bulaga has committed more penalties than in the past.

Arizona’s line has had troubles of their own.  Who could forget that week 5 game against St. Louis in which Cardinal quarterback Kevin Kolb was sacked nine times in a losing effort.  Just a few weeks later, Kolb would be taken down five times by the Buffalo Bills and forced out of that game with a rib injury.  Read more... (1737 words + 3 images, estimated 6:57 mins reading time)

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