Rating the Packers Vs
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Rating the Packers vs. Lions Just a superlative performance Posted: Sept. 25, 2006 Green Bay - The first victory for Brett Favre and Mike Holmgren came against Cincinnati. The Bengals happened to be 2-0 at the time, but the crushing 24-23 defeat in September 1992 at Lambeau Field started something of a trend. They wouldn't have a winning season until '05. Just like Favre-Holmgren were 0-2 in Year 1, so was the Favre-McCarthy partnership. The Detroit Lions are this decade's version of the Bungles, but you've got to start somewhere. Here is a rating of the Packers in a 31-24 triumph at Ford Field, with their 1 to 5 football totals in parentheses: RECEIVERS (4) Greg Jennings had just three catches but looked special on each one. Instincts and exceptional playing speed allowed him to turn a 6-yard possession pass into a 75-yard TD. Then he broke a total of three tackles on his other two, working effortlessly in traffic and snaring the ball away from his body with quick, sure hands. He is not a body catcher, ala Antonio Freeman. Plus, he's stronger than he looks. Donald Driver dropped an easy pass on the first series that led to a punt and came up with just three of the nine thrown to him. Koren Robinson might have been a tad tentative on a slant but flashed his big-play skill and resourcefulness by converting a broken route into 24 yards. Donald Lee ran free and easy downfield, Bubba Franks regained his equilibrium, and David Martin didn't block very well. OFFENSIVE LINE (4) It's an extremely rare occurrence when Brett Favre isn't knocked down even one time but that was the case Sunday. For the first time in two months, he didn't have to worry about pass rushers at his feet. The coaches played it smart. The only seven-step drop came late on the 32-yarder to Lee. Almost without fail, there were two blockers on Shaun Rogers on every pass. In 27 snaps against Tony Moll and 24 against Daryn Colledge, Rogers wasn't much of a factor. He manhandled each rookie once for a pressure, but otherwise they stood up to him . with a lot of help. Moll was better than Colledge as a drive blocker. He's bigger and plays stronger. But Colledge wasn't bad, either. The plan was to keep cutting Rogers, and the unit did it 13 times: Mark Tauscher led with seven, followed by Moll and Colledge with two and Chad Clifton with one. In the pass game, Tauscher and Clifton negated their worthy opponents, Cory Redding and James Hall. Clifton was at least partially responsible for four "bad" runs, including three against Hall. Scott Wells wasn't perfect. Still, without his cool head ordering protections at the line, the group would be in big trouble. QUARTERBACKS (4 ½ ) Favre took full advantage of missing starters Kenoy Kennedy and Fernando Bryant in the secondary and the fact Detroit was the third straight opponent using a Cover 2 scheme. Even when their four-man rushes failed, coordinator Donnie Henderson and coach Rod Marinelli blitzed on merely 18% of passes. Given extraordinary protection, Favre attacked a suspect secondary and a linebacker corps populated by mistake-prone Ernie Sims and Paris Lenon. He completed six check-downs and three screens. He used the tight end, bootlegs and audibles. On the only seven-step drop, Favre dropped the ball behind Sims to Lee for 32 when the rookie started thinking checkdown. Nursing a 17-14 lead in the third quarter, Favre ad-libbed on three completions for 42 yards and a TD. He still can move. He still has a whip for an arm. And judging by the way he was leaping about after scores, the regular season does a lot more than just hold his interest. So what if all his buddies are long gone. The man lives to compete. RUNNING BACKS (1 ½ ) Ahman Green caught all eight of the passes thrown his way after dropping a pair last week. He took some shots from the hard-nosed Sims and kept going. His body lean and leg drive were good. He broke a few tackles. He powered right over MLB Boss Bailey on the goal line. And he seemed to get stronger as the game went on. On the other hand, he's not as special as Detroit's Kevin Jones, who isn't high on the list of the league's great backs. And he had an inexcusable fumble in the final minute, not to mention what would have been another lost fumble if officials hadn't ruled his knee down. Green played 47 snaps on a tender hamstring, compared to 11 for Noah Herron and four for Vernand Morency. Herron might be quicker than Green and showed nice weave and burst on a shovel pass but then lost a hideous fumble. And Morency missed the running lane on one of his three rushes. DEFENSIVE LINE (2 ½ ) Probably the best player on defense was Corey Williams. He blew by C Dominic Raiola for one sack, kept working until he shouldered past G Damien Woody for another, registered a pressure and was solid both at the point and flattening down the line against the run, all in 32 snaps. As a whole, the unit was gashed consistently on the ground. Sometimes Cullen Jenkins is too quick to take a side, creating openings. Despite playing 46 snaps, he didn't have a pressure. The group just kind of stalled at the line and let Jon Kitna pick the secondary apart even though the opposition included backup LG Rick DeMulling and third-string RT Jonathan Scott. But when the Lions had to pass late, the pass rush came alive. Facing 46% double-teaming on passes, Aaron Kampman had one knockdown and 3 1/2 pressures as Scott wore down at the end. The Lions helped LT Jeff Backus on 33% of passes against Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, and on 39 rushes "KGB" had just two pressures. LINEBACKERS (2) Nick Barnett and A.J. Hawk each missed two tackles and Brady Poppinga missed one. Punishing hits were few and far between. And both Barnett and Poppinga had problems in coverage. On four screen passes for 44 yards, Barnett was too slow getting out and then couldn't get off Raiola in the open field. Jones also ran by him on a 9-yard rush and 5-yard TD run. The Packers can only hope Poppinga is learning by trial and error. You've got to love his intensity but for the third week in a row he was exposed by tight ends. When TE Dan Campbell stayed in to double-team "KGB," Hawk charged forward with his top speed and finished the sack by rag-dolling Kitna with his strong hands. Hawk just never dominates at the point. SECONDARY (1 ½ ) It might have been Nick Collins' finest game if not for one enormous mistake. Everybody is fooled on naked pitches, but Collins sure wasn't. His third-and-1 tackle for loss belongs on a coaching tape for how to play safety. He also made terrific deflections on the boundary and in the middle down the stretch. Marquand Manuel and Hawk didn't help Collins on the 42-yard TD bomb to Roy Williams but all he had to do was just stay deep. Twice Al Harris went for strips and missed the tackle. The first guy in must secure the tackle. He had two holding penalties and gave up completions of 14, 13 and 20 to Williams in a forgettable performance. Charles Woodson showed good timing on two breakups but had problems keeping up with crafty Mike Furrey. And it was Ahmad Carroll's deflection on the sideline that gave Manuel the first interception and first TD of his career. Manuel showed no body control as he flailed at Shawn Bryson on his 37-yard TD. KICKERS (4) Dave Rayner's six kickoffs averaged 69.2 yards and 4.05 seconds of hang time. Jon Ryan's five punts averaged 49.6 (gross), 40.4 (net) and 4.13. SPECIAL TEAMS (4 ½ ) Twenty-three of Koren Robinson's 84 yards on three kickoff returns came after contact. Lane discipline, desire and athleticism were evident in the exceptional containment of Eddie Drummond. Woodson keeps making good decisions on punts and looks like a threat to break one. From the Sept. 25, 2006, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel .