Rating the Packers vs. Saints: Offense, defense share credit Posted: Oct. 10, 2005

Green Bay - Just because the didn't come to play should not detract one iota from the Green Bay Packers' 52-3 victory Sunday at Lambeau Field. On offense, the Packers managed the game and made big plays. On defense, they delivered smashing hits and took the ball away five times. The Saints, probably a more talented team, were overwhelmed physically and emotionally. Here is a rating of the Packers against the Saints, with their 1 to 5 football totals in parentheses:

Receivers (4½) With CB Fakhir Brown and FS Jay Bellamy out with injuries, replacements Jason Craft and Josh Bullocks were overmatched. Craft was beaten so badly by Ferguson on a go route from press coverage that he resorted to interference, but Ferguson still made the catch for 51 yards. Later, Craft and Bullocks were destroyed for a 26-yard when Donald Lee exploded off the line and ran an exquisite corner route. Ferguson's 25-yard touchdown came despite tight coverage by Bullocks. There was no reason for the Packers to challenge Mike McKenzie because Donald Driver could get open on the other side just about any time that he chose. Driver has fast, sure hands, really knows what he's doing and willingly accepts the dirty work inside. He's at the peak of his game. Three running plays resulted in a net of 1 yard because of David Martin's erratic blocking. He wasn't securing the back side.

Offensive Line (4½) Saints coordinator Rick Venturi blitzed on just 10.3% of drop-backs, relying as usual on his talented front four for pressure. Playing on a bad arch, Mark Tauscher prevented a very good player, Charles Grant, from getting near Brett Favre. A limping Chad Clifton sucked it up and went 3½ quarters on a bad ankle. Will Smith had three pressures against Clifton but no sacks. Will Whitticker went belly-to- belly with Johnathan Sullivan and pancaked him at least twice. But Whitticker also yielded a bad early knockdown to Brian Young, twice was bull-rushed back into Favre for what became batted balls and missed MLB Courtney Watson on a red-zone shovel pass. Adrian Klemm had a strong day in protection and was more effective both on screens and pulling on the strong-side counter. Scott Wells had one or two rough plays but otherwise played well.

Quarterbacks (5) The bootleg game, mostly null and void in the first month, returned mainly because the run game was back in form. Favre is so much better when he has the chance to get out and move left or right. He can't do that if the defensive ends aren't staying home to honor the run. In the Packers' second possession, five of the 12 snaps came out of shotgun. That helped the banged-up line protect more easily and gave Favre another avenue to attack the Saints' leaky secondary. His faking was better than usual, too. With the Saints on their heels, Favre tore them apart. Just about everything he threw was right on the money. To set up the first TD, Favre looked as if he were 25, not 35, eluding onrushing Darren Howard in the pocket and weaving past other defenders for a 9-yard run. Then he threw an 11-yard dart to Tony Fisher, who had only a step on Watson. The Saints’ defensive backs couldn’t stop talking about Favre’s velocity and pinpoint accuracy. Taking over to start the fourth quarter, Aaron Rodgers showed some chutzpah by barking at Whitticker when he jumped offside on his first play.

Running Backs (4) Najeh Davenport was having a solid game before suffering a season-ending ankle injury on his 20th play from scrimmage. After fumbling his first attempt on the handoff from Favre, he settled down and found a rhythm that had been absent in the first month. Davenport flashed his old power and speed. He didn't show the ability to plant and make sharp cuts. He broke a by S Dwight Smith 6 yards downfield and turned it into a 24-yard gain. Tony Fisher relieved Davenport and also had his best game. Fisher beat Watson on the aforementioned stop-and-go route, read his blocks nicely on a screen and consistently gave second effort. For the third game in a row, Vonta Leach had more snaps than William Henderson at fullback. The Packers ran on 19 of Leach’s 22 plays.

Defensive Line (4½) Grady Jackson still has hard feelings over his November 2003 release by the Saints and had a dominating type of day. He was just too strong and too motivated for C LeCharles Bentley and RG Jermane Mayberry. Cullen Jenkins had another tackle for loss, his fourth in five games, and showed terrific long pursuit on a screen pass. He also had three pressures. By using his spin move less, it's more effective when Jenkins does employ it. For a change, the group got off blocks and made plays instead of just occupying blockers. Aaron Kampman, who played every snap until 11 minutes were left, had two hurries and a knockdown. His effort is remarkable. One of Corey Williams' sacks was mostly the result of coverage but the other took a big bull rush against Mayberry. In only 21 snaps, Kenny Peterson beat LG Kendyl Jacox for a sack and hurry and bull-rushed LT Wayne Gandy into a deflection. He was coming hard off the ball. Although the Saints double-teamed Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila on just 30% of passes, he basically was controlled by Gandy.

Linebackers (4½) 's 95-yard return came long after the outcome had been decide but still was an amazing play. Not many middle linebackers could do something like that. He showed instincts, hands and a running back-like vision in setting up his blockers. Roy Manning debuted as the starter on the strong side but Paris Lenon also played a few series. Lenon trashed Mayberry to blow up a screen and came through with another impressive pass breakup. Despite his marginal speed, Lenon seems to make plays every week in coverage. Robert Thomas attacked the lead blocks of Mike Karney, a hard-nosed fullback.

Secondary (4½) Al Harris dominated Donte' Stallworth from start to finish. The two underscored his guile and savvy. First, he helped turn the game around by outsmarting Aaron Brooks in the flat for a 22-yard interception return for a TD. Then he refused to bite on a third-and-1 double move by Stallworth and snatched the pick 43 yards downfield. A lot of other cornerbacks in that situation would have given up a 75-yard TD. Nick Collins wasn't sucked in, either, and was right there if Harris needed help. Collins also forced TE Ernie Conwell to on a textbook tackle, made a superb force on a screen and showed how much faster he is than Az-Zahir Hakim by chasing him down from behind. The other safety, Mark Roman, had two enormous hits: a pass breakup against Conwell early and a crushing faceup knockdown on Todd Bouman late. Ahmad Carroll did give up a 21-yard completion to Hakim but nickel back Joey Thomas couldn't cover him at all. Hakim beat him three times from the slot for 72 yards and dropped three others against Thomas that would have added another 50 yards or more.

Kickers (3) B.J. Sander's six punts had averages of 37.8 yards (gross), 34.5 (net) and 4.12 seconds (hang time). Ryan Longwell had fine distance (68.3) on eight kickoffs but below average hang time (3.78).

Special Teams (3) The Packers went with WR Jamal Jones and RB ReShard Lee to return kickoffs. Jones mishandled the opening boot and returned another for 25. Lee was physical blocking and in coverage. The Saints' poor return game didn't get on track.

Overall (4.5)

From the Oct. 11, 2005, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel