Preseason Game 2: Green Bay at Seattle - 9:00 NFL Network

[chuckleslove]

I'll be more concerned about the defense when we are actually blitzing and missing less than half the starters. Our offense is going to be domination though.

[Ryan5UW]

From the little I've seen this pre season, I kind of want to over pay for Rodgers and Finley in my 3 upcoming fantasy drafts. Those two are going to be so much fun to watch this year.

Yeah, I'm starting to lean that way too. I've been doing some mocks, and Finley seems to be going higher than I'd like to take a TE, but his production could (emphasize could) put him up there with some of the better WRs this year. I know it's easy to get over-hyped by the preseason, but with Rodgers being the stud he is and Finley being such a beast, it might be worth it.

[crkone]

From what I saw was the D rushing 4 85%, 5 10%, and 6 or more 5% of the time and dropping everyone else into zone. Capers seemed intent on seeing if guys knew where to cover in zone. Lee and Underwood both give too much cushion and that resulted in a lot of completions on comebacks, which is fine since that is more something they will learn in time. The times we did blitz obviously, resulted in 2 interceptions and a rushed throw to no one. Remember we were missing 4 starting LBs and the DPOY.

[LUKE23]

We were missing every single one of our starting LB's for this game and our best defensive player overall (Woodson). Why anyone is making defensive conclusions based on last night is odd to me. And with that, we only sent more than 4 guys 15% of the downs.

All that said, I'm not going to say that we definitely will have a good pass rush this year. It could be a question mark. But we don't know yet. And we WILL stuff the run. Look at it this way: if we stop the run and have a stud offense, we need to be probably slightly above average in terms of rushing the passer to be a legit SB contender. We don't have to be the 2000 Ravens there.

[rilamann]

You guys should read up on the 1978 to 1983 Chargers. I think we are headed for a repeat there. One of the most entertaining teams in NFL history to watch. But ultimately they never made the Super Bowl because they weren't a fundamentally dominating defense but would get by on gimmicks.

On offense they would score too fast from the air and thus had issues imposing their will from the trenches with a running game when it was needed. But man they were a fun team to watch. Finley looks like Winslow, Driver as Joiner and Jennings as Jefferson. The only difference is A-Rod has more Steve Young mobility in him, but nonetheless is a precision passer like Fouts was.

I will give it these last two games to see if the defense and special teams can jell with healthy players.

If the Packers continue to play vanilla schemes with their 2nd and 3rd stringers when the regular season begins you might be making a good point here.

Until then,Charles Woodson & Clay Matthews want to have a talk with you.

[chuckleslove]

From the little I've seen this pre season, I kind of want to over pay for Rodgers and Finley in my 3 upcoming fantasy drafts. Those two are going to be so much fun to watch this year.

Yeah, I'm starting to lean that way too. I've been doing some mocks, and Finley seems to be going higher than I'd like to take a TE, but his production could (emphasize could) put him up there with some of the better WRs this year. I know it's easy to get over-hyped by the preseason, but with Rodgers being the stud he is and Finley being such a beast, it might be worth it.

I think Finley has the potential to put up numbers comparable to a #2 WR. I've only had one draft so far and TEs were going quick(Gates went 8th overall which is an extreme reach) so I grabbed him in the 3rd round which going into the draft I would have said was a reach but that was the way things were shaking down in that one.

The scary thing is that he is such a dangerous red zone threat that he could put up an unheard of amount of TDs for a TE this year. The record is 13 in a year by Vernon Davis and Gates I'd keep my eye on that.

[Ayt]

I'll be more concerned about the defense when we are actually blitzing and missing less than half the starters. Our offense is going to be domination though.

Same here. We were rushing 4 and sometimes even 3 basically the whole night and were missing a ton of starters. Plus, I think having a healthy Raji in there when we do blitz is going to be big because he has to be doubled or he'll just push his guy right back into the QBs face, something we didn't have last year. I think having him at NT in the base set will also lead to more pressures from that formation.

[LUKE23]

Speaking of Raji, what does everyone think so far in the preseason with him vs. the #1 offenses? Admittedly, I haven't watched close enough. Is he really getting great push? From everything I've read he's been solid but not spectacular. Given that I think Matthews is the only big time pass rush threat in our LB crew, I think the DL has to have a big year in terms of collapsing the pocket consistently.

[mnstinks]

Our passing offense might be dominant but I have major concerns about the running game.

[MickeyDavis]

Here is a good recap that someone posted on another site:

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Green Bay Packers

[color:red]Locker Room Video:[/color]

Aaron Rodgers (QB #12, 6m26s)
Matt Flynn (QB #10, 1m14s)
John Kuhn(FB #30, 59s)

Game Recap from Seahawks.com

[color:red]Game Recap[/color]

Game Review: Rodgers & Co. Stay Sharp, Productive
packers.com
By Mike Spofford
Sunday, August 22, 2010

Green Bay Packers

SEATTLE -- It’s hard to imagine quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers’ No. 1 offense playing any sharper halfway through this preseason. Rodgers and his first unit looked seemingly unstoppable for the second week in a row as they scored two touchdowns in two possessions, getting the Packers off to a fast start in what became a 27-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night at Qwest Field.


Green Bay Packers

Rodgers produced with both the quick strike and a long, methodical drive. He hit Greg Jennings on a 56-yard bomb on the Packers’ first offensive play, leading to a 1-yard touchdown toss to John Kuhn just four snaps later.


Green Bay Packers

Then he directed a 12-play, 76-yard drive that chewed up nearly seven minutes on the clock. His favorite target on the march was tight end Jermichael Finley, who caught three 12-yard passes, the last one a bullet over the middle on third down for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead as the first quarter concluded.


Green Bay Packers

“The line does great job, and it starts with those guys up front,” Rodgers said. “We were able to move the pocket a little bit, run the ball effectively when we have to, and keep the defense guessing. When they’re guessing, we’re going to strike.”


Green Bay Packers

Finley also had a key third-down conversion on the opening drive, snagging a 12-yard completion on third-and-8 from the Seattle 13. Finley, whom Rodgers credited with running more detailed routes in his third year in this offense, finished with four catches for 48 yards in his one quarter of action.


Green Bay Packers

Rodgers finished 8-of-11 for 116 yards with the two scores. That puts his two-game preseason totals at 20-of-24 for 275 yards with three TDs for a QB rating of 154.0. A perfect rating is 158.3.


Green Bay Packers

“That just means that the way I’m seeing the game is how I want it to be going into the season,” Rodgers said. “The checks I’m making at the line of scrimmage are the correct checks, I’m getting us in good situations, and accuracy wise I’m throwing the ball pretty well. But I think it really starts up front. When those guys give me time, we’re tough to stop.”


Green Bay Packers

For the second straight game, Rodgers wasn’t sacked, and wasn’t pressured much at all. Playing without Donald Driver, who was a healthy scratch, didn’t seem to matter much to the offense, which has now scored four touchdowns in a little more than two quarters of play this month.


Green Bay Packers

“That’s where we want to be going, the direction we want to be headed,” Jennings said. “Obviously we have a great quarterback and a lot of unique assets on this team that can get the job done. He has the unfortunate but yet fortunate duty of distributing that ball to a lot of talented guys, and he’s doing a phenomenal job with it.


Green Bay Packers

“He definitely looks ready to roll.”


Green Bay Packers


Meanwhile the first-string defense isn’t quite there yet but it got off to a better start in this game than last week’s, forcing a three-and-out on the opening possession.


Green Bay Packers

But Seattle scored touchdowns on its next two drives, the first one courtesy of a short field when Josh Wilson ran back a kickoff 54 yards to the Green Bay 49-yard line. Matt Hasselbeck’s 11-yard TD pass to Deion Branch tied the game at 7.


Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks then tied it at 14 as well with an 80-yard drive, this one helped by two defensive penalties against a cornerback group minus Charles Woodson (another healthy scratch). A pass interference on Tramon Williams counted for 14 yards and a third-down illegal contact foul on Pat Lee gave Seattle a first down. Leon Washington’s 11-yard TD run off the left side capped the drive.


Green Bay Packers

“Defensively, we had a lot of great flashes out there,” cornerback Brandon Underwood said. “But the big word I’m going to use tonight is consistency.”


Seattle Seahawks

Underwood was speaking about ups and downs for both himself and the unit as a whole, which did keep the Seahawks off the board on their final two possessions of the first half. Like last week, the defense played its base, nickel and dime packages without a lot of exotic looks, but it still doesn’t like getting scored upon.


Green Bay Packers

“We know we can do it; it’s just a matter of getting everything cleaned up,” defensive end Cullen Jenkins said. “We’re killing ourselves out there with some of the mistakes we’re making. We know that’s not like us, that’s not how we play, and we’ve got to get it corrected.”


Green Bay Packers

From there the game remained a close, back-and-forth affair the rest of the way. Backup quarterback Matt Flynn directed a field-goal drive against Seattle’s No. 1 defense to give the Packers a 17-14 lead at halftime.


Seattle Seahawks

Seattle then scored 10 straight points in the second half to go up 24-17, as quarterback Charlie Whitehurst drove the Seahawks 60 yards for a TD and 29 yards for a field goal following a sack/fumble of Flynn. That was the Packers’ second turnover in their first three possessions of the second half, with Flynn also throwing an interception on a deflected pass. In addition, Flynn had to deal with starting two drives backed up to his own 1-yard line, so nothing came easy.


Seattle Seahawks

“I felt we moved the ball up and down the field a little bit,” Flynn said. “But we just couldn’t get many points on the board.”


Green Bay Packers

Late turnovers for the defense helped the Packers rally to win. Linebacker Spencer Havner’s interception inside the Green Bay 10-yard line turned away a golden opportunity for the Seahawks, who had recovered a fumbled kickoff by Sam Shields. Havner’s big play led to a 51-yard field goal by Mason Crosby that was good with plenty of distance to spare, cutting the deficit to 24-20 midway through the fourth quarter.


Green Bay Packers

No. 3 quarterback Graham Harrell then led the game-winning drive on the Packers’ next possession. He hit rookie receiver Chastin West for 23 yards before running back Brandon Jackson, filling in for rookie Quinn Porter after Porter left with an ankle injury, broke off consecutive runs of 26 and 12 yards to get the ball in the end zone with 3:34 left.


Green Bay Packers

Finally, Shields redeemed himself by intercepting Whitehurst on Seattle’s final drive when a pass deflected off tight end Anthony McCoy. That was the Packers’ fourth interception through two preseason games, which they’ve coincidentally split in the won-loss column by identical 27-24 scores.


Green Bay Packers

“It’s a good win,” Head Coach Mike McCarthy said. “Anytime you win a football game, it’s a positive for your football team, but we’ll continue to work on the fundamental aspects of our blueprint for success: taking care of the football – we need to do a better job with that, even though we did a good job of taking it away – and making sure we win the field-position battle.”

[color:red]MM Presser Transcript/Video[/color]
Mike McCarthy Post-Game Press Conf. Transcript - Aug. 21
packers.com

Video

Green Bay Packers

(General thoughts on the game?)
I thought there was a lot of positive film that we’ll have the opportunity to learn from. I thought the start of the offense was what we’re looking for. Defensively, we were able to play a number of new guys, particularly in the first half, and we had some production there. Special teams, we wanted to play our whole roster throughout the depth charts of each particular area, and we accomplished that, so we’ll have some positive things to learn from, and we’ll have some things we need to correct. It’s a good win. Anytime you win a football game, it’s a positive for your football team, but we’ll continue to work on the fundamental aspects of our blueprint for success: taking care of the football – we need to do a better job with that, even though we did a good job of taking it away – and making sure we win the field-position battle.



Green Bay Packers

(How did you feel about the team responding to the deficit and working its way back in the second half?)
I thought our guys just kept battling. Everybody had an opportunity to play; I thought Matt Flynn did a good job, I thought Graham [Harrell] did a good job those last two drives to get us in the end zone, and our defense was getting the ball back so we were very pleased with the team’s effort tonight.


Green Bay Packers

(How do you think Aaron Rodgers has played so far through these two preseason games?)
I think he has been excellent. He has been sharp, and he’s doing all of the little things that are necessary to continue to spread the ball around and keep our offense in good looks, he’s doing an excellent job.

(Did you know going into the game how much you wanted Rodgers to play?)
We have a plan, we have a plan for our first offense and how many reps we want to see for them and he’s part of that plan. They were scheduled to play 20 snaps tonight, but I was pleased with the production they were able to accomplish in 18 snaps so they got a two-snap break.


Green Bay Packers

(What happened that led to Derrick Martin’s ejection from the game?)
Frankly, I haven’t seen it. I haven’t seen the film, so until I see the film I am not going to be critical of Derrick. I was upset about some things at halftime that had gone on, and I want to see the film. The communication was that he punched a player on the Seahawks, so that’s why he was ejected from the game.


Green Bay Packers

(What did you tell the team after the game?)
’Hurry up, drink some water and let’s get on the plane.’ We have a long ride home, and we have a number of things that we will correct as a football team on Monday. We have a short week next week – we play on Thursday – so I’m more concerned with how we bounce back from this game out here on the West Coast. We’ll take Monday morning and we will spend that on the corrections from Seattle.


Green Bay Packers

(What did you get out of seeing so many different players in the starting lineup on defense tonight?)
We talk about this all the time: preseason games are much different than regular-season games because there is so much more information you’re trying to gather. This will give us more information on any individuals that had an opportunity to play earlier than they probably would have if the other players were here. Some of the things that we did, schematically, are we improving? Because Dom Capers and the defensive staff haven’t changed the game plan or the ready-list since Family Night, so we’ll look at all of those things.


Green Bay Packers

(What did you see from your special teams units tonight?)
[I got] lot of information; a lot of positives, some negatives. We played everybody on kickoff coverage again this week like we did last week, so I’m looking for some individuals to probably separate themselves from others because we have two games of information in that particular area. I thought the punt [unit] was solid. We’ve got to handle the football, ball security is a premium not only for our offense and we didn’t do that, so we’ll get it corrected and move on to Indianapolis.

(How did you think Will Blackmon played in his return to live action?)
It’s good to have him back out there, but I want to evaluate the film. It’s just like anything, whether you’re running the ball or you’re returning the ball, there are always two aspects to it. With the run-blocking unit, there’s a decision and a reason the runner did something, and it’s no different in the return game.


Green Bay Packers

(Do you worry about the risk to key players in your backfield when they’re exposed to extended playing time because of other injuries further down the depth chart?)
You’d rather not [have them playing], but Brandon [Jackson] jumped right up and in there and I thought John [Kuhn]and Brandon did an excellent job in that fourth quarter when Porter went down with an ankle. It’s preseason football, unfortunately that happens sometimes.


Green Bay Packers

(Aside from Porter, were there any other injuries?)
Brett Swain had the wind knocked out of him, but he returned, so those were the two injuries.


Green Bay Packers

(What led to your decision to pull the starters on offense so quickly?)
The offense was scheduled to play 20 reps, but I was pleased with the production after 18 reps, so I think they’ve put together two good first quarters and they were very productive.

Game Notes: Depleted LB Corps Makes Key Plays
packers.com
By Mike Spofford

[QUOTE]

Green Bay Packers

Earlier in the game it was Zombo, a non-drafted rookie free agent from Central Michigan, continuing his bid to make the team.

In the third quarter, Zombo sacked Whitehurst for a 3-yard loss, and then a few snaps later, he smartly read a pass in the flat to fullback Owen Schmitt, got outside quickly toward the boundary and dropped Schmitt after a gain of just 1 yard.

“I just saw the ball come out, and it was one of those plays you see growing up when someone lights a guy up on the edge,” said Zombo, still visibly excited after the game.

As for his chances of making the final roster, Zombo just hopes to keep getting noticed. He had two sacks on back-to-back plays this past week in practice, and he has taken advantage of all the extra reps with so many linebackers injured. He ended up leading the team in tackles Saturday with five (four solo), and his sack was the only one the defense recorded in the game.

“I’m just giving it everything I have, and that’s all I can really ask for,” he said.

(snip)


Green Bay Packers

A former feature back in college at Shippensburg, Kuhn never complains if the coaches want to put the ball in his hands. He also caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to cap the Packers’ first drive of the game, giving him two TDs already this preseason.

“It’s especially fun for me,” Kuhn said. “Fullbacks, we just sit in there and pound all day. So to be able to carry the ball a little bit, it’s a lot of fun.”

It’s fun for his teammates to watch, too.

[color:red]“All he does is score touchdowns,” Rodgers joked. “He’s a core guy to our team. You ask anybody, he’s one of the guys who makes our team go. He doesn’t get a lot of credit all the time, he’s a great lead blocker, he catches the ball out of the backfield really well, he obviously runs the ball really well when he’s a single back, as he did at Shippensburg, and he’s a core special teams player as well.

“He’s a guy you love to have on your team, he does the dirty work and it’s nice to see him playing well.”[/color]