PS #3: Colts/Packers postgame thread

[Captain Erv]

Given that the 4th preseason game is just a walkthrough for the # 1's, I think this is a good pre-regular season thread to have.

What did we like? What are we concerned about? Who's making the team? Who isn't making the team?

[MickeyDavis]

TT/MM have some tough calls to make on the roster that's for sure.

[jimmybones]

Zombo made the team and Shields had to have clinched if he didn't already. Same with Quarless. Harrell showed some upside. Burnett looked good, that play on the deep ball in the first half is the exact reason I like him. Bigby does not make that play. I want two ballhawks.

[Turk Nowitzki]

WHAT I LIKED
-Morgan Burnett making some good plays on the ball against a top tier QB
-Jermichael Finley continuing to be a machine
-The way the defense responded after that rough 1st quarter
-No significant injuries
-The good play of all three QB's
-All of our units playing harder the Colts imo.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
-Brandon Jackson's fumble in the red zone
-The relative mediocrity of our punting situation for the 257th season in a row
-The slow start by the #1 defense, it wasn't fun watching them score in 30 seconds
-Rushing only 3 to 4 players on obvious passing downs, we immediately started playing better when we brought pressure. Creating a pass rush is so damn important.
-How difficult the guys are making it to go through cutdowns. Inevitably someone I like won't be making the team.

[Captain Erv]

Bedard had us only carrying two running backs on the active roster with Kuhn filling in at the third spot. I thought that was interesting.

[ReasonablySober]

TT/MM has some tough calls to make on the roster that's for sure.

Yup.

I largely agree with Bedard's latest version.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/101604048.html

I think I'd cut Korey Hall and keep Johnson. I don't think he could be stashed. I also think I'd cut Obi and hope he stays on the PS and try to keep Porter. I'd love to find a way and keep Harrell, but it's not a huge issue.

[ReasonablySober]

Bedard says Porter has a knee sprain. If that's the case I'm cutting him because he's an easy stash on the PS.

[RiotPunch]

Loved what I saw from Morgan Burnett tonight. Collins started shaky, but really picked up his game after that. If we can keep those 2 healthy, they can be very good this year. Mike Neal looked great, as did our pressure overall. Good to see. Just need consistency there, them lighting us up like we are a JV squad defense is painful to sit through.

Zombo and Shields are in. I would love to keep Harrell as well, he has got some talent to build on. Quarless looked good tonight too, he will not get cut.

Our offense may be the best in the entire league. Rodgers has taken the next step towards eliteness, it helps a bunch that Jermichael is a superstar all of a sudden.

With the punting situation, it does suck. I change opinions on who I prefer from game to game. I would say that I like Bryan most of the time, but Masthay looked better tonight.

[WeekapaugGroove]

TE is going to be a tough cut I'm not sure crabree or quareles makes it through waivers. I like the idea of kuhn being the 3rd rb with one or two rbs on the ps. I think johnson makes the team they need that sledge hammer blocker on shot yardage.

[chuckleslove]

I liked seeing Charlie Bell doing someone in the Colt's organization's job:

http://tweetphoto.com/41584551

[BigSmooth_31]

I liked seeing Charlie Bell doing someone in the Colt's organization's job:

http://tweetphoto.com/41584551

I see that Favre jersey right there...

[chuckleslove]

I liked seeing Charlie Bell doing someone in the Colt's organization's job:

http://tweetphoto.com/41584551

I see that Favre jersey right there...

That was jakecronus' jersey, he was also wearing a Favre Vikings jersey during the game. I do not own and never have owned a Favre jersey. The only Packers jersey I've ever owned was Reggie White

[BigSmooth_31]

I liked seeing Charlie Bell doing someone in the Colt's organization's job:

http://tweetphoto.com/41584551

I see that Favre jersey right there...

That was jakecronus' jersey, he was also wearing a Favre Vikings jersey during the game. I do not own and never have owned a Favre jersey. The only Packers jersey I've ever owned was Reggie White

I owned a favre jersey like 5 years before he decided to retire the first time... I dont even know where that thing is anymore.

[Ill-yasova]

I've only had one Pack jersey in my life. Clay Mathews. Might have to make Finley the second.

[skones]

The only jersey I own is Ahman Green. I LOVE Ahman Green

[Ayt]

The only jersey I own is Ahman Green. I LOVE Ahman Green

Why don't you marry him, and let him domestically abuse you?

[skones]

The only jersey I own is Ahman Green. I LOVE Ahman Green

Why don't you marry him, and let him domestically abuse you?

Maybe I will. What's it to you?

[Ayt]

Nothing really. I just thought it was funny.

With what you stated, I thought of the lame "well why don't you marry him?" joke, but then I remembered Ahman had domestic dispute issues and decided to post a joke I normally wouldn't bother to post without the added twist.

Actually, FWIW, Ahman is one of my all time favorite players, too. The guy was a beast as a runner and was an outstanding receiving threat. If we had a prime Ahman on our current team, we'd probably set records for points scored.

[MickeyDavis]

Injuries:

CB Brandon Underwood (shoulder), LB Desmond Bishop (hamstring), DE Jarius Wynn (concussion), RB Quinn Porter (knee sprain) did not return.
LB Cyril Obiozor (quad bruise) returned.

Notes from coach Mike McCarthy

He said Underwood's injury didn't affect the rotation at nickel, where Underwood played the first two series. Said they wanted to look at Underwood, Pat Lee and Sam Shields. There was no mention of Jarrett Bush.

On how he feels about his defense: "We haven’t played the game with everybody on the field yet so the continuity is probably not where we’d like it to be right now. And that’s something that we’re probably going to have to establish in our practice structure leading up to the Philadelphia game. The injuries have kind of kept us from getting the continuity that you would like. It’s a challenge that you face at some point almost every season so I think that’s where we stand defensively right now."

On the offense: "I thought the offense was productive, but the contrast of our identity as a football team is taking the football away, which I felt we did a very good job of tonight. But we didn’t do a very good job of taking care of the ball. We had the ball on the ground too many times, so we need to eliminate that from our play. And it’s kind of gone on a little too much, and I’m talking about in the practices and so far in the preseason. We train it every day and we need to get rid of that. So that’s the only thing I was really disappointed in offensively."

Said Ryan Grant didn't return after the fumble just because of reps.

"Don't know that yet" whether LB Clay Matthews will play in the final exhibition game.

On WR/PR Jason Chery: "I mean Chery, how could you not be excited about that young man? He gets an opportunity and we’ll definitely give him some more opportunities, I can promise you that, as we move forward into this next week."

McCarthy said A.J. Hawk didn't play until the second half simply because of the rotation.

On whether Daryn Colledge has won the LG job now that Bryan Bulaga didn't play: "That’s a discussion we’ll have tomorrow as a staff. But availability is obviously the most important aspect of your job responsibility and Daryn Colledge has done an excellent job of that throughout his career here. And I think Daryn is playing good football. I’ve liked what I’ve seen so far from Daryn in the preseason."

PACKERS PLAYERS

WR Donald Driver on QB Aaron Rodgers: "“I think he keeps amazing himself. One thing about this guy is year-in and year-out, he proves everyone wrong. People think he’s not the best, he is the best, and he’s proving it. It puts a smile on my face because I’ve seen the man grow from a little kid to a grown man. To do what he’s done, going into his third year as the starting quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, it’s a true fact of what he can do.”

TE Jermichael Finley, on whether he feels unstoppable: "“Not to be conceited, but I feel like that, for sure. I just go out there with my swagger and get it working.”

CB Sam Shields on his INT: "“The route that they ran, they ran it three times in a row. The first time they threw it, it got batted, so he ran it again, and I got my head around me, and the ball was right there.

Rodgers on the running game: "“I think we need to do a little better job of just running the football. The passing game has been really good for us, but we’re not running the ball as well as we’ve wanted to with our first unit. But you’ve got to go with what’s working."

COLTS COACH JIM CALDWELL

“I always think of the old adage that you are never as bad as you think you are when you lose,
and never as good as you think you are when you win. Joseph Addai ran the ball pretty well, he had a couple of real nice runs. Reggie [Wayne] had a pretty good night in terms of catching the ball and so did Pierre [Garcon], both guys had some big plays. There were some positive things in there, but certainly we just were not as sharp as we would like to be. We were out of sync and had just too many penalties; we typically don’t have the number of penalties that we had.”

On Rodgers: “Obviously, I think he played well. He is a fine quarterback and he threw the ball well. He gets the ball out pretty quickly and he is mobile, he is a good quarterback. When you are playing him you better be capable of not only chasing him out of the pocket, but also getting to him in other ways.”

[Newz]

I laughed when they called Rodgers 'The Boogieman' on SportsCenter after the game because everyone is afraid to play against him.

I thought Shields, Burnett and especially Zombo showed some signs of becoming guys who could be legit NFL players as soon as this season. They were all very encouraging. I laughed this morning when I re-read the game thread and people were freaking out about the defense. Some of you do realize it is the preseason, right? If all things in the preseason held true, we would have won every game last year by about 5 TDs.

Our offense is obviously amazing. Let's hope Finley can be this ridiculous when the real games begin. Aaron Rodgers has a chance for a record breaking year, IMO.