These posts are somewhat masturbatory in nature, in that I do them to organize my own thoughts as much as for anyone else's benefit. But since some people seem to enjoy reading them, I suppose I'll keep sharing them.
Preseason has begun (well, a scrimmage today, and the first preseason game happens in Japan in a couple of hours). And like the dutiful wannabe scout, I am TiVo-ing them and watching them (TiVo's ability to rewind and slow-mo makes this SO much easier than before!).
BUFFALO BILLS v. GREEN BAY PACKERS SCRIMMAGE: 8/5
1ST TEAMERS
Bills 1st team offensive line looked terrible against the run. Packers were in the backfield constantly. Poor communication between linemen against the blitz - when Green Bay overloaded one half of the line with a blitz, protection failed to slide over to pick up the extra man. The tailback (ReShard Lee) was also in to protect, or at least check release, and let the linebacker blow right by him - though he at least flailed in the blitzer's general direction.
Willis McGahee made plays by himself, no help from the O-line. Every run was through traffic. McGahee slipped through a crowd to break a touchdown. Looks to be in fine form already. Got stuffed here and there, but never by one guy - always a swarm. At the goal line, the Pack blew up the Bills O-line left and right, and McGahee had nowhere to go, even as he tried to pull something out of his ass to make a play. Probably a frustrating day for Willis, no fault of his.
London Fletcher played the role of the Cover 2 MLB well, dropping deep and cutting off a Robert Ferguson post route.
JP Losman took extra reps, and needed them. Not a lot of velocity on JP Losman's throws. Lots of soft throws, short throws. Even ones that were on target just took an hour and a half to get to the receiver, leaving little chance for YAC. On other throws, the Pack defenders jumped on balls and nearly picked them off. Made a dumb mistake in the shotgun of turning and yelling at a player, and missing the snap. Did show the ability to roll out and run, but showed absolutely nothing in the passing game. Could have run in a touchdown on a rollout (no one between him and the endzone) but overthrew a big target at the back of the endzone instead.
Green Bay secondary was very passive and allowed 3rd down conversions. Even with Losman's weak throws on the short-and-medium routes, the Packers couldn't get to the ball in time to make a play on the throw often enough (though they did get on some). Ahmad Carroll got away with some illegal downfield contact, but the refs let it go for the scrimmage. Carroll also got a face-full of McGahee straight-arm later.
Favre was off. The pass velocity's still there, but many throws went high and a number of passes could've been picked. Much of that had to do with the O-line though. Later in practice, though, he played the goal-line offense and hit everything.
Javon Walker had very few touches. He was flagged for offensive pass interference on a jump ball in the endzone - and still didn't come down with the ball.
TE Ben Steele, filling in for holdout Bubba Franks, dropped a high pass that he should've been able to pull in. Made up for it later with a diving corner fade catch for a TD on goal-line offense. Caught another TD pass on a play-action pass where he came across the formation on a square-in. Steele is a big target that the Packers need to be productive, as Franks may or may not be on the team.
FB William Henderson played a TE/H-Back position on goal-line offense and was able to catch the ball - really the only Packer that looked sure-handed.
The Pack's new look offensive line had a bad 1st outing. Grey Ruegamer and Atlas Herrion played with the 1st team line at the OG positions and were outmatched. C Mike Flanagan blew a protection where the MLB dropped down to blitz from the NT spot. Flanagan got a hand on the MLB and then proceeded to help double-team a DT, letting the MLB get to Favre before Favre could even finish a 3-step drop. Neither Matt O'Dwyer nor Adrian Klemm were seen on the field - O'Dwyer was interviewed on the sidelines, in jersey but no pads. Didn't see Klemm. If the performance of the two fill-in guards is any indication, the Pack need those two veteran guards to get back in the lineup as soon as possible.
2ND & 3RD TEAMERS
Pack #2 RB Najeh Davenport ran with quickness. Bills CB Terrance McGee, however, made a great stand-up tackle of Davenport in a heads-up open field hit. Davenport should steamroll him.
The second team Packers O-line looked as sh*tty as the first. Actually, more so. On one play-action pass, Rodgers was "sacked" before he could even finish the play-action dropback. Indeed, Rodgers was sacked 3 times in a series of about 10 plays, none of which Rodgers could have done anything about.
Aaron Rodgers threw the ball with good velocity at times, and was accurate all session. Held the ball very high, almost up to his ear at times (obviously, they're trying to coax his mechanics away from sidearm throwing). Looked like twice the quarterback that JP Losman did. Did mistakingly throw the ball at the feet of a lineman when trying to throw the ball away (he was out of the pocket, but the pass was illegal because it hit the lineman).
Lots of drops from the Packers 2nd team receivers, like Chatman and Bragg. Rodgers put the ball in each guy's hands though. Chatman just had alligator arms going over the middle. Chatman made up for it later with a TD on goal-line offense working in the slot with the 1st teamers.
#2 halfback ReShard Lee got nothing on the ground, but didn't have much opportunity to, thanks to a swarm of Packers. However, Shaud Williams was able to make something happen with a couple of runs. He showed speed that Lee didn't. Lee did punch in a goal-line TD.
Kelly Holcomb played QB with the Bills' 2nd team. Was right on the money with his first throw to bug reserve TE Ryan Neufeld, who took the ball for 29 yards, down to the 1 yard line. His next throw went to ReShard Lee over the middle for about 10 yards. His next was a deep corner on play-action to Drew Haddad for about 35 yards. He only got 3 throws in his time, but connected perfectly on each.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Packers kick coverage looked poor.
The young punter, B.J. Sander, blasted the hell out of the ball. On a kick meant to go high and land short (because of a short field), the ball hung in the air long enough for one to go make a sandwich. Who doesn't love a 6'4", 217 pound punter?
3 STARS (yes, I know this isn't hockey):
1. Willis McGahee (RB, Bills)
2. Aaron Rodgers (QB, Packers)
3. Kelly Holcomb (QB, Bills)
Honorable mentions: Bills LB London Fletcher, Pack LB Ray Thompson, and Pack TE Ben Steele
3 LOSERS:
1. JP Losman (QB, Bills)
2. The Packers interior O-line (Grey Ruegamer, Atlas Herrion, Mike Flanagan)
3. The entire Bills O-line
Dishonorable mentions: The rest of the Packers O-line, most Packers receivers excluding Donald Driver, and Pack DB Ahmad Carroll
EDITED to make it a bit shorter - I may have to make things a bit more brief next time, eh?
Very nice, I never saw the game so it's cool to get a wrap-up! Sad to hear two teams who really NEED good O-lines (then again, who doesn't?) may not get them this year.
Thanks Legion!
My wife likes the Bills so I just told her the new Qb was a scrub and she called me a scrub back!
Never mess with a women's football team......
Just another post of appreciation and encouragement. Keep 'em coming, Legion. Thanks.
Yeah. Figured that's how the Packers would look. Going to be a very, very, very tough year for me.
Excellent Work Legion. Keep em coming.
Keep them coming, Legion!
How much do these really early games matter in terms of figuring out who a good fantasy pick may be and considerations like those? Mainly just curious how serious we should take pre-season games when it comes to picking talent at the draft.
As usual, fantastic Legion. You're still a jerk, just to a lesser degree than yesterday
Grossman throws a pretty deep ball, but he lacked touch on some wide-open throws. He also has an attractive wife. I'd hit it.
That totally sucker punched me, very nice.
I watched the first half of the game and didn't notice 1/10th of what you did here Legion, the more I read your recaps from games I've seen the more "science" and interest I'm going to get out of the games I watch. Thanks!
Matt Schaub looked AWESOME. So sharp. I makes you wonder how well Atlanta would do with a real pocket passer.
I traded away Grossman for picks in my keeper league after he broke he leg last year. I think I am going to regret that decision.
I'm sort of a Bears fan of old...I currently pull for the Ravens & Bears. At any rate, I was a bit more enthusiastic about the Bears after last night's game. I agree, Legion, that Grossman looked reasonable, and I thought Jones showed some nice speed and reads.
For the D, I think the return of Mike Brown is super important. They did put a lot of pressure on last night, but I wonder how that'll translate into the regular season, whether or not they'll be able to get away with the blitzing. Let's face it -- they were playing Miami...let's see how they do against Minnesota.
At any rate, I suppose the most important thing I took away from last night is, to support Legion's analysis: Grossman's wife is hot.
Is there a website where we can see these hot wives? I missed the game.
In a related story, I'm guessing that San Diego will be looking for a new kicker, since their current one can't make a field goal if his life depended on it.
Considering I can't see the NFL network or ESPN games this is a really great thing to read Legion, thanks! I almost feel like I saw the game
Really happy to hear Favre played well, he's so cool.
Philip Rivers' 34-yard touchdown pass to Willie Quinnie early in the third quarter tied it at 7. Rivers completed 12 of 19 passes for 97 yards and no interceptions after replacing starter Drew Brees (2-for-5, 27 yards) to start the second quarter.
You know, all things considered that's not terrible.
Legion,
I agree with most of your assesment but had a different opinion on a few points.
Roman Oben's not getting any younger, and his play in this game didn't resemble his 2004 year. On one 2nd down run, Oben and the tight end have a double team on Cullen Jenkins. At least, that's what it looked like it was supposed to be, because in the end, Oben looks lost and watches as Jenkins burns past the tight end and trips up the runner in the backfield.
I'd have to disagree with your assesment of Oben. Last year he played great for us and unless his skills have dropped dramatically he'll be a very good left tackle for us this year as well. Just look at our game against the Colts last year where Oben completely shut down Dwight Freeney and they actually switched Freeney to the other side where he had a bit more success against the then rookie Shate Olivea. Also on the first play of the game Oben and Fonoti opened one of the biggest holes i've ever seen for Turner to run through. Beyond that I didn't get to watch the game too closely as I was cooking at the time, but someone had to open some holes to allow Turner to run for an 8 yards/carry.
Drew Brees misfired on a deep ball, letting off a floater that wasn't near anyone except safety Nick Collins. It was easily intercepted in the endzone, center-fielder style. Of course, much of the blame goes to WR Eric Parker, who cut off his route instead of continuing to burn by the press coverage. Still, the ball was poorly thrown (not nearly as close to the sideline as it should have been for Parker's expected route) and Collins would've had a great jump-ball opportunity for an INT even if Parker had continued the route. All in all, Brees had a poor outing, with only 2 short completions before exiting the game.
I would assume he saw that Parker had cut his route off at the last minute and either tried to hold up in the middle of his throwing motion or perhaps put some extra on it to get it out of bounds. Either that or he just happened to throw his worst pass ever, which would be great since it was in a preseason game anyways.
The coverage needs to help that pass defense too - Sammy Davis was taken to school by Donald Driver on a one-on-one battle for a pass in the endzone.
I don't know if he was taken to school, Sammy was right on his hip it looked to me like Driver just used his size advantage and out muscled him for the ball. Also Sammy didn't seem to have the greatest awareness of where the ball was but the coverage was tight, more a great play by Driver than a fault on Davis's part.
Matt Wilhelm stood out on the Chargers 2nd team defense, making 6 tackles with 2 assists and 2 forced fumbles. He helped bottle up the Packers 2nd team offense.
Matt Wilhelm looked great last night and Steven Cooper has looked very good in every game i've seen him play in.
In a flashback to the missed FG against the Jets in the rain in the wildcard game, kicker Nick Kaeding hooked a 45 yard kick wide left that would've put the team on top late. Then the team got the ball right back on a fumble, the drive stalled, and Kaeding missed ANOTHER kick, this time from 44 yards and wide right. Then, after a couple traded punts and another Packers fumble, the Chargers get another shot, and Kaeding missed YET ANOTHER kick, this time from 46 yards and wide right.
Nate Kaeding had a good rookie year last year right up until he missed that kick against the Jets. From what I read in the offseason he took that miss very hard and it looked like he had some mental issues going on last night, hopefully he gets his head back on straight and builds on his solid rookie season from last year but last night he looked horrible.
So, watched a bit of the Bears game tonight. Rex Grossman looked good at times...until he went down to injury. Looked like a knee at first, but then they said something about an ankle. We'll see how this turns out.
While his numbers don't say it, Grossman looked good last night. He stood in there and faced the pressure, getting the ball to his receivers...right into their hands, in fact. The play on which he was hurt was a good example. How he managed to get that ball off from between those defenders (which the line let just walk into the backfield), I'll never know.
It's too bad for him. He seems like a hard working, passionate player. Let's hope he can come back mid season. Let's also hope the Bears will continue to give him a chance.
I can premptively give you a couple stars and losers from the 49ers/Raiders game:
Stars: 49er's 1st team defense (held Oakland to only six points in the first half), Tim Rattay (QB, 49ers), Derrick Johnson (CB, 49ers; two picks, one run back for a touchdown)
Kind of star: Andrew Walter (QB, Raiders)
Losers: Alex Smith (QB, 49ers), Raiders 2nd team defense (allowed 21 unanswered points in the third quarter)
Kind of loser: Raiders 1st team offense
The Faithful are going to start stirring up a QB controversy. It was kind of hard for me to find too much of a fault in either Kerry Collins or Randy Moss since they weren't out there long enough to make a major contribution. Still, hard for Oakland to find much to be happy about in how their backups did against a Niner offense that had three vets lined up at scrimmage in the second half (Rattay, Arnaz Battle, and Brandon Lloyd). Norv better hope there aren't any major injuries.
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