The Packer Pundit

Bush limited, but makes impact
The Packers' defense did an admirable job containing Reggie Bush, limiting him to just 109 all-purpose yards, but the Heisman Trophy winner was able to make two key third-down catches on New Orleans scoring drives. Bush was held to just 5 yards on six carries on the ground, and his eight receptions were a team-high for 68 yards. He also had four punt returns for 36 yards, displaying his amazing stop-and-start ability at times. All that averaged out to 6.1 yards per touch for Bush, a solid effort. Bush's longest play was a 23-yard gain on a swing pass to open a drive that ended with a Saints field goal late in the third quarter.

New return men
The Packers had a busy week leading up to the Saints game, adding wide receiver Koren Robinson and running back Vernand Morency through separate transactions. The moves were made to not only add a little kick to the offense, but also to the kick return units as well. The Packers got their first glimpse of their newest additions as both Robinson and Morency were activated and returning kicks on Sunday. Of the five kick returns, Robinson handled four and gained 73 yards. Morency returned the other for 28 yards.

Holding the line
Daryn Colledge got the chance to show exactly why the Packers thought so highly off him coming out of Boise State. He got his first NFL start on Sunday, replacing left guard and fellow rookie Jason Spitz, who was out with a bruised thigh. It may be a tad too early to determine how Colledge fared until both he and the coaches break down game film this week, but for Colledge, always a stand-up, straight-forward guy, one thing has changed since his early struggles in training camp and that's his comfort level.

Dime DB
The Packers didn't use a dime defense (six defensive backs) at all in Week 1 against Chicago, but they did use it on a handful of snaps against the Saints. Rookie safety Tyrone Culver was the sixth defensive back. He estimated he was called upon five or six times, and a couple of times he thought the Packers surprised the Saints with the dime package, forcing them to take a timeout and change personnel. "We got a lot of reps with it this week, and I had a lot of reps in preseason," Culver said. "My comfort level is there, it's just a matter of when I'm in there doing my assignment."

Cramping troubles
Cornerback Ahmad Carroll went down with cramps with a minute left in the second quarter and the Saints driving. The Packers were forced to take an injury timeout to attend to him. He stayed in the game, only to have the Saints go right at him on the next play, as Drew Brees hit Devery Henderson with a 26-yard TD pass to put New Orleans ahead 14-13. A few plays earlier, fellow corner Al Harris left the field late in the first half with cramps and took some fluids intravenously in the locker room at halftime. He returned to play the second half.

Quick substitution
Rookie guard Tony Palmer, picked up on waivers during Week 1, replaced right guard Tony Moll for a few snaps on the Packers' first third-quarter drive. Moll went in as an extra tight end on one of those plays, and then he returned to his customary right guard spot later.

Left guard remains unsettled
Two games into his tenure as Green Bay Packers coach, McCarthy has had two starting left guards - Jason Spitz in the season-opening loss to Chicago, and Daryn Colledge in Sunday's loss to New Orleans because of Spitz's bruised thigh. Who'll start at Detroit on Sunday is up in the air. "That's something we'll have to look at," McCarthy said. McCarthy said Spitz will be listed as questionable for the game, and McCarthy and offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski used the same phrase - "Just OK" - to assess Colledge's performance.

Shuffling the deck?
It doesn't appear there'll be any lineup changes Sunday against the Lions, though McCarthy said the coaching staff "talked about" replacing sam linebacker Brady Poppinga with veteran Ben Taylor. Poppinga was burned for a 57-yard gain on a Drew Brees-to-Joe Horn pass that set up a third-quarter field goal, although safety Marquand Manuel was too wide and out of position on the play as well, according to McCarthy. Meanwhile, Jagodzinski wouldn't say whether the staff is considering using David Martin ahead of Bubba Franks at tight end after Franks dropped two passes and was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct against the Saints.

Robinson on offensive
McCarthy said he saw "improvement" in the kickoff return unit by using new acquisitions Koren Robinson and Vernand Morency against the Saints after using Noah Herron and Samkon Gado against the Bears. The next step for Robinson is to see action at receiver. "I'd definitely like to mix him into the receiver rotation," McCarthy said. "Obviously he's going to be up on game-day, (so) he needs to be ready to go." Said Robinson: "I know I can be productive, I know I can be successful. I know the offense, I just want to know it like the back of my hand so I can just go out there and play. That's going to take another week or so before I really learn everything I need to know about the playbook."

Extra points
McCarthy said the only two injuries in the game were to cornerback Al Harris (shoulder) and Martin (knee). Neither appears serious, but both will be listed as questionable. ... Robinson got into a scuffle after one kickoff return and appeared to try to punch an opposing player, and while McCarthy said he didn't see the play while watching film, "That's something that will be talked about." ... Jagodzinski said had quarterback Brett Favre waited a little longer, Donald Driver got open on the Packers' final offensive play of the game. Instead, Favre threw incomplete over the head of Robert Ferguson. "Brett probably came off Donald too fast," Jagodzinski said.







Mike McCarthy Post Game Press Conference Transcript

Poppinga keeping
starting job?
By Rob Demovsky
greenbaypressgazette.com

"There's a lot of practice left this week, but as far as I know right at this minute, I don't see any major overhaul," Sanders said Monday afternoon. "To make any kind of statement on who's starting and who isn't is premature right now, because we're not even sure what we're going up against, but I don't foresee that."

Another week of costly coverage breakdowns probably won't lead to any major lineup changes on the defensive side for the Green Bay Packers. Though defensive coordinator Bob Sanders wouldn't rule out anything definitively, he indicated on Monday he wasn't ready to do anything significant in terms of his starters. That means Brady Poppinga likely will remain the starter at the strong-side linebacker spot despite another major coverage error in Sunday's 34-27 loss to the New Orleans Saints. Poppinga misplayed his coverage of receiver Joe Horn, and it led to a 57-yard catch-and-run play in the third quarter that set up a field goal. -- More


Safeties have room for improvement
By Rob Demovsky / greenbaypressgazette.com
The Green Bay Packers expected to be better at safety this season with the addition of Marquand Manuel and another year of experience for second-year pro Nick Collins, but after two games, they're having some problems. Manuel, the free-agent acquisition from the Seattle Seahawks, has been slow to adjust to the Packers' defensive scheme, and Collins misplayed two deep balls that went for big plays in Sunday's 34-27 loss to the New Orleans Saints. Perhaps the coaches were loath to criticize two starters, but both coach Mike McCarthy and defensive coordinator Bob Sanders said the starting safeties have played well. But the coverage breakdowns that have killed the Packers in the first two games suggest otherwise. Collins was a big part of the plan to shut down Saints running back Reggie Bush, and that plan worked for the most part. Bush was held to just 5 yards rushing on six carries and had eight receptions for 68 yards. But Collins fell down on a 33-yard completion to tight end Mark Campbell that led to a touchdown in the second quarter and got turned around and gave up a 35-yard touchdown to receiver Marcus Colston in the fourth quarter. "He's fully capable of making those plays and was in position to make them," McCarthy said. "I think Nick is definitely on the up-climb of having a Pro Bowl-type career. He's got that kind of ability. He makes (those) two plays, and I'm sitting there telling you he had a great game." -- More

Missing the cuts
A key part of
blocking scheme
not in order
By Tom Silverstein
journalsentinel.com
Until the Green Bay Packers find a way to get opposing defensive linemen on the ground, their running game is going to remain 6 feet beneath it. After a 34-27 loss Sunday to the New Orleans Saints in which they were unable to hold an early 13-0 lead, the Packers are desperate to fix the parts of their zone-blocked running attack that have left them stuck in neutral. Two games into the season, they rank 23rd in the National Football League in total rushing yards (166) and 25th in rushing attempts (43), rankings that just won't do if they want to have success this season. The focus for coach Mike McCarthy and his offensive staff is improving the cut-blocking, a staple of zone-blocking schemes. In particular, the defensive ends and tackles away from the direction the ball is being run have to be put on the ground to provide the cut-back lanes the Packers are seeking. -- More


Problems with
the back side
By Jason Wilde / madison.com
To understand what's wrong with the Green Bay Packers' zone-blocking running game during the season's first two games, you could spend hours breaking down the game film from their 26-0 season-opening loss to Chicago and Sunday's 34-27 loss to New Orleans. Or, you could just let center Scott Wells explain it. For you football aficionados out there, this will be boringly elementary. For the rest of the population, Wells' explanation was so well-put that the guy could probably write "Zone Blocking For Dummies." -- More



Running outside
the zone
By Pete Dougherty
greenbaypressgazette.com

"We're targeting the right people, we're just not getting it done on the back side," offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski said of the Packers' run blocking. "Until we get that going, the run game will be stalled."

The Green Bay Packers probably aren't going to beat anyone this year until they get a running game. The Packers' slow transition to their new zone-blocking run scheme, with two rookies starting at guard to boot, has played a major factor in their 0-2 start. Though they ran for 103 yards in their season-opening loss to Chicago, they had three key third- or fourth-down runs stuffed, and they gained almost half their rushing yards (44) in the fourth quarter with the Bears protecting a 26-0 lead. Then this past Sunday, they rushed for only 63 yards in a 34-27 loss to New Orleans, a game they led 13-0 in the first quarter. -- More


Run Game Needs
Back-Side Blocking
By Mike Spofford / Packers.com
To develop the consistent ground attack that Head Coach Mike McCarthy wants for the Packers in 2006, cutting off the back-side pursuit on running plays needs to improve, McCarthy said Monday. In the zone-blocking scheme installed by McCarthy and offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski, on every snap some of the linemen move in the direction of the play, or work "play-side." Others are responsible for blocking the defenders coming from behind, or the "back-side," by throwing a shoulder into their thigh to cut them to the ground. In a perfect world, the running back hits a hole play-side and then either carries that as far as he can or cuts back to find a crease for more yardage. Sometimes, if defenses over-pursue on the play side, it's up to the running back to cut it back sooner and make them pay for their aggressiveness. But the ball carrier can be in no-man's land if the back-side defenders aren't blocked. They can catch him from behind, or take away any cut-back lanes. -- More



Veterans' mistakes could lead to
long season for Packers
By Joe Hart
The Green Bay Packers were trying to dig their way out of the rubble of a Week 1 debacle when ghosts of disasters past reappeared Sunday at Lambeau Field. Frightful doesn't begin to describe the Packers' momentum-killing misadventures in a 34-27 loss to the New Orleans Saints, who bear no resemblance to the Katrina-dazed wanderers who lost here a year ago by seven touchdowns. Reggie Bush and Drew Brees have seen to that in a 2-0 start on the road. The Packers blew a first-quarter lead that was fueled by fumble-inducing sacks of Brees by defensive ends Aaron Kampman and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and an interception by cornerback Al Harris. But when the Packers could manage only one touchdown and two field goals by Dave Rayner, there was a pervasive odor of opportunities squandered. -- More







Lambeau faithful welcome Robinson
New returner hopes he can provide spark
By LORI NICKEL / journalsentinel.com

"That just let me know that this is a special place. That this could be a special place for me, both on and off the field. There's a lot of support here. . . . Everybody knows my situation, but they still support me, are still behind me. I'm just thankful for the opportunity." -- Koren Robinson

That's about all Koren Robinson could say to the Green Bay Packers fans who filled Lambeau Field on Sunday for the game against New Orleans. He just wasn't sure how he would be received. This was a Milwaukee season ticket holder game, and there were plenty of boos other times during the Packers' 34-27 loss. But when Robinson took the field for kick returns, fans in the stands behind the end zone chanted his name in encouragement. -- More



Donald Driver
Comes Up Big Again
By Mike Spofford and Nathan Hager
Packers.com
For all the dropped passes that plagued the Packers on Sunday, receiver Donald Driver caught just about anything thrown in his vicinity. The eight-year veteran playing in his 100th career game had yet another big game as Brett Favre's go-to guy, catching eight passes for 153 yards, including several critical plays.

* His 48-yard catch-and-run on a hitch play set up the Packers' third score to make it 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.
* His diving 11-yard catch over the middle on third-and-9 from the New Orleans 18 gave the Packers a first-and-goal, but Favre was intercepted in the end zone on the next play.
* On the touchdown drive that tied the game at 20, he caught passes of 22 and 42 yards, both on third down on opposite sidelines. The latter was a difficult, juggling catch against tight coverage from Mike McKenzie.
* On the Packers' last TD drive, he not only took away a potential interception by Jason Craft but corralled the lob pass in traffic for an 11-yard gain on third-and-10. -- More

T.O. likely to have plate in hand
Kearse out for the season with knee injury
Pollack out for season with neck injury
Texans' Spencer out for season
Falcons leave their imprint on Bucs' chests
Frustrated Winslow wants more catches
Broncos bolster return game, sign Morgan
Clarett to plead guilty in criminal cases


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