The Packer Pundit

Five things to watch Sunday
By Bob McGinn
Posted: Dec. 2, 2006
COOL AND COLLECTED: This will be the third time in seven weeks that the Packers have played almost exactly the same defense. Against Miami, they scored 34 points and gained 346 yards. Against New England, they had no points and 120 yards. Nick Saban's Miami defense blitzed on 26.3% of passes against Green Bay, whereas Bill Belichick's New England defense blitzed 25%. The Jets of Eric Mangini have been blitzing at about a 50% rate over the last three weeks. Sometimes they bluff, sometimes they overload a side and charge. "The key to attacking that is really being patient at the line," said an assistant coach who played the Jets recently. "That's tough to do because the offensive line wants to get all their calls made so the players all know who they're going to block. But if you make a call and all of a sudden they're in a different front, which happens because they move around so much, you're in trouble. The thing that we did was run the ball. We just wore them down eventually. After a while, they're moving and they're out of place, they can't hold up and you can gash them."

BACK AGAIN: Chad Pennington was making just the 13th start of his career in Week 16 of 2002 when the Jets hammered the Packers, 42-17, in the Meadowlands. In his first and only game against Green Bay, Pennington was brilliant with a 134.7 passer rating. It was easily the best rating against the Packers that season. Two operations on Pennington's right shoulder have reduced his arm strength. "My feeling was that after the surgeries he doesn't have that zip that a lot of people have," a defensive coach for a recent Jets' foe said. "But what he is is deadly accurate. He's very efficient in what he does. Not a lot of wasted motion. He has enough mobility to escape. He's got great pocket awareness. He is very good on fades. He pump-fakes well and gives his receivers the chance to get under the ball." Pennington's passer rating of 80.6 is well off his mark of 92.1 from 2000-'05. "It's a dink and dunk deal," one scout said. "He doesn't have a real strong arm. Most of his throws are under 10 yards."

KEY PICK: In 2005, the Packers were looking for a safety in the fourth round. With the 14th pick in the round, they took Marviel Underwood of San Diego State. Eight selections later, the Jets took safety Kerry Rhodes of Louisville. After an unimpressive rookie season, Underwood appeared improved before blowing out his knee Aug. 12. Rhodes was OK as a 16-game starter as a rookie but now has blossomed into perhaps the team's best player on defense. "He's really come on," one scout said. "Plays faster than his timed speed. Pretty good anticipation skills. Can cover the tight end in man long enough. He's a playmaker with really good ball skills. He's gotten more physical in the run game. Plays under control and makes the sure tackle. Strong. Can play off blocks. Good box player. Really good as a blitzer. Probably their best blitzer. And real instinctive."

RUGGED ASSIGNMENT: Green Bay's kickoff-coverage unit has had major problems in the past month. In Buffalo, Terrence McGee went 61 yards with the opening kickoff. A week later, Minnesota's Bethel Johnson had a 102-yard return called back on a holding penalty. And, on Monday night, Seattle's Nate Burleson averaged 25.8 yards on five runbacks and lost 32 additional yards on two holding penalties. Now the Packers must contend with Justin Miller, whose 28.9 average leads the NFL. McGee is fourth at 26.5. "He's good, he's really good," an opposing coach said. "He's really strong. Got great speed. Really good vision. I'd say after the Buffalo guy he's the next-best. He breaks a lot of tackles. You look at his stats, he gets one over 40 a game almost. It's unbelievable. You kick it to this guy enough times, he'll burn you."

'SLASH' JUNIOR: The Jets used a fourth-round draft choice in April to take Brad Smith as a wide receiver. He had started 48 games at Missouri as a quarterback, breaking Antwaan Randle El's collegiate record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 4,289. The Jets are using Smith about 15 to 20 snaps each week, primarily at wide receiver but also at running back and every now and then at quarterback. He also is a contributor on coverage teams. "He poses problems because you're not sure what he's going to do when he's in the game," an opposing defensive coach said. "He's not a Kordell Stewart-type guy who played the 'slash' position so well, but I think that's what they're trying to create. I think if you just sit there and try to match up with the kid, it causes problems. What we said is, 'Hey, we're not going to worry about where he lines up.' We were just going to play the position he was in. He isn't that special slash-type player."






Mike McCarthy column:
My college lessons have stayed with me
By Mike McCarthy
When I look back on my final two years as a player at Baker University, I learned some valuable lessons that I apply to my coaching outlook. Baker is a small school in Baldwin City, Kan., where I played tight end my junior and senior years in 1985 and 1986. We were a NAIA Division II powerhouse under coach Charlie Richard. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004, 10 years after his death. Charlie was a great coach. He always had a few gadget plays ready for every game, and somehow, they always worked. More importantly, though, when I look back, I see a coach who really could relate to his players. He could talk to anybody in the locker room. You'd never hear him complain about how students changed over the years and it was harder to connect with them. He always was able to relate, and players appreciated that. In 1985, my junior year, we had a very talented team. We were ranked No. 1 in the preseason and were expected to win the national title, but we lost two regular-season games and didn't make the playoffs. We ended up playing in the Sunflower Bowl in Winfield, Kan., where we got to tour the Crayola crayon plant (which has since closed) as part of our bowl-week festivities. It wasn't much of a consolation prize for a team we thought could win it all, and I didn't even play that game because I needed knee surgery. We did our best to make up for it the next year. There were few expectations my senior year. We had a younger team that just kept getting better and better. We didn't have a lot of individuals, unlike the previous year, when it seemed like you were competing with guys on your own team just to make all-conference. In 1986, none of the individual awards mattered to the guys, and we were a really tight group. We did everything together, and the more success we had, you could see the group dynamics progressing throughout the season. We ended up making the playoffs, and in the second round, we upset the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, which won the national championship the year before. Then we went on to play for the national title against Linfield College in Oregon, at their place. It was a rainfest. Rained the whole game, mud everywhere. We lost the championship, but when I look at those two years side by side, I really noticed something. -- More






Packer running game stuck in the snow
Green held to just 44 yards on ground
By RICK KLAUER / Packer Plus writer
Posted: Nov. 29, 2006
It would be easy to blame the snow and the slippery field conditions for another lousy performance by the Green Bay Packers' rushing offense on Monday night. It's not so easy, however, to explain how the running back on the other team rolled up more than 200 yards on the same field. The simple fact is, the Packers have gone three consecutive weeks without a decent game running the football. And things have only been getting worse instead of better. "It's not just one guy," said Packers offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski. "It's one guy here and one guy there. It's the whole run-blocking unit not getting it done as a group." Against the Seahawks, running back Ahman Green finished with just 44 yards on 14 carries, or 3.1 yards per carry. His longest gain was 14 yards. Seattle's Shaun Alexander, meanwhile, had little trouble finding his footing amid the snow at Qwest Field. He responded with a workman-like, franchise-record 40 carries for 201 yards, and a 5.0 average. Alexander's big night left no room for excuses for the Packers. The offensive line and the running backs didn't get the job done. "Assume that with our running game it was one guy here and one guy there, which is the same old story it seems like; it is getting repetitive," said Packers center Scott Wells. "We have all got to get on the same page and get everybody blocked. Make the holes easy for the running backs to hit. Tonight there was always somebody there. We have got to fix that, and we have to do it fast." -- More



Clearly defcient
Sanders tries to fix often-scorched defense
By TOM SILVERSTEIN / journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 2, 2006
There are all kinds of factors involved in the substandard play of the Green Bay Packers defense this season - not the least of which seems to be a lack of chemistry throughout the unit. But nothing coordinator Bob Sanders does in the final five weeks of the season will be more important than plugging a gaping hole in the dam. As Sanders' first season in charge of the defense winds down, his unit has performed contrary to the philosophy of the scheme he learned from his predecessor, Jim Bates, gushing long, back-breaking plays in the worst possible moments. In the bend-but-don't-break system where the cornerbacks play tight man-to-man and the safeties play a Cover 2 zone, big plays are supposed to be rare. But in 11 games the Packers have given up 41 pass plays of 20 or more yards, six more than they did in 16 games under Bates. Of those plays, 11 have gone 40 or more yards, which is five more than a year ago. "That's the disappointing part for us as a defense," Sanders said. "I think everybody you would ask is that the big plays have put us in the position we're in in total defense (25th in the NFL). That's the bottom line, that's how we're measured. We're going to try to do something about it. We're not saying that's OK." -- More



Losing leaves Lambeau limp
A 1-4 record at home has kept crowd quiet
By ROB REISCHEL / Special to Packer Plus
Posted: Nov. 29, 2006
The Green Bay Packers walked into a noise tunnel Monday night. Seattle's Qwest Field, widely regarded as one of the three or four loudest stadiums in football, was rocking, rolling and roaring - much as it is every game. For many of Green Bay's players, their trip to Seattle was a glimpse at what Lambeau Field was like until recent seasons and what the Packers someday hope to make Lambeau again. "Sometimes our crowd can get loud," Green Bay defensive tackle Colin Cole said. "Sometimes." Throughout the 2006 season, several Packers have privately bemoaned the fact that Lambeau Field - once one of the louder stadiums in the NFL - has been no more boisterous than a library. Whose fault that is remains up for debate. Green Bay, which plays host to the New York Jets at noon Sunday, has given its paying customers virtually nothing to cheer about. The Packers are 1-4 at home and have been outscored by an average of 26.4-15.6 in those games. Included are shutout losses to Chicago and New England, in which Green Bay was hammered by a combined score of 61-0. -- More



Rookie class gets on-the-job training
By Dylan B. Tomlinson / postcrescent.com
Everywhere Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy looks, there are rookies. McCarthy has had four rookies in the starting lineup for the majority of the season. Daryn Colledge and Jason Spitz have become regulars at both guard positions while Greg Jennings has been starting at receiver and A.J. Hawk at linebacker. But lately, injuries have forced McCarthy to rely on rookies more than he probably would like. Tony Moll has had to start the last two games at right tackle in place of Mark Tauscher. Abdul Hodge had to start at linebacker on Monday night in place of Nick Barnett. On Sunday, the Packers may add Tyrone Culver to the starting mix as a possible replacement for safety Nick Collins. The possibility of having seven rookies in the starting lineup is enough to make even the most optimistic of coaches a little nervous. "It's a process, there's no doubt about it," McCarthy said. "Just like anything else, we need to get more consistency. Monday night's game was very evident of how our season has gone. I think, particularly in young guys, if you have a good week of preparation, it will carry over to the game and the fundamentals and techniques that everybody is asked to do at their position, you see the improvement." -- More






With 5 games to go, Packers remain enigma
By Mike Woods
There are no more measuring sticks. Sold out. They won't be getting any more in before the holiday season. So, what will be known of the Green Bay Packers when the season closes its doors five weeks from now? Barring any five-game winning or losing streaks to close the campaign, probably not a whole lot. With five games to play, the only thing we can say with any certainty is this: Among the bad teams, they're pretty good; but against the NFL's best teams, they're pretty bad. You have to ask yourself: Are they really making meaningful progress? Or is it a team that is being held back by a lack of talent, experience and pedestrian coaching? Before Monday night's game at Seattle, against the two best teams on their schedule — Chicago and New England — they were beaten by a combined 61-0, at home. Then, against the defending NFC champion Seahawks, despite coming up with four first-half turnovers and owning a 21-12 lead early in the second half, they couldn't close the deal. They didn't really come close, losing 34-24. The reality is, if not for the four turnovers the Packers produced, this would have been another blowout. At this stage of the season, the Packers' abject failure against the best teams on their schedule has to be the most disappointing aspect. It's not that they lost all three games; it's that in two of the three, they didn't even compete. Once Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck shook off the rust in the second half Monday after a month's layoff, the Packers didn't compete well. They call these measuring-stick games for a reason. It's not the only indicator, but certainly the best way to determine whether you're close to reaching the mountain top or have a ways to go. -- More







Meet Carla
Atlanta Falcons Cheerleader

Years as Falcons Cheerleader: 2
College: I attended Mercer University, Emory University and Georgia State University. In 2000, I graduated with honors, and I earned a Bachelors of Science in Psychology and in Sociology. I also acquired a great deal of experience in how to get your course credits to transfer!
Major/Degree: Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Sociology
Career/Profession: I am a Marketing Manager in the medical industry

BACKGROUND:

Married or single: SINGLE!

Dance/cheer background: My mother put me in dance classes at a very young age, and I've been cheering since I was in middle school.

Hobbies/recreational pursuits: I enjoy running, reading, traveling, playing the piano and hanging out with my girlfriends.

The most influential person(s) in my life has been: My family. My dad taught me what it means to have compassion and respect for all creatures, great and small, as well as how to live my life with passion. My mom taught me how to gracefully manage life's ups and downs and what it means to be a strong woman. My twin sister taught me what it means to be selfless and caring as well as how to be a true friend.

My favorite memory thus far as an Atlanta Falcons Cheerleader: the experience of traveling to Tokyo, Japan to cheer in the American Bowl. It was an amazing trip, and the Japanese fans made us all feel like rock stars!!!

One interesting fact my teammates might not know about me: I joined the Navy after college to be a fighter pilot. After going to OCS, they threw me out because I couldn't figure out how to take a shower and get ready in fewer than five minutes. Just kidding! I actually had poor depth perception which eliminated me from the flight program.

The best thing about being a Falcons Cheerleader: the rush I experience running out onto the field on game day with thousands of Falcons fans cheering in the stands. I also enjoy seeing the excitement and smiling faces of kids when we show up at promotions and appearances. It's a great feeling to know you can make so many people smile!

The best thing about Falcons fans: their loyalty and enthusiasm...especially the fans that paint their faces and dress up in costumes!

My goals for the future: (1) to start waking up when my alarm goes off; (2) to get fewer speeding tickets; (3) to visit at least two new places each year and (4) to run a full marathon

My most prized possession: My grandmother's baby grand piano

My greatest accomplishment so far is: Overcoming the blonde radiotype. Ha!