9/26/2007
This Driver isn't slowing down
By Rob Demovsky / greenbaypressgazette.com
Donald Driver is 32 years, seven months and 23 days old, making him the second-oldest player among the NFL's top 10 receivers (by receptions) through the first three weeks of the season. The only player older than Driver on that list of league leaders is Baltimore's Derrick Mason, who is what scouts would call a "descending" player. Mason, once a player who averaged 15.5 yards per reception, is down to 9.1 yards per catch this year and is mostly a possession-type receiver. Yet Driver, who is less than 13 months younger than Mason, might just be an "ascending" player. In each of the last three seasons, he has bettered his previous year's production both in receptions and receiving yards. Last year, he set career bests for catches (92) and yards (1,295) while scoring eight touchdowns, the second-most of his career. This year, in his ninth NFL season, he's on pace to shatter those marks. Though the season is one-game short of the quarter pole, if he continues at this pace, he would end up with 106 catches, 1,413 yards and 10 touchdowns. Heading into Sunday's game at Minnesota, Driver is tied for eighth in the NFL with 20 receptions. He's averaging 13.3 yards per catch and has caught touchdown passes in two of the first three games. "I think Donald honestly is playing a little better than he was a year ago," Packers receivers coach Jimmy Robinson said. "In terms of route running, attention to detail and a lot of little things that we talk about, I think he's even doing a better job on that. "I think he's got probably some pretty amazing and unique genetics maybe that allow him to keep running fast, keep absorbing the hits and keep stopping on a dime and making guys miss. He doesn't look like a 32-year-old out there running around." More >>
Making the catch just the beginning for Driver
By LORI NICKEL / journalsentinel.com
Posted: Sept. 25, 2007
Green Bay - Ray Sherman was a new assistant coach for the Green Bay Packers in the spring of 2000 when a wiry young receiver first caught his eye. The guys were playing pick-up basketball in the old auxiliary gym in Lambeau and Donald Driver suddenly drove to the basket, leaped all the way over Packers scout Lenny McGill and dunked the ball. "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes," said Sherman, now the receivers coach for the Dallas Cowboys. "I said, 'This guy is a freak.' "In his ninth season now, Driver is known for a lot of things. Four 1,000-yard seasons. Pro Bowl. Gnarly tough. Fearless. Athletic. And since last season, Driver is also known for one more thing: He is exceptional at getting yards after the catch. Driver has a knack for turning a 25-yard pass from quarterback Brett Favre into a 35-yard gain because he can tip-toe down the sideline, electric slide away from a linebacker and split two safeties. It's not easy. Once that ball is in the air headed toward No. 80, there are 11 defenders who want to rip his head off. Yet Driver's blend of God-given talent and self-driven tenacity account for those extra yards after the catch. "The thing about Donald, he's got incredible balance," said Packers backup quarterback Aaron Rodgers. "He's able to balance on one leg. He's done it every year, almost once a game, where he makes the first guy miss, stays on his feet, avoids the tackle. It's unbelievable." More >>Relishing Role, 'KGB' Closing On White's Mark
By Mike Spofford / Packers.com
Posted 09/25/2007
There's another significant record that soon could be set by a Packers player, though it's not going to generate nearly as much fanfare and attention as Brett Favre and his touchdown passes. Green Bay defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila is just two sacks away from tying late Hall of Famer Reggie White for the Packers' franchise mark after his two-sack performance against San Diego on Sunday. Gbaja-Biamila, now in his eighth season out of San Diego State, has 66 1/2 career sacks. White, who starred for the Packers for six seasons (1993-98), had 68 1/2 of his 198 career sacks while playing for Green Bay. Sunday's sacks were Gbaja-Biamila's first of the season. He got to Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers for an 8-yard sack in the second quarter, leading to a punt. Then in the fourth quarter, he stripped Rivers of the ball on third down, and the forced fumble meant he was credited with another sack. San Diego recovered, but again had to punt. "It feels great," Gbaja-Biamila said after the game. "I'd be lying to you if I told you it didn't. The way those sacks came, it wasn't like I did anything special. I was just in the right place at the right time." More >>McCarthy defends his pass-happy
attack as a necessary evil
By Pete Dougherty
greenbaypressgazette.com
Three games into this season, coach Mike McCarthy's play calling has established the Green Bay Packers' offensive identity. They're a pass-first, perhaps even pass-second team. The Packers probably will have games this season in which they run the ball well. But for at least the next couple of weeks, and probably most of the year, they're going to play away from McCarthy's preferred approach. When he took over as coach in January 2006, McCarthy emphasized developing a physical, run-first attack, but the team hasn't shown anything close to that kind of ability. So, McCarthy has adjusted and has his team at 3-0 by going more to a spread offense, putting the ball in quarterback Brett Favre's hands, and using the short pass in lieu of the run. "I would prefer to be a heavy run team," McCarthy said in his Monday news conference, "but that's just not the way we're built right now, and that's not the way that gives us the best chance to score a lot of points, in my opinion. Now, that's week to week." McCarthy's suggestion is the game plans could change dramatically, depending on opponent and matchups. There's some truth to that, and chances are the Packers won't have many games in which their pass-to-run ratio is as lopsided as the nearly 4-to-1 ratio they had while upsetting San Diego on Sunday. However, the Packers' personnel at receiver and offensive line is much stronger in the pass game than the run, so they figure to remain a heavily pass-oriented team for the next two games, at least. This week, the Packers play Minnesota, which had the top rushing defense in the NFL last season both in yards allowed and yards allowed per carry. Next week, they face Chicago, which despite a bad game against Dallas on Sunday night, has a potentially dominating defense. More >>Pass-happy Packers making up
for lack of running game
Associated Press / Posted 9-25-2007
GREEN BAY -- It's not the type of offense Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy prefers to run, but it's hard to argue with the results so far. On Sunday, in the Packers' 31-24 victory over San Diego at Lambeau Field, the Packers ran the ball just 13 times for 42 yards. Meanwhile, quarterback Brett Favre attempted 45 passes against the Chargers. "I'm not concerned about it," McCarthy said Monday. "Everybody would like to do certain things a certain way. I would prefer to be a heavy run team, but that's just not the way we're built right now, and that's not the way that gives us the best chance to score a lot of points in my opinion. Now that's week-to-week. But there will be a time here where we'll pound the football." The Packers' running backs aren't exactly well-known, either, after Green signed with Houston in the offseason. The group includes rookies Brandon Jackson and DeShawn Wynn and first-year player Ryan Grant. The back with the most experience, Vernand Morency, is still recovering from a knee injury in the preseason and hasn't played yet, while the other veteran, Noah Herron, is on injured reserve and out for the season. McCarthy acknowledged that he isn't comfortable calling more runs yet. Green Bay has only seven first downs rushing this season. "It's not that I don't believe in our players. I am getting more comfortable with our runners, as far as the different things we're asking them to do," McCarthy said. "You have to have a comfort when you call particular plays in certain situations, and there have been some growing pains there." More >>Coach doesn't want overconfidence
to become an issue
By Rob Demovsky / greenbaypressgazette.com
Though this is new for Mike McCarthy the head coach, he has some history to draw from when it comes to knowing how to handle teams that start 3-0. Four times during his 13 years as an NFL assistant coach, McCarthy was part of teams that began the season with three straight victories. Now that he finds himself in that enviable position in his second year as the Green Bay Packers' coach, he believes he — and, more importantly, his team — is prepared to handle it. As an assistant with the Kansas City Chiefs from 1993 to 1998, he worked for teams that started 3-0 in 1994, 1995 and 1996. The 1994 and 1996 squads stumbled a bit and finished 9-7, while the 1995 team went 13-3. In 2002, his third of five seasons as New Orleans' offensive coordinator, the Saints started 3-0 and finished 9-7. Since 1990, the first season in which six teams from each conference qualified for the playoffs, 21 of 88 teams (23.9 percent) that started 3-0 have failed to make the playoffs, according to research done by STATS, an Illinois-based sports statistical research firm. McCarthy was part of two of those teams — the 1996 Chiefs and 2002 Saints. "I think it's important just to continue to streamline the possible distractions," McCarthy said on Monday, a day after the Packers' 31-24 upset of the San Diego Chargers. "Every time you have success, more people want more of you, whether it's media attention, the personal part of it. You start hearing from people you haven't heard from in 25 years for tickets and things like that. Your phone rings a lot more. That's all part of it." More >>
Published by PackerPundit On Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 5:43 AM.
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