Analysis
Analysis: The Backup Safety
by Brandon on Nov 7, 2009 11:00 AM CST
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With the return of SS Atari Bigby, to play alongside FS Nick Collins, the safety position is as solid as it has been all season. But the lack of depth behind the starters was exposed when Bigby missed 3 games.
Coming into the season, it looked like free agent S Anthony Smith would be the top backup, but he was surprisingly cut after the final preseason game. The backup job initially went to S Aaron Rouse, but his only start, the loss to the Bengals, was the final straw and they wisely decided to release him. Though he resurfaced with the Giants, and has become their starter, it's not because he's playing well. At this point, the Giants have no other options. The Packers also traded for S Derrick Martin before the season started, but he was bad in the Vikings game at Minnesota and hasn't played on defense since. Now he's suffered a concussion and it's not clear whether he'll be able to play next Sunday. After Rouse was released, they signed S Matt Giordano, but when asked whether Giordano was up to speed, McCarthy only said "he's been working." So apparently he's not up to speed. Now the Packers found themselves right back to where they started, and put a waiver claim in on Smith, but they lost out to the Jaguars.
Right now CB/S Jarrett Bush has to be the top backup for either safety position, and it's likely he's the best option of any the other backup candidates I've written about. Who's the best option at this point?
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Preview: Green Bay Packers at Buccaneers
by Brandon on Nov 6, 2009 7:15 AM CST
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The first thing that jumps out is zero, which is the number of 2009 wins by the last remaining winless team this season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They looked very good in week 4 last season when they beat the Packers 30-21, but that seems like a long time ago. Since then they've fired their Super Bowl winning head coach, their long time defensive coordinator left for the University of Tennessee, and they've released or traded several defensive starters, including Pro Bowl LB Derrick Brooks. After an ugly loss to the Patriots in London, the Bucs are coming off the bye-week and giving their rookie 1st round QB Josh Freeman his first NFL start. As long as I'm dumping on the Bucs, I might as well mentioned how they shot themselves in the foot by firing Ron Wolf back in 1978.
Sometimes a record doesn't tell the whole story. But in this case it does; the Bucs are as bad as they look.
Instead of using the official NFL stats this week, I'm going with Football Outsiders. The problem with the official stats, which are based on yards/game, is that they don't take into account that their opponents have only attempted 180 passes against the Bucs, which is the lowest total in the NFL. I don't know why teams aren't throwing the ball against them because they aren't very good at stopping them: they've allowed 16 TDs to 8 INTs while their opponents' QB rating against them is 102.1. So from Football Outsiders.com:
| Team | Run Offense | Pass Offense | Run Defense | Pass Defense |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Packers | 13 | 8 | 6 | 7 |
| Team | Run Defense | Pass Defense | Run Offense | Pass Offense |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buccaneers | 30 | 31 | 20 | 26 |
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Around the NFL: Studs/Duds, Power Rankings, and Week 9 Picks
by Brandon on Nov 6, 2009 12:01 AM CST
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The NFL writers of SB Nation did our annual mid-season Studs and Duds awards. Warning: a couple of Vikings are listed as studs, so read cautiously.
The writers kept the Saints at No. 1 while we pushed the Green Bay Packers down from No. 12 to 14 in the Week 9 power rankings.
It's no surprise we picked Packers to win on Sunday, amongst all of our Week 9 Picks.
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Analysis: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Through 7 Games
by Brandon on Nov 5, 2009 11:15 AM CST
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You might have noticed that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the only NFL team without a win this season, and the Green Bay Packers are going to play them on Sunday. And rookie QB Josh Freeman will have his 1st NFL start. The Packers should be favored, but they still have to travel to Tampa and win the game. Though I don't expect Mike McCarthy will let his players overlook any team.
Since I haven't watched a Bucs game this season, and don't know how the team that beat the Packers last season in week 4 has managed to become the only remaining winless team, I asked Buc 'Em blogger Niko Houllis a couple questions:
Brandon: What happened to the formerly great Tampa defense? The draft hasn't been kind in recent years, but they were still very good in early 2008. The collapse seems sudden to me.
Niko: That is a fanastic question. Most would say it's on the sideline singing "Rocky Top"! People can say what they want to, but the collapse started the game after Monte Kiffin announced he is headed to Tennessee to coach his son's defense. Other things happened around the same time too though. We got hurt on our D line, which wasn't that good to begin with. Carolina found a weakness. They were able to put 3 receivers on the field and keep us in a defense which favored their running attack. They were able to gash us for almost 300 yards on the ground in that Monday night game that Bucs fans were waiting all day for so we could finally pronounce our team for real...and give us an inside edge on the 2nd seed just like we had in our Super Bowl year. Little did we know we would not win a game again! Truth is, the Bucs misfired on their #1 draft pick Gaines Adams, and were lucky to get a #2 for him. But the defense had gotten old, and started to patch things up with bandaids like the offense had been doing too. Instead of tearing the team apart and starting over like were doing this year, the team kept using bandaids, and drafting poorly just about every draft.
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The Run Defense
by Brandon on Nov 4, 2009 7:15 AM CST
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I've read a lot of negative comments/articles about the Green Bay Packers defense this week. Allowing 38 points to the Vikings can do that. And they can't give up 4 TD passes. But the special teams, and the terrible kick coverage on WR Percy Harvin, gave the Vikings a lot of great field position. It's not an excuse, but it's also one game. A very emotionally, bitter loss to swallow, but not a trend or sign of some deeper trouble.
In an attempt to turn a negative tide positive, I wanted to bring up how great the run defense has played this season. The switch to the 3-4 defense hasn't necessarily made a very good pass defense any better, or brought a dormant pass rush to life, but teams can't run against it.
In 2008, the run defense was terrible, allowing 4.6 yards/carry and 20 TDs. Through 7 games in 2009, they've allowed 3.5 yards/carry and 3 TDs. And they've done it despite having 4 games against 3 of the best RBs in the NFL: RB Adrian Peterson, RB Steven Jackson, and RB Cedric Benson.
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The Day After: Green Bay Packers Loss To The Vikings
by Brandon on Nov 3, 2009 7:15 AM CST
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On the Green Bay Packers offensive line. From Mike McCarthy:
Offensive line, I'm going to take the week, very similar to last week. I'm going to see how Chad Clifton progresses through the week. I also want to see how Mark Tauscher progresses through the week. Then have an opportunity to grade the film this morning and go through the corrections today with the offensive linemen who played in the game. We'll take that through the week, just very similar to what we did last week.
DE Cullen Jenkins on "things". From the Journal-Sentinel:
"It's tough. We have players who are good at doing stuff and we're not doing it. You want to win, and when you're not winning those things you start questioning, is it that people really want to win or they really want to accomplish another goal, just running what they want to run? I don't know. It's tough, though."
(In addition to what Jolly said, did you see the things Cullen Jenkins had to say about the defense?)
Yes I did. Jeff just made me aware of them. Our schedule doesn't change. I've been with the coaches all morning, going through the tape. Cullen and I will have a conversation.
Maybe there are limits to what the things the new 3-4 defense can do. From the Press-Gazette:
The Packers’ defensive coordinator deployed an extra rusher on seven of Favre’s 25 dropbacks — 28 percent, up from 17.2 on Oct. 5. But with the exception of one ball ILB Nick Barnett knocked out of the veteran’s hand, Favre sliced and diced, completing 5 of 7 passes for 59 yards and the clinching touchdown against the blitz.
On the Vikings. From Aaron Schatz:
The Vikings are awfully impressive. They've turned into an all-around team this year. Adding Brett Favre is part of that, of course, but the receivers have really improved. Sidney Rice has blossomed, and Percy Harvin is excellent for a rookie. On defense, they're getting on without Antoine Winfield. Their weakest unit now is probably the linebackers, but even they are league average.
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Why Ryan Grant Isn't The Answer
by Mitchell_M on Nov 2, 2009 2:15 PM CST
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Ryan Grant is an enigma of sorts. He is a starting running back in the NFL, yet he is widely regarded as a player with above-average skills at best. He is good at many things, but great at nothing. Even his Scouts Inc. profile from ESPN.com shows how he is simultaneously impressive and limited.
He doesn't have outstanding speed but runs well and has quickness and burst to hit the hole...He has good power to move the pile, but wouldn't be considered an explosive ball carrier...He has adequate hands as a target in the passing game but isn't dangerous in the open field after the catch.
To sum up Ryan Grant's career to this point: "meh." He doesn't have the size of Brandon Jacobs, or the elusiveness of Adrian Peterson, or the power of Michael Turner, or the agility of LaDanian Tomlinson, or the vision of Ronnie Brown, or the afterburner speed of Chris Johnson. He has those things in smaller amounts, but not enough to be considered special.
Despite his rather pedestrian profile, Grant has respectible numbers over his 3-year career: 2654 yards, 15 touchdowns, and a ypc average of 4.3. He has a reputation of being able to produce despite his physical limitations, and that reputation has dubbed him the main rusher on one of the few teams that does not employ a running-back-by-committee.
My question is this: Should Ryan Grant be the lone ball-carrier on the Packers?
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The Fight For First Place: Round Two
by Mitchell_M on Oct 30, 2009 8:41 AM CDT
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Some are calling it the "Game of the Century". Others are calling it the "Hostile Homecoming". Still others are calling it "Favre-Packers v.2.0".
Me? I call it Week 9 of the NFL season.
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