After the months of drama, many Packer fans felt the same way as Aaron Rodgers. It was good to finally see actual football being played.
The Packers' first team impressed those outside the Green Bay fanbase and confirmed opinions of those in it. Fans that watched the incredible season last year knew why the Packers were so dangerous.
From the physical play of the receivers, to the dominant defense, there were many reasons besides Favre that were why the Packers triumphed in '07. Monday night was just a continuation of that.
Packer fans cheered ecstatically as James Jones pulled off his "fairly manly" touchdown. Hell, even Mike McCarthy managed to crack a smile. That was just the cherry on top, as the rest of receiving corps manhandled the Bengals' secondary.
Before the touchdown, Donald Driver high-stepped his way past a defender, then forearmed another out of his shoes. Ruvell Martin continued his impressive offseason with a catch over a defender and squeezed out several more yards after a broken tackle.
The defense was just as relentless. A.J. Hawk prevented a first down by knocking a ball out of a receiver's hand. Backup Tramon Williams stripped "Ocho Cinco" himself of a catch.
Oh yes, it was exciting to watch.
There was definitely room for improvement, as there will be with every preseason game. Here are a few things I will be looking for during the 'Niners game on Saturday. As with every preseason game, it is about individual performances.
Blitzing
One thing I had heard throughout the offseason was how the defense had practiced blitzing more and more. Not only did I notice a lack of blitzing, pressure was hard to come by at all. I would love to see how the Packers can pull of the blitz, something I thought they needed last year.
Rookies stepping up
Jordy Nelson is going to have a hard time overcoming the stellar receivers in front of him, but he still is putting it all out on the line. I love that. The two guys I am going to really keep an eye on, though, are Patrick Lee and Matt Flynn.
Lee can step up in the absence of Harris and Woodson and fight for the nickel spot. There is quite the competition between Williams, Blackmon, Bush, and Lee, and a couple of impressive games would go a long way.
Flynn looked more poised than Brohm, making better decisions and is evidently challenging him for the No. 2 spot. Shots down the field are what seemed to be a weakness, with only one pass over 10 yards.
Follow-up performances
1 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Kyle Latimer 10 months ago
a little off on the prediction for the 49ers game...haha
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