Green Bay Packers' Biggest Strengths and Weaknesses Through First 3 Games

The attention in Green Bay is still focused on Monday night's blown call in front of a national television audience and will be for some time.

When the officials ruled Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate scored a touchdown and safety M.D. Jennings did not come up with the interception, there's nothing the Packers could do.

They currently sit at 1-2 and now have to dig themselves out of a hole.

The Seahawks' game was only one out of three, and there are 13 more to go. With that in mind, here's some of the good and the bad coming out of Green Bay three weeks into the 2012 season.

STRENGTH: Clay Matthews

Through the first two games of the 2012 season, Clay Matthews' six sacks led the NFL.

Held without a sack in Week 3, his six sacks still hold up as best in the NFL.

Even though Matthews was held without a sack against Seattle, his impact was still felt. By putting a quarterback hit on Russell Wilson and forcing three penalties to be called on left tackle Russell Okung, Matthews contributed to a positive defensive performance on Monday.

But it was his play through the first two games of the season that were most impressive. Nearly unstoppable, Matthews got to Alex Smith of the 49ers and Jay Cutler of the Bears three times each and made opposing blockers look silly in the process.

After notching only six sacks all of last season, Matthews is back in a big way.

WEAKNESS: Average Yards Per Pass

There's no doubt the Packers' passing game is out of sync, especially compared to the success they had a season ago.

If there's one statistic that illustrates that point, it's the Packers' average yards per pass.

Currently, quarterback Aaron Rodgers is averaging 6.5 yards per pass attempt, which ranks 27th in the NFL. As a means of comparison, last season Rodgers averaged 9.2 yards per attempt, which ranked first in the NFL.

The league also keeps track of the average gain per pass play, which takes into account the number of times a team attempted to pass, including sacks.

In their first three games of the season, the Packers have gone backwards each contest: They averaged 5.9 yards vs. the 49ers, 5.7 yards against the Bears and 3.9 yards in Seattle.

There's a variety of reasons why the Packers are having a difficult time throwing the ball. For the most part, defenses are doing everything they can to prevent the deep ball with two deep safeties in a Cover 2 look.

As for the Packers, the running game is doing little to take pressure off the pass, the offensive line is giving up far too many sacks, the receivers are dropping balls and Rodgers isn't playing like the MVP he was a year ago.

The struggles of the passing game are probably the biggest reason the Packers aren't putting up outrageous amounts of points like they were in 2011. It's something the Packers have to figure out going forward.

STRENGTH: Special Teams

Special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum was once a reviled figure in Green Bay.

The Packers won a Super Bowl in spite of his unit's ineptitude in 2010. Ever since that time, special teams have been trending upward in Green Bay, mainly behind the play of the specialists themselves.

Kicker Mason Crosby is a perfect five-of-five on field goals this season, including a long of 54 yards.

Meanwhile, punter Tim Masthay's gross punting average might be middle of the pack, but his 10 punts placed inside the 20 lead the NFL and his six fair catches forced are tied for the league lead.

Return-maven Randall Cobb already has a 75-yard punt return to his name this season, and long snapper Brett Goode hasn't had an errant snap in his four-year career.

The play of the season, however, was most definitely the fake field goal for a touchdown on a 4th-and-26 on a toss from holder Masthay to tight end Tom Crabtree that helped lift the Packers to victory against the Bears in Week 2.

There aren't going to be many complaints in Green Bay if the special teams can maintain the same course.

WEAKNESS: Pass Protection

Aaron Rodgers has been sacked 16 times so far in 2012, four more times than any other quarterback in the NFL.

The brunt of the blame lies on the offensive line, but it doesn't stop there.

It was evident Rodgers hung onto the ball too long on several of the eight sacks he endured in the first half of the Seahawks game alone. Even John Kuhn appeared at fault for one sack.

The offensive line, however, especially tackles Bryan Bulaga and Marshall Newhouse, have had more than their fair share of difficulties.

Bulaga, in particular, has been disappointing this season. For a player hailed as a potential Pro Bowler by head coach Mike McCarthy during the offseason, more was expected from the Packers right tackle who gave up notable sacks against Bruce Irvin in Seattle and didn't impress in the first two games of the season either.

Over on the left side, Newhouse hasn't been a disaster. He actually held up surprisingly well against Aldon Smith and Justin Smith of the 49ers in Week 1, but then gave up several sacks to Julius Peppers and Chris Clemons in Weeks 2 and 3, respectively.

If the passing game is going to improve in Green Bay, all aspects of pass protection—from the offensive line to the complementary players like running backs and the tight ends and even the quarterback play—must get better.

STRENGTH: Personnel Changes in Secondary

With a short turnaround from Week 1 to Week 2, when the Packers had Sunday game followed by a Thursday game, defensive coordinator Dom Capers could have stood pat in the secondary with Jarrett Bush and M.D. Jennings playing prominent roles.

Instead, Capers made a move to insert Sam Shields as the starter at cornerback and rookie Jerron McMillian as the nickel and dime safety. Not only that, he made second-round draft choice Casey Hayward the dimeback ahead of Bush.

The Packers defense hasn't looked back since.

After having a rough go of it in the season opener, the Packers' pass defense has put together back-to-back solid games.

One week after intercepting Jay Cutler three times and holding Chicago to 74 net yards passing, the Packers' secondary had a similarly positive effort against Seattle, limiting Russell Wilson to a less than 50-percent completion rate and 111 net yards passing.

Despite the outcome of the Seahawks game, this is unit heading in the right direction.

WEAKNESS: Finger Pointing in Secondary

For the most part the Packers defensive backfield has played well, but they haven't been infallible.

In Week 1 against the 49ers, the Packers gave up an early touchdown pass to Randy Moss. After the play, safety Morgan Burnett appeared to be motioning to fellow safety M.D. Jennings to cover a soft spot in the Packers' zone.

Then in Week 3, cornerback Tramon Williams gave up a 41-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate and was pointing at safety Charles Woodson, who had to respect the Seahawks' tight end running down the middle of the field.

There have been bigger problems on the Packers other than the play of Burnett and Williams, but the finger pointing in the secondary makes it look as if the players are trying to pass the blame. That's not helping a unit that needs some unity.

To gain trust in each other, communication issues will have to improve.

STRENGTH: Making Halftime Adjustments

Monday night was the epitome of making halftime adjustments that key a second-half turnaround for the Packers.

In the first half of the Seahawks game, the Packers ran 27 total offensive snaps. Among them, 24 were designed passing plays and only three were running plays.

There was no balance between the pass and the rush, and the Seahawks were able to tee off on Packers by getting an incredible eight sacks in one half of play.

In the second half, the Packers made a much more concerted effort to run the ball, and not counting Cedric Benson's two rushes from deep in Green Bay's own territory late in the game, he had 50 yards on 13 second-half carries, which would have been a respectable––though not impressive––3.8 yards per rush.

As a result, the Packers' play-action passing game worked. Green Bay was able to score on three different drives: one touchdown and two field goals. Confidence was brimming.

The performance in the Seahawks game was particularly notable, but the Packers have outscored opponents 37 to 31 in the second half their first three games combined. Some will ask why Mike McCarthy doesn't make changes earlier.

WEAKNESS: Slow Starts and Digging Holes

The Packers are notoriously slow starters, both at the start of the game and after halftime.

Through the first three games of the 2012 season, the Packers have yet to score any points in the first quarter.

In the third quarter, they can only boast of a solitary field goal scored during Week 3.

These slow starts are creating holes the Packers must dig themselves out of, and that's never a good thing. If the deficit is too big, that means the Packers will have to pass the football in order to play catch up and probably take too many chances like they did in the 49ers game.

To their credit, the Packers have done a good job of making comebacks, but by they're not doing themselves any favors by being slow out of the gate.

STRENGTH: Rookies

The play of rookie defensive backs Casey Hayward and Jerron McMillian was highlighted earlier, but they're joined by several other draft choices on the defensive side of the football that have made an impact for the Packers.

In Week 2 against the Chicago Bears, defensive linemen Jerel Worthy and Mike Daniels were each credited with the first sacks of their career.

In Week 3 against the Seahawks, outside linebacker Nick Perry had probably his best performance as a professional by notching his first sack as well.

Along with Dezman Moses, all the rookies on the Packers defense have been holding their own thus far. No one is playing at a Pro Bowl level yet, but they don't have to in order to be successful. They just have to keep improving and pulling their own weight.

WEAKNESS: Underachieving Receivers

For a unit hailed as one of the best in the NFL, the receivers on the Packers have done little of note so far in 2012.

Both tight end Jermichael Finley and James Jones have had issues hanging onto the football.

Greg Jennings has averaged a paltry 6.3 yards per catch. Jordy Nelson has yet to score a single touchdown after getting to the end zone 15 times a year ago.

Donald Driver is barely seeing the field.

It hasn't been all negative so far. The receivers have made some nice catches and converted some difficult first downs.

But through three games, the bad is outweighing the good.