Nearing the Quarter-Pole: State of the Green Bay Packers

As the Green Bay Packers near the quarter-pole of their 2011 season, they are off to a solid 3-0 start and sit atop almost any power ranking you can find. However, if you listen closely, you can hear the players and coaches express that they're still not where they want to be yet. 

Given that, let's take a look at five keys on how the Packers can build on their start and keep themselves amongst the NFL's elite class. And please, don't be shy to add your thoughts in the "comments" section, and let me know what I missed. 

Weather the Injuries

To this point, injuries haven't taken the same toll they have as the 2010 squad; however, they are slowly building up at some key positions. 

In the pre-season, the defense lost projected starters in LB Frank Zombo and DE Mike Neal. During the regular season, current victims include OL Bryan Bulaga, RB Ryan Grant and Pro-Bowl S Nick Collins.  Granted, Collins is the only one to this point who seems to be out for the year, but the team is obviously keeping their fingers crossed that they don't have to dial up the IR as much as they did last season. 

Fortunately, the Packers have solid depth and can absorb short-term injuries very well. Also, the coaches have done an admirable job with player deployment to bridge any gaps. For instance, Dom Capers hasn't been afraid to shift Raji to the DE spot to cover for Neal's absence, nor has he been afraid to shift Charles Woodson back to safety in certain packages to make-up for the loss of Collins. 

Injuries are a major concern for any NFL teams, but the Packers have shown the ability to overcome such maladies in the past 13 months. As long as the team can avoid another rash of season-ending injuries, Green Bay should continue to be in good shape for the balance of the season. 

Continued Improvement in the Running Game

As explosive as the Green Bay offense can be, they will still need a balanced attack to keep opposing defenses honest. The passing game is one of the most-feared in the league, but to keep defenses from dropping seven or eight players into coverage, the running game will need to continue to improve.

Through three games, the Packers running backs are ranked 11th in the NFL in yards per attempt and 10th in yards per game. Their backfield committee of James Starks and Ryan Grant have each played strong this year; however, they haven't been able to put it together in the same game to this point.

Starks and Grant each have 32 carries through three games and Grant holds a slight lead in rushing yardage (10 yards). Head coach Mike McCarthy seems to ride the "hot hand" as he did last week against Chicago when Ryan Grant got rolling early. 

Starks is the younger back and seems to have that "burst" that Grant might be losing. Starks also does well in picking up the blitz, which will keep him on the field in passing downs, as well. Given Grant's bruised kidney suffered in Week 3, Starks will be the first RB this season to get the show all to himself.  It will be interested to see if he can show the same prowess that he showed during the Packers 2010 playoff run. 

Also, given the loss of OG Daryn Colledge this offseason and OG Bryan Bulaga to injury, look to see the Packers use more of the "full house" backfield that they've been prone to roll out over the past two seasons. This will take some of the stress off the offensive line and will also open up the play-action passing that the Packers like to use. 

Solidify the Pass Defense

Through three weeks, the Packers are second to last in terms of total passing yards allowed and yards allowed per game. In Weeks 1 and 2, the pass defense allowed 400-yard days to the opposing QB.  Granted, Week 1 was against All-Pro QB Drew Brees, but the second game featured rookie Cam Newton lighting up the secondary. 

Last week, Bears' QB Jay Culter didn't get to 400 yards, but still racked up 302 yards, albeit Chicago was playing from behind the bulk of the game. 

Currently, the Packers seem to be replicating the bend-but-don't-break defense that allows a lot of yards, but doesn't give up a proportional number of points. Obviously, the latter half of that equation is much more important, but the defense can't rely on turnovers and goal line stands to keep winning games in 2011. 

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers is one of the best in the business, and Packer fans trust that he will right the ship over the coming weeks. He missed Tramon Williams in Week 2 and now will be without Nick Collins' services the rest of the year. 

Part of the reason for the high yardage allowed has to do with the front seven, as well. The Packers are currently tied for fourth in the NFL in sacks with 11, but a good amount of the pressure requires Capers to bring a corner blitz which will create matchup problems downfield if the blitzer doesn't get home quickly enough. 

If the front seven can generate pressure on the QB without needing the secondary involved so regularly, the yardage totals should definitely drop soon.   

Pro-Bowl LB Clay Matthews (one sack to date) has been playing regularly against double-teams and needs another player to step up and generate pressure on the QB now that Cullen Jenkins has moved on to Philadelphia. That player was to be Mike Neal, but it sounds like he won't have that opportunity until sometime around the bye week. 

Reduce the Mental Errors

To this point, the Packers are in the middle of the pack in terms of total penalties taken, however, are only 24th worst in total penalty yards taken. What does that typically mean? It means that a good amount of the penalties taken are of the 5-yard variety, which is usually for mental mistakes (false starts, illegal motion, etc).

For as potent as Green Bay can be on offense, no NFL team can afford to continually erase a big gain or create "and long" situations. On defense, they cannot allow the offense free yards with offsides calls or an automatic first down with defensive holding flags (especially if there was just a third-down stop). 

On Sunday in Chicago, a rolling Packers drive was slowed down in the red zone by two penalties and had to settle for a field goal attempt. The Packers are pretty close to the point to where they can really only beat themselves, and this is where the coaching staff needs to come in and, to borrow quotes from Coach McCarthy, "clean it up." 

Solid Special Teams Play

For great NFL teams, one thing they cannot do is to allow opponents big returns and return TDs on special teams. Through three games, the Packers have allowed one touchdown on a punt return and nearly another one against the Bears last week on a trick play that was called back due a holding penalty.

Don't get me wrong, Packers special teams coach Shawn Slocum has guys that he can rely on. P Tim Masthay and K Mason Crosby are solid pieces to a puzzle that now includes dangerous rookie KR/WR Randall Cobb. All three will be contributors for years to come, however, the issues mainly lie in the coverage units. 

In the opener, Saints punter returner Darren Sproles took a Masthay punt back for a touchdown and stole the momentum from the Packers until Randall Cobb turned right around with a kickoff return TD of his own. The aforementioned Bears near-TD was more of a mental collapse than a gaffe in coverage, but it still highlights the Packers inconsistent coverage units.

With the Packers deep roster, they have the athletes who can play special teams, and it really just comes down to a matter of coaching and discipline. Coach McCarthy and Slocum are sure to address these issues and make sure the return gaps are closed before they open.