I think we (or maybe just I) really underestimated TJ Ward

[DirtyDawg]

Originally Posted by Shep

Yeah, I didn't have the feed for long but he just looks like a player out there.

So what was wrong with out pass defense, you think? Seems like Rodgers was having a little too much fun out there.

As is typical, Rodgers was just super accurate with his throws. On several plays, the coverage was fine but Rodgers made a perfect throw. Bernie Kosar seemed to feel that despite the scoring, the d looked good.

[NDneighbor]

Originally Posted by Riffer X

We are talking maybe the best passing offense in football here in GB

In both points/game and total points (2009 reg. season) GB finished third after New Orleans and Minnesota.

[Danamal]

at twenty three seconds he hits his man high and still brought him down,he knows how to finish a tackle,barring injury this kid is a Pro Bowler.

[Solon16]

Love the quick reads and instincts....LOVE IT!

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Riffer X

I think they may have taken a different approach had it been regular season, but they seemed to want to find out who could cover. They blitzed, but I'm not sure with a sense of urgency but more to leave guys on an island and see how it went. Overall, the coverage was tight but Rodgers was just lights out.

Haden looked good and had really tight coverage for the most part. Ward was burned on a TD from a perfect pass but his coverage was excellent (an outside go route when Haden blitzed) and he even got his hands up.

We are talking maybe the best passing offense in football here in GB, so I am not concerned from what I saw. There was one time when Brown let his guy get by but it may have been a miscommunication. My issue was he didn't hustle very much to get to the ball after the catch. I will chalk it up to him being a vet and it being preseason, but overall I am not concerned about the pass D.

The rush D was way better and Gocong had some nice sticks. I did not like Maiava once again, as there were times he got wrapped up with lineman on crossing routes and removed himself from plays. I am certain they are going to do something different than Barton and Maiava for DQJ.

Sorenson got a bad call on an interference in the end zone, Ventrone dropped a pick and Haden had a pick stripped. However, this D seems to be more about creating turnovers than in the past. Bmac had a pick to end the half and a nice return.

Good analysis Riff! This subject is in a few different threads and I had a similar answer on another thread. When we watch the full game in it's entirety on the NFL channel - we can pause the screen and find haden right on the hip of the receiver in so many perfect throws we weren't putting time constraints on from our scheme.

My biggest question regarding all the space I saw in centerfield was about the ILBs getting back to the right depths in their hook zones. If not - it explains the hollow areas I saw alot or it's possible we had some inside X-stunts on where we just weren't getting to our places. I'll look more later tonight when I watch the game I tape today. BTW, Titus Brown seems to be everything we hoped Beau Bell was gonna be at least against the run. I gotta rewatch to see if he was reading pass quick enough to get to his hook zone depths because that's gonna be an important variable for him/us.

After seeing Haden, I have ZERO concerns about his ability to cover anybody in this league. he was right where he was supposed to be on almost every perfect throw. 1 thing we HVAE to remember is Rodgers was the most sacked QB in pro football last year (51 times) so when he gets the time he had on Saturday - it's gonna be surgical precision. I think it was a PERFECT opponent to test some cover skills without masking things with an aggressive pass rush. At least we were hitting hard enough for Green Bay to put the ball on the ground 3 times (we rcovered twice).
- Tom F.

[Greythan]

Ward was the most impressive player for me this past Saturday.

I can't help but say that he had the look of a Troy Pollywannahaircut or Bob Sanders:

- Explosive closing speed/angle on tackles
- Aggressive tackling designed to stop guys at point of contact (Leg wrap takedown of Driver!)
- Seemed to be every where

Yes, he got beat on the TD play but was a hand's breadth from breaking that up.

All this in his first live game action against a top fuel offense? Yes, its early but maybe we found a playmaker on the defensive side of the ball. Lord knows, we need one.

[Shep]

Love to hear this about Ward. Great news. Also thrilled about Lauvao. I'll take your words for it on Haden, given the dice job Rodgers did on us.

[mz.]

Originally Posted by Shep

I'll take your words for it on Haden, given the dice job Rodgers did on us.

Again, though, Rodgers does that to everyone. If Bradford shreds our 1st-team pass D this weekend, then let's talk.

[Masters]

Well, when one doesn't watch the game they need to take others word for it. Rogers did pick on Haden, but Rodgers put passes where Haden couldn't get it and only the WR could.

[golfer704u]

Originally Posted by Riffer X

I think they may have taken a different approach had it been regular season, but they seemed to want to find out who could cover. They blitzed, but I'm not sure with a sense of urgency but more to leave guys on an island and see how it went.

I wonder if this became epsecially true once our offense went up 14-0. Much easier to play with blitzes and man coverage in a pre-season game with the lead.

[Shep]

Originally Posted by Masters

Well, when one doesn't watch the game they need to take others word for it. Rogers did pick on Haden, but Rodgers put passes where Haden couldn't get it and only the WR could.

Yeah, I only got some of it on the feed before it cut out. But if I'm "one," I did see quite a bit of Rodgers.

[YtownBacker]

To be fair, there was also Haden's good pass breakup that should have been an int. He also had Driver and Jennings covered a few times and Rogers went to the checkdown. Not too many DBs are going to sit on an island against Rogers and come out on the plus side.

The kid got schooled a bit but he also showed some grit. He's a football player and grow fast. It will be nice to see how he does this week after watching some film and getting the first game under his belt.