Packers facing big challenge

The Dallas Cowboys bring the NFL’s number one offense to Lambeau Field tonight in an early season conference showdown. The Packers and Cowboys are both playoff teams from a year ago but since then the expectations have gone in drastically different directions. The Cowboys are expected to go to the Super Bowl this and the Packers were expected to not make the playoffs. After two weeks of the season it seems little has changed from last year. The Packers and Cowboys are one-two, tonight will determine who is number one.

I like the Packers in a shootout. I don’t think the Packers’ defense can stop the Cowboy’s offense, and vice-versa. Packers 38, Cowboys 34.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 21st, 2008 at 6:23 pm and is filed under Al Davis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Cody

    If our run defense plays this bad in the second half, I’m going to be sick.

  • Oconomowockid

    The run defense is lacking in a big way!! We need some additional effort by the offense with some long drives. Our D is going to be worn out if we cannot keep the Dallas offense off the field. Let’s hope for some adjustments at half time..

  • zach

    Wow. Earth to McCarthy…Barber is running all over your team. I expect adjustments with about 3 minutes left in the 4th.

    Dallas DB’s must be all over our wideouts. AR can’t seem to find anyone open, and then the pocket collapses.

    Not good.

  • Oconomowockid

    The offense has been invisible!! They have made it real tough for the D. I am surprised by lack of intensity on the offense. There seems to be no sense of urgency.

  • CheesyD

    This game was lost in the trenches… on both sides of the ball. No D-line, no pass rush, no pass protection, no holes opened for our running backs.

  • Mel e Mel

    THIS ONE IS ON MCCARTHY!!! Dallas has not changed any since last game and he could not adjust. Tony Moll and Daryn College are fine against Detroit but not against the NFC team in Texas. Barbre and Sitton Now Please. No Starting Safety and no Throwing to the Tight End Position?? THe Defense took away T.O. which about all you can ask. The Good news is They wont see a team this good until the playoffs.
    I live in Florida and I will say it first. Tampa is just a so so team. The Bears and Vikes are awful and so heal up beat the Bucs.

  • Cody

    Well, after the anger i felt when we were down 27-9 subsided (after we scored), i feel pretty good about our team for this year. This was the big test for Rodgers, and he passed with a solid B. He held the ball to long on a couple of plays, and only overthrew 2 recievers that i saw (which is great for the pressure he was facing!) Our pass defense was amazing, and we would have won that game had Al Harris been in because that whats his name reciever would not have done squat against him! The injuries are what bothered me; collins, barnet, harris… not good. Our run defense was down right terrible, they could not stop jack diddly.
    We should have run more early on, but it was not like we couldn’t move the ball on there defense, but Donald Lee should have been involved much earlier then the fourth quarter.
    All in all, Rodgers did well, our pass defense did well, and we had no problem running the ball, we just didn’t do it enough. So there is much good to look for in this team, do not let this one eat at you. We have a must win in Tampa next week, lets pray that we have a good gameplan.

  • http://Orlando Mark

    Problems with the run defense, return game, playcalling. I guess we miss Bigby and what happened to James Jones. As a measuring stick either the Cowboys improved or we are worse than last year, and I’m not talking about QB. I’m sure the O-line can get better, maybe Rouse too. Another tough game next week but an opportunity to get back on track.

  • matt

    The defensive line played excellent. Cullen Jenkins and Johnny Jolly were outstanding. Pickett was a rock. They were able to rush the passer better in the second half. The linebackers didn’t make their fits in the run defense and were the weak link. Hawk remains a force. I love his physical play. He was awesome.

    I am pleased that Tramon Williams held up so well. He looked confident and sure of himself out there.

    Al Harris has been an outstanding player since we acquired him from Philly. He is on the downside, however. I don’t think he will play at an elite level again and we need to transition to Blackmon and Williams. Both are growing into the role and should be solid.

    The reason the Packers lost is because of their offensive line. The interior couldn’t run-block and the tackles were atrocious in the passing game. I haven’t seen a worse game from the tackles in quite some time. We would have won if Rodgers had more time, and we could have run the ball somewhat. I thought when McCarthy abandoned the run for a few series in the first half, he should have given the ball to Lumpkin. Lumpkin could have gained yards on some runs in the interior.

    If I was in Ted Thompson’s position, I would do whatever I could to draft a top-flight OT in the upcoming draft. It is imperative to get a least a starting guard in the first round like we did with Aaron Taylor. Our offensive line is adequate for many teams, but we need better players there.

    McCarthy really needs to find balance with the run and the pass. Sometimes he completely abandons the run and goes to a four-receiver set. Other times he runs the ball predictably and seems to want to prove a point to his lineman. One of the advantages of a four-receiver set is to mix it in with a running game and hope to catch the defense in the wrong package.

  • cali cheeez

    Three big plays, really it was three big plays. Overall I thought we stayed with them. The two passes and the one TD run. Our pass protection was our strong point last year,tonight it sucked . I was impressed with B. Jackson though, and what happened to tempo. Last year we went with a faster tempo, I think that would’ve helped slow down their D- line. The O-line didn’t give Aaron or our receivers enough time to get down field. Yeah the D-line gave some yards but they also hit them for some losses, just that big run really hurt. I think most of all our inexperience showed tonight, too many penalties again! Even though the DB’s gave up the two big passes I don’t think they had many penalties and for us that’s huge. Tuff loss but our young guys will learn and get better. GO PACK GO

  • TRIP

    They scored 27 points, that was to be expected. But they weren’t too explosive and they kept their offense on the field. That was the problem. The problem was we could not establish half their running game, we didn’t give our defense the chance to rest. So beyond scoring field goals instead of TDs early on, our offense was lacking on that front. It’s Game 3, and the youngest team in football has a lot to learn and more to perfect, but there’s plenty of time. We were definitely spoiled last year with a 13-3 surprise season, but a 10-6 season this year is successful, and we still can do better than that. Have that running game was essential to ssutaining success and this game would have been very winnable had we had fluidity running the ball. Rematch in the playoffs?

    GO PACK!

    P.S. Remember we crushed the Giants in Week 2 and they got us in the NFC Championship game! There’s a lot of football to play and a lot of time to get things in order.

  • Larry

    Well, for some reason, we didnt seem ready for this game. With all my support for the staff I dont think we were coached up. Injuries were a factor but the experience factor sure showed up for both teams. Surprising, I guess, but the problem sure wasnt at QB. The DL played. Somehow, the tats are sucking Coolidge’s strength. Would be too early to start talking about 09 draft but PLEEZE, OT maybe but not OG in 1st RND.

  • AllAboutThePack

    I saw some good things but I also saw some things that made me cringe a little. I also realize we were missing a big hitter in Atari Bigby in the secondary. Collins impressed me when he came flying across the field to catch that receiver that was running open down the middle of the field – looked like an easy TD and Collins caught him before he got into the end zone. That was encouraging to know we have that kind of speed in the secondary. Barber is a beast, no matter how you cut it, but he still got way to many yards.

    I blame McCarthy a little more then I blame the OL. We were getting yards in the running game but moved completely away from the run. So the defense started pinning their ears back to get after Rodgers instead of worrying about the run at all. We had all but abandoned the run – I like that Rodgers decided to run with the ball a couple of times just to try and keep that defense honest. But the reality is, we didn’t run the ball enough. We got down by 4 and McCarthy seemed to think we needed to get the lead back before we ran the ball again. Seems like he lost his patience with the run.

    The gadget play kind of pissed me off a little in the 4th quarter – we were moving the ball in the no huddle and walking down the field, why put in an play like that? We did get pressure on Romo which is good and caused him to make a couple of mistakes. The key is to keep the pressure on, but our defense was beat down and on the field for a long time.

    It was a good showing essentially but I still think there needs to be some tape watched by the coaching staff so they can see that they’re not doing our offense any favors with some of that play calling.

    AR has good arm strength and besides holding the ball a couple of times, seemed to be right on the mark. Probably needed to do a few more audibles to adjust to McCarthy’s play calling though ;) T.O. was a non-factor and anything that shuts him up is a plus. They were winning and he was still moping around the sidelines – love it!

  • Reid

    I agree with CheesyD, we lost in the trenches. They had a much better running game and pass rush. I didn’t realize Ware was that good, no one could block him.

    Whatever happened to using a screen pass or draw play against that pass rush? Maybe we were getting a little full of ourselves and this will be a slap in the face.

  • paul

    You people are focusing on the defense. Our offese went 3 and out, 4 and out, 3 and out, over and over and over. Rogers had Driver open in the endzone and ran out of bounds. We cannot keep kicking field goals against a team like the Cowboys. Give a good offense like that the ball at midfield 10 times, they are going to score. Any other defense would have had 55 or more scored on them. Rodgers had happy feet because he had no time. He left the pocket too soon many times and we gave up on the run too soon. I felt bad for the defense. T.O 2 catches, but they are going to find someone IF YOU KEEP GIVING THEM THE BALL. And for punt/kick returns, I would like to see the NFL statistics on yards gained taking into account the illegal block in the back, holding, etc. It would be best to have your returner down it or call fair catch every time as there is a penalty 2/3 of the time….in all of the games. AAAAHHHH!

  • Oconomowockid

    I was not as impressed as a few of you were with game last night. I thought the defense did an average job, for as much as they were on the field they probably even performed slightly better than I would have guessed. We knew Dallas was going to score points. I would have just expected us to do more on offense. We could not seem to get much seperation from our receivers and Aaron was not as accurate as he has he had been in the first two games. The pass rush from Dallas was tough, but you have to find a way to rollout and make some passes downfield. The continued 3 and out performances by the offense eventually wore out the defense.

    The dink and dunk passes in the fourth quarter was especially hard for me to understand. It was great for stats but did little for getting us back in the game. At some point you have to pass down field and give 4 yard completions a break. Those passes are great when you are ahead in the game or when it is close and you have plenty of time. When you are down by 3 scores, they don’t get you close enough, fast enough. I felt like the last 10 minutes of the game was like giving like we threw in the towel. I don’t think this was one of MM’s better games calling plays.

    We should win the game against the Bucs, but injuries could begin to cause us problems. Let’s hope we have few serious injuries and we have a good week of practice.

  • IC Cyclone Fan

    I love the divergent “takes” on the game; everybody has a different opinion on where the break-downs took place. My opinion is much more simple; Dallas is a better team from top-to-bottom. If you did checkmarks in columns unit by unit, the only “advantage” I give the Packers is Placekicker (Crosby > Folk). Our LB’s and DB’s would appear to have an advantage on paper, but I didn’t see it that way last night. The depth of our receiving corps appears to be advantageous, but it’s hard to give us the edge with Owens and especially Witten on their side of the ledger. In short, I think the Cowboys are simply the better team and a likely Superbowl participant unless they get hammered with injuries. Fortunately, the Packers have plenty of room for improvement and fourteen weeks to do so! Go Pack!!!

  • JeffN

    Tough loss, the season is long. We got beat by a better team and there is nothing the Pack could of done differently to win a against an opponent of The Cowboys calibur in my opinion. You can call different plays or change scheme but when the other team just beats everything you throw at them that just means their a better team.

    Yes we did loose on the offense and defensive line which equates to Dallas being a better team right now. Note the key words being “right now”. Things will be different 10 or 13 games down the road. I don’t know if that means the Pack will catch up to Dallas or not but things will be different come play off time. Think about where the Giants were at this time last year and where they were at around superbowl time last year.

    Maybe this was a good wake up call. Man it’s tough to loose a game. There will be many more wins to be happy about this season, let’s just think about that.

  • JeffN

    IC Cyclone, I agree it’s nice to see everyone’s take on the game. It’s really nice to have a place to talk about football with everyone. That will make me feel better for about the next 5 min until the Pack puts up a win next week.

  • Pete H

    JeffN…nail on the head…Give Rodgers some time to have seen some these things before. He really seemed taken off guard by the corner blitzes and rattled for much of the second half. I also agree that they had 2 seperate schemes. It seemed to either be throw on every down or run on every down. Cowboys knew what was coming by the second half and no adjustments were made. I think the defense played really well for the most part. The Jones TD run was a great play call and as soon as the ball was handed off he was essentially gone. The defense of the td pass was horrendous. Rouse slowed up and Williams was out of position. Simply put the D cannot be on the field that long against guys like Barber. Thats what he does best is wear you down and hammer away. Didn’t fail the litmus test completely, but clearly overmatched at this point….we”l hopefully see again in January.

  • Maxaz1

    Matt Says ???The defensive line played excellent. Cullen Jenkins and Johnny Jolly were outstanding. Pickett was a rock. They were able to rush the passer better in the second half. The linebackers didn’t make their fits in the run defense and were the weak link. Hawk remains a force. I love his physical play. He was awesome.

    What What What game were you watching. Hawk was missing in action again. Always in the wrong place. They scored a lot of points. No defense. We look good against losers like the Vikes and Lions. Its going to be a fight to beat out the Bears. NO help from this years draft with the exception of Jordy. Hope for 9-7, but expect 8-8.

  • JeffN

    The Pack is better than an 8-8 or 9-7 team. They played the best team in the NFC this week possibly the best team in the NFL. It’s hard to take a loss like that but don’t let yourself get down and think they are an average team. We will see the Pack dominate plenty of games this year during the regular season. It’s only week 3 and there is going to be a lot more wins than losses coming up.

  • Roy Jamison

    The Cowboys are the class of the NFC. So far. The Pack still needs improvement on both O and D line play. To watch the over 200 of running yards is tough to take. Hate to say this, but it reminded me of how the Broncos beat the Pack in the Super Bowl. Remember Darius Holland? It looked like the guys on that side were getting blocked out and outplayed consistently. DeMarcus Ware had a great game and made our linebackers look really bad. I hate the Pokes but they are clearly the better team at this point in time.

  • cali cheeez

    Sorry Max I think you’re being a bit too negative, A J made some mistakes but he also made some great plays. I saw Barber blasting through the line with full mo and A J met him head on and stopped him cold at least twice. The pass on Williams was just a great play. The receiver slowed down to hold back TW and then made the play on the ball, thats why TW was asking for a flag for a pushoff. Our defence played well but three big plays and of course Witton killed us again on third down.8-8, gimmie a break or better yet a brew. There’s only a couple other games that scare me, the Titans game and maybe the Jags. With Al Harris maybe being out for the year I guess also now the Colts. But I said it before the game and I’ll say it now our O-line has got to get it’s sheeeit together to be able to move on into the playoffs. The season is young and so are we. GO PACK GO

  • cali cheeez

    Also it’s to see some mature and relatively intelligent debate on this board, not the sad and old TT, MM, Farve love/hate bashing on the others. Oh and just for the hell’of it if we had randy moss we would have won the game………NOT!!!!!!!!

  • Mel e Mel

    Anyone blaming the Defense for this doesnt know the game. The defense won the turnover battle , Shut TO and sacked Romo 3 times more than anyone has all year. Thats about all you can ask. If you saw Dallas last week they scored at will against Philly you dont get points for yards only Touchdowns.

  • Larry

    You’re absolutely right! Bob Sanders is receiving one hell of a lot of undeserved heat right now.