Watching the scrimmage between the Packers and the Bills last evening reminded me of watching one of those “Jason” movies. I saw a lot of characters wearing green and gold absolutely killed, and in the end there was no sense of satisfaction or vengeance. The Packers were out classed in every aspect of the scrimmage. Their offensive line was consistently backed into the pocket leaving quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Craig Nall running for the nearest whistle. The defense looked no better than last year, though at this stage of the season I suppose could indicate an improvement. Only place to go is up, right?
Here’s the breakdown by positions:
Quarterbacks:
Brett Favre opened the show leading the first team offense, and although he wasn’t close to sharp, he played well. Favre was 7 -13 and threw three TD’s during a red zone drill. His arm looked, how shall I put this, relaxed? Favre did pedestrian work and gave way to Rodgers, who never really got anything going. Mind you, this was not his fault. Two of his passes were dropped, and he was sacked three times. Craig Nall was uneventful, and J.T. O’Sullivan looked small and out of place. I suspect O’Sullivan won’t make the next round of cuts.
Receivers:
Driver and Walker were quiet. Walker broke open on a deep route but was overthrown by Favre. Driver had one reception for 16 that included a nice run after the catch. Robert Ferguson did not catch a pass. Punt Returner / Receiver Andre Chatman had two receptions, but dropped two easy passes and did not adjust his route on two hot reads by Rodgers. Tight End Ben “Butterfingers” Steel made 2 easy catches look difficult and scored a TD on each.
Running Backs:
Davenport was hurt on his second run and did not return. According to Sherman, he didn’t realize Najeh was out. "I'm not exactly sure when that happened. I was unaware of it until I was calling for him and realized he couldn't go in," Sherman said. Ahman Green looked solid and managed to hold on to the ball. William Henderson and Nick Luchey looked OK out of the full back position.
O-Line.
Be afraid, be very afraid. I saw more Sam Adams in the Packers backfield than I usually do in St. Ides’s refrigerator. Favre’s going to second guess his decision to continue playing if this situation does not improve.
Defense:
Jim Bates has not finished installing his defensive scheme. I hope. Although there was some improved tackling, the defense didn’t look much different than last year’s version. Bates’s running defense attempts to contain the runners to the middle of the field. The Bills backs figured this out quickly and countered by running plays into the middle, then bouncing the backs around the pile for big gains. The secondary picked up where they left off last year leaving players uncovered for huge receptions. It’s only August 6th, right? I’ll be fine.
Odds and ends
Mike Sherman looked like (in Karen’s words) a broken man. We couldn’t help but notice the tremendous amount of weight that Sherman gained this off season. Every time they’d show him Karen would go “Wow! Look at his ass!” It was hard to miss. One of Sherman’s ass cheeks looked like two of Donald Drivers. It was also hard to miss Jim Bates, all fit and trim with a fresh hair dye and a newly grown mustache.
Sherman is in the last year of his contract and clearly his ego has taken a huge hit. Stripped of his GM duties, Sherman looks like he’s taken out his frustration on the nearest side of beef he could get his hands on. He doesn’t look healthy. He needs to take control of his life, check his ego at the door and get in shape soon.
Or else this job will kill him.
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