Packers vs. Seahawks – First Impressions 2014 Game One

Packers Seahawks

Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks:  2014 Game 1

 

GAME NOTES:

Two years later, the Packers return to the scene of the Fail Mary to take on the Super Bowl Champion Seahawks.

Last week, my Mike McCarthy said, ““I don’t know if I’ve felt this good coming out of the preseason as I do tonight.” His feelings will get a major test tonight.

Will the faster, more aggressive defense (modeled after the Seahawks) have the kind of success that is expected on paper?

All that No Huddle and hand signals practice will be put to good use tonight.

When was the last time the Packers voluntarily dressed only 4WR for a game? Heavy dose of Eddie Lacy tonight?

 

Today’s captains for the Packers will be QB Aaron Rodgers (offense), LB Julius Peppers (defense) and CB Jarrett Bush (special teams).

 

Inactives for today’s game:

Green Bay PackersGreen Bay Packers
16 QB Scott Tolzien
39 CB Demetri Goodson
54 LB Carl Bradford
64 DT Mike Pennel
83 WR Jeff Janis
86 TE Brandon Bostick
91 LB Jayrone Elliott

 

Seattle Seahawks
27 CB Tharold Simon
33 RB Christine Michael
58 LB Kevin Pierre-Louis
81 WR Kevin Norwood
84 TE Cooper Helfet
88 WR Phil Bates
98 DE Greg Scruggs

 

 

Mike McCarthy Pregame Show on 620 WTMJ:

This year’s camp: Based on our facts and evaluation, our production coming out of training camp is as high as it’s ever been.

Continual prep for that first game: The reality is, when you game plan, you won’t be able to run everything in your first game, so there’s always carry over to the next game. We purposely kepth things a little light tonight – noise

Randall Cobb: We had to adjust our philosophy on special teams. Randall had a huge impact on special teams when he was back there. We’re just getting our best people on the field

Concern for Linsley: Oh, I’m not concerned, I’m excited for Corey – he’s well prepared for this football game.

Peppers on D: Excited to see our defense, the combinations we can play with Peppers, can’t wait to see what we can do.

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Packers vs. Seahawks – First Impressions – First Half:

Seattle wins the toss and defers. Let the noise begin!

DuJuan Harris takes the opening kickoff 5 yards deep in the end zone. No hesitation on his part, but Seahawks are down field super fast to bring him down at the 13 yard line.

Lacy looking good… so they switch to Starks?  Anyway, would like to see Lacy tuck the ball in a little better. Almost had it knocked out from behind on his 15yd scamper.

Clinton-Dix shows he can close quickly, running down Russel Wilson and pushing him out of bounds for no gain.

Roughing the punter, dropped interception, and almost too many men on the field on 4th and one. Despite all that, defense looked pretty good, especially the secondary.

Since Seattle does not move their corners, Packers letting Richard Sherman have his fun with #3 WR Jarret Boykin, with Jordy Nelson staying on the opposite side.

Mike Daniels in the backfield and John Kuhn with a great second and third effort to get into the end zone.  I like Kuhn with a lead blocker a lot better than the dive play.

Bulaga is really flexing that extra strength he added over the last year. Crushed a few guys that last drive. #Packers

 

Score at end of 1st quarter:     GB 7 SEA 3

Any kind of misdirection the Seahawks are running is working…

Not more than a minute after I write that, Seattle fakes out most of the Packers defense (Shields especially) with a read option (yeah that again) and score. 80 yards, six plays.

Bulaga and Richard Rodgers both writhing around on the ground – on to the commercials!!! Pure torture…

One piece of advice for the #Packers running  backs – take the hole that’s there. Any time you try to get fancy vs this D, you go nowhere. They pursue and tackle as well as anybody.

Packers LB crew getting eaten up. Lynch / Harvin having a field day getting into the secondary.

Uncanny how the #Packers save their penalties for the worst possible times…always canceling out a positive play. Jones with illegal contact, cancelling a Peppers/Matthews sack.

 

Score at end of 1st half:   GB 10 SEA 17

 

Packers vs. Seahawks – First Impressions – Second Half:

Packers open the half with a stop, but only when the Seahawks stop giving the ball to Lynch.  Seahawks do the Packers a huge favor every time they don’t hand off to Lynch. Pass rush and pass defense has been good.

And… first play of the Packers’ drive, interception off the hands of Nelson. Seahawks first and goal at the eight yard line. Packers hold them to a field goal – huge.

Don’t quite understand the Packers love affair with Letroy Guion. Very pedestiran for the Vikings, only 10 days of practice and here he is starting.

Would love to see some snaps for Jamari Lattimore in this game…

Sherrod, playing well for Bulaga, gives up a sack as the Packers go for it on 4th and 5 on the Seattle 45. Was exactly what Sherrod showed problems with in preseason – speed rushers.

Packers D holds. Tramon Williams looking very solid tonight, as is the whole secondary.

Sherrod waves the red blanket and says, “Ole!” Sack, fumble, safety, penalty, all on one play. Did they miss anything?

Sack, fumble, safety, penalty, all on one play. Did they miss anything?

 

Score at end of 3rd quarter:   GB 10 SEA 22

James Starks doing a nice job making something out of nothing.

Brad Jones again with a holding penalty – this time nullifies a big 3rd down stop. He’s had a horror of a game.

Will have to watch again to be sure, but my impression is Mike Daniels has had a quiet game.

Collingsworth, “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen Packers players break into the backfield and just be unable to make a tackle”. That hurts – ’cause it’s true.

Packers are made to look simply foolish. Seattle with a 4th and one, play action, another uncovered receiver TD.

Seattle, unfortunately, was what I though they were. Too good for the Packers. At least in week 1.

Lacy has concussion-like symptons. Joy…

 

Final Score:  GB 16 SEA 36

 

Final Thoughts:

Packers did themselves no favors, but no doubt, Seahawks the far better team tonight. Out-played and out-coached the Packers. Thoroughly.

Looking for positives. Packers pass defense has been very good. Packers pass rush is definitely improved. Corey Linsley was fine. Crosby was perfect. I think that’s it.

If Jamari Lattimore has not earned the right to play, you can be sure Brad Jones has compromising nude pics of the coaching staff.

To me, Julius Peppers looks best used as situational pass rusher. Seemed a bit slow to react when not rushing the passer.

Michelle Tafoya is by far my favorite sideline reporter.

 

 

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Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.

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33 thoughts on “Packers vs. Seahawks – First Impressions 2014 Game One

  1. Whole lotta work to do. I could have lived with a competitive loss, but as I said earlier tonight, the Packers took what the Seahawks gave them, and Seattle took what it wanted from the Packers.
    Disappointing.

  2. Packer fans, we have a problem. If this is the result of one of the Packers best training camps, I don’t want to see the team after a bad camp.
    Defense still can’t tackle. We learned that we can’t stop the run. Brad Jones needs to be benched at least, preferably cut. Collingsworth summed up the defensive effort best, “Ameba this”, perfect comment about the Packers defense tonight. Pass rush looked improved but that’s about it. Seattle offense could do basically anything they wanted to do.
    On offense, we have problems if Bulaga has a serious injury. Also, I thought that Rodgers was very tentative for most of the game.
    Fortunately, it’s only one game and the Packers have 10 days to figure out “What the hell is going on out there?” Very disappointing performance no matter how you slice it. Top it off, Lacy may have another concussion. This team has a lot of work to do. Thanks, Since ’61

    1. This time I will say I agree with you. I would like to add that Mike Pennel would be much better than Letroy Guion. This will not work. I think Josh and Mike are better players…

  3. That. Was. Ugly. I still think they’ll win the division, but this team is NOT elite right now.

    I’m really concerned about the DL being so light in the pants. Yeah- the pass rush looked better but when you give up 2 bills on the ground it doesn’t matter. For the 3rd time in 3 straight big games, ARod has looked very “Favre-ian” (ugh)

    The OL looked great until Bulaga went down. And oh yeah…Oy. Injuries. Just…sigh…

  4. Pretty much agree. Burnett and Brad Jones looked horrid. Rest of the secondary looked good, but it would be nice to hold onto interceptions. Neither Datone nor Daniels looked good against the run, but it is Seattle. Guion looked up and down to me. Boyd also got pushed around some. Can’t use Peppers as a situational pass rusher if you are getting gashed in the run game and are behind. Sherrod had a rough game. He would be okay for a while and then have some whiffs. Bakhtiari also was up and down. Not very many running lanes when GB ran to the left (or to the right after Bulaga was hurt). Most good runs went between the tackles. Linsley looked pretty good. Not too many times when Rodgers couldn’t step up into the pocket, and the OGs and Linsley did some damage on running plays up the middle.Receivers didn’t get much separation. Not much out of the TEs. Seattle’s LB Wagner is fast: needed to get a body on him. RBs can’t hesitate the way Seattle swarms and the speed of their LBs.

  5. Linsley and Clinton Dix had quality games. Neither was perfect, but they showed they could handle the big stage.

    Run defense was the problem tonight. It was awful. Rodgers did not have his A game, but the Seattle D is good.

  6. Is this the first game the Packers have played together since last year? Packers miss tackles, Seahawks have three tacklers on every play, Packers defense running into each other, Seahawks defense knows and performs their job, Seahawks make INT’s, Packers drop INT’s, Lacy runs into walls, Seahawks RB’s run around walls, Rodgers throws out of bounds with a clear shot at first down, Wilson lobs in the completed passes, GB has first and goal and settles for a field goal, Seahawks RB’s score untouched, Daniels called for roughing the kicker, Jones with two killer holds, Sherrod immobile, McCarthy out-coached by Carroll, play calling by Packers boring, Seahawks every play seems like a trick play. The Seahawks scored 36 or more points only twice last year. Packers are not in the same league now or even if they meet again this year. They are completely different teams. Oh, and why is Jones still on the team?

  7. It seems Peppers at this moment is a one year visitor to GB.
    Perry made his play for the next seven weeks.
    Seems MM and Rodgers suffered concussions on the 4th and 5 thinking..yikes!
    Lacy looked lost and then appears he found another concussion.
    Harris is not a returner.
    Starks does his part..again.
    Linsley should be applauded.
    Why do our guys have the arms of a T-Rex when tackling?
    Fabio gets an Oscar.
    Brad Jones deserves a ‘code red’ visit.

    1. In my honest opinion, not much different to worse. Raji gets pushed all over the place. Guion, despite Collinsworth’s comments, played with more push than I’ve seen Raji play with. It still wasn’t good enough.

      Marshawn Lynch is a beast.

  8. To this idea, that defenses in today’s NFL have diminished the ILB position (and this idiotic concept that their role is to ‘eat up blockers’). I submit Bobby Wagner as exhibit A. If GB had ordered up one of those varieties…you know, the tackling kind, we might field a respectable D.

    1. That idiotic concept is exclusive to certain three four schemes, and then, only to one of the two ILBs.

      Brad Jones’ position is supposed to be the aggressive, athletic, play making position in the 3-4. He certainly was not last night.

  9. Al brought up a good point. At times there were cutback lanes for the RB’s, but instead of hitting them, they just kept going to where the play was designed. There were a few good runs here and there, but I thought the RB’s left a lot out there. This was a game, where Harris’s cut back ability would have helped.
    Despite not a lot of sacks, probably due to Wilsons maneuverability, I thought the pass-rush looked better. Especially in the first half. Things didn’t go well tonight, but I think in the end, we’ll be pleased with the pressure on the QB this team will provide. Now if they could only tackle a RB….

  10. Wow. I just hope to God that this game was fluke. Packers should have showcased James Starks more, and just crack down on Marshawn Lynch.

    Our passing game was so autrocious that.. oh god… dare I say It? I mean, I’m the LAST person would think of this, but someone’s gotta say it… should the Packers.. RESIGN JERMICHAEL FINLEY???

    Yes, I know it’s crazy, the guy’s mouth gives me a headache too, BELIEVE ME. But aside from our atrocious inability to run the ball, Rodgers also didn’t seem to have anywhere CLOSE to the kind of receiving threat he had in 2011. As you all know, that’s when Rodgers is UNBEATALE.

    Right now, we have Cobb and Nelson, and that’s about it! It’s not enough. Not for the elite teams, and not for whoever we’ll face in the playoffs.

    Packers must do the unthinkable IMO.

    1. Dude, chill. They put our #3 Boykin on Sherman’s side (because he doesn’t follow top receivers for whatever reason) and essentially took one of their top defensive players out of the game. I thought it was a great strategy, would’ve liked to see at least one or two balls go Boykins way tho…

      1. Not sure how you can say it was a great strategy when our receivers were covered all game and the Packers couldn’t move the ball.. Sure the Packers didn’t throw to the at ride side towards Sherman, but Seattle has the best safeties in the league who then only had to pay attention to the left side of the field. It made it REALLY easy for them.

  11. Drop all the gloom and doom. Sure we lost. It was the first game. The Packers were in this game until the Bulaga injury. We got our one and only loss out of the way now so it’s all up from here.

    I see a lot of positives. Clinton Dix is a stud. Had some missed tackles but damn he’s a playmaker. Datone Jones looked active. Sherrod had a stutter step but he’ll bounce back and hopefully Bulaga’s injury isn’t season ending. Linsley shined in one of the worst atmospheres imaginable. Aaron Rodgers proved he is human. This will be his worst game of the year. Matthews, Peppers, Neal, and Perry all are going to be huge playmakers going forward. The pass rush was there. Unfortunately, Russell Wilson is just as elite as Rodgers is. He’s even better at avoiding sacks but they were all on his ass which is a good sign. We played the best team in the NFL and we held our own for the first half. Bulaga went down and it went down the tubes. We need to focus on the first half.

    Here’s what’s exciting to me. The Packers didn’t even activate Jeff Janis and Mike Pennel, who both would have helped in this game tremendously. Janis with ko returns and Pennel with dominating the middle. Capers screwed up with Pennel. It won’t happen again. Janis could have really help with his speed. He could have spread that defense out by going downfied big time. Again, a screw up not activating these guys. It won’t happen again.

    Expect to see Pennel and Janis in week 2 and for the rest of the year. These two are difference makers. This loss was expected. This team is just getting started. Don’t take too much in this loss.

      1. Yes Savage, they got spanked in the 2nd half but not the first half. What killed them was Bulaga going down. We all know Sherrod has problems on this type of fast surface. He needs to work on that.
        If Bulaga doesn’t go down this is a totally different ball game. I also want to mention that for the 7th consecutive year Shawn Slocum’s poor special teams had a major impact on this game. DuJuan Harris’ poor decision twice in a row not to down the ball in the end zone set the tone right away. I don’t blame Harris, I blame Slocum!! Fire his ass already!! Other than that we are fine going forward.
        Just a spark plug here and a spark plug there is all we need. Seattle is the best team in the NFL. That is a fact and we held our ground up to the Bulaga injury. That’s what I am focusing on.

        1. If Bulaga didn’t go down it’d have been a completely different ballgame: Pack loses 36-17 instead of 36-16.

          People talk about that guy like he’s twice the player Anthony Munoz ever was. Get ovr it. He’s an adequate NFL OT. But in GB under TT and offensive lineman performing at the “adequate” level appears like a great player in comparison to the draft-day afterthoughts filling the rest of the line.

          1. No Kurt I don’t believe anyone talks like Bulaga is “twice the player Anthony Munoz ever was” but I will say this. Bryan Bulaga is definitely twice the player that Derrick Sherrod is and that was my point. The level of security on the offensive line decreased dramatically once Bulaga got hurt.
            He’s a great player if he’s healthy. Yes, he’s never effin healthy I get it it’s frustrating but damn that game changed once he left. Against a defense that people are comparing to the 85 Bears, losing one key guy can make a huge difference and it did.
            We can only hope that Bulaga can get back soon or pray that Sherrod can get better as he slowly works his way back from that devastating leg injury. My guess is it’s still rust and he’s brushing it off. The Packers right now have no other alternative with Barclay going down.

    1. I thought Haha was great too! He needs to improve his tackling a bit but he’s a playmaker. The play when Russell Wilson tried to run and Haha recognized it and chased him out of bounds was fantastic. That’s a play our safeties wouldn’t have made last year.

      1. Yeah, for his first game I thought HaHa Bill Clinton Dix really stood out as a major playmaker. I see him taking over for Burnett starting next week. Getting tired of Burnett. He’s definitely not going to get better but Dix already is better than Burnett ever was. I say Dix and Hyde as our safetys next week.

  12. We Got Our Ass’s handed to us… same old ddefense, same old offense on the road against a awesome D… This team is not worthy. .. thanks for the national embarrassment

  13. So this is why a few weeks ago I said, “Yeah, losing Don Barclay is actually a pretty raw deal…”

  14. Same team as the year before, and the year before, and the year before, and, well you get it.

    Same team: bad defense and a rotten offensive line comprised of draft-day remainders and not enough of ’em to boot. One game in and GB is trying to protect one of the best QBs in the game with O linemen who would be deep backups on any other team – if they could make any other team.

    But don’t worry about TE. GB will carry five of them.

    And this formula never changes. Let’s face it. Out of Thompson/MCCarthey/Capers at least two of ’em have to go. This leadership team can’t seem to learn.

  15. Hey don’t worry about it . TT and MM have winning records, that is all we care about. Get used to being outplayed, outcoached, outclassed. We are stuck with these 2 bozo’s for years to come. 8-7-1 here we come. Poor Rodgers…. what a waste of talent, he will never see another ring.

  16. I think this game showed that the starters didn’t get enough reps in the preseason as well. Rodgers timing was off with his receivers all game long. Pete Carroll played many of his starters, especially on defense, extensively in the fourth preseason game, and it showed.

    I guess the silver lining to this is that they will have faced probably their toughest competition right out of the gate, and hopefully this loss will instill focus into the team and make them play with a chip on their shoulder going forward…

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