Green Bay Packers: Saturday Scoop

Packers vs Jets

The Green Bay Packers have their home opener at Lambeau Field this week and after last week’s drubbing in Seattle, “Home Sweet Home” certainly applies.  The Packers are 4-2 in home openers under head coach Mike McCarthy, with the last coming during the 2011 season.

I normally handle “Keys To The Game” but we’re going to change the format a bit this season.  I’ll now be doing this “Saturday Scoop” piece and my colleague Adam Czech will put out his new “5 Reasons” piece on Sunday’s.  The Scoop will be a free-form narrative on any last-minute news leading up to the Packers’ latest game and what kind of shape the team is in, both physically and mentally.

The New York Jets

The Jets beat the Oakland Raiders in week one but did anyone really expect the Raiders to be that much better this season?  Everyone is talking about New York’s stout defensive front and how they don’t let other teams run the ball.  Granted, the Raiders have Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden at running back and they were  held to 25 collective yards on the day.

What not many are talking about is the Jets’ secondary, which is marginal, at best.  Yes, the Packers passing attack was anything but offensive last week but that was against the best secondary in the NFL, by a long shot.  Whether it was truly about the matchups or if the Packers were just flat-out avoiding Richard Sherman, the Jets don’t have anyone that will keep Green Bay from using the entire field on Sunday.  Expect to see more opportunities and open receivers.

We all know about Jets head coach Rex Ryan, who joked with the media on Wednesday and said he hopes that Rodgers “gets sick” on Sunday.  He’s witty and entertaining, but he also has had some good success in his past and likes to mix it up.  After watching what the Seahawks did with Percy Harvin last week, expect to see the Jets try to give the Packers some unscouted looks.  Will we see a fair share of quarterback Michael Vick?

The Green Bay Packers

The Packers have been saying all of the right things this week.  That they’re looking past the Seattle game and aren’t discouraged about their season.  It’s really not fair to be after just one game and for the team’s sake, I hope it’s true.  Emotion is a big component in football and has propelled teams to big wins in some improbable situations before.  Green Bay needs to come out hot, hungry, fired up and ready to hit somebody.

The Jets, under Ryan, are a scrappy team who like to get physical.  They’re fully aware that the Packers have some inexperience and rust on the offensive line and they will do everything they can to exploit it.  It’s great that tackle Derek Sherrod knows he needs to play better and just be more sound technically.  It’s the “doing it” part that has me worried.  I just don’t think he can, even on grass and against not-Seattle.  I hope I’m wrong.  Green Bay will probably end up sliding help his way, which takes a man away from another area of the offense that could provide some production elsewhere.

Defensively, the Packers will likely activate rookies Mike Pennel and Jayrone Elliott on defense this week and hopefully they can provide a small boost.  Julius Peppers needs to step up into his role and be more disruptive.  He was nearly absent last week.  Datone Jones, where are you?  The Packers need you, NOW!

Middle linebacker has been a hot topic and defensive coordinator Dom Capers steered clear of saying that Brad Jones will start this week.  He very well might, but it seems as though the support for him is waning.  Jamari Lattimore and Sam Barrington, have your helmets nearby.  That said, don’t expect any immediate better play in the middle with either of the latter two in there.  That would likely take time and some regularity to develop and have us all confident that they know where to be on the field.

Look, the Packers won’t win this game on desire and fire alone, but if they want to establish a dominance at home and for this 2014 season at all, it has to start now.  Making everyone forget about opening day in Seattle is paramount to the Packers getting their mojo back and having opponents dread facing them.

Final Thoughts

It’s time to play the game and, hopefully, get back on track for the Packers.  Corey Linsley has his first NFL game and start under his belt.  Sherrod knows he’ll be playing quite a bit, possibly even starting at right tackle.  Running back Eddie Lacy has a good chance to get cleared and test that Jets’ front.

The Packers have a lot of reason to believe that this week goes much better than last week did.  Any visible improvement should be easily attained after what was the second half last week.  A win can right the ship and start this team towards the type of season they hoped for at the outset.  A loss, while not catastrophic from a mathematical standpoint, will likely cast further doubt from around the NFL circles and certainly cause a meltdown within the talk radio realm.

These AFC/NFC games always seem to take on a life of their own and I foresee this one being no different.  While many would like to see a healthy beatdown of the Jets, this one could come down to the wire.  The Packers have to be prepared to play 60 minutes.  Hopefully they’re dialed in, but loose.  They were too tense in Seattle and it showed.

Get your bloody mary bar ready and your Miller Lite in hand, there’s football at Lambeau Field once again!

 

 

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Jason Perone is an independent sports blogger writing about the Packers on AllGreenBayPackers.com

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21 thoughts on “Green Bay Packers: Saturday Scoop

  1. ” New York’s stout defensive front and how they don’t let other teams run the ball.”

    Concussion Alley..hope not.

    ” Yes, the Packers passing attack was anything but offensive last week”

    No.it was very ‘offensive’….phew!

    ” expect to see the Jets try to give the Packers some unscouted looks.”

    Possibly one of the weekly excuses….#ongonig

    ” Green Bay needs to come out hot, hungry, fired up and ready to hit somebody.”

    Please fix the needle on that record player.

    “Look, the Packers won’t win this game on desire and fire alone”

    Show them how easy to use Google Dictionary…desire/fire…please!

    “Any visible improvement should be easily attained”

    A good tackle and I’m screaming with joy!

    And lastly one of my own…..

    Derek Sherrod…”Just doing it”…a new Nike slogan ??????

  2. B Jones has already been ruled out and Lacy has already been cleared. Both happened on Friday. Not a great first “Scoop”…

        1. No worries, Bearmeat and thank you for your support as always. The feedback is fine and this piece isn’t the most updated info on the team, as I initially indicated that it would be in the intro. I didn’t get a chance to get back in and change the parameters. Like I said, it’s a work in progress. I guess I responded because the comment solely focused on what was missing vs. what was there. It’s the saying that “if you focus on what you do have, you’ll always have more. If you focus on what you don’t have, you’ll never be happy”.

      1. So I guess the message is clear, Schen. Don’t expect accuracy here. If you see something that is blatantly misleading or even false, don’t presume to speak. Someone wrote it on ALLGBP.COM. Just shut up and move on.

        Yup, “psychological entitlement.” It’s an ugly thing.

        1. No Marpag – it’s called “Being a jerk.” Who gets paid to write here? (no one). How much do you pay to read these articles. (nothing) These die hard Packer backers are taking their FREE TIME to help inform us other die hard Packer Backers.

          If you don’t like the article, you can either move on or find a MUCH more tactful way to state your POV than what was done above.

          While Jason’s article above isn’t the best article you’ll find all week on the Packers/Jets matchup (and he admitted such), it’s not total schlock either. I’ve found total schlock on jsonline, espn, etc… by the best in the biz. Writing coherently is HARD WORK.

          Feel free to disagree with thoughts, but don’t turn things into a personal battle. Be appreciative.

          1. I’m reading some of these comments ad thinking the same thing Bearmeat. I don’t understand those that come here and are just plain rude. This has ALWAYS been one of my favorite Packers sites, one where I enjoy reading other fans opinions of the Packers. Why disrespect any of the writers for sharing with us. Thank you Jason, Al, Adam, Cory, Jay, Kris, and Thomas!

        2. What we’ll also find here is your basic inability to read simple English. I can’t teach you to read, marpag, but I can reiterate: work in progress, changes to be made along the way. If you have an issue with content on the site, take it up with us or Al directly and maybe keep those thoughts off the comment section. It turns it into a cespool. I told Schen his feedback was fine. If you’d like, we can start requiring a paid subscription and get a bunch of AP writers if you really want?

          1. OK, I should have tried to be more diplomatic, and I do apologize for that. Really. But you guys need to apply the same principles to yourselves, because you clearly aren’t doing that now.

            So it’s about understanding English, huh? Great. Where in Schen’s clear English did it even come close to implying that “NONE of the content was useful?” (Thanks for at least capitalizing the part that you misunderstood).

            And it’s about “not being a jerk,” right? Good! What exactly was it in the post that made you think Schen was being a jerk? Was saying “not a great first scoop” really such a horrible affront that it should be called “an ugly psychological disorder?” Get real. Dehydrated onions have thicker skin than that.

            If Schen is graciously permitted to “feel free to disagree with thoughts, but don’t turn things into a personal battle,” what exactly in that post should have been reworded?? And why couldn’t YOU have said, “Good catch… I must have missed that one?”

            Don’t you guys have mirrors?

            1. Anyone is free to share their opinion here. I may respond and my responses don’t represent our writers as a collective whole. I had already addressed that lack of updating in my very first reply to BR. I said this is a work in progress and this post will evolve so that’s equivalent to “good catch. . ” is it not? One of the reasons I enjoy writing for Al here at allgbp is the freedom that I have to write on different topics and be more opinionated. As such, when we develop new pieces, it takes some time for them to take shape and become what they eventually will.

              1. I hear you, Jason. Peace. I do appreciate your stuff, even if I get a twinge of jackass in me now and then.

          2. I’m actually kind of shocked to see the level of anger involved in some of the responses to my comment. If you read the article, the set up paragraph states that the Scoop will be narrative on any last minute news. The projections are based on material that is readily available all over the web. May want to just consider changing the name and the set up. Comments were hardly “being a jerk” or “psychological entitlement”. When I wrote it there was no words about a work in progress. Lots of anger towards another die hard Packer fan in my opinion. Maybe I should have started the original off with “great article Jason”, but that quite frankly would have been inaccurate. Bloggers typically can take criticism, especially when it is accurate. Go Pack!

            1. If we want to continue this discussion, I’ll also then point out that in addition to last-minute news, the initial paragraph also says it’s a free-form narrative on the team as well. So this piece just happened to focus more on the “free-form” portion of that statement. Does that make it useless? Fee free to honestly answer. Maybe it does and that’s fine if anyone sees it that way, but when the comments are harping on the fact that I don’t have the latest and greatest, it chooses to ignore everything else the writing is.

              I’ll ask an honest question then, do most of you come here for breaking news or more to read narrative on the Packers? I’m not being snarky. If that’s what you are all truly looking for here, then we all need to address that for the site as a whole. We do cover news, on occasion, but it’s not our mantra and what we’re most known for. It caught me off guard that everyone was so out of whack because I didn’t tell you that Lacy is playing and Brad Jones is inactive. Again, did any of you not know that before Saturday? I doubt it. Most of us have Twitter, right?

              Just some points for discussion and hopefully we can move on and concentrate on the latest articles on the site.

          3. Jason,
            You could have let the comment slide. You have people reading and paying attention to your writing.

            1. True and to me, asking for feedback is a service to the reader. It’s great that I have readers and understanding them is important too. By not responding, to me, I’m saying “oh well, deal with it”. That’s not me

      2. Jason – I love the site. Sorry if that sounded harsh. As an aspiring journalist, it will serve you well to have thick skin. Go Pack!

    1. This piece is a work in progress. It will not be featuring “breaking news”, but rather what the Packers’ mindset is/should be heading into the next game. No longer expect to get an update on who’s out, who’s cleared, etc. You all seem to already know that anyway and that should be shared via its own column.

  3. Don’t worry Jason, sure your story is old news but you scored points with the comment about the “Bloody Mary bar” … Just don’t post a story on Tuesday speculating about what might happen the previous Sunday and you’ll be good. GoPack!

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