Packers Video Rewind

The Inquirer does a weekly feature taking a second look at the game, with a focus on a couple of key players.  I like the idea and hope maybe I can expand on it a bit this season.

I re-watched the game Tuesday tonight and saw a number of encouraging things.  The most amazing statistic is that the Eagles held the Packers to 46 yards rushing despite playing nickel or dime defenses almost two-thirds of the time.  Last week, I mentioned how good I thought the nickel could be this year -- I just didn't expect to see so much of it, including right out of the box on the season's first series.

Much of the credit for this showing has to go to the Eagles' two young defensive tackles, Brodrick Bunkley and Mike Patterson.  They held their ground, plugged the middle, and basically closed last year's biggest defensive weakness all by themselves.  (Perhaps one more reason they dumped Trotter is because they decided the A/B gap runs weren't going to be as big a concern this year?)  The play of this tandem was extremely impressive.  Unlike Bunkley, Patterson also showed an ability to come off his blocks and get to the quarterback when it was a longer drop.  Bunk is still a bit of a boulder out there.  You aren't moving him, but he still doesn't have much in the way of pass rush moves.

But that's OK, because Johnson went to a pretty reliable DT rotation early on and stuck with it.  In passing situations, Bunkley and Patterson came out and Montae Reagor and Darren Howard came in.  I didn't count it out, but I think Howard might actually have played more snaps at tackle than he did at end.  New acquisition Kimo von Oelhoffen didn't play very much.  The ends did rotate some, but it seemed like Cole still got the bulk of the snaps.  Kearse seemed to get more breathers from JT.

One of the players I focused on watching was Gocong.  (I know, you're surprised.)  My initial impression during the game is that he must have played ok, since there were no obvious screw-ups and he was in the midst of the action a few times.  The truth, however, is that by my count he only played 22 of the team's 64 defensive snaps (official numbers might differ due to penalties).  And three of those came at the end of the game when it was obvious the Packers were just going to slam it up the middle.

Heck, Joselio Hanson ended up playing almost as much.  Once Lito went down, Joselio became the nickel cornerback, was on the field for 19 snaps and did a credible job out there.  I feel a little better about the Sheppard injury after watching him.  We still need Lito back so Sheldon can be in the middle mixing things up.

When Gocong was out there, he didn't do much that stood out, which is probably a pretty good sign.  Clearly Jim Johnson is going to protect his young linebacker by keeping him out of positions where he can be exploited.  About a quarter of the time he was out there, Gocong lined up right on the line of scrimmage.  Moving him around also protects him a bit.

(There was also one interesting play where it looked like he screwed up the coverage, but I don't think he did.  I'll try to video-ify it tomorrow.)

Another player I watched was Sean Considine, although it took about two minutes to realize that trying to keep tabs on a safety is a really stupid idea.  Half the time he was off the screen, far from prying eyes.  When the ball was in his area, I have to say he looked really good.  His tackling was excellent -- better than Dawk's on this day -- and he covered some ground out there on a couple of deep balls.  He looked good.

On the offensive side of the ball, I focused entirely on the offensive line.  I started out just trying to get a feel on Shawn Andrews, but it took about two series to realize that a) he was completely healthy and b) rust be damned, he was easily the best player on the line.  He wasn't perfect, but wow, he's fun to watch.  The speed difference when he pulls versus when Jamaal Jackson does is truly astounding.  I actually thought Jackson looked a little heavier than last year and maybe not as quick, but it's possible that Andrews was just wrecking the curve.  I also thought both holding penalties against Andrews were a bit ticky-tack, particularly the second one.  A lot worse goes uncalled on a week-to-week basis in the NFL.

Runyan also looked strong, but the left side -- ugh.  Maybe I'm just overly suspicious, but when I see Reid make a roster move like activating Winston Justice... and then William Thomas doesn't have a great game... I start to wonder.  Thomas and Herremans both struggled at times.  Green Bay has a good front four, but that's a situation that bears watching.  Didn't seem to be a lot of power there.

It's fun to watch those five pass-protect though.  They do a great job handing off rushers and picking up blitzers.   

On a final note, Omar Gaither had a couple more really bad missed tackles, continuing a pattern from the preseason.  He looks a little tentative in space.  Rather than just attacking the ball-carrier, he seems to be sitting back a bit, leaving himself vulnerable to getting juked.  Just go plaster the guy, Omar. 

Comments

[BountyBowl]

Thanks for the breakdown, this is great data.

I thought that the defensive line played well throughout the game against the run and the pass. Sure, the Packers had semi-pro players in their backfield, but there aren't as many excuses for the Packers' offensive line. I expected to be chucking beer cans at my television in an attempt to hit Kearse with them, but he actually played decently (not up to his contract, sure, but I'm less bullish on cutting him now). And I thought the young tackles were very solid.

I have to disagree a bit on the offensive line. I thought the GB front four was as strong as advertised, and that our guys struggled to keep up, especially in pass protection. Dunavin seemed a bit tentative, but he did feel a fair amount of pressure (and certainly a lot more than he'll feel on Monday night against the team that was close to last in the NFL in sacks last year).

[OMAR]

Good stuff.
I wish you had access to the coach's film of the game. Watching the play of the safties is near impossible on television. Attending the games gives one a better perspective, but there's no rewinding and no way to watch everyone at once. That being said, your breakdown was excellent.