Zero2Cool

2012 Packers Draft Class

Mon, 07 May 2012 18:15:00 GMT

ROUND	PICK	PLAYER	POSITION
1	28 (28)	Perry, Nick	DE

2	19 (51)	Worthy, Jerel	DT
(From Cardinals through Eagles)
2	30 (62)	Hayward, Casey	DB
(From Patriots)
4	37 (132)	Daniels, Mike	DT
(Compensatory selection)
4	38 (133)	McMillian, Jerron	SS
(Compensatory selection)
5	28 (163)	Manning, Terrell	OLB
(From Packers through Patriots)
7	34 (241)	Datko, Andrew	T
(Compensatory selection)
7	36 (243)	Coleman, B.J.	QB
(Compensatory selection)

Packers straddle Cowboys, 17 - 7

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:10:00 GMT

OFFENSE
For the first time since week one of this season, Aaron Rodgers was held under 200 yards passing while completing a modest 25 passes for a solid 69.4% completion percentage. He did continue his streak of throwing at least one touchdown in a game with a one yard pass to Spencer Havner and also racked up another score with his feet. Speaking of his feet, Rodgers kept a drive alive on 3rd and 5 showing no fear and a tad of athleticism on an 11 yard run to move the chains. In my review of the game, I seen very few passes that were in the air for 20 or more yards. Drastic change from what we're used to seeing. Head Coach Mike McCarthy stated he gave Rodgers a heavy dose of responsibility on his plate for this game. I reckon, he continues to do so. Rodgers will only get better. Two of the most impressive throws I've seen in weeks came on the same drive. One was 3rd and 11 to Greg Jennings for 14 yards and the other was soap on a silk rope to Donald Lee for 17 yards when it was 3rd and 13.

Rodgers wasn't golden Sunday, silver, yes. For instance, two (maybe three depending on how you view it) of the four sacks fall onto the young quarterbacks shoulders. He also missed two underneath receivers on poorly thrown passes. Once again, the throws were procured from poor footing and failure to follow through. His pocket awareness is appears to be getting worse and that worries me. When a quarterback is moving out of the pocket, he needs to keep the ball closer to his chest. These criticisms are nitpicking, but they need to be improved upon. Rodgers has tremendous upside and once he locks down consistency and obtains pass protection, he's going to make the 23 teams who passed him up in 2005 regret it more and more.

Ryan Grant quietly had one of his best games of the season when you look at how he ran the ball. He had his head up more times than not and made several one cut runs for good yards. For the season he has 700 yards with a 4.2 yard per carry. How he's doing this with the offensive line we have, is beyond me. After Sunday I've taken one foot out of the "start Ahman Green" wagon and put it on the brink of the Grant wagon. Mentioning Green makes me point this out. I believe Grant carries the ball in his left arm substantially more than his right.

DEFENSE
Charles Woodson roped eight Cowboys, had two forced fumbles, one interception and sack. My only gripe on his game took place on his sack/forced fumble play. After hopping over Cowboys running back, Felix Jones he started celebrating while Clay Matthews III was chasing down the ball. If Woodson had been paying attention, he could scooped up the ball and scored. Five minutes off the clock later in the game, Woodson would make up for that boneheaded gaffe with a goal line interception with less than 7 minutes to go in the game was the (Wayne Larrivee) dagger for sure. Woodson, please, play through the whistle next time.

Brad Jones played well (7 tackles) in place of the concussed Aaron Kampman. Jones showed good awareness on the Razorback play and grit when he tackled the Tashard Choice from behind and threw him down.
Cullen Jenkins had a good game and his most impressive play came on a screen where he started rushing then realized it was a screen and immediately changed direction to make the stop. Johnny Jolly had two tipped balls and a rough tackle for loss. Nick Barnett punked out Cowboys quarterback, Tony Romo for two sacks and a tipped pass. Nick Collins should have had three interceptions, but dropped all three. Someone, put Collins in front of a jugg's machine for an hour or two every day! He consistently drops three passes before getting and interception. (I said two in the chat, because I was hoping someone would catch me as I've said this several times last year). A.J. Hawk tackled hard, Jarret Bush blitzed well and provided pressure, and B.J. Raji is starting to come into his own.

All in all the Packers defense was aggressive, punishing and relentless. Hopefully this excellent performance continues for a few more months.

SPECIAL TEAMS
When will McCarthy learn that Mason Crosby can not kick a field goal with any accuracy when its over 49 yards? Let's play this on a level playing field, shall we? There's only three kickers who have attempted five or more field goals from 50 or more yards. Josh Scobee (6 - 2), Ryan Succop (5 - 2) and Crosby (5 - 1). When you view it like that, it's not as bad as one would think. It's still bad though.

Jeremy Kapinos is not helping matters either. If Kapinos could corner kick, perhaps Crosby wouldn't be requested to kick 50 plus yarders so frequently. Kapinos needs to improve. I'm starting to wonder if these two are getting dead leg from kicking too often during the week?

Tramon Williams did a far better job returning kicks and punts this week and theres no question it was because he ran north instead of east and west. I think he's played too much Tecmo Super Bowl. The zig zagging is not going to get you anywhere in the NFL, kid. And how do you let the punter knock the ball out of your hand? Man up!

ZERO’s PRATTLE
McCarthy appeared to be fired up for this game as displayed on the sidelines from time to time.

Al Harris' face mask call was wrong. Flat out, wrong or the rules for face mask are too touchy. Harris had his hand graze the face mask, no grabbing, just graze. Looked like a weak call. The Packers had 12 penalties for 100 yards, unacceptable. Havner's unnecessary roughness penalty near the sidelines against unsuspecting Cowboys defensive end, Marcus Spears was phenomenal and capped off by him turning his back and simply walking away.

This may only interest me. Name the two boldest acquisitions Packers General Manager Ted Thompson has brought on board. The boldest free agent signing, Charles Woodson; boldest draft selection (considering what was given up to select him), Clay Matthews III. Both are taking over games with their persistence on dominating the enemy. Woodson generated two fumbles in which Matthews recovered. The fact that Woodson and Matthews are working together has to be giving offensive coordinators headaches

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Buccaneers give Packers a dirty pirate experience

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:09:00 GMT

OFFENSE
Aaron Rodgers threw 35 times completing 17 of them for a paltry sub 50% completion percentage. He amassed 266 yards passing. Rodgers two worst games as a NFL starter have come against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He absorbed six sacks while running for a score and throwing 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. On five of the six sacks Rodgers had 4 seconds or more time in the pocket. Three of those sacks he had an open guy or opportunity to throw it away. You can say four if you want to count another one, but it would have been ballsy to throw it away while being dragged down in the red zone. Rodgers even had one play where he had 8 seconds, EIGHT seconds to make a play and threw a bad pass.

Rodgers was throwing off balance a considerable amount Sunday. On each poorly thrown pass that I reviewed he had his center lean on right leg instead of following through his throw. This is something that happens when you don't follow through on a pass. The sacks are effecting his mechanics. Plain and simple. Earlier in the season he was not doing this nearly as often. Rodgers will always throw off balance, but now he's throwing off balance when he's not even being pressured. It's extremely difficult to continue being accurate without a consistent throwing motion as a quarterback.

The two touchdown passes, 74 and 32 yards, Rodgers took a three step drop and released the ball just over 3 seconds. Rodgers first and second interception were play-action fakes in what I would call a five to seven step drop. The first one was not necessary as he had James Jones open eight yards in front of him. The second of the two is a ball Greg Jennings should have caught. It was not a wise decision to throw it into triple to quadruple coverage. However, the ball was perfectly placed and Jennings should have snagged it. No question about it. The third interception he had underneath options that would have netted a first down or at least very close to it.

Ahman Green ran the ball six times for over 40 yards, including a nice 26 yard run and became the Packers all-time rushing leader. Ryan Grant had a nice day with 96 yards as well. Grant's 2 yard touchdown was impressive as he simply would not be denied a score. Grant shows flashes of a good running back at times. The problem, it's not consistent.

DEFENSE
The special teams and interceptions did no favors for the defense. I feel they played above average last Sunday. B.J. Raji played a good game. He had several good penetration plays where he shoved his guy into the backfield. I'd credit him with two tackles for loss if I was keeping track. Nick Barnett (who is leading the team in tackles) recorded his fourth fantastic tackle for a loss in as many weeks. Is Nick flourishing in the 3 - 4? A.J. Hawk made two plays with his 7 yard sack (the lone Packer sack of the game) of rookie Josh Freeman being the better of the two. All in all the defense did a fairly decent job. It shouldn't be lost that Nick Collins made a nice play with his interception.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Jeremy Kapinos punted the ball well and pinned the Buccaneers deep when he didn't have Gene Hayes body slamming him. Mason Crosby kicked a lot of deep balls into and out of the end zone. The coverage units failed miserably. After the Packers took what should have been a commanding 11 point lead they flip up on a generous 83 yard return by Clifton Smith that kept the Buccaneers in the game and gave them the momentum needed for putting the Packers down for good. We need Jordy Nelson back on Kick Returns and Tramon Williams should never return a punt or kick again. The man simply doesn't run NORTH. Yes, he's running 30 yards on each return, the problem is, only 4 to 12 of those 30 is north.

ZERO’s PRATTLE
I didn't see much of the tough aggressive play in this game that I was starting to expect every week. That saddens me. I was begining to think we were going to get mean and punish teams. Instead, us, the fans are being punished by watching this "special" (and boy do I mean special) teams unit flounder field position away time and again making it increasingly harder for the defense and offense to be effective for four quarters.

Did you notice Donald Lee was held up on Rodgers third interception? Speaking of holding, Hawk's interception should have counted as he did not do anything wrong. You're allowed to bump the receiver within five yards, just as Hawk did. If that interception counts, the Packers get the ball back with under seven minutes to play at mid field with a five point lead. It changes the game. Instead, for the second straight week the Packers gave up 38 points.

Bottom line, the Packers are not as bad as we think they are. Unfortunately, they are not as good as we thought either. They're somewhere in the middle.

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Zero's 2009 Week 07 Review

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:07:00 GMT

OFFENSE
Luckily for the Browns Aaron Rodgers only threw 20 times, completing 75% of them. I say luckily because he averaged one touchdown per five completions. The one that impressed me the most was his quick release to Donald Driver who was in the slot and tore down the field for 71 yards. I think this was the most impressive of the three touchdown throws because it appears Rodgers checked out of a play and into a quick release to his hot read, Driver. Another bonus for Rodgers, he didn’t get sacked the whole game! (Write that down on your calendar, it might not happen again this year). Did you know Rodgers QB rating of 155.4 was the highest in over 20 years for any Packers QB?

Did you happen to catch Mike McCarthy’s comments on the running game? “I think the first thing for Ryan was two weeks in a row we were able to get him up over 20-plus attempts. That helps any running back, just the ability to get into a rhythm …” said McCarthy. Boy I wish I could say I told you so like I was a genius. However, all I did was state what we all knew. Ryan Grant is not a “special” running back. I do believe he can provide the threat at the position we need, if given the proper touches.

I like Grant, sort of. I think he has some hidden potential that he showed us in ’07. My biggest complaint on him would be the video below. You’ll see him run directly into his own lineman. How does this happen? He has his head down while running. If that doesn’t bother you, count the Browns on the field, there are only 10. If he is looking up, makes a cut, he’s gone for a 86 yard touchdown run!

DEFENSE
Charles Woodson had at least one QB pressure, interception and a fumble force. What a man-beast! He feels this could be his year. Not only to reach the Super Bowl, but WIN it. He’s playing like a man possessed. Don’t believe me? I ask you this, how many times do you see balls thrown towards Al Harris versus Charles Woodson? It’s changed dramatically after the Bengals game. On his QB pressure he showed great agility for a man in this 30’s. 30’s? Dang, that’s OLD!!!

A.J. Hawk, where have you been my man? Way to man up and play like you want to be on the field. Hawk led the defense with eight tackles, three of which for a loss! The most impressive came on a goal line stand where he cut in the A gap and threw his body into Jamal Lewis’ legs while being blocked as he fell to the ground.

Nick Barnett, did you not celebrate your tackle for a loss because you could have had an interception that would have nullified the three points the Browns would later score on the first drive?

SPECIAL TEAMS
Zero punts for the first three and a half quarters while the starters were in. Sorry special teams, you can sit this one out! With how Brandon Jackson was attempting to return kicks, thank goodness he wasn’t called upon often. The man looks like a scared fish in a small fishbowl trying to swim away from a school of piranhas. RUN NORTH!!

ZERO’s PRATTLE
Did you see Rodgers yelling at the side line? I don’t know what was said, but you could sure as hell tell he wanted the play to be sent in. He was trying to catch the Browns out of position and the play caller, ahem, failed him. Speaking of the play caller, did we use the I-formation more this game than usual?

We had some more aggressivity on the first play of the game when Johnny Jolly got into a scuffle with a Browns lineman. I love that shit! Make sure the other team knows that they might get their hits, but you’re going to hit harder and more often!

The Packers have played well the last two weeks and before you start in on the whole it was the Lions and Browns. I say chew on this. The Steelers played both the Lions and Browns before we did and gave up 20 and 14 points respectively where the Packers gave up only 3. This is the NFL and any team can beat any team on any given Sunday.

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Zero's 2009 Week 06 Review

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:07:00 GMT

OFFENSE
The more I review Aaron Rodgers, the more I admire him for his talents. Rodgers threw for over 300 yards (2nd of the season, 6th career) while being harrassed by a litter of kittens who luckily sacked him five times . Two were against 7-man rushes. He stepped into the sack twice, once against a 4-man and another against 5-man rush. I'm not faulting him for it because he had no clue what his tackles were giving up on the outter pocket. He did hold the ball a bit longer than I'd like, wait, what am I saying? The two times he did, he made great plays with this ability to keep the play alive.

Early in the game on 3rd and 6 the felines provided Rodgers with a free play. Rodgers made them pay by hitting James Jones who made an impressive cut that reminded me of his 79 yard TD against the Broncos back in '07. It was a smart play by Rodgers and great display of determination by Jones.

One of Rodgers most impressive plays came on a 2nd and 14 play in the 3rd quarter where Chad Clifton felt Rodgers needed more of a challenge. Clifton let Julian Peterson run free at Rodgers, who ran right a step or two, circled back left twoards the sideline, pump fakes, stepped back and threw accross his body to the middle of field were Donald Lee snagged the ball for 26 yards and a first down. If that didn't impress you, Rodgers did one better when his pocket collapsed around him. Did he panic? Hell no! Even though he had a kitty digging its claws into his back, he stood in there like a man an flung the ball-o-bacon to Brandon Jackson in the deep flat for a fresh set of downs. Take that pussies! Rodgers held onto the ball too long and made two phenomal plays. Maybe it's time to relax on his holding the ball too long, eh?

Rodgers wasn't perfect, he did throw an interception in this game, although the game was well in hand, it was a risk he didn't need to take. I predict he won't do that again. Also, the phantom fake hand off was a bit disturbing. Judging from Grants move after the sanap, I think that was on him.

Did you know that in 21 NFL starts that Rodgers has scored a rushing or passing touchdown in each game except for one? Pretty damn good.

Grant had 11 carries in the fourth quarter. Does anyone else see a problem with this? Give the man 12 - 15 touches in the first half. He's a bruiser, let him bruise the defense!

DEFENSE
Aaron Kampman finally took advantage of his option to put his mits on the blades of grass and damn did he look good! Five hits on the quarterback and one sack. I'll take that every game out of our OLB. Mark this down, Kampman WILL be resigned before he is a free agent.

Clay Matthews III. B-E-A-S-T. Clay racked up two sacks and three tackles and his presence was felt all over. Did you see him do the Daunte 'rollin' after his second sack? I hope teams continue to try an block him with tight ends. Ask Brandon Pettigrew how fair that was.

Atari Bigby is more important than most will give credit for. Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers explained that it's difficult to unleash hells wrath on offenses when you have inexperience at the safety position. It's no coincidence that we seen similar agressivity against the Lions as we did against the Bears. The last game Bigby played.

The defense held the Lions offense to zero third down conversions out of 10 tries and also stopped two fourth down conversions. 1 - 4 Lions or not, that's trucking impressive! Add-in five sacks and three interceptions, one by each, Cullen Jenkins, Al Harris (who had a sack), Bigby. Tramon Williams should have one as well.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Did you like Jordy Nelson's 99 yard opening kick return for a touchdown? You're only going to see it in the PackersHome.com highlight video because of, yep, you guessed it, a penalty. Mason Crosby was perfect on his four field goals when the offense couldn't get six out of successful drives near or in the red zone. Jordy Nelson bobbled another punt return and subsequently was injured on the play. He'll be gone for two weeks. Tramon came in and returned a punt for 45 yards and then was replaced by Charles Woodson. I understand Tramon is a huge player in our nickel defense which we run a lot, but we need someone else back there other than Woodson.

ZERO's PRATTLE
Daryn Colledge and Donald Driver made my day Sunday. They committed the only penalties that make me smile. Unnecessary roughness of the personal misconduct flavor. I'll take two of those every game. As Mike Tomlin says, the team that is more violent usually wins. I believe that theory very much. Punch them in the mouth! Nick Collins and Nick Barnett also had some nice sticker helmet rattling hits in the game.

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The Favre Effects ...

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 16:04:00 GMT

The NFL TV schedulers who gave the Packers 3 prime time games this coming season have breathed a sigh of relief after Brett Favre has officially made it known he will play this year for the Green Bay Packers.

What does this mean? Set aside the obvious, it means Javon Walker will remain a Packer, it increases the likelihood that Charles Woodson will sign with the Packers and Vernon Davis if available when the Packers are on the clock will be their selection.

Fourword on…

Sat, 08 Apr 2006 15:59:00 GMT

Let’s hypothetically say Tiger Woods purchases an Arena Football team with monetary proceedings going directly to the Tiger Woods Foundation. Every year before the season starts he holds a news conference stating his appreciation for the support of the team and his foundation. Would you expect Tiger Woods to announce his career status with the PGA at this news conference? Not a chance. So why would we believe Brett Favre (who has played football his entire life has football is in his blood and is a loyally fierce competitor) announce his career status with the NFL during a news conference for his charity golf tournament were his family was not scheduled to be present?

Combined with the immense desire to know his future with journalists who don’t firmly believe in objective writings; you would believe it. Why? Because you trust the writer to give you an objective perception of their content. Unfortunately that is what happened with this news conference turned ‘breaking news’ type hype. Deanna Favre’s assistant (I feel was trying to get some pub of her own) said a few comments to reporter/s who took the story and ran with it.

Season Passed

Sat, 07 Jan 2006 16:03:00 GMT

One of my earliest memories of being a Packer Fan was in the late eighties. It was a game against the Vikings. The Packers had second and goal, maybe third and goal. The RB (Brent Fullwood or Keith Woodside) took the handoff towards the outside of the tackle and did a shake n bake check your jock cuz its on the turf move and my dad dropped his beer and with a soft eerie’ish voice said ‘holy shit……….son a green bay packer juked’. I never fully understood my dad’s frustration that pushed him to be impressed with a juke move until this 4 – 12 season. This season was frustrating, but I enjoyed watching the Packers and learning what fans were true fans and which ones were there for the ride.

This season was not what most Packers Fan’s expected. Yes, some of us feared it and others will boast ‘I told you we wouldn’t win more than five games’ but does being right about the Packers poor season ease the pain?

I’m not gonna focus on just one aspect in this article, but instead I’m gonna hop around like a writer on ADD.