Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Another near 50 attempt game. This is getting a bit ridiculous, but I guess it's all the easy underneath completions there for the taking. Actually, we didn't do a bad job underneath this week, granted we got some help from Donovan, but it's the longer balls that killed us today.
Cumulative Totals through the 1st quarter were posted last week which can be accessed by clicking Week 4's link.
Week 5 (@ Washington Redskins):
My Coverage Player of the Week:Week 1: Tramon Williams
Week 2: Sam Shields
Week 3: Nick Collins
Week 4: Charles Woodson
Week 5: Tramon WilliamsThe numbers speak for themselves with Tramon and he had one helluva ball game again to retain the title as the Packers best defensive back this season. Any team would kill to have Charles Woodson as the team's 3rd best defensive back on the season and that's exactly how it has shaped out so far. We played a lot more zone this week it seemed than we have in the recent past, and nothing changed for Tramon. He was targeted 7 times and allowed only 2 completions. He did have his first penalty of the year, but also snagged his first pick and nearly brought tears to my eyes on the return. It looked like he was beat deep early in the game if McNabb could have just connected on the pass, but it was well overthrown. He also benefited from another drop. I also credited a catch to Tramon where he followed the inside receiver passing the outside guy to Peprah. Seemed like zone coverage where he should have switched off. Take that away and he allowed only 1 catch, a 13 yarder to Santana Moss, which in all honesty could have been on the safety. He played outside technique with safety help on the inside.
Also, in just a week of work, Peprah goes from not starting to having allowed the most receiving yards of any of our defensive backs. It wasn't a great showing from him, but it could have been even worse had he not made a couple nice tackles. He was also responsible for our 2 biggest pass plays allowed all year.
No marks against Bishop in coverage this week. Maybe he's one of the reasons we played a little more zone than usual (or so it seemed), but he wasn't a weakness today. The man is a sure tackler, which is really all you need in the types of zones our ILBs play. However, this team is still at its best when matched up in man coverage and with Bishop in the game, it would make for an easy match-up for teams with athletic tight ends. Maybe that's the Bishop impact even though the numbers don't really show it.
The 30 yard play on Poppinga was a short catch on the final drive of the 4th quarter where he missed the tackle, which tacks on another 20+.
Mike Neal becomes the 2nd DL to be "targeted" and damn does he look good. Keep dropping him into coverage because he looks like a linebacker. The commentators referred to him as that several times. The way he rushes the passer though...yeah he's a D-Lineman. I think you found a great one Ted!
With the way we're using Woodson, we're gonna be able to get a lot out of him. His wheels were hardly tested and he's not being used vertically very often. When he is, he's been pretty good, but keeping him in this role could extend his career. Yeah, he's been a lot more grabby than usual, but it's okay because he's not giving up too many yards and is still this team's best perimeter tackler. He has given up 20% of our passing first downs on the year (including penalties).
Pat Lee received his first extensive playing time and held up pretty well actually. He was made foolish on a post, biting for the corner fake, but also showed great restraint in not initiating contact on the pass to Santana Moss in the end zone. I still like Bush better because of the experience, but we may see more of a Pat Lee in the near future.
Nick Collins was quiet today meaning he was doing his job. He had that one great break-up toward the end of the game too. I'm still waiting for the pick though!