Do you believe a team's preseason performances are a solid "measuring stick" for the regular season? 


So I am curious to the opinions of what you can take from the preseason games and project it into the regular season.. and what you believe to be false reads?

Seems pretty split down the middle.. so please expand your thoughts..

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I see preseason as important from an individual player perspective. It's a chance to make your bid for the starting role. Guys like Jolly, Sutton and Poppinga are clearly fighting hard. I don't see the final score mattering (unless it's a blow out) but how the Pack deal with red zone situations or 3rd and long etc are good indicators of where they're at for the start of the season.

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I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority on this one.

I think there's a definite "it depends" aspect to things. Yes, the Lions went 4-0 in preseason last year, but how did they look while doing so? Not dominant, IMO.

Obviously, the preseason isn't a truly dependable barometer for the upcoming season - but I don't think it's worthless by any means.

To me, the important parts of preseason games are the beginning, when both teams have their front-line (for the majority) starters on the field. How does your first team stack up against the opponent? As I stated in another thread, you play the guys lined up across from you, and if you beat them, that's good. Thus far in this preseason, the Packers' first team has dominated the other team on the field. They haven't just been a little bit better, they've totally dominated them.

So what does that tell us?

- First and foremost, it gives an indication of how prepared and motivated the team is. The Packers have been flying around and hitting like bad mofos so far this year - that isn't dependent on the other team, it's simple, observable fact.

- You can also get a sense of how team chemistry is going - for instance, all indications are the Rodgers and the receivers are more in sync than they were last year. This is a good thing.

- In the specific case of the Packers this year, it's a good yardstick to see how the transition to the 3-4 is going - and we're happily learning that it's going pretty well. No, the Browns and Bills aren't the best teams in the league, but they're professional football offenses, and our new 3-4 clearly rattled the hell out of both teams.

I think you can learn a lot about a team from the preseason - no, it's not some guarantee for success once the regular season starts, but it tells a lot.

Put differently, do I know that the Packers will do well this year, based off of two early preseason performances? Hell, no. Do I have a better sense of their overall readiness to play? Yep. Do I have a sense of how the offensive chemistry is progressing? Yep. Do I have a sense of how the transition to the 3-4 is going? Sure do.

It's like anything else - there are 20% on either end of the spectrum, one end is yelling "We're going to the Super Bowl!" and the other is yelling "We know nothing! The Browns and Bills suck!*" Both ends are a little crazy, and the truth lies somewhere in the middle.


*I would like to point out that I find it humorous that the very people who caution against optimism with statements like "you can't tell how a team is in preseason" are the ones who are so quick to do just that with teams like the Browns and the Bills. How'd the Falcons look last preseason? Anyone remember? Point is, if you don't know, then you don't know. Can't have it both ways.

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Whale of a post.. ILTP39... +1.

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I don't think preseason means everything but I remember our starting D looking really good in 2007 preseason. Last year they looked kind of flat with little intensity and that seemed to carry over. I think it is ok to be somewhat optimistic about the upcoming season based on the preseason so far without getting carried away.

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I'll also add that what impresses me about the starting defense in preseason so far this year is that there seems to be so little mistakes being made. For a team learning such a new and complicated defense everybody seems to be communicating well and are where they are supposed to be every time.

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Nice post Pack'39. I totally agree you have to look at how the first team plays the first team, that is the best indicator. Actually it's about the only one that matters. One thing one has to remember in this regard is that those teams did not set a game plan specifically for us. But it is still good to see us play so well.

Beyond that it's just about all player evaluation.

I'm looking forward to this week because it's better competition and there will be game planning. It should give us a much better read.

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I always find it disagreeable to agree with any cheesehead, let alone 93z ::wink:

But ILikeThePackers39, that was a darn fine analysis (except for the Packers specific parts).

You mentioned the Lions last year preseason going 4-0, Do you remember that two of teams that they beat were the Browns and the Bills?
That worked out well! :icon_smile:


Seriously though, that was a very good post!

+1

I'm "encouraged" by the preseason. This is why... the last preseason I watched, I saw nothing to be really excited about, except Jennings and Rodgers. I saw a defense get pushed around and an OL get pushed around.

Quite a few said 'oh its just preseason dont worry about it' ... yeah, look what happened!


I'm not saying Super Bowl or bust BECAUSE of the first two games. However, I am excited to see how the season unfolds with the fast start we've had. I'm also fully aware that the Lions went 4-0 and then 0-16... but just because they won the game, does not mean they were exciting wins. When a team is playing backups vs backups and gets a come from behind win, that's not saying alot about the team considering most of those players won't be on the starting roster... which is who will be playing a large majority of the games.


I'm excited to see big plays being made and an aggressive defense. I'm hoping it continues through the Super Bowl for us.

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In general most scoring and turnovers in preseason occur when the 3rds and fourths are out there. What is intriging in the straight up sharpness of the 1st and second units. This constitutes the meat n taters of the 53 man roster so I think it bodes well. It does not however mean that the Lombardi trophy is in the bag but I do see it transfering over.

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