Offensive line's problems go beyond just one guy
By Rob Demovsky rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com September 14, 2009
Even the euphoria of the game-winning touchdown Aaron Rodgers 50-yard bomb to Greg Jennings in the fourth quarter of Sundays 21-15 victory over the Chicago Bears was dampened by a troubling revelation.
It was another on a long list of plays from the season opener on which the Green Bay Packers pass protection was less than adequate.
On that play, tight end Jermichael Finley mistaken blocked down on defensive end Alex Brown, allowing linebacker Nick Roach to run free. Roach was so untouched that he actually paused for a second because he thought there might have been a misdirection play on. By the time Roach realized he had an open angle to Rodgers, the ball was gone.
Though the biggest problem on Sunday was right tackle Allen Barbres inability to block Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye, there were problems all across the protection unit.
Coach Mike McCarthy on Monday blamed those issues on his offenses inability to sustain drives. The Packers totaled just 226 yards of total offense, and nearly one-third of that came on the game-winning drive, a five-play, 72-yard possession.
Our protection unit did not play well, and that was a major cause for our frustration and our inability to move the football, McCarthy said. The Bears' defensive line did a very good job getting after our front last night, and we did not handle it very well.
The coaches could find fault with almost everyone in the protection unit left tackle Chad Clifton gave up a sack, center Jason Spitz had a holding penalty and even Rodgers should have gotten rid of the ball sooner to avoid the second-quarter safety but no one played as poorly as Barbre.
In his first start at right tackle, the third-year pro had the kind of performance that could lead to a benching. Neither McCarthy nor offensive coordinator Joe Philbin would say whether they considered pulling Barbre during the game, and on Monday McCarthy said Barbre would remain the starter, at least for Sundays game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Barbre gave up a whopping seven pressures (unofficially), including the two sacks by Ogunleye. He couldnt block Ogunleyes backup, Mark Anderson, either. Anderson beat Barbre for a pressure and a minus-yardage rushing play.
We were frustrated, but I think that goes for anytime things dont go well, McCarthy said. Everybody wants to pin it on one person. Thats why you need to take a look at the film. I though the communication was good. The things we discussed on the (sideline), also the conversations at halftime, Allen Barbres performance actually improved in the second half, so thats a positive well take forward.
The Packers picked Barbre to replace veteran Mark Tauscher, the starter since 2000 who was not re-signed after a late-season knee injury last year. He beat out second-year Breno Giacomini midway through camp.
Barbre worked extensively with the No. 1 offensive line throughout the offseason but struggled in the preseason opener against Cleveland. The next week in practice, McCarthy declared the position wide open and gave Giacomini half of the reps with the starters. Barbre responded with a solid performance the next week against Buffalo.
He made the necessary corrections and moved forward and had a good preseason from there on out, offensive line coach James Campen said. We expect him to do the same thing again.
In grading the film, the coaches deemed Barbres mistakes to be technical errors and not cases of being overpowered and outmatched. If Barbre had been outmatched physically, he almost certainly would have lost his job. But because they were errors in techniques and fundamentals, theyre willing to give Barbre another shot.
You hope theres a natural cycle of development, Philbin said. Youve got the competition, corrections, practice and then youve got another competition. Hopefully now that hes had the competition, and he had the corrections (on Monday), and hes going to have the practice during the course of the week, and hes going to have another opportunity (on Sunday), you hope as a coach that from the time you spend and the things that youre doing are making a difference. But time will tell. Were going to see how he is.