Green Bay When we last saw the secondary of the Green Bay Packers, they were trying to put out the fire on their collective backs after being torched by Arizona's Kurt Warner for 379 passing yards and five touchdowns in a 51-45 overtime loss in an NFC wild-card playoff game.
Three weeks prior, in the last meaningful matchup of the regular season, the Packers surrendered 503 yards and three touchdowns through the air to Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
That's a combined 882 yards and eight touchdowns in two important games.
To put that into perspective, if you picked the best two games of Aaron Rodgers' Pro Bowl season, you'd still come out more that two 80-yard drives short (718 yards and six touchdowns).
So as the Packers get set to embark on a 2010 season with super expectations, the big question is, are they any better in the secondary?
Reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Charles Woodson and Pro Bowl safety Nick Collins return. They are at the height of their respective careers.
Outside of them, the Packers are as much of an unknown commodity as there is.
Cornerback Tramon Williams has 20 starts under his belt, but this is the first time he enters a season as a full-time starter. He's athletic, physical and figures to be improved.
He has continued, however, to show a tendency to be physical at the wrong times, which led him to finish second in the NFL in pass interference yardage (124 yards on six plays in only 10 starts last season).
And in his last extended playing time of the exhibition season, Williams had by his own admission the worst performance as a Packer against the Indianapolis Colts.
"This last game was a poor game for him," cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt said. "It was really un-Tramon-like, but I'm glad we got it out of the way. He can't perform at that level, and he understands that.
"He's never had a game with that type of stuff happening. Some of it, you don't even know. But I have total confidence in him and he's going to play at a high level. We're lucky to have Tramon, and he's going to play well."
When you look at what's behind Williams with Al Harris not available until at least Week 7, it's no wonder the Packers look at Williams as the golden goose.
Nickel back may be the position with the greatest question mark on the entire roster. And since the Packers use their sub packages about 65% of the time, it's basically a starting position.
Against the Cardinals, Jarrett Bush was the nickel and Brandon Underwood played dime corner.
The Packers figured to be better at nickel this year as Underwood entered camp with a season of experience, and Pat Lee was finally able to stay off injured reserve.
But things didn't work out as planned.
Underwood and Lee were so poor in the preseason that Sam Shields, an undrafted free agent who played only one year of defense at the University of Miami, entered the equation.
Once Underwood reinjured a troublesome left shoulder against the Colts, and Lee failed to demonstrate a play level anywhere close to his second-round draft status in the 2008 draft, the job fell into Shields' lap.
While McCarthy said this week, "I expect our defense to improve, no different than the way I expect our whole football (team) to improve," he didn't say the same about his nickel position.
"We haven't played a game yet," McCarthy said. "We haven't had an opportunity really to line up our whole defense.
"I like the way our sub packages look on paper. I like the way they've looked going through training camp, and we'll have the first opportunity to do it live in the regular season."
If anybody knows what Shields will be going through, it's Williams. After the undrafted free agent spent a season on the practice squad of the Houston Texans, he was pressed into service for one play in his first game as a Packer - against the same Eagles in the 2007 season opener at Lambeau Field.
"I was thrown in there and got beat for a 37-yard catch," Williams said. "It's just a learning experience once you get in there. But Shields is in there from day one as the nickel, so he's expecting to go out and play the whole game pretty much.
"I think he's going to be focused and ready to go. I have confidence in him."
The Packers will start another rookie, third-round pick Morgan Burnett, at safety. He's obviously inexperienced, but Burnett didn't make many big errors in the exhibitions.
He's likely an upgrade over a gimpy Atari Bigby (ankle) and journeyman Matt Giordano, the two players who were on the field against the Cardinals.
There are certainly easier matchups for a young secondary to start with. While Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb is in his first year as the full-time starter, he's got more weapons to work with than arguably any team east of Green Bay.
DeSean Jackson became the first player in NFL history to garner a Pro Bowl spot at two positions (receiver and return specialist), and his eight touchdowns of 50 yards or more tied a league mark.
Receivers Jeremy Maclin, who tied a rookie NFL record with 146 yards against the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs, and Jason Avant (41 catches), along with tight end Brent Celek (76 catches, eight touchdowns) and running back LeSean McCoy can also pressure the best of defenses.
Collins, who will be doing a lot of covering up for the younger players, said his teammates are ready for the challenge.
"They're young guys but they have the confidence to go out there and withstand anything that's in front of them," he said. "We've got veteran guys that are going to be out there with them, to help guide them and if they need help, we're there for them.
"(I like) the way they carry themselves. They are young guys that understand the game.
"They listen, they take coaching very well, so with that, we have no worries about them. They are going to go out there and do their jobs, play their roles."