Week 2: Packers vs. Panthers

I found out yesterday afternoon that the BF would have to work today. So while I was excited for Game Day I was pretty bummed by the idea of having to head out to the bar this morning solo (because they weren't playing the game on network TV here, and we don't have the Sunday Ticket). It's one thing for the two of us to go, but being one half of the Los Gatos Packer Nation, and having to face three hours of drinking alone in a bar, I was less than excited. Then around bedtime last night I had an epiphany. My gym gets Direct TV (and since the Ticket is now free...grrrrrr) I decided to head over there and watch the game. There are 5 flat screen TVs, and when I got there one was available. The kicker is, that there is no sound except for the headphone jacks in the various cardio machines. And the bigger kicker is that the sound doesn't turn on unless you are moving on the machine!

So I traded my awesome Woodson jersey and a few brewskis for my sweats, a bottle of water and THREE HOURS on the eliptical machine....I am exhausted! And I think I scared my fellow gym members at least a couple times when a big play happened, and I forgot that I was in a gym and not in my living room. Surprisingly I only almost fell off the machine twice. And that was because I was trying to watch the game...elipt or whatever it's called so I could hear it, AND text game highlights to my BF as they happened. I dare anyone else to attempt such a feat and stay upright.

Anyway, getting to the game.

Carolina's opening drive was long, and more importantly they scored. I felt like I was moving faster than the Packers secondary was, and the lack of a pass rush was ridiculous, especially since the Panthers have no running game. The D line did well, I thought (which is why there was no run game) but the secondary was slow, and (in my opinion) played too far back, and gave up on hitting Newton too quickly when they blitzed, giving him way too much time to find an open receiver.

That being said, when they came out after halftime, I don't know who said what in the locker room, but the defense finally began acting like the Super Bowl champs they are. Woodson got two interceptions and a fumble recovery, suddenly the secondary was batting down passes, and getting all up in Carolina's face. And when you are dealing with an offense that has no running game, it's a very successful strategy. The injury to Nick Collins was the only bad thing that happened on the Packers defense the whole second half. I sure hope he's OK. It didn't look good, but he waved as they carted him off. 

The offense was pretty good I think. Again I like the no huddle. I wish they would have run it more in the second half, but I realize it becomes a clock issue at some point, and I am not football savvy enough to know when and why you'd opt not to use it (unless you are behind). And I have to say that while it wasn't a huge passing game, I thought that had more to do with the Carolina defense playing well, rather than the Packers offense playing poorly...although Rodgers did have a really bad drive in the third quarter, where his passes were a little off. Anyway, Starks had a good game, one 40+ yard rush, and Grant did OK too. Kuhn dropped a pass in the end zone, but took one in for the TD on the next play. Jennings didn't catch a lot of passes (or Rodgers fault than his) but scored. Donald Driver broke James Lofton's record for franchise passing yards, and Finley had some nice consecutive catches. Over all, a solid performance. The one (?) sack on Rodgers was a missed block by tight end Tom Crabtree, and so while that's not great, it wasn't a O line problem.

And finally, I don't know if special teams improved or if the Panthers special teams really suck but I thought they did way better this week (except for the Cobb fumble). 

The first quarter really threw me for a loop. But other than that the team over all played well I thought. Some might argue that three quarters out of four isn't bad. But in the NFL, I don't think that's the case. I'm not sure why the D had such a slow start, but I think they will have plenty of material to look at before we take on the Bears next week. As for the offense, I think their big task will be to find a way to keep Julius Peppers away from Rodgers.