Like an old friend
that has been gone too long the NFL season is making a welcome return this
weekend, and a football starved nation gladly welcomes the return of the
Prodigal Son. Time to close the pool, put away the lawn chairs, winterize the
boats and it is now time to get back to the only religion every green and gold
fanatic truly embraces – it is Game On! And the 2012 Green Bay Packers hit the
field running this weekend.
The Packers
are the sexy pick by numerous talking heads to run the table. By now the
Packers commitment to improving their substandard defense has been well
documented. How good can this defense be? They’re going to get a hard lesson
early as they face the other bog sexy in San Francisco. The 49ers fell a
fumbled punt short of going to the big dance in falling to the eventual Super
Bowl winners the New York Giants in last season’s NFC title game, a game that
saw the Packers woefully on the outside looking in after their own implosion against
the G-Men.
Green Bay
opens its season in the deep end of the pool. There is no easing their way into
the campaign this year; the 49ers have a solid team, a team that is led as much
by its defense as the Packers are by their offense. Led by LB
Patrick Willis and the Smith
Brothers (LB Aldon and DT Jason – no relation) the Niners are a fast,
swarming, gang tackling ball hawking lot that were every bit as good as the
Packers in creating turnovers last year while being at or near the top of the
NFL in defense statistics. This will be a classic case of an irresistible force
meeting an immovable object.
Willis is the heart, soul, and brains of
then D. Fast, quick and smart he can stuff the run and play in pass coverage
and can also get to the QB, a true triple threat who will need to be accounted
for by Mike McCarthy. He is every
bit the equal to Clay Matthews in
his game changing ability to disrupt the flow of a team’s offense. Aldon Smith is the hybrid LB/ DE who
has a wing span roughly similar to a 747 and has rapidly become a stalwart. Jason Smith is a beast, pure, plain,
and simple. He’ll devour 10 lbs. of raw meat and make an All Pro look like a green
rookie at DT. Josh Sitton, Jeff Saturday
and T.J. Lang will have their hands full containing J. Smith. The line play in the trenches will determine this one. If
Green Bay’s line can keep Aaron Rodgers
clean, if they can open some holes up for Cedric
Benson, the Packers will greatly improve their chances.
That is an
awful lot of ‘ifs’ though. If SF has a weakness it is at DB. The DB’s are led
by S Donte Whitner and while they
are a largely anonymous lot the heat brought by the 49er pass rush is what
creates the turnover opportunities. Green Bay will have to counter by being razor
sharp from the first snap. Benson adds
an element missing from last year with his ‘pound the rock’ inside ability. The
more yards he can get the less the D can drop into coverage. That will spell
the difference in this game.
Green Bay made
few changes to its record shattering offense from a season ago. The only
changes are swapping Saturday at C
with the now departed All Pro Scott Wells
and the addition of Benson. James Starks
turf toe may be a long term issue. Securing Benson adds to an arsenal that should enter this game healthy. Benson must cut down on the fumbling
that has plagued him throughout his career. MM has pounded that nugget into him since he has arrived. It would
be unrealistic to expect that Green Bay can match their output from a year ago.
The numbers are just too staggering. The fact is at 15 – 1 the Pack is no
surprise on the schedule to anyone, and thankfully this game is in week 1. It
is a sure fire bet that both teams are going to look and play much differently
in December than they will here. For anyone to call this a ‘must-win’ game is
laughable. After this one there are still 15 more to make up the slack. No,
sports fans, this is NOT a ‘must-win’ game. But it will be a good test.
On offense
the newly charged Alex Smith finally
found a groove and a line that could protect him. Smith has never lived up to his #1 draft status and by now Aaron Rodgers has been the steal of the
century, so end the comparisons. While the marquee matchup is the Packers offense
vs. the Niners defense, the undercard will feature the much improved Packers
defense against the much improved 49er offense. RB Frank Gore returns and he won’t have to shoulder the burden
alone this year. WR Michael Crabtree
is talented but has yet to become the game breaking threat SF had hoped for him
to be when they reached and took him at #10 in the draft a couple years ago. A
lengthy holdout to start his career has slowed his progress. Alex Smith had little beyond Crabtree and blossoming TE Vernon Davis last year who finally
had a breakout season after his brilliant game winning snag against New Orleans
in the playoffs. For all their shortcomings SF still managed to come within a Kyle Williams (WR) fumble of a punt
from doing the near impossible in getting to the Super Bowl. Give Williams credit for manning up and
acting like a professional in the aftermath. And if Williams is manning up the addition of wideout Mario Manningham from the Giants makes the Niner attack more
formidable. Now add in Randy Moss
and all of a sudden the 49ers look somewhat impressive. The only question is
which Randy Moss are they getting?
The talented pass catcher who still has a couple more big ones in him, or the
sullen, self-centered diva who is a locker room cancer?
Much like
the retooling of the much maligned Packer defense the SF offense has to see
results on the field. The Packers will be no mystery. They went after improving
an anemic pass rush and on paper seem to have done so. The collective fate of
the Pack rests in the hands of the new guys this year. Names like Perry and Hayward and Merling and Daniels
and Worthy and House are not household names. At this point they aren’t
even worthy. Rookie OLB Nick Perry
comes in and has to take the heat and double teams off Matthews who moves to his natural right side this year. Perry will make early but should
improve greatly as the year wears on. DE
Philip Merling, a former 1st round pick of Miami, survived the
training camp import of 3 dozen defensive linemen in camp and made the 53 man
roster. Can he resurrect his sketchy start in Green Bay? B.J. Raji is the anchor of a line that will see playing time from
rooks Jerel Worthy (photo, R) and Mike Daniels.
They’ll have to do without Mike Neal for
the first 4 games due to a banned substance suspension. Neal has this year to
produce. Maybe the fire will help motivate.
Much space
has been dedicated to the trenches here. This is where this game will be won
and lost. San Fran has some serious issues on their O Line., especially on the
right side. After losing RG Adam Snyder
to free agency they picked up an out of shape and over the hill Leonard Davis who was an immediate
bust. In comes Alex Boone, who has
never played them position in his life. Ever. And to top it all of he will be
expected to help out RT Anthony Davis.
Lining up against Raji and Matthews
and having a lot of inexperience is not going to help the Niners cause much.
Another key loss for San Fran is LB Parys
Haralson, who, like the Pack’s Desmond
Bishop, is on the IR and out for the season.
Keep your
eye on the right side matchups. Expect Boone
to flinch and jump much as a green T.J.
Lang did early on. And expect DC Dom
Capers to pressure that right side relentlessly. The Packers defense will
make a few more plays. Both teams will give up yards and points through the
air; it is a pass friendly league after all. In the end Rodgers has a more familiar arsenal at his disposal than Alex Smith. It isn’t must win, but it
certainly will be entertaining and a potential of what may come in January.
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