Packers got their asses kicked tonight...

[frodo_biguns]

Yeah, it was a scrimage game. Yeah the White Trash came out to sell out the stadium. Looks like that same old way the Packers ended last year.

Not ready for prime time
Offense, defense suspect in one-sided scrimmage
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 5, 2005
Green Bay - The only positive development in the Green Bay Packers' brutal showing Friday night at Lambeau Field was the fact it was a scrimmage.

Anemic on offense and not much better on defense, the Packers were manhandled by the Buffalo Bills, 14-0, in a controlled scrimmage before a crowd of 62,492 fans.

It was the first time that the Packers practiced against another National Football League team since 1991, which also marked their last losing season. Only a fool would base a season's forecast on the first week of training camp but it's also not going out on a limb to say that the Packers have major voids to fill on both sides of the ball.

"I'm not going to say we were embarrassed," wide receiver Robert Ferguson said. "It's pre-season, man. We've got some things we've got to work on. We'll be better."

The majority of the two-hour affair featured full contact in which the ball carrier was tackled (quarterbacks were off-limits throughout). There was a lesser number of plays in which the ball carrier wasn't supposed to be tackled.

Using only the fully live portion of the scrimmage, the statistics spoke of a dominant effort by Buffalo.

When the starters opposed each other, the Packers gained merely 18 yards in 18 plays and had three first downs. The Bills' starters gained 82 yards in 18 plays and had four first downs.

The difference became much more marked when the backups went against each other. The Packers' reserves gained 9 yards in 18 plays (two first downs) compared with 186 yards in 18 plays (11 first downs) and two touchdowns for the Bills' substitutes.

Buffalo's scores came on a 1-yard run by ReShard Lee and a 23-yard pass from Shane Matthews to George Wilson.

In all, the Packers averaged 0.8 yards per play (36 plays, 27 yards) and gained five first downs, whereas the Bills averaged 7.4 yards (36 plays, 268 yards) and had 15 first downs.

"We would have liked to have had better execution on both sides of the ball," coach Mike Sherman said. "That's why you schedule these things, to expose that and get better."

The Packers had been in camp one day longer than the Bills and had been in pads for six practices compared with three for Buffalo. Partially as a result, the Packers went into the scrimmage with 15 players on their 91-man roster out with injury compared to much healthier Buffalo, which was missing just four of its 83.

What stood out in the scrimmage and the two practices was just how strong and deep the Bills' defense is. Buffalo ranked first in takeaways and was second in yards allowed in 2004.

Sherman was asked if the Bills, who were third in the AFC East at 9-7 a year ago, looked like a better club than the Packers.

"We're a week into this thing. I'd never make that evaluation today," he replied. "I mean, we'll know more when we go through the pre-season and play the first quarter of the season. To determine who's who and what's what at this point of the year, I think, is a little bit ridiculous."

The Packers' offense looked equally overmatched Friday morning in four 2-minute drills that ended practice. With each of their four quarterbacks taking a series from about the Green Bay 40, the Packers could muster just four first downs and didn't score a point. The quarterbacks hit six of 17 passes for 75 yards.

With an extremely deep and fast secondary, speed and play-making ability at linebacker and a solid crew of defensive linemen, the Bills controlled the scrimmage.

In the live action, Green Bay's quarterbacks hit eight of 17 passes for a harmless 70 yards. Aaron Rodgers threw passes that were dropped by Craig Bragg and Antonio Chatman. Receivers struggled to come free.

The Packers' overriding deficiency on offense, however, was their failure to cope with the Bills' zone-blitz scheme. The Bills registered seven sacks in the live stuff. After defensive tackle Sam Adams had one early sack, linebackers had four and defensive backs two.

"We haven't really practiced against a big pressure defense," Sherman said. "It's just reaction to it. That's what usually happens to you this time of year when you're going against pressure."

The Bills seldom blitzed more than four defensive linemen and one player from the back seven. But the scheme of coordinator Jerry Gray was unpredictable and neither the Packers' rebuilt offensive line nor backup running backs seemed to have a clue where the fifth rusher was coming from.

"They did a good job of mixing it," running back Ahman Green said. "I told the running backs to be patient when you check out of the backfield. If you rush out, you might miss a blitz."

The Packers' ground game didn't go much of anywhere, either, finishing with 17 yards in 10 carries during full contact.

Green Bay's starting defense, minus tackles Grady Jackson and Cletidus Hunt along with cornerback Al Harris, played competitively against the Bills' No. 1 offense, which is no great shakes with fledgling quarterback J.P. Losman.

The floodgates opened, however, when the backups took the field. Facing quarterbacks Kelly Holcomb and Shane Matthews and a stable of capable reserve runners, the Packers' scrubs allowed an astounding 10.3 yards per play.

"We had a fair amount of injuries on defense," Sherman said. "Sometimes the second group (of defensive linemen) got locked up on blocks pretty good and didn't get off."

The Packers also were without Joey Thomas, the other starting cornerback, and veteran backups Jason Horton and Chris Johnson, neither of whom is close to a return. That left rookie free agents Leigh Torrence, Patrick Dendy and Chris Day having to play way too many snaps.

[KUTTER]

S-c-r-i-m-m-a-g-e. Calm the fuck down, already.

[Cosmo Kramer]

It's funny how the dumb cunt is so worried about the Packers instead of his own team!

[DallasFanatic]

I don't think worry is the right word. Maybe overreacting to a meaningless pratice scrimmage where your team played like horseshit is what you are searching for.

[Cosmo Kramer]

The Lambeau Field crowd whooped and hollered as Packers linebacker Ray Thompson blitzed through the B gap toward the quarterback. Instead of drilling the Bills player between the numbers, he let up.

"At that point," he said. "I realized it was a scrimmage."

Other than the thud rules dictating linemen could hit each other but not the quarterbacks, Friday night's "Family Night" scrimmage at Lambeau Field between the Buffalo Bills and the Green Bay Packers seemed like a regular-season game.

The crowd set a Family Night attendance record with 62,492 fans, and many lined the streets more than two hours before the start of the practice session. Chants of "Go Pack Go!" reverberated around the stadium.

"When I ran onto the field, the juices were going," said quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who attended the University of California, Berkeley. "This is what I was missing in college. This atmosphere and the love that people have for football around here is unbelievable."

The scrimmage also served as a good test for a Packers defense still learning defensive coordinator Jim Bates' new attacking defense. The Bills went right at a Packers run defense ranked 27th in the league last year. They rushed the ball 30 times for 116 yards.

The first team defense bottled up Bills running back Willis McGahee, limiting him to 32 yards on 12 carries. Linebacker Na'il Diggs dropped him for a four-yard loss early in the scrimmage.

"They were flying to the ball, doing a great job tackling wise," McGahee said.

Although the Packers' defense calls for the middle linebacker to sweep around and make most of the plays, the rest of the defensive line and linebacking corps, particularly Diggs, stepped up.

"I didn't even get to make that many plays," middle linebacker Nick Barnett said.

The Packers did have trouble containing backup running backs Shaud Williams and Lionel Gates, who ran three times for 29 yards and four times for 28 yards respectively.

"We're nowhere near where we need to be," Barnett said. "We still have a lot of work to do."

Barnett said the defense can improve its timing and communication.

Although the officials called offensive holding on the play, wide receiver Lee Evans burned them on a reverse early in the game.

"We hadn't gameplanned that," Barnett said.

With injuries to cornerbacks Joey Thomas (calf) and Al Harris (quadriceps), rookie cornerback Mike Hawkins started on Friday and again demonstrated his raw potential with good coverage for the most part.

He read a J.P. Losman pass to fullback Daimon Shelton and jumped the route. Hawkins dropped the ball but forced an incompletion.

"I think he took advantage of the time," Packers head coach Mike Sherman said. "He does some good things. He has to be more consistent. He makes some big plays, and then he gives up some things he shouldn't give up."

On offense the Packers emphasized the pass, throwing on 30 of their 51 plays. The highlights occurred during two goal line drills where quarterback Brett Favre hit tight end Ben Steele for touchdowns.

The 15-year-veteran, who completed 7-of-13 passes for 39 yards and three touchdowns, threw two perfect passes to Steele.

"That's why he's the man," Steele said.

Favre hit Antonio Chatman, who returned a punt 34 yards earlier in the scrimmage, for another score.

Running back Ahman Green played sparingly. He rushed three times for 11 yards, but his presence set up the touchdowns to Steele. The Bills' defense bit hard on a play-action fake to him.

As well as Favre played, Aaron Rodgers took a step back after performing brilliantly during Thursday night's joint scrimmage.

The Bills' defense sacked him three times and limited him to 1-of-7 attempts for eight yards. Practicing in such an intense environment, however, will only help Rodgers settle into the quarterback position.

The rookie quarterback received more action than he expected, as he took snaps against Buffalo's first-string defense, which ranked second in the league last year.

"It was a very good learning experience for me," he said. "You can learn from your mistakes and improve."

The offensive line did no favors for Rodgers or any of the quarterbacks, allowing eight sacks.

"We weren't real good at that," Sherman said. "It was tough to evaluate our quarterbacks because they didn't get a fair shake on things."

Because Bates' scheme does not emphasize the blitz as much as the Bills', the offense has not been exposed to that type of defense enough during practice.

"Our defense isn't a big pressure defense," Sherman said.

A tougher exam will follow next week when the contact goes from thud to live as the Packers host the San Diego Chargers in their first preseason game on Thursday, Aug. 11.

"I need to get that first hit under my belt," Rodgers said. "Thursday will be a good test."



Frodo is a early favorite to take KCPaula's Cryin Ryan award.