Posts tagged CharlesWoodson at FanHouse

We told you earlier Monday of the firing of Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Bob Sanders. It was hardly a surprise, but the fact that head coach Mike McCarthy waited a full week after the end of the season made it possible that he had someone specific in mind to take over.

I mentioned then that former San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan was close to McCarthy, and there were already rumors that he was a candidate for the gig.

Now, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is reporting that Nolan is rounding up defensive assistants, and he is preparing to become the Packers' new defensive coordinator.

While this is certainly good news for Packers fans, as Nolan is an accomplished defensive coach, things aren't all rosy. There are some serious questions that surround this potential move.

Namely, what scheme will the Packers play?

The AFC and NFC Pro Bowlers were announced a short while ago, and why make some pointless comment you are sure not to laugh at when we can just give you the rosters instead? Here goes.

Wednesday, you had a chance to read a brilliant piece by our own Michael David Smith. In this week's Every Play Counts, MDS ripped apart the underachieving failure that is the Packers' defense.

Among the primary issues of late has been the move of cornerback Charles Woodson to safety. As MDS pointed out, Woodson has played okay. He didn't make any spectacular plays, but he did his job adequately. The problem with the move is that it simply transferred the hole in the Packers' defense from safety to cornerback. Because the Packers have stubbornly refused to adjust their scheme, third cornerback Tramon Williams has been constantly left alone in situations that he's not good enough to handle by himself.

From the sounds of it, however, the Packers and their coaching staff didn't read Every Play Counts.

This just hasn't been Green Bay's year.

Many fans are going to trace it directly back to the day the Packers decided to go with Aaron Rodgers as the starting quarterback, even though future Hall of Famer Brett Favre was contemplating a return from his short retirement.

Others will look -- more accurately -- at the day general manager Ted Thompson traded hulking defensive tackle Corey Williams to Cleveland to avoid giving him a huge contract. Or the day Thompson decided that second-year tackle Justin Harrell would be able to fill that void.

Coming from a Packer fan, there are too many people to point fingers at on this one.

While Rodgers is not at all immune, he's handled the spotlight very well. His teammates have praised his play on the field, and they've praised his off-field presence. This fan believes you couldn't have scripted a better transition from Favre to the next guy. Rodgers didn't ask for it to go down this way, and nearly all the criticism that's been thrown his way has been completely unfair.

He's played well. Others who carried high expectations into the season have not. The reality is that the Packers are 5-7, an extreme longshot for the playoffs, and Sunday's fourth quarter was a microcosm of the season to this point.

This season hasn't been full of good news for Green Bay Packer fans.

Not that any of them should be asking for sympathy. In an era of increasing "parity" among NFL teams, the Packers strung together an impressive string of seasons. Green Bay has just one sub-.500 finish since 1992, by far the least of any NFL franchise.

However, this year's team is in danger of making it two sub-.500 finishes since 1992, as the Packers are at 5-6 and staring at a third year out of four without a playoff berth. While blind, gullible, and stupid people are bound to blame this on Aaron Rodgers, the real reasons behind Green Bay's subpar record go much deeper than anything Rodgers could be fairly blamed for.

One of those reasons is extremely uneven play from the Packers defense. Part of this is injury-related, as Green Bay has lost starters on the defensive line (Cullen Jenkins is injured, and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila was ineffective before being cut) and at linebacker (Nick Barnett is injured). In the secondary, safeties Atari Bigby and Aaron Rouse have been in and out of the lineup because of injury, and cornerback Al Harris had to battle back from a potentially season-ending spleen problem. These injuries have tested Green Bay's depth, which hasn't responded well.

When Harris was out, youngster Tramon Williams started and played okay. If Harris is right, Packer fans will be seeing more of Williams and some other young players next season.

You've got questions. I've got answers. If not, I'll make them up. Each Thursday at 1 p.m. EST, I answer your queries on all things related to the NFL. If you have a question, send it over to NFLMailbag@gmail.com. Don't forget to include your name and location. Click here for the archives. Rock'n'roll.

How bad will the Colts beat the Texans on Sunday? Also, will the Texans win a game this year? Matt Schaub got in tune with the game for a while last week but he is so inconsistent. I think it's time for him to take a hike and take Gary Kubiak with him.
- Ward77029, Texas

Oh ye of little faith. The Texans won't continue to slide into the 2008 twilight. While the Dolphins and Rams last year offered legitimate hope for an 0-16 season, the Texans are simply too talented to continue losing, and I think it comes together this week in what most would consider a shocker. Schaub did begin to harmonize last week, and though the Colts defense is offering a remarkably stout pass defense, they're also now missing Bob Sanders, and if we've learned anything about the Colts it's that their defense relies quite heavily on that tiny young man. Add in a remarkable Texans front four that will be playing against a Colts line that will be missing Tony Ugoh and Ryan Lilja (though the line has done a good patchwork job of protecting Peyton Manning, they've been awful on the ground, and they haven't played a unit like this), and I like the increasingly-healthy Texans' chances of getting in the win column this week. Added motivation? I don't care what Bob McNair says, the Texans have a chip on their shoulder after Jerrah equated the fourth-largest city in America with Mayberry.

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers threw a patented Green Bay TD pass to Greg Jennings (quick post, missed tackle, easy run to the endzone).

However, as soon as Jennings was in the open field, Rodger ran over to the Packers sideline with his right arm down at his side. It isn't known if he hurt his arm on that play or not. The FoxSports broadcast team of Kenny Albert, Darryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa are speculating that it happened earlier in the drive when scrambled and dove for a first down.

Rookie Matt Flynn has been warming up, but they've yet to need him. Down 20-14 after the touchdown, Charles Woodson picked off Tampa Bay's Brian Griese and returned it for his own TD. Green Bay now has the lead and their offense is still on the sideline.

UPDATE: Rodgers had been seen throwing on the sideline but has since threw a cap on and seems as if he's done for the day. Flynn has been receiving instructions from coaches as if he will enter the game whenever Green Bay gets the ball back.

UPDATE II: Flynn is entering the game and will presumably play out the rest of the fourth quarter.

UPDATE III: Rodgers did return to the game as the Packers were down 23-21 late. Rodger went back to pass and was absolutely drilled. He got the pass away, but it went into the hands of a Buccaneers defender.

As we get ready for this week's huge matchup between the Packers and Cowboys, I exchanged e-mails with Rick Stratton from The Packer Backer Blog. Rick was nice enough to offer some insights on Green Bay for this week's Behind Enemy Lines feature.

Sportz Assassin: How impressed are you with Aaron Rodgers, thus far ... and do you think he can get Green Bay to the Super Bowl this year?

Rick Stratton: Everyone here is pleasantly surprised with Aaron's near-perfect play. Even the most die-hard Favre fans are happy with him. I think folks are starting to see why the Packers wouldn't take Brett back so quickly. However, we are all worried about an injury. Our backups are rookies.

Sportz: The defense has played pretty well ... but has had its lapses. Is that something that you're a bit concerned about?

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is right around the corner, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: The position has been an issue in Baltimore since, well, the club moved from Cleveland. Brian Billick turned out not to be such a smart guy, after all, which explains Tony Banks, Elvis Grbac, Chris Redman, and Kyle Boller. Second-year player Troy Smith showed promise during a brief stints last season, but Joe Flacco is the team's newest franchise quarterback. Now it's just a matter of getting him up to speed on running the offense. Heat Index: 4

Running backs: Letting Jamal Lewis walk after the 2006 season was a no-brainer, even if he had a resurgence of sorts with the Browns. Willis McGahee is more than capable when healthy, and rookie second-rounder Ray Rice should see plenty of action. Heat Index: 7

The Packers had very few needs heading into the 2008 draft, and that goes a long way in explaining their very successful (but ultimately disappointing) 2007 showing. Losing Brett Favre is the most obvious loss, but 2005 first-rounder Aaron Rodgers seems ready to assume the role. The next biggest issue could be defensive tackle Justin Harrell's availability, but after that, Green Bay's biggest personnel concerns are mostly depth-related.

As I mentioned in April, the Packers will eventually need to find the successors for cornerbacks Al Harris and Charles Woodson, who are a combined 64 years old.

They selected Auburn safety Patrick Lee in the second round of the '08 draft, but he's not the only guy vying for playing time:

Tramon Williams, the physical second-year pro from Louisiana Tech, finished last season as the No. 3 cornerback and has held that spot on the depth chart throughout the past month's organized team activities. However, the same was true last summer of Patrick Dendy, who ceded the role to Jarrett Bush in training camp and didn't make the team.

Bush, Will Blackmon and rookie Pat Lee are the other logical candidates for a nickel spot that again could be won and lost from week to week, even series to series.