Packers Are Wounded, But That Won’t Matter
The Green Bay Packers will be without four starters when they face the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.
We’re not worried. Why?
Let us tell you.
Greg Jennings will miss his fourth game with a groin injury. Yeah, the Packers are better with Jennings in the lineup, but for the most part they’ve been just fine without him. James Jones has two touchdowns in each of the last three games. Jordy Nelson just went off for three last week. It’s not like no one can get into the end zone while Jennings is standing around.
B.J. Raji will miss his second straight game with an ankle injury. Again, it’s good to have Raji, but let’s face it. He’s overrated. Ryan Pickett, who’s a natural nose tackle, held down that position just fine last week. C.J. Wilson and Jerel Worthy were just fine at the ends. The Rams do not have a potent offense, so Raji shouldn’t be missed.
Nick Perry is out with a knee injury. The Packers might be light depth-wise at outside linebacker, but there shouldn’t be much of a drop off with Erik Walden stepping into the starting lineup. He’s been a starter the past two years and has been a better pass rusher than Perry so far this season. Dezman Moses will be the next man up.
Sam Shields is out with an ankle injury. I know what you’re thinking. Oh no! Jarrett Bush! No. There should be little to no Jarrett Bush playing cornerback. Casey Hayward has been moving up the depth chart and rightfully so. Hayward has three picks over the last two weeks. Oh, and Davon House, who was on track to start before getting injured in the preseason, finally looks like he’ll see game action.
It’s good to have depth.
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Jeff Fisher is a defensive-minded coach, Chis Long is a very good pass-rusher & Cortland Finnegan along with Jenoris Jenkins are one of the best tandems of corners in the league.
This game is in their dome which is both good & bad. Good because Rodgers plays best on turf…bad because it is a loud away crowd.
Don’t overlook this game like the one in Indy.
Keep Rodgers upright & we will win. GPG
Everything in St. Louis is Cardinals right now. I am guessing the place will be filled with plenty of Packer fans, so noise shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
Hayward should fill in nicely for Shields and House will get some game time. Waldon is playing well.
Don’t see the Rams as a threat. The Pack should win by 2 TD’s.
No mention of Finley? That can’t be good. I think the coaching staff will do what they have to and limit his playing time anyways so the offense has a chance to stay in sync and keep the momentum from last week. 31-10 Pack.
Please just keep Jarrett Bush on Special teams. He is not an nfl level cornerback
That statement, sir, is wrong. And this kind of thinking has bothered me for a long time. Jerrett Bush is an nfl level conerback, he is just not starting caliber, he is starting caliber (and maybe the best player) on special teams. He is great to have as CB depth. Perhaps even the best tackeling defensive back on the team. The reason he is ever on the field is due to injury or if playing special teams. When he does get to see defensive snaps he is automatically targeted by the opposing QBs and actually does a relatively fair job while in there considering the situation of getting thrown into action instantly at which point a lot of balls are thrown to the receiver he is covering (so he does well with not letting too many big plays happen on him, if someone with less talent was put in that situation you would notice that guy more than you would notice Bush because for all the balls thrown his way, you see a bad play once maybe twice out of 15 – 20 per game[not a bad average for a backup]), not to mention he doesn’t have the extra preparation like the other cornerbacks who don’t play special teams. People like you, sir, do not understand football the way it should be understood. He is very valuable to the Green Bay Packers organization and has been for a number of years, which this alone should suggest your statement is wrong. I am not trying to bash or anything like that, I just want to inform the uninformed.
Nurse Ratchet said she went to Edward Jones stadium and it was like a home game for Green Bay.
It is tough to call Erik Walden the better pass rusher so far this season when he has a half sack and Perry has 2 in less playing time. But, I agree that there shouldn’t be a drop off there as long as Walden sets the edge.
I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss BJ Raji being out. Packers’ D line had a great game against Houston, but the Texans are a zone blocking team that loves the stretch play. The Rams are much more of a straight ahead attack.
As long as the Packers can control the Rams pass rush, hopefully by running the ball, they will be fine. Jenoris Jenkins has been missing practice. So, I’m not sure he’s going to play.
Rams gave the Packers a pretty good test last season at Lambeau. The Packers were shut down in the 2nd half, and the Rams defense is better now. The Rams moved the ball offensively. They just failed miserably in the red zone.
Sacks barely begin to tell the whole story when it comes to pass rushers. Take Matthews last year when he didn’t have the sack total but lead the league in hurries and hits which was indicative of him being a complete force all year rushing the passer.
Perry has 0 hits and 8 pressures while Walden has 4 hits and 6 hurries. That being said Perry has been the better pass rusher from what I’ve seen and PFF.com seems to agree. Perry has a +1.0 rating as a pass rusher while Walden is -4.6(Matthews is +11.5 which is the highest of any 3-4 OLB)
I am very excited to see what Casey Hayward can do in a game as a starter. He has been excellent in a limited role this year. Apparently he will start on the outside and move inside on passing down’s when Packers go to dime. Thank the football god’s that it isn’t Bush going to the outside in those situations but House.
I read a couple days ago that House was saying he can wear the brace much looser than Williams and it doesn’t really restrict him. He said it was more like wearing underarmour than anything else. I was pretty excited to hear this and am also curious to see how he does.
Amazing how much things can change in a year. Last year after losing Collins and with Shields struggling it seemed as if the secondary was doomed for years.
At CB they have House who according to Whitt has made the biggest jump over an offseason he has ever seen, Shields looks more and more like his 2010 postseason self, and Hayward looks to be one of the best defensive rookies TT has drafted in his tenure.
At Safety they have a still really young Morgan Burnett who has been consistent and will only get better, the McMillian pick has many similarities Collins to the point where it’s honestly just weird(I just hope he can be half as good which he has been showing is very likely), Then you have Jennings who is been battling with McMillian for snaps.
Sorry for the horrible english. it is 230 in the AM and I just worked 12 hours. I’m going to sleep.