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Pack Resign Derrick Martin

In the first move the Packers have made with their eight resticted freeagents, they resigned backup safety and special teams ace Derrick Martin. Martin, who who finished second on the team in special teams tackles with 21, signed a two year deal with the team for an unspecified amount.

While the move appears to be minor, it shows the Packers’ commitment in keeping key special teams players. It also shows that Ted Thompson and company like what they have seen from the 4 year veteran.

Considering how much Martin struggled when he replaced Atari Bigby early in the season (his last significant playing time on defense), he must have shown something in practice to give the organization some confidence in him at safety. Martin’s agent, Brad Cicala, said that his client expects to see more time in the secondary next year. Possibly as a nickel or dime back.

While I’m not quite sure about Derrick Martin playing significant time on defense, I think this is a good signing because he is a valuable special teamer and the Packers don’t have to break the bank with a guy like Martin. He is just as good and cheap as anyone else on the backup safety market.

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The Next Three Games Loom Large for Marquette

If the Golden Eagles have the misfortune of missing out on the big dance for the first time since 2005, they will most likely be looking back at this three game stretch as where the ship sank.
MU’s next 3 games are all against strong, but not elite competition. The three teams- South Florida, Pitt, and Cincinnati- are all pretty much in the same bout as the Golden Eagles. They all sit in the middle of the Big East standings are considered bubble teams for the tourney at this point (although Pitt may be in the best position of the four teams).
The first game, Saturday vs. USF, could be the most important of the three. The Bulls are hot of late, and could be considered as one of the big surprise teams in the NCAA this year. After going just 9-22 last year, USF has pulled it together this year and has garnered wins against the likes of #7 Georgetown and #23 Pittsburgh. They are a tough team and very much alive for a tournament selection; and a win at the Bradley Center Saturday would be big on their resume. Led by a strong front court of Augustus Gilchrist and Jarrid Famous, South Florida could create match-up problems for MU. The Golden Eagles will need another big performance from their back court to counter the Bulls’ paint presence.
On Thursday, Marquette travels to the Zoo to take on the perennially strong Pitt Panthers. After starting out the season very strong, Pitt hass cooled down -losing four of their last 7 games. Of the Panthers’ six losses this year, only 1 has come at home. The Zoo is considered one of the hardest venues to win in for opposing in the Big East, and will provide a major challenge for Marquette. If the Golden Eagles are able to win this game, it would certainly boost their chances come Selection Sunday.
The final of the three games is against the Cincinnati Bearcats. UC plays hard every night and are led by uber-talented Freshman Lance Stephenson. Stephenson and forward Yancy Gates will be matched up on Lazar Hayward and Jimmy Butler respectfully, creating one of the most intriguing 2 on 2 match-ups MU has seen this season. Hayward and Butler must win these individual battles if MU has any hope of countering the Bearcats rebounding advantage (Cincy comes in 4th in the Big East in team rebounding).
After these three games, the Golden Eagles travel to St. Johns and Seton Hall before closing out at home against Notre Dame and Louisville. All these are important, but this three game stretch against other bubble level teams will really separate MU from the pack; this could be a good or bad thing depending on how they do.

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If the Saints are Good Enough to Win, so is the Pack.

Watching New Orleans completely force the hand of the Colts late in the game last night made me think of one thing… The Packers really were good enough to do the same thing. You could say, “Oh, well Indy would have torn apart Green Bay’s D,” or “The Packers’ offense is good but it’s not dominant like the Saints.” But let’s look at the numbers shall we.

In the regular season the Saints had the 26th ranked passing defense while the Packers ranked fifth. Okay, maybe ranking in the upper 15% was a bit of a flash in the pan for the Pack because of an easy schedule; but had they faced tougher offenses would they have dropped 21 spots to 26? I don’t think so.

How about the run defense? You could tell last night that the Colts felt pretty comfortable running the ball. The reason being is because New Orleans gives up an average of 122 yards on the ground, good for 21st in league. The Packers? Only the top ranked running defense in the NFL, giving up 83 yards per game.

The turnover margin is also in the Packers’ favor with a league best +24, while the Saints –a team that proclaims to rely on turnovers- sits at +11.  So with all these statistics we can agree that the Packers defense is at least up to par with the “Who Dats?”

Now on to the offensive side of the ball. The Saints were outstanding putting up 6,461 total yards this year. This was the number 1 offense, but the Packers were not too far behind at number six, putting up 6,065 yards. Both teams were led by excellent quarterbacks. Drew Brees’ performance over the last few seasons speaks for itself. A-Rodge’s does as well. He actually put very similar statistics with the ex-Boilermaker. He had more yards and less picks, while Brees had 4 more TD’s and a slightly higher passer rating.

While numbers clearly aren’t everything, they provide a good way gauge a team. And if you’re gauging with these numbers, you could say that the only thing holding back the Packers from the Superbowl was a better defensive game plan against the Cardinals . Either way, with a few minor adjustments, these numbers give Packer fans all the more reason to be excited for next year.

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Where Marquette Stands…

The end of January and beginning of February is an interesting time in college basketball. Other than the Superbowl, the NFL season is pretty much over and peoples’ interest is starting to shift over to the hardwood. It’s also the midway point through conference schedule and teams are really starting to show their true colors. Right now is a good time to sit back and gauge what you see in your favorite teams.

So what about Marquette? They’re in the middle of the pack in the Big East with a 13-8 (4-5) record. At first glance, you may look at this win/ loss ratio as NIT worthy. But this is the BIG EAST, by far  the best conference in college basketball. Of those 9 games played in conference, six of them have been against top 20 teams. Thats a pretty damn hard schedule. Its not as if all those games have been losses either; the Golden Eagles took down an elite Georgetown team on January 6th and recently went out to Hartford, CT and beat the Huskies. And the games MU has lost… A buzzer beater at West Virginia, two games to No. 2 Villanova by a total of 4 points, a close game (76-71) at the Carrier Dome to the fifth ranked Syracuse Orange, and MU’s worst performance of the season in Chicago in a another buzzer beater loss to lowly DePaul.

Next question, whats the road ahead look like for MU? Well it’s a lot easier than the one they’ve traveled thus far. Of the nine conference games left, they have only one against a ranked team (No. 17 Pitt). Thats not to say it’s the easiest schedule, they still have to face the Notre Dames, Louisvilles, and Cincinnatis of the world. But the rest of the games are definitely should-wins. If the Marquette takes care of business in the final month plus of the regular season and makes a splash in the always trilling Big East tourney, they will be looking at a top 25 ranking and a definite spot in the big dance. If this happens, they’ll be looking back to the time when they were 3-5 in conference, were slipping a little bit, and were saved by monster performances by their big three (Lazar Haywood, Jimmy Butler, and Darius Johnson-Odom) in a tough win vs UConn as the turning point of the season.

The lack of any legit big man has been a problem that Marquette seems to be forced to deal with every year, but when they get good performances out of their big three they can compete with anyone in the country. If Marquette plays their cards right they’ll be a tough out in the tournament, no matter who they play.

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Playoff Stretch Time for Packers

It’s hard to believe a team with the NFL’s top-ranked defense and the 5th-ranked offense has to battle to make the playoffs with just five games remaining. While the Vikings have all but clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs, the Packers have to compete for a Wildcard spot with the likes of the Falcons, Eagles, Giants, and possibly the Cowboys.

Of those three NFC East teams, Dallas is in the best shape with an 8-3 record, and will likely win that division. They do, however, have a recent trend of poor late-season play. That leaves two available playoffs spots with four teams battling to live to see another day. Will the Pack be one of them? Here’s a list of things that must happen in the remaining five games:

• Stay healthy. The Al Harris injury is big, and the team cannot afford anymore injuries (especially on defense). Coach McCarthy did a good job of trying to rotate subs in against Detroit, but this is not a luxury the team will have against better teams.
• Step it up on special teams coverage. Green Bay ranks dead-last in punt coverage and 7th worst in kickoff coverage. We’ve seen how a big return can alter a game (i.e. vs. Minnesota and Tampa Bay), and even in the games we’ve won there hasn’t really been a great special teams performance yet. These numbers have to improve, or we will lose a game because of it.
• Beat good teams, not just garbage teams. The Pack really only has one quality win under their belt — Dallas. Other than that, they have played 5 games against the four worst teams in the league (Detroit twice, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, and St. Louis). In the final 5 games, the Packers play three good teams (Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Arizona), 1 mediocre team (Chicago), and 1 bad team (Seattle). The Monday Night game against the Ravens will be a real test.
• Mason Crosby, make your kicks. When Ted Thompson drafted Crosby out  of Colorado a few years back, he was supposed to be the kicker that could knock down the 50+ yard field goals and boot it into the endzone on kickoffs. He’s 1-5 on 50+’ers this year. There’s going to be a game (maybe in the playoffs) where he’s going to be counted on to make a long kick with little time left. He needs to improve — on field goals and on kickoffs.
• Keep Bringin’ the Blitz! After a slow start and some locker room grumbling about Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers not using the blitz enough, the Packers defense has entered a whole new stratosphere. Capers now feels comfortable bringing consistent pressure with the blitz (including Corner and Safety blitzes) and the Packers D now ranks #1 overall in the NFL. In particular, allowing Charles Woodson to play closer to the line of scrimmage has put him in position to make some big plays against the run and the pass. If Capers continues to bring the heat — and there should be no reason to stop now — the Packers’ new 3-4 defense just may have what it takes to make a serious run deep into the playoffs.
  

  Capers needs to continue to put C-Wood in position to make plays a la LeRoy Butler in the '90s

First, the Packers need to take care of business in their remaining five games — starting with their Monday night battle against the Baltimore Ravens. If the Packers cut down on the penalties and continue to improve their consistency in all three phases of the game, they will find themselves playing football in January.

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Packers Win vs. 49ers Comes With a Hefty Price

The Pack dominated the first half on their way to a 23-3 lead Sunday before putting it on cruise control in the second half.

The return of TE Jermichael Finley (7 Catches, 54 yards) opened up the offense for Green Bay as Aaron Rodgers put on a show in the first 30 minutes against the team that snubbed him on draft day 2005 (he threw for over 270 of his 344 yards and 2 tds in the first half).

Ryan Grant also rushed the ball 21 times for 129 yards and a score. The Pack moved to 6-4 before meeting the Lions on Thanksgiving and now control their own destiny for a December playoff push.

Rodgers hit Greg Jennings on a vintage Packers slant-and-run that Jennings (5 catches, 126 yards, 1 td) took 64 yards to the House. That touchdown put the Pack up 13-3 in the second quarter.

The Packers defense put together a very strong effort in the first half. They managed to shut down Frank Gore’s (59 yards) running lanes and help keep the time of possession in favor of the Pack (41:39 to 18:21).

After a defensive stop, Rodgers hit Jordy Nelson for a score, and Mason Crosby added 3 field goals to give the Pack a commanding halftime lead.

The Niners won most of the battles in the second half, adding a few late scores against a banged-up and more passive Packers defense. But it proved to be too little too late.

A Nick Collins INT combined with a consistent ground attack featuring Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson (4 carries, 16 yards and 6 catches, 65 yards) proved to be too much for the 49ers. Green Bay was able to wear down San Francisco at the end of the game on their way to a 30-24 victory.

After the game, however, the Packers were slapped with some bad news: Al Harris and Aaron Kampman are done for the year after sustaining serious left knee injuries.

These two injuries are going to seriously test the Packers’ depth on defense. Linebackers Brad Jones and Brady Poppinga, as well as defensive backs Tramon Williams, Brandon Underwood and Jarrett Bush, will have to step up.

These are huge losses for a team that is trying to make a playoff push. Time to step up young bloods!

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Packers-49ers Preview: Three BIG Things to Watch for on Sunday

1)  The unstoppable force against the immovable object.
The 49ers bring Frank Gore, who is rushing for 5.2 yards per carry, to Lambeau against a stubborn Packers rush defense that ranks 4^th in the NFL.

To date the Packers have shown impressive performances against the likes of Adrian Peterson (3.0 yards per rush in the two games against the ViQueens), the Cowboys running back trio (61 yards), as well as stout efforts against the Bears, Lions, Bucs and Browns.

If the Packers are able to take away the 49ers run game, it will force one of the worst quarterbacks in the league, Alex Smith, to throw the ball more.

2) Will lightning strike twice for San Francisco?
Last week against the Bears, the 49ers forced Jay Cutler to throw 5 INTs. They did this by taking away the run and forcing the Bears to become one-dimensional as Cutler threw the ball 52 times.

In one of the ugliest games of this year’s NFL season, the 49ers won 10-6 solely because of all the turnovers. Even though A-Rodge doesn’t throw picks like Cutler, if the 49ers force the Pack to stop running the ball, Rodgers will be taking hits all day, resulting in another ugly game.

If Green Bay is able to keep some balance however, it will be a long day for the 49ers’ secondary, who will be missing its best player, Nate Clemens.

3) Bringing the heat on D.
Against Dallas last week, the Pack forced Tony Romo to run for his life. After a terrible performance against Tampa Bay the previous week, the defense rebounded by recording a season-high 5 sacks and countless pressures on the Burlington, WI native.

The 3-4 defense looked like the defense that we thought we would eventually see. The question is: Was that just a one-week aberration, or has Dom Capers realized that blitzing is essential to the Pack’s success?

Also, will having Aaron Kampman back in the lineup help or hurt? His replacement, Brad Jones, did a great job of pressuring the QB and covering the flat last week. We’ll find out Sunday how the D responds.

4) Me, because I’ll be at the game!

Go Pack!

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