Packers 2005 beta version 0.9, fails public release

Thank your lucky St. Vincents that Friday night was just a scrimmage. The Packers were sorry on offense and defense. We turned Family Night into Fright Night.

Please allow the women and children to exit the stadium first.

The biggest question on everyone's mind was, "Is the defense going to be any better?" The short answer to that is, "Not so much."

J.P. Losman had time to go through his progressions and find the open receiver. The Packers' first unit also allowed the Bills to convert third downs (and second and long) into first downs on their first possession. However, the Bills were stopped at the Packers 37 on a third and 6. Buffalo had exhausted all 9 of its plays for that possession, so ball automatically went over to the Packers. We should get other teams to play by these rules in the regular season.

But I don't think it's fair to judge strictly on results in this first taste of "live" action. I'm encouraged that the defense showed better fundamentals especially in the area of tackling. Packer defenders consistently wrapped up and put the ball carrier on the turf. I don't recall any big plays or first downs converted as a result of a missed tackle. So after the first live action of the season, we're back to where Ed Donnatel had us. No pass rush and good enough to get to third down but not fourth down.

I'll take it for now. Last year, Bob Slowik's defense wasn't even good enough to get to third down (see Colts, Eagles, and Christmas Eve Vikings games).

Individuals who I thought helped themselves were Colin Cole, Corey Williams, Roy Manning, and Mike Hawkins.

Established players I thought played well were KGB and Na'il Diggs.

The offense sputtered and was largely ineffective against the Bills' blitzing defense, which was to be somewhat expected as the line is still trying to find itself. I was pretty surprised that the Bills were blitzing as much as they were and from as many places as they were. A meaningless scrimmage seems like a strange time to give everyone a little preview of your scheme. Since it was a charged event, scouts from other NFL teams could attend the scrimmage. Oh well, it ought to help the offense amp up its level of preparedness for the preseason games, having already witnessed firsthand a bevy of blitzes.