SnoTap Packer Preview: Green Bay at Cincinnati

The hard thing with watching a team blow out another one early on in the season is managing expectations. Green Bay looked great last Sunday against Washington, but there is no true barometer on how good this team really is right now. They play their third straight game against a playoff team against Cincinnati in a tough road affair before the Packers have an early bye week. This game will test Green Bay's young offensive line along with A.J. Green's ability to have a monstrous game as well as the Packers handling another tough road environment. 

#Packers OT David Bakhtiari has graded out higher at @PFF than the two top-5 picks Eric Fisher (Chiefs) and Lane Johnson (Eagles) here.
— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) September 20, 2013

Interesting stuff from Zach Krause from Bleacher Report on David Bakhtiari to begin the season. He is not facing the weaklings of the league either going up against the likes of Ryan Kerrigan and Aldon Smith. Bakhtiari has another tall task facing the Cincinnati defensive line. Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson are both beasts on the outside and will give Bakhtiari all he can handle on Sunday. Another thing to watch with the Packers offensive line in whole will be going up against a 4-3 defense. They have seen 3-4 for all of training camp and then faced two 3-4 systems in the first two weeks of the season. Who knows if it will have any bearing on the game, but it is a definite adjustment for the protection plan.  

This is also a big game for Josh Sitton. The former Packer All-Pro has not got off to a great start to the season with multiple holding calls plus his play really has not been to his level. Sitton will face the terror that is Geno Atkins at certain points of the game. Atkins will be handful for Sitton and if he is really the best Packer offensive lineman, this is the game to show it off when people are expecting the Bengals defensive line to reek havoc. I expect a steady mix of pass and running plays to not only protect Aaron Rodgers, but also keep this defensive line on their toes giving the Packers offensive line a slight advantage. 

A.J. Green is one of the best receivers in the game, and probably the best receiver the Packers have faced thus far in the young 2013 season. In the first two games, the Packers allowed Anquan Boldin and Pierre Garcon to go well over 100 yards and they are not to Green's caliber. Although the one thing the Packers have done a great job at shutting down is the vertical route which is Green's version of the Stone Cold Stunner.  Tramon Williams and Sam Shields really have made it a point that they are not getting beat with the home run play. The Packers philosophy right now especially with Morgan Burnett and Casey Hayward is 'Feel free to go underneath, but the vertical routes are not happening'. If the Bengals start throwing Green over the middle more, the Packers could be in big trouble. For this reason is why Tyler Eifert and Jermaine Gresham scare me more than Green with all the exposure both tight ends get in the middle of the field.  

Cincinnati has not been kind to the Packers. The Bengals have the last two wins against Green Bay and the last time the Pack won in Queen City, it was 1998. While this is all trivial, it should not be forgotten Cincinnati is a tough place to play when the city believes their team is worth a damn. It is very important the Packers come out with the same efficiency they did in the first two quarters of the Washington game. If they get the ball rolling, Cincinnati will not have the offense to keep up with the Packers. While people including me do not want to get excited about Washington, I feel like we forget they put 28 points against San Francisco, this team can score with the best of them. 

I feel like the Packers win this one with the continued good play of Aaron Rodgers, the offensive line will have a couple hiccups, but will man their stations just fine plus a solid defensive effort all-around. Cincinnati does not seem to be there just yet. I do not know if it is the quarterback or it is the wealth of young talent has not adapted to the NFL just yet, but they are not there. Green Bay 27 Cincinnati 21 

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SnoTap Packer Preview: Washington v. Green Bay

Welcome to a new part of SnoTap where we preview the Packer game throughout and also feature a Packer playlist. The playlist will begin the post and feature anywhere from 17-25 songs.  It is an eclectic mix with all types of music and also features music from Washington DC artists.  

Sunday will start another year at Lambeau Field. This year, it is a bit different as the Packers have added new seats in the south endzone making the stadium over 80,000 strong putting Green Bay third in the NFL in terms of biggest stadiums and it will get loud. The new seats will contain the sound as they do in Seattle and it will be louder than it ever has before in Lambeau. It should be fun to see if Washington has any problems dealing with the snap counts come Sunday.

Both teams come in needing a win badly to avoid start the dreaded 0-2. No one wants to be 0-2 if they want to be in the playoffs in January. Only 13 percent of NFL teams since 1990 have made the playoffs after an 0-2 start. This game is extremely important and honestly, the team who loses this game will probably be the topic of the national media freakout with good reason too as both made the playoffs last season.  

It is weird both teams also have the same issue after Week 1, their secondary.  For the Packers, it is not really the entire defensive backfield.  Tramon Williams and Sam Shields did fine on the outsides covering the vertical routes yet the middle was completely exposed for the entire game. Jerron McMillian will not be starting and Chris Banjo will be in there instead. Banjo is an undrafted rookie going up against Fred Davis and a good Redskins receiving core so that should worry Packer fans. Banjo did have some impressive plays throughout the preseason, but an actual NFL game is far different than playing against his level of talent. 

The Redskins secondary problems are both with their corners and safeties. They were the 30th ranked pass defense last year and in the first game against Philadelphia, it showed everything stayed the same. Washington trotted out multiple rookies like David Amerson and Bacarri Rambo along with DeAngelo Hall whose about as useless as a three dollar bill.  Having two rookies and a washed up corner against Aaron Rodgers and the arsenal of wide receivers could be a disaster for Washington. Rodgers should be licking his chops for this one, and there is no reason Mike McCarthy should focus on the run early on. 

Robert Griffin III did not look like the same player last Monday night. He warmed up in the second half throwing for 276 yards, but RGIII seemed much more like a pocket passer versus being a duel-threat quarterback. Griffin did not look strong throwing the football even if he found receivers open. He did not look strong when it came to his base drawing comparisons to Tom Brady when he came back from his knee injury. I do think Griffin will get into stride again this year, but that will probably happen in October making me happy the Packers face them in the second week of the season. 

The Packers seemed to get away from San Francisco injury-free, but as the week continued, Josh Sitton and Jermichael Finley both came up with injuries. Sitton is bothered by a bad back and Finley has a toe injury. Both have a great deal importance to this team and making the offense run efficiently.  Sitton's absence would be far more significant than Finley. While the Packers are thinner at tight end than you believe, there are enough offensive weapons to survive without J-Mike. Sitton goes out, the offensive line will have to do some massive shuffling on Sunday. It appears Morgan Burnett will be playing, but there is a chance he could still miss the game. All three practiced yesterday although Finley and Sitton were limited, there is no guarantee any three of these players will go on Sunday.   

As for the game, it is always scary to face Rodgers with his back against the wall. It is even more scarier when the secondary of Washington.  The Packers QB will have a big game on Sunday and put everyone on notice. I also think the Packers run defense will come up big again.  Green Bay 31  Washington 20 

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Bryan Bulaga Likely Out For the Season

For whatever reason, the Green Bay Packers cannot avoid injuries. Sure they happen to every professional team, but Green Bay seems to be a hotbed for multiple key players to get injured.  The 2013 injury bug hit quickly and swiftly as it appears offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga suffered a serious knee injury during Family Night and could miss the entire 2013 season after spending half of the season on Injured Reserve with a hip injury last year.  This is a major loss for the Packers. There is no real way around it, but there are still offensive lineman who might be able to fill the void.

With Bulaga healthy, the Packers offensive line seemed extremely strong heading into the season. Bulaga appeared to be fully recovered from his hip injury and ready to protect the blind side of Aaron Rodgers for the 2013 season. Instead, the Packers will be hoping Marshall Newhouse can be improved from the seasons before or rookie David Bakhtiari lives up to the training camp hype.  

Bulaga is a massive blow to this team due to his overall skill as an offensive lineman. He is one of the best young lineman in the National Football League, but why is everyone convinced he would excel at the left tackle position? Head Coach Mike McCarthy moved Bulaga and Josh Sitton to the left side of the line to have his 'best lineman at the most important positions'. A move that made sense at the time, but there is still somewhat of an unknown with how both would do this season. While both of these man are professionals, moving from right to left tackle is not a surefire successful transition, there is no guarantee Bulaga would have been great yet he still would have been upgrade from Newhouse. 

The former TCU product was practically a dumpster fire at the left tackle position. He allowed 11 sacks on the season and while some of that might be due to Rodgers holding on to the ball too long, Newhouse still struggled in pass protection against some of the best pass rushers in the league. The biggest example of Newhouse's struggles might have been against the New York Giants where Jason Pierre-Paul tossed him around like a ragdoll for four quarters.  Could he improve?  Yes and maybe Sitton next to him will aid him on the inside rush, but that's a limited silver lining. Newhouse will have an attempt to truly redeem himself.   

Every training camp features a couple players looking like superstars out of the gate. People get too excited about this player and then when the season rolls around, he does not live up to the training camp stardom. Bakhtiari, the rookie of Colorado and possibly a member of Kall Drogo's tribe, has shown out so far in training camp. Many people are impressed with his skill set early on and it is believed if Bakhtiari stayed in school another year he would have been a first or second round draft pick. Could he really play left tackle in the NFL?  Maybe during the middle of the season, but definitely not to start out the year. I doubt he starts in the first game at either tackle position unless Don Barclay truly has a bad camp. The future is bright with this player and the Packers line could improve with him later on in the season.

The Packers found ways to win without some of the best players on their team in 2010, 2011, 2012 and they will have to do it again in 2013.

Charlie.  

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