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The game could have gone a little better but Packer fans should be really happy that last night was not a repeat of last week. The Packers offense rebounded nicely and I hope they can continue to play that well into the season. The Packers defense is another story and I think there were a couple things that lead to their poor performance. Since I am in a good mood after last night’s game I have decided to start with the positives from the game.

Positives

Aaron Rodgers had a great game in my opinion. There is no way you can possibly complain about 18/22 for 193 yards. Tack on a passing and running TD as well. Rodgers rebounded from last week. He might have only had one of two mistakes in the whole game and the rest of the game was flawless. If we see more games like this than against the 49ers I think Rodgers will have a very successful season this year. As long as the line give Rodgers time I think he will quickly develop and overcome these mistakes that he has made so far this preseason.

The wide receivers redeemed themselves tonight. There was only one noticeable drop in my opinion (James Jones) and other than that the receivers did their job. This week they were finally able to get open so Rodgers had somewhere to throw the ball. I think McCarthy really needs to think about using a lot of the short passes this season since Aaron Rodgers and the receivers played much better with the short passes than the intermediate to long passes of last week. Finally it was nice to see Greg Jennings back since he really opened up the passing game in my opinion.

Kregg Lumpkin might have earned himself a spot on the roster with his play in yesterday’s game. While his stats might not show a great game I think he showed the potential to be a good RB in the league. While I personally don’t think he is currently worthy of a roster spot on the team I think the Packers are going to have to keep him on the roster since there is no way he makes it to the practice squad. This is one of those times that I wish the NFL had a developmental league like the MLB. While I wouldn’t guarentee that he makes the roster, I will say that he improved his chance last night.

The offensive line did a very good job pass blocking in today’s game. While it has been said that the Broncos defensive line is pretty weak, that doesn’t really matter to me. It doesn’t matter since the offensive line did their job in the game. They could have been challenged more but they weren’t. If there defensive line was better we don’t know what would have happened. We could have given up many more sacks or we could have continued to block well. There is really no reason to debate what would have happened since we will never get to see what would have happened.

Jason Hunter had a great game at defensive end. I have been a critic of Jason Hunter for a while now and for good reason. He never seemed to get any pressure on the QB. He didn’t have a problem with that last night. He had several good pressures on the QB (would have had more if the Broncos offensive lineman didn’t hold several plays in a row) and even caused the Tracy White interception that won the game. Hopefully next week the Packers can give him some time against the Titan starting offensive line since I want to see what he can do against better competition. If Hunter continues to play like he did last night he could be a future pass rusher in this league. I think last night’s performance at least guarenteed him a spot on the roster especially since he has always been a great special teamer.

Desmond Bishop had a very good game in my opinion. This battle between Bishop and Hodge for the final linebacking spot is getting really heated. Both are playing great and there is a very slim chance that we can keep both of them. One of them will probably have to go. Someone is likely to either be able to sign a very good LB or make a final roster trade to acquire one of these linebackers with a lot of talent that we just don’t have room for.

Will Blackmon made the roster last night in my opinion. Not from his defensive play (even though that wasn’t terrible) but from his returning. Blackmon probably won the punt returning job after last night’s performance and has finally given the Packers a returning threat which we haven’t had for a very long time.

Negatives

These injuries are starting to get ridiculous. How our luck is going as far as injuries are concerned I wouldn’t be shocked if our whole roster is hurt by the end of the season. If the injuries weren’t bad enough we had five injuries in yesterday’s game. It appears that James Jones’, Nick Collins’, and Charles Woodson’s appear to be nothing and they won’t miss the opener against the Vikings. Atari Bigby’s injury is a little more serious since there is a chance that he might not be able to play the opener. Finally Sitton’s was probably the worst he hurt his knee and had to have his leg wrapped. He will have more tests today but the one positive is that he didn’t need to use crutches to walk. At this point I think we need to wait to see what the test reveal.

We really need help on the defensive line. Injuries are decimating the defensive line. In particular we can’t keep a good defensive tackle from getting hurt. I think most of the problems from last night can actually be attributed to the defensive tackle position. First the defensive tackles did nothing to help in the run game. They couldn’t hold their spot and they couldn’t get any push. The defesnvie tackles also hurt the passing game since our defensive ends got some pressure from the sides but it went to waste since we could get absolutley no pressure up the middle. The Packers really need to either add a defensive tackle or hope that Pickett and/or Harrell get back soon. I think Packer fans saw last night why Pickett is so valuable to this team.

Our offensive line is really letting the running backs down. All night the offensive line struggled at opening holes for the running game. The offensive line needs to start opening holes for the running game or we will be in some trouble this season since we will have to focus on the pass and defenses will do the same. This week the offensive line improved their pass blocking. Hopefully this week they will improve their run blocking.

The Packers really need to add a veteran QB. Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn are just not ready to start. If we don’t add a veteran and Rodgers gets hurt we might as well throw the season away since at this point Brohm and Flynn would never be able to win a game. I think Thompson was pretty stupid not adding a veteran earlier. I don’t know how he expected two rookies to be able to fill in if Rodgers got hurt. I am not giving up on either QB since I think either or both could have a pretty good future as long as they are given some time to develop.

Other Thoughts

Jon Ryan had a really good game punting but I wouldn’t put too much stock into it since the game was in Denver after all. Denver’s high altitude has always helped kickers and punters in the past with the distance on their kicks. At least Ryan didn’t shank a punt in this game.

Mason Crosby finally missed a field goal. I guess it was about time that he would miss one since he has been pretty much perfect this whole training camp. The snap and hold were also not great which could have lead to the missed field goal.

The running back battle is as muddled as it has ever been. At this point I can’t really tell you who win will either the one or two open spots on the roster. Each running back brings their own strengths and weaknesses and the decision will come down to what the coaching staff wants most out of the third running back.

Danny Lansanah might have earned himself a spot on the practice squad with his play last night. He is definently a raw player at this point in his career but he showed potential (exactly what you want out of a practice squad player). Lansanah needs to learn from his stupid roughing the passer penalty though since every player should know better than that.

I hope Joey Haynos makes the roster over Tory Humphrey. While Tory Humphrey makes some good plays we balances those with some terrible plays. Add in the fact that he can’t stay healthy and you should know why I want to finally cut him loose. The reason I like Joey Haynos is because of his measureables. You don’t find many 6′8″ TEs in the league. Just think how that height advantage could be used in the end zone with jump balls. Joey Haynos also has good hands and showed last night that he can block as well.

Jarrett Bush really needs to develop some consistency. Last week he played terrible and this week he played pretty good. If Bush wants to have any chance of making the roster (he is the CB looking in at this point in time) he needs to have another solid game against the Titans and show that he has some consistency between games.

I am excited about Pat Lee’s future. While I don’t think he will have much impact this season (fourth CB at best) I think he could be a very good player in the future. Pat Lee has shown a knack for the football. He also seems to be getting better every single week that he plays. He is a little raw but I think with some development he could be a very good CB.

Sometime this week there will be a roster cutdown to 75 players. When I find the exact date I will write a post about who I think is on the bubble. When the cuts are released I will also write a post about whether I thought they were the right choices or not.

So what did you think about last night’s game? What went well and what went wrong in your opinion? Are you more optimistic about the season after last night’s game?

For a full report on tonight’s practice I recommend that you check out the Green Bay Press Gazette. I do have a few things I do want to point out though.

• As far as injuries are concerned it is good to see that Jennings and KGB are back to full practice scedules. Grant also seems to finally be getting some practice (it sounds like he didn’t do everything) and it is about time since he needs practice in order to be ready for the season. I am starting to get a little worried about AJ Hawk though since it sounds like Hawk will miss Friday’s game as well. The Packers really need to get him back as was shown in Saturday’s game. Finally Aaron Rodgers had his knee wrapped but the injury doesn’t seem serious at all.
• Evan Moore’s chance at making the Packers roster is essentially over. This is too bad since I was pulling for him to make the roster. Evan Moore’s injury in Saturday’s game will put him out several weeks which means that he will miss the rest of training camp. At this point Evan Moore will either be cut, put on IR, or hopefully make the practice squad.
• Aaron Kampman seems to be able to do everything. Today in practice he actually intercepted a pass. Aaron Kampman is easily one of the best defenders in the league in my opinion.
• Obviously the Packers coaching staff really didn’t learn a whole lot from the 49er game. For some reason Jarrett Bush is still the number 4 CB. After Saturday’s absolutley terrible performance he doesn’t lose his position. If I were the Packers coaching staff I would have dropped him at least one to two spots on the depth chart. I guess the Packers coaches didn’t watch the same game that I did. Another point that proves this is that the Packers did absolutely nothing to change up the offensive line. I do give them credit with finally sticking with an offensive line setup but I think they chose the wrong lineup. I would have moved Spitz back to his normal guard spot and put Barbre in the other spot. I guess the Packers are going to go based on potential rather than actual performance though.

Last night was the final two a day practice as the Packers have finally installed their whole offense and defense. From reports from JS Online, and two from the Green Bay Press Gazette (first and second) there are some positives to be drawn from the practice.

• Aaron Rodgers played decent. He threw too interceptions and didn’t play as good as he has in previous practices but there are two things that could have lead to that. First several starters on the offense were missing so that never helps. Plus our defense was working on our blitz packages. I wouldn’t worry about Rodgers because he has played much better since the Favre fiasco has left.
• Speaking of the defense, supposedly the Packers are going to be doing a lot more blitzes this season. Almost the whole practice was dedicated to blitzes. The Packers are definently trying some new things since they know have a 3-3 and a 2-4. I personally have never even seen a 2-4 so that will definently be interesting to see. The good thing is that the defense doesn’t seem to be as conservative this year. It also looks like the linebackers will be able to make more plays this season which is good with all the injuries on the defensive line.
• While still on the defensive side of the football, supposedly the cornerback position looked really good in the practice. Supposedly Williams will actually be pushed for the starting CB position (I think he will still get it though). After starting off slow it appears that Pat Lee is really turning the corner. Last night he had two interceptions during practice. It’s good to see Pat Lee improving but I don’t think he will be anything more than a #4 this season. He has shown the potential to be a very good CB in the league though. Besides Pat Lee; Will Blackmon, Jarrett Bush, and even Joey Porter have looked really good at CB. I guess people can ease some of the worries about the Packers depth at CB.
• Unless Swain really kicks it into gear I could see him being cut in the first set of roster cutdowns. He is just making way to many mistakes. He keeps dropping passes, is rarely in the correct position,  and just makes mistake after mistake. If he doesn’t turn things around quickly the only way he will be a Packer this season is if he is put on the practice squad.
• There are supposedly two different stories at defensive tackle. Supposedly Alfred Malone is looking great at the position and is consistently knocking down passes. Meanwhile Daniel Muir is kind of struggling. Hopefully Alfred can continue to play well and Muir can turn things around since at this point the Packers need the most help they can get at the DT position.

Finally their was a roster addition I didn’t report earlier. To replace Favre on the roster the Packers signed Scorpio Babers a CB who was recently cut by Miami. While he has a very slim chance of making the team you gotta love the name.