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Despite losing the football game you can’t be too upset with the Packers performance. The starters only played one series while the Titans played into the third quarter. Obviously the Titans were going to win. When the Titans starting receivers are facing our 7th and 8th CBs I wonder why they were able to move the ball. Since our backups had to face their starters you can pretty much only judge this game on individual performances. So here are the pros and cons as far as players performances go.

Pros

While only getting one play you can’t be disappointed with the Packers starting offense. If you only get one play and that play is a touchdown there is no way you can complain about the performance. Rodgers threw a perfect pass and Jennings made a nice catch. It didn’t hurt that the Titans defense totally blew the coverage though. The one thing I did wish was that Ryan Grant would get at least one run since he know has had zero runs this entire preseason. I hope he will be ready for next week.

Bishop, Hodge and White have all been great on defense. Thompson is going to have a very hard decision before him in the next two days. At this point all three players have played well enough to deserve a spot on the roster. With their performances I could possibly see the Packers keeping 7 linebackers even though it is too many linebackers in my opinion. I think the only way at this point we can let one of them go is if we get a good trade out of another team (preferably for a defensive tackle). I thought the linebackers would shine in this game and they sure have.

If Bishop, Hodge, and White’s performances weren’t enough we got some great performances out of Havner and Lansanah. Havner made two great special team plays. Lansanah made several nice plays on defense. At this point both have a very slim chance of making the roster. I don’t think Lansanah has a chance (hopefully he will make the practice squad) but I think Havner actually has a very slim chance. If Havner makes the roster it will be because the coaches think he is as good of special teams player as White is. The chances of that are pretty slim in my opinion.

Jon Ryan has had a great game. Ryan boomed punts and had great hangtime on all his punts. Jon Ryan also showed that he has pretty good running skills for a punter since he ran a bad snap 35 yards. Hopefully we won’t have to see that when the regular season begins. Hopefully Ryan can continue this consistency and learn how to punt in the winter.

I think Kregg Lumpkin earned a job on the roster with today’s performance. While he didn’t have any great plays he showed consistency. I also love that he refuses to go down. Usually it takes two to three players to take him down. You can’t not like a player that gives so much effort to gaining every last yard.

I thought Matt Flynn actually had a very good game. He struggled a little bit at the beginning of the game but he really picked it up later in the game. He ended up throwing two touchdowns and almost led the team to victory in the last two minutes. Flynn probably gained a lot of confidence from that drive and hopefully that confidence will help him this season since I think he won the top backup spot tonight.

Tramon Williams proved tonight why he is the number 3 cornerback. He had good coverage the whole game and made several nice plays on the ball.

Other surprises include Joe Porter (had some very nice breakups and has a chance of making the roster), Joey Haynos (had some nice catches and blocks), Michael Montgomery (he had a sack, some nice tackles, and got pressure on the quarterback), Jeremy Thompson (while he only had one tackle this was easily his best preseason game),

Cons

Our backup offensive line really needs some work. Especially the backup tackles. Breno Giacomini lost his chance to make the roster in my opinion. He really didn’t have much of a chance to make it in the first place but his performance tonight ruined that chance. I could see him making the practice squad though since he does and the size and phsycial ability to be a pretty good offensive lineman as long as he can learn the technique. Orrin Thompson also lost his job in my opinion due to tonight’s play.

Vernand Morency really blew it tonight in my opinion. He had the perfect opportunity to make the roster but he blew it in my opinion with his pretty poor performance. Herron and Lumpkin had a much better game in my opinion.

Brett Swain had a pretty poor game in my opinion. While he did have a touchdown reception he totally ruined that goodwill with the rest of the game. Swain dropped several passes and showed he is one of the worst punt returners I have ever seen. How in the world do you call a fair catch when no one is within 15 yards of you?

Scorpio Babers will not be making the team. He blew way too many coverages and he really didn’t have much chance to make the roster in the first place.

Other Observations

The Packers will probably be looking for a new long snapper since JJ Jansen was hurt in the game and it looks like he will be missing some time if not the whole season.

I thought Brian Brohm had his best game yet. He didn’t play great but I think that was at least partially due to the poor offensive line play. Brohm just needs to develop in my opinion. He also needs to work on holding onto the ball.

Pat Lee once again had an up and down game. He made some nice plays but also blew some coverages. At this point I don’t think he will be anything more than the fifth cornerback but I do see the potential to be a very good cornerback in this league.

I think Aaron Rouse really needs to replace Nick Collins as the starter. Nick Collins totally blew a coverage tonight. Some people think Aaron Rouse shouldn’t start yet due to mistakes in coverage. This preseason I have seen Nick Collins blow more coverages than Aaron Rouse has.

So who did you think had a good games and who had bad games? Who do you think won or lost a starting job with today’s performance? Also be sure to check back tomorrow when I have my final 53 man roster predictions.

Today was the final training camp practice opened to the public. Green Bay Press Gazette and Packers.com have reports on the practice. A couple things stood out to me though.

Donald Driver’s drops returned to practice again. At this point I am not too worried since Driver has had troubles with drops at the beginning of previous seasons and he fixed the problems. Driver really needs to stop the drops once the regular season begins since we have enough troubles as it and we don’t need to add the trouble of dropping passes that should have been caught in the first place.

The defense appeared to have a very good practice. Will Blackmon, Joe Porter, Pat Lee, and Tramon Williams all made big plays in practice today. While some people might take this as a negative against the offense I like to think of it as a positive for the defense. It appears that our backup cornerbacks are starting to make plays and not blow coverages (two things they couldn’t do against the Broncos).

Brohm appeared to struggle once again in practice. I am guessing this training camp is not what a lot of people expected out of him when we drafted him. I wouldn’t worry too much though. Quarterbacks usually struggle in their first season. I can remember Aaron Rodgers really struggling during his first season. Obviously he has overcome most of those problems. I would give Brohm some more time before I would even consider calling him a bust.

Jermichael Finley appeared to have a good practice. He supposedly caught everything that even came near him. I honestly don’t know why some Packer fans are so negative about him. He hasn’t been perfect this training camp but he has shown multiple times that he has the skills to be a very good NFL TE. Today is the perfect example. I think Finley could already be used as a pretty good pass catcher. The one thing he needs to work on in my opinion is his blocking. Most TEs out of college struggle with their blocking but most eventually learn how to be pretty good blockers. I think Finley ahs a very bright future with the Packers.

So that is the final training camp report of the season. Next year I will continue the training camp reports but it is now time to focus on real football and the regular season. While some people might be pretty negative about the season I am quite optimistic and think the Packers will win around 11 games this season. As long as the Packers can get their players back from injury and avoid to many more injuries in the regular season I think the Packers are Super Bowl contenders. Be sure to check out my final 53 man roster prediction after the Titans game.

So what are your expectations for the season? Do you think the Packers will compete for the Super Bowl, the first pick, or somewhere in between? I would like to hear other Packer fans expectations on the upcomming season.

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.