The Packers looked good on offense against the Carolina Panthers. It's obvious that the focus this year will again be on a superb running game. Unless Green gets hurt, the Packers should be able to run for 150 - 200 yards a week on any team they play. Defensively, I LOVE all of the blitzing. However, just as in the past with blitz happy defense, they always let up and drop 8 into coverage on third and long instead of pressing. They gave up several first downs last night by letting up. It's like watching Holmgren and Shurmur's defense all over again. The Packers need to continue to press and blitz on third and long. Losing Grady Jackson for 4-6 weeks is going to hurt. That just sucks. I'm glad Mark Roman only had the wind knocked out of him, too. Losing Jackson and Roman would likely mean "lights out" for the Packers defense this year. The secondary did okay, but Carolina was pretty off all night. Unless the secondary improves, the Packers will get lit up by teams like Indy and the Viqueens this year. Longwell looked good. Barker had a superb night punting the ball. Punt and kick returns were forgettable, but at least there weren't any turnovers. No picks for Favre and no lost fumbles for Ahman Green. Double bonus! Overall, nice performance! Still tons of room for improvement, though, on both sides of the ball. Bring on the Bears and their "we're going to beat the Packers" guarantee!
The blitzing was extremely effective, but the Pack better mix that up a little bit. Teams are going to design plays around the blitz and exploit its weaknesses. I would be a little worried as excessive blitzing is sometimes used to cover up a weakness in the defense. Once the blitzes lose their effectivenss, you are going to have to rely on solid defensive stands.
