Packers exhibit firepower - JSOnline
Green Bay — The Green Bay Packers put up a ton of points and gained a load of yards a year ago, and it looks like a safe bet they're going to do the same thing this season. Even without deep threat Greg Jennings, the Packers' starters rolled up three touchdowns, 236 yards and 19 first downs against the Indianapolis Colts' competitive defense in the first half Thursday night in the 50th annual Bishop's Charities Game at Lambeau Field.
Even though Aaron Rodgers wasn't completely in rhythm, his passer rating of 124.9 pushed his three-game exhibition aggregate to 141.2.
"But we've still got to play," Packers general manager Ted Thompson said. "We can't just roll it out there."
It's unlikely that coach Mike McCarthy will take his foot off the pedal on offense any time soon. Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher passed as stern a test as tackles can face with flying colors, holding Pro Bowl defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis without a sack and almost without a hurry.
In 13 possessions, the No. 1 offense has seven touchdowns, three punts and two lost fumbles. The other possession ended on downs when Rodgers' feeble sneak on fourth and 1 went nowhere against the Colts.
Start the season. This offense is ready to roll.
"We had the ball on the ground too much," McCarthy said. "That was the only thing I was disappointed with offensively."
Pro Football Weekly, in a mid-August poll of its 43 editors and correspondents predicting the teams that will play in the 45th Super Bowl, announced the results at midweek. The voters had Green Bay and Indianapolis advancing to North Texas, with the Packers emerging as champion.
"I'd love it if it was," said Thompson. "As long as we're there I don't care who the other team is."
Certainly, the Colts are as strong a contender as there is in the AFC. They won one Super Bowl in 2006, lost another in February and own a 65-15 regular-season record since 2005, best in the NFL.
Amazingly enough, the Colts' record in exhibition games since '05 is now 4-21 after their 59-24 loss to the Packers before a crowd of 68,987. They fell to 0-3 as the Packers were improving to 2-1.
That might all be well and good, but the Packers found out last year that they couldn't outscore Minnesota in the division, Pittsburgh on the road in December and Arizona in the desert on wild-card weekend.
They're going to have to play much better on defense and on special teams than they have in August.
Once again, the injury-depleted starting defense that the Packers have sent out in the three games was a sieve. In the first half, the Colts scored 17 points and amassed 258 yards. They did it without tight end Dallas Clark and two starting offensive lineman, tackle Charlie Johnson and center Jeff Saturday.
In 12 possessions, the No. 1 defense has allowed six touchdowns and a field goal. The opponents have had to punt five times, including two by the Colts.
What is Thompson's level of concern with a unit that simply hasn't stopped anyone, from Cleveland to Seattle to Indianapolis?
"I feel OK about it," said Thompson. "This was a very veteran offense we played against with an unbelievably veteran quarterback. He got some over-the-top stuff on us. They broke a run to start the game. After that, our run defense was pretty good. A game against an offense like that, what you want to try to do is get off the field some.
"I'm sure our group will learn from this. This was a great teaching thing for us, especially for young guys. It was a no-huddle. There's a lot of pressure on you. You know you've got to play the game."
The defense played without its only two legitimate rushers, end Cullen Jenkins and linebacker Clay Matthews. Another front-seven starter, linebacker Brad Jones, sat out, as did cornerback Al Harris and safety Atari Bigby.
Manning wasn't sacked in the first half but was forced to move up into the pocket three or four times because of pressure. After returning for the opening series of the third quarter, Manning was sacked by linebacker Frank Zombo and fumbled.
Thompson expressed confidence that coordinator Dom Capers would be able to manufacture pressure when the regular season begins if his four-man rushes aren't any more effective than they have been thus far.
"Actually, for Peyton Manning, we got a little pressure on him tonight," said Thompson. "It wasn't all the time, but we got to him a few times. And that's rare. He doesn't get hit."
In the first half, the Packers gave up a 49-yard run to Joseph Addai on the first play. There were passes of 33 yards to Addai and 35 and 36 yards to Reggie Wayne.
Pierre Garçon beat rookie cornerback Sam Shields on an over route for 24 yards. Anthony Gonzalez didn't have a defender within 5 yards of him on a diving 17-yard sideline reception.
Manning's two touchdown passes, 18 yards to Garcon and 10 to Wayne, were ridiculously easy. For some reason, Brandon Underwood simply let Garçon pass by him into a vacant corner of the end zone. Then Tramon Williams gave up the inside to Wayne on a slant.
"Defensively, we haven't played the game with everybody on the field yet," McCarthy said.
Thompson was asked if the rush or the play of the cornerbacks had been more of the problem.
"I'm not that concerned," Thompson maintained. "I think this is still a work in progress, but we've got guys who want to be good players. We'll see what we're made of."
There were lost fumbles by Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson on offense. Return specialist Will Blackmon made some plays but also fumbled.
Perhaps the most dramatic move by a player on the bubble was made by Tim Masthay, who is locked in a tight battle with fellow free agent Chris Bryan for the punting job.
After Bryan got off a 38-yard punt that went out of bounds with merely 3.44 seconds of hang time, Masthay responded with a 53-yard punt that had 5.06 hang. Brandon James tried to make the catch at shoulder level, fumbled and Korey Hall recovered for a touchdown.
Thompson, who was seated next to retired GM Ron Wolf, wouldn't comment when asked if Masthay was his punter.
"It was a great punt," said Thompson. "Ron said, 'That punt brought rain.' "
What it did was accelerate an onslaught of points and big plays that added up to 59, the Packers' highest output since they beat the Cedar Rapids Crush, 75-0, at Ironwood, Mich., in September 1938.
