
Green Bay - A 3-degree afternoon at Lambeau Field is no place for a Football team from Houston with a retractable roof atop its stadium, a zone running game and a quarterback making his first start in five weeks after suffering knee ligament damage.
But Lambeau Field proved to be just like "Home, Sweet, Home" for the Texans on Sunday in their stunning 24-21 victory over the Green Bay Packers
Here is a rating of the Packers against the Texans, with their 1 to 5 Football totals in parentheses:
RECEIVERS (4)
Operating against a weak secondary, this group just didn't have enough targeted passes (27) to dominate the game. Blame the defense for that. Greg Jennings needs more than seven balls. He played it cool against CB Jacques Reeves and SS Brandon Harrison late in the third quarter, tracking the 63-yard bomb but not giving away its proximity before catching it with "late hands." Jennings had a chance for another huge play on the first series but on that one he didn't seem to locate the ball quickly enough and it fell incomplete. Driver turned his four targeted throws into 75 yards, but that was just a sampling of the havoc he might have wreaked. Jordy Nelson, who shared No. 3 snaps with James Jones, made a tough catch inside and beat a stiff jam by nickel back Fred Bennett for a 9-yard TD on a sharp route adjustment. Jones ran a poor route on a third-and-5 play and wasn't in position to put the catch away against Bennett. The 5-WR set was used about five times. Donald Lee beat MLB DeMeco Ryan downfield and split the safeties for a stretched-out 25-yard gain on a seam route. Then he motioned into one-on-one coverage against Harrison and beat him for a 20-yard TD.
OFFENSIVE LINE (3?)
Even after Mark Tauscher blew out his knee on the Packers' 17th play from scrimmage, DE Mario Williams stayed mainly over Chad Clifton. In all, Williams faced Clifton on 43 snaps compared with 11 for Tony Moll and one for Tauscher. Not only is Williams bigger than Clifton, he's also more athletic. But Clifton proved he's still up for a challenge by playing probably his best game of the year. He held Williams once, gave up one knockdown and allowed one tackle. Moll, the replacement for Tauscher, was OK. He gave up two pressures to Williams but generally controlled him in the run game until his critical late holding penalty. Scott Wells and Jason Spitz both were solid. After giving up two sacks in the first 12 games, Daryn Colledge yielded two more. DE Tim Bulman beat him on an inside twist in 2.9 seconds. Then Colledge let Ryan get to his edge on a screen pass and the sack occurred in 2.4 seconds.
QUARTERBACKS (3)
The Packers aren't used to Aaron Rodgers throwing inaccurate passes. He had four or five of them and, when combined with a horrendous showing on third down (1 for 10), it wasn't enough to compensate for the abysmal defense. Coordinator Richard Smith went after Rodgers, too, sending six or more rushers on 17% of passes, the high for an opponent in '08. He was sacked twice on empty blitzes and skipped away from two others. Rodgers did throw some beautiful passes, including the strike to Lee down the middle and the bomb to Jennings that carried 65 yards in the air and plopped right into his hands. On the interception, Dunta Robinson undoubtedly had seen that route combination on tape and fell in front of Jennings. As Rodgers dashed left, he probably didn't even see Robinson.
RUNNING BACKS (3?)
Ryan Grant appeared to miss two reads in 19 runs, a more than manageable number. For the most part, he followed his blockers to the hole and didn't get fancy once he got there. Playing with a sprained thumb, Grant did some good work after contact. He was reckless. He got better as the defense began to tire. But the contrast in elusiveness between Houston's Steve Slaton and Grant was stark. Despite an impressive showing last week, Brandon Jackson played just 16 snaps compared with Grant's 35 and didn't have a carry. FB John Kuhn blocked well.
DEFENSIVE LINE (?)
Other than Aaron Kampman (two knockdowns, one pressure), the pass rush continued to be zilch. With the outcome at hand in the final 2 minutes, the dime front, from left to right, was Kampman, Alfred Malone, Justin Harrell and Brady Poppinga. Who's kidding whom? Harrell (20 snaps) tries to bull rush, goes nowhere, stalls out and flaps his wings. Either Harrell has no body snap or doesn't know how to use his hands, because now he can't make a move and get by anybody. Even Ryan Pickett (41), Johnny Jolly (47) and Colin Cole (20) are a little more active than that. Michael Montgomery (55) isn't a starting-caliber player but did have two pressures and fought his way into four tackles. Poppinga (15 snaps with his hand down) was overmatched by rookie LT Duane Brown, who had been struggling. Pickett and Jolly stood their ground at the point but Cole wasn't as good. Even though Kampman (74) played every snap for the third time in seven games, he keeps bringing it down after down.
LINEBACKERS (?)
Making his first start for injured Brandon Chillar, Desmond Bishop was a lot better than A.J. Hawk and Poppinga. Bishop made a read, shot a gap and drilled Cecil Sapp for minus-3 on third and 1. No LB has done anything like that all year. He took on the lead blocks of FB Vonta Leach, the ex-Packer who was playing at fever pitch, and held his gap. He creamed Andre Johnson when he ventured in too close. He saved a TD with a sensational strip of Owen Daniels at the 1 and should have been credited with another forced fumble against the TE. Despite Bishop's shoddy coverage (receptions for 21, 21 and 27 yards were all on him), Bob Sanders used him and not Hawk as the dime LB. Hawk's fits were fine but he didn't do much when he got there. He doesn't play heavy, perhaps the main reason a scatback like Slaton kept moving the pile. Poppinga's instincts seem off. On Slaton's 34-yard run, he gave himself up taking on the tight end, which is what the Texans wanted. Then he tried to get physical with Leach, got spun around and was 10 yards behind on a 22-yard pass in the flat.
SECONDARY (?)
Tramon Williams is doing way too much guessing. He guessed right on his interception when Andre' Davis ran a lazy out cut. He either guessed wrong or covered poorly on five completions for 153 yards, including three for 119 to Kevin Walter. Williams and Charles Woodson each missed two tackles. Woodson spent a lot of time in the box, but it just doesn't seem as if he can play the run like a true safety. There's a reason why he has been a CB almost his entire career. The other healthy option at SS, Aaron Rouse, was almost 30 yards deep on Daniels' big gain at the end. That surely didn't enhance his standing. Still, the Packers have to re-evaluate their decision to make a safety out of Woodson and a full-time player out of Williams. The missed tackle by Nick Collins on Walter's 58-yard TD was the latest in a series of bad plays in the last month that detract from his overall season. Jarrett Bush might have outperformed Will Blackmon as a slot defender. The best player on defense was Al Harris. He shadowed Johnson with incredible focus and made him earn everything. At 34, Harris still can play.
KICKERS (4)
Free-agent Jeremy Kapinos had eight-punt averages of 39.5 yards (gross), 34.5 (net) and 3.91 seconds (hang time), and three stopped inside the 20. Jon Ryan punted six times against the Giants on a frigid night in January, averaging 32.2, 28.2 and 3.49. Mason Crosby's three deep kickoffs averaged 61.3 and 3.89.
SPECIAL TEAMS (3)
LS Brett Goode recovered a fumbled punt, the first takeaway by these units in exactly a year. Matched against dangerous returners, the coverage teams showed improvement. Blackmon's 99-yard kick return was brought back by Jason Hunter's holding penalty. Rookie QB Matt Flynn had an uneventful debut as the holder. P Matt Turk avoided a near-certain block by Korey Hall and took off for 18 in the area covered by Spencer Havner, Kuhn and Malone.
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