Green Bay Packers 2009 NFL Season Preview
What to Expect from the Pack in 2009
The Packers offense looks very strong with players such as Aaron Rodgers, Ryan Grant, Greg Jennings. Aaron Rodgers silenced any doubters, throwing for over 4,000 yards and 28 touchdowns, with only 13 interceptions. He did have trouble closing out games, but that will only come with experience.
Their backfield has a lot of depth, especially after drafting one of the most highly rated fullbacks, Quinn Johnson, out of LSU. The receiving core remains almost unchanged.
The Packers solidified their offensive line with T.J. Lang from Eastern Michigan and Jamon Meredith out of South Carolina. Both players fill needs and will buy Rodgers more time in the pocket.
On defense, the Packers decided to switch to the 3-4, drafting B.J. Raji from Boston College to help strengthen their defensive line. The Packers also resigned defensive backs Atari Bigby, Tramon Williams and Jarrett Bush.
However, the biggest problem with the Packers in 2008 was their secondary. The normally good core showed signs of aging, and the Packers didn't make many moves to really change that, besides drafting Brandon Underwood from Cincinnati.
The transition into the 3-4 defense might prove to be just what the Packers need. With more speed in the front seven, they will be able to pressure the opposing quarterback into more mistakes, which the secondary could take advantage of.
The key games for the Packers this season will, as always, be against division rivals Chicago, Minnesota, and Detroit. Outside of their 6 divisional games, they will also have key match-ups against the Dallas Cowboys (Nov. 15), Baltimore Ravens (Dec. 7), Pittsburgh Steelers (Dec. 20) and Arizona Cardinals (Jan. 10)
Their season starts with two homes games, first against Chicago, then Cincinnati. The last five games for the Packers will be extremely crucial. If they win and lose the games they should, then by week 13 they will stand at 8-3. The Packers will then face Baltimore (H), Chicago (A), Pittsburgh (A), Seattle (H), and Arizona (A).
Considering the Packers have the third easiest schedule in the league, a prediction of ten wins and six losses seems realistic. As for the Packers postseason hopes, one thing is for certain, they will face stiff competition for a wild card spot. A few years ago, a 10-6 record wasn't good enough for the Denver Broncos in the AFC. It could prove to be the same for the Packers in 2009.
If they do sneak in with a six seed, they could prove to be better than the third seed, whomever it may be. However, if they do make it to the divisional finals, they will have trouble against the top seed in the NFC and could realistically go down.
Sources:
2004 Denver Broncos Pro-Football-Reference.com
Tony Moss "Green Bay Packers 2009 NFL Draft Review" Channel 3000
2009 Schedule Packers.com
Aaron Rodgers Stats, News, Photos ESPN.com
Mike McCarthy Press Conference Transcript - Jan. 19 Packers.com
Published by Canbek Alakay
I'm a huge sports nut who loves writing about the latest trends and rumours. I also like writing the odd music review every once in a while, too. View profile
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5 Comments
Post a CommentOn the whole, not a bad article; fairly realistic.
However, I continue to take exceptions to statements such as, "He did have trouble closing out games, but that will only come with experience."
In five of the Packers' final six losses last season, including the last four, the defense blew fourth quarter leads!
Against the Saints, the biggest reason that the defense didn't blow a fourth quarter lead is probably because, when a defense is giving up 51 points, it is rather difficult for the offense to have a fourth quarter lead for the defense to blow.
When the defense repeatedly cannot stop anybody when the Packers are ahead in the fourth quarter, it is kind of hard for me to understand how anybody can lay the blame at the feet of Rodgers for "having trouble closing out games."
That is a bum rap.
Also, the Packers cannot be 8-4 going into the final five games, unless the NFL has decided to go to a 17-game schedule this year. :)
I'm gonna have to say Jeff got it right. Of course the secondary is gonna get torn up when the QB has all day to throw the ball. Also what hurt the pack a lot was not stopping the run, which is why we invested in Raji, Matthews, etc. essentially solving both problems at once.
I second the concerns of Tony Hartzheim concerning Mr. Alakay's focus on the defensive backfield as the primary source of problems on Green Bay's defensive side of the ball. With the exception of the New Orleans game the GB secondary played like the top 5 unit it was. The fact that Green Bay's defense was rated 25th in sacks speaks far more eloquently to the Packers' defensive struggles during the 2008 season. Methinks perhaps Mr. Alakay is still suffering a hangover of bad feelings over the Packers' poor secondary play in the NFC Chanpionship game against the Giants in early 2008 but which is technically part of the 2007 season.
The secondary suffered a lot of injuries last season, and cost some big games that could have changed the season around. As I said, their secondary showed signs of aging and needs to be improved.
During the last six games of the season, the defense gave up an average of 247 passing yards per game. The Pack went 1-5 over that stretch, the lone win coming against the Detroit Lions. That tells you something. The secondary was stupefyingly bad against the Saints and they didn't get much better after that.
I'm merely suggesting that they improve the secondary, because the Pack could have easily gotten a few more wins had it not been for the depth-less secondary.
Did you watch any Packer Football last year? Your suggestion that the secondary was the problem tells me you don't watch the Packers, or don't understand football. Green Bay was a top 5 secondary last year.