Some Early Thoughts On Denver » Brats & Beer

Posted on October 23, 2007

The bye week is over (it just wasn’t a Sunday without the Green & Gold playing) and we can finally get back to watching and talking Green Bay football. The Packers travel to Denver for a Monday night game this week, and it should be a another big test for this young team.

At the start of the season I was wasn’t too sure of the Packers chances against the Broncos, but then the Spotted Ponies started sucking it up for a while and I began to think that maybe Green Bay could get a win at Mile High. After the Sunday night game with Pittsburgh, though, it looks like Denver might be back on track.

Part of the reason for the turnaround is they scrapped Jim Bates’ defense during their bye and went back to a Tampa-2 style coverage. (Thanks to Cheesehead TV for the link.) The Broncos had been giving up 187 yards a game rushing, prompting the change in direction. The Steelers still managed a respectable 4.6 yards a carry Sunday night, but they have an excellent offensive line built for power running.

We know now that whenever coach McCarthy sees those safeties drop back in coverage he’s going to want to run the ball, so the question becomes can the Packer line find a way to create some holes for the running back committee? Or can the Green Bay brain trust scheme a passing attack that doesn’t involve throwing into the teeth of that coverage?

This game is probably going to rest on the defense once again to put pressure on Jay Cutler and come up with some turnovers.

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