State of the Packers

A 35-point route of the Indianapolis Colts is how the Green Bay Packers ended the all important third preseason game. Don't expect the starters to play much in the last preseason game if they play at all. I've been hearing all types of reaction to the Packers strong outing last Thursday from "wow, what a performance" to "It's only preseason don't read too much into it". The one main constant is that of the Packers that played in the game most made it through fairly healthy.

Even though no notable players were injured during the game, Al Harris and Atari Bigby are among the players that were placed of the dreaded PUP (physically unable to perform) list. That means for six weeks the Packers defense will have to do without two quality veterans. The result is a more youthful secondary that will be led by pro bowlers Charles Woodson and Nick Collins, Tramon Williams and Morgan Burnett will round out the starting secondary. Tramon hasn't proven that he can play well on a consistent basis while Burnett is just a rookie. Burnett has the task of filling in for hard-hitting Bigby, he will have to control the secondary coverages as well as help out against the run, which some wold say is too much for a rookie. Burnett's upside is that he's a ball hawk as he displayed when he picked off Peyton last week.

With high expectations the Packers will live and die with that pass defense, if it holds up the first six weeks of the season this could be "the" year for them especially with that high powered offense. If the defense doesn't hold up then we got to hope that Aaron Rodgers can go point for point with every other team they face this season, starting with week 1 vs that Eagles high octane offense.