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Name: BigE
Email: BigE@idatasports.com
Date: Tue Aug 13 22:52:15 2002

Headline: Packers Lose In Philly

The Green Bay Packer backups lost to the Philadelphia Eagle backups 20-13, in front of a crowd of 58,546 at the decrepit Veterans Stadium. The Packers coaches allowed Brett Favre and the rest of the starters, to play approximately 1 quarter, and the results were pretty good. The rest of the game was played hard, but was ultimately decided by reserves.

After the Packers looked rusty on their first two drives, Rondell Mealey started the scoring with a 1-yard TD run that capped a 60-yard drive. That 10-play drive started late in the first quarter, and chewed up more than 7 minutes. The big play was a 21-yard completion to Bubba Franks on a bootleg by Favre. This play is a staple in the Packer offense and no one does it better than Favre. Mealey finished the drive with 18 yards on 7 carries.

Early in the game Ahman Green looked as if he were in mid-season form, rushing for 23 yards in 5 carries. Sure it was only 5 carries, but Green ran very hard, breaking several tackles in his short stint. Green is a workout warrior, who is in great shape, and ready to eclipse the fine season he had in 2001.

The most disappointing moment in the game also came early in the first quarter. The Packers had a chance for a 50-yard completion, only to have it dropped by Donald Driver. Driver, who started in the place of an injured Terry Glenn, ran by cornerback Troy Vincent on a deep post. Favre laid the ball out perfectly for the leaping Driver, but the 4th year receiver could not pull it in before Vincent recovered to blast him. Driver still should have caught the ball, and he will tell you that himself. Driver has made those catches routinely in camp, and this type of drop will not happen very often in the regular season.

Tony Fisher had a pretty good game, but again this was not against top competition. Still Fisher showed a burst that allowed him to rip off a 28-yard run in the 4th quarter. He also broke several tackles in his first game as a pro.

The Packers defensive starters also had a good game, especially the front four. The Eagles were three and out in their first series, largely due to a sack by Cletidus Hunt. Hunt was man-up on Jermane Mayberry, and he slid right past him to sack Donovan McNabb for a seven-yard loss. What was impressive about this play was the fact that the defense had a good push up field by the two ends, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and Joe Johnson. The only thing McNabb could do is step up in the pocket, and that's when Hunt found his man. That was a textbook pass-rush when you're facing an elusive QB like McNabb. This front four (and Vonnie Holliday) is going to wreak havoc on the NFL this season.

One other defensive play that came to mind was a quick wide receiver screen to James Thrash on the side of Mike McKenzie. As usual, McKenzie came up and just abused Thrash. This is nothing new. You just can't do that in front of McKenzie, because he has proven time and again that he will make the play. The Packer brass did themselves a huge favor by not allowing McKenzie to reach free agency after this season, and gave him a 5-year contract for a little over $17 million. In the world of NFL free agency this was a bargain.

How about a shout-out to Dorsey Levens!?! Levens punished the Packers second team defense to the tune of 64 yards on 8 carries. He showed the balance and speed that made him a great back not so long ago. Levens broke tackles and showed a good burst as he ran a sweep 7 yards for a TD. Lets hope the Packers find someone to backup Ahman Green that will be as effective as Levens was on Saturday night.

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