Name: J.D. Gold
Email: jdgold@idatasports.com
Date: Tue Aug 29 16:00:34 2006

Headline: Packers vs Bengals Post Game Review
Game MVP: Al Harris
Offensive Player of the Game: Najeh Davenport
Defensive Player of the Game: Al Harris

The Gold Standard “ Weekly news and reviews By : J.D. Gold

Lighting apparently does strike twice in the same place as evidenced by the Packers performance in the Queens city Monday night. Much like last years regular season debacle, the Pack looked hapless on both sides of the ball at times.

Yet the difference between this years performance and last years is obvious. This was a pre season game. Not like last years regular season game . This game the Cincinnati Bengals had all the juice of a regular season game going into the contest. With the rock star like return of quarterback Carson Palmer to the gridiron . The Cincy QB looked sharp. He was able to find, one of the NFL's best kept secrets at wide receiver in ,TJ Houshmandzadeh early and often to put he Packers and my self down to sleep quickly Monday night.

Here is a review of some of the action from Mondays prime time affair.

The Gold Bar Ratings
It is pre season so we'll try to be somewhat optimistic. Five bars would be the top rating.

QB - 2 gold bars
The "same old Favre" is what you'll hear. Yet a closer look at the numbers tell a different story. Favre was 12-25 166yds, 1 int, 1 fumble,1 TD. Nothing special for the half. A fumble for a score which was all on him. The interception? I'm sure Driver would say he should have caught the ball since he had both hands on it. Now the drops. Martin, Gardner and Drivers'. Add Robert Fergusons ability not to catch a ball in traffic and Ahman Green not turning around early enough on an easy out . This adds up to 5 balls. Thus making Brett 17-25 for about 225 yards, a td, and a fumble. Difficult game to grade Rodgers on.

RB 3 gold bars?
Najeh Davenport seemed to run with the reckless abandon of past seasons. In limited action Ahman Green still looked as if he could get to the outside. He also didn't back off when met in the hole and stood up on third and short. Samkon Gado still looked good. Picking up a short third down and punching one in for a touchdown also.

WR - 2 gold bars
Catch the ball. This would be a one gold star if not for Driver. Even the talented Greg Jennings could have caught two balls I'm sure he'll catch by the end of the season. Rod Gardner is running out of time. Has Robert Ferguson ever caught a ball with a defender all over him? When you think of it, e-mail me with the info, because I'm sure I'll have to dig through the archives to find it

OFF Line - 3 gold bars
Early penalties, and blown assignments by rookies and vets (Spitz and Clifton) set the table for a seemingly ugly game . Yes Favre was hurried at times ,but he had time in general. The running game looked strong on certain plays . Spitz on more the one occasion got out to the second level to pick up linebackers. Mark Tauscher looked very comfortable cutting people down on the backside of plays.

TE - 1 gold bar
Until David "I have all this potential" Martin is cut how can I give this unit anymore then one gold bar.

DEF Line - 3 gold bars
Cullen Jenkins was very active. As was Mike Montgomery . KGB looked quick to the edge, and other then blowing the tackle, dropped back in zone coverage and got to the receiver fairly quickly. The run defense didn't get shredded for the big runs over 20 yds which had been so prominent in the past 4-5 years.

Linebackers - 1 gold bar
Did the linebackers play in this game? A very nondescript performance. A play here or there by Hawk or Barnett but nothing eye popping.

Db's - 2 gold bars
Al Harris's game keeps this from being one bar. Marquand Manuel looked rusty at times but did a good job recognizing some offensive sets during the game. Somebody should have told Charles Woodson not to get off the plane. Estus Hood could have done what he did. Monday night.

Special Teams - 3 gold bars
Rayner kicked off deep and made a field goal. Runen booted the ball with authority most of the time to. Coverage was decent . And the return game showed a little life with Noah Herron and Greg Jennings returning kicks. Why has it been 5 years since the Pack has had a decent punt returner?

24 karat Gold - Player of the Game
Al Harris - Again Chad Johnson shoots his mouth off. Again Al Harris shuts his ass down. Enough said

Susan B. Anthony Gold coin - Player of the Game
Put on the skirt this week Charlie. When was the last time you saw a player with this much disinterest in actually tackling an opposing player? Guess he wanted to make sure he didn't get hurt for the opener. . Did Woodson even know he was covering Houshmanzadeh? The only good thing. I fully expect Woodson to crank it up when the regular season starts. I do believe he is trying to stay healthy. Still it doesn't look good when you play that soft.

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