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Designating
blue chips, red chips and cow chips is our way of analyzing each game's
winners and losers for the Packers. So without further ado...
- Jermichael Finley -- It's was the moment we've all been waiting for, the game Finley finally "broke out." Everyone knew he was talented coming out of college. We saw glimpses of it late last season. And then throughout offseason workouts and training camp, we were led to believe that Finley was on the verge of becoming a go-to tight end in the NFL. Problem was, he was virtually absent the first three games of the season. It wasn't entirely his fault, however. He had to help out the offensive line quite frequently. But after yesterday's performance for six catches and 128 yards, Finley proved he's a force to be reckoned with. His yards after contact were pretty darn good as well.
- Korey Hall & kickoff coverage unit -- The kickoff coverage unit was a beast yesterday. They held first round draft choice Percy Harvin to a 17.3 yard average on three returns. Anytime you can hold a kickoff return man to less than 20 yards (the length of a touchback), that's impressive. That really helped the Packers in the field position game. It's unfortunate they couldn't take advantage. Hall led the way with a huge hit on Harvin and three tackles on special teams overall.
- Ryan Pickett -- No, Ryan Pickett didn't do anything sexy last night. He didn't have any sacks, forced fumbles or fumble recoveries. But he was lynchpin of a group that held Adrian Peterson to 55 yards on 25 carries for a 2.2 yard average. Many times he did the dirty work required of a 3-4 nose tackle gobbling up blockers. But he also made seven tackles for the night including one for a loss. And when Pickett makes tackles, he doesn't make them downfield.
- Ryan Grant -- Grant looked awesome last night. The problem was he only got 11 carries the entire game. When he got the opportunity to tote the ball, he made them count gaining 51 yards and a 4.6 yard average with a long of 15. He looked really powerful and decisive running the ball in the first half of the game. He helped put the Packers in manageable down-and-distance situations on third down. One of the best plays he made all days was quickly bouncing a run outside when the middle was clogged up. Too bad that play was called back after holding on John Kuhn. But Grant also had precious few carries in the second half. The Packers were playing from behind, but given his current and past success against the Vikings, he needed to get the ball a little more often.
 - Derrick Martin -- You know things are bad when you're pulled out of the game in favor of Jarrett Bush. Twice Al Harris was beaten deep and expected help from over the top from Martin. Harris reportedly needed to speak to safeties coach Darren Perry and had to call up to the coaches' press box to straighten things out. Unless Martin starts making an impact on special teams, the trade for Martin suddenly isn't looking so good. By the way, raise your hand if you still regret the cutting of Anthony Smith ... that's what I thought.
- Pass rush -- Brett Favre is good at getting rid of the football. Had the Packers gotten a better pass rush than what they did last evening, sometimes they still wouldn't have sacked Favre because of his quick trigger. Even so, that's no excuse for a miserable pass rush. Not only did the packers get zero sacks yesterday, they had a single quarterback hurry. There's a link between continued success in the NFL and teams with consistently generate good pass rush. The Packers haven't done it for going on two seasons now. You can't let a quarterback like Brett Favre sit back and dissect a defense. If the Packers can't get to Favre the next time they play the Vikings at home, another loss could easily happen.
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