Railbird Central : A.J. Hawk

Three tweets 11.17.09

Brian Carriveau — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:16:49 GMT

I'll be providing at least three thoughts about the Green Bay Packers per day on Twitter. Here what I'm tweeting about:

1. Prediction: Outside linebacker Aaron Kampman only plays in the nickel package on defense against the San Francisco 49ers.

2. Jarrett Bush did a surprisingly good job blitzing this past Sunday against the Cowboys. I wish I could say the same about his pass coverage.

3. A.J. Hawk has earned his spot back in the nickel defense even when Brandon Chillar is fully healthy. #Packers

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Special teams player of the week vs. Vikings '09

Brian Carriveau — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:14:04 GMT

On Tuesday night, members of Cheesehead Nation voted for A.J. Hawk as the special teams player of the week against the Vikings. He became the seventh separate player to win the award since the season began. Hawk was singled out among these candidates and their credentials:

A.J. Hawk: Forced the fumble on kickoff in which the Packers were able to turn into a touchdown and get momentum back on their side early in the second half.
Nick Collins: Recovered Hawk's fumble immediately following a Packers field goal to open up the scoring in the second half of the game.
Brett Goode: Flawless snapping performance and one tackle for a punt coverage unit that held the Vikings to 7.4 yards per punt return.
Derrick Martin: Led the Packers in special teams tackles with two.

The Cheesehead Nation special teams players of the week:

Week 1 - Brett Swain

Week 2 - Tramon Williams

Week 3 - Johnny Jolly

Week 4 - Korey Hall

Week 5 - Mason Crosby

Week 6 - Spencer Havner

Week 7 - A.J. Hawk

Packers Daily Links 11.3.09

Brian Carriveau — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:33:05 GMT

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Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is saying that not only are the Minnesota Vikings beating the Green Bay Packers on the football field, they're beating them in the offseason as well. "It doesn't take a football genius to figure out who has been doing the better job acquiring talent," writes Silverstein. "When asked Monday if he thought the Vikings were more talented, Packers coach Mike McCarthy admitted he was impressed with their lineup." This falls on Ted Thompson's shoulders. The man who's hesitant to dip into free agency may just have to do so to save his job this upcoming offseason.

It appears as if Brandon Chillar is going to miss a few weeks with a broken hand and then will eventually come back with a club-like cast. "Against the Vikings, backup inside linebacker Desmond Bishop filled in for Chillar in the nickel, playing alongside Nick Barnett," writes Silverstein. "The other option would be to play starter A.J. Hawk there." As much as fans wanted Bishop to play well in Chillar's place on Sunday, he played very average.

With Chillar out, it also appears as if "Big Okie" is out as well. “I would say right now ‘Big Okie’ is probably on the shelf for a little while,” defensive coordinator Dom Capers told Rob Demovsky of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “We’ll have to look at other means to get what we got out of ‘Big Okie.’” As interesting as "Big Okie" was, this isn't much of a loss. With Atari Bigby seemingly getting better every week, he doesn't really need to be replaced.

It's possible that T.J. Lang and Allen Barbre could be out of the starting lineup this upcoming Sunday when the Packers take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "As the coaches sorted through the aftermath of Sunday’s 38-26 loss to Minnesota and began preparations for this week’s game at winless Tampa Bay, they left open the possibility of going with the veteran tackle combination of Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher," writes Demovsky. While neither of the young tackles played great, I'm not in favor of this. This is only a stop gap solution. In the bigger picture, the Packers might have to replace Clifton and Tauscher as early as next season. It's time to get the young guys some experience now.

"(Head coach Mike McCarthy) had to meet with defensive linemen Johnny Jolly and Cullen Jenkins, who in separate incidents during and after Sunday’s 38-26 loss to the Minnesota Vikings made McCarthy’s team look undisciplined on and off the field," writes Demovsky. Incidents like this make it appear that McCarthy is losing control of his team. If occurrences like these continue to appear, the Packers might be better off with a different coach.

Add perhaps the most important player on the Packers' roster to the injury report. "(Aaron) Rodgers, who played with a sprained foot, suffered a sprained toe on his other foot and is now hobbling on both of his feet," reports Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com. "Backup Matt Flynn figures to take over the first-string offense in practice Wednesday and Thursday before Rodgers returns to action in time for next Sunday’s game at Tampa Bay." McCarthy said he didn't expect Rodgers to miss any game time as a result of the new injury.

"Ahman Green, returning kickoffs for the first time since 1999, will keep the job," reports Bill Huber of Packer Report. "McCarthy thinks Green will get better as he gets back into football shape and more comfortable in the role." Wouldn't the Packers be better off with Kregg Lumpkin filling this role?

Mitchell of Acme Packing Company would like to see Ryan Grant being used differently. "I think Grant can be very effective as a member of a committee, instead of a lone workhorse," according to the article. "Remember how the Giants used Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw, and Derrick Ward with great success? That's the type of setup I'd like to see Grant in, with Brandon Jackson playing the role of the change-of-pace back. Then again, this is all assuming that the real problem isn't with Grant, but with his blocking, which is a very real possibility."

Aaron Nagler of Cheesehead TV gives fans some hope. "A lot, and I mean a LOT can and will happen between now and the end of the season," writes Nagler. "This is your team, no matter how much, at this moment, you wish it wasn’t. You simply have to get behind them, warts and all. I’m not happy with McCarthy, but I’m not ready to call for his head yet."

Sunday's game was the second most watched game ever in the history of football being broadcast on Fox.

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Blue, red & cow chips in Packers '09 win at Browns

Brian Carriveau — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:32:00 GMT

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...

Spencer Havner -- Sunday's performance was just what the Packers were hoping they would get out of Havner as a triple threat, offense, defense and special teams player. When Jermichael Finley went down with an injury, Havner was there to pick up the slack. He'll never be the receiving threat that Finley is, but he helped fill the void at least for a day. He had two receptions for 59 yards including one that went 45 yards for a touchdown. He also had two special teams tackles to boot, one of them directly followed his touchdown in which he fought through a double team of blockers.
Aaron Kampman -- Two things happening at once are leading to an increased level of production from Kampman over the past two weeks. For starters, he's becoming increasingly more and more comfortable with the 3-4 defensive scheme instituted by Dom Capers. But Capers, likewise, is utilizing Kampman to his strength as a down rusher in both nickel and dime situations in three and four man fronts. Kampman had five tackles including two for a loss, a sack and three quarterback hurries against the Browns.

A.J. Hawk -- After seeing his role on the team decrease and receiving criticism in the media, Hawk responded in stunning fashion on Sunday. He led the team in tackles with eight, but three of them went for losses. More than anything, he seemed to be in the right spot at the right time. In the past, when he would get swallowed up by would be blockers, he was shedding those blocks and getting to the ball carrier. Hawk is always at his best in short yardage situations, and he continued that trend versus the Browns.
Ryan Grant -- A Browns rush defense ranked 30th out of 32 teams will help just about any NFL running back, but Grant deserves an "A" for his performance yesterday. Coming into the game averaging less than 4.0 yards per carry, Grant had 27 carries for 148 yards, good for 5.5 yards per carry. He also had a touchdown. Grant was aided by an improved performance by the offensive line, but he also showed good burst off tackle. Case in point was his 37-yard scamper up the right sideline in the fourth quarter, his longest rush of the day.

Tramon Williams -- Williams showed a penchant for returning punts in previous years, so a better performance was expected from him in the return game. He returned three punts for a total of six yards. Worst of all, he looked to be dancing his way around tacklers instead of heading north and south. It's only a small sample size, but Williams needs to have better production in future weeks.
Penalties -- Eight penalties was an improvement over the 13 the Packers had the previous week against the Detroit Lions, but it was still too many. Considering the pass protection was improved at least for one game, penalties are the biggest problem hurting the Packers this moment. The personal foul on Atari Bigby hitting an opposing player out of bounds was particularly egregious. Yes, the hit wasn't very hard, but there was no reason for such a move when the Packers had the game in the bag.

Packers Daily Links 10.23.09

Brian Carriveau — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:36:38 GMT

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Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette was a very brave man and broached the topic of taking a pay cut to A.J. Hawk. The linebacker's response surprised me. "If that happens we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Hawk told the Press-Gazette. “I like it here. Definitely. Regardless of how many reps I’m getting right now, I still want to be here. I’d much rather be not playing as much as I’d like on a good, winning team and a solid organization than starting for a team going 2-14.” I'm not positive right now that a pay cut is a given. It could be, but I'll give it until the end of the season. As much as Hawk hasn't lived up to expectations, he could rebuff a pay cut. And if that happens, the Packers wouldn't have much depth on the inside.

Greg Bedard of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel does some statistical analysis. "Here's the thing about penalties," writes Bedard. "Sure, it makes great talk-radio fodder. But the truth is, penalties don't matter as long as you are solid in other areas, namely protecting the quarterback and taking care of the ball." For as much as attention has been placed on penalties, Bedard gives statistical backup proving pass protection is a much more important aspect to the game.

Mark Tauscher may be further ahead in his comeback from knee surgery than most people anticipated. "Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy revealed Thursday that Tauscher was practicing in full this week, including the day's full pads workout," reports Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Last week, Tauscher was limited to individual drills, and the plan this week was scheduled to be the same, but Tauscher felt he was ready and was given a chance to show what he has." Tauscher likely won't start this week, but it will be interesting to see whether the Packers make him active on Sunday.

Wide receiver Greg Jennings was added to the injury report yesterday. "McCarthy said after practice that Jennings hip 'flared up on him, so we're just being smart with him today.' McCarthy said he’s not concerned about Jennings availability Sunday," writes Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com.

Monty of Total Packers criticizes the job left tackle Chad Clifton has been doing. "A combination of too many penalties, injuries and giving up too many sacks have made him a shell of his former self," writes Monty. "If he knows it, it’s a wonder the Packers coaching staff hasn’t noticed."

In the same vein, Aaron Nagler of Cheesehead TV is a proponent of T.J. Lang starting in Clifton's place this weekend. "Let Lang play this Sunday and see what you’ve got," writes Nagler. "My hunch is he brings more to the table at this point than Clifton does. Even if that isn’t the case, you’ve got Clifton a week of rest before facing the Vikings. But rushing Clifton back into service against the Browns seems unnecessary." Sounds like common sense to me. Here's the kicker. What if the Packers blow out the Browns, Lang doesn't give up a sack and the ground game rolls. Maybe that's too much to ask for, but the Browns are one of the worst teams in the NFL. What do the Packers do with Lang then?

Tom Fanning of the Packers official website prepares us for a larger role from wide receiver Brett Swain. "Since his previous opportunities at wide receiver came unexpectedly after other receivers went down with an injury, Swain said with Nelson already declared out for this week, knowing what his role will be should be beneficial from a preparation standpoint," writes Fanning.

Packers blogger Jeff Bercovici talks to the National Football Post in their "The Discomfort Zone" podcast.

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