Railbird Central : Spencer Havner

Special teams player of the week vs. Cowboys '09

Brian Carriveau — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:49:00 GMT

While the performance wasn't exactly spectacular, the Packers put an improved effort into special teams against the Dallas Cowboys. Particularly, they held solid return man Patrick Crayton in check, which helped in the field position battle. Here's the candidates for tonight's special teams player of the week vote to be held during Packer Transplants this evening:

Desmond Bishop: Made two solo tackles and assisted on two more and earned a game ball from the Packers for his performance on special teams.
Spencer Havner: Made a team leading four solo tackles on special teams and also earned a game ball from the coaching staff.
Derrick Martin: Made two special teams tackles in his first action since coming back from injury. Also replaced John Kuhn as the punter's personal protector.
Tramon Williams: Averaged 12.5 yards on two punt returns, a marked improvement from the nearly four yard average the team had previously been setting. Also had one 24-yard kickoff return.

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

Week 8 - Ahman Green

Special teams player of the week at Buccaneers '09

Brian Carriveau — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:10:30 GMT

Wow. What a lousy week for special teams. The winner this week as voted upon by Cheesehead Nation last night was Ahman Green. The overall special teams performance was so bad that the winner of last night's vote was actually benched as the kick returner midway through the game before returning to action late in the game for his 37-yard kick return.

It's also sad that a 37-yard kick return was enough to win the player of the week award, but there was little else to choose from. In fact there were only two candidates:

Ahman Green: Based largely upon his fourth quarter 37-yard kick return that put the Packers in good field position to score near the end of the game.
Spencer Havner: Made one special teams tackle and alertly fielded two short kickoffs, one near the sideline.

Mason Crosby was a candidate after hitting four extra points and several booming kickoffs that went for touchbacks. But he taken away from consideration when his fourth quarter kick was return for 87-yards after he was supposed to kick to the left hand side of the field and instead booted up the middle.

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

Week 8 - Ahman Green

Blue, red & cow chips in Packers '09 loss at Buccaneers

Brian Carriveau — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:16:10 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...

Ahman Green -- Congratulations to Ahman Green for becoming the franchise record holder for all-time rushing yards. And he did it in impressive fashion rushing for 45 yards on only six carries for a 7.5 yards per carry average with a long of 26. Maybe it's because the Buccaneers defense isn't really all that good, but Green showed some of the burst he had during his heyday with the Packers. In addition, he played a role in the passing game taking one screen pass for 10 yards and a first down. And he had a 37 yard kick return near the end of the game. Performances like that should get him on the field more often.
James Jones -- It was good to see James Jones probably have his most productive game since 2007. With Jordy Nelson, Jermichael Finley and even Jake Allen out with injuries, it was imperative for another receiving threat to step up and force the opposing defense not to focus entirely on Greg Jennings and Donald Driver. Jones finished with over 100 yards receiving on four catches with an impressive 74-yard reception going all the way to paydirt.

Charles Woodson -- Where would the Green Bay defense be without Woodson? I'm not sure I'd like to know the answer to that question. He was second on the team in tackles with six, but most impressive was the way he handled himself at the line of scrimmage. He tackles like a linebacker and he showed that on his lone tackle behind the line of scrimmage. He also had a pass defensed to boot.
Spencer Havner -- While Havner didn't tally a catch on Sunday, he made his presence felt in other ways. He's probably the best special teams player on the team. He had one tackle, but also alertly fielded two short kickoffs and returned them for 26 yards despite the coverage teams quickly coming down on him.

Pass protection -- Things were going so well in the first half. And then everything fell apart. And it seemed to happen once Mark Tauscher went down with an injury. The Packers gave up six sacks to one of the poorer defenses in the NFL and continually put the Packers behind the eight ball as far as being in favorable down and distance situations. Daryn Colledge looked overmatched in several matchups in the trenches, and Allen Barbre did little to instill confidence that he can handle the edge at right tackle.
Special teams miscues -- Giving up a long return kick return was bad enough, but the mental errors made the situation on special teams even worse. On the 83 yards kickoff given up in the fourth quarter, Mason Crosby was supposed to kick the ball to the left but instead booted it down the middle of the field. On the blocked punt for a touchdown, John Kuhn was reportedly at fault for not picking up the on-rushing defender. A holding call by Brandon Underwood wiped out a nice punt return by Tramon Williams. And missed tackles led to longer than should have been returns. All of these were avoidable mistakes.

Blue, red & cow chips in Packers '09 loss vs. Vikings

Brian Carriveau — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:16:53 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 -- Don't get me wrong, the Packers still miss Jermichael Finley. But Spencer Havner is performing above expectations in his stead. Havner can't provide the jump ball threat Finley brings, but the first time tight end is doing pretty well in his own right. Currently Havner has six career catches that have went for three touchdowns including two against the Vikings. His first touchdown of the day was of the diving variety. It was the Packers first touchdown of the second half and really started to swing momentum back into their favor.
Ryan Pickett -- When the nose tackle is second on the team in tackles, that's darn good. Most of the time, they're the guys that are eating up blockers so that the linebackers can make the tackles. But not on Sunday. Pickett was very active and a presence in the Vikings' backfield all day long. He's part of the reason the Packers held Adrian Peterson to 97 yards on 25 carries for a 3.9 yard average, not bad for probably the best back in the NFL.

Nick Barnett -- I had my doubts whether Nick Barnett would be the same linebacker after making his comeback from last year's season ending knee injury. No longer do I have those unsure feelings. Barnett has gotten better week in and week out, partly because he's a little further removed from injury each and every week and partly because he's becoming more comfortable in his new role in Dom Capers' defensive scheme. Barnett led the team in tackles yesterday including one for a loss. He also nearly had the play of the day when he blitzed Brett Favre and tipped the ball right out of his hand.
Greg Jennings -- After a couple weeks in which Jennings had been a minor part of the Packers offense, it was good to see him get back on track and become the threat he typically is. He led the team in catches with eight for 88 yards. The yards per catch could have been better, but it's hard to complain when one of them went for a touchdown despite the Vikings defensive back having been called for holding on that particular play.

Pass protection -- Just when things were getting better for the offensive line after not giving up a single sack against the Cleveland Browns a week earlier, they regressed terribly against Minnesota. The Packers gave up six sacks and and even greater amount of quarterback knockdowns. The bookend tackles fared, perhaps, the poorest of all. Neither T.J. Lang nor Allen Barbre played what one could describe as well, especially if you factor in run blocking. Center Scott Wells also looked foolish a time or two attempting to stop the Williams Wall.
Kick coverage -- No matter what the Packers did to combat Percy Harvin, it didn't work. They tried to kick it deep in the first quarter, and Harvin returned the ball 77 yards to put the Vikings in prime field position. In the second half, the Packers tried to squib kick (on which Mason Crosby slipped), and Harvin returned it 48 yards. No matter which method the Packers use, coverage has to flat out improve.

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.