Scenes From (Well, Of) a Preseason Game

I'm purposely writing this before reading anything else about the game. Therefore, it'll be mostly impressions with few actual facts. I'll admit that, because of a DVR'd Mad Men, I missed the first one (and a half?) series for the Packers. As such, I didn't see Rodgers's interception. And if I'm not mistaken, ESPN didn't show it again throughout the telecast. All told, the first string offense looked pretty sharp. It would have been nice if Rodgers had kept the touchdown pass to James Jones down a little - I wasn't to hype to see him hung out to dry - but it was pretty awesome to see him break free, helmet-less, and rumble in for six.

In fact, that capped a series that should pump up any Packer fan: Brandon Jackson broke out of a few tackles to turn a three or four yard gain into a twelve yard gain, Driver took a short pass in the flat upfield for a first down before delivering a knockout shot to a tackling d-back, and Jones went up high for a pass that he cought off a bobble before spinning out of a double shot that took his lid off and taking the ball in for a touchdown.

The line seemed to be getting off the ball pretty well, and it seemed that they were creating some usable running lanes. Jackson, Herron, and later Lumpkin, seemed to be running decisively. I guess the receivers dropped some balls they shouldn't have, but they seemed to be quick into open areas of the field. The second string guys were decent, although I was a little concerned with Brohm's insistence on chucking it into coverage. And it was the first I heard of him, but I'm now officially intrigued by Taj Smith.

Defensively, the first unit seemed to be playing well. The linebackers were all over the place, which is awesome. I would have preferred the line to get a little more push, but I guess they exhibited everything you'd expect from a unit missing two out of every three players with injuries. I was a little dismayed by Bigby flying over the top of Utecht on the Bengals' first touchdown. Granted, it would have been unlikely that Bigby would have kept Utecht on the half yardline (which is where he'd have made contact), but he was zoning in for a decapitator and just kind of missed. That's the kind of mentality that could get you beat bad.

On special teams, it was heartening that coverage looked pretty good on both sides of the return game, but man, what was with Ryan's six yard punt? Cripes.

Lastly, the Favre/Rodgers talk wasn't any worse than I'd expected, but it wasn't any better. I'm amazed the Bengals players weren't pissed that their sideline interviews were predominantly, "How do you think Aaron Rodgers performed?" Granted, I missed the first fifteen minutes of the telecast, so I also missed Kornheiser's intro. I did like that Jaworski called him out on his, "dalliance of vanity and pride" or whatever, not because he didn't understand it - as TK tried to imply - but because it sounded ridiculous.

So, all things considered, I'm starting to get really excited for the regular season to start. If the team can get healthier (or at least not more injured), Green Bay should be strong out of the gates and one step closer to - dare was say it, Jaws? - a shot at starting a dynasty.