DE Muhammad Wilkerson, rookie ILB Oren Burks, ILB Antonio

panxing18 · Mitglied Angemeldet: 10.05.2018 Beiträge: 576

GREEN BAY PACKERS (7-9)New faces: GM Brian Gutekunst Womens Anthony Walker Jersey , offensive coordinator Joe Philbin, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, TE Jimmy Graham, TE Marcedes Lewis, QB DeShone Kizer,Morrison, CB Tramon Williams, rookie CBs Jaire Alexander and Josh Jackson, P JK Scott.Key losses: Retired GM Ted Thompson, defensive coordinator Dom Capers, WR Jordy Nelson, G Jahri Evans, TE Richard Rodgers, QB Brett Hundley, S Morgan Burnett, CB Damarious Randall.Strengths: QB Aaron Rodgers healthy again after being limited to seven games because of collarbone injury. Graham provides much-needed athletic and playmaking presence at tight end. Graham Authentic Darius Leonard Jersey , Lewis and returnee Lance Kendricks form deep tight end group. Davante Adams emerged into one of NFC's top WRs and Randall Cobb still has potential to turn short passes into big gains. Running back-by-committee with Jamaal Williams, Aaron Jones and Ty Montgomery. Strong starting five on line when healthy. D-line could be scary good with Wilkerson joining already strong core of Mike Daniels, Kenny Clark and Dean Lowry. ILB Blake Martinez led team in tackles. Tramon Williams brings veteran presence to CB position also injected with more athleticism with drafting of Alexander and Jackson. Fifth-year S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix entering option year of rookie contract. K Mason Crosby steady and reliable. JK Scott showing why Packers took punter in fifth round with strong leg in practice.Weaknesses: Poor showing by second-string line in third preseason game against Raiders again raised questions about quality depth beyond starters, particularly at tackle. Keeping Rodgers healthy of utmost importance, especially after pass game struggled with backup Brett Hundley in 2017. DeShone Kizer, acquired from Browns in offseason, new backup after Hundley dealt to Seattle. Geronimo Allison appears capable of joining Adams and Cobb as one of top three wideouts, but returnee Trevor Davis hampered by hamstring injury. Packers otherwise young at WR, including three drafted rookies. Pass-rush options behind OLBs Clay Matthews and Nick Perry in question. Morrison late acquisition from Colts because of season-ending knee injury to Jake Ryan and shoulder injury later in camp to Burks. Despite their playmaking potential, Alexander, Jackson and second-year player Kevin King still young and subject to on-job training.Fantasy Player To Watch: Graham. 6-foot-7 tight end could be Rodgers' new favorite target in red zone.Vegas Says: Super Bowl 14-1. Over/under wins 10.Expectations: Return to playoffs as long as Rodgers remains healthy. He shows no signs of slowing down otherwise, and Graham can help open middle of field and draw attention away from Adams and Cobb, and vice versa. With fresh voice on defense with Pettine, improvements on that side of ball may hold key to whether Pack can get back to top of NFC North and make deep postseason run.2018 Week 2: Indianapolis Colts vs. Washington Redskins Open Thread Today, the Indianapolis Colts embark on leg one of a two week road trip to Washington, D.C. to face the Redskins. Both teams have undergone some big changes during the off-season, including new faces at quarterback. Indianapolis now has Ryan Grant, who just had the most productive year of his career in Washington. The Redskins replaced Grant by grabbing Paul Richardson Authentic J'Marcus Webb Jersey , formerly in Seattle and also picked up linebacker Pernell McPhee.A week ago, the Colts dropped their home opener to the Bengals in a game they should have won. It felt eerily similar to the second half collapses that plagued the team in 2017. One key difference was franchise quarterback Andrew Luck who had fans believing they were about to witness a last minute game-winning drive. On the other side of the country, Washington beat up an over-matched Cardinals team. Adrian Peterson and Chris Thompson combined 161 rushing yards. Thompson added 6 receptions for 63 receiving yards and a touchdown. Their defense held Sam Bradford, Larry Fitgerald, and David Johnson to 6 total points.With this back-drop, we take a look at some of the keys to the outcome of today’s game.Find a Way to Limit Adrian Peterson and Chris ThompsonThe Achilles heel for the Tampa 2 defense if giving up size for speed. Teams that lack size on defense tend to give up the advantage on the ground. In Week 1, the Colts allowed Joe Mixon to run all over them and had no answers when he caught the ball in space. He is certainly a talented prospect who looks to have taken a big second-year leap but there is very little support behind him.The Redskins have future Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson to punish weaknesses between the tackles, and a very talented change-of-pace back in Chris Thompson who could very easily be Alex Smith’s favorite target for a second straight game. If the Colts hope to see the speed approach pay off, they will have to find a way to disrupt Peterson’s vertical running style and cover the field laterally to contain Thompson.This will not be an easy task and failure could see this game get out of hand quickly.Create Pressure on Alex SmithAs NFL quarterbacks go, Alex Smith isn’t anything particularly special. He reminds me a bit of Chad Pennington. He is able to do enough of the right things throughout the game to generate solid numbers on offense and give you a chance to win every week. He is also able to limit mistakes and unforced errors enough to not put his defense in a difficult situation.The best way to combat his game is to force him to be something he isn’t. If the defense can harass and force him to be heroic or play above his talent-level, they can capitalize on mistakes. Don’t get confused, Smith is a solid NFL quarterback — if the Jacksonville Jaguars had Alex Smith at quarterback they might be favored to get to and win the Super Bowl. However, you can turn Smith into Blake Bortles if you can force him to try to take over a game.Limit Jordan ReedPaul Richardson and Jamison Crowder are both respectable NFL receivers. They’ve both shown the ability to be highly productive and play a big role in winning football games. That said, neither player is anything close to A.J. Green, so the secondary certainly has an easier assignment on the outside this week. Where the defense will be tested most is in how it addresses Jordan Reed. When healthy, Reed may very well be the most dangerous pass-catching tight end in the NFL. He is often injured, so a lot of fans may not be fully aware of his talent, but he will take the field this week and cannot be overlooked.Matt Eberflus and Chris Ballard’s move to speed and athleticism www.indianapoliscoltsteamonline.com , particularly at linebacker, was all about helping to improve coverage over the middle of the field. For that plan to work out, Indy must see returns against tight ends like Jordan Reed. If he gets going and the linebackers are lost, Alex Smith will churn out yards and put points on the board.Establish a more Consistent Running GameWhile the Indianapolis Colts are certainly best served when Andrew Luck is picking defenses apart, they must find a way to keep the pass rush at bay with the running game. Starting left tackle Anthony Castonzo will not be playing so Frank Reich and Nick Sirianni need to find ways to help the offensive line against a defensive front that includes Matt Ioannidis, Ryan Kerrigan and Pernell McPhee. A young and upcoming group of former Alabama defenders are also worth monitoring — Daron Payne, Jonathan Allen, and Shaun Dion Hamilton.This defensive front is not quite as strong as the Bengals and Indianapolis must find a way to exploit it. A key to doing that is getting Marlon Mack, Nyheim Hines, and Jordan Wilkins rolling on the ground. If they can be productive and force the edge defenders to hesitate, Andrew Luck will have more room in the pocket to make magic happen. As Colts fans know, if Luck has time, there is a good chance magic will happen.Make Big Offensive PlaysFrank Reich has protected Andrew Luck and not asked him to his shoulder by throwing the ball vertically a lot throughout the preseason. It helps that Reich’s offense is predicated on more short and intermediate routes designed to get the ball out of Luck’s hand quickly. This offense requires establishing tempo and tiring out the defense. While the approach can be highly effective, it will really open up if a couple of hay makers also land. The nature of the offense is to act like a coil. These short plays are designed to get the defense to cheat closer and closer to the line of scrimmage as the short zones get picked apart. When this happens, the offense is like a loading spring. When the time is right, the spring needs to unload deep, over the top of a defense that has started to lose discipline. To be effective, the big plays have to hit. Last week Indianapolis Colts T-Shirt , T.Y. Hilton dropped a pass that would have gone for a long gain. Jack Doyle fumbled away the team’s chance at completing the game-winning touchdown drive.This week, players have to haul in those big plays and protect the ball. If this offense can force the defense to spread out because it is worried about both short and long plays, everything will start working. If it doesn’t, shrinking defenses mean fewer running and passing lanes. Big plays have to be there for everything to work as intended.Game Time1pm PM ET on Sunday September 16, 2018LocationFedEx Field - Landover, MarylandTV ChannelCBS - Spero Dedes (play-by-play), Adam Archuleta (color analyst)RadioWFNI (107.5FM/1070 The Fan) and WLHK (Country 97.1 Hank FM)Referee AssignmentClete BlakemanWeatherMostly cloudy with scattered showers. Winds gusting up to 15 mph. - Per AccuweatherEnemy BlogHogs HavenTwitterFollow @StampedeBlue for the complete Colts coverage on Twitter before, during, and after every game.FacebookLike Stampede Blue on Facebook!PodcastFor all your Colts-related talk and information, subscribe, download, and review the Stampede Blue Colts Cast on iTunes, Stitcher, or BlogTalkRadio. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel!