Packers' O-line expects to keep Rodgers upright
Football Betting Lines
09/10/2010 -
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - The Green Bay Packers' offensive line got off to such a bad start last year that it's even serving as a punchline for the satirical newspaper The Onion.
In its tongue-in-cheek NFL preview this week, the paper's website wrote, ``After giving up 50 sacks in 2009, Green Bay's offensive line appears to have forgiven Aaron Rodgers for whatever he did.''
The Packers can't hide from the pass protection failings that nearly derailed their season last year - they actually gave up a league-worst 51 sacks, as backup Matt Flynn wasn't completely spared from the carnage - but they're using their failures as a rallying point going into Sunday's regular season opener at Philadelphia.
``As we go through our offseason evaluations, sit and study things, where we need to improve, that's obviously at the top of the list,'' offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. ``We can't go through another year like that. And so, yeah, I think for our staff, our players, there's hopefully some resolve and determination that let's get this thing back to where it needs to be.''
Center Scott Wells said the line has something to prove.
``We don't want to start the way we did last year,'' Wells said. ``Really, we played basically two different types of offense. The first half of the year was not very good and the second half was a lot better. So we want to go out from the get-go and play better than we did in the second half of last year. So we want to build on that, and move forward and improve at the same time.''
The Packers' biggest reason for optimism is right tackle Mark Tauscher, back at the spot that has belonged to him for most of the past decade. Tauscher knows the Packers' offense is loaded with talent and potential, and could be one of the league's best if the offensive line holds up its end of the bargain.
``It's now a fresh season, new start, and we realize we need to play better than we did last year to give our offense a chance to be as successful as we can be,'' Tauscher said.
Tauscher played a critical role in stabilizing the line last year, beginning the season out of football while he recovered from a knee injury and then re-signing with the Packers in October. He eventually reclaimed his starting spot after the Packers' ill-fated attempt to make Allen Barbre the starter.
After giving up a jaw-dropping 41 sacks in their first nine games, they allowed 10 in their final seven of the regular season.
Now Tauscher is back for a full training camp and season, feeling better than last year.
``Obviously, we've got a right tackle playing for us that's played a lot of football here in Green Bay,'' Philbin said. ``And no disrespect to the one we had last year, but we were trying somebody out in essence at right tackle. We've got a veteran player there who's played a lot of games in the National Football League.''
Offensive line coach James Campen even says Tauscher - a player never known for his bodybuilder-like physique - has slimmed down.
``He's in shape and he looks good,'' Campen said. ``He looks as good as he ever has. His weight's down, so I'm sure he's very confident.''
Another reason for optimism: Rodgers wasn't sacked once in the preseason, and their preseason opponents weren't all playing vanilla defensive schemes.
``Cleveland pressured us quite a bit, and they did a good job picking it up,'' Campen said. ``Now, if you ask them, was it always perfect? No. Was the quarterback hit a couple times? Yes. And they want to eliminate those as well.''
Sunday's game at Philadelphia will be a good test for the line's confidence. The Eagles are known for their exotic blitzes in recent years, and Packers coaches don't know if the more base-oriented defensive scheme they showed in the preseason is an indication of what they'll do in the regular season.
``You know going into the first game that a good amount of it is going to be unscouted, it's going to be a lot of things they didn't do in preseason they're saving for the regular season,'' Wells said. ``A lot of it's going to be relying on your experience, of the guys around you, and myself to make the right calls.''
And a strong performance against the Eagles would be a big first step for five guys out to prove they're no longer a league punchline.
``Just knowing what that was like and what that felt like and the criticisms, which were all just and correct, they don't want to go back to that,'' Campen said.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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