I'm going to have to say that our defense has played well so far this year. There were 4 long plays against us. The 75 yard run, and 3 passes of 30 yards or more. Throw those four out and the Vikings had another 160 yards total, on an official 55 plays. That's less than 3 yards per play, and that's not bad by anyone's standard. When the defense reaches a point that they can cut back on those long gainers as well, we're going to be talking about about as stingy a defense as possible.
I'm not certain what the "official" average is of points scored per game so far this year, or last year, but I'm going to guess the across the board average is somewhere in the range of 21 points. Winners? Somewhere in the range of 28 to 30. Our defense has held two offenses down to a total of 19 points over two games. No matter how you want to view it, in the NFL, that's playing some D. I like the pieces they've added to the defense. They are showing progress, and learning every day how much more they can play together.
On offense, I'm not certain what's happening to be honest. What I see, I find hard to believe. They can be totally in sync during one possession, and the next time around do their imitation of the Keystone Kops. It's mystifying.
The offensive line played well most of the time. They kept rushers off Rodgers. His sacks came about because he waits out routes, and goes through his entire progression, and continues to look for receivers working off the ball and play. It would be great if a few more receivers would get that message, and create opportunities out of nothing. It's those busted plays that work, which create a completely new dynamic on offense. Jones got 100 yards rushing. Not bad! Averaged about 5 yards per carry I believe? I'll take it. Let's say the offense is still a work in progress, but getting better as they go. But, I'll take where they're at, considering how little contact time they had during the preseason.
Being 2-0, and having both wins against your chief rivals in the standings is priceless. It's like being having an extra game on each of them at this point. It gives the Packers the tie breaker at this point. That can be huge in a tightly fought season.
I'm anxious to see how they handle the Broncos. It could be a very interesting game.
