Packers at Rams Review | Green Bay 2014 Preseason Continues

The Green Bay Packers traveled to St. Louis to take on the Rams in week two of the 2014 NFL Preseason. Here are our takeaways from that game.

First Team Offense: The first team offense played the first two drives of the game. They played both with perfect precision scoring a touchdown on the first drive, and a field goal on the second drive. Had it not been for a penalty, they would have scored a touchdown on both drives. Both drives were 12 plays each, and the first team offense had no trouble moving the ball at will. Aaron Rodgers looked like Aaron Rodgers, and on several plays showed us why he is the best in the business at what he does. Eddie Lacy looked very sharp on the games opening drive. He ran the ball well and was effective catching it out of the backfield. James Starks played the second drive, and did a very good job.

Scott Tolzien: Scott Tolzien entered this game with a chance to win the backup quarterback job. He did not win it, but he did not lose it ether. He made some good plays, but he also made some bad ones. We will say this though, it is very obvious that Matt Flynn has resigned himself to the fact that nobody wants him to win this job and he is simply plan B. Scott Tolzien is more talented and has a higher upside at the end of the day.

The defensive line: The defensive line played great all game. They consistently pressured whoever was playing quarterback all game. Nothing else to see here, move along.

The Secondary: So just when the Packers finally begin to figure out their front seven, the secondary decides that now is the time to fall apart. This secondary needs to clean up these issues our all of this work spent on fixing the issues up front will be worth nothing.

The errors: The Packers made way too many mistakes and committed way too many penalties in this game. Championship teams do not do these things. Officials: The officials were working out their own kinks in this game, end of story.

Quarterback Battle In Green Bay | Preseason Update Ticket King Green Bay

Well everyone, just like that, the first week of the preseason is in the books. Since we have some tape now, here are some of our early observations of the 2014 Green Bay Packers team.

Entering Packers training camp, Sean Richardson and Micah Hyde were slotted as the reserve safeties. They have had great camps, and could actually start over either or both first round draft choice Ha-ha Clinton Dix and Morgan Burnett. However, at the end of the day, we do expect both Clinton-Dix and Burnett to start, as Thompson drafted Dix in round one and paid Burnett too much money last year to sit him on the bench.

With the ACL injury to Jarred Abberderis, the 5^th wide receiver slot is now wide open. Chris Harper, Kevin Dorsey, Myles White, and many others are competing. Dorsey made some nice plays in the family night scrimmage, and had three catches for 23 yards in the first preseason game. Chris Harper has had a decent camp and had two catches for 55 yards in the first preseason game. Myles White hasn’t done so well and has a lot of work to do to catch up. This battle is open, and we do expect Kevin Dorsey to win it at the end of the day.

Packers Backup Quarterback Contest Continues

And then there is that little backup quarterback battle going on. Chase Rettig knows he has no shot at all of making this roster, so he is just biding his time and having fun until he is released. This is a two horse race between Matt Flynn and Scott Tolzien. So far they both have looked on and off. Tolzien went 8-12 with a 124 yards passing in the first preseason game and Matt Flynn went 5-10 for 49 yards in the first preseason game. Expect this battle to drag on until the start of the season.

What about the tight ends? Well Colt Lyerla pretty much took himself out of the running by trying to do too much in the family night scrimmage, and will now miss a few weeks. Nobody else has looked particularly good so far- Andrew Quarless, Brandon Bostick, Ryan Taylor, or Richard Rodgers. This may be a tight end by committee this season.

Packers Players That Need To Step Up In 2014

Which young Packers players will step up and make a difference in 2014? Every season, it seems like Green Bay needs somewhere south of six players that must emerge as stand out players as quickly as possible, if the team is to move on to the post season.  So logically, the first question that comes to mind is “Which players are going to make the difference?”

Let’s start on Defense.  Casey Hayward is key to the Packers coming up big in 2014. In 2012, Hayward had six interceptions.  Some of those came late in games, when opponents were desperate to get a score. In 2013, Hayward played in fewer games, but showed promise in the game against Chicago. On the line, Datone Jones will be under the microscope. With Nick Perry failing to avoid the injury bug, Jones has the spotlight forced upon him. The pass rush must come from somewhere other than the usual places. Jones could be just the player to make that happen.

On offense, it looks like the Packers need Jarrett Boykin to find a way to get open. He stepped up and caught nearly 50 passes when filling in for Randall Cobb. With Nelson and Cobb being one and two, Boykin has an opportunity to be the third receiver on offense.

Eddie Lacy looks to be the running back that will do even more for the Packers in 2014. He’s got to be the “check-down” back, that can get open in the flat, and wait for the ball. Finally, the mystery player that will take over at tight end has yet to emerge.  Will it be Brian Bostick, Richard Rodgers, or Colt Lyerla.  Lyerla came in as an undrafted player, but he’s showing spark. A lot of fans would like to hear “Rodgers to Rodgers for the touchdown!” but Brandon has to show the coaches that he’s better than his past performances.   Finally, we could guess as to which player will elevate the team, but guesses are just that, guesses. The preseason starts in just four days, and the Packers will evaluate every player that hopes to once again make the team.

Packers Training Camp 2014 | Ticket King Inc.

Well, here we are, the 2014 season is upon us, and training camp has begun for our favorite team, the Green Bay Packers. Here are some of the position battles to watch entering camp.

Inside Linebacker- By default Brad Jones and A.J. Hawk currently stand as the starters at inside linebacker. Yes they do have experience, but they represent the weakest part of the Packers defense entering this season. What everyone would like is for one of the young project linebackers- Sam Barrington, Nate Palmer, Jamari Lattimore, Andy Mulumba, somebody, anybody, to step up and outplay them, therefore taking a starting position away from one of them. Both have had their chances, and both haven’t shown much of anything.

Cornerback- Defensive back is the deepest position for the Packers on this side of the ball. Now Sam Shields is a rising star and one of the best deep ball cover corners in the league so his job is nice and safe. However it is no secret that Tramon Williams is getting older, and a drop in play has led to his job as the starter opposite of Shields being put in jeopardy. Casey Hayward is returning after n injury-plagued second season and could push for the job. Devon House is another candidate to bench Williams.

Defensive End- We know that Mike Daniels is going to start, and we know that B.J. Raji is going to start as well. But who will be the other defensive end? Datone Jones, the 2013 first round draft choice, has the inside track to the job. Don’t forget about Josh Boyd who played well last year as a rookie, and current rookie Khyri Thornton, a third round draft choice back in May.

Tight End- This is the most up in the air out of all of the position battles. Every tight end in camp is competing for this job, and every tight end in camp could be left off the roster. Colt Lyerla has been excellent so far this off season and could potentially be the next Antonio Gates.

Third Wide Receiver- This is a two horse race and will be the most epic battle in camp. Competing are former un-drafted free agent Jarrett Boykin and rookie second round draft choice Devonte Adams. Boykin is in his third season and had an excellent second season a year ago. Adams is a great talent who has the inside track.

Should The NFL Create A Developmental League?

According to many sports experts, Major League Baseball has the best player development setup of any sport in the world. Each major league team has three rookie league teams, a Class A-short season team, a Class A-advanced team, a Double AA team, and a Triple AAA team. Players must prove themselves at each level before getting to the major leagues. Nobody in baseball is handed a job, every job must be earned at the end of the day. Many wonder if the NFL could use a developmental system, not to the depth of baseball’s, but just one developmental team per NFL team.

The NFL tried something like this a number of years back, it was called NFL Europe, but it ended in a miserable failure. This was mainly due to teams having no control over what the players they sent to NFL Europe did.

The NFL could use a developmental league, but something in which each NFL team is in control of what their developmental team does, which was not the case for NFL Europe. The developmental team would run the same schemes, use the same playbook, and teach the same techniques as the NFL teams that are in control of them. A setup where the developmental league teams play in the spring would be bad as well. The NFL would need to set it up so the developmental league would play right along side of them, week by week in the fall. Our idea is that the NFL should get rid of Thursday Night football and instead commit Thursday nights then to developmental league action. Their would be certain rules that would be put into place. For example, if you play in the developmental league game on Thursday, you can’t play Sunday for your NFL team.

What would a developmental league do for the on the field product? Well it would make it better. Instead of having young talent standing on the sidelines waiting for an opportunity, they could be playing the developmental league and getting better. This would make the on the field product better then because when these young players step onto the field, they are ready to play.

Packers Parking at Lambeau Field | Ticket King Green Bay Has Parking On NFL Game Days

You can see Lambeau Field from our parking lot! 

When heading up to Lambeau Field, one of the many things a Packers fan wants to know is where to park and tailgate. Question number two is often "Can we park and tailgate at the same place?" If you check out our Packers parking options, you will see that we can take care of both of those concerns. The Ticket King Green Bay office is always open on game day, and we're just one block south of the Lambeau Field parking lot.

Ten years ago, our company found a perfect place to put our ticket office.  It was an old doughnut shop that sat just across the road from the Don Hudson center.  The building is small, but the parking lot is large, and Packers tailgate fans love to set up camp in our parking spots.  That's fine with us.  We love the party atmosphere of Green Bay on game day.  When you park in our lot, we won't block you in. With every game, we have parking attendants that guide you to your spot.  For the best spots, it's wise to get to the lot a few hours before the game.  After all, 20 to 30 thousand Packer fans are going to be walking and driving right past your spot. It's a great place to "people watch."  Our office is open well before kickoff, so ticket pick up is easy.

So yes, we are more than your best source for Green Bay Packers tickets.  We're Packers fans as well.

Packers Defense Must Improve In 2014 | Our Best Guess At Who Will Start For Green Bay

This week let’s take a look at the Packers defense as we try to project the roster for week one. This will be harder to do than the offense was, so let’s give it our best shot.  Before we get into the nuts and bolts of who will start, we must mention that the defense performed a bit better in 2013, when compared to 2012, where they finished dead last. There is so much room for improvement, that moving up a half dozen spots would still place the team in the bottom half of the league. If the Packers want to go deep into the 2014 playoffs, they have to make massive improvements.  

If we were to take a serious look at how the Packers defensive line performed in 2013, when compared to the rest of the NFL, they rank 26th. That's not so hot.  The team lacked the ability to stop teams that reached the "second level" on the field, only rating better than two other teams in that category.  They gave up 4.26 yards when using the "adjusted line" stats. Still, the team will be going with some familiar names, going into 2014. Defensive Lineman: Starters: B.J. Raji, Datone Jones, Josh Boyd. Backups: Jerel Worthy, Mike Daniels, Khyri Thornton, Leroy Guion.

This unit is all over the place. This was our best shot at trying to determine the starters. The truth is any of these guys could end up starting. We believe Jones will start along with Boyd, but the truth is, this is wide open and we will not know until the end of camp.

Linebackers: Starters: Clay Matthews, Nick Perry, A.J. Hawk, Brad Jones. Backups: Mike Neal, Julius Peppers, Jamari Lattimore, Carl Bradford, Nate Palmer, Sam Barrington,.

The big stunner here may be the listing of Julius Peppers as a backup. We don’t think Peppers will start but he will be key. We believe the Packers are going to use big rotation along the seven man front to keep everyone fresh and healthy. Can Clay Matthews stay healthy for an entire season? If so, look out, if not, well than that contract could become a burden really fast.

Defensive Backs: Starters: Sam Shields, Tramon Williams, Morgan Burnett, HaHa Clinton-Dix. Backups: Devon House, Casey Heyward, Micah Hyde, Sean Richardson.

If they all stay healthy and play to their abilities this might be the deepest defensive secondary in the league. Williams could end up as the Nickel though s both Heyward and House could send him to the bench. I would say that is what the coaches want to happen, but Williams is a nice insurance policy. I think this is the year Bush finally doesn’t make the roster. The coaches really like Richardson as well.