Cutdown to 75 Had Some Surprises

It was cutdown day in the NFL when all 32 teams had to get down to 75 and end of the day there were a few surprising moves by the Packers.

Hometown Boy Peter Mortell Was Living The Dream Until Monday - His Grandfather Hunting With Vince Lombardi And With His Dad At Lambeau Field

First, General Manager Ted Thompson cut Green Bay native Peter Mortell. I thought Mortell had won the battle with Tim Masthay for the punting job. He seemed to be a gamer and I was ready to move on from Masthay, who has been mired in a year and a half slump. But what do I know?

Observations After The First Week of Camp

Bill Belichick Injury Report: On Day Three tight end Mitchell Henry needed some Midol because he had to leave practice with cramps. On Day Four left outside linebacker Manoa Pikula also dropped out with an undisclosed injury. It was reported he limped off, so it could be cramps, could be tweeked, could be stubbed toe, could be......

 

On Day Five Pikula is the only player not participating in the Saturday morning practice. Intrepid hospital reporter Michael Cohen reported and I'm guessing he didn't clear this with General Manager Ted Thompson and Head Coach Mike McCarthy that when he left the practice field Thursday he was grabbing his right hamstring. When practice resumes we'll see if Cohen still has his press pass or will be tweeting from outside the fence as a spectator for breaking Belichick Protocol.

Spooky Special Teams

Time To Replace Tim Masthay

For the first time during the Ted Thompson/Mike McCarthy Era special teams wasn't the weak link on a team that had many weak links. However, punter Tim Masthay's year and a half odyssey of going from the best punter the Packers have had since Craig Hentrich to so Jekyll and Hyde it might be a good idea to find a replacement.

After Hentrich was allowed to leave in free agency in 1997, something former Packer General Manager Ron Wolf said was his biggest mistake, the Packers went through Sean Landeta (1 year-he left in free agency too). Louie Aguiar (2 years), Josh Bidwell (4 years- he left in free agency), Bryan Barker (1 year), B.J. Sander and Ryan Flinn (1 season), Jon Ryan (he was cut by Thompson before his third season), Derrick Frost and Jeremy Kapinos (1 season), Jeremy Kapinos (1 more year) and then Masthay took the job in 2010.

Masthay was fabulous for four and a half seasons until the second half of 2014. He still was having issues last year finishing as the 13th ranked punter. It's time to look for a new punter.

The Time to Retool Your Roster is Now

Let the Lady Packerbackers make the call-Steve Weatherford
 instead of Tim Masthay?

The final cuts were not unexpected although I missed on four (running back Rajion Neal was cut instead of Alonzo Harris; defensive end Christian Ringo instead of defensive tackle Bruce Gaston; inside linebacker Carl Bradford instead of outside linebacker Nick Perry and safety Jean Fanor instead of Chris Banjo).

 

Now let's look at the best free agents now available and who Packers General Manager Ted Thompson might be interested in or should be interested in. The Giants cut punter Steve Weatherford in a cost-cutting move and I think he should be signed immediately before someone else gets him.

 

Tim Masthay is in his second year of struggles and Weatherford's stats last year were better than Masthay's. You just can't have an erratic punter or place kicker. Being patient with Mason Crosby when he lost it three years ago worked, but it hurt in between. Masthay lost it the second half of last season and is still in his "slump". A good punter is now available and I vote for signing him.

Post-Game Instant Analysis: The second pre-season game at the Steelers

The Good, The Bad and The UGLY

 

The Good:

The first string offense (minus David Bakhtiari at left tackle) looked very good taking the ball 80 yards in 10 plays on the opening drive of the game to a score. The good elements of the drive were not only good passing by Aaron Rodgers, but excellent running by Eddie Lacy, including a touchdown run from the seven. Then surprise, surprise James Starks converts the two-point conversion on the ground for only the second time since 2009.

The Bad:

Aaron Rodgers about to be sacked for a Safety

Don Barclay at left tackle was a disaster. He gave up a sack in the end zone for a safety and gave up another sack as well as many shaky runs in between with the first string. Barclay stayed in the game with the second string until there was 1:40 left in the third quarter and wasn't any better until his final series against the third stringers.

Post-Game Analysis: Special Report

Mason Crosby watches his successful field goal attempt

Special teams weren't so special against the Patriots although place kicker Mason Crosby did well. He made his only field goal attempt and his only 33-yard extra point. All of his kickoffs were short and returnable and I was worried. However, in the post-game interview Coach Mike McCarthy said he told Crosby to kick them short so they could work on kickoff coverage. So I give Crosby an A+.

 

I was going to talk about punter Tim Masthay next, but let's jump on the kickoff coverage. All five were returned for an average of 24.6 average with a long return of 35. His first one was returned 31 yards to the 26 and his next two were stopped at the 17 and the 13. The second half kickoff was returned 35 yards to the 37. His fifth on was returned 24 yards to the 27 and his last I give the kickoff coverage team a C+.

 

Now I'll get to Masthay. He punted three times for an average of 34.0 with two inside the 20. Throw the average out since he was punting near the 50. His first was from the Green Bay 47 and was downed at the 18. His next was from the Patriot 47 and was downed at the 15. His last was from the Green Bay 13 and it was downed at the Patriot 37. There were two fair catches and one went out of bonds. I give Masthay a A-. As far as punt return coverage I give an incomplete for no action.