Around the NFC North while wondering if any of the Vikings who showed up in the offseason, training camp and early preseason joined Brett in burning the midnight oil at Winter Park this week ...
IN GREEN BAY:
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel takes a look at the Packers' not-so-special teams in this article. It's an interesting look at the intricacies of operating the five primary units while dealing with injuries, inexperience and many other variables.
The Packers are a Super Bowl contender because of their offense and a defense that's been better than expected. But can Green Bay get where it wants to go with a special teams unit that's already basically cost them one loss in the first three weeks of the season?
Monday night's performance in Chicago was an all-around meltdown by the Packers' special teams. And now the pressure is on special teams coach Shawn Slocum to do a better job with the players he has at his disposal.
As the Journal Sentinel explains, a special teams coach's job isn't easy. For instance, there were numerous players Slocum was counting on who ended up not being able to play because of injuries. That forced personnel changes late in the week, and that obviously led to disaster, particularly on punt coverage.
One of the players Slocum found himself without was safety Charlie Peprah. He's basically the Heath Farwell of the Packers' special teams unit.
Also, because linebacker Brady Poppinga was limited, rookie tight end Andrew Quarless had to play four special teams units in his NFL debut. As rookies tend to do, Quarless was out of position while covering the punt that Devin Hester returned for a touchdown.