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This is Kizer's 3rd year, and Boyle's 2nd. Against the Ravens, neither played that well, yet, Boyle's stats in this game, and the previous, show a fairly remarkable 112.2 passer rating, whereas Kizer's is 94.8, which in itself, is not bad at all.
But, as much as I was able to view the way both handled themselves, there was one key difference that I saw. Kizer was constantly high on his throws, often setting up his receivers for some serious hits, and in many cases, he'd throw high at the sidelines, more intent on avoiding an INT than making a completion. He showed very little trust in his receivers.
On the other hand, most of Boyle's mistakes were throwing the ball short of his receivers, and even into the ground. As I looked back at those pitches, I questioned one thing. The routes. Were they really supposed to be run into the defenders, or under them? His pitches into the dirt were to receivers who failed to run under defenders, and were running pretty much into the teeth of the coverage. The throws may have been as much intentionally short, or even as an attempt to put the ball where it was supposed to be, if the receiver ran his route properly. Then, counted among his incompletions were four dropped passes, including one by Kumerow, who has obviously emerged as one of our better receivers over the course of the preseason, and if he's cut, it would tell me these coaches are morons. He's going to be one of those guys who Rodgers trusts to throw the ball to, and that's a huge part of the success of any passing game.
As far as the premise that the Packers are going to be a running team, that may work for a short period of time, but as soon as dings and minor injuries start to slow our runners, which could come quickly, we're going to be relying on Rodgers' arm once again.
So, when will the Packers begin to feature their running game? It will happen as soon as they end up with a pedestrian QB who can only be a game manager, not a game changer. It's the nature of the NFL.
But, as much as I was able to view the way both handled themselves, there was one key difference that I saw. Kizer was constantly high on his throws, often setting up his receivers for some serious hits, and in many cases, he'd throw high at the sidelines, more intent on avoiding an INT than making a completion. He showed very little trust in his receivers.
On the other hand, most of Boyle's mistakes were throwing the ball short of his receivers, and even into the ground. As I looked back at those pitches, I questioned one thing. The routes. Were they really supposed to be run into the defenders, or under them? His pitches into the dirt were to receivers who failed to run under defenders, and were running pretty much into the teeth of the coverage. The throws may have been as much intentionally short, or even as an attempt to put the ball where it was supposed to be, if the receiver ran his route properly. Then, counted among his incompletions were four dropped passes, including one by Kumerow, who has obviously emerged as one of our better receivers over the course of the preseason, and if he's cut, it would tell me these coaches are morons. He's going to be one of those guys who Rodgers trusts to throw the ball to, and that's a huge part of the success of any passing game.
As far as the premise that the Packers are going to be a running team, that may work for a short period of time, but as soon as dings and minor injuries start to slow our runners, which could come quickly, we're going to be relying on Rodgers' arm once again.
So, when will the Packers begin to feature their running game? It will happen as soon as they end up with a pedestrian QB who can only be a game manager, not a game changer. It's the nature of the NFL.
