The Star Tribune‘s Zulggins have a nice piece on Viasnth(e) Shiancoe‘s lack of production since the arrival of Randy Moss.
It was hard not to notice, considering how conspicuous a role Shank played in the offense last year.
He’s good with it, though, and notes the effect Moss’ presence has on opposing defenses: “It has been a lot different. There have been a lot of 1-on-1s or a lot of zones. Things of that nature. They can’t really just all pile up in the box like they used to do because of Randy’s presence with his vertical threat.”
Shiancoe spent a lot of time blocking last Sunday. He is not the best blocking tight end on the team by a long sight. You might say he’s in the cellar of the depth chart in that regard. But that doesn’t mean he’s horrible at it, either. When you’re competition is Jimmy Kleinsasser…well, lights out, baby.
But that’s okay. That ain’t his game, nor should it be.
It looks like the primary immediate beneficiary of the extra room Randy is providing has been Percy Harvin but as defenses focus on shutting Harvin down and/or as the expansion of Harvin’s roles puts him in the backfield more often, look for Shiancoe to be targeted by Brett Favre more often.
HATES AMERICA
That’s essentially how the NFLPA is characterizing ownership with regard to the potential lockout. The Star Tribune‘s Mark Craig has the money quote from NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith: “A lockout of this game is a lockout of America.”
LOSE ONE, GAIN ONE
The Packers will be without linebacker Brady Poppinga on Sunday, who suffered a torn meniscus (is that a virus? Seems to be going around.) last Sunday but it looks like their All-World linebacker Clay Matthews will play Sunday. Doh.
The Packers also acquired Jacksonville safety Anthony Smith via trade. Smith spent some time with the Packers, so he might be familiar enough with their system to play Sunday.
11 of 12
The number of close games Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has lost in his career. Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press Gazette has the deets.