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Packers’ defense dominates Josh Allen Womens Kenny Clark Jersey , Bills in 22-0 shutout win After a disastrous stretch of defense, blowing a huge lead to the Vikings and allowing Washington to build one in the first half, Josh Allen was exactly who Mike Pettine and Co. needed to see. While Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense couldn’t quite get rolling, a dominating defense shutout the Bills, forcing three turnovers, and notching seven sacksto give Green Bay a much needed 22-0 win in Week 4. The rookie Bills quarterback finished the first half 5/19 for 58 yards en route to a Bills record for incompletions in a first half, to go with a heinous arm punt picked off by Jaire Alexander to wipe points off the board. In six possessions, the Packers forced four three-and-outs and the Alexander pick to shut out a Buffalo team that had jumped all over the Vikings in Week 3. Green Bay jumped out to a 16-0 first-half lead a week after the Bills took a 27-0 margin into halftime in Minnesota. The Packers’ defense had only forced three turnovers in the first three weeks, one of the worst figures in the league. Allen was generous in changing that, throwing two picksand sailing passes over the heads or at the feet of his receivers. Rodgers, looking much healthier but not significantly sharper than a week ago, bought time and made plays in ways we are used to seeing. He also missed some easy throws, threw his first interception of the season and nearly threw a pick-six on fourth down in the second half. Not having Randall Cobb clearly changed the gameplan for the Packers as they rotated running backs, tried to feed Jimmy Graham, and couldn’t quite generate the spark they were looking for. An opening-drive touchdown ended in a doinked extra point by Mason Crosby, a harbinger of things to come for the offense. They were consistently able to move the ball and get in position, only to come up just a little short. Costly drops and some bad throws stymied the Green Bay passing attack, with Rodgers making a number of key plays with his legs and just enough big-time throws to put points on the board. It was enough Sunday against a young Bills squad, but will have to be better for the Packers to achieve their goal of contending for a Super Bowl. Missing a hurt Cobb, the Packers lost Geronimo Allison to a concussion in the second half, forcing a pair of rookies into key roles for Green Bay’s offense. A lack continuity, experience, and rhythm held Rodgers and his group back. So did not playing Aaron Jones more often. He finished with 65 yards on 11 carries, a 5.9 average, and at this point the only person who doesn’t see he’s the best running back in town is McCarthy. Playing Lance Kendricks for any reason remains a head-scratching decision. For all the scheme improvements, some befuddling personnel decisions linger.Two promising third-quarter drives stalled out Womens Muhammad Wilkerson Jersey , resulting in a field goal and a turnover on downs thanks to the same problems that plagued the Packers in Week 3: drops, off-target throws, and some blown protections. In a game that should have been something like 30-0, the Packers held just a 19-0 advantage through three quarters. But the defense came through over and over. Once the lead was double-digits, Mike Pettine began to dial up pressure to confuse and befuddle Allen, ending in seven sacks and 11 quarterback hits for this Packers defense in its first game with Muhammad Wilkerson. Even Kyler Fackrell got into the act with a trio of sacks, disrupting in the Buffalo backfield and flummoxing Allen into missed throws and turnovers. Relying on the defense to pick up a streaky offense wasn’t a luxury the Packers have recently been afforded. Buffalo hardly represents a telling test, but Week 4’s performance serves as a step in the right direction for this young group. Blasting Josh Allen doesn’t prove their worth, but not doing so would have been solid evidence of their failures. And speaking of Super Bowl quality, the last shutout for the Packers was 2010, the year they last hoisted the Lombardi trophy. Rookies Josh Jackson and Jaire Alexander shined in coverage against a pedestrian group of receivers. In fact, a receiver didn’t post a reception until late in the first half for the Bills. The much-maligned Ha Ha Clinton-Dix snagged a pick early in the second half, his third straight game with an interception. Even without Kevin King, this Green Bay secondary proved it has some playmakers, a welcome change from recent vintages of this defense. Through four weeks, the Packers offense has faced four potential top-10 defenses, but the offense simply isn’t where we expect it to be a month from now. This isn’t a Super Bowl offense right now. But if the defense can build on this performance against a quarterback like Matthew Stafford — not just Josh Allen — those offense struggles are not only mitigated, but provide a boost for when Rodgers and his band of merry men finally emerge from Sherwood Forest to once again pillage and plunder. This defense, for its part, isn’t out of the woods itself, but showed the potential to dominate a matchup, even against a rookie. They needed a get-right game and they got one. Whether or not they can get right on their own could very well decide the fate of the Packers this season.Packers’ backup offensive tackles must improve their pass blocking The preseason has given Green Bay Packers fans a lot to talk about. There’s the wide receiver depth chart, the backup quarterback spot, the pecking order of the cornerbacks, the badly needed emergence of Oren Burks and Reggie Gilbert, Mike Pettine’s scheme on defense Authentic Aaron Rodgers Jersey , the addition of Mo Wilkerson to an already stacked defensive line, and even the performance of rookie punter JK Scott. But one group that doesn’t get mentioned much is the offensive line.Typically, that’s a sign that everything’s OK with the big hogs up front.So far in this preseason, however, the poor play of backup tackles needs to be added to the discussion list as its becoming increasingly apparent that the current substitutes do not appear up to the task.Let’s get the obvious out of the way; the backup offensive linemen are backups for a reason.The expectation is that they are inferior to their starting counterparts, and as such need to work on their craft in order to progress as a player.Additionally, continuity along the offensive line allows everyone to be on the same page with blocking schemes on any given play, and with the rotational style of preseason, that isn’t going to happen. With those caveats in mind, the backup offensive tackles have not been playing up to expectation at even a replacement so far this preseason, especially while protecting the quarterback.Let’s take a look at some pass protection issues.Byron BellBell has started 74 games in his career but hasn’t had much success with any team.With Green Bay, he looks lost more often than he should.Brought in as a veteran swing tackle who also has experience at guard, Bell seemed like a savvy pickup to possibly spot-start for the questionable Brian Bulaga.For the sake of the Green Bay offense, let’s hope he doesn’t have to see the field much this year.Bell, seemingly an imposing physical specimen standing at 6’5” and weighing 320 lbs, doesn’t play with much strength.At his pro day, he managed only 20 reps on the bench press, and it shows in his punch.In pass protection, rather than forcefully striking his defender, Bell often seems to simply lay a hand on them and absorb the contact.That’s not necessarily a bad strategy; if you’re able to move your feet fast enough to handle the edge rush or have enough strength to absorb a bull rush, there’s hope.If you don’t use the traditional punch (any variation of inside, outside, or both hands), you use your patience and go with the outside hands once the defense has made their move.Bell also hasn’t been able to do that, at all.He forgets to keep moving his feet when he goes in for the punch, and when he doesn’t punch Authentic Josh Jackson Jersey , he jumps the gun on the outside hands block. For the uninitiated: the ‘punch’ technique is just as it sounds — a pass blocking technique that everyone is taught when they first learn the game, where the objective is for the offensive lineman to get his hands on the defender first and dictate their path of travel with an open handed punch.It works well to throw the defender of their planned route of attack giving the blocker more time to get their feet in good position, and you can do it out of any type of pass set.It’s prone to upper body over extension and counter attack by smarter defenders, but its a good basic setup.The ‘outside hands’ technique is a fairly new coaching technique where offensive linemen hold their hands back and out of the way of the defender until the defender puts his hands into the blocker, who then gets his hands on the outside of the defender’s hands and grabs on.Here Bell is failing at a punch, and without the necessary foot speed to make up the difference.For comparison’s sake, go back and watch the opposite tackle on each clip and spot the differences.Here, Bell is using the outside hands move.His hands are placed well but he hesitated with his drop steps and can’t keep up with the speed rush.Having good upper body strength can help mitigate this lack of foot speed as with the outside hands technique you’re essentially holding your defender in place, but Bell hasn’t showcased the strength to do that either.You probably noticed that these clips are from the Tennessee game; I will admit that Bell did play marginally better against Pittsburgh, but he was also quickly shuffled inside after one series as Justin McCray went out with an ankle injury.Bell seems better suited to take up space in the middle, where he doesn’t have to deal with speed rushers on the edge. At the very least, he will need a tight end or running back to chip/double team any competent pass rusher.Kyle Murphy Bell hasn’t been the only tackle playing poorly.Murphy has looked better than Bell at times, but still doesn’t have the foot speed to make up for any mistakes in hand placement, or for that matter, the foot speed to simply stay in front of his guy no matter his hand work.Time and time again, Murphy simply gets beat around the edge.He held up OK against power moves, as he was able to sink his base and reset his feet, but he just didn’t move well horizontally.While the next clip is a pretty good move by Harold Landry (<3 you Harold), Murphy doesn’t get deep enough in his pass set as his upper body stays horizontal to the line of scrimmage.In order to keep your shoulders square while dropping deep enough in your pass set, the kick steps have to be exaggerated a bit, and Murphy doesn’t do it.Thank goodness both backup quarterbacks can run, because so far this preseason they’ve been running for their lives with Bell and Murphy are in.Notice a certain backup tackle who wasn’t mentioned above, someone who has drawn the ire of Packers fans?You guessed it: Jason Spriggs.Despite not starting in game one of the preseason as expected, Spriggs has played better than he’s shown in the past and — this is pure speculation here — he seems to be bigger and stronger.I’m looking forward to continued progress from Spriggs, as one of the backups will need to step up this season and Byron Bell and Kyle Murphy have some work to do.