Next game: Monday, September 8 vs. Minnesota
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Packers-Titans Coverage:
• Game Blog
• Game Story
• Culpepper Would Consider Backup Role with Packers
• Jolly Gets Court Date on Drug Possession Charge

Sports Glance with Lance: Here Come the Packers Cuts

Audio:
• Coach McCarthy's Conversation with Larry McCarren  
• Packers Insider With Bill Scott
• Pro Football Weekly Update
• Blast From the Past With Jim Irwin

4th Quarter

9:05 p.m.
Titans 23, Packers 21
Packers' 5th Drive: it's no huddle for Flynn on the final drive and he completes a fourth-down pass to keep the thing alive.  He gets them into Titans territory with :45 left....I think he's proving he belongs at 3rd string, if it's a battle between himself and Brohm.  But, many people think a toad with a missing foot would do better as a 2nd stringer. 

He made a really smart move in getting a first down on a run, then worrying about getting out of bounds with :20 left.  He failed at that, but it's better to have four shots with :23 left than one shot with :35 on a fourth down play. 

He mad a bad call on a screen pass to Lumpkin to the 25...which drops it to one play with two seconds left....WAIT!!!  Is this a replay of the Eli Manning pass in the Giants' Super Bowl win to David Tyree?  Jake Allen made the catch in the end zone for the TD.

Johnny Quinn caught the overtime-forcing TD pass out of bounds, so it doesn't force OT.

Still, I think we've got a 2nd-stringer.  Bench the toad.

9:04 p.m.
Titans' 5th Drive: As that commences in the final couple minutes, J.J. Jensen gets caught on the TV feed picking his nose.  He sees something, probably himself on the screen, and stops.  Meanwhile, the Packers run defense has given up 206 rushing yards to the Titans.  Even as a 2nd/3rd string unit, ugh.

8:59 p.m.
Packers' 4th Drive: Speaking of doing nothing, Brohm returns, a guy who's been sacked as many times as he's had passes completed.  Dave Ball, on one play, destroyed Brohm on one play.  He's getting no pass protection, which means no depth on the line.  Rodgers probably won't worry about breaking Favre's record anytime soon.

Whoa!  On fourth down, Jon Ryan grabbing a high snap and having to run it 34 yards for a first down!  The guy showed some legs, though he looked a little more like a dancer in 42nd Street than an NFL running back.  (Or at least the picture I have of someone in 42nd Street...I'm not the Broadway type.)

Lumpkin, later in the drive, shows why he has got to belong in the NFL.  Brian Brohm, on the subsequent fumble, is proving that he might not, at least this year.  (Wasted 2nd round draft pick?)  3rd fumble of the game.

4th-20 to end the drive?  Penalty on Tennessee.  4th-15 to end the drive?  WHOA!  Touchdown by Allen as he leaped over Hill of Tennessee to grab the ball.  The officials were talking for an eternity before giving it to him....wait, they just took it away from him on the replay. 

Brian Brohm can't buy, steal, beg, borrow or sing the blues for a break.  Titans ball.

8:43 p.m. 
Titans' 4th Drive: Ingle Martin, a Packer for a cup of coffee (or latte, the young kids drink these days), comes in at QB and does nothing.

8:31 p.m.
Packers 3rd Drive: Another sack with Brian Brohm in the backfield.  I'm really beginning to believe the Packers O-line always calls the lookout block as their scheme when he's in.  That's when you miss the block and yell back the words "look out!!!!" to the quarterback.

3rd Quarter

8:25 p.m.
Titans 3rd Drive: Useless.  Good D with Travis Henry in the backfield for the Titans.  2nd teamers beating 2nd teamers like they should.

8:16 p.m.
Titans 23, Packers 15
Packers 2nd Drive: I think Matt Flynn may be the new 2nd stringer...he just delivered a six-yarder to Swain.  Where was all that promise for Brohm?  Under the Lambeau Field turf and buried, so far.  Lumpkin added the extra point - we have GOT to keep him under any circumstances.

8:12 p.m.
Titans'  2nd Drive: A pass intercepted by Tyrone Culver...hmmm...interceptions by Kerry Collins.  That's got a familiar ring to it.

8:10 p.m.
Packers' 1st Drive: Finally, the first stringers are out for the Titans...wait a minute.  That's not such a good thing, especially when Flynn proves the Packers' offense is as useless against them as they were against the first string of Tennessee.

8:02 p.m.
Titans 23, Packers 7
Titans' 1st Drive: Kerry Collins comes in at quarterback with the starting offensive line for Tennessee.  OK, I understand how the Titans use the old Bears' Ditka philosophy to have the biggest preparation for the season come in the last preseason game so they're in the right groove to start the season. 

But yeesh...are they overdoing it?

We're seeing lots of individual plays coming in these games, like the hit Abdul Hodge just put on Lendale White for a loss in the Packers' red zone on 3rd down. 

4th down?  Again, the Packers can't make the stop when they need to on a 3rd or fourth down with a pass to Thompson to make it first and goal.  That's not a good sign when you allow plays to set up the Chris Johnson TD run.

2nd Quarter

7:30 p.m.
Titans' 7th Drive: Kudos to Jeremy Thompson for playing off the ball and catching the fast Chris Johnson before he can get to open turf on the 2nd down play, but the Titans keep it going.  Vince Young has more rushing yards than the Packers so far - 57 to 42 at one point.  The good news on this drive for the Packers - Vince Young only completes passes in the red zone to patches of grass.  Even better - the kick by John Vaughn on fourth down bounces off the left upright.  Phew.

7:20 p.m.
Packers 7th Drive: Patrick Lee!!!  Do we have four or five different guys who can return kickoffs?  That helps when you have no 2nd or 3rd team offense, as we're proving right now at the QB slot and o-line, and again proven on this drive.  Nice punt by Jon Ryan to drop it on the one yard line.

7:16 p.m.
Titans 16, Packers 7
Titans' 6th Drive: I guess we're really seeing the true nature of a Packers' 2nd or 3rd defensive unit against Tennessee - bend, but don't break.  It's a field goal again.  Thanks, Brohm and Flynn - you cost us 10 points.

7:13 p.m.
Packers 6th Drive: Starting with Patrick Lee's return...to the 42 yards, and he spinned away from a guy to get there.  I guess it's one fumble each, though, for Brohm and Flynn, but Brohm is more at fault because Jevon Kearse wasn't trying to turn him into 2nd-string mush.

7:08 p.m.
Titans 13, Packers 7
Titans' 5th Drive: Can we sign up Will Blackmon for the U.S. Volleyball team for the 2012 London Games?  His vertical leap allowed him to block Young's third down pass.  Fourth down fake...Vincent Fuller on a fake punt and a run for a touchdown.   Uh, Jeff Fisher, if you really need to use a fake punt in the preseason, you got problems.

7:02 p.m.
Packers 5th Drive: Now is when we see the difference between a first team pass rush and a third-team offensive line.  Jevon Kearse just blasted Matt Flynn and caused a fumble that the Titans recovered.  I know of no NFL third-string tackle who could block that guy.

6:57 p.m.
Titans 4th Drive: Daniel Muir and Michael Montgomery forcing a sack of Vince Young on 1st down...is this 2nd or 3rd string defense the second coming of the Bears' 46 back in the 80's?  Not always, but a nice play by Tramon Williams stopping McCairens on 3rd down with a solo tackle to stop the drive.  That kid really could have a future with Harris and Woodson aging.

6:53 p.m. 
Packers 4th Drive: I guess it's either quick hook time for Brian Brohm or a switcheroo with him and Flynn.  But all I have to tell you is Larry's comment: "Is this series as ugly as I feel?"

6:48 p.m.
Packers 7, Titans 6 
Titans' 3rd Drive: This Packers' 2nd team defense is dominating the Titans' first team in a game Tennessee is using as its dress rehearsal.  Desmond Bishop's no-gain stop on Scaife another piece of proof...uh, wait a second.  Scratch that thought.  Vince Young just pulled a Vince Young and ran 31 yards.  Bishop did the job twice on the drive, but neither was on 3rd down, and when you give up big plays like the Young run and the pass interference on Jarrett Bush here, it really doesn't help much.

1st Quarter

6:33 p.m.
Packers' 3rd Drive: The obvious statement of the day from Larry McCarren on offsetting penalties negating a 46-yard Titans punt return?  Larry McCarren: "that's a good thing."

6:29 pm.
Titans' 2nd Drive: Abdul Hodge with an awesome job on the 2nd unit D for the Packers, as the whole unit did on the entire drive.  With that shovel pass to Scaife, a reminder - it is a shovel pass, not a shuffle pass or shuttle pass.  That, as I reminded you once already this year, is from the office of Roger Goodell.

6:25 p.m.
Packers' 2nd Drive: Rodgers has left the game.  One play, one score, that's a nice 68 yard warmup.  Brian Brohm needs one occasionally...especially to get his cobwebs taken care of after the Vandenbosch sack.  He's got to get rid of the ball faster.  He's still really green.

6:17 p.m.
Packers 7, Titans 3
Titans' 1st Drive: Nick Collins, can you guess right sometimes on coverage?  You have burn marks on your back on a long pass from Young to Justin McCairens, and there's only you to blame that time.  You're darn lucky Vince Young overshot Bo Scaife wide in the end zone, and that it's a preseason game., or you'd be burnt toast.

6:08 p.m.
Packers 7, Titans 0
Packers 1st Drive: So we're editing some funny comment Wayne makes about John Jagler of Wisconsin's Morning News, and we missed Greg Jennings catching a 68 yard TD pass on a one-play drive, the kind you love if you like quick strike offense.

Apparently, the Titans d-back missed it, too.

Pregame

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- It wasn't so long ago that Vince Young was in Aaron Rodgers' cleats, trying to establish himself as the new leader of a team in the aftermath of a messy divorce with a veteran quarterback.

Two years after Young took over for Steve McNair in Tennessee, Rodgers must bear the scrutiny that comes with succeeding Brett Favre in Green Bay.

"As a quarterback, you can't worry about everything else that's going on around you," Young said of Rodgers. "All you need to do is go out and play for your teammates and show it's a whole different guy out there, and I want to go out and win ballgames with you. I can praise him a whole lot. I'll say he's a man. He's brave, definitely."

Going into Thursday night's preseason finale at Lambeau Field, Young might be in more dire need of a strong performance than Rodgers.

Rodgers is coming off a sharp game at Denver, temporarily quieting concerns about his ability to lead the Packers. But after a good rookie year in 2006, Young's performance slid last season and his struggles have continued in the preseason. In three games, Young has led the Titans' No. 1 offense to only two field goals.

"We're going to keep playing, let the game come to us," Young said. "If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, we're not going to go to try to force it. We want to stay in our game plan."

Titans coach Jeff Fisher will play his starters into the third quarter, parting with conventional coaching wisdom that treats the third preseason game as an extended dress rehearsal and the fourth game as a tuneup for starters.

Fisher believes more playing time will help Young get into a rhythm.

"The more you play, the more opportunities there are for big plays," Fisher said. "He just hasn't had the reps. I think people would have liked to see this offseason."

Rodgers and the rest of the Packers' starters -- including running back Ryan Grant, who is expected to make his preseason debut -- are likely to play only 10 snaps Thursday.

So it's a good thing Rodgers built some momentum last weekend.

"We knew we had to play well, and we did," Rodgers said. "We played the kind of football we're expected and used to playing. We didn't turn the ball over, we made good decisions, we limited our mental mistakes and converted third downs. That's the kind of football we want to play when the regular season hits. We'll polish things up this week and get ready for Minnesota."

After a cameo appearance by the starters, the Packers' focus will turn to the backup quarterback competition between rookies Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn.

Brohm, a second-round pick out of Louisville, outperformed Flynn in practice. But Flynn, a seventh-rounder from LSU, has been better in the first three preseason games -- leading to a closer-than-expected competition for the backup spot Brohm was expected to win easily.

With the Titans leaving their defensive starters in the game into the third quarter, Brohm and Flynn will face their biggest challenge of the preseason.

"I definitely like that," Brohm said. "I think it's good preparation for the season coming up. It's going to be good for me, a learning experience to go against the first-team defense, see what it feels like, just see how far along I am."

Dominant Tennessee defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth should start after sitting out last week with a sore knee. But the Titans could be without starting linebackers Keith Bulluck and David Thornton because of injuries. On offense, right tackle David Stewart could play two weeks after arthroscopic surgery on his knee.

The Packers could sit several players because of nagging injuries, including defensive tackle Ryan Pickett, center Scott Wells, safety Atari Bigby, cornerbacks Charles Woodson and Al Harris, linebacker A.J. Hawk, guard Josh Sitton and wide receiver James Jones.

The Packers are still sorting out positions beyond backup quarterback. Green Bay has five solid running backs in camp: Grant, Brandon Jackson, Vernand Morency, Noah Herron and undrafted surprise Kregg Lumpkin. The Packers also have considerable depth at linebacker.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said the preseason finale is a final chance for young players to win roster spots.

"It's a great opportunity for our young guys," McCarthy said. "And really, preseason to me is about finding out as much information as you possibly can, not only about your team but about the individuals. This will give us a great look at a lot of guys that are fighting for jobs."

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AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker contributed to this report from Nashville, Tenn.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)