I'm encouraged by the improvement shown. Should they make the playoffs, which is currently looking very promising, I don't think the bend but don't break stuff is going to cut it. I will be highly encouraged about this team's chances this year if they can consistently stop the run, which will mean more favorable down and distance to allow them to bring pressure more successfully. If Dallas can fix their defense in one year, so can the Packers.
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." -Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Packers defense is on pace to give up just 41 passing plays of 20+ yards and 2 passing plays of 40+ yards. Last year was 61 and 8. 2011 was 71 and 10. 2010 was 44 and 8.
An improved pass rush is a factor, but I think it's mostly improved safety play.
Burnett is a different player this year. How many times did we see him in some discussion with another DB last year after giving up a big play?
I think there is something to the theory that he was trying to do too much last year/didn't trust the help/was flat out scared by his partner.
Ha ha! Clinton Dix!
We've hashed (Hasean'd) this out a bunch of times here, it seems but they seem to have some stability back there for the first time since Collins.
The DL + OLBs also look improved. I think the growth of a few guys, the addition of Peppers, the surprising emergence of Guion latetly, and health has helped that unit as well. So where they had leaks at all 3 levels last year, they have now have 2 of those 3 functioning competently.
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro ~Hunter S.
Isn't this Burnie's 4th season? That was about when the light went on for Collins. If only Burnett could play the ball like Nickie the Pick.... but he's a better tackler, which is a decent consolation...
--
Imagine for a moment a world without hypothetical situations...
I'm happy with how the DL is playing, but seeing Pickett out there for the Texans made me wonder why the Pack didn't sign him when Raji went down. He looked pretty effective, and was staying on the field a lot.
Nice to see Guin playing, and I hope he holds the fort while they find out if Pennel can take over. I just don't have much faith in a guy who's been in the league for 7 years and is just now playing well. Maybe being behind the Williams Wall prevented him from getting an opportunities he needed?
--
Imagine for a moment a world without hypothetical situations...
it's the runs up the middle that seem to bother me the most. everything else I'm good with.
What we saw against the Bears was a microcosm of what we should have been seeing for the past 2-3 years - and with the beefier DL we had in those years we could have used them in an effective rotation depending on opponent. Against run heavy teams like SF and Minnesota? go to a heavier 3-4; against the New Englands and Denvers of the world, rotate the smaller quicker guys.
The one thing that should never be done is abandon the middle of the field and simply concede the run - which is what dunderdummy has been doing forever.
Against the Bears, dunderdummy lined up primarily in the Elephant as his base - but it was the personnel and where they were playing that made it effective. Perry was playing elephant - at least in most of the snaps I saw (I wasn't able to watch every snap unfortunately), and Matthews was playing ILB - something I've suggested several times only to have PackerRat Nation scream HERESY!!!!
I assume MM and TT sat dunderdummy down and explained the facts of defense to that idiot, and they used the bye week to adjust - should have been done 2 years ago, if not before that!!!
We'll see if this was just a 1 week fart in the wind, or if MM and TT have demanded changes and enforced the law. If the changes stick, I think we can see an improvement to at least a 10-15 defensive ranking, and that might be enough to launch us back into contender status.
I would never have thought I'd see dunderdummy forced into making the necessary adjustments, but the Chicago game has given me hope.
We'll see.
wist
I think it goes back to MM's PC after the New Orleans game. He said " We need to tackle damn ball carrier and get him on the ground". Her sounded like he had finally had enough. Hopefully he doesn't relent because it was great seeing an ILB knocking people off their feet.
They played one down of 3-4 according to McGinn and according to Wilde, Matthews was not playing the 4-3 Quad they displayed earlier this year (he labeled it abandoned).
You saw the 2-4-5 nickel in action all night. Daniels and a rotation of Boyd/Guion/Jones.
The only additional beef was Perry instead of Jones/Lattimore/Barrington.
Bud Adams told me the franchise he admired the most was the Kansas City Chiefs. Then he asked for more hookers and blow.
I'm not sure I see your point Wist. The Packers still played primarily nickel (they played exactly 1 snap of 3-4).
There was no great change in alignment, just moving CM3 inside and playing Perry in his spot. That's still a 2-4-5. In fact; wasn't your grand point earlier this year that, even when Peppers lines up in a 3 point stance on the line, he is still just a LB and not a DL and therefore Capers is conceding the run?
Go PACK
Hopefully if they stay with CM3 at ILB, it won't present a fix one thing, break another type situation. That said, fixing the run defense was of highest concern. I guess they are not as concerned about the pass rush depth, and they can be creative with how they bring pressure with CM3 just from a different place on the field.
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." -Daniel Patrick Moynihan