More Banjo: @ Saints Week Oh Who the *$%&! Cares

[Maxie the Taxi]

If the choice comes down to "wholesale personnel" change or a coaching change, goodbye Capers and company.

I think we have high quality players but Capers' act is getting old and tired like me. When he first arrived in Green Bay, Dom's emphasis was on the pass rush and doing it creatively, i.e., devising ways to put his talented players in positions to succeed. When we faced an elite QB, Dom figured a way to pressure him. That pressure lead to a lot of good things happening, namely turnovers and defensive scores. The philosophy was bend but not break. Now, somehow, it's morphed into just plain breaking.

The whole Capers defense nowadays has become too cerebral, too technical. Not instinctive enough. Stubby used to harp about the players not trusting the system. Or blaming defensive woes on "communication breakdowns." Now he's resorted to reminding his defensive players that tackling is about putting the ball carrier on the ground.

Maybe after the season Dom retires and some young guy with high energy and renewed motivation takes over.

[pbmax]

I think we have high quality players but Capers' act is getting old and tired like me. When he first arrived in Green Bay, Dom's emphasis was on the pass rush and doing it creatively, i.e., devising ways to put his talented players in positions to succeed. When we faced an elite QB, Dom figured a way to pressure him. That pressure lead to a lot of good things happening, namely turnovers and defensive scores. The philosophy was bend but not break. Now, somehow, it's morphed into just plain breaking.

See, I think this analysis is self contradictory. When Capers arrived, he had a great run defense and that was where the emphasis was. He had to scheme and get nuts with fronts and blitzes to get pressure. The only year they both worked in concert was 2010, not surprisingly.

Since then, the pass rush has been middling and trending down. But unlike 2009, so is the run D. Peppers has helped the pass D, but it hasn't been consistent enough to stop opposing O's.

[Maxie the Taxi]

See, I think this analysis is self contradictory. When Capers arrived, he had a great run defense and that was where the emphasis was. He had to scheme and get nuts with fronts and blitzes to get pressure. The only year they both worked in concert was 2010, not surprisingly.

Since then, the pass rush has been middling and trending down. But unlike 2009, so is the run D. Peppers has helped the pass D, but it hasn't been consistent enough to stop opposing O's.

You may be right. I'm operating with a memory like a sieve. If what you say is accurate, Dom apparently has changed his philosophy. I mean in his early days he had bigger defensive linemen, didn't he? And guys like Cullen Jenkins?

[pbmax]

You may be right. I'm operating with a memory like a sieve. If what you say is accurate, Dom apparently has changed his philosophy. I mean in his early days he had bigger defensive linemen, didn't he? And guys like Cullen Jenkins?

Yes, though Cullen Jenkins would look small on the lines of 2010-2012 (well, skinny anyway). He was a tweener DT, 6' 4" and grew to 300 pounds. While he was in the League position demands morphed to make him suitable to play DE in a 3-4. And the bad run D in '11 and '12 don't augur well for the big lineman theory of run D. That only seemed to work for a few games in 2013.

But Jenkins only started in 2009 at DE. He was replaced to get Raji in at Nose and that moved Pickett to End. Jenkins then became the designated pass rusher. He was effective and he and Clay were almost, but not quite, enough to put the Packers D deep into the playoffs. His departure marked a lessening of pass rush but there were other problems that we are still experiencing now.

I really do think Patler nailed it and something about how the team is put together and trained leaves some holes. I don't think its hitting during the season (virtually no one does that anymore including the Seahawks) or live tackling in camp (less than half of teams do). The Packers have added the half line drill back for the last two years, but even last year it took some time before it seemed to be helping and I am not sure that last year's running success wasn't more Bach/Barclay/Lacy/Starks(healthy) related than half-line drill related. Half line drills aren't a panacea this year for certain.

But the same problems keep cropping up with new casts of characters. Its systemic and I don't find it convincing that Capers has forgotten how to game plan.