heroes and goats

[Striker]

I don't know enough about the technical side of football to make a comment. I watch the game as a fan and am frustrated by the inability of a long-time, respected coach like Capers to devise a defense with the talent he has to shut down at least ONE aspect of the Saints' offense.

Ingram's performance was NOT Gale Sayers' like. He was running through mile-wide holes in our defense. And Brees had loads of time to throw.

I felt prior to the game that we had to pressure Brees to have any chance of winning. We didn't pressure Brees except on a handful of plays. To me it seemed like Capers couldn't commit to a game plan, kind of like a pro golfer who's not committed fully to a particular shot.

Did you watch the Pittsburgh/Indianapolis game? Dick LeBeau fully committed to pressuring Andrew Luck that game, no matter the consequences. He blitzed the house on most plays and Luck didn't have a prayer. LeBeau rushed so many people the Colts' RB's got hit by the traffic in the backfield, so their running game was stymied.

It seems football games are won in your opponents backfield. Nowadays pressure and penetration rule. I thought Dom initially brought that philosophy to Green Bay. Not now. Maybe we don't have the horses to get the job done.

It's probably a split between personnel and philosophy. Capers contemporaries seem to adjust with varying levels of talent. The Patriots have had revolving doors at numerous positions but their defense seems to manage. The numerous mental mistakes, blown assignments, and sloppy play point more to coaching than talent.

At the same, they seemed to over correct heavily this year. McCarthy and Capers "wanted" to get faster and leaner along the line. So they dumped the big uglies up front except for Raji and now they'll get knocked around by power teams, especially on fast tracks.

[Patler]

The pass to Peppers was a joke. You've got two of the top WR in the league, a sure-handed rookie, and Quarless who caught the same pass two weeks earlier to win the game against the Dolphins. Instead, Rodgers throws a bullet to an elephant LB. I'm assuming Stubby made the call. I'm assuming they spent valuable game-prep time practicing it. My only question is: Why?

Then, for some unknown reason, Stubby decides to get cute with an onsides kick, giving Brees the ball in Packer territory. Again, why? You're 3 points yup. The offense is moving the ball. It's early. Why?

I also disliked the pass to Peppers. I don't like passes to OT's playing TE, or handoffs to DT's playing FB for the same reasons. These are guys not comfortable with handling the ball. If they are there because injuries have decimated a position, that's one thing. But a bullet pass to Peppers when you have three able-bodied TE's on your roster? Why?

I'm not as opposed to the onside kick. Crosby is pretty good at them, and it is a surprise that has worked in the past. But it seemed kind of early to tell the defense that you have no faith in their ability to stop the Saints, so you are resorting to trickery to steal a possession.

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

Studs: MM, Rodgers, Lacy, Cobb, Sitton, Linsley, Bakh (minus few penalties) and HHCD. Would add Peppers if he didn't drop that TD. I liked MM aggressiveness with the 4th and 1 and the onside kick.

Duds: Capers, Bulaga, Taylor, Daniels, Boyd, Hawk, Lattimore, Barrington, Jones, Matthews, Hyde, Williams, House, Perry, and Neal.

[Bossman641]

Studs - Lacy, Cobb
Duds - Lane Taylor and the OT's, Quarless, Peppers as a TE, the run D, House, tackling by the secondary

[pbmax]

As for thread title:

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

Did they get you to trade your heroes for goats?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
Did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Wish you were here.

Wish I was back in the dorms



Actually the dorm sucked and lead to unhealthy lifestyle choices like endless bagels and cream cheese.
I think "Dark Side of the Moon" was only Pink Floyd I endulged in, and lava lamps were already corny.

[Tyrion Lannister]

Wish I was back in the dorms

Wish I was still the young stud I was back in them jolly institutionalized days.

[red]

Heros for ghosts

Smh

[pbmax]

Heros for ghosts

Smh

Not in this thread.

[red]

Ill mention tramon again. His inability to jump was exposed last week. The saints paid attention and took advantage of that 2 or 3 times that i saw last night.

Bigger wrs dont even need to jump with him on them

[Pugger]

Ill mention tramon again. His inability to jump was exposed last week. The saints paid attention and took advantage of that 2 or 3 times that i saw last night.

Bigger wrs dont even need to jump with him on them

I don't think Tramon is 100% yet and Brees picked on House mercilessly.

[pbmax]

The other alternative is that the Asstants on D cannot coach how to defeat a block. Its possible, but while there are some thin coaching pedigrees on the offense, the D has some guys who have had major success before. Results don't match though.

The worst failing on defense beside tackling was pass rush. It disappeared in the second half. Despite Peppers, its still way too intermittent to protect the backend.

[channtheman]

For all the talk of how great Cobb has been in the red zone (and he has), did we throw to him even ONCE in the red zone last night? I don't recall any. I liked the early onside kick and even contemplated doing it every time as we never stopped them between the 20's either. I also liked the 4th down decision, but absolutely hated the call. As soon as I could tell he was going to run, I knew we weren't going to get it. Lacy looked great in the screen game. It'd be nice if we could utiize that a bit more this season. He had a couple of nice catches on at least one occasion when the ball was behind him.

The genius of the NFL coach is a myth though. Sean Payton early in the 2nd half went for it on 4th down as well by running twice up the middle. The first time lost 2 yards, the second got no gain. 2 guys, same mistake. I thought both HC should have passed in those situations.

[Teamcheez1]

It was depressing to read JSO this morning to find that our run defense has sunk to 32nd. Eight games into the season with no real improvement in that aspect of our defense. Same problems, same answers from the coaching staff.

[Freak Out]

Hero - Lacy, Cobb,

Goat - The Defense, M3, Hair Piece, Zebra Crew

[ThunderDan]

I liked the idea of having Peppers in there but that needs to be a jump ball not a fastball on a slant.