Quote Originally Posted by mraynrand View Post
Wist has become what he hates the most - one who alters reality to fit his preconceived notions.

The Packers' defense is pretty much exactly what it is - a poor defense that got better over the bye to become a top 10 defense. They can be had of course, just not as easily as at the beginning of the year. Dallas scored more on Seattle and Detroit than on GB. Some say forcing turnovers is luck, while others see it as good defense. Certainly Wist wouldn't attribute Seattle's forced turnovers to luck.

Familiarity is the culprit: we know what the Packers' weaknesses are, and when other teams are able to exploit those same weaknesses, it looks bad to us. But it's just another version of the broken tile syndrome. Or the grass is greener phenomenon.

The reality is that Seattle has the best defense in the NFL and is playing at home. That's a tall task for the Packers offense. Defense will have to keep the bleeding to a minimum to give the offense a chance. Wonder if we'll see the same "react/contain" defense we saw in the opener? I kinda doubt it.
This is exactly what I was going to post.

Wist, you range from the voice of reason to the echo of doom on here. Sometimes you are right, sometimes it's the same old drone. This season, Capers elevated this defense from the toilet to a respectable unit.

We were dead last in rush D in the first part of the year. Your gloomy posts were the stone truth. But as the D improved, you keep to the same message. Capers totally re-tooled this defense to make 'em an effective unit. We moved from 32 in rush D to 23. We had to improve a lot to be in the bottom third. Capers addressed some of your criticisms in that make-over. In his 6 front nickel he went 3-3 in the front a lot more, giving less snaps in your hated 2-4. He still played 2-4, but brought Burnett down in the box in run support. In base, he moved Clay to ILB and got Barrington on the field. Peppers got his sea legs and was positioned perfectly by Capers, while getting the plays off he needs to stay fresh. In a real sound move, he used Nick Perry as a bull type OLB and lessened his coverage responsibility. On the back end, he went to a cover 3, playing Dix as a one high, shading him to the strong side.

in short, Capers made off-season moves in the middle of the year. He even addressed some of Wist's criticisms and did a makeover.

Go ahead and claim a little credit Wist. Some of your points were valid, but you should recognize Capers many changes. Most of 'em worked.