Official Week 9 Colts Chat

[Anti-Polar Bear]

I think that's gonna happen but I don't know if it's next year or the following year at the end of Burnett's contract. Right now, the defense is just better with Burnett running things. And Brice can't even stay onsides on kickoffs out of the back of the endzone he's so anxious to make things happen. Another punt return he threw a guy down by the face mask. The aggressiveness is good instincts and he's got the skills but that kind of shit can't happen. He needs to learn how to run the defense, harness his aggressiveness and be smarter. Maybe he'll prove he can do that as the year goes on but he has a lot of work to do yet.

Burnett's gonna be overpaid next year I think, and it wouldn't surprise me - post-Sitton being (brilliantly it turns out) cut a year before his deal was to be up - to see Ted go with the talented youth. I'd like to see it, but if they continue to get Brice worked in over the next year and a half, we probably wouldn't see him make as many mistakes as we would if he played all the snaps.

I also think Brice makes the interception off the deflection late in the Atl. game that Ha Ha didn't react very well to, which would have sealed the game. Poor-man's Nick Collins is a good call and would result in a damn fine career. That just reminds me how good Nick Collins was - and could have yet become had he played longer.

Agree with you in that Brice's a little raw - still a diamond in the rough, I guess. But the dude has the speed, the beast and the mojo to be a mofo free saftey - you know, a playmaking saftey who forces the other team to yell "motherfuck!" each time he makes a play.

Burnett's playing a lot like Hawk did in his last season in GB: Average at best when all the stars aligned, but more often than not, a liability on defense. Burnett's so-so against the run. An abomination in coverage. Rarely makes plays.

[pbmax]

Green Bay Packers ‏@packers 11m11 minutes ago
#Packers RB James Starks is set to return to practice on a limited basis.

Read more ��: http://pckrs.com/2r77

[pbmax]

Tom Silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 24m24 minutes ago
McCarthy on Lang: Limited if at all today and then we’ll see where he is. My hope is practicing on Saturday. Frankly, I’m holding him back.

Packer Report ‏@PackerReport 24m24 minutes ago Ashwaubenon, WI
Ripkowski needs to take care of the ball better but MM not surprised by his running production.
MM holding Lang back until Saturday.

Tom Silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 25m25 minutes ago
MM on Alex Smith hits: Knowing Alex personally t’s concerning. Not get into late or not. That’s danger of running. Have to protect self.

Packer Report ‏@PackerReport 26m26 minutes ago Ashwaubenon, WI
MM on QBs getting hit when scrambling: "Concerning" watching A. Smith get hit by Colts. Part of danger of running. Protect yourself w/slide

Green Bay Packers ‏@packers 27m27 minutes ago
McCarthy on @tae15adams: I think he's clearly more confident, more experienced, stronger. He's a physical talent...I like where he's at.

Tom Silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 29m29 minutes ago
McCarthy on TEs: Glad you brought that up, usually means TEs will have a big day now. But we’ll do whatever we have to do. We’ll see.

Packer Report ‏@PackerReport 30m30 minutes ago Ashwaubenon, WI
third down is the "best thing" the Packers have done through seven games offensively, McCarthy says.

Tom Silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 33m33 minutes ago
McCarthy on first downs: Some early games has got us where we’re not where we want to be. QB made a lot of plays on third downs.

Green Bay Packers ‏@packers 35m35 minutes ago
McCarthy: Quinten Rollins & Clay Matthews are "getting close."

Tom Silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 37m37 minutes ago
McCarthy on Matthews: Had a good day. He’s getting close. Cobb did a lot yesterday, won’t do as much today. Hopefully, they can all go.

Packer Report ‏@PackerReport 38m38 minutes ago Ashwaubenon, WI
Goodson in concussion protocol. Not sure when happened. Rollins is getting close. "Clay had a good day" yesterday. Cobb did a lot yesterday

Tom Silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 38m38 minutes ago
McCarthy on Goodson: In concussion protocol. Post-game evaluation it was discovered. I became aware Monday after meeting with medical staff.

WELL IF THE PACKERS CAN MISS ONE I GUESS THE CHIEFS CAN MISS ONE. WAIT, EXCEPT KC EVALUATED HIM TWICE BEFORE SAYING NO CONCUSSION AND NOW SAYING HE IS IN PROTOCOL. I TAKE IT BACK, KC ARE STILL IDIOTS.

[vince]

Agree with you in that Brice's a little raw - still a diamond in the rough, I guess. But the dude has the speed, the beast and the mojo to be a mofo free saftey - you know, a playmaking saftey who forces the other team to yell "motherfuck!" each time he makes a play.

Burnett's playing a lot like Hawk did in his last season in GB: Average at best when all the stars aligned, but more often than not, a liability on defense. Burnett's so-so against the run. An abomination in coverage. Rarely makes plays.

Agree with a lot of that but the free safety's role has as much or more to do with positioning himself and the defense to preclude offenses from making big plays as it does with making plays individually.

Hopefully Brice will be able to grow into the defensive QB they'll need him to be back there because his range and tackling ability is impressive. Beast and mojo too like you say - which he needs to prove is not going to be his double-edged sword.

Young, inexperienced guys wanting to make plays like that have a tendency to freelance a bit reading the QB. He'll make some but NFL coordinators and quarterbacks can pretty easily make an over-aggressive freelancing free safety pay - and those mistakes are usually game changing.

He needs to make sure he knows where he needs to be while directing the rest of the guys' coverage adjustments on the fly based on scheme, film, coaching, in-week prep, etc. - and prove he can be disciplined enough to do what a free safety often must do - stay back and make sure nothing gets over the top - while being patient enough to make the plays that come to him.

Bottom line is - Burnett has what Brice lacks but can develop, and Brice has what Burnett lacks which can't be developed.

[SMBASS]

Speaking of safeties...where in the heck has Ha Ha been this year? Admittedly I've watched very little football so far and only small bits and pieces of the Packer games but I haven't heard a single thing about him. Maybe he's playing okay but I was expecting him to break out a little bit more and come up with some bigger plays in his 3rd year. To my knowledge he hasn't made any picks or game changing plays so far so I'm just curious what other people are seeing from him.

[pbmax]

Packer Report ‏@PackerReport 51m51 minutes ago
Good day for #Packers. Starks Lang Montgomery Cook practicing. Matthews, Rollins too. No Randall, Goodson, Tretter

[pbmax]

Packer Report ‏@PackerReport 14m14 minutes ago Green Bay, WI
#Packers injury report: Cobb, Cook, Lang, Clay, Montgomery, Rollins, Starks limited. Goodson, Randall, Tretter DNP

[Pugger]

Speaking of safeties...where in the heck has Ha Ha been this year? Admittedly I've watched very little football so far and only small bits and pieces of the Packer games but I haven't heard a single thing about him. Maybe he's playing okay but I was expecting him to break out a little bit more and come up with some bigger plays in his 3rd year. To my knowledge he hasn't made any picks or game changing plays so far so I'm just curious what other people are seeing from him.

Trying to help out our corners?

[Pugger]

Packer Report ‏@PackerReport 14m14 minutes ago Green Bay, WI
#Packers injury report: Cobb, Cook, Lang, Clay, Montgomery, Rollins, Starks limited. Goodson, Randall, Tretter DNP

Starks and Cook are practicing? This is good news for a change.

[vince]

Speaking of safeties...where in the heck has Ha Ha been this year? Admittedly I've watched very little football so far and only small bits and pieces of the Packer games but I haven't heard a single thing about him. Maybe he's playing okay but I was expecting him to break out a little bit more and come up with some bigger plays in his 3rd year. To my knowledge he hasn't made any picks or game changing plays so far so I'm just curious what other people are seeing from him.

You're right BASS. He's had a couple nice sticks to force incompletions and I haven't seen him miss many tackles but he hasn't made any big plays - and there've been a couple there for him to make. He failed to adjust to a deflected pass that hit him in the hands which would have sealed a win in the Atlanta game.

I think Tank's right that he has average speed and ball skills to go with good size and physicality - as evidenced by his 183 career tackles, 13 passes defensed, 3 picks, 2 forced fumbles and 4 sacks. This year he has 0 picks, 1 pass defended, 1 forced fumble, 26 tackles and 0 sacks.

He's Morgan Burnett but not quite as cerebral nor quite as stiff. There's value there but neither are going to scare many QB's with their range or ability to close on the ball. And to the extent that creating turnovers are part of the Packers defensive formula for success (it is), neither Dix nor Burnett are dynamic enough on the back end to deliver much in that area - and each have also missed the few opportunities they've had thus far.

He also often allows offenses to read the Packers D by exposing a blitz, coming up in run support and/or shifting into his deep zone too early. I keep hoping he's going to be bluffing when he moves too early or that they can change up quick when they're on to him, but that never seems to happen.

I'm not saying he sucks but as Tank basically said he's never going to lead the league in interceptions or be the driving force in a top 5 pass defense. He'll make some plays that are schemed his way but I'd say they'll tend to be in tighter spaces like making a breakup in the endzone, knocking a ball out with a timely hit on a defenseless receiver across the middle or finishing a tackle for loss that a teammate has initiated or forced his way in run support.

[gbgary]

Starks and Cook are practicing? This is good news for a change.

but cook was very limited though.

[SMBASS]

Thanks for the great observations and information Vince. What you're saying is in line with the way I feel about both Burnett and Dix. Not the worst safety tandem in the league by any means but overall they are very average. I also agree that when you have a defense who's success is predicated on takeaways and big plays it really hurts when the back half of your secondary is not adept at making those type of plays very often. I think Dix has been relatively solid in run support his first couple of years. Definitely a lot better overall tackler than Burnett ever has been. Seems like Burnett has dropped or missed quite a few pick opportunities during his career as well.

[Joemailman]

Sounding like there's a good chance Cobb will be out again this week.

[pbmax]

Hard to judge the safeties this year with so many CB injuries. Nick Collins backed up Harris and Woodson with Shields as the 3rd. Ha Ha has got the fourth, fifth and sixth guys out there. Plus Burnett was banged up.

[gbgary]

Sounding like there's a good chance Cobb will be out again this week.

i read/heard game-time decision.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

Agree with a lot of that but the free safety's role has as much or more to do with positioning himself and the defense to preclude offenses from making big plays as it does with making plays individually.

Hopefully Brice will be able to grow into the defensive QB they'll need him to be back there because his range and tackling ability is impressive. Beast and mojo too like you say - which he needs to prove is not going to be his double-edged sword.

Young, inexperienced guys wanting to make plays like that have a tendency to freelance a bit reading the QB. He'll make some but NFL coordinators and quarterbacks can pretty easily make an over-aggressive freelancing free safety pay - and those mistakes are usually game changing.

He needs to make sure he knows where he needs to be while directing the rest of the guys' coverage adjustments on the fly based on scheme, film, coaching, in-week prep, etc. - and prove he can be disciplined enough to do what a free safety often must do - stay back and make sure nothing gets over the top - while being patient enough to make the plays that come to him.

Bottom line is - Burnett has what Brice lacks but can develop, and Brice has what Burnett lacks which can't be developed.

Well said. It's worth noting that it took Collins 2 or 3 seasons to "get it" right.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

Sounding like there's a good chance Cobb will be out again this week.

Apparently, the Packers are saving Cobb and his "injured" ilk for the playoffs. Read JSO. These fucking milksop players appear to be saying, "We have 9 straight weeks without a bye, then straight to the playoffs! Missing a few weeks is a-ok!"

What the fuck! How about clinching a playoff spot first before taking the day off! The Packers are fucking 4-3, not 7-0, for fuck's sake! By the time all these milksops are all fine and dandy, the Packers might be out of the playoffs race already.

Make no mistake: The Packers are a SOFT team. Polar Bear's soft. He drafts soft players, who are in turn, coached by a soft coach. So soft, opponents have no problems fucking this team in the ass. Excuse the language. I am just so pissed this injury-prone team ain't even Cutler-tough.

[Pugger]

Cutler-tough???

[Joemailman]

Another national audience. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms.

[Fritz]

I will be in front of the television at 4:30 Eastern, and I expect the Packers to dismantle the Colts. Period.

And how I wish I could listen to Jim Nantz and block Phil Simms. Ol' Phil reads the front page of the JSO Packer page the day before the game and calls himself prepared.