Finishing

[Partial]

.........

Just goes to show I'm not the only one putting a good chunk of the close game blame on the offense's poor second half performance. Kudos to Teets for recognizing that both sides are to blame, and the offense was beyond poor (outside of an exception or two) in the second half of games after the first few weeks.

I must say I like the approach to the season that teets and MM are taking. They're saying all the right things, and appear to be making some of the right moves by moving on from VB. I am confident they will right the ship.


......

The whole interview is a good read. TT seems to be getting better with the media. I like how he doesn't make excuses. That is the first step in correcting mistakes.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/37391209.html

edit: this quote scares me a bit. The QB is like the ace pitcher. If TT cannot see that, that is of grave concern to me. It is by far and away the most important position, and just having that superstar at the position gives you a sporting chance in any game.


.........

[Brohm]

He does have a point though. The QB can drive the offense down the field and the coach can call 3 run plays to set up the game winning field goal. If the kicker misses it is it the QBs fault?

Or lets say 1st and goal and the coach calls 3 run plays that fail to get in the endzone and settles for a FG, allowing it to still be a one score game?

I think TT is calling out the coaching staff here a bit :o

..........

[RashanGary]

Offense #1 scoring team in 4th. Defense #1 giving up most points in 4th quarter.

The offense could have done better (and in some cases should have done better) but if you want to really pass majority blame, much more of it would go on the defense.

[RashanGary]

I also think TT would dance around saying he inherited a really shitty team. Now he's had enough time to make it his own and I think he'll just come right out and say, "I screwed up" when things go wrong because before if he was honest he would have said, "Mike Sherman was a horrible GM and I'm cleaning up right now".

[PlantPage55]

I also think TT would dance around saying he inherited a really shitty team. Now he's had enough time to make it his own and I think he'll just come right out and say, "I screwed up" when things go wrong because before if he was honest he would have said, "Mike Sherman was a horrible GM and I'm cleaning up right now".

And let's not forget that Mike Sherman was always Mr. Excuses. I nod my head at TT, even though he rarely gives an answer of substance....I shook my head at Sherman because he was clearly feeding everyone BS.

[Patler]

Clearly TT and MM agreed with Partial, that a big part of the problem this year was with the offense.....so they went ahead and fired the special teams and defensive coaching staffs.

[Fred's Slacks]

I think TT understands the importance of the QB position. He has used a 1st, 2nd, 5th and 7th round pick on them. Rodgers is not the problem. He's 24 years old and still growing into the position. Give him an above average OLine and a decent running game and sit back and enjoy.

[RashanGary]

Clearly TT and MM agreed with Partial, that a big part of the problem this year was with the offense.....so they went ahead and fired the special teams and defensive coaching staffs.

:lol:

I thought his statement that they could do a better job putting extra points on the board even when they had a lead. I think it's a little insight into what they are thinking behind closed doors.

All season, MM coached offense like he had a top tier defense and ST's. He called time outs near the end of half with about 1 minute to go as if his defense was going to stop someone. What ended up happening is he bought the opposition time to score. He played close to the vest with leads as if our team could hold a lead all season long and it burned us more than once (between defensive and ST's blunders).

The reality is the defense and ST's weren't very good, but their offense was pretty good and they never really adjusted to the fact that they were going to have to carry the team if they were going to win. The offense was doing enough if htey had a good D and ST's but they didn't and it wasn't enough to win with the bad D/ST's units we have. They kept counting on a D and ST's they couldn't count on.

You would never want to hear this out of anyone at 1265, but this tough year might be a blessing. It revealed a lot of weaknesses and let's be honest, we're not going to win a championship without a top tier defense/ST's. I think all illusions that we were close to that is out the window. With that knowledge in mind, we can only get better or at least sharpen our focus in the right direction.

Oh, and Rodgers will get better. He was really freaking good, but he'll get better. After 4-12, I was diving off a cliff. I thought it would be several years before we got back after what Sherman did. After 6-10, I know there are issues, but I feel like they are fewer. The base is here and as we know in the NFL, if you have the base, you can fit the pieces together and win a championship in pretty short amount of time. I think we're closer to that than we are to disaster and 4 years ago I was sold on disaster.

[Partial]

Offense #1 scoring team in 4th. Defense #1 giving up most points in 4th quarter.

The offense could have done better (and in some cases should have done better) but if you want to really pass majority blame, much more of it would go on the defense.

That's looking at it in a black and white way. How many 3 and outs have we had in the second half, thus keeping the D on the field sucking wind? It's gray.

[channtheman]

Partial, no one is saying that the offense did everything they could to close out all the games, they do however think that the defense gave up a lot of leads late in the game. The way you tried to pin it all on the offense is what made people argue so much with you. If you would have just said then what you said now, no one would have argued with you (save for some people who just don't like you).

[RashanGary]

That's looking at it in a black and white way. How many 3 and outs have we had in the second half, thus keeping the D on the field sucking wind? It's gray.

Yep, and they played very conservatively with leads when a small lead might as well be a deficit with this defense. They didn't have as good of redzone production as they could have either.

They certainly had their issues and I hope the coaches are working on building the strengths while cleaning up some of the weaknesses. I hope TT is focusing on getting stronger up front. I hope Rodgers works hard this offseason to be physically and mentally sharp. They have their part in this too.

As far as why people want to complain about the defense, well, they were much worse. They rank in the bottom of the league in defense where the offense ranks in the upper 1/3. One is awful and one is just good. That probably explains why coaches were fired and fans are sickened by the defense.

[mission]

All the original post means is that TT has been following my "contributions" here on PR ... :lol:

[Partial]

That's looking at it in a black and white way. How many 3 and outs have we had in the second half, thus keeping the D on the field sucking wind? It's gray.

Yep, and they played very conservatively with leads when a small lead might as well be a deficit with this defense. They didn't have as good of redzone production as they could have either.

They certainly had their issues and I hope the coaches are working on building the strengths while cleaning up some of the weaknesses. I hope TT is focusing on getting stronger up front. I hope Rodgers works hard this offseason to be physically and mentally sharp. They have their part in this too.

As far as why people want to complain about the defense, well, they were much worse. They rank in the bottom of the league in defense where the offense ranks in the upper 1/3. One is awful and one is just good. That probably explains why coaches were fired and fans are sickened by the defense.

The offense is not top third imo at least. I don't want to go punch the numbers, but I cannot see how they could be with their inept second half performances.

[prsnfoto]

Gee after reading that here is my take. It is not the injuries fault, it is not the players fault, it's not that we did not have enough talent, it's not that they did not have vets to lead the team with there vast knowledge of football, it is MM's fault and the man being interviewed himself I respect his honesty for a change and Silverstein is a great interviewer he does fuck around and asked all the tough questions.

[Lurker64]

The offense is not top third imo at least. I don't want to go punch the numbers, but I cannot see how they could be with their inept second half performances.

The Packers offense was:
5th in points/game.
5th in total points.
12th in plays from scrimmage
8th in yards per game.
11th in yards per play.
15th in first downs per game.
7th in time of possession per game.
7th in turnover differential (though that's a defensive stat as well)

Though it's close, personally I would say that being top 10 in yards, points, time of possession, and turnover differential probably puts you in the top 10 offenses.

[Fritz]

Clearly TT and MM agreed with Partial, that a big part of the problem this year was with the offense.....so they went ahead and fired the special teams and defensive coaching staffs.

The quote "the best offense is a good defense" supports your point, Patler...

[bobblehead]

That's looking at it in a black and white way. How many 3 and outs have we had in the second half, thus keeping the D on the field sucking wind? It's gray.

Yep, and they played very conservatively with leads when a small lead might as well be a deficit with this defense. They didn't have as good of redzone production as they could have either.

They certainly had their issues and I hope the coaches are working on building the strengths while cleaning up some of the weaknesses. I hope TT is focusing on getting stronger up front. I hope Rodgers works hard this offseason to be physically and mentally sharp. They have their part in this too.

As far as why people want to complain about the defense, well, they were much worse. They rank in the bottom of the league in defense where the offense ranks in the upper 1/3. One is awful and one is just good. That probably explains why coaches were fired and fans are sickened by the defense.

The offense is not top third imo at least. I don't want to go punch the numbers, but I cannot see how they could be with their inept second half performances.

You must really mean 3rd Quarter as JH has already pointed out we were #1 in the 4th.

Our offense is definately top 3rd...probably right about their...10-12. consider we were 8th in yardage and 5th in points (total, I can't find "offensive only") and you have a solid offense no matter how you slice it or dice it.

I'll be the first to admit that rodgers holds the ball a bit long at times, but give him a better D and a better running game and we have a top 10 QB on our hands, if you don't agree with that I don't know what else to say.

He was 6th in rating, 4th in yards, 4th in TD passes, 7th completions, 6th attempts, 9th yards per attemp, all while running for 200 yards and 4 TD's. What about that says "not top 10"??

Edit: He did all this while being provided a "bottom half" 17th ranked rushing attack, and 20th ranked defense (by yards allowed).