Pimps & Hoes - Redcoats

[Anti-Polar Bear]

Hoes:

Polar Bear - Antonio Cromartie isn't the lackdown corner he was in his prime, but he would've played better, or sucked less, than Hyde, Gunter and Rollins tonight. Polar Bear hasn't done a fucking thing about the corner position since injuries struck. McGinn wrote a great piece the other day about Thompson's fuck ups with Vernon Davis. Thompson is long due for the Louis XVI treatment.

Fat Man - Team wasn't ready to play. Team got fucked like Custer at Little Bighorn. Fucking guillotine's cleaned and ready to roll. Louis XVI treatment.

Capers - Who the fuck put a lb on an island against a fast WR on a bomb in the clutch?

Gunter, Rollins, Hyde - They suck. Wolf liked to say that either you can ball or you can't. Well, they can't. Ron Wolf would've cut these pussycats 4 scores and 7 yards ago.

Janis - I am Janis' biggest fan, but McCarthy shoulda dragged Janis by the facemask into an even shittier doghouse after that ST screw up. Worked wonders for Billy Schroeder, as it ignited the fire in him and he eventually became an awesome starting WR for the Pack. However, Janis should be getting playing time at receiver over Allison - another reason McCarthy deserves the Louis XVI treatment.

Pimps:

NBC - Shortly after the network showed Redcoats owner Dan Snyder dancing gloriously, they turned a camera at Prez Murphy. The melancholic look on Murphy's face seemed to say, "Off with heads! Lets start with the Polar Bear!" I have a 2005 bottle of "Twenty-Four by Charles Woodson" stored in my wine cellar. As the original anti-polar bear - humble folks who want to see Thompson's head on a silver plate - I've been saving it for the day Thompson's GM of my beloved Pack no more.

[Tony Oday]

Shut the fuck up Tank you failure at life.

[channtheman]

I do think TT's time here is done. Let the new GM decide to either keep MM or get his own guy in there, but no point in firing MM if TT stays.

[pbmax]

Stud:

Spriggs looks like a player. He might be able to play Guard. He might have to be a left tackle if Bach cannot stay healthy. This is the second year he has been hobbled after the midway point.

Best idea is that Spriggs looked much more capable than Barclay. That alone is comforting, not that it should be.

[Patler]

The Packers dominated Seattle for 55 minutes in the NFCCG just two years ago. Since then, MM has lost his touch in getting what he wants from the team, including Rodgers. I have always questioned his hiring practices for coaches. I think his give-away-take-away of play calling duties was handled poorly. He has overhauled his ST coaching staff twice, and tweaked it two other times, but little has changed. He overhauled his defensive staff once, yet achieved little, of any improvement on the field. Consolidating QB and WR coach seemed odd, and he backed away quickly. Lately, his teams seem ill-prepared.

I think MM is the one at risk.

[Maxie the Taxi]

The Packers dominated Seattle for 55 minutes in the NFCCG just two years ago. Since then, MM has lost his touch in getting what he wants from the team, including Rodgers. I have always questioned his hiring practices for coaches. I think his give-away-take-away of play calling duties was handled poorly. He has overhauled his ST coaching staff twice, and tweaked it two other times, but little has changed. He overhauled his defensive staff once, yet achieved little, of any improvement on the field. Consolidating QB and WR coach seemed odd, and he backed away quickly. Lately, his teams seem ill-prepared.

I think MM is the one at risk.I remember reading an article a while back in which Stubby responded to criticism that his coaching assignments didn't seem to square with the demonstrated expertise of the individuals involved. Stubby said something to the effect that his philosophy was to provide coaches with the opportunity for personal and career growth. That quote has stuck in my mind cause it seemed Stubby was more concerned about building a legacy coaching tree than doing what was best for his team.

Maybe that philosophy has finally caught up with him.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Rodgers played a damn good game with shaky pass protection. He is the only full stop stud.

Cook gets a participation ribbon for playing well in a first game.

The defense can't be blamed when they are playing with so many scrubs.

Cobb was his usual spunky self.

Starks gives everything he has. He made some plays, but jeez he is slow now.

[Smidgeon]

I remember reading an article a while back in which Stubby responded to criticism that his coaching assignments didn't seem to square with the demonstrated expertise of the individuals involved. Stubby said something to the effect that his philosophy was to provide coaches with the opportunity for personal and career growth. That quote has stuck in my mind cause it seemed Stubby was more concerned about building a legacy coaching tree than doing what was best for his team.

Maybe that philosophy has finally caught up with him.

I've heard that philosophy of having coaches coach other positions from long before McCarthy. I don't remember in relation to whom (it was a very well renowned coach) that said good coaches can coach anything.

I don't know where my opinion falls, but McCarthy isn't in new territory on that one.

[pbmax]

I remember reading an article a while back in which Stubby responded to criticism that his coaching assignments didn't seem to square with the demonstrated expertise of the individuals involved. Stubby said something to the effect that his philosophy was to provide coaches with the opportunity for personal and career growth. That quote has stuck in my mind cause it seemed Stubby was more concerned about building a legacy coaching tree than doing what was best for his team.

Maybe that philosophy has finally caught up with him.

If it helps you land good candidates, its worth it. Patriots do it. Steelers and Seahawks do it on certain sides of the ball. Hard to tell when all the new coaching blood is young and unproven. Worked with Edgar until his last promotion. Worked with Philbin (up to OC job). Getsy might be another though given the passing game woes he is currently buried in bad press.

And there are always exceptions: virtually no one but Andy Reid hires someone other than a tenured O line coach to coach the O line.

Perhaps more than Patler, I tend to think the issues is top down. I don't know that either Capers or the current incarnation of McCarthy are good with changing philosophy and young players who do not fit a mold.

McCarthy used to make it work but the no huddle ended that. Capers adjusted very well at first. 09 and 10 were good defenses. I have no explanation for the 11 defense. Talent drain through bad D draft hurt until Thompson seemed to correct it (see D at end of year). But injuries have derailed that improvement.

There are just too many things going wrong in too many areas for one set of changes to improve things. Only good health will lift all positions.

[pbmax]

The Packers dominated Seattle for 55 minutes in the NFCCG just two years ago. Since then, MM has lost his touch in getting what he wants from the team, including Rodgers. I have always questioned his hiring practices for coaches. I think his give-away-take-away of play calling duties was handled poorly. He has overhauled his ST coaching staff twice, and tweaked it two other times, but little has changed. He overhauled his defensive staff once, yet achieved little, of any improvement on the field. Consolidating QB and WR coach seemed odd, and he backed away quickly. Lately, his teams seem ill-prepared.

I think MM is the one at risk.

The changes he made in the aftermath of that have proven to be utter disasters.

I would still approve of them if they learned the lesson and fixed it. But underlying issues of the no huddle continued. Its almost as if too many things have gone bad to judge any of them accurately, other than to say its gotten much much worse.

They need to roll back about 3 versions on offense and pray for health on defense.

[Maxie the Taxi]

Stubby earns his nickname. IMO he coaches more in the vein of Lombardi than Belichick. By that I mean as a coach he lives more in the box than out of it. When losing happens he is more likely to stick with the same ol' same ol' and preach getting better at it than modify his approach to fit circumstances. Last night after the game his comment was: "We've got to perform better."

What? Your roster is decimated with injuries, the replacement players are not as athletic or talented than your regulars and you expect them to perform better? As if mental mistakes and/or lack of reps is the sole problem? And it's not just Stubby. Capers seems afflicted by the same disease.

Memo to Stubby and Staff: Practice squad replacement players are not as good as the number ones that got injuried and they will never be as good no matter how many reps they take in practice or how many late nights they spend watching film.

When half your team is down with injuries you -- as the Coaching staff -- have to compensate by doing things differently...maybe radically differently.

I'm not seeing that.

[beveaux1]

Stubby earns his nickname. IMO he coaches more in the vein of Lombardi than Belichick. By that I mean as a coach he lives more in the box than out of it. When losing happens he is more likely to stick with the same ol' same ol' and preach getting better at it than modify his approach to fit circumstances. Last night after the game his comment was: "We've got to perform better."

What? Your roster is decimated with injuries, the replacement players are not as athletic or talented than your regulars and you expect them to perform better? As if mental mistakes and/or lack of reps is the sole problem? And it's not just Stubby. Capers seems afflicted by the same disease.

Memo to Stubby and Staff: Practice squad replacement players are not as good as the number ones that got injuried and they will never be as good no matter how many reps they take in practice or how many late nights they spend watching film.

When half your team is down with injuries you -- as the Coaching staff -- have to compensate by doing things differently...maybe radically differently.

I'm not seeing that.

MM's offensive woes seem to be that he thought that a Nelson return and the better health of his WRs would fix what ailed them against tight man coverage. He was wrong. It has now taken him 10 games to add schemes that make the offense functional. If that major mistake is enough to cause the loss of his job after 7 straight playoff appearances then so be it. I for one, still think he deserves another year because it looks like his offense is showing signs of life.

As for the defense, the loss of Shields was larger than the loss of Nelson last year. A CB that can take away a top receiver makes the other CBs as well as the safeties much better. With Shields, Dix and Burnett could have been much more dynamic and probably this has stunted their progress. Now, their primary duty is to act as another CB, rather than helping the other CBs with double teams or roaming to prevent explosive plays, or even helping in blitz or run support. Losing so many CBs has left us in zone coverage and we are not a zone cover team.

The loss of Matthews cannot be overstated. With him playing, Perry and Peppers are better pass rushers. Unfortunately, Matthews playing at 75% doesn't give us a consistent pass rush. That would require blitzing and then there are far too many holes in our poor zone coverage. Those holes mean TDs when we don't get home.

I'm of the opinion that Capers has made a lot of changes to compensate for the loss of half his defense. Unfortunately, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Quite a few starters are practice squad level players and no amount of scheming makes up for their deficiencies. If scheming could make up for player quality, the Browns might be in the playoffs this year.

I agree with Patler that Capers' defenses since 2010 have not really been very good. It hasn't been that resources weren't devoted to that side of the ball. Look at the number of 1st through 4th round picks that we've made in the past 4 years. I think Martinez, Ryan, Perry, Jones, Randall, Rollins, Clark, and Dix could all be pretty good players if allowed to develop. I'm afraid that injury and circumstance has halted their progression and someone will be held accountable. That person might be Capers.

[Joemailman]

I've heard that philosophy of having coaches coach other positions from long before McCarthy. I don't remember in relation to whom (it was a very well renowned coach) that said good coaches can coach anything.

I don't know where my opinion falls, but McCarthy isn't in new territory on that one.

The well renowned coach you're thinking of is Belichick.

[pbmax]

The offense is slowly morphing. He is still all about ISO routes and verticals attacking a defense, but the number of stacked receivers, screens rubs and route crossing are on the rise. There were two honest to goodness crossing routes yesterday.

The one problem with a crossing route*, if you run it with a clear out by another WR, then it takes time. Twice Rodgers missed Nelson open over the middle (once that was paired with Adams) and that comes down to familiarity and time. And the pass blocking has been just irregular enough that Rodgers has been looking to bail quickly.

I am cautiously confident about the direction M3 is headed on play calling. Its very slowly trending in the right direction.


* Or running two in breaking routes at different levels to make interior defenders chose which to cover

[Pugger]

The offense is slowly morphing. He is still all about ISO routes and verticals attacking a defense, but the number of stacked receivers, screens rubs and route crossing are on the rise. There were two honest to goodness crossing routes yesterday.

The one problem with a crossing route*, if you run it with a clear out by another WR, then it takes time. Twice Rodgers missed Nelson open over the middle (once that was paired with Adams) and that comes down to familiarity and time. And the pass blocking has been just irregular enough that Rodgers has been looking to bail quickly.

I am cautiously confident about the direction M3 is headed on play calling. Its very slowly trending in the right direction.


* Or running two in breaking routes at different levels to make interior defenders chose which to cover

It was also enlightening to see what an athletic TE can do in this offense.

[Smidgeon]

The well renowned coach you're thinking of is Belichick.

I know he does it too, but I think I was reading something about the Holmgren era.