Can Packer Rats be saved?

[Deputy Nutz]

the team is 4-5. The questions are more than deserved. All you tell me is that the team is young, great they are young but I am not totally thrilled with the young talent on this team outside of the secondary. Sorry to burst your bubble but tell me one "young" player that is meeting expectations, or even exceeding them? Rodgers, maybe, Jennings was, but he can't seem to get on the same page with his qb and is struggling with a coverage shift.

I will grant you that Aaron Rodgers is playing to expectations. I actually had higher expectations for him. I thought with his receiver core he would have more games like in Detroit. His stat line is ok, but he has been unsteady the last two weeks. Again I thought he would gel better with receivers and tight ends since he has been in the system for three years.

I guess if all you are looking for is optimism you can point to the young roster and all the possibilities. I certainly don't go around bragging that the Packers are the youngest team and in fact 4-5 is right where they should be.

[Partial]

I don't really agree with your post, at least not the tone of it. I see a playoff competitive team, not living up to expectations that were set by a little bit of a fluky season. I see a team that has far more young, promising players than old, declining ones. I see a team that is just beginning a strong upward pattern into the elite teams in the NFL. I see a 24 year old QB who is probably going to win more games that the HOFer did in two of his last three seasons here. If we're judging just on wins and only the QB, he's certainly holding his own. Acctually he's living up the play of the HOFer that came before him if you want to use the last three years. I don't think you expected at all.


You're banging your drum now. All of the Thompson doubters are. I'll simply say, this is the beginning. This is when Thompsons young core is young. He will not go younger. He just had nothing to start with, so like Parcells in Miami, he went young. Just like the new GM in Tennessee. It will get better and I'll be here to remind you that you never saw it coming. By then you'll be jumping on board, saying you knew it all along.

I don't think anybody doubts TT. He clearly has a knack for finding some talent. Whether that talent matures or not is up to the player.

A-Rod is playing like ass. 4 out of 7 have been awful. 4 out of the last 5 have been awful. QB rating does not always tell tale.

[HarveyWallbangers]

4 out of the last 5 have been awful. QB rating does not always tell tale.

Whatever.

[bobblehead]

QB rating does not always tell tale.

unless favre puts up a high QB rating.

[SkinBasket]

4 out of the last 5 have been awful. QB rating does not always tell tale.

Whatever.

Whatever yourself. Partial studies game film. Partial doesn't believe in numbers. He believes in "it."

[Harlan Huckleby]

His only signing in free agency this year was Brandon Chillar who needs to see the field. Thompson has invested a lot in the Linbacker unit, but what I still don't get why they are under utilized, or if they are under performing. Why does Poppinga still get chances to take bad angles, miss tackles, and looks clueless in coverage, while Chillar sits on the bench.

Chillar has not been under-utilized, he's played about the same amount this season as Poppinga or Hawk. He was inactive last week because of injury, memories are short.

I'll answer why Poppinga takes bad angles, misses tackles, and looks clueless in coverage: because he doesn't. You saw a couple bad plays sometime in the past that have stuck in your mind, so you decided Poppinga stinks and that's your story and you're sticking to it. I see him reacting well on the field, and teams are not particularly running against his side. If anybody in the linebacking corps has looked inept recently it has been Hawk, but you developed your crush on him a while back, and you're standing by your man.

[RashanGary]

I have no problem with criticisms of this years team. I make them myself. I think you're harder on a 24 year old, first year starter at QB (that happens to be playing better than most QB's in the NFL right now) than you should be. I also think statements like "we're never going to win the big one because TT will not put us over the top", are short sighted. Saying this team has problems and saying this team has problems that will never be fixed are two very different things.

Again, beat your little drum. I'll be here when the evidence is in. If I'm wrong I'll say it. If you're wrong I'll remind you.

[SkinBasket]

I'll answer why Poppinga takes bad angles, misses tackles, and looks clueless in coverage: because he doesn't. You saw a couple bad plays sometime in the past that have stuck in your mind, so you decided Poppinga stinks and that's your story and you're sticking to it. I see him reacting well on the field, and teams are not particularly running against his side.

You're dumb. I'm the one who's always hated Poppinga. As far as I can remember, nutz has always been rather neutral on the fuck-up.

Poppinga is not good. You, like others, decided some time ago that he was a likable guy while simultaneously forgetting what an capable LB at that position plays like. He has no ability to cover or rush, and he's had plenty of time to develop in those areas but hasn't. Sure he runs into the RB every now and again, but for every time that happens, he getting bogged down in the line 3 times, usually because he has no instinct for where the play is going, so he just runs into someone.

[Harlan Huckleby]

he's no pash rusher, but his coverage has gotten better.

I think he's strong against the run, gets off blocks.

[SkinBasket]

he's no pash rusher, but his coverage has gotten better.

I think he's strong against the run, gets off blocks.

Yeah, he's much better at covering that vacant patch of field he ends up in more plays than not. I think you feel he's better in coverage because we do everything humanly possible to make sure he's not covering anyone.

Against the run, he's a body. Sometimes he's in the right place. Sometimes he's not. Almost all the time, he doesn't know the difference.

[Fritz]

I was a Poppinga fan early on, but this year he does not appear to have stepped up his game at all. He's whiffed on several tackles, and for a guy whose specialty is supposed to be run defense, that's not good.

[Gunakor]

the team is 4-5. The questions are more than deserved. All you tell me is that the team is young, great they are young but I am not totally thrilled with the young talent on this team outside of the secondary. Sorry to burst your bubble but tell me one "young" player that is meeting expectations, or even exceeding them? Rodgers, maybe, Jennings was, but he can't seem to get on the same page with his qb and is struggling with a coverage shift.

I will grant you that Aaron Rodgers is playing to expectations. I actually had higher expectations for him. I thought with his receiver core he would have more games like in Detroit. His stat line is ok, but he has been unsteady the last two weeks. Again I thought he would gel better with receivers and tight ends since he has been in the system for three years.

I guess if all you are looking for is optimism you can point to the young roster and all the possibilities. I certainly don't go around bragging that the Packers are the youngest team and in fact 4-5 is right where they should be.

He's been unsteady the last two weeks, granted. But look who he was playing. He was playing two of the better defenses in the entire league. Those guys get paid too, ya know. When you match up against a defensive line that's a helluva lot better than your offensive line, your QB is going to struggle. That's happened 2 weeks in a row now, the same 2 weeks you complain about our QB being unsteady. You aren't gonna win them all. Sometimes you meet an opponent that matches up well against your biggest weakness, which has been the case the past 2 weeks. The fact that we've lost those 2 games by just 4 points combined suggests that maybe things aren't as bad as one would like to believe.

[RashanGary]

Good points, Gunakor. Good post.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Nutz, that was one of the best posts I've seen out of you or anyone around here in a while. Well done man!

[Deputy Nutz]

His only signing in free agency this year was Brandon Chillar who needs to see the field. Thompson has invested a lot in the Linbacker unit, but what I still don't get why they are under utilized, or if they are under performing. Why does Poppinga still get chances to take bad angles, miss tackles, and looks clueless in coverage, while Chillar sits on the bench.

Chillar has not been under-utilized, he's played about the same amount this season as Poppinga or Hawk. He was inactive last week because of injury, memories are short.

I'll answer why Poppinga takes bad angles, misses tackles, and looks clueless in coverage: because he doesn't. You saw a couple bad plays sometime in the past that have stuck in your mind, so you decided Poppinga stinks and that's your story and you're sticking to it. I see him reacting well on the field, and teams are not particularly running against his side. If anybody in the linebacking corps has looked inept recently it has been Hawk, but you developed your crush on him a while back, and you're standing by your man.

Harlan, Poppinga was absolutely horrible last week, he took to long to get off blocks, and then instead of recovering appropriately and getting in to position he lunges at the back just about the time the running back is past him. He got torn up against the Vikings, and he got his ass handed to him against the Cowboys. Both teams that pound the rock.

Chillar has not played as much as Hawk. He played most of the snaps against Indy and filled in for Poppinga against teams that would have two tight end or a have three wide as their base set on first down.