Optimists thread

[mraynrand]

The Packers still have at least one more attempt to kick the shit out of Favre. Hopefully the Lambeau grass/composite surface will be more to their liking and Capers will put in a couple of wrinkles to pound the crap out of that 40 year old fossil. Hopefully a few teams in the interim will beat the crap out of him as well - specifically Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Hopefully he will limp into the game and get hauled out on a stretcher. I'd also like to see a little better chipping on Allen. Packer running backs (fullbacks) are solid enough to put that skinny little punk on his ass too. He's fast, but he's not that big. My optimistic sides thinks the Vikings are in for a beating over the next few weeks.

[PackerTimer]

1. A-rod battles, keeps eyes down field and makes big plays.

2. Right side of offensive line.

3. Finley

4. Chillar is clearly the best lb for the scheme.

5. Woodson

6. Punter

7. Crosby makes nice on side kick bounces.

I agree with a lot of this, but Hawk and Matthews have been the best LB's in the scheme.

[cheesner]

The defense stopped Adrian Peterson. Let me say it again: the defense stopped Adrian Peterson. Of course, they also gave Favre about ten minutes to throw the ball, but I believe much of that fault lies with Capers - how many 3rd and 7's or 8's did you see where Capers would rush 3? It worked once that I saw, when Favre threw a screen into the ground. Other than that, give Favre time and he'll make the play.

Rats! When I started writing the post, that was my #1 positive from the game. Then I forgot to write it down.

Thanks for the catch, and I am very surprised we are not talking more about that.

[retailguy]

First of all, they played about as badly as they can play - penalties up the ying-yang, turnovers - and the game planning was mediocre - stopped the run but no pass rush, didn't utilize Grant on offense. Yet they were in the game until it got to be 28-14 and then it went to hell until the final frantic effort.

Actually, I thought they played better than I anticipated. Other than the OL which was abysmal, the overall team played pretty well. Special teams was OK, which is an improvement, other than the stupid penalties.

Grant made the most of what he had, and ran damn hard all night. He is what he is, but you cannot fault his effort last night.

I hope the light bulb is going off in the coaches' heads regarding TJ Lang - he outplayed Colledge at LT las night and I hope he is trained as the backup now. Shuffling the line hurt that team last night - not just Colledge getting moved, but Spitz having to play the left side (he played right last year).

Nah, Lang was the beneficiary of "prevent defense". When they scrapped that on the last two drives, he looked pretty pathetic. He is not the solution to the weakest link on the Packer team.

If Cliffy comes back, that's fine, but it is well established that we do not have a LT backup, and Cliffy can't stay healthy. This needs to be addressed, even if, Cliffy gets a clean bill of health (for a week or two).

Bigby will be better than Martin, even if Nutz doesn't think so. I'm not saying Bigby is an all pro, but he'll be an improvement, however slight.

Give Martin a chance. He has some experience in the 3-4, if he doesn't have it in the next two games, I'll bring the pitchforks.

Bigby is NOT the answer. He is what he is. A hard hitter that couldn't cover with a blanket.

The defense stopped Adrian Peterson. Let me say it again: the defense stopped Adrian Peterson. Of course, they also gave Favre about ten minutes to throw the ball, but I believe much of that fault lies with Capers - how many 3rd and 7's or 8's did you see where Capers would rush 3? It worked once that I saw, when Favre threw a screen into the ground. Other than that, give Favre time and he'll make the play.

The defenses shining moment was stopping AD. I don't blame capers, he ran the D the way you run this Defense. Fault lies with the front three who have proven incapable of generating pressure. When Capers rushed three, he put the LB's into coverage to stop the pass play he knew was coming.

In those instances, this scheme relies on the front three generating enough pressure to disrupt the play before the LB's lose the ability to cover. That isn't happening. It isn't the fault of the scheme or the coaching, it is the fault of the front three being unable to generate any kind of pressure.

This is the biggest problem with this defense and it will not function correctly until the front three figure out how to generate pressure in these situations.

[mraynrand]

Nah, Lang was the beneficiary of "prevent defense". When they scrapped that on the last two drives, he looked pretty pathetic. He is not the solution to the weakest link on the Packer team.

Allen was playing 'prevent defense?' Could you elaborate on this?

[Scott Campbell]

Nah, Lang was the beneficiary of "prevent defense". When they scrapped that on the last two drives, he looked pretty pathetic. He is not the solution to the weakest link on the Packer team.

Allen was playing 'prevent defense?' Could you elaborate on this?

I think he meant they gave Lang a lot of extra help. I saw Grant chipping in a few times.

[Merlin]

This Viking loss, wasn't a close game. The offense had 7 points going deep into the 4th quarter. That isn't going to win you many ball games.

Rodgers has some things to work on, like hanging onto the ball too long - although it only attributed to 1-2 sacks last night, he has that habit. The play calling needs to change. When a team is getting to your QB, you slow that down with slants, draws, and screens. I didn't see any slants, the screen "would" have been effective every time if Grant ran like any other average NFL Back - by that I mean trying to avoid the tackle instead of running into it without leverage. Imagine the game if 4 of those sacks were quick slants for 5-10 yards or even more, that changes the defensive play calling. Some of the sacks let's face it, Allen was unstoppable with our current offensive line.

I would like to see everyone get healthy, McCarthy take a long hard look at his play calling, Capers to work in less Zone coverage and more man to man, especially on the outside, and make a phone call to Mark Tauscher and see if he is rehabilitated. Worse case scenario, he performs the same as who we already have, which I seriously doubt would be the case. Oh yeah, work on some goal line plays that actually occur in the end zone and not 1-2 yards before it.

[retailguy]

Nah, Lang was the beneficiary of "prevent defense". When they scrapped that on the last two drives, he looked pretty pathetic. He is not the solution to the weakest link on the Packer team.

Allen was playing 'prevent defense?' Could you elaborate on this?

I think he meant they gave Lang a lot of extra help. I saw Grant chipping in a few times.

Yes, they did give him some help. But, the real blessing is on those two drives they didn't blitz like they had previously. Therefore the help (back or TE), didn't need to pick up an extra guy and could double with Lang on Allen.

When that stopped and they went back to blitz packages, Lang looked as exposed if not worse than Colledge had.

[denverYooper]

The D is giving up only 3.5 yards/att rushing this year, good for 7th in the league.

Last year they gave up 4.6 ypa, 26th in the league.

So that's promising.

[Fritz]

My Packer friend is much more doom and gloom than I am, and though I did not like MM's play calling, I'm not down about this team yet.

First of all, they played about as badly as they can play - penalties up the ying-yang, turnovers - and the game planning was mediocre - stopped the run but no pass rush, didn't utilize Grant on offense. Yet they were in the game until it got to be 28-14 and then it went to hell until the final frantic effort.

I hope the light bulb is going off in the coaches' heads regarding TJ Lang - he outplayed Colledge at LT las night and I hope he is trained as the backup now. Shuffling the line hurt that team last night - not just Colledge getting moved, but Spitz having to play the left side (he played right last year).

I believe the offensive line was run blocking pretty well but the coaches put the offensive line in a bad position by calling so many passes. They did open some creases for Grant. Barbre is getting better and the game experience is helping Sitton, too.

Bigby will be better than Martin, even if Nutz doesn't think so. I'm not saying Bigby is an all pro, but he'll be an improvement, however slight.
Rodgers is showing that he's going to be exceptional.

The defense stopped Adrian Peterson. Let me say it again: the defense stopped Adrian Peterson. Of course, they also gave Favre about ten minutes to throw the ball, but I believe much of that fault lies with Capers - how many 3rd and 7's or 8's did you see where Capers would rush 3? It worked once that I saw, when Favre threw a screen into the ground. Other than that, give Favre time and he'll make the play.

So I do think this defense can work. I do think the offensive line can block. I think Brady Poppinga will soon be claiming his rightful spot as special teams demon and warming-Clay-Mathews'-spot-on-the-bench guy soon. I think Finley will get better.

I am glad it's bye week. Two weeks for MM to get this mess straightened out. Two weeks to figure out how to call running plays. Two weeks to learn the defense better, two weeks to give Capers a chance to learn how to use his players better. Two weeks for Clifton to heal, for Colledge to heal.

I think this can be a good team - 10-6.

I cetainly agree with this, well until I was watching the pregame show with the guys down on the field. Steve Young and that bunch. And then who should you see in the background trying to get on TV like some jackass fan? Atari Bigby, he almost went as far as to wave his arms around and shout, "HI MOM!". Instead he giggled and pulled some equipment guy into the camera shot with him.

How can such a dumbass be a an upgrade over what we currently have? Darren Sharper, there is an upgrade.

Well, geez Nutz, then don't watch the pregame show. It's simple.