Aaron Rodgers hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy this year?

[RashanGary]

Yes, they were exposed in Arizona, and I've been fairly vocal about that; but, I still place most of the blame for that debacle on Capers.

If Capers comes out in conservative mode, i.e., don't blitz good QB's, then any defense would be in trouble. Capers game plan against Arizona in the playoff game was mind numbingly ill conceived.

That said, the player deficiencies were fairly obvious too... we need more consistancy and production out of the secondary, and we need more play makers at LB. Increased pass rush can only help that of course, but there can be no denying that the players we're planning on trotting out there this year are the same players who got smoked with ease more than once last year. Forget about their number two yardage ranking... 7 games against 7 of the worst offenses in the league will pad your stats a bit.

The only problem with this post is that it completely ignores the age and development level of several of our core pass rushers.

Matthews 22 year old rookie, only getting better.
Jones 22 year old rookie, only getting better.
Raji 22 year old injured rookie, only getting better.

Same guys, sure. Anyone who thinks players don't usually get a lot better after their rookie years hasn't watched much football, hasn't paid attention or has closed their mind. Several key pieces to the Packers pass rush are at ages where common sense tells you they are trending up.

We'll see how it pans out.

[Lurker64]

It probably was worth mentioning that last year was the first year install of the defense (was a lot different than the previous defense). With a year for the players to acclimate to the scheme, and more importantly a year for Dom and his coaches to figure out who can (and can't) do what.

I'm sure that Dom's going to have some wrinkles. Wouldn't be surprised to see things like "Burnett, Bigby, and Collins on the field at the same time" or "Barnett or Chillar lined up at OLB" this year.

Remember, that Capers is one of the most brilliant defensive minds of our era. I don't really think he's going to try to stand pat on his performance last year.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Only 6 teams gave up fewer points than Green Bay. Only 1 team gave up fewer yards. No teams gave up fewer rushing yards. No teams had more interceptions. Only 1 team had more pass deflections. Only 1 team gave up a lower completion percentage. Only 1 team gave up fewer yards/rush. 10 teams had more sacks, but Green Bay increased their sacks in the second half of the season (acclimated to the scheme?).

If Green Bay's defense is so bad because of the four games (two against a QB that knows them very well early in the year when they were adjusting to the new scheme and two against the other two teams that mostly play the same defensive scheme as we do), then there are a lot of teams that don't have much of a chance.

Of the teams that gave up fewer points:

Cincinnati had games where they gave up 28 to Houston, 30 to Minnesota, 27 to San Diego.

San Fran had games where they gave up 27 to Minnesota, 45 to Atlanta, 34 to Tennessee, 30 to Green Bay, and 27 to Philadelphia.

New England had games where they gave up 33 to Baltimore, 35 to Indianapolis, 34 to Houston, and 38 to New Orleans.

Dallas had games where they gave up 34 to Minnesota, 33 to the Giants, 31 to the Giants.

Even the Jets (who led the league in scoring defense) gave up 30 to Indianapolis, 31 to Miami, and 31 to New England.

My point; the defense was pretty good last year. Yes, it needs to improve, but it's not like it can't happen.

[wist43]

Yes, they were exposed in Arizona, and I've been fairly vocal about that; but, I still place most of the blame for that debacle on Capers.

If Capers comes out in conservative mode, i.e., don't blitz good QB's, then any defense would be in trouble. Capers game plan against Arizona in the playoff game was mind numbingly ill conceived.

That said, the player deficiencies were fairly obvious too... we need more consistancy and production out of the secondary, and we need more play makers at LB. Increased pass rush can only help that of course, but there can be no denying that the players we're planning on trotting out there this year are the same players who got smoked with ease more than once last year. Forget about their number two yardage ranking... 7 games against 7 of the worst offenses in the league will pad your stats a bit.

The only problem with this post is that it completely ignores the age and development level of several of our core pass rushers.

Matthews 22 year old rookie, only getting better.
Jones 22 year old rookie, only getting better.
Raji 22 year old injured rookie, only getting better.

Same guys, sure. Anyone who thinks players don't usually get a lot better after their rookie years hasn't watched much football, hasn't paid attention or has closed their mind. Several key pieces to the Packers pass rush are at ages where common sense tells you they are trending up.

We'll see how it pans out.

I like all those players... I fully expect Raji to make an impact this year, and I'm expecting season long production from Matthews, and I expect him to be a different maker.

I like Jones, but have a "nice player" at OLB in a 3-4??? You can cover up weaknesses with game plans, but as we've seen, Dom is more likely to go soft than he is to try to shore up, or provide help for the obvious weaknesses he has in peronnel.

I'm hopeful of Jones though... Barnett and Hawk are JAG's.

Where my biggest concern lies on defense is at corner... I'm hoping Burnett is the answer at S, and I like the pick.

[falco]

Williams is a career long nickel

-1

[Tony Oday]

Williams is a career long nickel

you watch different football than I do I guess