Things I Dread That May Happen

[Gunakor]

Pickett being on the end that Matthews lines up on will be a tremendous help to Matthews in the pass rush department. Pickett is a big guy. Pickett is a REALLY big guy. Pretty strong too. He might simply be a JAG at DE, but his presence there will open things up for Matthews. He'll command double teams more often than not, leaving Matthews single blocked on his way to the QB. Maybe they'll chip Matthews with a RB or a FB. LOL.

I'm excited about it, to be honest.

[retailguy]

There aren't many holes on this team. It is stacked with Ted's personnel. There is no legitimate reason that this team should not be great. Every team in the NFL has a few weaknesses.

As long as the OL plays well, this team will be successful.

Take a deep breath and smile. It's gonna be a fun season.

[red]

people really really really just do not understand the linemans job in a 3-4

a 3-4 lineman is not suppose to be chasing around the qb and wreaking havoc in the backfield. they are suppose to be big fat cloggers. they are suppose to take on 2 or 3 blockers, tie them up and not get pushed back. they freen up the lb's to have clear shots at whoever has the ball. thats why it boggles my mind when i see play where we don't blitz at all. in a 3-4 lb's have to be blitzing on every play, they are the ones that should be wreaking havoc.

and we should bein good shape if raji is getting double and triple teamed all the time, that would mean he's doing his job

we have so much beef on our front line that it's awesome, we just need them to stay healthy because there is a big drop off after those three if harrell can't go

Haloti Ngata is the absolute perfect DE in the 3-4. he has 6.5 career sacks in in 62 career games. and only 124 tackles in those 4 years

like someone else mentioned 3-4 linemen will not jump out at you on the stat sheet

[Smidgeon]

people really really really just do not understand the linemans job in a 3-4

a 3-4 lineman is not suppose to be chasing around the qb and wreaking havoc in the backfield. they are suppose to be big fat cloggers. they are suppose to take on 2 or 3 blockers, tie them up and not get pushed back. they freen up the lb's to have clear shots at whoever has the ball. thats why it boggles my mind when i see play where we don't blitz at all. in a 3-4 lb's have to be blitzing on every play, they are the ones that should be wreaking havoc.

and we should bein good shape if raji is getting double and triple teamed all the time, that would mean he's doing his job

we have so much beef on our front line that it's awesome, we just need them to stay healthy because there is a big drop off after those three if harrell can't go

Haloti Ngata is the absolute perfect DE in the 3-4. he has 6.5 career sacks in in 62 career games. and only 124 tackles in those 4 years

like someone else mentioned 3-4 linemen will not jump out at you on the stat sheet

I get the responsibilities of the DL in the 3-4 in that if they're clogging up and commanding double or triple teams they're doing what they're supposed to. I'm just thinking to Raji's own comments about being put in the middle to cause havok and thinking especially about his strength at BC which was pass rush. I'd hate to think his strength will be mitigated by all the energy he uses on double teams.

[The Leaper]

Re: Things I Dread That May Happen

1. I'm also worried that our pass rush will be subpar. Matthews can't do it himself. Capers has to grow some balls and use the blitz.
2. Our DL is shallow. Harrell clearly can't be counted on. Jolly is gone. Raji and Pickett are not pass rushers. I can't expect any of the noobs to suddenly become Pro Bowlers. We need the LBs to step up this year.
3. Not worried about our passing game. Rodgers looks great, and the OL has improved in terms of pass blocking ability from the first half of 2009.
4. TEs have become more athletic and more talented in recent years. TEs aren't just a tough matchup for our LBs. Think Finley is causing other teams to question their LBs? Yeah.
5. Burnett IS a rookie. Of course he'll play like one to an extent. If he was talented enough not to, he would've been picked a lot higher. He was selected to become a better coverage safety than Bigby is...and I'm confident that Burnett will be a better coverage safety by the midpoint of the season. He'll make rookie mistakes though.
6/7. Raji and Pickett need the LBs to step up. They can't generate havoc on their own consistently.

[3irty1]

Re: Things I Dread That May Happen

1) Clay Matthews hits a big sophomore slump as no one else steps up in the pass rush department and he can't beat double teams on his own
2) D-Line depth is shallower than it appears when Justin Harrell gets hurt and Neal, Wynn, and Wilson show they still need seasoning
3) Rodgers continues to hold the ball too long when he feels like the pressure is on for him to single-handedly win a game
4) The LBs still haven't learned how to cover TEs
5) Burnett plays like a rookie. He doesn't play poorly, but doesn't play consistently as he'll flash now and then before disappearing or giving up big plays
6) Raji is just a guy in the middle. While he does draw double teams on occasion, he never does end up "causing havoc"
7) Pickett is just a guy on the outside. He was more effective at his old position

Now please, please, please show me why I'm wrong and convince me these things won't happen

1) Clay Mathews, provided he is healthy, should only become more effective as a pass rusher. His pass rush got quite a bit better over the course of last season to the point where he was making guys look foolish. He still has plenty of room to improve and you'd be ok with him merely staying the same. If you have trouble sleeping tonight just remember that he went to USC.
2) Wynn is more of sure thing than Harrell even if the later is healthy. Wynn was a pleasant surprise last year and now has an NFL offseason under his belt. Also if backup and rotational DL are your second biggest problem then you don't have many problems.
3) Rodgers seemed to learn how to throw the ball away as the season went on last year. Not out of bounds, just downfield towards Finely.
4) This isn't the Bob Sanders defense anymore, our LB don't have to be defensive backs too. Did we really get beat up by any TEs last year? Either way the starters practice against Finely now so that should more than prep them.
5) Burnett could conceivably be worse than Bigby but at least his ball skills will punish those who try to take advantage of his inexperience. Fact: Safeties have the lowest bust rate of all NFL positions.
6) I have this concern too but an NFL off season should also help him quite a bit. He plays the most physically demanding position in football. His push and ability to anchor should improve along with his technique. Even if he doesn't get better than he was last year, we can live with that in the short term.
7) You mean like Jolly was? This move puts our best three on the field. I pity the interior offensive line that must deal with all that beef.

All reasonably thought out. Thank you. But the lingering things that remain:
1) If offenses double him, from where will the rush come?
2) Rotational DL always ends up being a big issue. I feel that's why Jenkins is always ineffective towards the end of the year.
3) Agreed. Except at times he had started to fall back into those habits in the Arizona game. I think he was starting to feel like he had to win it instead of the team doing it.
4) No, not necessarily TEs, but their coverage remains key. Slot WR crossing patterns anyone
5) Did not know that about the bust rate. A little comforting. But to be fair, I still have nightmares about Manual and Roman.
6&7) I hope you're right. But as much as I like Hawk, I don't want another Top 10 pick to be ordinary or less (thank you Mandarich and Reynolds). I want Raji to be special.

1) Lets not pretend that him drawing extra protection isn't a great thing. The baseball equivalent is drawing a walk. As we know the best hitters in baseball draw walks and hit homeruns. If Mathews takes two hats to stop then it takes only one competent player to win their one-on-one. To answer, the pass rush will come from everywhere.
2) True, and in the Packers defense we usually have two guys on the field at once in a 2-4 which is by far our most popular scheme. If you consider Wynn competent, that leaves two rotational players. All this is assuming that Harrell, Neal, and Wilson are all trash. Personally I feel this group to be a major strength and it wouldn't surprise me to see us utilize a 3-3 more often as our base pass defense due to all the DEs we have with the ability to rush off the edge (Jenkins, Wynn, Wilson).
3) It actually was on him to win that game and he lit AZ up. Hopefully the defense and refs do their job a bit more next time but A-Rod has to be the least of your worries if you are a Packer fan.
4) Making Chillar a starter should help with the pass defense. At this time last year we were starting Kampman and Poppinga as OLB. Barnett shook some rust off as the year went on. If you care what Bedard thinks, Bishop has improved his coverage dramatically and can even stick with Finley on occasion. As the season goes on at least there are options for adjustment.
5) Manuel was a 6th round pick journeyman FA signing. Roman was a 2nd round pick but by the time he got to us he was a 4 year vet. Since Burnett is a rookie and easily won the starting job gives one reason to believe he's the Josh Sitton of safeties. There's a chance they found gold.
6) By all accords he's on track to be just that. DT's take a while to become NFL ready and Raji appears ahead of the curve in that he's already holding down the NT position and pushing another solid NT, Pickett, out to DE. I could see him becoming a difference maker as early as this season as he adapts from shooting gaps with his speed, to dominating another player one-on-one or even one-on-two. BJ is already good enough to make us not shitty, don't get too greedy.

[Jimx29]

Arod breaks his leg and we have to rely on........yikes

[Lurker64]

Arod breaks his leg and we have to rely on........yikes

Well, how many good teams are there in the NFL that, if they lost their starting QB wouldn't be totally screwed?

I mean, only a Peyton Manning injury separates a 13-3 Colts team from a 3-13 Colts team.

[Fritz]

Arod breaks his leg and we have to rely on........yikes

Things I dread that may happen...Numb changes his avatar.