Defensive Issues

[HarveyWallbangers]

I read these comments by Don Capers:

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers had few complaints with the play of his inside linebackers Sunday.

"I think A.J.'s playing well," he said of A.J. Hawk. "I think both of our inside linebackers played well. Obviously, Desmond Bishop got the game ball, so I think A.J. was right there in terms of production. I think he had some pretty good pressure when we brought him.

"Bishop had the sack coming up inside, so I think both of our inside linebackers had winning performances."

It got me to thinking. The DL is playing well against the run. Average against the pass. Kind of what you expect out of 3-4 DL. The ILBs are playing better the last couple of weeks. The problems seem to stem from three things:

1) The ROLB needs to provide consistent pressure to take the attention away from Matthews. Walden isn't getting it done in that respect. My guess is that we'll see a lot of Zombo when he comes back, and we better hope he's made a jump in his second year (despite the injury).
2) Shields and Tramon aren't playing at the level they did last year.
3) The safety play has been poor. Nick Collins played a poor game in week one. Peprah played poorly in week 3. Burnett makes some plays, but still gives up too many.

I think there's hope that they turn it around, but a few things have to happen. Zombo needs to come back healthy and provide some rush. Shields and Tramon need to get back to last year's level. Peprah needs to improve to adequate. Burnett needs to be more consistent.

[CaliforniaCheez]

1) There is less pressure. Being without Cullen Jenkins is part of that. He drew double teams.
2) Dom Capers is holding some of the blitz packages back. Not so much need for them yet.
3) Matthews is not 100%
4) Burnett is inexperienced at safety.
5) Woodson is not 100%

When Zombo and Neal return and work together for a couple of weeks things will improve in the pressure area.
By then Matthews health should improve and Burnett will be a little wiser.

There are a lot of teams that would like to have the Packers defensive personnel right now.
The Packers are the number one scoring team in the NFL. As long as the defense holds the other team to less then things are fine.

[VermontPackFan]

[QUOTE=HarveyWallbangers;620936]I read these comments by Don Capers:

1) The ROLB needs to provide consistent pressure to take the attention away from Matthews. Walden isn't getting it done in that respect. My guess is that we'll see a lot of Zombo when he comes back, and we better hope he's made a jump in his second year (despite the injury).

Paging Vic So'oto! I hope this kid gets a shot sooner than later. Its unfortunate he got hurt when he did because I think he would have been involved by now. I really like Zombo but I think So'oto might be our long term answer at this position.

[pbmax]

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/packers-coaches-looking-to-fix-safety-problem-of-leaky-unit-131027253.html

Burnett is taking some heat for approx 80 yards of passing on two plays (plus one called back on penalty) and Capers says they need to tighten it up. Flea flicker (which while inexcusable, isn't something you forget about easily now that you have made the Broncos highlight reel for the year), Lloyd had the TD on the penalty play and I don't remember the 3rd.

And Bishop may have gotten a game ball, but his forced fumble came after his guy caught the ball behind him and he allowed another lengthy completion earlier.

[Joemailman]

I have some hope that the pass rush will get better when Neal and Zombo return. Neal can be very disruptive in a way that Jenkins was. Burnett needs to understand where the term Safety comes from. He simply can't allow people to get behind him when he is the lone deep safety. What happened on the flea flicker is similar to a play he had against Indy in the preseason. The rest of the secondary has to be able to have confidence that he will be where he is supposed to be.

These guys will get a good test this week. Falcons have the most weapons of any team the Packers have faced since New Orleans.

[denverYooper]

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packe...131027253.html

Burnett is taking some heat for approx 80 yards of passing on two plays (plus one called back on penalty) and Capers says they need to tighten it up. Flea flicker (which while inexcusable, isn't something you forget about easily now that you have made the Broncos highlight reel for the year), Lloyd had the TD on the penalty play and I don't remember the 3rd.

And Bishop may have gotten a game ball, but his forced fumble came after his guy caught the ball behind him and he allowed another lengthy completion earlier.

Probably the second Decker TD? http://www.nfl.com/videos/auto/09000...-scores-2nd-TD

Burnett turned in for the ball, Decker went out.

[rbaloha1]

MB is still too aggressive on play actions and double moves. Relies too much on speed like a younger Collins. Peprah really needs to get back to playoff form.

The front seven is good against the run. Pass rush is just missing the qb.

Unsure when the defense jells.

[pbmax]

MB is still too aggressive on play actions and double moves. Relies too much on speed like a younger Collins. Peprah really needs to get back to playoff form.

The front seven is good against the run. Pass rush is just missing the qb.

Unsure when the defense jells.

The front seven struggled against the run versus Denver. Raji got turned several times by the interior line of Denver.

[vince]

I agree with just about everything that's been written in this thread, except Dom's comment to the media about Hawk. He's had fewer opportunities to make plays due to fewer runs maybe, but I'd like to see him make a play (perhaps even a tackle for loss) in the every once in a while. I don't recall Hawk creating much pressure or making many plays. The play in the Saints game that was called a PI counts I guess since he can't control the fact that a bad call was made, but I'm not remembering any other play that Hawk has made other than being Steady Eddie tackler for a 5 yard gain or 10 yard reception.

[Smeefers]

I don't know how well AJ is doing. Bishop has 36 tackles this year, AJ has 15. Right now, Morgan Burnett (34) and Bishop are leading the team in tackles. The next closest is Sam Shields at 17. I'm not saying that excuses MB from his mistakes noted here, I'm just saying he's not doing a bad job.

[ThunderDan]

I don't know how well AJ is doing. Bishop has 36 tackles this year, AJ has 15. Right now, Morgan Burnett (34) and Bishop are leading the team in tackles. The next closest is Sam Shields at 17. I'm not saying that excuses MB from his mistakes noted here, I'm just saying he's not doing a bad job.

I agree with you. I think the issue is being brought because when a safety blows a play it mostly likely goes for a TD; if a LB blows a play the safety usually tackles the guy 20 yards farther down the field.

[pbmax]

I agree with you. I think the issue is being brought because when a safety blows a play it mostly likely goes for a TD; if a LB blows a play the safety usually tackles the guy 20 yards farther down the field.

Could also explain why Burnett is so eager to fill in toward the LOS.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I didn't see much of the last game, but I thought Hawk was effective the first couple of weeks on blitzes. He didn't get the sacks, but he got pressures and his pressures got other guys sacks. Like Woodson said last year, his goal when blitzing is to get the QB off his spot. I think Hawk was effective doing that the first couple of weeks. They didn't seem to do as much in week 3, but I'd like to see them keep using Bishop and Hawk on blitzes from the inside.

[hoosier]

McGinn commented on how much more effective Tramon Williams is in press coverage as opposed to off coverage, which he apparently has been playing exclusively since injuring his shoulder. I haven't watched enough to know if that is true, but I will trust McGinn on that. Assuming Tramon's shoulder heals in the next month and that Burnett and Peprah can figure out what they are doing and what their limitations are in approximately the same amount of time, we could be seeing the Packers D start to gel in the second half of the season. Which, if you look at it the right way, is almost better than starting out hitting on all cylinders, because things usually only go down from there.

[Upnorth]

McGinn commented on how much more effective Tramon Williams is in press coverage as opposed to off coverage, which he apparently has been playing exclusively since injuring his shoulder. I haven't watched enough to know if that is true, but I will trust McGinn on that. Assuming Tramon's shoulder heals in the next month and that Burnett and Peprah can figure out what they are doing and what their limitations are in approximately the same amount of time, we could be seeing the Packers D start to gel in the second half of the season. Which, if you look at it the right way, is almost better than starting out hitting on all cylinders, because things usually only go down from there.

If Williams is better at press then he can be the new Al Harris, and if Tramon can play like Al I will be very happy.