The Level-Headed Thread About the Defense.

[woodbuck27]

I believe Dom's contract expires soon, doesn't it? If so, the JSO guys might be playing up the "Fire Capers" angle a bit more because of that. Have any of them mentioned his contract status?

I'm not exactly on the Fire Capers wagon, but it's possible that they simply don't extend him.

It appears to me that FIRING Dom Capers is simply a move.

Before that move is made MM and TT need to find a convincing alternative.

We need more experience and talent on our defense. We need to see defensive schemes in games against the best teams that are more flexible.

[pbmax]

Aaron Nagler asked a question to smart football about why the Falcons could figure out the zone read versus the Seahawks yet the Packers had trouble with the 49ers.

Smart Football @smartfootball
.@Aaron_Nagler @RapSheet SEA ran zone read one way all year, never moved RB presnap/etc. ATL keyed formation, sat and forced give & squeezed


Smart Football @smartfootball
.@RapSheet @Aaron_Nagler To be fair, GB hadn't seen anything like this all year and SF only uses it situationally - a lot to prepare for


Also, Falcons had an extra week of film time.

[woodbuck27]

Both offensively and defensively, the packers failed on Saturday night. The offense didn't meet expectations and the defense certainly didn't. I am not making the argument that one was worse than the other, they were beat by the better team, not once but twice this season. In the off season the Packers will lose players and gain players with the predetermined goal of getting better in all three phases of the game. Dom Capers doesn't need to be fired, he just needs to fix what was broken or exposed.

Hi Deputy: I've got a question for you. See below please.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/packers-will-make-changes-after-getting-demolished-in-playoffs-again-jk8c80g-186722401.html

Inside Green Bay Packers headquarters Sunday, the defense was nowhere to be found, just like the night before in a 45-31 divisional playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

As the offense, special teams and injured players made their final locker room appearance in front of reporters Sunday, defensive players were conspicuous by their absence. Not a single starter was around to assess the future of a unit that for the third time in four years failed the team in the playoffs. Fr. LINK

Deputy Nutz?

If zero defensive players showed up yesterday 'at Lambeau Field' to clean out their lockers. Where were they?

Did they congregate for brunch and a meeting? Were they meeting to make a united stand on some agenda?

and ..... as to your statement above:

I agree with that statement. Just because a ship is lilting to one side. Do you square it up by tossing 'the officers' overboard?

[denverYooper]

Aaron Nagler asked a question to smart football about why the Falcons could figure out the zone read versus the Seahawks yet the Packers had trouble with the 49ers.

Smart Football @smartfootball
.@Aaron_Nagler @RapSheet SEA ran zone read one way all year, never moved RB presnap/etc. ATL keyed formation, sat and forced give & squeezed


Smart Football @smartfootball
.@RapSheet @Aaron_Nagler To be fair, GB hadn't seen anything like this all year and SF only uses it situationally - a lot to prepare for


Also, Falcons had an extra week of film time.

He was looking for this, too. Matthews spinning a 360 before he comes after Kaep.

[pittstang5]

I dont get all the Hawk bashing. He was second in tackling this year and led the team two years ago in tackles. He is a team player and you never hear any bitching or complaining from him.

I think it's his salary for one (paid pretty high for average production), his draft status (high pick and again, average production) and he's not a "Monster Force," i.e. teams aren't worried about AJ Hawk like some other LBs.

I'm a huge AJ Hawk fan and even have a Hawk Jersey. I don't want to see him go, but even I can't justify his salary when this teams needs help and room to sign more important players like Rodgers, Mathews and Raji to future contracts.

[pbmax]

Smart Football @smartfootball

Exactly. RT @ECStoner Zone bootleg NFL teams have ran forever is an evolutionary predecessor to the read option. Now, it's not a blind call

[pbmax]

That was just poorly played by Jones. He has to stop that and force it back inside. But by the time he made good contact with the FB, it was too wide and Matthews, even if he had read it correctly the first time, had a lot of space to defend. As it was, the block defeated Jones anyway.

[mraynrand]

Aaron Rodgers (his eyes) looked bad. He had no fire in his eyes..'no will'.

Maybe you could star on "The Mentalist"

[sharpe1027]

He was looking for this, too. Matthews spinning a 360 before he comes after Kaep.

It looks like Brad Jones had contain responsibilities and yet Matthews was still in on the play.

[denverYooper]

More smartfootball

smartfootball Smart Football
.@RapSheet @Aaron_Nagler To be fair, GB hadn't seen anything like this all year and SF only uses it situationally - a lot to prepare for

Tre9er Tre Faaborg
@smartfootball funny how ignorant so many are to Kap's usage. Read option was tiny play-package most of year.

smartfootball Smart Football
@Tre9er Yeah, I think they just went to it as it was clear GB had no answer plus it was a playoff game and felt need to outscore Rodgers

Tre9er Tre Faaborg
@smartfootball I think it's more than that, though. Think Harbaugh wanted everyone to sleep on it, rarely used it, D's don't spend much prep

Tre9er Tre Faaborg
@smartfootball and conversely ATL is probably pulling every R.O. play they can find of 49ers...and Harbaugh probably won't use it Sunday.

smartfootball Smart Football
@Tre9er Yep. They are tough because they can go deep play action off that look, and they also want to pound you with gap/trap/wham schemes

Tre9er Tre Faaborg
@smartfootball said it earlier, at this point best part is that G.Ro knows he can pull any page from the book, in-game, and players know it

HubbuchNYP Bart Hubbuch
@smartfootball GB saw it the week before, actually. Joe Webb ran the read option the first couple of drives for Minnesota.

smartfootball Smart Football
@HubbuchNYP Yeah but Vikes slapped it in their playbook last minute. SF has had it in package all year and much more sophisticated w/ it

HubbuchNYP Bart Hubbuch
@smartfootball Agreed. Although a couple of Niners told me they added read-option plays after watching how GB struggled early with Webb.

smartfootball Smart Football
@HubbuchNYP SF does stuff like zone reading a DE while a FB/TE arcs and *also* reads him; or they block the DE and read the OLB, etc.

smartfootball Smart Football
@HubbuchNYP Vikings essentially tried to do what they'd seen Oregon do on TV a few nights before - not quite the same

HubbuchNYP Bart Hubbuch
@smartfootball GB certainly played (and coached) like they'd never seen any version of the option before, LOL. That was pathetic.

vinnieiyer SN's Vinnie Iyer
@HubbuchNYP @smartfootball The Packers read it, but they were exercising their option not to defend it.

HubbuchNYP Bart Hubbuch
@vinnieiyer NICE.

[woodbuck27]

Maybe you could star on "The Mentalist"

Maybe you could sober up and make an observation that would lead creedance to a thread.

Otherwise.... Uuumm ... well .... you know.

[denverYooper]

More @smartfootball

@ECStoner @LanceZierlein NFL DCs no doubt on phone today and all offseason w/ their buddies in college though. Much of it is technique

LanceZierlein Lance Zierlein
@smartfootball but u know like I do that college DCs are having massive issues in stopping it as well.... especially when run at warp speed

smartfootball Smart Football
@LanceZierlein Oh yea, especially when combined with a vertical passing game. Puts DEs and Ss in huge binds

LanceZierlein Lance Zierlein
@smartfootball that's what the old crankies miss. This isn't wishbone football. We're talking option football with vertical tendencies

smartfootball Smart Football
@LanceZierlein Homer Smith predicted all of this back in like 2000

[Noodle]

While we haven't seen this look before, it does appear that GB was woefully unprepared for Kaepernick's speed. Woodson was quoted as saying something like ''I didn't know how fast he was, coming in I really never paid attention to it."

What? The dude ran a combine 40 of 4.53, you know, almost as fast as Jordy Nelson at 4.51. How is it possible that Capers didn't stress how dangerously fast the dude is and gameplan accordingly (zone, spy, setting the edge)?

I'm still not over this loss.

[Guiness]

While we haven't seen this look before, it does appear that GB was woefully unprepared for Kaepernick's speed. Woodson was quoted as saying something like ''I didn't know how fast he was, coming in I really never paid attention to it."

What? The dude ran a combine 40 of 4.53, you know, almost as fast as Jordy Nelson at 4.51. How is it possible that Capers didn't stress how dangerously fast the dude is and gameplan accordingly (zone, spy, setting the edge)?

I'm still not over this loss.

And like Jordy, he sure seems to have 'long' speed. That big run of his, no one was catching him.

[pbmax]

Here is the breakdown of the Pistol Offense in the NFL . This article mainly concerns itself with Chris Ault's pistol from Nevada, but the article makes the convincing case that it is and will continue to be more influential in the NFL than Urban Meyer, Rich Rodriguez or Chip Kelly's offenses. His pistol gives you a shotgun formation but with back behind the QB to get a more vertical angle on running plays. Despite the alignment difference, a running QB and creative OC an run the same basic zone, zone reads and other option stuff from the other offenses.

You want to know what I want to hear from M3 tomorrow? That he is hiring Chris Ault out of retirement to consult about this offense.

http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2012/12/27/3792740/pistol-offense-nfl-redskins-rg3

If you read down far enough, the author switches from RGIII to Ck and shows you two plays that we saw run against the Packers, including #46 one on one blocking the last contain guy on the Offenses left. Same play that spun Clay's head around. The fact that this play had to be on tape makes me think Capers, et al., must have seen it. But I think they underestimated the damage Ck could do with it. Not sure how you could not be scared of the kid given some of what he did this year.

However, the really mind blowing thing? Mike Sherman basically had the same thought as Chris Ault ten years ago when he had Favre running the Short-Gun. QB 3-5 yards off the LOS with backs offset and behind him. There was no option, but his tweak to the shotgun was for the same reason Ault built the pistol.