McGinn..."Packers Too Soft for NFL Elite"

[RashanGary]

You guys, Nick Perry and Atari Bigby are bad examples.



They can't just be fast, tough and mean. They also have to be able to play football.

[smuggler]

Jury's still out on Perry in that regard.

[denverYooper]

Jury's still out on Perry in that regard.

Agree. He sure looked to be gaining a bit of steam when he was IR'ed.

He had 1/2 of his sacks wiped out because he hit the QBs too hard.

[rbaloha1]

Jury's still out on Perry in that regard.

Yes -- but it is the Packers best option at this point.

[Joemailman]

Perry struggled at pass coverage, but I liked how he looked otherwise. He certainly is a key to this defense having a more physical presence.

[Deputy Nutz]

The Packers didn't draft Perry to cover. They drafted him to blow up the edge in the run game and attack the QB. Before the draft all I heard from GB fans was that they needed another pass rushing book end opposite of Mathews. The Packers drafted the best available in that regard, and now the sky is falling because he busted up his wrist midway through the season.

You all are a bunch of Chicken Littles. This is way it is hard to associate with Packer fan.

[Zool]

You all are a bunch of Chicken Littles. This is way it is hard to associate with Packer fan.

Might want to look at other team fan bases. Pretty typical stuff.

[Deputy Nutz]

I am growing fond of what is happening in the upper Northwest

[3irty1]

The Packers have a lot of physical defenders but many just suck too much be that that guy who can set the tone on D.

Walden has a lot of intensity and a physical style.
McMillian is a downhill safety who can decapitate, he just can't cover well enough yet to take reps away from Jennings.
Moses has a super physical style like a James Harrison with hair, but he's still a big noob.

We need that presence at ILB and S. Jones and Smith just aren't hitters like Bishop. Bishop just has some special pop in his hips that can uncoil into a guy like a hammer. Burnett is now squaring up and ripping guys down but unless another S can cover he'll be out in center field all the time.

[sharpe1027]

Good lord. Now that several writers have chosen this theme, there will be story upon story about un-measurable and subjective-only reviews about softness and toughness.

With all due respect, the Packers did not lose because they were soft. They did not lose because they were not tough. They lost because they executed poorly. The SF game was not about getting pushed off the ball and them shoving it down our throats. Gore was stuffed time and time again. It was mostly about terrible execution where 1-3 guys failed to do their job, resulting in huge runs by a QB.

[Joemailman]

The Packers need to emulate the 49ers. They need to emulate the 49ers' ability to stay healthy. By mid-season, the Packers' last 3 1st round picks were on injured reserve. In addition to Bishop, their best ILB. Did I mention Jennings missed half the season?

[pbmax]

We need to bring the human heat-seeking missile back as DB coach:

[IMG]/ChuckCecil.jpg[/IMG]

I always thought Cecil was terrible. He was the king of dive at receiver, miss tackle because you can't wrap up when traveling head first with feet in air.

[ThunderDan]

We need that presence at ILB and S. Jones and Smith just aren't hitters like Bishop. Bishop just has some special pop in his hips that can uncoil into a guy like a hammer.

But Bishops big hits had him on the bench for the first part of his career because you couldn't trust him to be assignment sure. It was fun watching Bishop shoot thru a hole and clock a RB. It wasn't fun watching him shoot thru a gap and watch the RB cutback into the lane Bishop had left and run 60 yards for a TD.

[pbmax]

McGinn's article does what each of these headline grabbing articles is supposed to do, which is to make a huge catastrophe over, at most, 3 players.

The difference between this year and 2010 is Jolly, Jenkins and Collins.

And I am not sure Jenkins counts because he was a pass rush sub who helped Matthews pass rush if all his backers are to be believed. He was a physical presence at DE in a 4-3, but he did not play this role with the 2010 Packers.

I am not sure how Jolly did it, but somehow he was always around the ball. Is that toughness? Must be. In a way, he was an ideal 3-4 end. He never went too far up the field and was usually in position.

Collins? He was the difference. As a vet, he was smart, fast and dangerous.

Bishop will be back and while he doesn't cover much better than Hawk (and worse than Jones) he does go forward and hit people rather than collar them in pursuit like Barnett or Hawk.

So Bob McGinn telling all of you the D isn't tough is basically saying that Thompson hasn't replaced Nick Collins. We knew this.

If he replaces him and Jolly next year, we will read chapter and verse about new attitudes, higher blood pressure, inspiring sideline huddles and mean looks to the camera. But the difference will be better personnel.

[Joemailman]

McGinn's article does what each of these headline grabbing articles is supposed to do, which is to make a huge catastrophe over, at most, 3 players.

The difference between this year and 2010 is Jolly, Jenkins and Collins.

And I am not sure Jenkins counts because he was a pass rush sub who helped Matthews pass rush if all his backers are to be believed. He was a physical presence at DE in a 4-3, but he did not play this role with the 2010 Packers.

I am not sure how Jolly did it, but somehow he was always around the ball. Is that toughness? Must be. In a way, he was an ideal 3-4 end. He never went too far up the field and was usually in position.

Collins? He was the difference. As a vet, he was smart, fast and dangerous.

Bishop will be back and while he doesn't cover much better than Hawk (and worse than Jones) he does go forward and hit people rather than collar them in pursuit like Barnett or Hawk.

So Bob McGinn telling all of you the D isn't tough is basically saying that Thompson hasn't replaced Nick Collins. We knew this.

If he replaces him and Jolly next year, we will read chapter and verse about new attitudes, higher blood pressure, inspiring sideline huddles and mean looks to the camera. But the difference will be better personnel.

I think your overall point is correct, except that they didn't have Jolly in 2010. Howard Green played a pretty big role though. Not having Collins and Bishop are the biggest differences between 2010 and 2012. that and the regression of Tramon, who was as good as any CB in the NFL in 2010.