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**HarveyWallbangers** · 07-19-2013, 05:23 PM

I also agree with this excerpt from this article:

But when Aaron Rodgers is leading your team and you have a strong core returning on defense, you have to like your chances to compete for another Super Bowl.

I like the potential all-around with the team. The schedule is pretty tough, so it might be hard to get home field advantage, but I think they could be more well-rounded. That gives them a better chance to win any type of game come playoff time. That's what they were able to do in 2010. Win any type of game.

**packer4life** · 07-19-2013, 11:08 PM

I've been on the fence lately about TT's beloved yearly "youth movement". I think this is going to be THE season where his approach of building from within is going to be ultimately tested, at least in my eyes. Our defense has been dismantled in the last 3 of the last 4 years during the playoffs, and yet no FA help has come. No infusion of veterans with proven track records. Instead, it is all about the draft and keeping our core...

Draft, draft, draft. No blockbuster additions like Pickett or Woodson (Pickett was highly regarded before us signing him, do not forget).

If his system truly works, we will be playing next February in NJ. With the best QB in the game and a defense that returns to top 10 status, this team should not be beatable. For his system to work, however, we will need to see sizable jumps from Perry, Daniels, and McMillian; Hayward needs to progress into a star. This is all assuming injuries don't ravish us again like years past.

This offseason the Seahawks added two reputable defensive lineman to a defense that already excelled last year. They added a proven offensive specialist in Harvin. The 49ers added Nnamdi and just traded for Eric Wright, two DBs with possible upside in contract years looking to get a fresh start.

TT, again, has stood his ground and continued his well-known strategy.

If the D continues in mediocrity or even regresses this year, TT's system will have failed us. If we can't at least keep pace with the two stellar teams out west, then I argue we are most definitely risking and wasting our "window". Kaepernick & Wilson are here to stay...in TT we trust, for now.

**HarveyWallbangers** · 07-19-2013, 11:38 PM

Thompson signs free agents. They just happen to be guys that play for the Packers now. (The core players he identifies a year or two ahead of time.) A lot of teams have a lot of turnover at the top of their roster because they give big money to sign other team's free agents. Then, when those guys bust, those teams have a lot of dead money and have to purge their roster. Thompson identifies and pays his core, keeps the roster young, and turns over the middle and bottom of his roster. Pick out any one year, and it might not be the best strategy, but it keeps the team a contender every year. Of course, there's a lot of pressure to do a good job finding young players. Every dollar spent on a big money free agent is a dollar not available to spend on their own players.

**wist43** · 07-19-2013, 11:44 PM

How anyone can simply overlook how pathetic our defense has been over the past couple of years, and say we have a "solid core" is beyond me.

This defense routinely gets manhandled in the trenches; we can't stop the run; our ILB's are complete junk, and we have no depth; and no one in the secondary is very interested in tackling. That's what we've had on the field the last 2 years.

Physical teams just dominate us... it's embarrasing to watch - I don't know how you overcome that with not much more than happy thoughts. There is some young talent, so I guess there's a little hope - but Capers pretty much puts a damper on any enthusiasm.

Best case scenario is our defense gets bitch slapped the first few weeks of the season, and Capers gets fired early on.

**packer4life** · 07-19-2013, 11:45 PM

Originally posted by HarveyWallbangers View Post

Thompson signs free agents. They just happen to be guys that play for the Packers now. (The core players he identifies a year or two ahead of time.) A lot of teams have a lot of turnover at the top of their roster because they give big money to sign other team's free agents. Then, when those guys bust, those teams have a lot of dead money and have to purge their roster. Thompson identifies and pays his core, keeps the roster young, and turns over the middle and bottom of his roster. Pick out any one year, and it might not be the best strategy, but it keeps the team a contender every year. Of course, there's a lot of pressure to do a good job finding young players. Every dollar spent on a big money free agent is a dollar not available to spend on their own players.

I get the strategy. I get the financial advantages. My point is you don't get a blue-chip QB often. It is a stretch for us to believe Rodgers will have the durability even close to Favre's. When you have the window, make it happen. A couple moves could easily have been made without significant detriment to the long term cap. I hope his insistence on the TT way works, we don't have more than a few years to possibly capitalize.

**Pugger** · 07-20-2013, 01:28 AM

We've signed only 2 really "name" FAs during Ted's tenure and we've have had a lot of success and one SB since TT has been in charge so to me it seems like whatever he is doing is working. Our defense isn't wonderful by any stretch but the 2012 group was a hell of lot better than than the one we had in 2011 and we went 15-1 with that bunch. Will getting all of our walking wounded back on D plus D. Jones make a difference? You gotta think it should. Having a more balanced offense led by the best player in the league won't hurt and should keep defensive coordinators up at night and help keep our defense fresher.

**denverYooper** · 07-20-2013, 07:19 AM

Recent superbowl wins - GB 1, SEA 0, SF 0

**bobblehead** · 07-20-2013, 09:16 AM

Originally posted by wist43 View Post

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/2...commentsAnchor

Excerpt from the article -

Biggest concerns

It's still the running game. Last year's free agent signee, Cedric Benson, was limited only to five games before a foot injury ended his season, and the highest rushing total on the team was Alex Green's 464 yards (Rodgers rushed for 259 yards, and when you learn that was the second-highest total on the squad, you know how subpar that running attack really was). As a result, the Packers drafted Alabama running back Eddie Lacy in the second round, the first time the team had taken a running back that high since Brandon Jackson in 2007.

But that selection doesn't necessarily make the team's problems evaporate. Lacy fell to the second round, because there were questions about his work ethic, a lack of speed and only one season as the Crimson Tide's No. 1 back. If Lacy doesn't perform well early on, he could lose playing time to Johnathan Franklin, who was taken only two rounds after Lacy, or a healthier Green -- who ended minicamp as the top running back on the depth chart.

Is the running game completely imperative in order for Green Bay to have success? No. The last time the Packers won the Super Bowl, the team's leading rusher was Brandon Jackson with 703 yards (and again, Rodgers ranked second on the squad). But it sure would be nice.

---------------------------------------------------------

This is from the comments section - jindenver, writes:

"The biggest concern is the running game? Are you kidding me? The biggest concern is the defense. They were not beaten the last two years in the playoffs, they were blown out. The 49ers went for over 600 yards. Adrian Peterson ran for what, over 500 yards in 3 games? This is their biggest problem by far."

---------------------------------------------------------

I agree entirely - the defense is, and always has been the biggest concern for this team - years running.

A good running game can make a defense look a lot better. Less time on the field, more rest, less flow for the other teams offense.

**pbmax** · 07-20-2013, 09:47 AM

I refuse to respond to an article that uses partial season stats from injured or recovering from injury players who do not start full time because of injuries. Its just stupid and lazy.

The overall numbers are not great or even average (though number of attempts were) but that is a different analysis.

Also, pretty sure Lacy's work ethic was a secondary (and disputed) concern compared to his injury history and that history was the main reason he fell out of the first round.

**Maxie the Taxi** · 07-20-2013, 10:57 AM

I remember some of us were encouraging the Pack to trade up in the draft in 2007 to get AP or Marshawn Lynch. But injury concerns about those two fellows dissuaded Thompson, I think. Glad he felt differently this year about Lacy.

**packer4life** · 07-20-2013, 12:20 PM

Originally posted by Maxie the Taxi View Post

I remember some of us were encouraging the Pack to trade up in the draft in 2007 to get AP or Marshawn Lynch. But injury concerns about those two fellows dissuaded Thompson, I think. Glad he felt differently this year about Lacy.

He didn't trade up and get those guys, but my God he could've had Lynch for a 3rd round pick. A proven beast.

Now, he spends a 2nd AND a 4th to try to get Lynch type production.

I like TTs methods, don't get me wrong, but a couple moves via trade and FA here...are acceptable. Ron Wolf did it, TT did it early in his tenure (Woodson/Pickett) with great success. My only point is that if we have another letdown year in the playoffs at what point do we look back and think of what could have been...

**Pugger** · 07-20-2013, 03:53 PM

What did TT offer Buffalo for Lynch? We all lament about what could have been but we have no clue what went on during this time when Buffalo was shopping Lynch around. Some assume TT sat on his hands. What if we matched SEA's offer but BUFF went with the Hawks instead because SEA could offer them a higher draft pick? What if the Bills never went back to TT and asked him to up the ante? It is very presumptuous of us to say for certain what went down behind closed doors.

**mraynrand** · 07-20-2013, 04:02 PM

Originally posted by wist43 View Post

This is from the comments section - jindenver, writes: The 49ers went for over 600 yards.

579!

**packer4life** · 07-20-2013, 04:18 PM

Originally posted by Pugger View Post

What did TT offer Buffalo for Lynch? We all lament about what could have been but we have no clue what went on during this time when Buffalo was shopping Lynch around. Some assume TT sat on his hands. What if we matched SEA's offer but BUFF went with the Hawks instead because SEA could offer them a higher draft pick? What if the Bills never went back to TT and asked him to up the ante? It is very presumptuous of us to say for certain what went down behind closed doors.

It's hard not to be presumptuous when there are multiple times in TT's past where he has come close to a trade, but each time he was outbid by just a smidge. This includes attempts at securing Randy Moss, Tony Gonzalez, and Marshawn Lynch.

To my recollection, TT wouldn't give a 3rd, only a 4th. Lynch was traded for a 3rd.

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