ROSTER ANALYSIS

[mraynrand]

To be sure he had fallen off - but I don't think comments about Capers being a dunderhead, flaming idiot, hairpainting moron, helped.

that's what got you fired, not Woodson

[Bossman641]

I think 8 D lineman would be a record for this defense under Capers.

Ya, 8 would be high but Neal is a hybrid DL anyways. Plus, with all the contracts up after this year I think they'll go heavier than normal to really see what they've got

[Smeefers]

That's the point: Mulligan easily fills (and surpasses) Crabtree in blocking, and they expect Quarless to easily surpass Crabtree in pass receiving. Some of Crabtree's successes were from exploiting defensive schemes that reasonably underestimated Crabtree (e.g. the TD versus AZ). So the subterfuge will be missing, but the skill levels in blocking and pass receiving increased, hypothetically.

I thought most of Crabtree's success came from staying freaking healthy.

I never understood the point of keeping all this talent that refuses to stay healthy. There's some guys I'll give a pass on like Bulaga, but 3rd string tight ends? Gimmie a break. You're starting your 2nd season on injury after spending the whole last season on injury? See ya later alligator, after while crocodile. Don't forget to write.

[wist43]

Actually, Snake would bang a porn star standing up in a hammock.

Is this a Kama Suthra thing?? How would that work?? Do you have pics you can give us as an example?? I'd like to give it a shot, but we don't have a hammock, and my wife is very short... she's a trooper and all, but like the Seinfeld sex advice episode - "if there's more than a 10" difference in your height, you could hurt your neck"

OK Wist, 157 rides on some sort of ride. I thought you meant 157 horseback rides, you'd be in 579 territory with that claim.

Mom did the heavy lifting last night... kids were both passed out before we got out of the parking lot - mission accomplished. 579 rides would be about right... the "all you can ride" wristband is a lifesaver. Dad can sit in the rest area, mom can wave from the fence, and the kid can just keep making a circle from the exit to the entrance

I'd also tell you to not be soo negative, but you wouldn't listen to that shit anyway.

Any number line that doesn't include negative numbers is not a number line is it?? It is not reality...

31-45 = -14

Whereas, 45-31 = 14

Are we making progress on the whole math thing??

[wist43]

I think 8 D lineman would be a record for this defense under Capers.

Then we should just dispense with pretense, and outright go to a 4-3.

Instead, we're stuck with the 2-4 as our base... what's the point of having 6 DL standing on the sideline or inactive every week??

Jones might have been a good pick if we ran something other than a 2-4, as it is, our entire front six is a waste.

[Smeefers]

I think, if Jolly continues to improve his conditioning, and his skills return, that he's a better player than Josh Boyd. I haven't read that Boyd has been impressive, at all. I wonder if he could be stashed on the PS. He seems to be not quite a nose tackle, not quite a -4 DE.

I think Jolly is still an extremely long shot to make this team. We have 3 first round draft picks for our DL. I like rotational guys, but it's a young mans game and Jolly doesn't have time to be playing catch up. If and only if he can come in at or above the level he was at when he left will he make the team. If he comes in lower, that probably means he's in the decline of his career, that means I want a younger kid who's still getting better.

[Carolina_Packer]

The part that didn't sink in until I read the article but with which I can't disagree is that MM and TT seem to have accepted that Coleman has too much development in front of him to challenge Harrel--Harrell--for the Q2 spot before the season starts.

I'm hoping this doesn't mean they're giving up on him. I liked the pick last year, and think he's got a chance. Hopefully he just needs another offseason.

Smidge, I think that if VY distinguishes himself, that he might become the back-up to AR, and Harrell might be shown the door. You can practices as well as you want, be a smart guy in the running backs room, but if you go out on game day and are inconsistent (no Matt Flynn moxie), then you've probably reached your upside. I think if they make VY the back-up, then they almost have to have Coleman as the third as an insurance policy. That's if they see more upside in Coleman, but they need to see progress from him in game action too.

[Smeefers]

I suspect we'll finish in the 9-7 to 11-5 range, and make an early exit from the playoffs - ala last year.

Yeah, I've already written the season off... will do the best I can to enjoy it (believe it or not ). Have 4 FF leagues to tend to... have a lot of revenge to deal out there. Should have won 2, but only won 1; was horrible in another; and snake bit in the other.

I don't have any expectations of the team - I see us as being fatally flawed, and they didn't do anything to fix those flaws; or at least what they did was not the right direction. So we're the same team that got absolutely slaughtered 6 months ago - not much has changed.

See, I don't get the fatally flawed thing. I thought it's been proven that any kind of team can at least get you to the SB. It doesn't matter if you can pound it on the ground, if you're a scoring machine, or if you just have amazing special teams. Remember when the bears got to the SB vs Indy? Who'd they have on their team? Deven Hester and a monster D.

The more you have on O, the less you need on D, but you have to have something there. You're right in that giving up 600 yards in a game is not acceptable, but you don't need a top 5 D to get to the big game, especially when you have rodgers at the helm.

Gah, why do I even try? Nevermind. You're right, they suck. Whatevs.

[wist43]

See, I don't get the fatally flawed thing. I thought it's been proven that any kind of team can at least get you to the SB. It doesn't matter if you can pound it on the ground, if you're a scoring machine, or if you just have amazing special teams. Remember when the bears got to the SB vs Indy? Who'd they have on their team? Deven Hester and a monster D.

The more you have on O, the less you need on D, but you have to have something there. You're right in that giving up 600 yards in a game is not acceptable, but you don't need a top 5 D to get to the big game, especially when you have rodgers at the helm.

Gah, why do I even try? Nevermind. You're right, they suck. Whatevs.

We snuck in a window in '10... it happens. The level of competition was watered down that year - we got on a roll, and we got lucky.

The same can be said of Indy - lower level of competition that year. Great QB, watered down competition... they got lucky - one and done. Same as us.

And since when have any of the homers on here said giving up 600 yds is unacceptable?? They make excuses for it, and dismiss it as a fluke. They accept our SB win as the trend line, and dismiss the preponderance of negative evidence around them as outliers.

Like you just did - "... you don't need a top 5 D... especially when you have Rodgers at the helm". You're perfectly willing to accept shitty defense, b/c in the homer view, Rodgers will clean up the mess.

I guess that is the same approach TT and MM have as well.

[mraynrand]

We snuck in a window in '10... it happens. The level of competition was watered down that year - we got on a roll, and we got lucky.

The same can be said of Indy - lower level of competition that year. Great QB, watered down competition... they got lucky - one and done. Same as us.

And since when have any of the homers on here said giving up 600 yds is unacceptable?? They make excuses for it, and dismiss it as a fluke. They accept our SB win as the trend line, and dismiss the preponderance of negative evidence around them as outliers.

Like you just did - "... you don't need a top 5 D... especially when you have Rodgers at the helm". You're perfectly willing to accept shitty defense, b/c in the homer view, Rodgers will clean up the mess.

I guess that is the same approach TT and MM have as well.

jesus what a nag

[ThunderDan]

jesus what a nag

How did you get a picture of my first wife?

[smuggler]

I also think they'll go heavy on the DL. In part, I think it's because they want to keep Raji et al fresh throughout games. Having our DL get winded really screwed us last season, specifically in the case of Raji.

[packer4life]

I thought they effectively cut Raji's snaps by a significant percentage last year and still he had a down year. I don't think its a factor of Raji getting winded, he played way more snaps 2 years ago...

[Smeefers]

We snuck in a window in '10... it happens. The level of competition was watered down that year - we got on a roll, and we got lucky.

The same can be said of Indy - lower level of competition that year. Great QB, watered down competition... they got lucky - one and done. Same as us.

And since when have any of the homers on here said giving up 600 yds is unacceptable?? They make excuses for it, and dismiss it as a fluke. They accept our SB win as the trend line, and dismiss the preponderance of negative evidence around them as outliers.

Like you just did - "... you don't need a top 5 D... especially when you have Rodgers at the helm". You're perfectly willing to accept shitty defense, b/c in the homer view, Rodgers will clean up the mess.

I guess that is the same approach TT and MM have as well.

Claiming to accept a less than excellent defense is not the same as embracing the fact that we had one of the worst D's in the league.

I just saw bright spots that I believe we can build on.

[wist43]

Claiming to accept a less than excellent defense is not the same as embracing the fact that we had one of the worst D's in the league.

I just saw bright spots that I believe we can build on.

I see bright spots too - I like a lot of the players on defense; but there are a few fundamental, philosophical flaws that will sink us against power teams, i.e. the 2-4 can't hold up as a base front, they don't value 2-gap players at all, and they think pedestrian ILB's are just fine - actually, terrible ILB's are just fine.

They can get away with those flaws against Jacksonville - you saw what SF will do to us. They did nothing to address any of those problems.

And worst of all - Mr. Spraypaintedhair is still our DC. We might not give up 600 yds to SF again, and Kapnerfucker might not run for an all-time QB rushing record again, but I fully expect a repeat of game 1 from a year ago.

The final score of that game was 30-22 - but the game was never that close, and it was never in doubt. SF had their hand on our head the entire time, and bitch slapped us on national TV, on our home turf.

We only gave up 186 yds rushing in that game; whereas we had 45 yds rushing ourselves (27 from Rodgers) - that sounds about right this time around as well.

And you guys continually give me grief b/c I point out these obvious facts - we cannot run the ball, and we cannot stop the run. It is what it is.