Packers will have tough cap decisions to make

[Bretsky]

They scored 30 points without him in 3.5 QTRs. I liked it fine. (23 if you take out the TO).

You must have been watching another game if you don't think they missed the threat Finley provides. Quarles was terrible, and there were plenty of times when AROD was back there thinking who the hell is open. The offense by no means tore it up despite the score.

[pbmax]

You must have been watching another game if you don't think they missed the threat Finley provides. Quarles was terrible, and there were plenty of times when AROD was back there thinking who the hell is open. The offense by no means tore it up despite the score.

Not sure they would have tore it up with him either. More targets are better than fewer and he is better than Quarless and Taylor, but that doesn't mean you keep him at or near his franchise number.

[Bretsky]

can we honestly add finley at 8 million a year?

we still have a lot of holes. by my count we still need to find 4 or 5 o-linemen that can start in the NFL, and still need another good pass rusher opposite clay. and getting a good safety wouldn't hurt either

we have a ton of money tied up in two guys long term, making it three guys might mean we are stuck with 4th and 5th round rookies starting because we can't afford better options

We don't sign free agents to serious money anymore, and we just used a first round draft pick on the answer to pass pressure opposite Clay......unless you think that pick is f'cked....from my end it might be but it's still TBD. I think we can sign Finley in the 8MIL range. It won't be hard to replace James Jones with Cobb getting better and if we can keep Jordy. We'd have to use a high pick to get us what Finley brings and as you noted we have a few needs via pass rush and the OL and maybe DL if Raji leaves

[Bretsky]

Not sure they would have tore it up with him either. More targets are better than fewer and he is better than Quarless and Taylor, but that doesn't mean you keep him at or near his franchise number.

You guys make it sounds like the offense tore it up; to me it was sub par with all of he situations they were presented with. They lost a 30-14 lead.

[red]

a center and maybe someone to replace lang would be a nice use of the money that finley would take up

[Bretsky]

they had some of that great field position before finley went out and didnt do shit

wash

Dude hardly played and had one pass to him in which he got a concussion. If you hate him that much become a Quarless fan so I can mock you at how bad he is.

To Counter your Finley Hatred, you need to start cheering for J Bush

[Bretsky]

a center and maybe someone to replace lang would be a nice use of the money that finley would take up

I don't think Lang is that bad; If they would ever draft a center high they could get a good one. They are greatly undervalued and tend to free fall lately.
I wonder how my buddy Schwenke is doing so far ?

[Bretsky]

The D played well. Realistically, they gave up 20 points, scored 7 while forcing 4 turnovers. That should have been enough. The offense scored 23 points and gave back 7. This loss is primarily on the offense.

[pbmax]

You guys make it sounds like the offense tore it up; to me it was sub par with all of he situations they were presented with. They lost a 30-14 lead.

Finley was part of subpar. He had an ILB on him in single coverage with safety over the top. He failed to disengage the coverage despite his athletic advantages and attempted a one handed catch, fell trying to control it and got nailed in the head.

How many contested balls has he come up with in the last two years? In 2009, at the end of the year, he could not be stopped. Not the case anymore.

Nelson and Jones both get the ball better than he does and neither has the same physical advantage.

That said, even short routes are better than none and he might have presented a target Rodgers could get the ball to over the D line. So it would have been better with him. But I get the sense they have tailored the O for him rather than have him bust the zones they need to bust.

[denverYooper]

You must have been watching another game if you don't think they missed the threat Finley provides. Quarles was terrible, and there were plenty of times when AROD was back there thinking who the hell is open. The offense by no means tore it up despite the score.

I'm not sure why you thought Quarless was terrible. He blocked well and caught a few balls. He had the one obvious drop, but Fin's good for one of those per game. The guy's just come back after a year and a half and shown decent hands with a huge lean when it comes to blocking. He doesn't have the athleticism that Fin does but I'm not sure he won't be more of an asset come season's end, all things in.

[Packers4Glory]

Fin is a difference maker. He's a legit big time 4th threat in the passing game. If he'd not got hurt and played like he had the previous 2 games I think we win this game. turnovers aside, his getting hurt was the single biggest factor in the loss. with him we still win the game. the drop off from Fin to the other TE on the roster is as deep as the Grand fucking Canyon.

and trust me I get as frustrated with the guy as anyone but he's a difference maker. he'll get more opportunities to make or screw up a play because he's got the tools the other guys just don't have. You live w/ the bad because the good is something most teams don't have or defenses can't defend consistently. He's really reminding me of James Jones and dont' be shocked when he really turns the corner like Jones.

[Harlan Huckleby]

I'm not sure why you thought Quarless was terrible. He blocked well and caught a few balls.

See, now this shows the difference between a casual fan like yourself, and the trained eye of a seasoned armchair scout. Quarless made some plays, but mostly he still looked like a stiff player. He is supposed to be more like Finley than Sitton.

[Patler]

You live w/ the bad because the good is something most teams don't have or defenses can't defend consistently.

I think this is a point worth discussing, because it directly relates to how much a team is willing to pay for Finley's services. I think your point was true at one time, but I'm not sure it is now. It seems like good pass receiving TEs are popping up all over the place, so much so that quite a few teams now seem to have a couple of them. Finley had a record year for GB tight ends, yet 9 others had as many or more receptions than he did, and 11 had more yards than he did. Then, you have to look at a guy like Vernon Davis who had fewer catches and fewer yards than Finley, but could replace him very nicely. If you start looking at teams that split TE receptions between two good receiving TEs, Finley's importance probably drops even more, because he was the primary TE target in GB. For example, Hernandez and Gronkowski each had fewer catches than Finley, as did Pettigrew and Schefler; but if healthy and not in jail would be decent replacements for Finley.

I don't deny the advantages of having a good receiving TE. But it seems that aren't as rare as they once were.

[Bossman641]

i'm with PB

offense looked better after he left if you want to get picky

i don't think finley being in the game would have caused a-rod to hit jordy and jones on all those deep passes. and i'm pretty sure finley would have dropped the same pass that quarless did

and finleys statline today

one pass thrown to him, one drop

???????

Finley was knocked out on the first Packer series of the game. How many yards did you expect him to have after 6 plays?

[Bossman641]

Finley was part of subpar. He had an ILB on him in single coverage with safety over the top. He failed to disengage the coverage despite his athletic advantages and attempted a one handed catch, fell trying to control it and got nailed in the head.

How many contested balls has he come up with in the last two years? In 2009, at the end of the year, he could not be stopped. Not the case anymore.

Nelson and Jones both get the ball better than he does and neither has the same physical advantage.

That said, even short routes are better than none and he might have presented a target Rodgers could get the ball to over the D line. So it would have been better with him. But I get the sense they have tailored the O for him rather than have him bust the zones they need to bust.

I agree with you that Finley didn't run away from the defender, but after that happened what did you expect him to do? The ball was put in a place where Finley couldn't jump or take the ball away from a defender. I have a hard time calling that a contested ball. I'm surprised Rodgers even threw that pass.