FOR THOSE WHO HATE CAPERS.....

[Rodgers12]

OK ... I'm thinking Canadian.

Still when it comes to $bucks$; The Bucks or Whitetail Bucks I say:

Save em all.

As a non-hunter, I agree.

[Rodgers12]

Ha correct you are (http://saveourbucks.com). I was thinking Woodbuck was saying the same thing. But it isn't trades that screw the Milwaukee Bucks - it's the haphazard chase for mediocrity and a refusal to rebuild. Think Selig Brewers or 80s Packers.

Sorry to derail the discussion.

Ah, I see. Don't follow the Bucks much so not sure what's up with them lately.

IMHO, public funds to should not be used to fund sports teams owned by billionaire "entrepreneurs," but lets just leave it at that before Red starts complaining.

[denverYooper]

Any D will suffer if they are on the field too long, I don't blame Capers for that. Too many 3 and outs. It's remarkable the Packers are still in contention since they lost their starting QB, LT, WR, TE, and many defensive players to injury. Losing Woodson hurt, Jennings has been getting burned, Burnett is trying but needs help. Jury is still out on Richardson. Hyde can play safety but he's not ideal size. TWill may never be back to what he was. House needs more time. ILB could be better. Brad Jones is failing, Hawk is steady but doesn't have coverage skills. Pick is getting old, Raji is trying but needs help. I do blame Capers for the awful tackling, too often the players are in correct position to make the play, yet can't tackle the guy. Grab, grab, grab! Lombardi would be pissed. Another poster remarked that the D is not inspired, I agree. Good defenses love to tackle, inflict pain. Anyway, they need more talent at DL, LB, FS, & CB. Firing Capers would be a mistake.

The other added problem with non-Rodgers QBs is that they turned the ball over a lot more than Rodgers did, often killing points or giving points (Tolzien's INT in the EZ in Philly, deep in Giants' territory, Flynn's pick 6, fumble deep in Steelers territory). The Packers backups threw 10 INTs in 8 games (counting 1st Chicago game). Since 2009, Rodgers's only season with >10 INTs was 2009, with 11. Now, most of the INTs were on Tolzien, who threw 5 in 2 games, but Flynn was good for 1 per game and some fumbles that hurt the team. Rodgers has been one of the best QBs in terms of fumbles.

This in no way absolves the defense for some horrid stretches of play, but it exacerbated their floundering mediocrity as a unit.

[denverYooper]

The interesting thing to me right now is that they have been a little better since they sat House and gave Richardson more snaps. They're still prone to leaking yards and plays, but since the stand at the end of the Atlanta game they've been better on 3rd downs (Dal 22%, Pit 20%) where they've been pretty bad all year, and they have been holding some decent QBs (Ryan, Romo, Roethlisburger) to ~80 ratings. They'd been allowing middle- and bottom-tier QBs to light them up to the tune of 100+ pretty regularly all year.

Also, this team feels better in cold weather. Guys like Hyde, Richardson, Boykin, and Lacy get a boost when the track slows down and their abilities as football players can shine because they don't give up as much speed.

This isn't a case for Dom to be retained because I would be fine with new blood. What it is, for me, is a case against the whole staff's willingness to stick with underperforming guys for too long. Of course, they didn't have the option to play Richardson until lately.

[bobblehead]

There's not even a bona fide #1 safety on the roster.

Burnett looks good when he was playing alongside Nick Collins. Now he's trying to fill Collins' shoes; has been average at best.

He looked like shit next to collins, what games were you watching. He has developed to average.

[bobblehead]

Ah, I see. Don't follow the Bucks much so not sure what's up with them lately.

IMHO, public funds to should not be used to fund sports teams owned by billionaire "entrepreneurs," but lets just leave it at that before Red starts complaining.

Hey, we found a point of agreement...lets continue this bipartisanship in FYI

[pbmax]

Again, tackling and D in general is about heart and pride. We started the year determined to not suck vs. the run. As we proved we don't, the pride and effort slacked off. Just my 2 cents worth.

It is about heart and pride from the point of view of being willing to hit, pursue and bring someone down.

However, there is a technique aspect as well, knowing your leverage, knowing where help is, taking correct angles and eating grass (just heard that one this year) to close space between you and the ball carrier if its one v one.

There are improvements to be had in both fields, let's put it that way.

[pbmax]

Bad news everyone.

Rumors have it that IF the Lions dump Schwartz they would want to sire Bill O'Brien from Penn State.

That is far too sensible a move for the Lions. It also might mean competent coaching in 3 of 4 NFC North cities.

Ian Rapoport @RapSheet 20m
If there is a Lions opening, Bill O’Brien will be candidate RT @dmoran137: @RapSheet why wouldn't he wait for the lions job in a few days

[woodbuck27]

The other added problem with non-Rodgers QBs is that they turned the ball over a lot more than Rodgers did, often killing points or giving points (Tolzien's INT in the EZ in Philly, deep in Giants' territory, Flynn's pick 6, fumble deep in Steelers territory). The Packers backups threw 10 INTs in 8 games (counting 1st Chicago game). Since 2009, Rodgers's only season with >10 INTs was 2009, with 11. Now, most of the INTs were on Tolzien, who threw 5 in 2 games, but Flynn was good for 1 per game and some fumbles that hurt the team. Rodgers has been one of the best QBs in terms of fumbles.

This in no way absolves the defense for some horrid stretches of play, but it exacerbated their floundering mediocrity as a unit.

We'll see if AR can pull a sheet over that dumpy chair today.

[woodbuck27]

Bad news everyone.

Rumors have it that IF the Lions dump Schwartz they would want to sire Bill O'Brien from Penn State.

That is far too sensible a move for the Lions. It also might mean competent coaching in 3 of 4 NFC North cities.

Ian Rapoport @RapSheet 20m
If there is a Lions opening, Bill O’Brien will be candidate RT @dmoran137: @RapSheet why wouldn't he wait for the lions job in a few days

I'm getting Bill O'Brian in Houston.

He's ( Bill O'Brian's) the hot talk now and things seem to be cooling off and Lovie Smith as the next Houston Texans HC.

[pbmax]

I'm getting Bill O'Brian in Houston.

He's ( Bill O'Brian's) the hot talk now and things seem to be cooling off and Lovie Smith as the next Houston Texans HC.

According to Rappaport at NFLN, he interviewed with 4 teams last year. So it seems his rescue mission in Happy Valley (Penn State) was a short term assist.

[Fritz]

Sounds like he wants back into the NFL. If he waits a few days, he'll have a few more openings to interview for.

[wist43]

As I've said, I haven't watched much football this year - so this year notwithstanding, I did watch the Pitt game, so my same arguments against Capers still stand.

I do not blame the players. I think we have enough talent on def to win. It is Capers job to take that talent, and get max production out of what he has to work with.

In our front seven (six by Capers' way of thinking) we have far more talent invested in the DL; yet Capers insists on playing a 2-4 the majority of the time, or at least a far greater percentage of the time than is warranted. Injuries seem to have made things a mess, but I think the analysis would still stand regardless of the injuries. We're simply not very talented on the 2nd level, i.e. the linebackers.

If Capers is determined to play pass on virtually every down, I would prefer he do it with pressure, crowding the line and showing multiple fronts. He lines up in that static 2-4, and may occassionally bring an exotic blitz, but then he reverts right back to vanilla. Combine that with miscommunications in the back end, and you have a recipe for disaster down in and down out.

Capers has to go. Injuries might be a valid reason to point to for not putting up stellar numbers, but a good DC would find a way to stop the bleeding, and find an identity that is at least somewhat effective with the troops he does have available. In no way has Capers done that. He needs to go.

[beveaux1]

In the Bears game, I didn't notice as many 2 man fronts, but what I did notice was our 3rd string LBs aggressively moving to the middle and leaving their gap wide open. Forte and Bush were consistently taking advantage of this aggressiveness. This might have been something that they were asked to do to cover for the weakness of their 3rd string MLB or it may have been poor gap integrity.

It seems highly unusual that the run defense completely fell apart after Rodgers went down. More likely, it was a combination of the run-stopping DL playing at 60 to 80 percent because of injury, not able to handle blockers to keep them off the 2nd level LBs, and the LBs either playing with injuries and being a step slow or being 3rd string and not ready to play at the level of the starters

Even when our starting LBs (minus Hawk) have been on the field in the last half of the season they've been playing with leg, foot, and hand problems. Without a doubt, this has limited their effectiveness. What does this tell you about our back ups and 3rd stringers if we continue to try to play them at 70%.

I expect that the playoffs will continue to expose our many weaknesses on defense. I'm not sure any of our coordinators or position coaches are to blame. They've dealt with an incredible amount of injuries and kept our heads above water....barely.

With star players taking up such a high percentage of our cap, this is a fact of life in the NFL. Back ups will be brought in on the cheap and their level of play will be far below the starters. Look at how we played in the preseason both offensively and defensively and you can see what this level of play is. The beginning of next season will show the true potential of the defense as the beginning of this season did.

[gbgary]

FOR THOSE WHO HATE CAPERS.....

nothing's changed.

i wish we'd get back to bump and run no matter who the dc is. al and chuck did it right.