This is What Really Bugs Me About Our Defense

[The Shadow]

Ok, Capers stays. Fine.
But : what about the countless 'secondary miscommunications' that consistently allow receivers - often the opposition's very BEST receivers -to run free in the middle of our secondary? Time after time after time after time.
Why aren't Whitt & Perry being held accountable???????

[red]

when has m3 held anyone accountable

and guy running wide open over the middle isn't a recent development, this problem goes back to the super bowl winning season

[Cleft Crusty]

when has m3 held anyone accountable

were you following the Packers in 2008? Something pretty dramatic happened that offseason.

[Carolina_Packer]

http://nfl.si.com/2014/01/27/seattle-seahawks-team-building-super-bowl-xlviii/

Read the above article about the Seahawks, and you'll see that they have key first rounders, but they also have a number of late round/undrafted guys that Carroll and Schneider were right about, that fit their system, who stayed healthy and played up to their potential quickly. Part of that is the players and evaluation, but another part has to be great coaching.

I think Capers knows what his defensive roster would look like optimally (look up the players on the 1994 Steelers defense). I understand with the salary cap and cap numbers what they are today, that you're not likely to form such a defense with so many starts again, and even harder than that now is keeping them together for very long. Seattle will pay their QB soon enough and be a victim of their own success and not be able to afford some of the talent they currently have on the roster. But they will still have the decision makers who know what their kind of players look like, they will still have that nasty reputation on defense, and will still have a lot of the same coaches coaching them up.

I think in the Packers case they have struggled to form and keep an identity on defense, because with the picks and signings on defense, there have been injuries, slow or lack of development at key positions, some trying to fit some square pegs in round holes with some of their picks and signings. Here's hoping for more good fortune on the injury front, and that TT, MM and Capers can finally get together on what their defense and players on the defense is supposed to look like. Seattle has done it, and fairly quickly, and as you'll see if you read the article above, they are not all 1st rounders. There are a lot of grinders on that roster, who adapted to and contributed to a system quickly. Still waiting on Green Bay's defense...what will it take to finally get this done?

[Maxie the Taxi]

Two things stuck out in that article for me: 1) "Schneider wanted Lynch in Green Bay..." and 2) "Carroll has said that he prefers to have a 4-3 defense with 3-4 principles..."

I've always wanted Lynch in Green Bay. I'd like to know who didn't want him and why.

And what the hell is a 4-3 with 3-4 principles?

Answers to those questions might reveal a lot about Green Bay's core personnel and coaching philosophy.

[bobblehead]

http://nfl.si.com/2014/01/27/seattle...r-bowl-xlviii/

Read the above article about the Seahawks, and you'll see that they have key first rounders, but they also have a number of late round/undrafted guys that Carroll and Schneider were right about, that fit their system, who stayed healthy and played up to their potential quickly. Part of that is the players and evaluation, but another part has to be great coaching.

I think Capers knows what his defensive roster would look like optimally (look up the players on the 1994 Steelers defense). I understand with the salary cap and cap numbers what they are today, that you're not likely to form such a defense with so many starts again, and even harder than that now is keeping them together for very long. Seattle will pay their QB soon enough and be a victim of their own success and not be able to afford some of the talent they currently have on the roster. But they will still have the decision makers who know what their kind of players look like, they will still have that nasty reputation on defense, and will still have a lot of the same coaches coaching them up.

I think in the Packers case they have struggled to form and keep an identity on defense, because with the picks and signings on defense, there have been injuries, slow or lack of development at key positions, some trying to fit some square pegs in round holes with some of their picks and signings. Here's hoping for more good fortune on the injury front, and that TT, MM and Capers can finally get together on what their defense and players on the defense is supposed to look like. Seattle has done it, and fairly quickly, and as you'll see if you read the article above, they are not all 1st rounders. There are a lot of grinders on that roster, who adapted to and contributed to a system quickly. Still waiting on Green Bay's defense...what will it take to finally get this done?

You talk as if the Seahawks have 5 straight playoff appearances and a superbowl victory and the packers are trying desperately to equal them.

[Patler]

Who the heck cares about Lynch in GB anymore? The year they "should have" gotten him, they won the Super Bowl anyway. Yes, they could have used him in 2011 and 2012, but now they have a guy who is four years younger, has no arrests that I am aware of and willingly engages the press without being forced to do so by $50,000 fines from the NFL.

[run pMc]

I'm assuming the communication calls come from the safeties, who had a terrible year.
(1) Burnett's Wonderlic score coming out of college was not high - maybe he's late in reacting and making the calls.
(2) neither Burnett nor Jennings is described as being a vocal leader - maybe they need a more vocal/forceful personality
(3) Jennings tries but is physically on the small side - when I see him he looks more like a corner
Missed tackles and a middling pass rush didn't help either.

What bugs me about the defense? The opposing QB's passer rating, especially when compared with other years. I didn't have a lot of faith they could force a punt on a 3rd and 6 this year.

Better pass rush, better safety play, better health would all contribute to defensive improvement.

[Maxie the Taxi]

Who the heck cares about Lynch in GB anymore? The year they "should have" gotten him, they won the Super Bowl anyway. Yes, they could have used him in 2011 and 2012, but now they have a guy who is four years younger, has no arrests that I am aware of and willingly engages the press without being forced to do so by $50,000 fines from the NFL.

I agree with you. I'm talking about the 2007 draft. I'm guessing Schneider is too. I wanted the Packers to trade up to get Lynch. I'm guessing Schneider is too. Ted didn't and drafted Justin Harrell instead four spots after Lynch was selected. If Schneider is talking about getting Lynch as a FA, then Ted apparently nixed that too. I find it an interesting dynamic. I know it's spilled milk but crying over spilled milk is kinda what we do around here this time of year.

[Maxie the Taxi]

Ok, Capers stays. Fine.
But : what about the countless 'secondary miscommunications' that consistently allow receivers - often the opposition's very BEST receivers -to run free in the middle of our secondary? Time after time after time after time.
Why aren't Whitt & Perry being held accountable???????

I posted the quote below from Bill Bellichick a while back. Apparently, playing the 3-4 is complicated. It requires lots of communication and players with experience. With injuries and the Packers playing young guys as they do, mistakes and miscommunications result.http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-e...itch-on-sirius

"We wanted a lot of carryover between our run responsibilities and run fits, and some of our pressure defenses and things like that. We'll transition and build into some of our odds fronts, but we felt like in trying to evaluate young players, asking them to learn one system in a 3-4 and then learn another system in nickel [was too much]. As you know, we were in nickel defense just as much as we were 3-4 defense because of teams using multiple receivers on early downs and two-minute and all those kind of things.

"So we felt like it would be a better opportunity to evaluate our players and not try to over-install and put in a ton of defense. Try to cut it down a little bit and see if we could execute it better. Certainly, we have a long way to go but I do feel like we're making progress, and I think our players at least understand what we're doing.

"There are so many intricacies to a 3-4 defense that I just didn't know if we'd be ready to handle them this year. Probably wouldn't have been, to be honest with you."

[Pugger]

Who the heck cares about Lynch in GB anymore? The year they "should have" gotten him, they won the Super Bowl anyway. Yes, they could have used him in 2011 and 2012, but now they have a guy who is four years younger, has no arrests that I am aware of and willingly engages the press without being forced to do so by $50,000 fines from the NFL.

[Pugger]

I'm assuming the communication calls come from the safeties, who had a terrible year.
(1) Burnett's Wonderlic score coming out of college was not high - maybe he's late in reacting and making the calls.
(2) neither Burnett nor Jennings is described as being a vocal leader - maybe they need a more vocal/forceful personality
(3) Jennings tries but is physically on the small side - when I see him he looks more like a corner
Missed tackles and a middling pass rush didn't help either.

What bugs me about the defense? The opposing QB's passer rating, especially when compared with other years. I didn't have a lot of faith they could force a punt on a 3rd and 6 this year.

Better pass rush, better safety play, better health would all contribute to defensive improvement.

And these 3 things can be fixed this offseason. Just getting guys back healthy will do wonders.

[Pugger]

I agree with you. I'm talking about the 2007 draft. I'm guessing Schneider is too. I wanted the Packers to trade up to get Lynch. I'm guessing Schneider is too. Ted didn't and drafted Justin Harrell instead four spots after Lynch was selected. If Schneider is talking about getting Lynch as a FA, then Ted apparently nixed that too. I find it an interesting dynamic. I know it's spilled milk but crying over spilled milk is kinda what we do around here this time of year.

Nixed? IMO Seattle could offer Buffalo a better/higher draft pick than Ted so that is why Lynch is in Seattle. I think in the long run we'll be better off with Lacy.

[Pugger]

I posted the quote below from Bill Bellichick a while back. Apparently, playing the 3-4 is complicated. It requires lots of communication and players with experience. With injuries and the Packers playing young guys as they do, mistakes and miscommunications result.http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-e...itch-on-sirius

And this is why I hope Ted seriously looks at FA. He doesn't have to sign a guy like Boyd but there could be other guys who will be a major upgrade over what we have presently (that might not take much ) that won't break the bank.

[Maxie the Taxi]

Nixed? IMO Seattle could offer Buffalo a better/higher draft pick than Ted so that is why Lynch is in Seattle. I think in the long run we'll be better off with Lacy.

I agree we're better off with Lacy now. I'm not questioning that. The question is did Ted ever make a play for Lynch in FA? You're assuming he did. I don't think he did and Schneider's comments kind of imply that. Bottom line is I'm speculating that Schneider would have liked TT to do more in the FA market, as you would like him to do. Based on his history, I don't think we'll see it...at least not to the extent Schneider does it in Seattle. We draft and develop. So we live with that philosophy, for better or worse. It's worked out great for the offense, but it's failed us with regard to Capers and his defense.