2016 Packer Special Teams (Mediocre)

[Upnorth]

so what did your eyes tell you this season? they told you that until Rodgers/Nelson got good (around week 8) that this team was going nowhere. the d regressed, Lacy was lost, the o-line stayed solid though.

My eyes told me that they were 3-1 including playing 2 playoff teams (det and nyg) prior to the injuries to corner, et al. Injuries are not an excuse, but we did suffer deep injuries in one area.

[vince]

they were riding Rodgers rep (not actual play from last year), guessing that Jordy would be Jordy, counting on a secondary that looked pretty good at the end of last year, a defense that was adequate in total, a solid o-line, and a lighter/stronger Lacy.

so what did your eyes tell you this season? they told you that until Rodgers/Nelson got good (around week 8) that this team was going nowhere. the d regressed, Lacy was lost, the o-line stayed solid though.

Do you realize you're saying that you believe the problems were definitively NOT talent here?

Paragraph 1 (evaluated talent before season) = Paragraph 2 + injuries

The talent is/was top shelf less season-ending severe concussions (Shields) plus injuries that caused key players in all three phases to miss significant portions of the year and/or play at a fraction of their talent due to groin surgeries (Randall & Linsley), torn groins (Rollins & Burnett), torn shoulders (Mathews), broken hands (Perry, Elliott & Janis), torn knees (Nelson, Tretter, Guion, Banjo & Martinez), hip injuries ultimately requiring surgery (Lang), high ankle sprains (Cook & Lacy), broken ankles & feet (Lacy & Lang), quad contusions (Burnett), etc.

With the notable exception of Shields, basically all those injuries should be rehabbed leading into next season and the overall talent level figures to be right back at or near the top of the league when everyone goes in healthy.

[gbgary]

Do you realize you're saying that you believe the problems were definitively NOT talent here?

Paragraph 1 (evaluated talent before season) = Paragraph 2 + injuries

i'm saying it's both. the only reason we finished where we did was because we have the best player in the nfl at the most important position on the team. what if we had cam newton at qb...we'd be carolina...6-10. the defense wasn't as good as those experts thought and only got worse as the injuries occurred. the d needs some serious upgrades in talent and the whole team could use some luck in the injury dept. this team (other than Rodgers) is mediocre over all.