Besides an Aaron Rodgers injury, what is one thing that would make you pessimistic about this year?

[Smidgeon]

For me, I think Bennett going down would take the wind out of my sails. Not insurmountable, but something big to overcome considering how much I'm looking forward to his addition.

[Joemailman]

Serious injuries to Matthews or Perry. Last year Packers had depth at OLB with Matthews, Perry, Jones and Peppers. This year an injury would mean relying on unproven youngsters like Fackrell, Biegel and Elliott. Until the youngsters prove themselves, I think outside pass rush is the team's biggest question mark.

[gbgary]

another failed secondary experience!

[MadScientist]

Lang's replacement being a turnstile.

Non-existent pass rush.

Seeing Gunter lined up against Julio Jones again, because there is no better option.

[Zool]

None of the group of DBs playing adequately.

[red]

to make me pessimistic about the year?

going into it with fat mike as our head coach and dom capers as our d-coord

[Radagast]

None of the group of DBs playing adequately.

As much as I hate to agree with "the Zool" , the CB's must and I believe will be an improvement over last season. If House / King fail to step up to higher levels of play, GB's chances for success will be greatly diminished. Injuries, god forbid , could drop the Secondary back to one or both of last seasons CBs with I fear the same poor results.

I'm fed-up with excuses, (injuries, poor coaching, bad field conditions, bad haircuts, nerves, etc.) , show me results !

[Fritz]

As much as I hate to agree with "the Zool" , the CB's must and I believe will be an improvement over last season. If House / King fail to step up to higher levels of play, GB's chances for success will be greatly diminished. Injuries, god forbid , could drop the Secondary back to one or both of last seasons CBs with I fear the same poor results.

I'm fed-up with excuses, (injuries, poor coaching, bad field conditions, bad haircuts, nerves, etc.) , show me results !

Normally, I'd say that getting to the NFCCG is a pretty good result, but I have to agree that I'm getting antsy that this team gets close but hasn't been able to close the deal the last several years now.

[pbmax]

Normally, I'd say that getting to the NFCCG is a pretty good result, but I have to agree that I'm getting antsy that this team gets close but hasn't been able to close the deal the last several years now.

I have my doubts about all those in charge, but last year was a remarkable result given the injuries on D.

[Patler]

As much as I hate to agree with "the Zool" , the CB's must and I believe will be an improvement over last season. If House / King fail to step up to higher levels of play, GB's chances for success will be greatly diminished. Injuries, god forbid , could drop the Secondary back to one or both of last seasons CBs with I fear the same poor results.

Ya, I wrote in the other thread that they have so many chances to be better, and the improvement doesn't have to be a lot, they almost can't help but be better. House or King make a difference, Randall or Rollins bounce back at least somewhat, any of the other returners progress, an unheard of newcomer contribute. It won't take a lot to be better at CB.

[texaspackerbacker]

Nothing that is strongly likely to happen is cause for pessimism, as we are pretty well loaded with depth all over and we don't have many star quality players.

McCarthy succumbing to bad advice and going to a more run-first offense would be cause for pessimism, though.

[vince]

ineffective/inconsistent pass rush --> leaky secondary --> inability to reliably get off the field on 3rd down --> getting torn up by high-octane offenses

[Bretsky]

LACK OF PASS RUSH

If TT has failed us it's in that category. He's beefed the CB position, got his TE's, and went RB by Volume. Good job with all there.

Conner Barwin..he'd still look really nice

Matthews is injured often and really wasn't dominant when he was ok last year. Nick Perry hopefully stays healthy.
And others need to step up. NO pass rush could kill this team.

AROD nearly guarantees the playoffs. But he can't get us over the top by himself

[bobblehead]

None of the group of DBs playing adequately.

Along this line of thought, I have about 5-6 things I'm hoping will work out. If none of them happens it will take the wind out because it will speak poorly for the future as well as the present.

Edit: to delve into it.

We need some of these, not all, but some to happen.

King/House/Randall emerge to Make secondary stop being the punchline to a bad joke.

Fackrell/Beigel/Elliot emerge to add pass rush.

Clarke to consistently show what he flashed last year.

Ghostpepper to redefine "hybrid safety" and shutdown TE's/RB's while assisting in the rungame.

Bennett/Kendricks/Monte to create matchup nightmares and cause our O to become mythical.

Obi/Evans/Patrick come on at Guard to fortify a very good OL. (anyone but Barclay).

If 2-4 of those things happen we will right there again. If none of these things occur I fear for the future of this organization.

[Tony Oday]

Bad Special Teams Coverage.