Official Week 2 Studs and Duds

[GB-Brandon]

Kirksey ain’t Urlacher in coverage, but he’s still an upgrade over Martinez. Almost had a pick but Stafford’s cannon blazed through Kirk’s hands faster than the speed of fuck. I think 87 of the Lions caught it. 87 is Cypress Hill, right?

Martinez was so godawful in coverage, he made Allison Geronimo look like Randy Moss in practice.

2020 PFF season grade thus far:

Blake Martinez 87.4
C. Kirksey 30.1

I don’t think there is anything to compare thus far.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

2020 PFF season grade thus far:

Blake Martinez 87.4
C. Kirksey 30.1

I don’t think there is anything to compare thus far.

Aren’t the G-Men 0-2? I watched about 5 seconds of Giants-Bares and didn’t notice Martinez.

I do, however, notice that the middle of the field, passing-wise, ain’t being exposed and exploited for huge chunks of yards with Kirksey roaming the middle. Martinez, while donning the Green and Gold, lacked speed to cover anyone Mano-a-Mano and he had absolutely zero awareness playing zone coverages.

[GB-Brandon]

Aren’t the G-Men 0-2? I watched about 5 seconds of Giants-Bares and didn’t notice Martinez.

I do, however, notice that the middle of the field, passing-wise, ain’t being exposed and exploited for huge chunks of yards with Kirksey roaming the middle. Martinez, while donning the Green and Gold, lacked speed to cover anyone Mano-a-Mano and he had absolutely zero awareness playing zone coverages.

I’m not sure you can put the Giants 0-2 record directly on Martinez. I did watch him against Pitt and he showed some speed identifying a screen play and played a great game overall.

Martinez threw some Jabs at Pettine on the way out and it’s just more proof of what’s going on IMO.

Kirksey hasn’t shown anything thus far. He can’t get off blocks. He is missing assignments and he isn’t what they thought he would be overall in coverage which is indicative of his rating so far.

[RashanGary]

I know he had some big holes to run through, but RG's guy (Jamaal Williams) looked good. He actually looked like he had some burst. He really is a great backup.

Solid. It’s the pass pro and screens and route running more than being a pure runner. But 12 loves playing with guys he can trust and I think Williams brings a lot of consistency and assignment responsibility to the table.

[texaspackerbacker]

The only thing bad about Martinez was he wanted too much money; It's beginning to look like the only thing good about Kirksey is we got him cheap. I don't trust those PFF numbers when I don't agree with him, so I suppose I shouldn't put too much credence by them when I do agree, but 87 to 30 is a pretty big gap. I had high hopes for Kirksey coming in - uber-athletic supposedly, better than he played last season due to injury supposedly, but he has been a colossal disappointment so far.

[bobblehead]

Yes we scored 85 points in 2 games, but against who? The answer is we scored that many points against 2 garbage football teams. Next week at Saints things could look very different but from what I saw last night vs. Vegas, the Saints don’t look that hot either.
Fact is, it’s just a matter of time before the Packer D gets exposed.

Fact is its the NFL and no one is dominant enough to not look bad at times. Saints hit a juggernaut situation with opening of a new stadium and all. It was a huge game for Raiders and they played like it.

I'm worried that the Saints, coming off that game will be really motivated to not fall to 1-2.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

I’m not sure you can put the Giants 0-2 record directly on Martinez. I did watch him against Pitt and he showed some speed identifying a screen play and played a great game overall.

Martinez threw some Jabs at Pettine on the way out and it’s just more proof of what’s going on IMO.

Kirksey hasn’t shown anything thus far. He can’t get off blocks. He is missing assignments and he isn’t what they thought he would be overall in coverage which is indicative of his rating so far.

I’m too lazy to fact check, but pretty confident all of the passing TDs the Packers have allowed thus far this season are the fuck ups of the DBs. I only count Kirksey giving up a one big passing play over the middle - the one that Cypress Hill caught.

Like I said, Kirksey is no Urlacher but he’s an upgrade over Martinez, especially in coverage. The numbers don’t always tell the whole story.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

The only thing bad about Martinez was he wanted too much money; It's beginning to look like the only thing good about Kirksey is we got him cheap. I don't trust those PFF numbers when I don't agree with him, so I suppose I shouldn't put too much credence by them when I do agree, but 87 to 30 is a pretty big gap. I had high hopes for Kirksey coming in - uber-athletic supposedly, better than he played last season due to injury supposedly, but he has been a colossal disappointment so far.

Martinez couldn’t cover or shed blocks. Made most
of his tackles 10 yards down hill. I don’t miss the guy one bit.

[texaspackerbacker]

Kirksey has been worse so far. It wouldn't take much at all for Kryss Barnes or Kamal Martin or whoever to be better than either of them. They said 6 weeks or so from Sep. 2 for Martin to come back, so hopefully he amounts to something in mid October.

[GB-Brandon]

I’m too lazy to fact check, but pretty confident all of the passing TDs the Packers have allowed thus far this season are the fuck ups of the DBs. I only count Kirksey giving up a one big passing play over the middle - the one that Cypress Hill caught.

Like I said, Kirksey is no Urlacher but he’s an upgrade over Martinez, especially in coverage. The numbers don’t always tell the whole story.

Martinez had a “58.9” rating last year with the Packers which is still higher then Kirksry so far of “30.1”. The “87.4” rating Martinez has so far this year represents “Elite Play.” So I suppose you could argue like some are that PFF is a joke and they don’t know what the hell they are doing but the gap in rating is significant.

[run pMc]

Agree: Kirksey has not been an upgrade, I'd say it's been more of the same that we had with Blake TBH. He makes a lot of clean up tackles and keeps the D lined up. If he stays healthy, there's value in that...but not what Blake is making now. I can't say for sure that he's been better in pass coverage than Blake was.

Does anyone think we would be doing better if we kept Blake? I think he'd be about the same, except we would be howling at Gute for paying him 8-10M. I'm not gonna dog Kirksey for starting and playing at Blake-level for cheaper, but I was hoping for a little more upside/athleticism.

I don't think Barnes or Martin are going to be a sudden fix or drastic improvement. Maybe in Year 2 they'll surpass him, but I think Burks has proven he's not the answer and hopefully Gute will go back and look for a Day 3 ILB to add to the mix (unless Barnes really is an answer, albeit an undersized one). What happened to Summers? Still not cutting it? Preseason game snaps would have helped him I think.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I'll give Kirksey some time to figure things out. Our DL (especially without Clark) doesn't help. DL is the weakness on this team. Every other group is at least decent. Defense has disappointed. I fear that we may again be good when other teams are forced to pass, but struggle when teams can stay balanced. Not sure who to pin it on more, Pettine or Gute. I like what Gute's done for the most part, but our DL is not good enough (only when we play OLBs at DL in pass rush situations).

[GB-Brandon]

Agree: Kirksey has not been an upgrade, I'd say it's been more of the same that we had with Blake TBH. He makes a lot of clean up tackles and keeps the D lined up. If he stays healthy, there's value in that...but not what Blake is making now. I can't say for sure that he's been better in pass coverage than Blake was.

Does anyone think we would be doing better if we kept Blake? I think he'd be about the same, except we would be howling at Gute for paying him 8-10M. I'm not gonna dog Kirksey for starting and playing at Blake-level for cheaper, but I was hoping for a little more upside/athleticism.

I don't think Barnes or Martin are going to be a sudden fix or drastic improvement. Maybe in Year 2 they'll surpass him, but I think Burks has proven he's not the answer and hopefully Gute will go back and look for a Day 3 ILB to add to the mix (unless Barnes really is an answer, albeit an undersized one). What happened to Summers? Still not cutting it? Preseason game snaps would have helped him I think.

Blake basically said the Problem was Pettine. I’d parlay that and say it’s Pettine and Gute because Gute didn’t put enough into the D-Line Either.

[GB-Brandon]

I'll give Kirksey some time to figure things out. Our DL (especially without Clark) doesn't help. DL is the weakness on this team. Every other group is at least decent. Defense has disappointed. I fear that we may again be good when other teams are forced to pass, but struggle when teams can stay balanced. Not sure who to pin it on more, Pettine or Gute. I like what Gute's done for the most part, but our DL is not good enough (only when we play OLBs at DL in pass rush situations).

Let me see here.

“Is it Pettine or Gute?”

Or kinda like

“Was it Capers or Thompson?”

Some things never change!!!!

[RashanGary]

I'll give Kirksey some time to figure things out. Our DL (especially without Clark) doesn't help. DL is the weakness on this team. Every other group is at least decent. Defense has disappointed. I fear that we may again be good when other teams are forced to pass, but struggle when teams can stay balanced. Not sure who to pin it on more, Pettine or Gute. I like what Gute's done for the most part, but our DL is not good enough (only when we play OLBs at DL in pass rush situations).

DL sure does look like the weakness. The offense is taking some pressure off by making teams play catch up. Missing Clark hurts. Those other 4 guys just aren't good players. For them to be effective, they need to be healthy and well rested. And even then, its just barely enough.

However, the offense is doing so well with ball control and scoring, the defense, once Clark gets back, has a chance to be perpetually rested and close to 100%. They do have a shot with Clark, especially with Gary playing so well this year.