Christl blog on GB/NO and aftermath

[Fosco33]

Re: Christl blog on GB/NO and aftermath

Hurry-up offense
The Packers ran a hurry-up offense with a quick huddle on their third possession of the first half and their sixth possession of the second half. In the first half, they drove 75 yards in eight plays to score on a 36-yard Dave Rayner field goal. In the second half, they marched 80 yards in nine plays and scored on a 4-yard Brett Favre to Robert Ferguson pass. The Packers also used it on their last series.

It's a wonder we don't use this strategy more often given the positive results (in non two-min situations). The Eagles and Colts use it all the time and can wear down defenses quickly as well as add further confusion.

The obvious downsides being an inexperienced offensive group making mistakes and losing time of possession. At this point, I'd like more scoring and a 'W'.

[pbmax]

Hey Cliff,

Why is it that at Tuesday, 12:08 Bush gained more than 100 yards and dictated the Packers defensive alignment on every single play. The Packers had nobody to match him; and on Monday at 2:21 The Packers designed their game plan to stop Reggie Bush and they did a good job? Which is it, Cliff?

Accusing Cliff of being two-faced? C'mon, not Cliff, the curmudgeon

Actually, I took those two posts to mean something quite believable and consistent with each other. Bush forced the Packers to alter their D to account for him and opened matchups for other players. This is the definition of dictating to a defense.

And second, the Packers did well in their matchups with Bush in this scheme, although they didn't bottle him up like Barry Sanders in a playoff game.

But this isn't just positive news here. By altering the D you force Poppinga to make a choice between covering Horn or Bush. And neither was a good choice.

[pbmax]

What we know for sure is that Thompson refused to talk to Walker or his agent prior to the public confrontation.

Maybe you know this Harlan, but I doubt Thompson refused to talk to them. I find it easier to believe that he wouldn't negotiate. And that is two different things. No lines of communication is inviting a fight. Refusing to open negotiations is the team's prerogative.

And I am still waiting for Walker to offer to cough up the money he didn't earn while he stunk for two and one-half seasons. Amazing how the outperforming players never seem to remember the underperforming years.

Branch went about this quite professionally with the Patriots and got nowhere. Uninjured, he was valued as a first-round pick. Walker commanded less and got a lesser contract.

He overplayed his hand. And he still might not get paid for the full contact.

Branch was the leading receiver for the Patriots for three full years. Walker did it for one. How much value does Walker have in the league compared to Branch?

And how much is he over-valued by the Packer faithful because we had squat behind him?

Thompson may be a failure ultimately. It won't rest on the Walker decision. It will be whether he can replace him.

[Partial]

Anybody could get 100 yards returning John Ryans lasers.

His hang time wasn't good but I don't think he really bombed any, either. If he has that 3.8-4.0 hangtime on a 65 yarder they're in trouble. On a 40 yarder thats not so bad. A more accurate statement would bE:

Anyone could get 100 yards returning due to the Packers inability to convert third downs and punting 10 times a game.

[Partial]

(3) Cliffy is still playing favorites with Walker. Let it go Cliff. He's a good player and would have helped GB out immmensely, but he didn't want to be here.

Well, this is a bit of a rewrite of history. Walker wanted to be in Green Bay, he wanted to renogiate his contract and get a new long term deal. Exactly like Thompson did for Driver. Walker asked for this prior to 2005 season, then again after he was injured.

When Walker went public with his demands, he seemed unreasonable to most fans. Maybe he was asking too much, but then again maybe that was just an opening position in bargaining. What we know for sure is that Thompson refused to talk to Walker or his agent prior to the public confrontation. This appears to have been a big mistake, I doubt Thompson will ever refuse to privately talk to the agent of a premier player again.

We are generally on the same page. It's quite funny how his "we only resign players with one year on their deals left" went out the window for DD this past off-season.

[Partial]

Re: Christl blog on GB/NO and aftermath

Hurry-up offense
The Packers ran a hurry-up offense with a quick huddle on their third possession of the first half and their sixth possession of the second half. In the first half, they drove 75 yards in eight plays to score on a 36-yard Dave Rayner field goal. In the second half, they marched 80 yards in nine plays and scored on a 4-yard Brett Favre to Robert Ferguson pass. The Packers also used it on their last series.

It's a wonder we don't use this strategy more often given the positive results (in non two-min situations). The Eagles and Colts use it all the time and can wear down defenses quickly as well as add further confusion.

The obvious downsides being an inexperienced offensive group making mistakes and losing time of possession. At this point, I'd like more scoring and a 'W'.

I've asked myself the same question before. My guess is they aren't confident in their players enough to execute it. This is an absolutely deadly way to run an offense if your guys are well-conditioned and you have a running back who can catch the ball.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Maybe you know this Harlan, but I doubt Thompson refused to talk to them. I find it easier to believe that he wouldn't negotiate. And that is two different things. No lines of communication is inviting a fight. Refusing to open negotiations is the team's prerogative.

Thompson refused to discuss Walker's contract, according to Walker's side. But I accept your point, go ahead and substitute "negotiate" for "talk". It was unwise to refuse to negotiate with Walker's agent, wise to negotiate with Driver's agent. "Negotiate" doesn't mean he agrees to anything.

[Partial]

What we know for sure is that Thompson refused to talk to Walker or his agent prior to the public confrontation.

Maybe you know this Harlan, but I doubt Thompson refused to talk to them. I find it easier to believe that he wouldn't negotiate. And that is two different things. No lines of communication is inviting a fight. Refusing to open negotiations is the team's prerogative.

And I am still waiting for Walker to offer to cough up the money he didn't earn while he stunk for two and one-half seasons. Amazing how the outperforming players never seem to remember the underperforming years.

Branch went about this quite professionally with the Patriots and got nowhere. Uninjured, he was valued as a first-round pick. Walker commanded less and got a lesser contract.

He overplayed his hand. And he still might not get paid for the full contact.

Branch was the leading receiver for the Patriots for three full years. Walker did it for one. How much value does Walker have in the league compared to Branch?

And how much is he over-valued by the Packer faithful because we had squat behind him?

Thompson may be a failure ultimately. It won't rest on the Walker decision. It will be whether he can replace him.

Professionally? He demanded a trade and held out. He did exactly what Walker did except Walker showed up to camp and Branch did not. The Pats even agreed to trade Branch if they did not get proper value, and since they did not, he said he would appeal in court what "fair value" was using examples of players trading for second round picks. Walker handled it more professionally than Branch did, except Branch was smart enough to keep his mouth shut and not bad mouth the team after the fact.

[Patler]

I see Walker's, Driver's and Branch's contract situations as being very different from each other.

Driver had proven himself for 5 years, was underpaid, had no lingering physical questions and was in the next to last year of his contract.

Branch was in the last year of his contract, had proven himself for 4 years, was hugely underpaid for his entire career having been the last pick of the second round and paid like it ($1 million bonus, league minimum salaries each year for four years). He proved himself in big games and won a Super Bowl MVP.

Walker - a first round pick, and paid like it. Received around $7 million for 1 bad year as a receiver, one year showing promise, a very good year, but still had several years left on his contract when he first wanted to renegotiate. Then, he was injured so there was an overriding injury question this year.

It's easy to see why Driver was extended.

It's easy to see why Branch took a hard line.

It's less easy to side with Walker in either 2005 or 2006. He had made good money for his performance and really just needed to show that 2004 was not a fluke. Plus, GB had others whose contracts expired before Walker that they had to take care of, too. Then, getting hurt he needed to demonstrate physical recovery, but he never gave the Packers a chance in that regard, vowing never to play for them again well before they could see where he was at in his recovery. He wasn't even in GB for his therapy, wanting to do it on his own instead.

[pbmax]

Maybe you know this Harlan, but I doubt Thompson refused to talk to them. I find it easier to believe that he wouldn't negotiate. And that is two different things. No lines of communication is inviting a fight. Refusing to open negotiations is the team's prerogative.

Thompson refused to discuss Walker's contract, according to Walker's side. But I accept your point, go ahead and substitute "negotiate" for "talk". It was unwise to refuse to negotiate with Walker's agent, wise to negotiate with Driver's agent. "Negotiate" doesn't mean he agrees to anything.

I think at some level you need to treat players the same. And if you are going to redo non-QBs before the last year of a deal, then your case to Walker is you haven't earned it yet.

I am not upset they choose to extend Driver. But if you are going to choose to do non-QBs before the last year, I would have preferred Walker get the cash.

What we don't know is what money he would have accepted from the Pack. The deal he got in Denver gives the Broncos all the cards. He wouldn't have come that cheap or easy back to the Pack, even before the injury.

[pbmax]

Professionally? He demanded a trade and held out. He did exactly what Walker did except Walker showed up to camp and Branch did not. The Pats even agreed to trade Branch if they did not get proper value, and since they did not, he said he would appeal in court what "fair value" was using examples of players trading for second round picks. Walker handled it more professionally than Branch did, except Branch was smart enough to keep his mouth shut and not bad mouth the team after the fact.

I haven't followed the Branch case so close that I have the timeline memorized, but I think he mainly kept his mouth shut and gave few interviews. Something along the lines of Walker the summer prior to the injury.

The only people talking were his agent (who was being roasted and not just in Boston) and the agent's hand picked media spokeperson Ron Borges. Borges writes for a local paper and has a reputation for sticking pins in his Patriots voodoo doll for reasons unknown to me.

He did not demand a trade that I know of and sought permission to talk to other teams after the Patriots pulled their multi-year offer. He also did not vow to never again play for the Patriots. He is held in high esteem by his teammates even after the contract holdout.

As Patler states he also was in the last year of a contract he had clearly outperformed in each of the years since year 1.

He didn't have his parents tell the Boston media he was distraught and angry. He didn't have his parents move his things from his house in mid-season.

I think the two cases were handled entirely differently. Walker was one year early and then went south after his injury. I can understand his disappointment, but he would have gotten more from the Packers, who were thinner than the Broncos, if he had played here this season.