Brady Poppinga

[wist43]

Poppinga played OK yesterday... he did have the interference call, but all in all he was in pretty good position in coverage. He did get sucked down the line once that I remember, losing contain and allowing Jones to get outside.

Poppinga is what he is, a thumper in the run game who can fill with authority and a decent pass rusher. That said, the Packers don't use him to his strengths.

The defense, overall, looked abysmal again... It's difficult to be too critical of any of the players on defense when the coaching is so questionable. This coaching staff doesn't seem capable of putting players in positions to make plays.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Poppinga was horrible in coverage again yesterday.

He made 6 solo and 1 assisted tackle. Here they were:

J.Kitna pass short middle to K.Jones to DET 25 for 13 yards (B.Poppinga).
K.Jones right end to DET 42 for 3 yards (B.Poppinga).
J.Kitna pass short left to A.Hakim to GB 41 for 6 yards (B.Poppinga).
K.Jones left tackle to GB 35 for 11 yards (B.Poppinga).
J.Kitna pass short right to D.Campbell to DET 35 for 6 yards (M.Manuel, B.Poppinga).
J.Kitna pass short right to M.Furrey pushed ob at DET 49 for 25 yards (B.Poppinga).
J.Kitna pass short middle to D.Campbell to GB 29 for 22 yards (B.Poppinga).

He made 5 tackles on completions down the field--most of which he gave up the completion. He made another tackle 11 yards down the field. He made one tackle after a 3 yard gain.

Not to mention he got an obvious pass interference call.

J.Kitna pass incomplete short middle to C.Fitzsimmons.
PENALTY on GB-B.Poppinga, Defensive Pass Interference, 10 yards, enforced at DET 35 - No Play.

Compare that to Hawk. 5 of his 7 tackles were for 4 yards or less (3 yards, 3 yards, 4 yards, 0 yards, and 2 yards)--not to mention his sack.

[RashanGary]

OUCH...

First impressions sure dont' mean much. I thought he played better. Apparently not, huh....

I think it's time for Taylor and next year Barnett out there.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I think it's time for Taylor and next year Barnett out there.

I was surprised they took Poppinga out, and then put him back in. I think it's time for Taylor. Both are pretty slow, but at least Taylor has experience on his side.

[red]

yeah, pop didn't look good at all, again, yesterday

i agree its time for taylor, its been time for taylor for awhile now

[RashanGary]

Yeah...Might as well go w/ Taylor. Taylor played with agressiveness in teh run game. I saw him fighting for his life to shed blocks and sometimes I think it's attidude and perceverance taht gets through blocks more than anything. He seemed to play with a motor. I think we have to make the change because teams our going right at our guy with alarming success right now.

I'm really hoping that Hodge brings his game up a couple notches and next off season grabs a starting job by the throat. I would love to see teams try to pick on Barnett or Hawk in the pass game like that. I have no problem w/ Barnett in the middle this year. He's the best we've got but if Hodge takes a big step forward in his second year, I'll have a problem if our best one on one cover LB isn't on the strong side and we're watching Hodge or Poppinga getting beat up all day. That would be a joke.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Is the other guy we signed to play that spot so bad that we're stuck with Poppinga on the field?

Possibly. I suspect Poppinga is playing because he is better than Taylor.

[Zool]

Is the other guy we signed to play that spot so bad that we're stuck with Poppinga on the field?

Possibly. I suspect Poppinga is playing because he is better than Taylor.

If Poops is still playing like this and starting after the bye week, we can assume this to be true.

[mission]

he's been EXPLOITED all year.

big time... i wish teams would just run at hawk all day long

[SkinBasket]

Poppinga has been a downgrade from Paris Lenon. I didn't used to think that would be possible, but it is. He's an absolute failure in pass coverage and although he hits the RB every now and again, he's still fooled on a regular basis against the run and he is out of position almost as often.

Lenon used to play the run like he had his eyes closed, but at least he could provide marginal coverage on the slower TEs and RBs in the league - something Poppinga can't even handle.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Lenon was one of the steadiest players on defense last year.

[wist43]

Taylor can't play... I'll have to go back and look at the tape, but from what I watched of Poppinga in coverage, he was OK.

He'll never be able to stay with a WR, and when he is, that's not his fault, that's Bob Sanders fault...

Poppinga is a football player, and God knows the Packers need those type of guys on the field. It's up to Sanders to protect him against mismatches.

How often do you see Jeramiah Trotter covering WR's??? Trotter is just as big a liability in coverage as is Poppinga, but Philly's Def Coord is smart enough to make sure Trotter isn't exposed.

Poppinga hasn't shown the instincts I thought he would, but most of the blame, at least at this point, I think has to go to Sanders. The defense overall looks terrible, so until they begin to shore things up in all areas, I'm not ready to bench anybody.

Can we bench Sanders and Schottenheimer???

[KYPack]

I'd also like to see Brady get reps at RDE, in passing situations.

I think comments that you can cover for guys to better use of their strengths. Brady gives you 100%, lets put him in situations where he can be sucessful.

As far as Lenon being steady last year, I'd like to forget him & Thomas ASAP.

[Harlan Huckleby]

As far as Lenon being steady last year, I'd like to forget him & Thomas ASAP.

no, no. Lenon was nothing like Thomas. Lenon was consistent, just lacking in speed. He had a lot of good games last year. Thomas is out of the league, Lenon is now a starter.

[HarveyWallbangers]

How often do you see Jeramiah Trotter covering WR's??? Trotter is just as big a liability in coverage as is Poppinga, but Philly's Def Coord is smart enough to make sure Trotter isn't exposed.

Poppinga covered a WR a couple of times, but most of the completions he's given up have been to TEs and FBs (and not even good ones). His coverage gaffes have come against the likes of Desmond Clark, Mark Campbell, Casey FitzSimmons, Dan Campbell, and Corey McIntyre.