Ball Skills (or lack thereof)

[Greg C.]

When the Bengals were intercepting all those passes, Bill Maas mentioned that they have "ball skills," and I was thinking, why don't OUR guys have ball skills? This continues to be a problem for the Packer defense, particularly Nick Collins, who would be a decent safety if he did not have a pair of two-by-fours where his hands should be.

Because of this, I'm not sold on the defense yet. Last week they were spotted a seventeen-point lead and blew it. This week, they couldn't get off the field on third down in the first half, so even though they didn't allow a lot of points, they allowed the Bengals to control the clock. I give them credit for keeping the team in the game when Favre started throwing picks, but it was too little too late. The pass rush was weak, and the only turnover came late in the game and was an interception on a deep pass, with no return--pretty much the same as a punt.

Bottom line: The defense is showing some potential, but still is not very good. And here are two things I'd like to see before the start of next season: Brady Poppinga beating out Robert Thomas at LB and Marviel Underwood beating out Mark Roman at safety. And how about picking up a pass rusher (or two) in the draft? KGB really disappeared in this game.

 

[Kyle]

I think the D is fine. Sure, Collins dropped a potential 6, but he was consistently in the right place at the right time. Also, he laid the wood to a couple people. I like him. Ahmad Carrol is just awful and should be cut.

 

[musccy]

Kyle-you're right about Collins hitting, and he appears to have a lot of coverage potential, but this isn't Nick's first drop pick either, which concerns me!

And you're right about KGB, Greg. Never been a big fan of his. He'll pad his stats w/ a few big games where he's a lot faster than the tackle, and otherwise is a non-factor...that is, with the exception of his offsides penalties.

 

[yooperfan]

KGB appears to have one move and unless he gets a good jump on the snap he just gets walked around behind the play. He doesn't impress me and never did despite his sack totals. He just isn't that good.
Somewher some how we need a bonafide pass rusher to make this defense better.
The DT's did a decent job of containing the rushing attack and have with the exception of the Tampa game when they were on the field so long.
Carrol appears to have no football skills at the NFL level.