Do YOU owe Dom an apology too?

[adambr2]

It is true that Capers did not cause this playoff exit.

I get that. Its just a little annoying and unoriginal to hear that exact same thing 2 straight years at the same time.

 

[ExpatPacker]

It is true that Capers did not cause this playoff exit.

1 good game in the playoffs by the defense out of 3 does not exonerate Capers.

 

[longtimefan]

I get that. Its just a little annoying and unoriginal to hear that exact same thing 2 straight years at the same time.

Just like hearing MM is predictable, or fire dom

 

[FrankRizzo]

I think we're missing a core component in the leadership triangle. We have good steady the troops types in AJ Hawk and Ryan Pickett. We have a playmaker with a knack of producing momentum turning plays in Clay Matthews. But we're missing the vocal fire eater type to get the players pumped up before and during games. We're missing the Wayne Simmons, Nick Barnett Desmond Bishop type, the rage filled player who challenges and brings out the aggression and intensity in his teammates.

Bernard Pollard has that.
And he happens to be A) a free agent, B) affordable, C) a safety, which we need

 

[Sunshinepacker]

1 good game in the playoffs by the defense out of 3 does not exonerate Capers.

What about the Super Bowl winning defense? Does that fall off the analysis?

 

[Sunshinepacker]

We play 2-4-5 because they want to keep two OLBs on the field whenever possible. the function is basically the same as a 4-2-5. I think the Perry hand on the dirt bit is overdone. When he's been playing, and healthy, he has been able to able to produce pressure and sacks standing up. It's just that he's much much better rushing the passer from the right side.

As for Datone Jones, I think Daniels played him onto the bench. Mike Daniels with his 6.5 sacks relegated Jones to the role of second pass rushing DE.

I think in the future that Dom will start using hybrid DE/OLBs. Guys who can put their hand in the dirt and hold up against the run on limited downs, and have the speed and agility to rush the passer or drop into coverage. I think the staff has Datone Jones come in lighter and faster. He'll be what Mike Neal was supposed to be, but you know, more of a man.

I think many of those points bear an unreasonable expectation as to player development. Most Defensive players, and most draft picks, take until their second and third year to really catch on. Collins took until his 4th season to breakout for instance.

The trouble is that we lost 3 great players to mix of age injury and sort of through FA. Nick Collins was one of the best FSs in the league, Woodson was tremendous in his free lance role and Jenkins was an outstanding DE at times. Jenkins may have left through FA but he hasn't done much since leaving GB and I actually think that his absence has helped Daniels develop faster.

Not sure that the 2-4 is meant to keep an extra linebacker on the field when neither Hawk nor Jones is very good in coverage or rushing the passer but I get the idea of more linebackers allowing the defense to be a bit more unpredictable.

As for Daniels playing Jones onto the bench, I don't think that was ever a question. Daniels ended last year very strong and was great all year this year. If anything I think Jones' injury in training camp kept him from pushing Raji out of the starting lineup. As for lighter and faster, his frame isn't one that's going to let him lose much weight. Would be much easier for him and the team if he added some weight and came in next year at about 300lbs; he was about 285 as a rookie and now he has a pro training regimen behind him. I thin Perry actually has the skill and athletic ability to be a good OLB but his injuries have kept him from showing it. Foot injuries do not tend to allow one to show off their agility very well, especially when you weigh 260+lbs.

I do agree that we've lost some players that haven't been replaced. Not sure I can really blame the front office for letting Woodson walk, the guy was aging and Heyward looked ready to take on that role for the team. Collins loss was a major blow, one that TT still hasn't recovered from. Jenkins, well that loss has been beaten to death. Remember too that prior to his injuries, Desmond Bishop looked to be an outstanding ILB and Tramon Williams has said that his shoulder will never be the same after that nerve damage a few years ago.

 

[ExpatPacker]

What about the Super Bowl winning defense? Does that fall off the analysis?

Which was how many years ago? And tell me, how has the defense been since then?

 

[Sunshinepacker]

Which was how many years ago? And tell me, how has the defense been since then?

Four years ago. Just curious why the stat is 1 out of 3 good playoff games and not 4 ouf of 7 (or however many good playoff games there were when we won the Super Bowl).

 

[FrankRizzo]

What about the Super Bowl winning defense? Does that fall off the analysis?

The schedule was in their favor.
No Brees, Warner, Manning, Brady.
They got to face Vick, Ryan (before Julio Jones, and maybe Gonzalez?), Cutler, and Roethlisberger.
Some okay QBs but no prolific offenses like old Warner the year before which torched them.

A little bit of luck, but remember, that team had the veterans Woodson and Collins and even Peprah. For his limitations with speed, Peprah was smart. That matters.

And Bishop was a missing piece in the middle, and Cullen Jenkins, Raji, Pickett, and Matthews were all healthy.

 

[Carl]

The schedule was in their favor.
No Brees, Warner, Manning, Brady.
They got to face Vick, Ryan (before Julio Jones, and maybe Gonzalez?), Cutler, and Roethlisberger.
Some okay QBs but no prolific offenses like old Warner the year before which torched them.

A little bit of luck, but remember, that team had the veterans Woodson and Collins and even Peprah. For his limitations with speed, Peprah was smart. That matters.

And Bishop was a missing piece in the middle, and Cullen Jenkins, Raji, Pickett, and Matthews were all healthy.

Gonzalez was there just to answer that for you.

 

[NOMOFO]

ok....sorry dom.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

The schedule was in their favor.
No Brees, Warner, Manning, Brady.
They got to face Vick, Ryan (before Julio Jones, and maybe Gonzalez?), Cutler, and Roethlisberger.
Some okay QBs but no prolific offenses like old Warner the year before which torched them.

A little bit of luck, but remember, that team had the veterans Woodson and Collins and even Peprah. For his limitations with speed, Peprah was smart. That matters.

And Bishop was a missing piece in the middle, and Cullen Jenkins, Raji, Pickett, and Matthews were all healthy.

The Eagles were third in the NFL in scoring in 2010 and second in yards. That was one of the elite offenses in the NFL that year. The Falcons were fifth in points in 2010. That's two of the top-5 scoring offenses in the NFL that our defense faced and we held them to well below their season averages. The Bears were actually the only below-average offense we faced during that Super Bowl run. You can't just focus on the QB, teams have other players too.

 

[adambr2]

He didn't make a lot of plays in the niners game but he held his gap against a very physical O-line front, and it did show up with a much more effective run defense. Did I defend Raji as a player, no I did not. He quit on his team following the Bears game, that's not the kind of player you want around. However, you're in error to say he didn't show a higher level of play in the final 2 games of the season.

Giving up 5 ypc against Forte is an improvement considering the level of play we saw from the run defense prior to that game. Remember Detroit? Or how about the career games had against us by Demarco Murray or Laveon Bell. Forte's performance against us was at least only slightly above his seasonal average. That is a sign of an improving run defense. Then holding Frank Gore to a 3.3ypc, .8 below his seasonal average. That again is a sign of improvement, and Raji holding the point was a big part in that reduction.

So Raji "emerged" when Rodgers returned because Forte "only" ran for 110 yards and 5.0 YPC vs. 5.9 YPC and 119 yards by Bush, or 7.6 YPC by Murray?

Yikes. I guess you can paint anyone in that light if you set the bar low enough. And you can't just count Gore on the rushing stats for the 49er game, because there was a lot more to it.

Raji made a total of 4 tackles in these 2 games. Are we really going to call that "emerging" just because he brought himself from a whopping 1 tackle per game up to 2? I wouldn't call that emerging. I would call that playing slightly less awful.

 

[FrankRizzo]

The Eagles were third in the NFL in scoring in 2010 and second in yards. That was one of the elite offenses in the NFL that year. The Falcons were fifth in points in 2010. That's two of the top-5 scoring offenses in the NFL that our defense faced and we held them to well below their season averages. The Bears were actually the only below-average offense we faced during that Super Bowl run. You can't just focus on the QB, teams have other players too.

Michael Vick was a fraud though, as he proved that game and the next season.....
That Falcon game was awesome, but it was one guy, Tramon Williams, with his 2 huge interceptions.
And then of course Rodgers became Godgers that game, was sensational.

Again, the defense held tough that 4-game run as they still had Jenkins, Woodson, Collins, and Bishop. Those were 4 CRUCIAL guys we no longer have. Things change fast. We downgraded all 4 areas to this year. Collins and Bishop no fault of anyones. Woodson father time. Jenkins a bad decision initially, although Mike Daniels is close now, and younger. Worthy should have been that guy too, but that's a *bust pick.

* I know it isn't yet. And I know he tore an ACL, but that was week 17 his rookie year and he was a huge disappointment for 16 weeks prior to that.

 

[adambr2]

Mike Daniels = Cullen Jenkins going forward IMO.

I do think Hayward could be that playmaker in the slot yet, we'll see. It sucks that he lost basically this entire season for a bad hammy.

The last two are the ones we are really missing. We need a stud safety and we need a hitting ILB that can play in space. We can try to address one in the first round but the other may need to be addressed in free agency.

Quality is more important than quantity for us for this D right now, so if a potential gem falls into the teens on draft day and Thompson sees a chance to move up, he shouldn't hesitate.

 

[adambr2]

I have to ask, who gets blamed for the fact that multiple players on the defense vastly underperformed expectations this year? Raji, Pickett, Perry, Datone Jones, Brad Jones, Tramon Williams (til the last month), Morgan Burnett, Jennings and McMillian, etc.

I am sure that every position coach on defense would have looked you in the eye before the season and said that these are very talented players. So -- what is the deal? Are you not able to make the most out of the talent you're given, or did you overestimate the actual talent almost across the board?

Mike Daniels may be the one player on defense that exceeded expectations, and I would say that Shields, Hawk, and Neal met expectations. Maybe I should include Brad Jones in that. He isn't anything special, but we all knew that going into the season. I'm not quite sure what we were thinking there.

 

[easyk83]

So Raji "emerged" when Rodgers returned because Forte "only" ran for 110 yards and 5.0 YPC vs. 5.9 YPC and 119 yards by Bush, or 7.6 YPC by Murray?

Yikes. I guess you can paint anyone in that light if you set the bar low enough. And you can't just count Gore on the rushing stats for the 49er game, because there was a lot more to it.

Raji made a total of 4 tackles in these 2 games. Are we really going to call that "emerging" just because he brought himself from a whopping 1 tackle per game up to 2? I wouldn't call that emerging. I would call that playing slightly less awful.

Well.... YES! The point is that Raji completely quit when Rodgers was unavailable and then began playing better. This isn't just me, a number of other analysts noted this as well. Did he produce big stats during those two games... not exactly. Did he start holding his gap, even against double teams? Yes.

As HRE pointed out during our losing streak Raji was getting flat out beat by singe blockers, during the Bears and 49ers games he was actually starting to beat his man and even holding his gap against double teams. He played well against a pro bowl guard against San Francisco.

You don't like him, I don't like him as a player either right now. The point is that his effort level has had a direct impact on the play of the Defense and the way we view Dom Capers.

 

[NOMOFO]

Well.... YES! The point is that Raji completely quit when Rodgers was unavailable and then began playing better. This isn't just me, a number of other analysts noted this as well. Did he produce big stats during those two games... not exactly. Did he start holding his gap, even against double teams? Yes.

As HRE pointed out during our losing streak Raji was getting flat out beat by singe blockers, during the Bears and 49ers games he was actually starting to beat his man and even holding his gap against double teams. He played well against a pro bowl guard against San Francisco.

You don't like him, I don't like him as a player either right now. The point is that his effort level has had a direct impact on the play of the Defense and the way we view Dom Capers.

I love BJ Raji. My fav player on that defense. ...but he sucked this year and there's no two ways around that.

 

[rodell330]

Dear Dom, i apologize for making fun of your hairpiece. It had it's highs and lows this year but it works for you so who am i to judge?

The End

 

[net]

So I guess we are supposed to believe the players sucked for many years...! In the end , the "proof is in the pudding", and the question then becomes, why are the players making these mistakes so often? Why are they still around if they suck?
What we have here is something very close to the Mike Sherman-Brett Favre years. The offense could, and needed to, score at will because the defense flopped so many times it pulled everything down. So the answer(to some) is the status quo: sorry, I don't buy it. I don't care if Capers walks on water, if he wants to keep his job next year put the defense in the top 50 percent of the league or resign. I'm far from the "fire everybody" crowd that infests most websites. But the defense has been bad for so long, how long do you tolerate it without a new approach? How about a four man line and 7 people behind them with a basis on speed and fundamentals....LIKE TACKLING! Tackling is taught and practiced by the coaching staff. The tackling has been shameful. This team has the same amount of practice time as the 49'ers, the Panthers, etc. who tackle very well. One more year, apparently. One year of excuses, probably.

 

[easyk83]

I love BJ Raji. My fav player on that defense. ...but he sucked this year and there's no two ways around that.

I would agree and disagree. There were times this season where he was just awful. However there were other times when he was very physical stacking up the inside run. This has been the knock on him since College. That he's a physical freak but has an inconsistent motor. Raji was playing the run very well up until the beginning of November. During the time of Rodgers absence he quit on the team, before making a cameo appearance against Chicago and then playing a pretty good game against San Francisco. That's been the take of a number of Sports analysts, Bob McGinn who I don't even like rated Raji as a C- and noted that his motor ran hot and cold. McGinn also praised his play against San Francisco, among other Sports writers.

The problem is that some fans on here genuinely struggle with Grey area. A player is either good or he sucks, if a player has a down year then surely he must have sucked the whole season.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

I would agree and disagree. There were times this season where he was just awful. However there were other times when he was very physical stacking up the inside run. This has been the knock on him since College. That he's a physical freak but has an inconsistent motor. Raji was playing the run very well up until the beginning of November. During the time of Rodgers absence he quit on the team, before making a cameo appearance against Chicago and then playing a pretty good game against San Francisco. That's been the take of a number of Sports analysts, Bob McGinn who I don't even like rated Raji as a C- and noted that his motor ran hot and cold. McGinn also praised his play against San Francisco, among other Sports writers.

The problem is that some fans on here genuinely struggle with Grey area. A player is either good or he sucks, if a player has a down year then surely he must have sucked the whole season.

Raji was bad. There's no disputing that fact. Last year he was actually pretty decent but this season? You don't draft a guy ninth overall to be a solid run defender. Mike Daniels performance in the exact same defense has proven that the whole ""just hold a gap" excuse is a fraud. Also, Raji didn't do well holding his own gap most of the time, most of the time I saw one guard blocking him, he wasn't being doubled that often.

 

[rodell330]

Maybe Raji just doesn't wanna be in Green Bay anymore. I'm making excuses for the guy because he showed so much promise to now be just a body on the d-line. Maybe he got his feelings hurt that TT didn't think he was worth more than 8 mil a year? Allegedly. Either way he didn't do anything to prove he should be getting Wilfork/Ngata money. Mike Daniels did enough to make me forget about Raji.

 

[NOMOFO]

I would agree and disagree. There were times this season where he was just awful. However there were other times when he was very physical stacking up the inside run. This has been the knock on him since College. That he's a physical freak but has an inconsistent motor. Raji was playing the run very well up until the beginning of November. During the time of Rodgers absence he quit on the team, before making a cameo appearance against Chicago and then playing a pretty good game against San Francisco. That's been the take of a number of Sports analysts, Bob McGinn who I don't even like rated Raji as a C- and noted that his motor ran hot and cold. McGinn also praised his play against San Francisco, among other Sports writers.

The problem is that some fans on here genuinely struggle with Grey area. A player is either good or he sucks, if a player has a down year then surely he must have sucked the whole season.

I watched him all year and I was honestly shocked how bad he was. I read a stat where he went something

I would agree and disagree. There were times this season where he was just awful. However there were other times when he was very physical stacking up the inside run. This has been the knock on him since College. That he's a physical freak but has an inconsistent motor. Raji was playing the run very well up until the beginning of November. During the time of Rodgers absence he quit on the team, before making a cameo appearance against Chicago and then playing a pretty good game against San Francisco. That's been the take of a number of Sports analysts, Bob McGinn who I don't even like rated Raji as a C- and noted that his motor ran hot and cold. McGinn also praised his play against San Francisco, among other Sports writers.

The problem is that some fans on here genuinely struggle with Grey area. A player is either good or he sucks, if a player has a down year then surely he must have sucked the whole season.

No grey area here. He was brutal. Somebody can look it up... but I saw a stat last week about the number of snaps Raji took without a sack and it is staggering. I mean....for God's sake...a guy even sniffing the QB once in a while will fall into a sack once in a while!!!!!

 

[easyk83]

I watched him all year and I was honestly shocked how bad he was. I read a stat where he went something


No grey area here. He was brutal. Somebody can look it up... but I saw a stat last week about the number of snaps Raji took without a sack and it is staggering. I mean....for God's sake...a guy even sniffing the QB once in a while will fall into a sack once in a while!!!!!

You have a right to your opinion, even if it is in error. I have to agree with the Sports writers here. JSO WSJ and GBG writers all gave Raji high marks right up until Rodgers went down and Raji's play dropped off a cliff.