A Look Into the Green Bay Packers Defense From a Coach’s Perspective

rodell330

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I'm gonna say no. Hate to be negative but I haven't seen enough progress from the unit to give me confidence that they are ready to make a leap under Capers. He's been here what? 10-11 yrs? But the defense has only been good in one of those years. Proof is in the pudding.

I don't believe the Packers defense will significantly improve this season either but in my opinion that's because of a lack of talent on that side of the ball.

BTW the team fielded two elite units under Capers in 2009 and '10.
 

Ogsponge

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I don't believe the Packers defense will significantly improve this season either but in my opinion that's because of a lack of talent on that side of the ball.

BTW the team fielded two elite units under Capers in 2009 and '10.
They may have been elite in 09 but they also showed the same propensity for failing in spectacular fashion on the big stage.

To answer the op, the defense will still suck.
 

rmontro

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Funny to see a high school coach critique the Packers. Guess he has more credentials than most posters here.
This is spoiling the article, but he says Capers is a great defensive coach, and that we have the players to run his scheme. Something isn't adding up here obviously. According to the high school coach, it's injuries. Well, that explains last year at least (supposedly).

He talks about Matthews being more effective outside. What he doesn't say is that he's more vulnerable to injuries out there also.
 
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JLW_51

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I wish he would have been my high school coach, probably would have done better.

That is the thing about Matthews outside, how long will he hold up? But the problem is, if they move him inside, it really weakens the OLB position. Although I still think Elliott could step up this season.
 

Mondio

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he had some hamstring issues in the past, then moves inside one year and finishes mostly healthy, then moves back "outside" last year and gets injured again and everyone says he;s injury prone on the outside. Just FYI, he was lined up off the ball and inside like a traditional LB'er when he got injured last year.
 

C-Lee

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The defense wasn't that bad in 2014 or 2015, just saying.
 

gopkrs

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If we can get better pressure and the DBs can hang on...we will be better. I think Clark should be better. And an improvement on offense may help the D.
 
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I worry about the pass rush, if Perry and Matthews once again goes down, not sure who will get to the QB.
 

Sunshinepacker

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I'm gonna say no. Hate to be negative but I haven't seen enough progress from the unit to give me confidence that they are ready to make a leap under Capers. He's been here what? 10-11 yrs? But the defense has only been good in one of those years. Proof is in the pudding.

The defense has been good in multiple years under Capers. This is an odd narrative that seems to stick around for some reason.
 

rmontro

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The defense wasn't that bad in 2014 or 2015, just saying.
The defense was coming around, until Thompson let half the secondary go.

As others have said, the pass rush looks kind of thin this year.
 
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Questionable. I expect statistical improvement and growth from young players. Still very uncertain whether we have guys that can create turnovers.

The Packers defense ranked 11th in takeaways last season. Unfortunately they struggled in close to every other category.

That is the thing about Matthews outside, how long will he hold up? But the problem is, if they move him inside, it really weakens the OLB position.

In addition Matthews might stay healthy inside but he's average lining up there at best.

he had some hamstring issues in the past, then moves inside one year and finishes mostly healthy, then moves back "outside" last year and gets injured again and everyone says he;s injury prone on the outside. Just FYI, he was lined up off the ball and inside like a traditional LB'er when he got injured last year.

I guess you're talking about Matthews playing inside suffering the shoulder injury while lining up inside. It seems pretty obvious that his hamstrings benefit from not playing on the edge though.

If we can get better pressure and the DBs can hang on...we will be better.

Absolutely true, that are huge question marks though.

I worry about the pass rush, if Perry and Matthews once again goes down, not sure who will get to the QB.

Even if Matthews and Perry stay healthy for the entire season the Packers need some rotational players to make plays as well as it's impossible for them to stay on the field for every single snap.
 

rodell330

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The defense has been good in multiple years under Capers. This is an odd narrative that seems to stick around for some reason.

You mean like 2 or 3 of the ten years he's been here? I'm not just counting regular season either...the playoff loses have been ugly. The Packers are giving up almost 35 on avg in those loses. He doesn't get a pass just because they were ok in the regular season.

One of the biggest knocks on Capers is that he's been around so long his defense isn't hard to solve since he really doesn't adjust..yet it's complex..especially for the young guys.
 
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You mean like 2 or 3 of the ten years he's been here? I'm not just counting regular season either...the playoff loses have been ugly. The Packers are giving up almost 35 on avg in those loses. He doesn't get a pass just because they were ok in the regular season.

One of the biggest knocks on Capers is that he's been around so long his defense isn't hard to solve since he really doesn't adjust..yet it's complex..especially for the young guys.

It's true the Packers defense has had some epic collapses in the playoffs during Capers' tenure but you shouldn't ignore the unit played some pretty good games in the postseason as well, being at least mainly responsible for winning two games during the Super Bowl run in 2010.
 

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And they really played well in seattle until the collapse. And I still blame 95% of that on coaching both offense and defense...but especially defense. (the 4th down play)
 
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And they really played well in seattle until the collapse. And I still blame 95% of that on coaching both offense and defense...but especially defense. (the 4th down play)

The touchdown on the fake field goal happened on special teams though.
 

Sunshinepacker

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You mean like 2 or 3 of the ten years he's been here? I'm not just counting regular season either...the playoff loses have been ugly. The Packers are giving up almost 35 on avg in those loses. He doesn't get a pass just because they were ok in the regular season.

One of the biggest knocks on Capers is that he's been around so long his defense isn't hard to solve since he really doesn't adjust..yet it's complex..especially for the young guys.

Actually the knock on Capers' defense is that it's too complex to rely on younger players as much as the packers do. That's not on Capers, you hired him for a reason, the team knew his defense needed experienced vets to succeed and it DID succeed when he had those guys.
 

rmontro

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The touchdown on the fake field goal happened on special teams though.
And the botched onside kick was on the special teams also. That game was a complete collapse in every phase of the game, every part contributed.

Actually the knock on Capers' defense is that it's too complex to rely on younger players as much as the packers do. That's not on Capers, you hired him for a reason, the team knew his defense needed experienced vets to succeed and it DID succeed when he had those guys.
The players agreement reduces the amount of practice time also, so the younger guys can't develop as quickly. The Patriots has recently shifted toward signing more veteran players for this reason. As usual, Belichick is ahead of the curve.
 

rodell330

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It's true the Packers defense has had some epic collapses in the playoffs during Capers' tenure but you shouldn't ignore the unit played some pretty good games in the postseason as well, being at least mainly responsible for winning two games during the Super Bowl run in 2010.

Which was how long ago again? They've lost more games than won..how about that.
 

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