Defense ??

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

As a foriegner, has there been some drastic change to the rules on tackling, or is our run defense really as poor as it looks recently ????

I`ve seen all four of the preseason games so far, and I cringe when the opposition run the ball at us.
Kansas City being a perfect example. The 49ers have three scrambling quarterbacks on their books at the moment who will kill us when we play them. IMHO

 

[FrankRizzo]

We have 7? ROOKIES on defense?
Perry, Worthy, Hayward, McMillian, Daniels, Richardson, Moses....
And John Clayton thinks rookie Mike Daniels first name is Alex.
He also thinks DJ Smith is a rookie again?

Green Bay Packers cut-down analysis

September, 1, 2012

By John Clayton | ESPN.com

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Most significant move: For weeks, outsiders have called for the Packers to make a trade or look outside of the organization for a backup quarterback. General manager Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy put all of their faith in Graham Harrell as the backup to Aaron Rodgers. They even raised the stakes by cutting seventh-round choice B.J. Coleman, leaving the Packers with only two quarterbacks on the roster. Harrell doesn’t have a strong arm, but he has been in the system. He finished the preseason with a strong showing. Rodgers has been able to stay healthy, only relying on former backup Matt Flynn to fill in for him for two starts. Many felt the Packers needed to make a move for a Colt McCoy or another veteran who would fit in the West Coast offense. It’s a gamble, but one the Packers were willing to make

Onward and upward: You have to figure the Packers go for offensive line help. They only kept two backups, veteran Evan Dietrich-Smith and Don Barclay. Derek Sherrod went on the physically unable to perform list so he’s unavailable until mid-season. The Packers are solid for starters with Marshall Newhouse and Bryan Bulaga at tackle, T.J. Lang and Josh Sitton at guard and Jeff Saturday at center. It’s not surprising the Packers cut most of the backups they brought to camp. Many were undrafted players from the past couple of years. It was a little surprising they released Andrew Datko, but they could be trying to get the seventh-round choice on the practice squad. The Packers figure to bring some of the released linemen to the practice squad.

What's next: Defensive coordinator Dom Capers ended up with six rookie draft choices and two undrafted rookies, safety Sean Richardson and rookie linebacker Deszman Moses, among the 26 defensive players on the roster. Caper’s mission is getting those eight young players to contribute to a defense that was one of the worst in football last season. The Packers have to feel good about the depth along the defensive line. C.J. Wilson moved into a starting role at defensive end and is backed up by veteran Phillip Merling and second-round choice Jerel Worthy. They also have fourth-round pick Alex Daniels. That’s so much better than a couple years ago when they had to take a veteran or two off the street to fill in at end. Capers has two rookies starting at linebacker, D.J. Smith on the inside and Nick Perry on the outside. Draft choices Casey Hayward and Jerron McMillian offer plenty of skills for the secondary but they aren’t being asked to start, yet.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/tag/_/name/nfl-roster-analysis-2012

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

thanks Frank,

 

[FrankRizzo]

8? Didn't Terrell Manning also make the team?

 

[HyponGrey]

We have a high powered passing offense and a running game that is equally soft. It makes sense that when you can't practice against a decent running game that you suck at run defense. Really it has been some time since we had any manner of run defense.

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

Yeah Hypon I hear what you are saying, but I don`t recall it being this poor before, and I take Franks point about being rookies.

 

[slaughter25]

Rookies make a big part of it. Also not game planning for a team and running specific plays for situations not necessarily changing based on what the other team is doing. Ill take your lead and use KC as an example. Watching the packers line up in nickle over and over and over during a KC 9 running play streak really lays it out. The coaches were looking to evaluate one on one match-ups with our guys vs KC guys more than the defense as a whole. Also generally speaking I thought the tackling did take a step back a bit on Thursday as a whole I have been fairly impressed with the packers this preseason especially the secondary. Big hits in the backfield by a CB or safety really get me pumped up so to see more of that is a welcoming sign IMO

As far as SF and their scrambling QB's. Dont expect to see anyone besides Alex Smith out there for them. Unless he gets hurt we will face him. I dont know about yall but in my eyes he for one is not a mobile QB.

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

I admit I`m not totally fluent in the game as I didn`t grow up watching it, or was coached at school, so I bow to those of you more knowledgable than me, but I admit to nearly crapping myself everytime Kansas ran it.

 

[slaughter25]

I admit I`m not totally fluent in the game as I didn`t grow up watching it, or was coached at school, so I bow to those of you more knowledgable than me, but I admit to nearly crapping myself everytime Kansas ran it.

I felt the same way watching it live. I couldn't believe some of the holes their RB could have walked through for 5+ yds. I guess I'm just trying to stay positive moving into the regular season.

 

[FrankRizzo]

I felt the same way watching it live. I couldn't believe some of the holes their RB could have walked through for 5+ yds. I guess I'm just trying to stay positive moving into the regular season.

I rewatched them on DVR and it was the ILB fault.... kept going to the wrong gaps. This is where the loss of Desmond Bishop will hurt like hell.
Also, hopefully, will hurt Da Bears as Urlacher is injured too apparently.... hopefully we run thru them in week 2 for 200 yards on the ground. 130 from Cedric, 40 from 2 Rodgers scrambles, and 30 from 2 Alex Green draws.

 

[Bogart]

As bad as this defense has looked in preseason and memories of all the stress they gave from last season and not being able to stop anyone from scoring and driving up and down the field, the defense really does concern me since the schedule is much tougher.

 

[TJV]

IMO it’s a mistake to put too much emphasis on either run or pass defense because teams that excel in one phase can slide down the rankings in the other phase and still have a good defense. For example, rush yards surrendered in the fourth quarter for a team with a big lead don’t matter. IOW IMO points surrendered for the D and point differential for the team should be the gold standard in evaluating team defense. Obviously the Packers D has to be better this season, but mostly vs. the pass IMO. In fact the Packers 2011 stats vs. the rush were very similar to their 2010 stats.

Really it has been some time since we had any manner of run defense.

In the regular season, the Packers 2009 surrendered about 83 rush yds/game and 3.6 yds/rush. That was good enough to finish first in the league in the former and tied for second in the latter.

 

[HyponGrey]

... Packers 2011 stats vs. the rush were very similar to their 2010 stats.In the regular season, the Packers 2009 surrendered about 83 rush yds/game and 3.6 yds/rush. That was good enough to finish first in the league in the former and tied for second in the latter.

I stick to my guns, as a young man, 2009 was "some time" ago

 

[milani]

Our defense will need to get the turnovers like it did last season. They won't be a shutdown defense. Capers is armed with a lot of new bodies who will get on the field for sure with our history of injuries on the D. And raw as they will be it is an opportunity for these kids to earn their way into the NFL if they are made for it.
With that said our offense and special teams will still need to put up a lot of points again if they can. Otherwise, we are looking at a mediocre season.

 

[HyponGrey]

Any guesses on who plays in the Nickel and Dime packages? Jennings or McMillian could come in, but its just as likely Bush moves to the FS and Burnett moves over. McMillian has also seen reps as the Dime CB.

 

[GreenBlood]

As a foriegner, has there been some drastic change to the rules on tackling, or is our run defense really as poor as it looks recently ????

I`ve seen all four of the preseason games so far, and I cringe when the opposition run the ball at us.
Kansas City being a perfect example. The 49ers have three scrambling quarterbacks on their books at the moment who will kill us when we play them. IMHO

Preseason = glorified practice. This is a judgment that can't really be accurately made until about a month into the real games.

 

[bozz_2006]

Just to add to Greenblood's post: the reason why it's considered glorified practice is because team's don't gameplan to win. They're more interested in seeing how this inside linebacker will perform in pass coverage, or how that defensive tackle will perform when given two-gap responsibility, or how this cornerback will perform in cover-2. They create situations to see what these guys can do with specific assignments. It's about assessing how strong their strengths are, and how weak their weaknesses are, so there are no surprises once the regular season starts.

 

[13 Times Champs]

I didn't see the KC game. But the games I have watched in the preseason I thought the tackling was better. Like has been said those weren't starters in the KC game for the most part.

 

[GeeDogWarrior]

I thought our pass rush looked a lot better this preseason compared to last year....
we got pressure with a 3 man rush... a lot of young guys thou, so idk.... Our D isn't gonna be 2010 good, but it'll probably be close to 09' good thou.