Fire Capers

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Southpaw

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The numbers we've given up in the playoffs over the last 4 seasons it's absolutely staggering.

Capers cannot be blamed for everything. Players have to show up and make plays.

But Capers has been running this defense for 4 seasons now. And our players still can't tackle and still can't do things like playing simple assignment football. Some of our players are unaware of the situation, get caught out of position, blown coverages, missed gap assignments.

Now again, ultimately that comes down to the player to do all this on gameday.

But it also reflects upon the coordinator because he's the one who has to instill these kinds of things in his players, he's the one who has to prepare them for the situations in games, he's the one who has to make adjustments. And he hasn't been doing that clearly. If a player isn't doing his job, then it should be on the coach/coordinator to find someone who can or at the very least hold said player accountable for playing like a bum.

I think sometimes as an organization and as a fanbase too, that we cling on to nostalgia. We still look at Tramon Williams as a play maker who was on fire during our SB run in 201o and really has been god awful since then, but it's almost like everyone holds out hope that he's going to return to that form and play like that all the time. Same with James Starks. Tramon was an UDFA and usually, players go undrafted for a reason. Every player has the potential to breakout for a few games, but nobody cares about what a player can do for an organization for a few games, they care about consistency.

We need better players just as much as we need a new coordinator. We need a coordinator and or a player on this defense that is going to bring discipline and accountability. If you ask me that's what is missing.


Also slightly off topic, I really think our stance on Free Agency within this organization hurts us as well. Nobody wants to take a chance on a free agent that could potentially fill a hole and fix an issue that we have. We'd rather stay with our own players and hope they can fill the void or we try to do it through the draft.
 

GreenBlood

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McCarthy: "I feel very confident that Dom Capers will be our defensive coordinator... Feel very secure Dom Capers is going to be our defensive coordinator, but I'm not doing my job if I don't evaluate everyone"

The point being that he hasn't completed his post-season analysis with his coaching staff. Bringing back Capers is going to require a new contract, and Capers isn't going to sign anything less than three years. I'm 50-50 on whether they'll re-sign him or not. MM must know that if he brings him back and nothing changes, then he'll be held to account himself.
 

Southpaw

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The point being that he hasn't completed his post-season analysis with his coaching staff. Bringing back Capers is going to require a new contract, and Capers isn't going to sign anything less than three years. I'm 50-50 on whether they'll re-sign him or not. MM must know that if he brings him back and nothing changes, then he'll be held to account himself.

Is that kind of decision really up to McCarthy though? Doesn't that have to go through the President and GM?
 

GreenBlood

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Dom Capers said he wants to coach for a long time and plans to be with Packers next season, if MM wants him, of course.

Capers: "We have a young defense that is ascending. All of the statistics point to that. I feel awful about the way we played because you want to play your best game and we didn't. I accept responsibility for that."

It's true that our defense is very young at many positions, and that's the only reason I won't raise Cain if he is back next year, but if he is, there had better be tangible, meaningful improvements made.
 

GreenBlood

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Is that kind of decision really up to McCarthy though? Doesn't that have to go through the President and GM?

Yes, but it would be extremely unusual for a GM to deny a coach the assistants that he wants. That's the kind of thing you expect form Jerry Jones.
 

NorthWestCheeseHead

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Also slightly off topic, I really think our stance on Free Agency within this organization hurts us as well. Nobody wants to take a chance on a free agent that could potentially fill a hole and fix an issue that we have. We'd rather stay with our own players and hope they can fill the void or we try to do it through the draft.

I'd rather go for a low priced talent for the long term instead of gambling at a high price for a short term flash in the pan.
 

7thFloorRA

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It's true that our defense is very young at many positions, and that's the only reason I won't raise Cain if he is back next year, but if he is, there had better be tangible, meaningful improvements made.

The discipline and tackling have got to improve. No more blown coverages, blown contain assignments and no more half *** arm tackles. It was absolutely insulting to no end to hear MM blame everything on the CBA and the lack of practices. EVERY other team follows the same rules. It doesn't stop the good ones from playing a punishing brand of physical defense.
 

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The discipline and tackling have got to improve. No more blown coverages, blown contain assignments and no more half *** arm tackles. It was absolutely insulting to no end to hear MM blame everything on the CBA and the lack of practices. EVERY other team follows the same rules. It doesn't stop the good ones from playing a punishing brand of physical defense.

Exactly. The whole dynamic of the 49er's on defense changed during a lockout and a new head coach. Houston was the same deal, new Coordinator, no offeseason and from 32nd to top 3 in defense. If a coordinator who's been with the team for 3 seasons can't get his team to play better, then he's clearly not a "genius" like some here enjoy labeling him
 

FrankRizzo

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The numbers we've given up in the playoffs over the last 4 seasons it's absolutely staggering.

Capers cannot be blamed for everything. Players have to show up and make plays.

But Capers has been running this defense for 4 seasons now. And our players still can't tackle and still can't do things like playing simple assignment football. Some of our players are unaware of the situation, get caught out of position, blown coverages, missed gap assignments.

Now again, ultimately that comes down to the player to do all this on gameday.

But it also reflects upon the coordinator because he's the one who has to instill these kinds of things in his players, he's the one who has to prepare them for the situations in games, he's the one who has to make adjustments. And he hasn't been doing that clearly. If a player isn't doing his job, then it should be on the coach/coordinator to find someone who can or at the very least hold said player accountable for playing like a bum.

We need better players just as much as we need a new coordinator. We need a coordinator and or a player on this defense that is going to bring discipline and accountability. If you ask me that's what is missing.

Also slightly off topic, I really think our stance on Free Agency within this organization hurts us as well. Nobody wants to take a chance on a free agent that could potentially fill a hole and fix an issue that we have. We'd rather stay with our own players and hope they can fill the void or we try to do it through the draft.
Agree with you on the defense and Capers. Same issues over and over.
I see no intensity on our defense compared to the 49ers & Seahawks. Passion. Fire. Aggressiveness.

I used to get mad at our anti-free agent stance, but seeing what a waste of money the super prize Mario Williams was this season..... reminding me of our mistake with Joe Johnson.... those were 2 DL who were "proven" studs already at the NFL level.
And with our injury luck, paying any big $ to one guy will backfire.

I thought Anthony Hargrove was a good cheap signing because he has intensity & fire. But apparently that's not what the team likes on defense.
 

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Agree with you on the defense and Capers. Same issues over and over.
I see no intensity on our defense compared to the 49ers & Seahawks. Passion. Fire. Aggressiveness.

I used to get mad at our anti-free agent stance, but seeing what a waste of money the super prize Mario Williams was this season..... reminding me of our mistake with Joe Johnson.... those were 2 DL who were "proven" studs already at the NFL level.
And with our injury luck, paying any big $ to one guy will backfire.

I thought Anthony Hargrove was a good cheap signing because he has intensity & fire. But apparently that's not what the team likes on defense.

Mario actually wasn't bad the second half of the season. He finished with 10.5 sacks and 2 Forced Fumbles. For a 5T defensive end that's actually not all that bad. Anytime you go to a new team there is going to be an adjustment period. Some guys take longer than others. Granted they did overpay him, quite disgustingly in fact.

But yeah we have no fire on this defense. We need a guy like Ray Lewis or Brian Dawkins that's the kind of player we need on our team. Someone that gives us an edge, someone who elevates the play of guys around him, a guy who is going to hold himself and everyone else around him accountable. Nobody on our team does that.
 

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McCarthy said he was "appalled" at a question about Capers status.I feel very confident Dom Capers is going to be our defensive coordinator." But will still evaluate all coaches.

That seems to sound like he's hear to stay. Without a litany of good candidates and our normal conservative approach under this Packers administration, I guess this doesn't really surprise me we're sticking with Capers.

But really McCarthy, you've seen these playoff games. You were there in 2011. Can you really be that "appalled"??
 

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McCarthy said he was "appalled" at a question about Capers status. But will still evaluate all coaches.

That seems to sound like he's hear to stay. Without a litany of good candidates and our normal conservative approach under this Packers administration, I guess this doesn't really surprise me we're sticking with Capers.

But really McCarthy, you've seen these playoff games. You were there in 2011. Can you really be that "appalled"??

I like MM but sometimes he seems very dense.
 

Southpaw

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I like MM but sometimes he seems very dense.

I tend to agree. Often during a game when something doesn't go right he has this inept..... almost clueless demeanor about him.
 

NelsonsLongCatch

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I'm officially on the "fire Capers" bandwagon. Aaron Rodgers is 5-3 in the playoffs. In those three losses, the opposing team scored 51, 37 and 45 points. In the most recent loss, the Packers were totally unprepared for the "read option" and never adjusted. There is no excuse for that.

I have no suggestion of who should replace him so please don't reply with the standard "Who do you suggest should run the defense?" question. I'm an observer, not a GM.
 

GreenBlood

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McCarthy said he was "appalled" at a question about Capers status.I feel very confident Dom Capers is going to be our defensive coordinator." But will still evaluate all coaches.

That seems to sound like he's hear to stay. Without a litany of good candidates and our normal conservative approach under this Packers administration, I guess this doesn't really surprise me we're sticking with Capers.

But really McCarthy, you've seen these playoff games. You were there in 2011. Can you really be that "appalled"??

He said he was appalled at being posed the question before being given time to make an objective decision based on an in-depth analysis of the season. He didn't say he was appalled at the idea of Capers not being here next year.
 

PackFanNChiTown

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http://www.packers.com/news-and-eve...o-return/91bd0512-a1b9-4f01-b8cd-430acc531f59

Vic Ketchman said:
Dom Capers says he plans to return

Packers coordinators critique units in final coaches interviews

GREEN BAY—Dom Capers plans to be the Packers’ defensive coordinator next season.

“My plan is to be here,” Capers told reporters during final coaches interviews on Tuesday. “We have a young group that’s ascending. All the stats say that.”

Capers took the Packers defense from last in the league in 2011 to No. 11 in 2012, but it’s the 579 yards of offense the Packers surrendered in Saturday’s playoff loss to the 49ers that has made Capers the target for blame by fans.

“The challenge is to make sure we get this fixed,” Capers said.

Capers’ critique of his defense’s performance on Saturday focused on having allowed 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to scramble for too many rushing yards in the first half, and for having defensed the read-option unsuccessfully in the second half. Kaepernick finished the game with 181 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

Kaepernick’s ability to convert third-and-long plays was a game-long issue. It resulted in the 49ers owning a 16-minute time of possession advantage.

“We had a third-and-10 and he threw the ball over the top of us. On third-and-eight he ran for a touchdown. We blitzed them on third-and-10 and he pulled it down and ran for 18 yards,” Capers said. “Tried to go to a three-deep zone because of the zone read play. We overpursued a zone read and they ran a dive for 26 yards.

“When you play a quarterback like him, you have to adjust your rush lanes. The adjustment we made was we went to a spy technique and he juked us on the spy call,” Capers said in explaining the various adjustments he made in an attempt to stop Kaepernick. All of them were unsuccessful.

“It stings because it’s when you want to play your best. This defense made great strides this season,” he added.

Asked what his defense needs going forward, Capers said: “We’ve made strides in terms of rushing the passer. We have to find ways to make plays on the ball and we have to find ways to make the game one-dimensional.”

Packers Offensive Coordinator Tom Clements offered this critique of his unit’s performance this season: “We were a little inconsistent early on. We started to run the ball a little better. Unfortunately, we weren’t good enough to get it done in the last game.”

A struggling rush offense camouflaged a flagging yards-per-reception average. The Packers averaged 13.7 yards per reception in 2011. That number fell to 11.6 this season.

“A lot of teams played (cover two),” Clements said of a double-high safety coverage that focuses on denying the deep pass. “Consequently, we were throwing a lot of short passes.”

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sacked 51 times, which is tied for next to last in the league.

“We obviously want to reduce that,” Clements said, but added that they don’t want to restrict Rodgers from extending plays with his mobility. “We don’t want to limit him. It’s something we’re willing to live with because those can be big plays.”

Special Teams Coordinator Shawn Slocum coached the most consistently productive unit on the Packers team this season, but a fumbled punt by Jeremy Ross that was recovered by the 49ers at the 9-yard line led to a 49ers touchdown and it was a turning point play in the game.

“We were consistent on special teams this year. That’s what’s disappointing about the San Francisco game,” Slocum said. “I thought (Ross) was overly aggressive. He committed the No. 1 error. You have to catch the ball before you run. That play really hurt us.”

Tuesday was a day for talking about hurt.
 

adambr2

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The adjustment we made was we went to a spy technique and he juked us on the spy call,” Capers said in explaining the various adjustments he made in an attempt to stop Kaepernick. All of them were unsuccessful.

Who, Dom? Did you really think that Erik Walden was going to cut the mustard as your spy?

Also, you said you made adjustments, they just didn't work. Your defensive leader says you didn't make any adjustments. Is it too much to ask that you would all have been on the same page for the biggest game of the year?
 

FrankRizzo

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Rewatch the Rams games, both of them, and see how to defend Kaepernick.
It's not like the guy is unstoppable. He only looked that way against us.

What we did is a crime. We acted like we were preparing for Alex Smith all week long. Or Pocket Joe Montana.
 

NelsonsLongCatch

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The adjustment we made was we went to a spy technique and he juked us on the spy call,” Capers said in explaining the various adjustments he made in an attempt to stop Kaepernick. All of them were unsuccessful.

Who, Dom? Did you really think that Erik Walden was going to cut the mustard as your spy?

Also, you said you made adjustments, they just didn't work. Your defensive leader says you didn't make any adjustments. Is it too much to ask that you would all have been on the same page for the biggest game of the year?

Great article on ESPN where they use advanced metrics to rank 3-4 outside linebackers. Out of the 32 outside linebackers who qualified for the list, Erik Walden came in 32nd. Using advanced metrics, assuming you're blind or never saw him play on television, ranks Walden the worst OLB in the NFL.
 

TJV

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The plan going into the season was not to have Erik Walden start at OLB. That's why Perry was drafted.
I still want to know why, though both their contracts are up, people assume Jennings is gone but that Capers is staying. I mean, I get that sense too and I don't know why. Serious question.
There is no salary cap for coaches, the Packers can pay Capers as much as they want. That's obviously not the case with Jennings.
 

PackFanNChiTown

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Great article on ESPN where they use advanced metrics to rank 3-4 outside linebackers. Out of the 32 outside linebackers who qualified for the list, Erik Walden came in 32nd. Using advanced metrics, assuming you're blind or never saw him play on television, ranks Walden the worst OLB in the NFL.
Do you have a link available?
 

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A typical MM response that anyone on this board could have predicted. The problem is, saying the same old thing and following the same old script doesn't work anymore after 2 straight seasons of the poorest defense in the playoffs.

And its not like there weren't signs that this could happen during the regular season. It took us 3 tries to finally stop AP, and one wonders what would have happened if Minn would have had a healthy Ponder rather than Webb. The Indy game was another one, the giants game another. All were proof of major problems on defense.
 
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