Getting over the hump

[Deleted member 6794]

That road record is pretty impressive actually. .500 on the road against PO teams isn't something to take lightly.

3-2 at home however is a little shameful

The huge problem being that the Packers had to play two thirds of the playoff games on the road over that period.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

If I remember correctly, the offense couldn't do jack diddly to the Falcons either. We moved the balled successfully on maybe 2 or 3 drives, but when Rip fumbled at the goal line it all went down hill.

Yes, defense must improve(obviously). The offense isn't off the hook either based on the last game.

There's no doubt the offense struggled in the first half vs. the Falcons but mostly the unit carried the team to the NFCCG last season. The problem being that as soon as the offense doesn't perform close to perfection the team is doomed against good opponents as the defense hasn't been able to get any stops.

 

[Mavster]

Atl 1st drive - 13 plays, 80 yards & TD
Atl 2nd drive - 12 plays, 60 yards & FG
Atl 3rd drive - 9 plays, 80 yards & TD
Atl 4th drive - 4 plays, 25 yards & Punt
Atl 5th drive - 9 plays, 68 yards & TD
Atl 6th drive - 2 plays, 75 yards & TD
Atl 7th drive - 8 plays, 75 yards & TD
Atl 8th drive - 7 plays, 33 yards & TD

Pathetic defense is the hump we're trying to get over.

 

[OldSchool101]

Huge caveat though considering we've been eliminated in the playoffs 7 out of the past 8 seasons due to the defense giving up nearly 37 points per game in 7 losses.

I'm sick and tired of praying for good health to take us to the promised land.

Praying for health for our team isnt exclusive to our Defensive mentality nor can it be conversely blamed on giving up 37 points per game. It also spans to coaches (as we found out recently) staff and their families. The health of our entire organization is what makes this team successful. While I sense and empathize with your frustration..we are always 1 injury away from a lost season. Having disregard or even furthermore having disdain for the basic fundamentals of a teams health isn't the answer IMO. But I respect your right to disagree

 

[Sunshinepacker]

While you're at it, humor me with how many starters the team was missing on defense in the NFCCG shellacking by Atlanta.

Eddie Lacy at RB, Sam Shields at CB and JC Tretter at Center. Falcons were missing Marcus Trufant at CB.

Also curious why the defense is constantly blamed when, in the first half, the Packers offense accomplished exactly this (in order): missed FG, fumble, punt, INT....yeah, the defense was the whole reason the Packers lost. I'm not sure why exactly anyone expected the defense to be able to stop the Falcons, the entire game depended on the offense keeping up and they got shut out in the first half.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Eddie Lacy at RB, Sam Shields at CB and JC Tretter at Center. Falcons were missing Marcus Trufant at CB.

Also curious why the defense is constantly blamed when, in the first half, the Packers offense accomplished exactly this (in order): missed FG, fumble, punt, INT....yeah, the defense was the whole reason the Packers lost. I'm not sure why exactly anyone expected the defense to be able to stop the Falcons, the entire game depended on the offense keeping up and they got shut out in the first half.

Once again, there's no doubt the offense struggled in the first half but teams can't expect to win games by giving up 44 points.

 

[rmontro]

Once again, there's no doubt the offense struggled in the first half but teams can't expect to win games by giving up 44 points.

It may be we just weren't going to win that game. But this is why you need a better defense: For those times when the offense lets up (and it will happen), you need a solid defense to keep you in the game, or even win it for you.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

But this is why you need a better defense: For those times when the offense lets up (and it will happen), you need a solid defense to keep you in the game, or even win it for you.

Absolutely true, just take a look at the Packers Super Bowl run in 2010. The defense held Philadelphia and Chicago to under 17 points and contributed two interception return touchdowns vs. the Falcons and Steelers.

 

[rmontro]

Absolutely true, just take a look at the Packers Super Bowl run in 2010. The defense held Philadelphia and Chicago to under 17 points and contributed two interception return touchdowns vs. the Falcons and Steelers.

Perfect example. I felt really confident that year because I finally felt like we could depend on the defense to win a game.

 

[Half Empty]

Absolutely true, just take a look at the Packers Super Bowl run in 2010. The defense held Philadelphia and Chicago to under 17 points and contributed two interception return touchdowns vs. the Falcons and Steelers.

The flip side would be 2011. Although the D pretty much did their job in the one regular season loss, that year's one-and-done was a combination of mediocre offense combined with a porous D.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

Once again, there's no doubt the offense struggled in the first half but teams can't expect to win games by giving up 44 points.

Fully agree. Just find it strange that so much vitriol is spoken about the defense and yet the offense, the far more talented side of the team, scoring 0 points in the first half, doesn't really get much blame. Same thing happened in the NFC Champ Game against the Seahawks (though there at least the excuse could have been that Seattle has a really good defense).

Against the Falcons, nothing went the Packers way. However, going into the game I don't think there's a single honest person who thought the defense was going to hold the Falcons to under 30 points so, of the two, the offense seems like it underperformed to a much larger extent than the defense. McCarthy has one really great reason to keep Capers around and that's the fact that Capers gets 90% of the blame for everything and MM gets off pretty much blameless for coaching an offense that, at times, can be pretty awful (let's not forget the terrific gameplan against the Bills in 2014 that cost the Packers home field advantage for the playoffs, that didn't come back to bite the team).

 

[Sunshinepacker]

Absolutely true, just take a look at the Packers Super Bowl run in 2010. The defense held Philadelphia and Chicago to under 17 points and contributed two interception return touchdowns vs. the Falcons and Steelers.

2010 was a great year no doubt, but A) that team had MUCH better players on defense than this one and B) let's not forget that the Eagles featured Michael Vick at QB and the Bears had Jay Cutler (who got injured) and Caleb Hanie (!!!) at QB. Sorry, not truly relevant but i don't think it should ever be forgotten that the Bears had to rely on Caleb Hanie in a playoff game....

I still consider it a pretty astounding effort that the defense held the Giants to only 13 points in this year's playoffs. However, the Packers probably should have lost to the Cowboys but luckily Jason Garrett was saving Zeke for next year. Team definitely needs more talent on defense if they want to be able to field an elite defense.

 

[Mavster]

Fully agree. Just find it strange that so much vitriol is spoken about the defense and yet the offense, the far more talented side of the team, scoring 0 points in the first half, doesn't really get much blame. Same thing happened in the NFC Champ Game against the Seahawks (though there at least the excuse could have been that Seattle has a really good defense).

Against the Falcons, nothing went the Packers way. However, going into the game I don't think there's a single honest person who thought the defense was going to hold the Falcons to under 30 points so, of the two, the offense seems like it underperformed to a much larger extent than the defense. McCarthy has one really great reason to keep Capers around and that's the fact that Capers gets 90% of the blame for everything and MM gets off pretty much blameless for coaching an offense that, at times, can be pretty awful (let's not forget the terrific gameplan against the Bills in 2014 that cost the Packers home field advantage for the playoffs, that didn't come back to bite the team).

I find it amazing that fans such as yourself can give the defense a pass in that game vs Atlanta.

Atl 1st drive - 13 plays, 80 yards & TD
Atl 2nd drive - 12 plays, 60 yards & FG
Atl 3rd drive - 9 plays, 80 yards & TD
Atl 4th drive - 4 plays, 25 yards & Punt
Atl 5th drive - 9 plays, 68 yards & TD
Atl 6th drive - 2 plays, 75 yards & TD
Atl 7th drive - 8 plays, 75 yards & TD
Atl 8th drive - 7 plays, 33 yards & TD

How can any sane person look at Atlanta's drives in that game and then sit here and say it was the primarily the offenses fault we lost. They allowed 5 drives of 70 or more yards that resulted in touchdowns. But let's blame the offense for not playing to absolute perfection. God forbid we ask the defense to force a punt or two. J

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Fully agree. Just find it strange that so much vitriol is spoken about the defense and yet the offense, the far more talented side of the team, scoring 0 points in the first half, doesn't really get much blame. Same thing happened in the NFC Champ Game against the Seahawks (though there at least the excuse could have been that Seattle has a really good defense).

I guess the reason for that being that it's entirely possible to win a game by scoring 21 or 22 points while a team is all but guaranteed to lose by allowing 44.

2010 was a great year no doubt, but A) that team had MUCH better players on defense than this one and B) let's not forget that the Eagles featured Michael Vick at QB and the Bears had Jay Cutler (who got injured) and Caleb Hanie (!!!) at QB. Sorry, not truly relevant but i don't think it should ever be forgotten that the Bears had to rely on Caleb Hanie in a playoff game....

I still consider it a pretty astounding effort that the defense held the Giants to only 13 points in this year's playoffs. Team definitely needs more talent on defense if they want to be able to field an elite defense.

While I agree about the Packers benefitting from facing Haine in the NFCCG Vick was actually pretty good in 2010 ranking fourth in passer rating.

The Packers defense has a history of playing extremely well against below average offenses, therefore them allowing only 13 points against the 26th ranked Giants offense wasn't a huge surprise.

BTW the Packers don't need to have an elite defense to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender but a respectable capable of at least getting occasional stops.

 

[OldSchool101]

The flip side would be 2011. Although the D pretty much did their job in the one regular season loss, that year's one-and-done was a combination of mediocre offense combined with a porous D.

Another factor was 4 Offensive GB turnovers and a 5th that was luckily reversed. I remember at least oneof those fumbles sporting NY the ball goal to go and another we were in FG range. Doing that to a Defense is a kiss of death and at the time I blamed a sloppy Offensive performance.
At a time when our #1 Offense should've been rallying in support of coach OC Philbin burying his son.. we looked embarrassingly puzzled and out of sorts

 

[rmontro]

Fully agree. Just find it strange that so much vitriol is spoken about the defense and yet the offense, the far more talented side of the team, scoring 0 points in the first half, doesn't really get much blame.

The offense has let down in key spots several times in playoff losses. But simultaneously to those occasions, the defense was usually also collapsing.

Besides, why is the offense the "far more talented side" of the team, when Thompson has been drafting heavily for defense for years and years now? The failure to build a solid defense is part of the issue. Either Thompson's draft picks haven't been so hot, or our defensive coaches aren't getting the job done. Or both.

 

[rodell330]

Altho the defense has cost us big time the coaching could use some fine tuning and turnover as well. I know there's already a "Fire Capers" thread but the organization needs to move on from Dom after this season...unless they drastically improve on that side of the ball. I'm talking at least top 10...if they rank in the lower half of the league yet again they HAVE to replace Capers. If they happen to win the SB with a bad defense then you kindly ask him to retire so you don't have to fire him.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Another factor was 4 Offensive GB turnovers and a 5th that was luckily reversed. I remember at least oneof those fumbles sporting NY the ball goal to go and another we were in FG range. Doing that to a Defense is a kiss of death and at the time I blamed a sloppy Offensive performance.

There's no doubt the offense didn't perform up to expectations against the Giants but it doesn't change the fact that the defense hasn't been able to step up and win a playoff game for the team in six consecutive years. Once the offense doesn't perform at a level close to perfection the team is doomed.

Altho the defense has cost us big time the coaching could use some fine tuning and turnover as well. I know there's already a "Fire Capers" thread but the organization needs to move on from Dom after this season...unless they drastically improve on that side of the ball. I'm talking at least top 10...if they rank in the lower half of the league yet again they HAVE to replace Capers. If they happen to win the SB with a bad defense then you kindly ask him to retire so you don't have to fire him.

There has been talk about firing Capers for several years yet McCarthy hasn't shown any interest in replacing him. I don't believe that will change anytime soon.

 

[rmontro]

There has been talk about firing Capers for several years yet McCarthy hasn't shown any interest in replacing him. I don't believe that will change anytime soon.

Which brings up the question WHY is McCarthy such a firm supporter of Capers? I had kind of come to the conclusion that he knew Ted wasn't giving him anything to work with, but I'm not sure that's the whole story either. Capers has shown he CAN run a good defense, but he's fielded a lot of stinkers too.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Which brings up the question WHY is McCarthy such a firm supporter of Capers? I had kind of come to the conclusion that he knew Ted wasn't giving him anything to work with, but I'm not sure that's the whole story either. Capers has shown he CAN run a good defense, but he's fielded a lot of stinkers too.

McCarthy is absolutely convinced Capers is a terrific defensive coordinator, most likely meaning he blames Thompson for not providing enough talent on that side of the ball.

 

[sschind]

McCarthy is absolutely convinced Capers is a terrific defensive coordinator, most likely meaning he blames Thompson for not providing enough talent on that side of the ball.

Or simply that his opinions are different than ours and his matter more than ours do.

 

[Half Empty]

Or simply that his opinions are different than ours and his matter more than ours do.

If MM thinks Capers is great, then obviously his opinions are different than ours. Not sure what point you're making.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Or simply that his opinions are different than ours and his matter more than ours do.

I'm quite sure McCarthy isn't pleased with the level the defense has performed at for most of the last six seasons. The head coach holding on to Capers indicates he blames a lack of talent for the unit's shortcomings.

 

[rmontro]

I'm quite sure McCarthy isn't pleased with the level the defense has performed at for most of the last six seasons. The head coach holding on to Capers indicates he blames a lack of talent for the unit's shortcomings.

Maybe McCarthy likes running his offensive unit against Capers' porous defenses in practice.

 

[sschind]

If MM thinks Capers is great, then obviously his opinions are different than ours. Not sure what point you're making.

Wimm thinks its pretty clear that McCarthy feels the defensive woes are Teds fault because he continues to support Capers. My point was that maybe he doesn't think that at all maybe he just doesn't think Capers is as bad as we think he is.