Herd is pretty much spot on

[AKCheese]

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[rmontro]

A lot of people have painted Cowherd as a Packer hater, but I don't see it. Last week he said we were the best team in the NFC. This week he admitted he got fooled.

He's exaggerating a bit, we have some stars, but he's right, we don't have a Julio Jones. We can win the NFC North most likely, so we're probably going to get into the playoffs (again). So everyone will be able to point to the nine straight playoffs and say how great the status quo is. We're a good team, but can we match up to the most elite teams in the league? Picking so low in the draft for all these years has been catching up with us.

 

[AKCheese]

New England picks on average lower, and they seem to be doing alright.

 

[ls1bob]

I don't care much for Cowherd,I think he is blow hard at times. People can red X me if they want,but if I could I would give him two "WINNER" trophies. he summed up our team and Aaron Rodgers perfectly in less than 2mins 30secs. We need better defense to support him. While he is great,he can have a bad day at the office like all of us,and when he does we need a D and supporting cast to help out. All that said,Go Pack Go!

 

[Curly Calhoun]

Cowherd is a man of conviction. It's just that his convictions change week-to-week........

 

[PackAttack12]

I've been saying this for the longest. This team is so ultra dependent upon Aaron Rodgers it's just crazy. Cowherd's a troll like many of the others like Bayless, but in this instance, he's pretty spot on. The only true difference maker that it seems we have on defense is Mike Daniels, and he's a recently emerging player. We'll see how he continues to develop.

Offensively, we have a guy wearing 88 in our backfield. We have a competent group of receivers, but I wouldn't call them elite. Jordy no longer has the ability to take the top off of a defense, Cobb is a reliable passing catching slot guy that can make some plays, we'll see how Devante continues to emerge as an outside playmaker.

Just recently the team felt it was necessarily to give Rodgers weapons at tight end since losing Finley.

I said after the NFCCG that outside of Rodgers, you had an elite pass blocking offensive line, and reasonably talented receivers. But when you really start to look at the team beyond that, what is there?

I maintain that if you would have put any other quarterback in football on our team over the past few seasons, our team doesn't have anywhere near the success that it's had with Rodgers behind center. But you take Rodgers and literally put him on any of the other 31 teams, that team is immediately better, regardless of the system.

And that's a huge part of why this team has gotten complacent. Because they know that they can, and Rodgers can and will continue to magically produce 10+ win seasons and win a playoff game or two every year.

 

[Pkrjones]

Tough to hear, but can't really argue with anything he says . Score 28 against GB on the road & chances are the Packers lose. Take Rodgers off the team and they're mediocre at best. Every year there seems to be a couple of glaring weak spots (TE/ILB (& playoff coaching/game management) in '14, WR/ILB '15, RB/CB '16, OLB/OL '17) that TT just doesn't fill with any urgency. Trust the system, trust the development always tends to leave the team deficient in playoffs to make a serious run at the SB.

 

[Dirty Sanchez]

I've been saying this for the longest. This team is so ultra dependent upon Aaron Rodgers it's just crazy. Cowherd's a troll like many of the others like Bayless, but in this instance, he's pretty spot on. The only true difference maker that it seems we have on defense is Mike Daniels, and he's a recently emerging player. We'll see how he continues to develop.

Offensively, we have a guy wearing 88 in our backfield. We have a competent group of receivers, but I wouldn't call them elite. Jordy no longer has the ability to take the top off of a defense, Cobb is a reliable passing catching slot guy that can make some plays, we'll see how Devante continues to emerge as an outside playmaker.

Just recently the team felt it was necessarily to give Rodgers weapons at tight end since losing Finley.

I said after the NFCCG that outside of Rodgers, you had an elite pass blocking offensive line, and reasonably talented receivers. But when you really start to look at the team beyond that, what is there?

I maintain that if you would have put any other quarterback in football on our team over the past few seasons, our team doesn't have anywhere near the success that it's had with Rodgers behind center. But you take Rodgers and literally put him on any of the other 31 teams, that team is immediately better, regardless of the system.

And that's a huge part of why this team has gotten complacent. Because they know that they can, and Rodgers can and will continue to magically produce 10+ win seasons and win a playoff game or two every year.

I have fought the same feeling because I didn't really want to believe it. But it is becoming more and more clear to me that everything seems to get loaded onto Rodgers shoulders. I hope we as a team, come to our senses and realize that this has to change. It starts with the coaches. Riding on Rodgers coattails is not going to bring back the Lombardi trophy.
Go Pack!

DS

 

[PackerDNA]

The problem with Daniels is that he plays a position that's a lot easier to nuetrilize than say, a roaming pass rushing OLB.

 

[PackAttack12]

The problem with Daniels is that he plays a position that's a lot easier to nuetrilize than say, a roaming pass rushing OLB.

But we have Clay Matth-who.....

 

[Mondio]

I have fought the same feeling because I didn't really want to believe it. But it is becoming more and more clear to me that everything seems to get loaded onto Rodgers shoulders. I hope we as a team, come to our senses and realize that this has to change. It starts with the coaches. Riding on Rodgers coattails is not going to bring back the Lombardi trophy.
Go Pack!

DS

but how is it different than anybody else? Of course we need Rodgers to play well. Just like Seattle needs Earl Thomas to make their defense go or Chancellor. If they can't win on defense, they don't beat good teams. Or the Broncos, what happens if Miller can't be effective? they can't even make the playoffs. In big games, your big players need to step up. They have to, so our guy is Rodgers, what's the big deal? and what's happened in the past is in the past, the story for this seasons team hasn't been written after 2 weeks.

Take Atlanta's top 3 tackles out of the game, their top defender on the front 7, we won't even take Julio, but their 2nd best receiver for the game and they aren't ****ing touching the Packers at full strength either. I'm still not listening to Cowherd because i'm not for 2nd game of the season knee jerk analysis. Maybe our team is all Aaron Rodgers, but you're going to have to convince me that BahkT sucks, Bulaga sucks, Linsely sucks, Jordy sucks, Cobb sucks, Montgomery sucks, Adams sucks, then on defense, Daniels sucks, Clarks sucks, Matthew sucks, Perry sucks, King is a bust, Jones is a bust, Dix and Burnett suck. There are too many other good football players on this team to say it's all Rodgers.

We don't have a stifling defense, we don't it's still OK. The Broncos never had a great offense, neither does Seattle, I know, I know the Patriots. Exceptions don't prove rules and just last year, their defense gave them a couple plays in the 2nd half and their offense took advantage of it. in SUnday's game, our defense stuffed them for -11 yards and a 3 and out and our offense followed it up with -3 yards and a punt. you can't do that against high powered offenses like the Falcons. Just like teams can't have that happen against us or we end up burying them.

 

[Mondio]

But we have Clay Matth-who.....

he had a pretty decent game on Sunday, if we have that player all year we'll be just fine.

 

[PackAttack12]

he had a pretty decent game on Sunday, if we have that player all year we'll be just fine.

He made some good plays but still over pursued a lot trying to hit the home run, and consequently took himself out of the play. Definitely played better than I've seen him in a while, but again that still doesn't ease my concerns about our corners.

I'm hoping the pass rush of the first couple of weeks are an indication of what we can expect to see moving forward. That will make things a lot easier on the backend, but they are still just as susceptible to getting beat as last season and that's highly concerning to me.

I'm hoping a rookie or two really emerges throughout the season.

 

[Mondio]

He does over pursue, but watch any of those guys like that, and they all do the same thing quite often depending on what their role is. But he was pretty active, i'll take that all year from him. Might lose a few plays but overall it will be good.

 

[GleefulGary]

I've been saying this for the longest. This team is so ultra dependent upon Aaron Rodgers it's just crazy. Cowherd's a troll like many of the others like Bayless, but in this instance, he's pretty spot on. The only true difference maker that it seems we have on defense is Mike Daniels, and he's a recently emerging player. We'll see how he continues to develop.

Offensively, we have a guy wearing 88 in our backfield. We have a competent group of receivers, but I wouldn't call them elite. Jordy no longer has the ability to take the top off of a defense, Cobb is a reliable passing catching slot guy that can make some plays, we'll see how Devante continues to emerge as an outside playmaker.

Just recently the team felt it was necessarily to give Rodgers weapons at tight end since losing Finley.

I said after the NFCCG that outside of Rodgers, you had an elite pass blocking offensive line, and reasonably talented receivers. But when you really start to look at the team beyond that, what is there?

I maintain that if you would have put any other quarterback in football on our team over the past few seasons, our team doesn't have anywhere near the success that it's had with Rodgers behind center. But you take Rodgers and literally put him on any of the other 31 teams, that team is immediately better, regardless of the system.

And that's a huge part of why this team has gotten complacent. Because they know that they can, and Rodgers can and will continue to magically produce 10+ win seasons and win a playoff game or two every year.

Are you trying to argue Monty isn't a good back bc he's a former WR? Cause let me tell ya, dude is a top 10 back in the league. Great vision, runs hard, good size, and great out of the backfield.

Second, yes, we are dependent on our HOF QB. We would be stupid not to be. That means we've developed a system around his talents. So yes, we see a drop off if he's out. That happens to all teams, except the Pats on occasion.

We need another WR soon. Our OL is good. RB's are good. Upgraded the TE position.

This isn't Madden. This is real life. Can we not be realistic at all?

 

[PackAttack12]

Are you trying to argue Monty isn't a good back bc he's a former WR? Cause let me tell ya, dude is a top 10 back in the league. Great vision, runs hard, good size, and great out of the backfield.

Second, yes, we are dependent on our HOF QB. We would be stupid not to be. That means we've developed a system around his talents. So yes, we see a drop off if he's out. That happens to all teams, except the Pats on occasion.

We need another WR soon. Our OL is good. RB's are good. Upgraded the TE position.

This isn't Madden. This is real life. Can we not be realistic at all?

Montgomery I think will eventually turn into a really good back for us. I do however think that if it weren't for his ability to make plays in the passing game that he could potentially be a bit of a liability back there. He almost got AR killed on more than one occasion in blitz pickup. That's an issue. He runs hard, but I don't see a whole lot of cutback ability or the ability to make chicken soup out of chicken you know what when needed. Maybe I'm wrong. I just haven't seen enough evidence yet. However, it's true that he doesn't have the benefit of an elite running blocking o-line.

You said all that you said, and didn't mention a thing about our defense. That's really the elephant in the room.

Look, it's okay that we have built a system around our quarterback. But we don't have a ton of elite players. And when adversity hits, like Rip fumbling the football inside the 10 yard line, or Crosby missing a makeable field goal, or heaven forbid Rodgers commit a turnover, what happens? 31-0 happens. Quickly.

After that NFCCG debacle, we needed to put ourselves in a position to beat that team. And outside of hoping that a potential matchup is played in Lambeau this January, I don't see any evidence that this team is considerably more equip to handle the Falcons than it was 8 months ago. Yes, we dealt with a bunch of injuries on offense and were missing our only true difference maker on defense. But those corners are still atrocious.

Again, I'm hoping it can be rectified between now and January, because I think King has a lot of promise and if he is able to take a lot of leaps throughout the season, I think it will make a huge difference. Especially if our defensive front can create consistent pressure. But Randall and Rollins? Those two are a travesty right now. I still have a glimmer of hope for Rollins, but I think Randall is just about a lost cause.

Time will tell.

 

[Dantés]

I actually like Cowherd, but much of that is reactionary garbage.

This roster is littered with guys other than Rodgers who would make other teams better. They have one of the leagues best OL's, WR corps, TE groups, and maybe running backs, though it's early on Montgomery.

On defense, they are admittedly less talented, but Daniels, Perry, Clinton-Dix, and Burnett would start for a lot of teams, even those that already have good defenses.

Here's the reality-- for the Packers to beat a team like the Falcons, especially on the road, the offense needs to possess the ball and score consistently. That's just the nature of the roster makeup; there is more talent and better coaching on offense than on defense. The corners are such that GB is not going to just shut down great passing attacks. That is absolutely a weakness and it's fair for anyone to point that out. I hope that King continues to thrive, that some other young players get chances, and even that the FO will explore trade options.

For this last game, the offense was a mess at OT, lost Jordy almost immediately, and lost Cobb late. I don't think that fully excuses them (they need to play better), but the final results of the combination of injuries and poor execution were that after scoring a TD on the first possession, the Packers offense then went: Punt, Punt, Punt, Interception (ATL ball at the GB 36), Fumble for an ATL TD, and FG before they ever got back in the endzone. They constantly put the weaker unit, the defense, back on the field and instead of scoring points, they gave ATL great field position on the pick and actually surrendered 7 points on the fumble.

The defense, while brutal in coverage at times, held the Falcons to TD, Punt, TD, FG, Punt on the first five possessions before the interception and the short field. There's no case to be made for their performance being good, but they gave the offense some chances.

This team is never going to beat Atlanta if that's what the offense was doing. Had they scored on those possessions instead of giving up field position and points, you're talking about a game tied at 21 in the 3rd quarter (instead of 31-7). If we get a chance to see a healthy offense execute, there's every chance they can beat the Falcons, even on the road.

Think back to the NFCCG. It was a similar situation. The receiving corps was really banged up and the OL fell apart in-game with injuries. The offense went: Missed FG, Fumble, Punt, Interception, Punt before they ever scored a point. The defense can play well enough for the Packers to win, but their offense needs to be able to hold up their end.

So LOL at all of the conclusions being drawn about the future or capability of the Packers based on week two on the road @ ATL as they open their new stadium while the lines fall apart.

 

[gbgary]

drafting where we draft every year it's hard to build a great team. tt needs to be more proactive in FA instead of reactive.

 

[GleefulGary]

Montgomery I think will eventually turn into a really good back for us. I do however think that if it weren't for his ability to make plays in the passing game that he could potentially be a bit of a liability back there. He almost got AR killed on more than one occasion in blitz pickup. That's an issue. He runs hard, but I don't see a whole lot of cutback ability or the ability to make chicken soup out of chicken you know what when needed. Maybe I'm wrong. I just haven't seen enough evidence yet. However, it's true that he doesn't have the benefit of an elite running blocking o-line.

You said all that you said, and didn't mention a thing about our defense. That's really the elephant in the room.

Look, it's okay that we have built a system around our quarterback. But we don't have a ton of elite players. And when adversity hits, like Rip fumbling the football inside the 10 yard line, or Crosby missing a makeable field goal, or heaven forbid Rodgers commit a turnover, what happens? 31-0 happens. Quickly.

After that NFCCG debacle, we needed to put ourselves in a position to beat that team. And outside of hoping that a potential matchup is played in Lambeau this January, I don't see any evidence that this team is considerably more equip to handle the Falcons than it was 8 months ago. Yes, we dealt with a bunch of injuries on offense and were missing our only true difference maker on defense. But those corners are still atrocious.

Again, I'm hoping it can be rectified between now and January, because I think King has a lot of promise and if he is able to take a lot of leaps throughout the season, I think it will make a huge difference. Especially if our defensive front can create consistent pressure. But Randall and Rollins? Those two are a travesty right now. I still have a glimmer of hope for Rollins, but I think Randall is just about a lost cause.

Time will tell.

I'm very high on Monty. His only weakness is pass blocking, which isn't unexpected. The guy makes yards out of nothing with his patience, strength and explosiveness. He will be better, but right now, he's already a good back.

As for defense, it needs to be better. But still, what do you think is considerably better? Because I see improvement.

When we faced them last, our top corners were a combination of Gunter, Randall, and Rollins. By the next time we see them (if we see them), only one of those 3 will be our #3 CB, and even that's a maybe. So that's a significant improvement. I saw Kevin King get his hands on Julio Jones, jam his break and then cut on an out route and break it up. You know how many guys have the strength, length and quickness to do that to Julio? It's a very limited list. King is going to have a lot of growing pains, but he'll be our #1 by the end of the year.

Our edge rushers are improved from last just because of health and better interior rush. Get Brooks and Biegel healthy and we'll have decent depth too. Even Fackrell is doing ok rushing (him getting outrun by Ryan was embarrassing though).

Our interior is improved. Daniels, Clark, Lowry > Daniels, Guion, Clark. That's huge.

Our LB's are marginal, and Burnett helps, but I hope to see Josh Jones there more. His speed/size makes for exciting potential. It would help if Capers didn't insist on playing Dime in all situations.

Honestly, HaHa is our biggest issue with the safeties right now. He needs to play better. He missed an easy pick against Ryan, we can't have that. Brice is better than he was last year.

Anyways, our defense isn't great. But they are better. I would say considerably more equipped. Remember we have young and new guys, and it's only week 2. We'll get better.

 

[mongoosev]

We all witnessed what a good D could do to a good O in the Cowboys Vs. Denver game. Did they expose Dak and Elliot? Who knows. They just shut them down completely. They were healthy on O so no excuses.

All Packs can do is let give King and Jones more playing time in weeks 3 and 4 so they develop and PRAY they make the secondary better.

 

[PackerDNA]

I was amazed that the Broncos held that offence to 97 total yards through 3 quarters.

 

[Mondio]

It is an awesome defense. who wouldn't want that, but let's keep it in perspective, how is their offense? who is their QB? That defense didn't make it to the playoffs last year. They're no different than any other team, our's included. They have strengths and they're struggling to find that balance around the strength they've built the team on. It's a long season, lots can happen still for all these teams. why do people tune in if they already know how the story goes? Cowherd will re-write whatever he has to week to week. It's his job.

 

[easyk83]

First, we do lack explosive playmakers on offense... but how much of this is an inability to acquire such talent and how much reflects Aaron's demand for cerebral receivers who can execute his preferred offense? Allison and Adams aren't going to flat out out run anyone and Cobb is purely a number 3 type slot specialist, this leaves Nelson who may or may not have recovered his ability to get open deep. Janis and Davis apparently cannot be trusted.

Second we've seen Aaron play with a genuine lack of supporting talent see 2015 when Nelson was absent, last Sunday we saw similar play from Rodgers. Why not, he was afterall missing two starting OTs and Jordy Nelson. Schematically making up for a backup OT is very doable, you slide protection his way and assign a variety of RB/TE chips and checks. But trying to cover for two backup OTs every snap is a tall order.

Third many of these issues complained of looked worse than they were, lest we forget that Aaron Rodgers' fumble came on a designed quick hitter(both OTs succeeded in cutting down their man) but Aaron mysteriously held the football. In that kind of play either hit your read or get rid of it there's no holding allowed, this was a rook mistake. Then with pressure bearing down he decided to double down and tried to throw away what best case scenario would have been intentional grounding, it wasn't and they scored. Let's not forget another 7 points came off a short field created when Geronimo Allison decided to take a play off and Trufant picks it. Did our defense look bad, at times. But it also showed potential what with our pass rush and the play of Kevin King who looked solid despite his inexperience. Id argue that our Defense looked noticeably better once King took over the RCB spot and Randall replaced Rollins in the slot.

Fourth, we have literally built this team to take advantage of Aaron Rodgers' needs and wants. We have an O-line geared towards pass protection and a bunch of receivers who might not be fast but who know how to run complicated option routes. We have a wide receiver in the backfield who also excels catching passes out of the backfield... again a wrinkle for Rodgers.

Finally I do want to see more of the young guys, in particular King Jones Hawkins and Evans. I know the Coaches like Brice but I was impressed with Evans and his ability to play the pass sideline to sideline like a real centerfielder.

 

[easyk83]

The defense, while brutal in coverage at times, held the Falcons to TD, Punt, TD, FG, Punt on the first five possessions before the interception and the short field. There's no case to be made for their performance being good, but they gave the offense some chances.

Which happens to coincide with King entering the game at RCB and Randall replacing Rollins in the slot. This also happened despite already losing Daniels. Conclusion, the improved play of the secondary would have made Daniels more presence more significant had he still been in.

 

[rmontro]

The 2010 team that won the Super Bowl had Nelson, Driver, Jennings, Matthews (in his prime), Woodson, and Nick Collins (the defense hasn't been the same since he left). So we've lost some star power.

The Broncos never had a great offense.

The Broncos aren't the best example, because they won the Super Bowl season before last. Besides, their defense is good enough that they will dominate an elite offense. We like to think of our offense as elite, but when we play elite defenses, we don't dominate. More often than not, we get shut down. Like against Seattle last week, we only scored 17.