Left Tackle

[red4tribe]

Tretter did a great job after the first few plays, I think he played better than could have been expected, granted, I have no idea how good the Redskins pass rush is. Given that Bakh was a game time decision today, I'm inclined to think he'll be ready for next week, though probably not near 100%. The question is, do we start a hobbled Bakh or stick with Tretter against Arizona? I have to say, I was impressed with Tretter and it was very nice to not have two or three holding calls against the LT today.

 

[C-Lee]

If Bakh can play, he's gonna play.

But if for some reason he struggles or gets hurt again, I'd like to see Tretter back out there. He stepped up big today.

 

[Sky King]

Personally, I would hope that Tretter start and that Bakhtiari come off the bench if needed. Give that ankle a chance to heal even more and get it as close to 100% as possible, just in case they earn the chance to play in a couple more games. If Tretter even remotely resembles Barclay then it would be time to bring in a rusty, less-than healed Bakhtiari.

 

[OldSchool101]

I think you roll with a hot hand, Unless it's your QB. ID maybe suit up Bak as an insurance policy but unless Tretter had a meltdown I'd let Bak heal properly (say the NFC title game).
We learned this lesson already with Ty

 

[yooperpackfan]

I say leave Tretter out there.
But, I said the same thing about the center position and they didn't.

 

[Mondio]

I thought he did better at center as well, but maybe it was the opponents at the time. It certainly seemed we were giving up less pressure up the middle in the passing game and our run game was more productive with him in there. IMO he's played better than pretty much anyone else we've trotted out at any position along that line this year.

 

[broguy]

Tretter did a great job after the first few plays, I think he played better than could have been expected, granted, I have no idea how good the Redskins pass rush is. Given that Bakh was a game time decision today, I'm inclined to think he'll be ready for next week, though probably not near 100%. The question is, do we start a hobbled Bakh or stick with Tretter against Arizona? I have to say, I was impressed with Tretter and it was very nice to not have two or three holding calls against the LT today.

Regarding the Redskins, their pass rush is actually ranked 9th in the NFL this season according to football outsiders. So that was no small feat to hold them to the 1 sack with a patched together line. In comparison, Arizona's pass rush is ranked 27th in the league (note: they're 2nd against the run and have the 3rd overall defense) and demolished our line two weeks ago, so moving Tretter out to the left resulted in noticeable improvement.

That's not to say that change solved all of our problems. I'm afraid a lot of the improvement we saw on offense was the result of Washington's poor defense (21st in the league, worst in the playoffs). Still, we played some mediocre defenses down the stretch and didn't have the kind of success we had yesterday (Detroit x 2, Oakland, Dallas for 3 quarters, Chicago at home), so I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[Grave]

I don't get this Bakhtari love. Is it his tv show?
Sure as hell can't be his play.

 

[El Guapo]

Fair point Grave. If we were talking about Sitton or Lang coming back from injury, there's no question that they go back in. Bahktiari has been an average LT with ups and downs but generally solid. If Tretter can put together good games and work his way into the lineup, I'm all for going with the hot hand.

 

[ExpatPacker]

Considering how well Tretter played on Sunday, why wouldn't you keep him as the starting LT for the next game?

 

[TJV]

According to McGinn’s rating column of the last Cardinals game, the Packers surrendered nine sacks, and five of those sacks came on either three- or four-man rushes. Because they were able to get pressure without blitzing, the Cards only blitzed on about 38% of passes. As we all (unfortunately) remember Barclay was a disaster: He gave up 4.5 sacks and 4 hurries. When Walker subbed for Bulaga he gave up 4 hurries in 20 snaps before being replaced by Tretter, who was better.

Who would I suggest starting at LT? Whoever between Tretter and Bakhtiari looks better on Thursday or Friday. But again, I would suggest that McCarthy give either one of them help and not wait for a sack – or a safety as he did against the Redskins. I suggested the same thing before that game and sure enough on their second series on 3rd and 13 from the 5-yard line with Rodgers in the EZ on a passing play, the OL held up well except for Tretter who was given no help and was bull rushed into Rodgers for the safety. I believe McCarthy had a TE or a back on Tretter’s side fairly often thereafter. If either a healthy Bakhtiari or if Tretter plays as well as he did yesterday and if Bulaga can play the entire game, the pass protection will be better. But in that case, I would expect the Cards to blitz more often and their defensive backfield is much better than the Redskins so I expect the Packers WRs will struggle getting open.

 

[thisisnate]

Our tightends are crap anyways, might as well just line up jumbo with a 6th OL in TE spot to block.

 

[RepStar15]

Unfortunately, the Washing Redskins D-line is nothing compared to that of Arizona. That being said, I am cheering for JC. I am extremely bias as I know his father, but I thought the kid did a good job. I do not think he is better than Bahk, but he is better than an unhealthy Bahk.

 

[broguy]

Unfortunately, the Washing Redskins D-line is nothing compared to that of Arizona....

People keep saying that, but it's not true. Arizona is much better against the run, but the Redskins actually have a better pass rush. I think we all have images of them running roughshod on Barclay and Co. seared into our brains, but they only rank 20th in the league in sacks and 9 of their 36 sacks on the year were in the game against us.

 

[Mondio]

Unfortunately, the Washing Redskins D-line is nothing compared to that of Arizona. That being said, I am cheering for JC. I am extremely bias as I know his father, but I thought the kid did a good job. I do not think he is better than Bahk, but he is better than an unhealthy Bahk.

I don't know him or his dad, and I think he's been far and away the best back up linemen at every position he's played this year. Bahk has been hurt all year and at this point I don't think he'll ever be healthy. I'd be willing to ride Tretter till the end. At least maybe the coaches will mentally make note he's not a starter and give him help to start, once the offense gets going, he more than held his own out there and I think he'll do it again.

 

[TJV]

I agree, Tretter has been the best backup. At LT my impression is his feet are as good or even a little better than Bakhtiari's in pass protection but he doesn't hold up against a bull rush as well. But that's based upon a limited number of snaps for Tretter at LT. And it's not that Bakhtiari is great at that either. I was looking forward to seeing him this season after adding good weight and strength during the off season but it looks like injuries have plagued him since preseason.

People keep saying that, but it's not true. Arizona is much better against the run, but the Redskins actually have a better pass rush. I think we all have images of them running roughshod on Barclay and Co. seared into our brains, but they only rank 20th in the league in sacks and 9 of their 36 sacks on the year were in the game against us.

I think that's right. In McGinn's preview before the week 16 against the Cards he wrote this under Defense Scheme:

First-year coordinator James Bettcher operates a 3-4 defense similar to what Todd Bowles led from 2013-'14. Forced to generate pressure, the Cardinals blitz more than almost any team. They also probably play more dime than anyone. Bettcher prefers man coverage. The Cardinals rank second in takeaways (29), tied for sixth in points (19.2) and seventh in yards (329.6).

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/arizonas-playmakers-tough-to-stop-b99638943z1-363335811.html

The Packers bad backups at OT plus the Cards very good man coverage by their DBs made their rush look better than it normally would. And it was the reason they only had to blitz about 38% of passing plays - one of their lowest totals this season according to McGinn. I think we should expect that number to increase Saturday.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

My only fear with leaving Tretter at LT is he has a decent game and come draft/FA time TT forgets that we need help on the O-line.

All that aside, Tretter seems like the obvious starter, "if it isn't broke, don't try and fix it". Hopefully, Bahk will be ready as a back-up.

 

[Einstein McFly]

I like Tretter a lot, and I love how he held up on Sunday. He's not strong enough to be a RT (remember Buffalo last year) but he seems to be athletic enough to play LT. It was awesome to see how fast he got down the field on some of the running plays against Washington. That said, he's not very big and the OLBs he was blocking on Sunday are nothing compared to the 6'8 300lb Calais Campbell that crushed us a few weeks ago. I don't know if he'll be able to hold up to the bull rushes with that guy coming at him. Bak at least has more length and experience dealing with that kind of thing.

I have a feeling that getting totally run over the way we did may actually work in our favor this game since we'll have a live body at LT and a really good RT in there, hopefully for the whole game. I think it'll be harder for their dlinemen to get up for the game with the memory of how easy it was to disrupt a few weeks ago.

 

[PackerDNA]

IMO, both Tretter and Bak are pretty much maxed out as for as increasing their size and strength.

 

[Mondio]

Tretter looks plenty athletic enough, it would be nice, once we have a real LT playing to put him in as part of a jumbo running package. He can get to the next level and block very well, a super sized TE. I would agree, I don't think he's going to gain substantially in size or strength, but I think his strength is his athleticism. I doubt he's weak, I'd be he's as strong as Bahk, but he doesn't have the body size to absorb as much as he does for the long haul. At least I wouldn't guess he does. But hey, let the kid surprise me I say.

 

[red4tribe]

Bakh is back

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...rs-play-divisional-round-vs-arizona-cardinals

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

I like bahktiari. But he needs to elevate his game...