It's pretty obvious the plan the coaching staff set for this season hasn't worked. McCarthy not trying to adjust it is mind-boggling.
what should they change? The offense does look different. Even when they aren't performing well, it's still different than it was in weeks 1 2 and 3. I'm not a scheme expert, but the defense has switched up playing zones, man, and I agree that the overall scheme doesn't change, but you make tweaks to it, which I think they have.
I"ll never argue that it's working well. But you see young guys making mistakes. I don't think it was ever in their plan to be this deep this often in their depth chart back there. It changes things. and the Packers just can't get out of their own damn way sometimes. Force a 3 and out and your veteran leader gives a 15 yard and automatic 1st down right back to them. It's always something.
I think our safeties are good, not outstanding, but just solid. and that's ok if they have solid people around them too. I'd like heavy hitting ballhawks, but it's hard to do when you're surrounded by number 4, 5, 6, 7 on the depth chart. Randall and Rollins didn't look great early on, but I can't help think some of that was putting them in positions that would challenge them and force them to grow quickly. Then both were hurt and one hasn't seen the field in a while after surgery. I think we can all admit they looked much better last year.
And people can blame Thompson, he gambled in a few places and a perfect storm has come back to expose it all. But I don't care if we had Peterson, Norman, and Revis on our team, if all 3 are out there is no team that has Sherman, Peters, and Butler as back ups.
I think people are misinterpreting this again. They make changes. it's one thing to argue that the changes aren't working. It's another to say they aren't changing anything and are just stubborn. Because that's just throwing an excuse out and hoping it sticks. In the past 4 weeks there have been more formations and personnel groupings on both sides of the ball than most people care to count. Problem is they don't see it. They just see, no first down or no TD, it's the same. Or they got burned in the middle of the field again, must be the same problem. But they don't see a safety giving help over the top and then a TE coming free in the middle giving up a big play. They just see the big play. They don't notice the next one where the safety jumps the middle route on the TE and the WR runs on by beating the corner badly for yet another big play.
Scheme it anyway you want, when you're that low on the depth chart they all need help and there isn't enough help to go around. There's only so much you can hide. Lose a DB or a safety, fine, you can roll things to a side, play zone in an area and man in others. Lots you can do to keep things going. When you've lost practically everybody? Somebody is not getting help, it's the way it is. At some point someone just has to make a play.
I"m not arguing our defense was good last game or even lately at all, but there was a huge difference when we lost a run stuffing LB'er last week. It was noticeable. Then last game, we lost another one and were down to playing safeties at DB positions. There is not defense in the league playing good defense when they're that far down the depth chart regularly.
I think the fact they seemingly are so ill prepared to play when someone goes down is a concern, but it's not like I expect them to be much better at this point either.
