JBlood
Cheesehead
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2004
- Messages
- 3,159
- Reaction score
- 467
Too many of the veterans on the Packers are apparently a little too satisfied. Watching Green Bay wave goodbye to Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, A.J. Hawk and even Charles Woodson could be a well-deserved reminder of the competitive nature of the business and the team's attitude toward players who don't perform.
First and foremost, it's important to remember what they have coming back next year. Desmond Bishop was arguably the best player on this defense in 2011 with 115 tackles and 5 sacks, good for second on the team. Bishop missed the entire 2012 season and with him went the inside pass rush along with the toughness to stop power running teams like Minnesota and San Francisco.
The loss of Nick Perry for the season cannot be understated either. Although just a rookie, Perry had shown considerable promise in his transition from defensive end to outside linebacker.
In just 118 snaps against the pass, Perry had 2 sacks and 10 hurries. Erik Walden, Perry's replacement, had only 3 sacks in 459 pass plays. Perry's numbers stretched across a 16 game season - assuming he had the same number of pass-rush snaps as Walden - would have been nearly 8 sacks and 39 pressures.
Perry's strength and speed combination also could have made a huge difference in defending quarterbacks like Kaepernick because even a misstep inside on a dive fake wouldn't preclude Perry from being able to reroute and make a play on the outside with his explosiveness and speed.
"It seems some of the veterans on defense are a little too satisfied"
That absolutely showed all year long but people seemed to shy away from saying it.