Seneca Wallace ? Can he step up ?

[I_am_smoked_cheddar]

Can Wallace give the Packers a fighting chance to win over the next 4 to 6 weeks ? Will the coaches adjust their gameplans to Wallace's strengths ? Can Wallace elevate his game ? Should TT be looking at free agent QB's ?

 

[Forget Favre]

This is what I posted in another thread.
I think it fits in here.

We have spoiled ourselves to the point of expecting unrealistic perfection when the situation changes.
One cannot expect a back up to come in cold and be an instant Manning, Brees, Brady or Rodgers.

Wallace did have a pass intercepted (Only turnover of the whole game.) and at least one maybe two batted down.
The completions were good enough to see where this goes. He has time to prepare in practice to get used to running the offense. We have professional coaches working with him and if Air-Run is there giving advice then Wallace is getting it from the best QB.
And we have the rest of a really good team. Special teams stepped up big and the running is the best it's been for GB in a looooong time.
Defense is still top notch. Sure, they fell apart. But now the news will sink in and they should be up to the challenge to play even tougher and be ready.
So don't despair. We still have one of the best teams in the NFL and we are tied for first instead of being dead last.

 

[Bus Cook]

No No No Yes

 

[bozz_2006]

I believe most fans, casual to committed, have a very under-developed sense of how important weekly preparation is, especially for a quarterback. Wallace has spent all week every week trying to give the Packers D a good look at the opponent's offense. His time has been spent, week after week, studying the other guys' offense.

Putting a backup QB, and a new one at that, into a game where he is expected to run his own teams' offense, all the while being cramped by ultra-conservative play-calling and, tension, and paranoia over the health of the starting QB..... well...... not exactly a recipe for success.

Preparation is huge. I hardly think the importance can be overstated. The QB we saw last night was completely Unprepared, as was the rest of our team, as was our coaching staff. The degree to which Wallace was effective in helping prepare the Packers D is inversely proportional to the degree to which he himself was prepared to play against the Bears D.

Given a week of preparation, I fully expect to see something far more polished next week than what we saw this week.

 

[Zeck180]

Can Wallace give the Packers a fighting chance to win over the next 4 to 6 weeks ?

Yes

Will the coaches adjust their gameplans to Wallace's strengths ?

Yes

Can Wallace elevate his game ?

Maybe

Should TT be looking at free agent QB's ?

Pending how well Wallace does.

Matt Flynn wasn't very good when he had to go in against the Lions in 2010, but he did have a weeks wroth of practice and reps, then the next week againt the pats he threw 254 yrds 3 TDs and on INT. Then we had that historic game against the Lions in '11 480 yards and 6 TDs. I'll give Wallace a chance, just like I did before the 2008 season when Rodgers become the starter. We wont see the same levels but as long as its just enough we'll win.

 

[13 Times Champs]

More confidence in the turtle in a race with the hare.

 

[I_am_smoked_cheddar]

More confidence in the turtle in a race with the hare.

The turtle won that race.

 

[Circa1919]

I think after a few days with the starting squad Wallace MAY not be as awful. It's no guarantee that we will win any of the weeks Rodgers is out. But perhaps if the coaches has the foresight with all these injuries to give Wallace a few emergency plays during practice just in case something like this happens he may have been more in control. We'll see. If he doesn't step up this week, drop him.

 

[HardRightEdge]

There were rumors a couple of weeks back that Jeff Garcia was contacting teams about making a comeback. He's got tons of West Coast experience.

That was a joke, guys.

Wallace should show some improvement with a full week of practice. Fortunately, 2 of the next 3 games are against a bad Vikings team and a Giants team in disarray. It would seem Wallace has a shot to win to those two, but I'll reserve judgement until we see what he does against Philly.

We've got problems on the O-Line, and the pass rush went dead against Chicago. Wallace will need help, and I'm not sure it's coming. Take away the QB, and this is a at best an average football team .

If Rodgers is not back by Thanksgiving the season is over, if it's not before then if Wallace can't win at least one of the three.

 

[bozz_2006]

Can Wallace give the Packers a fighting chance to win over the next 4 to 6 weeks ?

Well, now that's the question. I don't have enough info to give an answer, and neither do you. Neither do any of us. But I do trust that Thompson ended up keeping the backup that he believes gives the Packers the best chance at giving the Packers a fighting chance to win if Rodgers went down.

I personally have confidence in Thompson's personnel decisions. Whether you agree or disagree is a different question, but remains a question that can't be objectively or reasonably judged as right or wrong.

Will the coaches adjust their gameplans to Wallace's strengths ?

Seriously? Yes, i think the coaches will adjust the game plan as effectively as they possibly can. Again, the effectiveness of their efforts will be put on display next sunday, assuming Rodgers doesn't play. But yeah, I'm pretty sure the Packers coaching staff will adjust their game plan to Seneca's strengths. Of course they will.

Can Wallace elevate his game ?

This is the one I answered in my initial post, i suppose. The short version of that answer is - I think it's a given that we ought to expect a more polished performance with Seneca preparing, and being prepared, as the starter. Prep is huge. He had no prep to perform yesterday. All his previous prep was geared to helping the Packers defense perform.

Should TT be looking at free agent QB's ?

Always. But I think only an uneducated, uninformed fan would expect that a free agent, tossed into the system and the team dynamic on a Tuesday could possibly be better prepared to start at quarterback for the Packers this Sunday than the current backup quarterback. Again, it comes down to preparation.

 

[Oshkoshpackfan]

Seneca Wallace? Can he step up?


Answer = No, absolutely not.

For a guy that was drafted as a starter, and then bounced from team to team to team should have been a warning sign that he was and still is a BUM and wont be any help to this team, EVER. Hiring him was a desperate reach by management and a last ditch effort to get a body in the role of back up QB.

People can say " yeah but who out there was better as a back up"? .... PLENTY of names were floating around that were more serviceable than wallace and most likely would have come at just as cheap of a price for the Ol' penny pincher. This blunder we are now in is the direct fault of management. They keep guys like Kuhn and bush on the payroll who don't have huge impacts or even get much play time (health considering) and they give big raises to guys like Brad Jones, who IMO does not deserve it... all of which is IMO considered a waste of cash. To not have gone out and gotten a decent back up or kept our one and only decent back up we have had (flynn) was a stupid move. He would have cost us some money as a back up, but we wouldnt be in this situation if he was here or had he never left. I know that they cannot see the future, but when you have an Arod on your team, a solid back up plan has to be considered a "must have". Lesson learned I suppose. Hell even vince young would have had time by now to have learned the playbook better or to even have some plays tailored to his style of play. At least he had the size and was able to move and scramble better. Wallace just looked like a lost dog out in the rain.

 

[FrankRizzo]

A)Can Wallace give the Packers a fighting chance to win over the next 4 to 6 weeks ?
B)Will the coaches adjust their gameplans to Wallace's strengths ?
C)Can Wallace elevate his game ?
D)Should TT be looking at free agent QB's ?

A) maybe
B) they sure will try to do that
C) of course, over what he did Monday night. But HOW high?
D) absolutely.

 

[FrankRizzo]

Fortunately, 2 of the next 3 games are against a bad Vikings team and a Giants team in disarray. It would seem Wallace has a shot to win to those two.

Why do people keep saying the Giants are in disarray right now?
They have won 2 straight games, and Eli has no turnovers in those 2 games.
What they did in September & early October doesn't mean anything right now.

Even when we had Rodgers, we struggled against them. They match up well with us.

We cannot ever cover Victor Cruz or even the slow Hakeem Nicks.

I have the Giants as a 7-point favorite over the Seneca Wallace led Packers. That game is far from a gimme for us. We're going to lose that one.

 

[Oshkoshpackfan]

Agree with D.

I still think that the timing on Arod injury and the release of Matt flynn was unreal. Flynn is/was a product of GB. He seemed comfy there. What would it hurt to bring him in for a look? Not much, considering he can be had for cheap now....right up TT's alley.

 

[FrankRizzo]

Agree with D.

I still think that the timing on Arod injury and the release of Matt flynn was unreal. Flynn is/was a product of GB. He seemed comfy there. What would it hurt to bring him in for a look? Not much, considering he can be had for cheap now....right up TT's alley.

The fact that we didn't yet immediately promote Tolzien up to the 53-man makes me think there's a chance Matt is being looked at by us...... but....... I have heard people say Flynn has some elbow or shoulder problem.

Wouldn't we have had to look at that to know though?

Wallace doesn't have a strong arm either.
Flynn never has. But he knew the offense enough to produce back-to-back good numbers at NE and vs Detroit.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

I believe most fans, casual to committed, have a very under-developed sense of how important weekly preparation is, especially for a quarterback. Wallace has spent all week every week trying to give the Packers D a good look at the opponent's offense. His time has been spent, week after week, studying the other guys' offense.

Putting a backup QB, and a new one at that, into a game where he is expected to run his own teams' offense, all the while being cramped by ultra-conservative play-calling and, tension, and paranoia over the health of the starting QB..... well...... not exactly a recipe for success.

Preparation is huge. I hardly think the importance can be overstated. The QB we saw last night was completely Unprepared, as was the rest of our team, as was our coaching staff. The degree to which Wallace was effective in helping prepare the Packers D is inversely proportional to the degree to which he himself was prepared to play against the Bears D.

Given a week of preparation, I fully expect to see something far more polished next week than what we saw this week.

Wallace was close to his career completion percentage and close to his career yards per attempt in the Bears game. He's had eight years in the NFL to improve his game. One week of prep isn't going to change much at this point.

 

[GoPGo]

People can say " yeah but who out there was better as a back up"? .... PLENTY of names were floating around that were more serviceable than wallace

So name them.

To not have gone out and gotten a decent back up or kept our one and only decent back up we have had (flynn) was a stupid move.

Flynn was a FREE AGENT who wanted a chance to start. We would have had to pay an enormous amount of cash MORE than other teams would have been willing to pay in order to convince him to be a career backup. The *****ing about "letting Flynn go" is preposterous.

I think all the stupid Thompson haters have been secretly hoping Rodgers would get hurt just to have something to whine about.

 

[GoPGo]

I have the Giants as a 7-point favorite over the Seneca Wallace led Packers. That game is far from a gimme for us. We're going to lose that one.

Well hell, since you already know that why aren't you on the horn to 1265 telling them to forfeit so we can rest up on an extra bye week?

 

[GoPGo]

The fact that we didn't yet immediately promote Tolzien up to the 53-man makes me think there's a chance Matt is being looked at by us...... but....... I have heard people say Flynn has some elbow or shoulder problem.

Wouldn't we have had to look at that to know though?

Wallace doesn't have a strong arm either.
Flynn never has. But he knew the offense enough to produce back-to-back good numbers at NE and vs Detroit.

Joe Montana was criticized over his arm strength for his whole career. That was a big factor in Bill Walsh bringing Mouse Davis's system to SF.

 

[rodell330]

If the Defense doesn't show up like they did Monday night we won't win another game until Rodgers comes back. PERIOD. The days of scoring 30 plus points a game, and the aerial assault are over.. so get use to ground and pound with Lacy and Starks and the occasional bootleg pass. I'd be shocked if they let Senecca Wallace attempt a pass over 15 yds. This is where we will see how good Quarless can be because i guarantee you he becomes Wallace's security blanket. The loss of Finley becomes even greater.

 

[Ceodore]

If they're committed to playing Wallace, they need to let him loose and take some shots for better or worse. Defenses are gonna get comfortable waiting for Lacy and 5 yard passes if they don't.

 

[Trapped In Vikingville]

I think the coaching staff will get Seneca as ready as possible. No need to be crying wolf at this time. I feel he will step it up with the rest of the players to continue win games. The last thing Seneca Wallace was thinking he would be doing, was taking snaps Monday night. I believe we will see good improvement each week.

 

[Oshkoshpackfan]

So name them.



Flynn was a FREE AGENT who wanted a chance to start. We would have had to pay an enormous amount of cash MORE than other teams would have been willing to pay in order to convince him to be a career backup. The *****ing about "letting Flynn go" is preposterous.

I think all the stupid Thompson haters have been secretly hoping Rodgers would get hurt just to have something to whine about.

Well, one name that comes to mind, without using a damn google search would be Jason Campbell. Tall, athletic, younger than wallace, knew the bears well. He came in with NO prep time for the browns and cranked it up for a win.....and he took one hell of a beating in the process and still got the job done. He may not be a major started quality, but we are speaking about back ups and he would have done a better job than that crap shoot wallace. Not to mention, Jason campbell has a much bigger arm than wallace does. He didnt cost much and was available a little while ago....now he is snatched up by the browns and is doing a darn good job as a stand in that didn't know the playbook or WR's.

Also, I believe Charlie Batch and byron leftwich were both still available. Not spring chickens, but proven veterans who have actually won some games as back ups or starters.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

If they're committed to playing Wallace, they need to let him loose and take some shots for better or worse. Defenses are gonna get comfortable waiting for Lacy and 5 yard passes if they don't.

Wallace is not a deep ball guy. His yards/attempt are lower than Alex Smith's. Not sure asking him to throw deep is the answer. If you're going to go forward with Wallace as the QB, you need to take advantage of his mobility and put some read-option plays in the game. Major reason I never understood Wallace as the backup, you shouldn't have a backup QB that plays best in a style that makes you retool your offense.

 

[Southpaw]

I don't think he'll be terrible, but he's not going to win us any games. If anyone is going to need to step up it's our defense and run game.