Patrick Willis is hurt now & Bowman is obviously out. Yet they still have Wilhoite & Borland. Average LB'ers. Why can't we find someone on the planet that is at least average at the position? I know TT is better than that.
No one had any idea Bishop was as good as he was until Barnett hurt himself. I think we all had a pretty good idea Brad Jones was a ****ty LB before he was hurt. Lattimore came in and was marginal and even that got everyones attention that marginal was a huge step up in performance. We really don't know if Barrington / Lattimore is better than Hawk / Jones because no one is in a big damn hurry to tell Hawk and Jones to piss off. Bradford might be the best ILB on the team. Who knows.
I just know Hawk / Jones starting next to each other is a damn waste of everyones time. Fans, players, coaches, announcers, studio producers, cameramen, key grips.
There's probably a few guys floating around a practice squad or two somewhere who are better than Bad Jones.
Originally Posted by Dr._Bob:
... What is it that the current players are lacking? Intelligence? Instincts? Size? Speed?
Yes.
I'd rank speed the most essential skill for LBs. Not only for coverage responsibility, but to close on the ball.
Of all the other games I/we watch, that's the thing that stands out the most on other teams. A receiver may catch a ball in the flat, and all of a sudden, there's a swarm of LBs making the tackle. On the Packers, we see our LBs 5 yards upfield of the receiver, watching him break yet another play.
Re: Tall safeties. Could TT have been years ahead of the curve by trying the Aaron Rouse experiment a few years back?
Watched Borland yesterday. In ten minutes he broke up two passes, more than Hawk has in ten games... or more.
Can't break up passes if the QB stays away from him.
Originally Posted by Hungry5:
Can't break up passes if the QB stays away from him.
Are you saying QBs try to stay away from Hawk?... I had no idea.
Originally Posted by Hungry5:
Can't break up passes if the QB stays away from him.
Here's a snippet McGinn's post game review (ghost written by El Ka Bong)
"Jones will be kidded for having the long pass to speedy TE Charles Clay bounce off the back of his helmet at the goal line. Because it was a fire zone, Jones was in man coverage. Based on how awful A.J. Hawk (58 of 58 snaps) was in coverage, that probably would have been a 25-yard TD.
Hawk didn't stick with WR Jarvis Landry on a 21-yard reception, didn't plaster Mike Wallace on the 25-yard gain resulting from Pennel's gaffe and appeared to be marooned in quicksand when Landry caught a post right next to him for 19. If Hawk had any change of direction or quick twitch, he'd have intercepted that ball."
Originally Posted by Hungry5:
Can't break up passes if the QB stays away from him.
Worth revisiting.
@ByRyanWood: #Packers gave up 235 rushing yards to the Bears. In two games since, they've allowed combined 223 rushing yards to Vikings and Dolphins.
IIRC both Minny and Miami were among the league rushing leaders going into the the Packer games. Keep the opponent's rushing numbers manageable, and with the improved pass rush/pressure and strong secondary this defense is on the path needed to finally complement an offense that will get its points.
Originally Posted by cuqui:
@ByRyanWood: #Packers gave up 235 rushing yards to the Bears. In two games since, they've allowed combined 223 rushing yards to Vikings and Dolphins.
I find that number a bit inflated. While the Bears certainly ran the ball well, almost 1/3 of those yards (72 yards) came on the last drive of the game by the Bears in garbage time and by 3 Cutler runs. Those yards certainly count in the stats, but I think it makes them a bit skewed.