does this solidify Slocum's job?

He and Campen can still go and I won't shed a tear.

Glad they got rings.

I still would like to see him go. I believe the Packers would be best served by having a former career special team player in there as the coach.

But I can understand his staying on staff. As has been mentioned here many times, Solcum really got the job down down the stretch with quite a few players who would not have been on a pro roster if it were not for the MASH unit GB produced this year.

The coverage teams last night were pretty solid outside of a long kick return, but the return teams were just awful. I don't know who they will add but someone needs to step up as a returner next year. It's amazing how well they did on offense all season long considering they had no real help from the return game at all.

Slocum is young. So too is campen. I'm in favor of allowing them to lern on the job, but I want better. If MM sees potential greatness I'm in favor of keeping them.

Certainly the Pack was below average overall in special teams this year.

But compared to 2009, at least the Packers did flash a good game here and there like the last 2 Bears games, and even the opening regular season game at Philly. We won the Super Bowl so to me, I'd kind of like to keep things intact as much as possible. Slocum deserves another chance with hopefully a bit more stable roster than he had this year.

This will be interesting. ROTTT and MM will not have the fell short of our goal excuse to make changes in the staff. Fake punts, onside kicks, no missed snaps, emergence of Masthay are all reasons for applause. Cover and return teams need some upgrade in spite of carrying some players because of their ability on those teams.

I don't know how you can fire him now. The ST without question improved late when it counted most. Coverage units were solid, save one return by ATL. Masthay is a keeper. Would be nice to get 2 consistent return guys (maybe one does both) that we can stick with on kickoffs and punts - that is one area I think TT needs to work. Blocking or not, we don't have a threat returning kicks, and we can use one.

quote:

Originally posted by RoyalWulff:
Masthay is solid.

I still think our coverage teams are suspect. I would like the Packers to
be cautious about jettisoning anyone--player or coach-- from a championship squad. I remember
thinking it might be a mistake to let Shawn Jones, Don Beebe, Rison, and others walk after SB31, and I still think those changes made us weaker. But I admit
I think Slocum has not got my confidence, though his guys DID play better in
the playoff run than earlier.

What do you think?

I'm pretty sure Sean Jones retired after XXXI. Not sure if Beebe was offered a contract or if he just retired too, he never played for any other team again. He was also older than your normal 9 year vet since he worked for 3 years before attending college. Rison, mehhh.

50/50. MM has had his back all year, but after Tramon's penalty MM was really unloading on Slocum on the sideline. I think he was more pissed that Tramon just simply did not run away from the ball, espcially after the Philly game. I am sure he expected that to be "coached up."

quote:

Would be nice to get 2 consistent return guys (maybe one does both) that we can stick with on kickoffs and punts - that is one area I think TT needs to work. Blocking or not, we don't have a threat returning kicks, and we can use one.

This.

In fact, I mentioned this exact sentiment to my sig. other last night. If this Packer team has a glaring weakness, it is the kick return game. AR12 and the offense consistently had a long field to deal with this season. If this team had a Hester type return guy, the offense would set a record for points scored. IMO.

But who's complaining. All is right in the world today with the Packers back on top of the NFL.

Agree that it would be hard to let him go after they won a SB, and they seemed to improve towards the end of the year, but they were far from mistake free last night.

Tramon fumbling the first punt
Tramon's personal foul and not running away from the ball after the punt
illegal man downfield on one punt

And it gets really old watching the Packers get stuffed at or before the 20 on what seems like every return, and then watching opposing teams return every kick to the 35 or farther.

BUT, they won!

If MM decides to keep his coaching staff intact, this armchair QB isn't going to have any problems with it.

I'll give Slocum credit for developing Masthay into a legitimate NFL punter. That was some nice work over the course of the season.

That said, I still hold my breath on every kickoff. That still isn't right. Having just won a SB, it's hard to say a coach needs to go, so I'm not going to. That aspect of the special teams needs to get fixed, however, and I question whether he's the guy to do it. We shall see.

Kick coverage is way too inconsistent. That's on Slocum. The awful return game is more on Ted. He needs to find a quality returner.

I expect Slocum and Campen to both be back. Tough to make a move after winning the Super Bowl.

We were all surprised when the special teams didn't completely collapse in the playoffs, but it was clearly the weak spot on this team. The field position on returns was terrible all along, the coverage gave up the longest TD in playoff history to the Falcons but was OK otherwise. The offense kept scoring TD's so we never had to sweat Crosby on a clutch field goal.

The fact is, the offense and defense were good enough to overcome problems with ST's, but the ST performance the last few years has been among the worst in the league.

I dont think Slocum will lose his job as he is a Super Bowl winning special teams coach. Besides I think he is MM's adopted brother like they are tight.

Even a Super Bowl team needs to be tweaked, these are two areas that could be tweaked and if they do tweak it look for the repeat.

quote:

Originally posted by ammo:

I'm pretty sure Sean Jones retired after XXXI. Not sure if Beebe was offered a contract or if he just retired too, he never played for any other team again. He was also older than your normal 9 year vet since he worked for 3 years before attending college. Rison, mehhh.

Wolf let Andre Rison go thinking he would be a distraction as #3 WR but Rbt Brooks never returned and GB was w/out quality wideout alongside Freeman.

We could do better but you rarely fire SB winning coaches...

It would be at least mildly surprising to me if Slocum gets replaced, but I hope he does. 3 or 4 good games out of 20, much less 16, is poor performance no matter how it's spun.
The quote provided by Hungry 5 in the Rodgers > Letterman thread says it all for me. If your starting QB holds his breath every time we kick off, what must the other players be thinking? Guys playing their asses off all game long, playing through pain and injuries, just to have all of it pissed way on poor KO/punt coverage? No, thanks!

The special teams were bad all year long. Including the post season. They may have been better in spots, like Masthay's improvement, but overall they weren't anywhere near even average. Heck, even in the Super Bowl, Masthay was out-punted by Kapinos. It seemed pretty clear that the kickoff team was outplayed by their Steelers counterparts as well. The only win for our special teams was that the Steelers missed that 52 yard or so field goal. And the Steelers special teams aren't that great themselves. They are very average.

If you're truly committed to improving this team, I think you have to can Slocum.

Regarding the last two posts: my sentiments also. The opening kickoff shows Briggs(?) attacking his blocker, ignoring the path of the returner. This is the norm and is unacceptable.