Asked about why he thought the defense was not playing as well as they did earlier in season MLF yesterday said something to the effect that players were "trying to make plays" rather than just "doing their job". Would appear that he is mostly referring to the OLBers who have really had difficulty setting the edge on runs and keeping QBs in the pocket over the past month. Individual success has always been problematic in managing players, but even more so now with social media. I thought last year that the Smith's were not as good because they were "chasing" big plays because of all the success and notaerity it brought them the year before. I hope that isn't what we are seeing with Gary.
#Packers run defense yards allowed heading into the bye:
— Bruce Irons - Packers FTW (@BruceIronsNFL) December 28, 2021
Cardinals - 74
Chiefs - 77
Seahawks - 75
Vikings- 90
Rams - 68
Since the bye:
Bears - 137
Ravens - 143
Browns - 219
I don't know where they rank, but I consider the Ravens and the Browns two of the best ground games in the NFL. Titans would be up there as well.
As for the Bears, when you don't have a QB who can pass, but can run, your rush numbers are going to be higher than normal.
All true, but they played poor against those teams.
To me the more concerning thing is that vs. Browns we won the TO battle by 4 at home. And yes, when that happens, 97% of the time you win the game ...which we did, but as MLF alluded to in his presser, you have some concern that the game was that close. Also, not all on the defense. AR talked about the two 3 and out drives where he said they were hot in the passing game, pass blocking well, and should have stayed with it ... end around call ruined the one drive and three straight runs on the next drive led to a punt.
It doesn’t help the offense that 7 key guys were missing vs. the Browns. No Cobb, MVS, or Tonyan, plus the 4 O-Line guys missing.
The defense doesn’t have quite the excuse although no Zadrious or Jaire surely does have some impact.
@Pikes Peak posted:What is the word on Cobb?
Bird.
@BrainDed posted:I don't know where they rank, but I consider the Ravens and the Browns two of the best ground games in the NFL. Titans would be up there as well.
Browns ranked 3rd - 144.9 yds/game.
Titans 4th - 138.8
Ravens 5th - 137.7.
The Eagles have a chance of making the NFC playoffs and that could be scary. They lead the league in rushing with 163.2 yds/game(!).
BTW, the Vikes are ranked 12th at 119.9. Packers 21st at 106.9.
@PackerHawk posted:Bird.
You should be sanctioned or something for that response. No endorsements for you.
Guessin that giving up 37 points to the Detroit Lions means the Pack will finish outside the top 10 in scoring defense ... for the 11th straight season.
Oh well, we do what we do.
MLF seems upset by the latest defensive implosion: “We need all 11 doing their damned job.”
Right but I mean when 42 is so overmatched - what job would that be exactly? He was horrifying today.
Otherwise I didn’t think the defense was awful - 94 had a sack 52 some good pressures the db’s were rough - 39 was not having a great game
MLF was clearly pissed at the lack of discipline from the defense on the trick plays.
Savage is struggling, teams are putting him in situations to tackle and he takes terrible angles in his approaches to do so.
The defense will be the death of the season (yet again).
Oren Burks is beyond horrible and Savage seems to play worse every week. Hopefully things will look much different in 2 weeks.
Guys need to relax some. No blitzing no stunts.. Trying not to get hurt. Refs weren't calling jack. Garvin get mugged on that 2nd Tricky TD. Packers win this game 34-20 if they go full speed.
@D J posted:The defense will be the death of the season (yet again).
Why even play the games…I’d say they should white flag it
Matt LaFleur had very strong words on #Packers defensive miscues: "Football in general comes down to discipline, people owning their roles. When you aren't disciplined, or you go outside the scheme, bad stuff happens. We can not have that. We need all 11 doing their damn job."
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) January 9, 2022
Translation: Joe needs to get it fixed.
@Packiderm posted:Guys need to relax some.
R-E-L-A-X has been the mantra in Green Bay for the past 11 seasons.
The D has been very relaxed for the past 7 weeks.
Might be time for the defense to play with a sense of urgency in the upcoming playoffs and aspire to hold an opponent to >30 points.
Glad to see MLF was not at all relaxed by even more shitty defensive play in the post-game press conference.
Getting Campbell back surely helps.
Inserting Jaire for Sullivan would be significant.
Not holding out hope for Z.
@michiganjoe posted:Matt LaFleur had very strong words on #Packers defensive miscues: "Football in general comes down to discipline, people owning their roles. When you aren't disciplined, or you go outside the scheme, bad stuff happens. We can not have that. We need all 11 doing their damn job."
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) January 9, 2022Translation: Joe needs to get it fixed.
Just watched it ... why the heck did no reporter follow up with "Coach, you mentioned players not staying within the scheme, could you give us an example of a play where that happened today" ... he most likely would have declined to be specific, but damn, the coach shows more emotion that he probably ever has in a presser and everyone just lets the moment pass.
@pkr_north posted:Right but I mean when 42 is so overmatched - what job would that be exactly? He was horrifying today.
THIS! Pathetic. Hope he's replaced in the draft.
Coaching, personnel, whatever... it is pretty clear that GB's defense needs to step it up in two weeks regardless of who comes into Lambeau.
I haven't seen the video, but I'm happy to hear MLF is displeased with their performance.
High-Powered NFC Offenses Could Make Packers Vulnerable
Starting with the Week 4 victory over Pittsburgh through the Week 10 shutout over Seattle, Green Bay gave up 97 points. That’s a seven-game average of just 13.9 points per game. Under first-year coordinator Joe Barry, the Packers had the type of defense they had lacked since winning the Super Bowl in 2010.
Or, perhaps this is the same old Packers defense that has torpedoed one playoff run after another for the past decade.
Over the final seven games of the season, the Packers allowed 191 points. That’s an average of 27.3 points allowed per game, a woeful number that includes last week’s 37-10 victory over a Vikings team that played without its star quarterback and veteran receiver.
“You’re only as good as your last performance,” Barry said last week.
Right now, based on Sunday’s performance and too many other performances down the stretch, the defense could be what keeps the Packers out of the Super Bowl for an 11th consecutive season.
Here's the link to that Bill Huber piece. Depressing to think of what could await if they don't figure it out and play like they did earlier in the season.
@Pakrz posted:Coaching, personnel, whatever... it is pretty clear that GB's defense needs to step it up in two weeks regardless of who comes into Lambeau.
I haven't seen the video, but I'm happy to hear MLF is displeased with their performance.
Good to hear MLF is pissed at their performance and he should be. It is a mystery to me how the Packers defense went from playing a pretty good style of being physical with the other team. Now all of the sudden they are playing this soft coverage style with "keeping everything in front of them" style that drives me nuts.
But that being said the positive thing to me is that the Packers have beaten these teams with the high powered offense this season.
Lot of scrubs played yesterday. Barring injury, how many snaps do you think Burks and Yiadom will see in the playoffs? MLF has a right to be pissed at guys blowing assignments but there's a reason these guys don't play unless necessary.
Game meant nothing. How about the Rams defense, playing for seeding with Aaron Frickin Donald and Jalen Frickin Ramsey blowing a 17-0 lead to Jimmy Frickin G ? With a bad flipper no less. How bout the Colts losing to J Ville? Philly played a bunch of back ups and got a 50 burger put on them. wonder if their fans are freaking out.
Yes this defense can be a nightmare. But I'd rather see this team with a few guys pissed going into a bye than a bunch of overconfident complacent ones ripe for the pickin!
My guess would be he was referring to the two "trick play" TDs ... I would think the first one was either Savage or Amos' responsibility (based on their play this season I would suspect Savage). The second one looks like Sullivan.
Really think it's more about the overall trajectory of the defense over the past several weeks than the game yesterday. Real issue with the game yesterday was it did nothing but increase the concerns over the defense going into the postseason.
A healthy Jaire will go a long way in lessening these concerns.
Going to be interesting to see how they use Alexander. Do they have him follow the number one WR, put him on one side and play zone on the other, play him in the slot? Does having him on the field allow us to run more "Bear front" to stop the run? Does it get Sullivan and King off the field, who were both targeted almost exclusively in championship game last season? Does it allow us to play more one high safety, which would minimize Randall getting targeted in the run game?
Damn, flashback!! Of course I meant Savage .... I guess his play recently generated that mistake!
I expect Jaire will take on the star position and follow the #1 WR.
In the end, the Pack finished tied for 13th in scoring defense. (It finished 15th in 2020).
https://www.teamrankings.com/n...game?date=2022-01-15
Over the past decade, the SB winner has featured a top 10 scoring D.
This year's top 10 scoring defenses include Buffalo, NE, TB, Dallas, KC, Tenn., and SF.
Maybe Z and Jaire come to the rescue and the D plays better in the playoffs than it did over the course of the season - especially the final 7 weeks.
Maybe MLF recognizes the D is not exactly SB worthy and comes up with an all gas, no brake offensive game plan to simply outscore the opposition.
Or maybe we get to see, one last time with #12 at QB, the Packer defense do what has done so many times in the playoffs before; play soft and scared and give up a lot of points.