Pass Defense

Im going to sound like an apologist but we were missing 38 and 36 for all or parts of this game.

Capers also had a poor gameplan in the first quarter which changed as soon as they went to zone. Newton was shut down after that for the most part. 100 yards were essentially given up in garbage time. The defense also only gave up what like 40 yards of rushing?

This game reminds me of the first vick game or the game when gates had 2 tds against us. Susperstars who we hadn't seen before to know how to prepare for them well.

We just played a guy who might make the pro bowl in 1-2 years and forced him into 3 ints.

If cutler carves us up then its time to panic....

The obligatory contrarian post.



Two wins, obviously in a state of emergency.



My take, short offseason doesn't help the defense. Young guys with growing pains. Can't **** the bed every time they have a rough game.

Does anyone believe that this secondary will actually get worse as the season moves forward? I sure the hell don't (sans injuries of course).

Game planning for an entire season isn't done in the first week. These things evolve. For those chosing to do the work, it will be interesting to see how the adjustments are made through the end of the year.

The Packers have shown they are tough to score on inside the 20... that is definitely a bright spot. Still... 800 yards of passing in 2 games? that's crazy.

Today it was about the TEs and RBs. Week 1 was about the WRs and a RB. Common denominator? The LBs in coverage. REALLY a cause for concern, because it sure looks a lot like 2009.

Perhaps the Ds will catch up to the Os and things will level off. I sure can't remember this many 400 yard games this early in a season. Hell, maybe in a whole season. Brady goes for 500+ and then 400+, and a rookie goes for 400 in back to back games to start his career? Passing league indeed...

You have Burnett getting back into the game after a missing most of his rookie year. Sam Shields is a second year guy, he isn't going to be perfect consistently. The comparison to Tramon is a good example. Williams took a couple of seasons to really develop.

A lot more passing period. The big difference is guys like Woodson, make mistakes and then regroup and kick some ass. The whole damn game is bend don't break.

If you don't pressure the quarterback you'll get sliced up at this level... even by a rookie.

Yep, gotta get pressure on the QB.

They clearly missed Tramon today, and Nick when he went down. Shields is young and still best suited as the nickel. He's decent in a pinch as the corner opposite Woodson, but can't take on those top WRs for 60 min.

The LBs do concern me in coverage, but is that not always the case early in the year, at least last 2 years? I watched Walden today and I wonder how ready he is to be full time starter. Maybe getting Zombo back would help that unit.

I don't think the pass defense was as bad as we are making it out to be. I think Capers came into the game expecting run and it showed on the opening drive and 1rst quarter. If you take out the final drive in garbage time, they gave up 16 points and about 320 passing with 3 picks. Not to shabby, but not outstanding.

Add in the fact that we were missing Collins for a bit and Williams for the entire game and I think there is an over reaction here. Will see how it goes against the Bears, if they cant get to Cutler and he throws for 350 and 3 TD's, we have problems, but I don't think thats the case.

Super Bowl hangover

they had three picks and made the plays they had to. same as last year. they'll be fine.

and the pass rush should have a feeding frenzy against Chicago's cupcake o-line. can't wait to see Cutler throwing picks left and right while being chased by matthews.

Stick to your guns, Music, it's piss-poor pass defense. Of course, we can't say that it's time to panic, but it's perfectly fine to say that it is a cause for concern. Consistently giving up 400+ yards passing, much less 300+ yards, will catch up to us sooner or later. So far, they've given up 14 plays of 20+ yards; that's only slightly better than the powerhouse defenses of Arizona and Miami.
The way I see it, the Packers aren't getting killed by bad/blown coverages, but they are by YAC. Checkdown passes that should be roughly a 5 yard gain are being turned into those 20+ yard plays.

Carolina running backs had EIGHTEEN yards rushing. Maybe the game plan coming into the game was to make the QB in his second start beat us and hope for some INT's?

No, not possible. Carolina just chose to hand off 11 times because Woodson, Collins, Shields and company are a subpar secondary.

Come on guys, this is the SAME secondary as last season plus Morgan Burnett. The Packers played 3-4, not the normal 2-4 nickle, more today. The last time i recall them being in "base" this often was the Atlanta game.

Chillax.

The RB's catching the ball is the flat is what pissed me off and would worry me going into the Bears game with Forte. Watching that game on DVR, Forte was the only legitimate outlet for Cutler vs NO. I think our DB's will be fine as the season progresses as has been stated already.

Who's main responsibility was it to cover those RB's in the flat in the Carolina game given the defense they were playing? Is it mainly on our LB's?

The pass D is **** because there is little consistent pressure on the QB from the DLine. Matthews is literally the only threat on the pass rush consistently. Not having Jenkins is killing this pass rush and by default the coverage has more time to break down.

Having Pickett on the nose has helped the rush defense, however, he is a guy that is going to consume blockers and not get to the QB very quickly. The other lineman need to pick it up.

Did you even consider the DL didn't go all out because they also had a responsibility on Newton running? Of course you didn't. Next week vs Va Jay Jay, who is almost no threat to break a big run, the DL will look like rabid dogs.

quote:

Originally posted by Diggr14:
The pass D is **** because there is little consistent pressure on the QB from the DLine. Matthews is literally the only threat on the pass rush consistently. Not having Jenkins is killing this pass rush and by default the coverage has more time to break down.

Jenkins is history. But the 2 guys that could have helped in 2011, Johnny Jolly and Mike Neal unfortunately aren't there. And at this point Jolly will likely never be there. Those are some big losses and while guys like CJ Wilson and Jarius Wynn are nice backup type guys, they just don't give you what Neal, Jolly, and Jenkins were capable of athletically. Pretty amazing that the Pack is still as good as they are considering they lost 3 D-Linemen of that caliber.

@ ammo: Pretty sure you are dreaming. The talent is just not there on our D-line. It's not as good as it's hyped up to be. It's a shame when a guy like Newton can carve up a good secondary like ours because he has all day to throw.

Let's see....we are missing our Pro Bowl CB and S, along with a Pro Bowl caliber DL. Um, yeah, things would look dicey on ANY team with those losses. We are "treading water" with the backups....not sinking. Once you get everyone back, the pass D should settle down into a more reliable unit.

Rushing Cam and he killed us with his legs. Holding lanes and making him go through progressions led to turnovers. Despite throwing for 40gazillion yards, I'd prefer Cam in the pocket over the Cam scramble.

Wasn't it last year we were told there was no rush outside of Matthews?

It's a little early to hit the panic button but one issue the Packers are going to have all season is backs and TEs. They don't have a linebacker who can cover worth a darn. The defense then simplifies as they don't have the versatility to do things with their safeties making them an easier defense to read. It worked okay down the stretch last year but teams have had plenty of time now to adjust.

Capers is now adjusting also but a big part of what made late last year work was a more consistent pass rush and three corners and Peprah playing well. Yesterday it was obvious they wanted to attack the linebackers and Burnett in coverage (as well as the soft zone with the blitz early) and it was pretty hairy though Burnett settled in and tightened up which made a big difference.

Once the Packers made Cam actually read the defense rather than chaos rushing him (which wasn't getting home and left guys out of position) things also got much better. Newton's a big, strong kid and is hard to bring down anyway so taking away his running room helped a lot.

Oh ya, 4 sacks, causing happy feet that led to at least 2 of the ints. No, we have no pass rush. 2-0 and counting. PANIC!

The approach was clearly to have Newton try to beat them throwing, which he came closer to doing than most, probably Dan Comper included, thought he would. Not having Tramon was also enormous, as Woodson was playing outside in coverage instead of wreaking havoc near the line with blitzes and covering those slot/outlet guys like the TE or the back to eliminate those throws.

quote:

Originally posted by BrainDed:
Carolina running backs had EIGHTEEN yards rushing. Maybe the game plan coming into the game was to make the QB in his second start beat us and hope for some INT's?

No, not possible. Carolina just chose to hand off 11 times because Woodson, Collins, Shields and company are a subpar secondary.

Come on guys, this is the SAME secondary as last season plus Morgan Burnett. The Packers played 3-4, not the normal 2-4 nickle, more today. The last time i recall them being in "base" this often was the Atlanta game.

Chillax.

And both Collins and Hawk had droped Ints, Both in the end zone.

We've had a league leading 95 attempts against us, but QBs are only completing 63% of their passes which is 16th in the league. That's pretty good considering all the attempts against us. And we have only given up 4 passing TDs which is really not bad at all. I will gladly let them throw 400+ yds/game if they're not getting tons of points from it because our offense is going to score a lot of points. Our redzone and short yardage defense has been phenomenal, so again they can throw for 600 yards/game if they want to between the 20's if they're only getting FGs when they get in the redzone.

I'm not concerned about Cam's passing yardage. 32 yards on the pass to LeFell in the 4th was great coverage by Shields. Just a great catch. Smith NEVER should have gotten behind the D on the long pass in the 4th with 4 minutes left. Probably doesn't happen if Collins is in the game.

My biggest concern is where a lot of Cam's yards came from. Stewart caught 8 passes for 100 yards (12.5 yeards / catch). That can't happen. Not against a rookie QB who you know is looking to drop the ball off to backs.

Packers have no choice but to correct that FAST. Cutler completed 19 of 45 passes for 240 yards yesterday. Forte caught more than half of Cutler's completions for half his total yards. 10 catches for 120 yards.

quote:

Originally posted by Music City:
Is it the lack of reps and missed assignments? There have been an inordinate amount of monster passing games this season...

I have been thinking the same things. Last week I read a bunch of articles noting how the Packers "survived" the Drew Brees show. Then today I read the ESPN article about the Packers "surviving" the Newton show.

I don't think we can hide behind the fact that we faced two good quarterbacks in the first two weeks of the season. Eventually we have to step up and just fix the gaping holes in the secondary.

Even with the secondary issues, our D-line looks dynamite, so hopefully we can get our blitz package working like a well oiled machine so Woodson can continue to rack of the INTs.

When did Pickett get hurt? Don't recall him going down...

quote:

Eventually we have to step up and just fix the gaping holes in the secondary.

HAHA Gaping holes in the secondary?!!?!?

First, you should pay better attention to where the pass yards came from against Newton. Second, you should pay attention to why they were available there.

The RB's had over 100 yards receiving. The TE's had 100 yards combined as well. The problem in the coverage yesterday was on the LB's, not the secondary. So now you ask why? I'll tell you, because we played 3-4 front for most of the first half. Typically, we stay in a 2-4 even when the opponent presents a two TE package and Wood takes the best receiving TE. Because the Packers CHOSE to take away the run, this opened up the RB's and TE's in the passing game. It was a calculated choice they made, and it worked.


As far as the secondary goes, most the balls downfield to receivers were challenged well. The play in the 4th that got reviewed, that was just an amazing catch. Not much you can do about it. The long pass down the middle to smith in garbage time, Newton was flushed and tossed the ball 60 yards in the air from an awkward position and put it on a flippen dime. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap.

Raji used the term "mental errors" when asked about the coverage breakdowns yesterday. I was more concerned about the offense having to settle for all the FGs yesterday.

I was more concerned the oline looking like crap in pass protection.

quote:

Originally posted by El-Ka-Bong:
Rushing Cam and he killed us with his legs. Holding lanes and making him go through progressions led to turnovers. Despite throwing for 40gazillion yards, I'd prefer Cam in the pocket over the Cam scramble.

Wasn't it last year we were told there was no rush outside of Matthews?

Great point.

He only got outside containment for a decent gain once. B. Jones took an inside rush and Newton scrambled to his left for 10+ yards. Coincidentally, you didn't see much of Jones after that.

I'd feel okay about yesterday's performance considering Tramon and Collins except for the fact that in preseason our pass defense was being gutted as well. Say what you want about "it was only preseason," but it seems that the poor pass defense has continued. I'm not panicking, as it seems we tend to be a slow-starting team that comes on in the end, but it is concerning that we have been chewed up so badly.

I want to see what So'oto can do in passing situations. I not sure if he's ready to play quite yet but in obvious passing situations I think he might be able cause some problems.

quote:

Originally posted by Fandame:
I'd feel okay about yesterday's performance considering Tramon and Collins except for the fact that in preseason our pass defense was being gutted as well. Say what you want about "it was only preseason," but it seems that the poor pass defense has continued. I'm not panicking, as it seems we tend to be a slow-starting team that comes on in the end, but it is concerning that we have been chewed up so badly.

Not picking on you but let's not lose sight of one fact. GB is 2-0. The other teams we play have 53 players on the other side of the field full of talent, emotion and energy that get paid a lot of money to play the game too.

Historically this team does start slow but so far so good in the W column. If they can head into Soldier Field and get another W, no matter how ugly it may be, we will be looking great.

I think GB can dominate the Bears. Not sure if they will.

A wise man once said: Time will tell.

Pakrz, I'm not losing sight of the fact we're 2-0, but I don't like how we got to 2-0 on the defensive side of the ball. I certainly don't expect perfection at this point in the year, but I gotta think MM and DC aren't real happy about our pass D. Brees and Newton light us up for more than 400 each? Brees, okay. Newton, ouch.

quote:

Originally posted by Diggr14:
@ ammo: Pretty sure you are dreaming. The talent is just not there on our D-line. It's not as good as it's hyped up to be. It's a shame when a guy like Newton can carve up a good secondary like ours because he has all day to throw.

May be dreaming but unlike you I at least have some football knowledge.

i'm sure the lockout is an enormous factor when it comes to pass defense, or lack there of, because it seems like this is a league wide issue. Tom Brady and Cam Newton become the first two QB's to ever throw for over 400 yards in their first two games of the season, and i think the NFL broke some kind of combined point record this week too; just generally very poor defense all around. i'm definitely not worried about this. Especially when we did not have tramon on the field.