Rockmolder
14 years ago
While Clay Matthews shines, A.J. Hawk is nowhere to be found 

By Gregg Rosenthal

Packers linebacker Clay Matthews shook off his inactive preseason like he shook off Eagles blockers Sunday, leading the Green Bay defense during a superlative defense.

Matthews finished with two sacks, a forced fumble, and seven tackles, including the game-clinching stuff of Michael Vick.

"There's a lot of rust I need to shake off. It was a good way to start the season, let's just leave it at that," Mathews said after the game.

While the team's 2009 first-round pick built off his fabulous rookie season, the No. 4 overall pick didn't play a single snap on defense. A.J. Hawk only plays in Green Bay's base defense. Since the Packers played in their nickel or dime packages all day, Hawk only played on special teams.

Hawk's lack of a role on passing downs is nothing new. But it still says something when a guy making $4.6 million doesn't play a snap on defense all day.

It also says we should probably change our definition of what's a "base defense" in today's NFL.

Since69
14 years ago
Hawk plays in the base defense - we were in the nickel all day. That's why Chillar was in and Hawk wasn't.

Hawk will rip some heads off next week against the Bills...
UserPostedImage
peteralan71
14 years ago

Hawk will rip some heads off next week against the Bills...

"Since69" wrote:



Not so sure I agree with you on that one. Hawk started his career at GB with energy and a killer attitude, but since then he has dwindled considerably. His tackles for the last four yrs have been 119, 105, 86, and 89. I just don't think that he'll have another killer year, esp with CM3 being a freak, and Brad Jones coming up in the ranks.
Green Bay: Home of the Green & Gold. And the hunter orange. And the camouflage.
UserPostedImage
evad04
14 years ago

Hawk will rip some heads off next week against the Bills...

"peteralan71" wrote:



Not so sure I agree with you on that one. Hawk started his career at GB with energy and a killer attitude, but since then he has dwindled considerably. His tackles for the last four yrs have been 119, 105, 86, and 89. I just don't think that he'll have another killer year, esp with CM3 being a freak, and Brad Jones coming up in the ranks.

"Since69" wrote:


Once again, there's an explanation for the decline in tackles. Green Bay plays a significant amount of sub packages (five DBs) on defense. Hawk has played some in the nickel packages, but he's predominantly used as a ILB in their base 3-4 defense.

When he was drafted, he played OLB in a base 4-3. He also played in a greater portion of sub packages.

What is there NOT to understand? He isn't on the field as much, hence the decline in tackles.

This article -- hell, this overall perception -- about Hawk is already tiring and we just finished week 1. I firmly believe that if you went into McCarthy's office, or Capers' office, or Kevin Greene's office and asked them about A.J. Hawk they would have positive things to say. You wouldn't here, "Well, Matthews looked great out there today. A.J. didn't."

Two long-locked blonde LBs who DON'T PLAY THE SAME POSITION sure are compared a lot to one another -- and unnecessarily if you ask me. Rosenthal sure did his homework. Didn't know Hawk went 4th in the draft :crazy:
William Henderson didn't have to run people over. His preferred method was levitation.
"I'm a reasonable man, get off my case."
Zero2Cool
14 years ago
Winston Moss would be whom you'd talk to about Hawk, not our OLB coach, Kevin Greene. 😛
UserPostedImage
bozz_2006
14 years ago

Hawk will rip some heads off next week against the Bills...

"evad04" wrote:



Not so sure I agree with you on that one. Hawk started his career at GB with energy and a killer attitude, but since then he has dwindled considerably. His tackles for the last four yrs have been 119, 105, 86, and 89. I just don't think that he'll have another killer year, esp with CM3 being a freak, and Brad Jones coming up in the ranks.

"peteralan71" wrote:


Once again, there's an explanation for the decline in tackles. Green Bay plays a significant amount of sub packages (five DBs) on defense. Hawk has played some in the nickel packages, but he's predominantly used as a ILB in their base 3-4 defense.

When he was drafted, he played OLB in a base 4-3. He also played in a greater portion of sub packages.

What is there NOT to understand? He isn't on the field as much, hence the decline in tackles.

This article -- hell, this overall perception -- about Hawk is already tiring and we just finished week 1. I firmly believe that if you went into McCarthy's office, or Capers' office, or Kevin Greene's office and asked them about A.J. Hawk they would have positive things to say. You wouldn't here, "Well, Matthews looked great out there today. A.J. didn't."

Two long-locked blonde LBs who DON'T PLAY THE SAME POSITION sure are compared a lot to one another -- and unnecessarily if you ask me. Rosenthal sure did his homework. Didn't know Hawk went 4th in the draft :crazy:

"Since69" wrote:



So, uh, why do you think he's not being played? :crazy: Yeah, if he was on the field more, he'd get more tackles. But if he was one of our best options at LB, he'd get his PT. I am sure you're right. If you ask the coaches about Hawk's play, they'd say positive things... because his play is one dimensional. They've already tested the theory and it's held true. They'd have positive things to say about the one role they have for him. He is good at eating up blockers. If you specifically asked the coaches about his blitzing, pursuit, or pass coverage do you really think they'd have positive things to say? If they did, he'd have seen more than zero defensive plays yesterday.
UserPostedImage
porky88
14 years ago
The had to play nickel. They didn't have enough defensive lineman to play base and you can't play base vs. Mike Vick.
evad04
14 years ago

Hawk will rip some heads off next week against the Bills...

"bozz_2006" wrote:



Not so sure I agree with you on that one. Hawk started his career at GB with energy and a killer attitude, but since then he has dwindled considerably. His tackles for the last four yrs have been 119, 105, 86, and 89. I just don't think that he'll have another killer year, esp with CM3 being a freak, and Brad Jones coming up in the ranks.

"evad04" wrote:


Once again, there's an explanation for the decline in tackles. Green Bay plays a significant amount of sub packages (five DBs) on defense. Hawk has played some in the nickel packages, but he's predominantly used as a ILB in their base 3-4 defense.

When he was drafted, he played OLB in a base 4-3. He also played in a greater portion of sub packages.

What is there NOT to understand? He isn't on the field as much, hence the decline in tackles.

This article -- hell, this overall perception -- about Hawk is already tiring and we just finished week 1. I firmly believe that if you went into McCarthy's office, or Capers' office, or Kevin Greene's office and asked them about A.J. Hawk they would have positive things to say. You wouldn't here, "Well, Matthews looked great out there today. A.J. didn't."

Two long-locked blonde LBs who DON'T PLAY THE SAME POSITION sure are compared a lot to one another -- and unnecessarily if you ask me. Rosenthal sure did his homework. Didn't know Hawk went 4th in the draft :crazy:

"peteralan71" wrote:



So, uh, why do you think he's not being played? :crazy: Yeah, if he was on the field more, he'd get more tackles. But if he was one of our best options at LB, he'd get his PT. I am sure you're right. If you ask the coaches about Hawk's play, they'd say positive things... because his play is one dimensional. They've already tested the theory and it's held true. They'd have positive things to say about the one role they have for him. He is good at eating up blockers. If you specifically asked the coaches about his blitzing, pursuit, or pass coverage do you really think they'd have positive things to say? If they did, he'd have seen more than zero defensive plays yesterday.

"Since69" wrote:


I don't agree with your assessment about Hawk's ability. Hawk is not Green Bay's best option for nickel defense. That doesn't mean he isn't a nice option at LB -- it means for defenses that feature only 2 LBs (you can essentially count the OLBs with their hands in the dirt as DEs) he isn't the best option.

Hawk had a solid year in '09. Yeah, not super flashy, but an improvement upon '08 no doubt.

But hey, let's trade him and stick Desmond Bishop in there, knowing as we do that he's an absolute dynamo and NEVER looks bad in coverage.
William Henderson didn't have to run people over. His preferred method was levitation.
"I'm a reasonable man, get off my case."
LambeauEast
14 years ago
I want the 11 best guys defensively on the field that I do the offense. If our best 11 for any situation doesn't include A.J., then I'm good with it. He will get his time, and do so effectively, but until then....let it ride!
UserPostedImage
go.pack.go.
14 years ago
I hate people that hate on Hawk. What did he do that is making people so mad at him? He has been a solid linebacker for us every since he got here, and he has been a pro about everything. You don't see him complaining about not getting a lot of playing time, do you?
UserPostedImage
Fan Shout
Mucky Tundra (5h) : The Seattle Seahawks defeat the Chicago Bears 6-3. Jason Myers had 6 RBIs for Seattle while Cairo Santos had 3 RBI for Chicago
beast (5h) : Not nessarily, he might of been injured either way. He's playing about 50% of the games the last 4 years
Zero2Cool (12h) : If they'd been more patient with him, he'd be back already. Putting him out there vs Bears caused him to tweak it and here we are.
packerfanoutwest (12h) : well this is his last season with the PAck, book it
beast (13h) : Sounds like no Alexander (again), I'm wondering if his time with the Packers is done
Zero2Cool (20h) : Could ban beast and I still don't think anyone catches him.
Mucky Tundra (26-Dec) : Houston getting dog walked by Baltimore
packerfanoutwest (25-Dec) : Feliz Navidad!
Zero2Cool (25-Dec) : Merry Christmas!
beast (25-Dec) : Merry Christmas 🎄🎁
beast (24-Dec) : Sounds like no serious injuries from the Saints game and Jacobs and Watson should play in the Vikings game
packerfanoutwest (24-Dec) : both games Watson missed, Packers won
Martha Careful (24-Dec) : I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas!
Mucky Tundra (24-Dec) : Oh I know about Jacobs, I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to mimic Zero lol
buckeyepackfan (24-Dec) : Jacobs was just sat down, Watson re-injured that knee that kept him out 1 game earlier
buckeyepackfan (24-Dec) : I needed .14 that's. .14 points for the whole 4th quarter to win and go to the SB. Lol
Mucky Tundra (24-Dec) : Jacobs gonna be OK???
Zero2Cool (24-Dec) : Watson gonna be OK???
packerfanoutwest (24-Dec) : Inactives tonight for the Pack: Alexander- knee Bullard - ankle Williams - quad Walker -ankle Monk Heath
packerfanoutwest (24-Dec) : No Jaire, but hopefully the front 7 destroys the line of scrimmage & forces Rattler into a few passes to McKinney.
packerfanoutwest (24-Dec) : minny could be #1 seed and the Lions #5 seed
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : We'd have same Division and Conference records. Strength of schedule we edge them
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : I just checked. What tie breaker?
bboystyle (23-Dec) : yes its possible but unlikely. If we do get the 5th, we face the NFCS winner
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : Ahh, ok.
bboystyle (23-Dec) : yes due to tie breaker
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : I mean, unlikely, yes, but mathematically, 5th is possible by what I'm reading.
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : If Vikings lose out, Packers win out, Packers get 5th, right?
bboystyle (23-Dec) : Minny isnt going to lose out so 5th seed is out of the equation. We are playing for the 6th or 7th seed which makes no difference
Mucky Tundra (23-Dec) : beast, the ad revenue goes to the broadcast company but they gotta pay to air the game on their channel/network
beast (23-Dec) : If we win tonight the game is still relative in terms of 5th, 6th or 7th seed... win and it's 5th or 6th, lose and it's 6th or 7th
beast (23-Dec) : Mucky, I thought the ad revenue went to the broadcasting companies or the NFL, at least not directly
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : I think the revenue share is moot, isn't it? That's the CBA an Salary Cap handling that.
bboystyle (23-Dec) : i mean game becomes irrelevant if we win tonight. Just a game where we are trying to play spoilers to Vikings chance at the #1 seed
Mucky Tundra (23-Dec) : beast, I would guess ad revenue from more eyes watching tv
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : I would think it would hurt the home team because people would have to cancel last minute maybe? i dunno
beast (23-Dec) : I agree that it's BS for fans planning on going to the game. But how does it bring in more money? I'm guessing indirectly?
packerfanoutwest (23-Dec) : bs on flexing the game....they do it for the $$league$$, not the hometown fans
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : I see what you did there Mucky
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : dammit. 3:25pm
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : Packers Vikings flexed to 3:35pm
Mucky Tundra (23-Dec) : Upon receiving the news about Luke Musgrave, I immediately fell to the ground
Mucky Tundra (23-Dec) : Yeah baby!
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : LUKE MUSGRAVE PLAYING TONIGHT~!~~~~WOWHOAAOHAOAA yah
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : I wanna kill new QB's ... blitz the crap out of them.
beast (23-Dec) : Barry seemed to get too conservative against new QBs, Hafley doesn't have that issue
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : However, we seem to struggle vs new QB's
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : Should be moot point, cuz Packers should win tonight.
packerfanoutwest (23-Dec) : ok I stand corrected
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : Ok, yes, you are right. I see that now how they get 7th
Please sign in to use Fan Shout
2024 Packers Schedule
Friday, Sep 6 @ 7:15 PM
Eagles
Sunday, Sep 15 @ 12:00 PM
COLTS
Sunday, Sep 22 @ 12:00 PM
Titans
Sunday, Sep 29 @ 12:00 PM
VIKINGS
Sunday, Oct 6 @ 3:25 PM
Rams
Sunday, Oct 13 @ 12:00 PM
CARDINALS
Sunday, Oct 20 @ 12:00 PM
TEXANS
Sunday, Oct 27 @ 12:00 PM
Jaguars
Sunday, Nov 3 @ 3:25 PM
LIONS
Sunday, Nov 17 @ 12:00 PM
Bears
Sunday, Nov 24 @ 3:25 PM
49ERS
Thursday, Nov 28 @ 7:20 PM
DOLPHINS
Thursday, Dec 5 @ 7:15 PM
Lions
Sunday, Dec 15 @ 7:20 PM
Seahawks
Monday, Dec 23 @ 7:15 PM
SAINTS
Sunday, Dec 29 @ 3:25 PM
Vikings
Saturday, Jan 4 @ 11:00 PM
BEARS
Recent Topics
38m / Green Bay Packers Talk / Mucky Tundra

1h / Random Babble / Mucky Tundra

1h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Mucky Tundra

1h / Random Babble / Mucky Tundra

7h / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

7h / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

25-Dec / Featured Content / Zero2Cool

25-Dec / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

25-Dec / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

25-Dec / GameDay Threads / bboystyle

24-Dec / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

24-Dec / Random Babble / beast

24-Dec / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

22-Dec / Green Bay Packers Talk / packerfanoutwest

19-Dec / Random Babble / Zero2Cool

Headlines
Copyright © 2006 - 2024 PackersHome.com™. All Rights Reserved.