How are we feeling tonight now?

The Packers defense just put a beating on Cutler and the Bears.

Do we still want Capers fired? I was one of those people.

Did I jump the gun? I'm not sure. I probably was. I hope he turns the defense around and everything but I dunno. Hopefully we all look foolish during this year's Superbowl when we look back and think about how we even considered it as fans.

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Defense stepped up overall. I think calling for the firing of Capers was a tad too soon. Plenty of games left though.

Great calls against the Bears. Found the weakness and easily exploited it.

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I said I'll give him half a season. He was elite in 2010 and awful in 2011. The first game of 2012, he was awful. Elite the 2nd game of 2012. He had his team mean and nasty. Did anyone else notice that CM3's sacks were more vicious against Cutler than Smith? Also, CM3's Predator was nastier against Cutler than Smith. Yes, this does matter. I'm all for getting inside the opposing QB's head. Psychology is TOTALLY underrated in sports.

So, which Dom Capers will we see for the rest of the year? Will we see the one who calls aggressive blitzes and has his team fired up like in game 2? Or will we see the passive Capers of game 1 whose players are timid and nice?

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The answer is what it has always been: it depends on how the players are playing.

The basics of Capers 3-4 are not hard to figure out: control the run first, get teams into predictable down-and-distance scenarios (more simply: make them 1 dimensional passing team) and then unleash Blitzburg style defenses.

We really did not do a great job of controlling the run. We did, however, have CM3 coming up huge and a pass-rush early on clicking enough to get the Bears into predictable down-and-distance scenarios. That makes it pretty easy to call a more aggressive defense.

Frankly, I'm surprised at people wanting Capers fired. He is pretty good at what he does. However, if his team cannot actually do the necessary things to play an aggressive style, you're going to see a struggling defense. Which we saw last year.

Even after tonight's performance, I'm concerned about our run D. It still needs to improve if we have any shot against other elite NFC teams. We cannot be giving up 4+ yards a carry and expect solid Defensive performances. I hope that, as the year goes on, Perry and Walden can continue to set good edges against the run, and, most importantly, our D-linemen do their jobs at a high level against the competition. I have some confidence in the former, but am highly suspect about the latter; time will tell.

However, I'm much more concerned with our offense. Benson coming on is a big asset, but for the love of all that is right in this world I cannot figure out why we do not call more short routes and slants to force Safties closer to the LOS. Hell, exploit the middle of the field more with players like Cobb. You've essentially got two TEs that can play as WRs, allowing you to use Cobb's versatility more. I'm not sure what McCarthy is thinking - but I grow more concerned with each quarter that he is counting on the big play to eventually develop and kick start our O. Kind of like a couple of years ago when he was intent on force feeding Finley to the detriment of Jennings. His stubbornness - if what this is an example of - is concerning. Use the variety in your playbook - short completions, slant routes, completions over middle of the field - to force the safties closer, thereby opening up more stuff deep.

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Actually it seems the answer is "it depends on if Jarrett Bush is playing."

Amazing how well the DBs were with that scrub not on the field.

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Yeah, the players played well tonight, and therein lies the difference. I never was for calling out Capers so much, but rather the players. We had some underperforming since last year's game at KC. What impressed me was we got some really great play from some of the rookies, namely Worthy, Hayward and McMillian. Our vets really came up big too. Hawk, Mathews, Raji, Pick, Williams, Shields & Wood made their presence felt. That right there makes all the difference in the world. Inspired, sound play on D, in a good scheme. Great to see, especially v. CHI.

I take great pleasure in watching Cutler get pummeled.

The only knock I have on Capers is the dude needs a touch of gray in his shoe polished hair. Ditch the shoe polish Dom. Maybe find another barber who doesn't use a bowl. You're scaring me!

Simplified the coverage last night.. played more basic cover two (albeit a bracket over Marshall) and allowed the front to pressure. Maybe this is the recipe that is needed for a while.. let the secondary get their feet under them before trying more complex zone calls.

Maybe it also will give Capers a little more confidence that the heat will get home and not play as much 3 man rushes.. once in a while but not to the degree we see last year.

Matthews played a good game, but many are overlooking what might have been AJ's most aggressive game in years. MacBob in chat talked about his play at the LOS.. he nailed it... he seemed to play on their side more than normal.. more instincts.. less read and react.

They still have work to do... but it is coming.

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I do not understand the one defensive formation Capers calls where a DL is in open space covering a wr.

San Fran got at least three plays of 15 yards on that formation.

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I only saw one or two 3 man rushes last night. Which is a HUGE step in the right direction. I'd like to see zero. All references to the 3 man rush should be taken out of Capers' playbook.

And yes, Hawk looked really good and that made a huge difference. He was there busting up plays at the LoS all night long.

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I think we are in the same spot as we were last week.. we have some work to do yet and there still are questions to answer with this group.

The Packers still need to prove that they can handle presnap movement and stacks. Thanks to Meathead being the OC for the Bears, we seen a relatively bland version of presnap movement and little stacks. I think they firmly believed they would be able to out play the defense in the short quick passes and were not prepared to get out of that.

But I think Capers and company are going to alter the playbook for a little while going forward and building trust over the top that they can handle more than basic cover two responsibilities and rely on the abilities of his corners when they can trust they have help in place over the top.

Stacks will force them to get out of man some and alter the coverage to deal with it if they get rubbed off often. Also.. Cover two is going to place more pressure on the middle deep of the field, which means backers need to improve a bit in coverage on go routes by the TE.

Give take with the scheme last night, but at least players seemed to play more aggressively because they knew they had help over the top. Against the Niners I think they were mixing it up more due to the caliber of talent by Veron Davis.. they we trying to not let him beat them.. hence lack of cover two last week.

Much like the offense and the running game.. the defense has to be able to adjust accordingly.. so we will see issues moving forward unless they grow and improve in variate coverages.

But this game returned some of the swagger.. a confidence builder if you will.. and hopefully that carries over. And we improve is zones and on field coverage adjustments.

We shown that we have the physical talent to play with a good offense.. now we just need to improve upon the playbook and on field communication.

There is hope.. but we still have work to do. So yeah, we should be in the mode of we need to improve each week with an end goal of playing the rigors of the playoffs and advancing through.

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