I love the we have the same defense argument!! I have been asking people to provide starters from last year to this year and no one will do it..So here it is

Starters on D last year in the nfcg game

Kampman
Pickett
Williams
Jenkins

Brady Pop
Barnett
Hawk

Woodson
Harris
Bigby
Collins

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Now lets take last weeks game starters on D

Kampan
Pickett
Jolly
Montgomery

Brady
Hawk
Bishop

Williams
Woodson
Harris
Collins

Okay there we go..

what has been the biggest issue this year? Pass rush and stopping the run


Break it down fellas and tell me your thoughts

We had 11 D-Linemen on the roster last year, now we lost some throughout the year, but always seemed to have plenty to rotate to keep everyone fresh.

Williams was traded, at the time no big deal, but now it sure looks like we have missed him this year.

How many d-line on the 53 man roster this year? 8, 9 max, then injuries started happening, everyone is a year older, just a miscalculation at the beginning that has came back to bite us in the a-----.

You can't change the past, let's see what happens the rest of this year into next. I'm still not giving up on this year untill that little ticker at the bottom of my tv screen says "eliminated from play-offs....Green Bay Packers....".

:icon_smile: :icon_smile: :icon_smile:

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Alot has changes on D. And that is what has cost us BIG time this year.

Our offense is still decent, and has scored alot of points.
Special teams has cost alot too. Punting, and kick coverage has been awful at the most important times this year. And when it HAS been good (pinning the Texans by their own goal line last week) our defense can't stop anyone.
Our O gave us the lead with under 2 minutes left, and our D folded like a card table at thanksgiving.

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We lost our best pass rushers in KGB and Corey Williams. They took with them more than 15 sacks. That's huge production that has to be replaced.

Pickett got injured in TC and didn't get any snaps in pre-season games, and he got injured again during the season. I have to think he's had some problems hitting his stride.

Jolly is coming off shoulder surgery, and as dominating as he looked at times last year, he hasn't looked so nearly as much this year. Combine that with his legal troubles and you could argue that perhaps Jolly has never really found a rhythm either.

Outside of those three, our D-line is horrendous. Cole is a solid player with great work ethic, but he's never going to be mistaken for an all pro. Montgomery/Hunter/Pettaway are marginal talents.

Harrell... is a huge problem, and I'm not talking about his injuries. Harrell was billed as a run stuffer, and despite our terrible run D, Harrell is mostly being used on passing downs. That's worrisome to me, Harrell not being able to offer anything in the run D despite that being his supposed strength... well that's just sad. Especially considering our poor run D.

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Very interesting point...

Greg Bedard joined the JSonline Packers' section last year, and he was originally a Dolphins beat writer during the Jim Bates DC years (when Sanders was on his staff too).


At the time Bedard said Thompson keeping 11 D-linemen was of no surprise to him, because the 4-3 scheme being used by Sanders (and had been used by Bates) relied a great deal on quality play from d-linemen to be successful.

I'd be interesting to read Bedard's thoughts on the poor play of the D this year, seeing as he's been following this scheme for about 7-8 years dating back to Miami.

I plan on subscribing to the JSOnline Insider's section at the end of the year, so it'll be interesting to look at Bedard's thoughts on the D in his chats and articles.

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You can add KGB to the list too. He seemed to work out well as a pass rush specialist but never recovered from the knee injury and was a non factor.

So that's three guys with Jenkins going down and the decision not to resign Williams and KGB who all factored in to what was a very stout pass rush team just last year.

With Jenkins back next year this tells me we need guys as good or better than Williams and KGB (when he was doing fairly well) which obviously isn't that big of a problem to overcome.

I, for one, think there should be more optimism then pessimism on this board and some here are looking way to deep into something I don't see that hard to fix. Our offense has been efficient and scoring and producing numbers equal to previous years. Our D is playing their guts out and theres a lot of talent over there but the lack of pass rush is something they can't overcome.

Get a couple of guys that can get in the QB's face. Pretty simple.

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Today's Injury report: (GBP Gazette), along w/other tidbits. This one is ugly. Justin's parts are bustin' again, you may note:

Wednesday, December 10, 2008
McCarthy speaks
Here are the injury updates and other newsy updates from coach Mike McCarthy's media conference:

* Injury report: S Atari Bigby (shoulder,out), LB Brandon Chillar (groin, limited), LT Chad Clifton (knees, full participation), FB Korey Hall (knee, DNP), DT Justin Harrell (hip, DNP), LB Danny Lansanah (arm/ankle, limited), DT Ryan Pickett (illness, limited participation), RT Mark Tauscher (knee, out), DE Jeremy Thompson (ankle, limited), CB Charles Woodson (toe, limited).

* On Harrell's injury: Had a bothersome hip for weeks. Has gotten to point where Dr. McKenzie felt needed to shut down today and Thursday. Will test Friday.

* On Hall's prospects: Potential test on Friday. Status hasn't changed. Will be a challenge to be ready. Hall thinks he will make it, though.

* On secondary: Plan is to keep Woodson at safety.

* On RB Brandon Jackson's lack of action: Thought Ryan Grant was in a rhythm. Wanted more runs in general.

* On Grant's performance: Last five, six weeks running football better in general. That includes Grant.

* On Bigby's shoulder: "He's feeling better." Thinks he can overcome shoulder, perhaps next week. Also has ankle issue.

* On how Aaron Rodgers has handled late-game situations: Thinks that's a postseason conversation. Hasn't been spots in games where looked in eyes and had to go a different direction. Missed 2-3 throws in a segment in last game -- that happens, not a big deal. Hasn't had to pull back and be conservative with him.

* Need a game where leads to win: "I think all quarterbacks need that. ... Your football team needs that." Need to stack successes, and haven't done that.

* On whether Breno Giacomini would be backup right tackle on Monday: Not ready to say yet. Giacomini has practiced well. Going against Aaron Kampman has helped him. Very pleased with his progress. But Allen Barbre probably would be next player in, before Giacomini.

* On whether losing has snowballed: Have bad record, but "I don't think we're a bad team. I think there are a lot of positives on our team." Need to improve on those positives. When one side doesn't get it done, other has to pick it up.

* On avoiding letdown when season's over: Practiced hard today. Tempo was in plus category, as has been all year. That's the job of the coaches. "We don't have an effort problem, never have. ... Our guys play hard."

* What talk about with guys motivationally? "It's time to fight our way out of this whole we created." Fully expects to fight and win on Sunday.

That's it for now.

-- Tom Pelissero, tpelisse@greenbaypressgazette.com
posted by PackersNews.com at 12:55 PM | 3 Comments

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Chillar looks iffy again, practice squad additions
Linebacker Desmond Bishop, who made his first career start on Sunday against the Houston Texans, could be line for a second straight start this week against Jacksonville. That's because Brandon Chillar (groin) was limited at best in practice. Chillar was injured in practice a week ago and was inactive against the Texans.

Others who appeared either limited or out were:

S Atari Bigby
CB Charles Woodson
FB Korey Hall
S Nick Collins
LB Danny Lansanah
DT Ryan Pickett
DT Johnny Jolly
DE Jeremy Thompson

We'll have the full injury report at the conclusion of practice.

Roster moves: The Packers signed three players to their practice squad.

* CB Joshua Abrams, a rookie from Ohio University.
* RB Steven Korte, a rookie from LSU.
* DT Fred Bledsoe, who returns for his second stint with the Packers.

-- Rob Demovsky, rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com
posted by PackersNews.com at 12:27 PM | 0 Comments


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last year total of 49 tds...had 3 from D and s/t take those away thats 46 tds...

322 points ....31 fg or 93 points...

415 points===

26 points per game on offense in 2007


This year so far

41 tds take away the 8 from D and s/t thats 33tds or 231 points..........

22 fg...66 points for total of 297 points..for an average of about

23 points on offense



So......3 points per game more last year...



Defense this year giving up 25 points per game

2007 gave up 18 points per game

Thats 7 more points per game the D is giving up this year