There are a number of factors impacting a D's performance. To try and single out 'motivation' as the difference is pointless and just suits whatever preconceived arguments someone wants to make.

Personnel, scheme, coaching, the opponents we're facing, etc. all play into the D's performance.

Personnel--Not a huge lot of changes since the beginning of the season, but there have been a few (Jones out, Lattimore in, etc).

Scheme--DC tried putting in a new scheme at the beginning of the season, didn't work so well.

Coaching--coaches prepare the players for the schemes as well as for that week's opponents. I have no insights to how those coaches are doing their jobs, but it's possible that they're better preparing the players for the game (including motivating them).

Opponents--last two weeks are teams we know very well--their strengths and weaknesses. That familiarity helps in preparation. Vikings were also a wounded kill--minus AP and having to start Ponder at QB. That's not the steepest defensive challenge. That said, it was the first well-rounded performance by our D this year. I was satisfied with our run D for the first time this season (I was NOT impressed against the Bears--they were gashing us for 9-10 yd gains in the first half).

In any event, no one can prove their side/convince the other in a 'it was their motivation' - 'no it wasn't' argument.

Originally Posted by: macbob 

Defense has not shown steady improvement...it played Jay Cutler and Christian Ponder. I'm sure it will "improve" vs. Ryan freaking Tannehill, too.

Let's see how this D looks when it goes to New Orleans. We'll be able to tell if it's improved or just played poor teams. I'm starting to wonder if the week we played Detroit if Megatron wasn't injured then, too.

One thing I can't stand...a guy like Guion who is BRUTAL plays well last night. Why? He's MOTIVATED. This Packers team only plays well like any team anywhere when it's motivated. Rodgers is clearly motivated now that he's heard the criticism...that is his fuel. I expect an egg from him soon as the praise gets louder and louder.

We need a MOTIVATING presence on this team whether it's DC, HC, position coach or player(s).

Originally Posted by: uffda udfa 

The Packers defense has shown steady improvement throughout the season.

They played a strong game against the lions. They forced 3 turnovers and kept the Packers in the game. That loss was on the offense, not the defense.

It's funny how after just one performance, you are so quick to throw the Bears offense under the bus. Going into last week, all we heard was how dangerous the bears offense was with the trio of big targets. They put on a show against the 49ers AT san fran. Just because the Packers stopped them, we should just write off the Bears offense?

The Vikings were playing with a 3rd string Q and backup RB. I'm not gonna take too much from that game or the stats. The one thing I did enjoy seeing was our defense swarming the ball. Even when the Vikings were able to complete a pass or get some running lanes, they barely had room to breathe before multiple Packers were on them.

Are we a great defense? Hell no. However, we are better than you would like to believe.

Originally Posted by: Bigbyfan 

This defense has been really frustrating this year. Patches of great play and patches of utter dross: they played well against Detroit, a hapless Minnesota, and in the second half against the Jets; they played sh*t against Seattle and against Chicago but for a few key plays.

There are certainly issues that need to be fixed. First and foremost is the run game as we still sit 32nd in rush yards allowed at 163.0/game. The numbers look a little better for us in yards per attempt, ranking 23rd at 4.6. Still not good enough, though.

We need to see more consistency. We need someone on the defensive interior to step up and create some havoc in the middle, be that Guion not being a flash in the pan against Minnesota or Pennel/Robinson progressing. Ideally, I'd like to Pennel progress and take over the starting Nose Tackle job as I feel Boyd and Guion are more suited to be 3-techs than a 0 or 1-tech. That might be a pipe dream though. I wish we had a Gilbert Brown on this team, I think that would make a world of difference for us.

On the bright side, we're allowing a quarterback rating of 70.5 right now, good for 2nd in the NFL behind Cincinnati. We're tied for the lead league in interceptions--though we've played one more game--and we're 5th in yards per attempt at 6.4.

All told, we're ranked 22nd in yards; but--more importantly--we're 9th in points per game at 21.2. If we can maintain the pass defense's performance level, create pressure a little more consistently, mitigate some of our issues in run defense, and stay opportunistic, this can be a top 10 defense. Hell, we technically are right now in spite of all our problems... which begs the question: how f*cking bad is the rest of the NFL?

Originally Posted by: mi_keys 

Detroit put up a whopping SEVEN vs. Buffalo today. One pick 6 and one legit TD the entire game, AT HOME, vs. Buffalo.

What our D did vs. Detroit needs to be refiltered through what Detroit did today. Detroit is HORRIBLE on O when Megatron isn't fully healthy. For those who wondered how we shutdown Detroit...there's your answer.

I'm a realist not a pessimist. Just not a good defense no matter how you want to spin it.

Originally Posted by: uffda udfa