Reality is that he was the most physical linebacker we had last year and this year when he seen action, period.

Is he the next coming of the savior for this franchise, no, but will he bring some thump to our defense. I think the answer is hell yes.

I hate to see our samurai dancing to avoid blocks and running himself out of the running lanes.. only to loop around and make the play yards down the field then do some celebration like you haven't been there before (big play, great, routine play makes you look like a punk).. yes I want to see a linebacker shoot a gap consistently and take down a player for a loss.. or smack them into Monday morning..

I can only speak for myself.. I like the play of Barnett and Chillar on passing plays.. but why not utilize your aggressors early in downs or in short yardage.. we drop into zones with this scheme.. it would be hard for him to get exposed in coverage like so many want to crucify him for..

You try to avoid getting your backers matched up one on one for a reason..

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Hard to accept Barnett criticism after he played a solid game against Detroit. For the first time, he actually looked comfortable in this scheme.

I do think Bishop should play more specifically on running situations, but I think people are wrong if they think he'll come in and play as well as he has in preseason. He can help in some areas and should be on the field for that reason, but if he does see the field, he'll only disappoint those with ridiculous expectations.

The run defense and defense as a whole has been better this year. It's time to state the obvious. I know it took a lot of heat because of who picked them apart on a Monday night, but the fact is, defensively, Green Bay is already better this year than last year and they're still learning a new scheme. That's something to be excited about.

For the record,

The Packers defense has given up fewer points than Minnesota's.

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I'm with Porky. I've actually heard more Barnett hate since the Detroit game than before it, and Sunday he had his best game so far!

Whatever, haters.

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He never averaged lower than 7 tackles a game until last season. The hate is misplaced.

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Bring it on.

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Its not about barnett hate - its more about getting the best player on the field for the job.

Or even to see if a player would be the best player.

ok maybe a little bit of barnett scrutiny

Hawk isn't a playmaker. A non-entity in too many games. He's the 4th best linebacker of the starters, statistically, and if you count the Matthews/Poppinga platoon as one starter he's the 5th best.

LB--------------Tack/Assist Tot Sacks Fum Rec
Barnett------------------24/7 31 0.5 0
Chillar------------------20/9 29 1 0
Kampman-------------18/6 24 2 0
Matthews/Poppinga-13/10 23 3 1
Hawk---------------------18/5 23 0 0

I don't have play stats, but I'd bet money that Hawk's played more downs than Chillar.

Hawk's stats have dropped every year, and this year he's on pace for his worst year yet. 2009 stats below take his stats through 5 games and extends them to 16.

Year T/A Tot Sacks Int
2006 83/37 120 3.5 2
2007 78/27 105 1 1
2008 67/19 86 0 0
2009 57/16 73 0 0

Bottomline: We're getting less production from Hawk than the other linebacker positions, and it's getting worse, not better. Barnett's our best, statistically speaking.