We need Olinemen badly(especially the interior), a premier running back, a good DT, and a good DE.

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If we really want to move KGB, I think we should have done it when NY wanted a guy. But if we still want to move him, we do it now. After the season(barring the guy just playing out his skin the rest of the way) he will be worth nothing.

Penalties and injuries are obvious. Other than that, the main reason we aren't living up to expectations is the defense. Weren't they talking about being one of the best in the league? Right now they are one of the worst. They can't make the big stops, against even mediocre teams. The offense is performing ok, and Rodgers is doing very well for his first year.
The defense needs to step up, end of story. I point my finger at the entire squad, including coaches.

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I think the D will be fine with time. I'm not sure why everyone is panicking, this D has had three bad games, one to a damn good team in the Cowboys, one against the Bucs where they were on the field for almost 40 minutes of the game, and one against the Falcons.

Of all those games, I'd say the one against the Falcons should be taken on its own merit, that our D had a terrible game.

Things to correct the problem: insert Cole at RE, cut Pettaway and sign Malone from PS (or another DT in his place).

I think so much of the D's lack of consistency can be attributed to injuries. Bigby is a big loss, he was a great player against the run but also had an attitude that our D seems to lack.

I still maintain that when Harrell comes back, our run D will be fortified. Until then we need to find a temporary band-aid that covers the problem. 8 in the box (the 8th player being Bigby) would be my solution.

I also think Barnett has a more serious injury than is being let on. There is no way he should have regressed so much in a single off-season. He's been a secure tackler in his career in the NFL, to see him miss so much IMO points to his shoulder injury giving him more trouble than people realize.

Hawk's injury killed us. He seemed to be in slow motion, especially on the first TD where he was covering the TE.

I'd give Poppinga snaps at DE, and put Chilliar in his place. Incorporate some blitzes with Popp at DE that gives him the ability to drop back in coverage. Incorporate some new nuances into the D.

I still think it's too early to consider firing the DC, or making any dramatic changes.

As for O-line: I'm going to say let Chad and Taush work things out but keep them on a short leash. These two are our leaders on O, to bench either one would be unwise at this moment IMO. Clifton dominated Allen in the MNF opener, so I don't think he's lost "it".


Otherwise, just work on getting healthy as a team. I think injuries are being minimized in the role they have played on this team not playing to its potential.

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Cole at DE.. he can't get up field now.. pushing him outside with his short frame and arms.. no pass rush help there.. maybe on run downs.

Interesting thought though.

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Also, let's not forget that in the Falcons game bad calls hurt us. Lee's PI call was bogus, and so was Finley's holding call. The Finley holding call alone cost us 3 crucial points.

That's not to say that everything is alright, it isn't. But despite our team turning in one of it's worst performances on D, we were still right there. The team has shown the ability to make a play when they need it (Williams INT vs Falcons, Jennings TD against the Bucs in the 4th Q) but they haven't been able to sustain momentum and translate it in to stops.

The pieces are there, there have been flashes. This team, once it gets its act together will be dangerous. Very dangerous.

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Yeah I meant strictly on run downs.

Heavens no on putting him in there to get a rush. Such a move would just scream desperation.

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Going back to one of the problems we have is with Harris out it makes it more difficult to use the blitz packages. Everyone has had to move up a notch starting with Woodson guarding the #1 so playing man on a blitz gets more risky on down the line. Wood is the man and can handle his end but it's the third and fourth DB having to man up that is problematic.

With Hawk hurting it would seem to make sense to move Poppinga around in there and put Chillar on the TE. That gives us better coverage and MAYBE we can get Kamp from being chipped every pass play which seems to be happening because we aren't hardly ever sending anybody else and KGB isn't back where he needs to be.

This is a modified version of what AADP was talking about with Poppinga. I just think moving him around some rather than bringing him off the end might be more affective.

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:cyclopsani: Seeing as our "D" line is rather decimated why not use all four LB's and a three down. And how long before Bigby gets back?

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IIRC, he's back this upcoming week. Can't wait.

And yes, we should go 4 LBs on 3rd down. Let them guess which LB is coming at them.

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