Zero2Cool
16 years ago

A week after New Orleans top-ranked passing game punctured their highly-rated pass defense, the Green Bay Packers will be back to relying on their run defense their Achilles heel much of this season to hold up in a crucial game.

The Packers, who at 5-6 are a game out of first place in the NFC North Division, on Sunday host a Carolina Panthers team thats built around one of the NFLs best running back duos: 2006 first-round draft pick DeAngelo Williams and rookie first-round pick Jonathan Stewart.

The 8-3 Panthers rely on their run game to eat clock, wear down defenses and set up the occasional big play by receiver Steve Smith, and then count on one of the NFLs better defenses to keep down the score.

The Packers, after allowing Saints quarterback Drew Brees to throw for 323 yards and attain an astronomical passer rating of 157.5 points Monday night, have to switch gears and build a game plan around slowing Williams and Stewart, who have combined for 1,411 rushing yards this season.

They definitely want to come in here and pound us with the run, defensive tackle Colin Cole said. They want to establish that early and often, try to bloody our noses.

The Packers this season have had their problems stopping the run they rank No. 26 in the NFL in rushing yards allowed and No. 28 in yards allowed per carry but in their last game at Lambeau held the Chicago Bears to 83 yards rushing in a blowout win.

Sundays game against Carolina will give a better sense of whether that performance against the Bears was the sign of a run defense improving as the weather turns bad or just an up week in an up-and-down season.

Both Williams (5-foot-9, 217 pounds) and Stewart (5-10, 235) are power-oriented backs who gain much of their yardage after contact. Williams (883 yards, 5.1-yard average) is the more natural and instinctive halfback, but Stewart (528 yards, 4.3-yard average) also looks like a franchise-type back in his first season.

If you chart their explosive gains, runs of 12 (yards) or more, a high percentage of them have come off broken tackles, Packers defensive end Aaron Kampman said. So that says a lot. Tough runners. Not so much that guys arent getting in position, but guys arent bringing them down, arm tackling, things like that. So obviously tackling will be a critical factor.

The Packers defense is rebounding from a disastrous performance at New Orleans in which it gave up 51 points and 416 yards in total offense, at linebacker as much as any position.

That was the second game for A.J. Hawk at middle linebacker after Nick Barnetts season-ending knee injury. A week earlier, against the Bears, Hawk had played well enough to suggest the middle could be his best position long term. Last week, though, against the best pass offense in the NFL, Hawk looked a beat slow making reads and like many of his teammates had problems in pass coverage.

(Hawk) is still settling in, probably not as impactful or effective as he was that first game, said Winston Moss, the Packers assistant head coach and linebackers coach. But those are some of the things you go through when you make that transition. Hes settling in and is still doing some good things in there. Missed a couple things the other night, but you have to expect that and take that and coach him as well as possible.

Among the decisions the Packers must make based on this final stretch is whether to keep Hawk in the middle permanently and move Barnett to the weak side, or return them as they were next season. Middle linebacker could be the best position for both players. That would leave General Manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy to determine whether the defense is better with Hawk in the middle and Barnett on the weak side, or vice versa.

Moss gave no indication of his early read on Hawks best position.

I like him on the field, and I like him playing linebacker a lot, Moss said.

The Packers again must decide this week whether to deploy two linebackers or three when Carolina plays two tight ends, which could be a key decision for the defense.

Two weeks ago against Chicago, defensive coordinator Bob Sanders went with the two-linebacker (and five defensive backs) nickel defense against the Bears two tight-end grouping because he viewed one of the tight ends, Greg Olsen, as a receiver. The Bears had only 234 yards in total offense, and Olsen was a nonfactor.

But last week, Sanders switched up and went with the three linebackers against the Saints two-tight end, two-receiver personnel group, even though New Orleans is far more pass-oriented than the Bears. Brees threw for 323 yards, and tight ends Jeremy Shockey and Billy Miller combined for nine receptions for 93 yards. Generally speaking, defenses play the three-linebacker base personnel when they consider the offense in a run-oriented package, but Sanders stuck with that group against the Saints two tight ends.

The way that game was developing (in New Orleans) we wanted to settle down, Moss said, get some guys in comfortable positions and doing things theyre comfortable doing in our base vs. that personnel grouping. We made a decision as a group to go with that and see if it could settle us down, but it was tough regardless.

Because Carolina is far more run-oriented, Sanders might be inclined to go with the three linebackers against two tight ends this week also. That would keep strong-side linebacker Brady Poppinga, whose strength is playing the run, on the field for more snaps than hed play if Sanders went nickel. But after the Packers linebackers struggles in pass coverage last week, Carolina might try to exploit that by throwing more to tight ends Dante Rosario and Jeff King, who have combined for 36 receptions this season.

Brandon Chillar, the Packers best pass-coverage linebacker, had by far his worst game against the Saints. For most of the season hes covered well enough to usually be in position to tackle tight ends and even receivers immediately after the catch, but against New Orleans, he lost contact on several plays.

He struggled a little bit, it took him a while to get more settled than anybody, Moss said. Once he got settled he was OK, but in that first half there were some things that got away from him. Weve addressed that, and Im sure with the preparation that goes into this week, well make sure those things get taken care of.



I don't know if our defense should be thinking of bouncing at all.
UserPostedImage
Cheesey
16 years ago
After the whipping the Saints put on them, this game will show whether we still have a shot at the division or not.
Lose this, and it;s pretty much over. Win it, and show we arn't as bad as last week showed.
UserPostedImage
16 years ago
Defense didn't step up. They suck. 35 points, after 51 the week before. That's just sad sad sad sad SAD. They should all be embarrassed, and we may need a new DC. We have the players. It has to be the scheme and playcalling.
UserPostedImage
shield4life
16 years ago

Defense didn't step up. They suck. 35 points, after 51 the week before. That's just sad sad sad sad SAD. They should all be embarrassed, and we may need a new DC. We have the players. It has to be the scheme and playcalling.

"MassPackersFan" wrote:



I agree, new dc is all we need.
Glad To Be A Packers Fan.
Fan Shout
Mucky Tundra (4h) : And James Flanigan is the grandson of Packers Super Bowl winner Jim Flanigan Sr.
Mucky Tundra (4h) : Jerome Bettis and Jim Flanigans sons as well!
Zero2Cool (11h) : Thomas Davis Jr is OLB, not WR. Oops.
Zero2Cool (11h) : Larry Fitzgeral and Thomas Davis sons too. WR's as well.
Mucky Tundra (5-Jul) : Kaydon Finley, son of Jermichael Finley, commits to Notre Dame
dfosterf (3-Jul) : Make sure to send my props to him! A plus move!
Zero2Cool (3-Jul) : My cousin, yes.
dfosterf (3-Jul) : That was your brother the GB press gazette referenced with the red cross draft props thing, yes?
Zero2Cool (2-Jul) : Packers gonna unveil new throwback helmet in few weeks.
Mucky Tundra (2-Jul) : I know it's Kleiman but this stuff writes itself
Mucky Tundra (2-Jul) : "Make sure she signs the NDA before asking for a Happy Ending!"
Mucky Tundra (2-Jul) : @NFL_DovKleiman Powerful: Deshaun Watson is taking Shedeur Sanders 'under his wing' as a mentor to the Browns QBs
Zero2Cool (30-Jun) : Dolphins get (back) Minkah Fitzpatrick in trade
Zero2Cool (30-Jun) : Steelers land Jalen Ramsey via Trade
dfosterf (26-Jun) : I think it would be great to have someone like Tom Grossi or Andy Herman on the Board of Directors so he/they could inform us
dfosterf (26-Jun) : Fair enough, WPR. Thing is, I have been a long time advocate to at least have some inkling of the dynamics within the board.
wpr (26-Jun) : 1st world owners/stockholders problems dfosterf.
Martha Careful (25-Jun) : I would have otherwise admirably served
dfosterf (25-Jun) : Also, no more provision for a write-in candidate, so Martha is off the table at least for this year
dfosterf (25-Jun) : You do have to interpret the boring fine print, but all stockholders all see he is on the ballot
dfosterf (25-Jun) : It also says he is subject to another ballot in 2028. I recall nothing of this nature with Murphy
dfosterf (25-Jun) : Ed Policy is on my ballot subject to me penciling him in as a no.
dfosterf (25-Jun) : I thought it used to be we voted for the whatever they called the 45, and then they voted for the seven, and then they voted for Mark Murphy
dfosterf (25-Jun) : Because I was too lazy to change my address, I haven't voted fot years until this year
dfosterf (25-Jun) : of the folks that run this team. I do not recall Mark Murphy being subject to our vote.
dfosterf (25-Jun) : Ed Policy yay or nay is on the pre-approved ballot that we always approve because we are uninformed and lazy, along with all the rest
dfosterf (25-Jun) : Weird question. Very esoteric. For stockholders. Also lengthy. Sorry. Offseason.
Zero2Cool (25-Jun) : Maybe wicked wind chill made it worse?
Mucky Tundra (25-Jun) : And then he signs with Cleveland in the offseason
Mucky Tundra (25-Jun) : @SharpFootball WR Diontae Johnson just admitted he refused to enter a game in 41° weather last year in Baltimore because he felt “ice cold”
Zero2Cool (24-Jun) : Yawn. Rodgers says he is "pretty sure" this be final season.
Zero2Cool (23-Jun) : PFT claims Packers are having extension talks with Zach Tom, Quay Walker.
Mucky Tundra (20-Jun) : GB-Minnesota 2004 Wild Card game popped up on my YouTube page....UGH
beast (20-Jun) : Hmm 🤔 re-signing Walker before Tom? Sounds highly questionable to me.
Mucky Tundra (19-Jun) : One person on Twitter=cannon law
Zero2Cool (19-Jun) : Well, to ONE person on Tweeter
Zero2Cool (19-Jun) : According to Tweeter
Zero2Cool (19-Jun) : Packers are working on extension for LT Walker they hope to have done before camp
dfosterf (18-Jun) : E4B landed at Andrews last night
dfosterf (18-Jun) : 101 in a 60
dfosterf (18-Jun) : FAFO
Zero2Cool (18-Jun) : one year $4m with incentives to make it up to $6m
dfosterf (18-Jun) : Or Lions
dfosterf (18-Jun) : Beats the hell out of a Vikings signing
Zero2Cool (18-Jun) : Baltimore Ravens now have signed former Packers CB Jaire Alexander.
dfosterf (14-Jun) : TWO magnificent strikes for touchdowns. Lose the pennstate semigeezer non nfl backup
dfosterf (14-Jun) : There was minicamp Thursday. My man Taylor Engersma threw
dfosterf (11-Jun) : There will be a mini camp practice Thursday.
Zero2Cool (11-Jun) : He's been sporting a ring for a while now. It's probably Madonna.
Martha Careful (10-Jun) : We only do the tea before whoopee, it relaxes me.
Please sign in to use Fan Shout
2025 Packers Schedule
Sunday, Sep 7 @ 3:25 PM
LIONS
Thursday, Sep 11 @ 7:15 PM
COMMANDERS
Sunday, Sep 21 @ 12:00 PM
Browns
Sunday, Sep 28 @ 7:20 PM
Cowboys
Sunday, Oct 12 @ 3:25 PM
BENGALS
Sunday, Oct 19 @ 3:25 PM
Cardinals
Sunday, Oct 26 @ 7:20 PM
Steelers
Sunday, Nov 2 @ 12:00 PM
PANTHERS
Monday, Nov 10 @ 7:15 PM
EAGLES
Sunday, Nov 16 @ 12:00 PM
Giants
Sunday, Nov 23 @ 12:00 PM
VIKINGS
Thursday, Nov 27 @ 12:00 PM
Lions
Sunday, Dec 7 @ 12:00 PM
BEARS
Sunday, Dec 14 @ 3:25 PM
Broncos
Friday, Dec 19 @ 11:00 PM
Bears
Friday, Dec 26 @ 11:00 PM
RAVENS
Saturday, Jan 3 @ 11:00 PM
Vikings
Recent Topics
14h / Random Babble / Martha Careful

4-Jul / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

2-Jul / Green Bay Packers Talk / dfosterf

2-Jul / Fantasy Sports Talk / dfosterf

1-Jul / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

29-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

25-Jun / Around The NFL / Martha Careful

23-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / Mucky Tundra

20-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

20-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

20-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

18-Jun / Random Babble / Zero2Cool

16-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / dfosterf

15-Jun / Random Babble / Martha Careful

14-Jun / Around The NFL / beast

Headlines
Copyright © 2006 - 2025 PackersHome.com™. All Rights Reserved.