More blitz's from the defense. Against the Bears the defense was fucking exciting to watch because you could see the defenders roaming around damn near taunting the QB. Now? Everyone is sitting still waiting for the snap. I prefer the aggressive nature instead of the reactive nature.
"all_about_da_packers" wrote:
You can only blitz if you've got players that are assignment sure. Especially your Safties - they must know (and get to) their assigned areas.
That is where this team fails. Say what you want about Bigby - but you hardly ever heard his name being called out for not being in the right spot doing his job. The fact that he was half a step behind the player is not as important as the fact that he knew where he was supposed to provide help, and he would get to that area before the ball was thrown.
That sure as hell didn't happen last night, and hasn't since the Bears game. Rouse wasn't assignment sure, Martin wasn't assignment sure, and our next option was Jarret Bush. Need I say more?
Looking back at the play where Brett threw the TD pass to Berrian - look at Al before the snap. He's facing Martin, pointing out what Martin should be doing. As soon as Al turns around, Berrian is running past him and (surprise, surprise) Martin is not where he should have been - over top of Al.
That's not something that should be happening in Week 4. That's inexcusable. And THAT is happening to our starting SS.
I believe it was Capers who said that his scheme has holes that can be exploited, but the key is to bring pressure home and prohibit the QB from having enough time to either recognize the hole, or actually have a receiver settle into the hole. When all the players aren't assignment sure, you end up having many more holes the QB can attack in a short period of time.
My point is simple: there is a reason Capers went away from the blitz. It's because our Safties (after Collins) are not starting caliber players - they are missing assignments and leaving gaps in the field that someone like Brett will (and did) exploit oh so easily.
That above provides a context for Woodson's comments questioning the cutting of Smith today. Smith, despite his style of play, knew his responsibilities in this scheme. Martin, for all his talents, does not even know them, let alone capable of doing them.
This is also the reason why Capers and his Defensive staff (not Mike McCarthy) might be keeping Bishop out. In fire-zone, you need LBs that carry out their assignments to make the thing work. We have seen that while Bishop may be great in run support, he has glaring mistakes that lead to big plays in pass defense.
Barnett, in that context, is getting more reps becuase he has shown to be more assignment sure than Bishop. It may not make a world of difference when facing a team with only one real weapon like the Rams and their RB Jackson, but a team that was thriving on the pass last night... well it could have been a touch worse (not much, though) with Bishop in there.
"Zero2Cool" wrote: