WHAT’S AILING THE PACKERS DEFENSE?

Defense Continues to Struggle in Rodgers’ Absence

As the Packers get the short week to prepare for the Detroit Lions and a shot at first place in the NFC North there are big questions hanging over them. The biggest would be the most obvious – will Aaron Rodgers play on Thanksgiving Day? After Mike McCarthy took the podium on Monday he let it be known that “… the chances of Aaron (Rodgers) playing are slim to none. He’ll have to practice on Wednesday but at this point the decision will be Aaron’s and the medical staff…” The short translation is Rodgers will not be ready for this week’s critical tilt.

But McCarthy now has another option other than the game but overmatched Scott Tolzien. Tolzien is far from a lousy QB. He just is not a game-ready NFL QB at this point in his career. Matt Flynn, on the other hand, is a game ready NFL QB. Flynn gives the Packers the best chance of winning outside of Rodgers. Flynn came on in relief of Tolzien against Minnesota when it looked for all the world as if the Vikings had buried the Pack under an avalanche. But Flynn provided an immediate spark and led a furious comeback that almost pulled the win out. He did manage to salvage a tie and with the Lions and Bears both failing at putting some distance between themselves and the Packers by losing the chances of Flynn not starting if Rodgers isn’t ready would also be slim to none. Tolzien has a career to develop. McCarthy needs wins now. Flynn could do it.

The larger question has nothing to do with Rodgers or his collarbone. It has to be asked- what is

going on with the Packers defense? After such a promising start in Rodgers’ absence the defense has gone MIA. Opponents are running at will on the Pack. There are precious few turnovers. The tackling has been suspect. How and why did the defense that looked so dominant against the defending Super Bowl champs in Baltimore suddenly look so feeble against the Vikings? Forget Adrian Peterson; the guy is a freak that will gain yards against any defense, anytime, anywhere. He has feasted on the Packers over the years while the Packers hold a significant edge in the W column.

But Toby Gerhart? Really?

Gerhart was even more shocking by putting up 91 yards and an 11.2 yards/ carry average. During the 0-3-1 slide in Rodgers absence the defense has plummeted down the NFL rankings. They now are at the bottom in Dom Capers’ key area – turnovers caused. Injuries have played a big role in the slide. The Packers’ top ball hawking CB Casey Hayward has been on the field for all of 1 quarter but the nagging hamstring injury he sustained in the preseason never fully healed. He has now been shut down and has almost a full year to heal. As a rookie Hayward came away with 6 INT’s and was being counted on to at least repeat the performance. Now all he can do is get ready for next season after being IR’d this week.

Sam Shields has also missed the past couple of games with his own hamstring injury. Nick Perry was having a breakout year when he broke his foot then reinjured it two later. The injuries belabor the obvious but do not adequately explain the ineffectual game the Pack has played. GM Ted Thompson went out and drafted athletic players and had a full bevy of talent in this year’s camp. Making the roster was going to be tough and many of the Packers cuts found work elsewhere immediately.

1^st round pick Datone Jones is anything but a bust. He has neither been a plug-and-play draftee. Jones was expected to be able to come in and add speed and size opposite Clay Matthews in

getting to the QB while holding the edge in the run game. It hasn’t happened yet. Some rookies need time to adjust to the speed of the pro game. Jones is one of them. While his play has improved greatly in the second half of the season he still has much more to go. The defensive line had been free from the injury bug that has plagued the Pack all year. Now they too are feeling the bite. Johnny Jolly has the inside track at Comeback Player of the Year. After a well-documented absence for drug possession that landed him in the clink Jolly has defied all odds and expectations by not only making the team but playing well. Jolly has slowed down as the season has ground on revealing an athlete who is not completely back to football conditioning. Jolly has been good at the point of attack but the grind is wearing on him. B.J. Raji has heard his name called less and less as well. Raji is in a contract year and his play won’t aid his cause for the lucrative big bucks. Odds are good he’ll stay in Green Bay and re-sign. Raji has not consistently been the disruptive force he was when he first arrived in Titletown. Mike Daniels has shot up the depth chart and now leads the team in sacks. His ascension has been the pleasant surprise along with Mike Neal’s adjustment to the hybrid DE/OLB position. Neal has had issues with injuries his entire career and this year has been no different with shoulder and abdominal injuries. His play when he is on the field is on the uptick.

Ryan Pickett has not generated any noise. Pickett is coming to the end of a great career and is now showing some bald spots on the tread of his tires. Jerel Worthy showed promise last season and has just been activated. A.J. Hawk leads the team in tackles but someone from the medical staff ought to draw some DNA from Hawk to ascertain his secret for staying healthy. Hawk can stay healthy while his teammates go out in bunches. While fellow starters at LB Matthews, Perry and Brad Jones have all been shelved Hawk has not missed a game. He still is slow in pass coverage and the middle of the field has become easy pickings for opposing QB’s. Brad Jones is back but has not exactly shown flash in the pass game and now the big plays allowed are the ugly stat jumping off the stat sheet.

Tramon Williams has been up and down all year. At times he has looked like the Pro Bowler he was

before damaging his shoulder. He still has not gotten back to his shutdown form and the role is now filled by Sam Shields. Of course that is when Shields is on the field. Losing Shields and Hayward have been devastating blows to what was expected to be a stellar group. Davon House and rookie Micah Hyde have been game competitors but far too often potential picks have bounced harmlessly to the turf off a Packers defender. Finishing the play by catching the ball has been flat terrible. Check the films; it’s all there. Drops, misses, lost opportunities and no one is exempt. The number of drops of INT’s has been staggering and a cause for concern among McCarthy and DC Dom Capers. Simply hanging onto the ball makes all the difference. Where have you gone Charles Woodson/ a [Packer] Nation turns its’ lonely eyes to you…

More disturbing is the backsliding play of Morgan Burnett. Burnett missed the first few games with an injury but has done little to park the D in his return. Burnett has overplayed the run and been caught flat footed on deep throws. Burnett has 0 picks for the year and the play at the safety position has been shaky all season. M.D. Jennings has been a serviceable but not standout S. Sean Richardson showed promise last year as a rookie and has size and great hitting instincts, but he has just been activated after neck fusion surgery. Burnett has been a disappointment in his 4^th year. The volume of big plays yielded has been a combination of an injury riddled secondary and the overall underwhelming play at S.

Another disturbing trend is the incredibly poor tackling of late. The younger players coming in have a gross tendency to throwing a ‘sting’ as opposed to wrapping up and taking a man down. A ‘sting’; is the current vogue among younger players. Exchanging a form tackle of wrapping a man up and bringing him down the player instead lowers his shoulder an attempts to shoulder or ‘sting’ the opponent enough to knock him off his feet. The arm tackling of the Pack’s D has been woefully deficient. To tackle requires more effort and more commitment.

Then there is the Aaron Rodgers factor. The loss of Aaron Rodgers also extends far beyond the

offense. The best defense is a good offense. That in a nutshell encapsulates the Packers. With Rodgers the Pack can control the ball, the clock, the score to a degree and simultaneously do several things for the defense. By staying on the field it keeps the Packers defense off. Simple, right? With Eddie Lacy giving the Packers a bona fide workhorse at RB McCarthy can use his offense to keep the opponents D out there and his on the bench. The old saying in football is you can’t give up yards or points while you’re sitting on the bench.

Controlling the clock limits an opponent from tiring a defense out while at the same time wearing down the other guy’s D. It has become painfully obvious just how important Rodgers is not only to the offense but the overall success of the team. Look at the record: 0-3-1 in his absence. Not having Rodgers also means the defense has to be able to hold the fort and even win a game on its’ own. That just has not happened at all this year. In the first 7 games Rodgers has thrown 4 INT’s. In the past 4 Tolzien has thrown 5. The defense is not staying ahead in the turnover battle and is surrendering rushing yards by the ton. Without Rodgers the offense cannot match the big plays surrendered by the defense and has no ability currently to win a shootout.

No doubt injuries have affected the play. Injuries are an excuse and not a reason for not making the plays. How much has poor play and poor decision making factored into the equation? The off season will reveal what the brass thinks. While fans and the media can point fingers and lay blame it is really up to the players to make plays. When healthy not enough players have made enough plays. The interior linebacking corps could use an impact player, one who doesn’t fall behind on covering a tight end. The safety slot is one that will come under the microscope when this campaign ends. Raji may not see an expected windfall. Pickett may also call it a day.

In spite of that the Pack has game to play against Detroit. This is the game of the year for Green Bay and losing is not an option. Can the Pack muster enough D to shut down Calvin Johnson? In the early meeting Detroit was vanilla without Megatron as Green Bay yawned its way to a snoozer W. Will they be able to exploit Matthew Stafford’s tendency to throw picks? If ever there was a time or a game in which the defense needs to make a stand this is it. This is the Packers playoff life literally on the line.

With Reggie Bush Detroit has an explosive element in their backfield. Containing Bush while

keeping Johnson in check is at the top of the list on Thursday. Stafford enters with a propensity for throwing INT’s at the worst time. Detroit could not close out against Tampa Bay and has won some games with last minute heroics. How long can they keep dodging that bullet? Are the Lions guilty of looking past the Bucs and forward to Green Bay? The Pack already has one win at the Motor City Kitties expense and the loss by either side will be crippling to their playoff chances - for either team.

It will not come without a defense committed to the hard work of making the plays that need to be made. Whoever wins the defensive battle wins this game. Next man up?

Nope. In this one it is going to be Man Up.

 

 

GREEN BAY 24

 

Detroit  20