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I posted this originally in the offseason thread but I think it's a good read with good discussion points. He really lays into Hawk. Rips Thompson pretty good too.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/ ... 33503.html

Hawk? You've got to be kidding. He's just a guy. His contract is by far the worst contract that Thompson has ever enacted.

I'm not going to argue with the Hawk deal - the guy played way better last year. I'm just wondering if injuries had something to do with him falling off the face of the earth.

Thankfully, as McGinn points out, he doesn't have any money guarenteed going forward. The cap hit doesn't really hurt that bad, assuming DJ Smith can step in and play.

I'm going to chalk up 50% of our defensive struggles last year to Nick Collins being out. The other half goes to our pass rush.


I just hope to god we don't have to watch Zombo / Walden at OLB next year. TT, it's time to upgrade that spot from street FA's to someone closer to Clay - gether done!

Entertaining read. I wish the writers who covered the Bucks held Hammond and Kohl accountable like this. I agree with everything he said other than re-signing Wells. I just don't think they'll ever be able to run the ball effectively with Wells at center. Very taboo to call out Woodson.

Yeah he really didn't hold back at all. It's funny how a good writer calls out a 15-1 team (GM and players) and our pathetic Bucks team gets a pass. I guess it's because fans care about one and don't get two **** about the other.

a little OT but felt no need for another thread.

Agree w/ McGinn’s ratings overall > PG's Demosky (sp?) grades tho Rob did well also Kudos to both for dinging TT.

Agree w/ McGinn re Bulaga moving to LT while Rob said he's fixed at RT. Bulaga was drafted as LT and that’s the more critical position and should have the best player possible. Newhouuse was rough at times but still has potential. Seems more likely to succeed at RT. Sherrod’s injury may cause him to miss OTAs and leave him behind again so he’ll probably be backup.

Pretty much my exact feeling.

Failure at all levels last year on the defense. TT was the biggest culprit however.

The nice thing about Ted is that he has been willing to accept his faults in the past outside of Justin Harrel. If he blasts Hawk's contract, I will have restored faith in him.

TT deserves blame, hindsight is 20/20 on other issues.

I think he'll get it right this offseason.

The entire D-line had 37½ pressures in 17 games this year whereas Jenkins had 35 by himself in 15 games last year.

Ouch.

Ayt wrote:The entire D-line had 37½ pressures in 17 games this year whereas Jenkins had 35 by himself in 15 games last year.

Ouch.

That's pretty pathetic

Yeah that article was brutal but honest.

Bob McGinn is a pimp,he does a great job.

Ayt wrote:The entire D-line had 37½ pressures in 17 games this year whereas Jenkins had 35 by himself in 15 games last year.

Ouch.

Ayt wrote:The entire D-line had 37½ pressures in 17 games this year whereas Jenkins had 35 by himself in 15 games last year.

Ouch.

That is amazing, but not surprising in retrospect when watching the games.

I remember reading McGinn's player ratings after the St. Louis game in week six where he brought up just how many red flags he was seeing on the DL when watching the film each week. He talked about how the Rams offensive line was largely a rag tag group of fringe/bad players in that game, yet nobody on the defensive line could get any pressure, something that was becoming common. His point was if they couldn't generate any pressure vs even a terrible Rams line, this could end up being a big problem all year and it was.

So after reading that, for the next few weeks it made more focus more closely on just the DL guys on passing plays and it was scary how futile they looked the vast majority of times whether single or double teamed. Even Raji.

So looks like McKenzie is looking at Capers? Wonder who'll get the coordinator job if Dom leaves.

I also heard that Winston Moss was interviewing for the Raiders job as well.

I re-watched the 2010 Packers Giants game from week 16 last night.

It was weird watching it because the defense was playing physical and flying all over the place,swarming the ball, getting pressure on the QB,stuffing the run ect.

It was about as night and day a difference as you can get from this season to last season on the defensive end..

Yet the only player on the field that day who wasn't on the field vs the Giants in the divisional game was Nick Collins,Jenkins didn't even play in that game.


I just don't get how a defense can fall off so badly even if you did lose Collins & Jenkins,they were obviously big time players especially Collins but that's still only 2 players and as mentioned Jenkins didn't even play in that particular game.

As mentioned before by others,the most glaring player re-watching that game was Raji.

Raji was getting push and pressure all day in that game,he looked like a very good anchor on a top 5 defense.He was no where near that player this past season.

The 2nd most glaring player re-watching that game was Clay,Clay's effort and intensity seemed the same from 2010 to 2011 but Clay just seemed a lot less effective in 2011.I think the lack of Jenkins and the lack of pass rush is what hurt Clay's numbers,the effort was still there as it was in 2010.Obviously Clay was easier to block,double team and chip in 2011 without the presence of Jenkins and a pass rush.

But Raji...wow,it was depressing watching how awesome he was in that game compared to how he played this past season.


Nothing really groundbreaking here just thought I'd share my observations.

Exactly. The Cullen Jenkins myth to explain our defense's demise has been blown WAY out of proportion. He did not play down the stretch of the season and was reduced to a situational player when he did. Coaches were also pissed that he abandoned playing the run in favor of padding his sack stats. I'd guess that's why he was let go.

I don't know if anyone thinks having Jenkins this season would have completely turned around the defense but there's no doubt he would have helped. That position was completely worthless this year. It's just one piece we were missing but one that needs to be filled.

This is true - Jenkins would have helped a lot. But I understand the team's position of not retaining him. They already saw that they could get pressure without him, and were getting Neal back. On paper, they should've been even better than last year.

So what could've happened? I can only think of two possibilities:

a. Teams figured Capers out. I highly doubt this, as a 30 year coach (with seasoned assistants) wouldn't suddenly get outfoxed after two years of dominance.

b. Players got complacent after success. I think this is what happened. Players showed up fat, and suddenly averse to tackling.