AllGreenBayPackers.Com

Aaron Rodgers stock fell a bit during the playoff loss to the Giants, but it remains high heading into next season.

The Giants beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl and there will be no more meaningful football games for the next six months. That’s six months to reflect on how a team that lost twice to the Redskins during the regular season could go on to knock off the mighty Packers in the playoffs and keep rolling all the way to the Lombardi Trophy.

Depressing.

It’s hard to find a silver lining, but if you’re searching for one, take a few minutes and look over the Packers roster. It’s pretty good. Go ahead and cross off some of the players you think won’t be around next season, and it’s still pretty good. This team is going to contend again next season, and probably for the next couple of seasons after that. At least Packers fans have something to look forward to.

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks at AllGBP.com evaluating and grading every player on the Packers roster. Those report cards are done now, and it’s time to put this season in the rearview mirror.  Read more... (1632 words + 1 image, estimated 6:32 mins reading time)

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Charles Woodson

1.) Introduction: If there is one member of the Packers secondary that played consistently this year it’s Charles Woodson. Despite struggles around him, Woodson remained the heart and soul of the Packers defense.  The former Defensive Player of the Year is the locker room leader and the big playmaker in the Packers secondary.

2) Profile:

Charles Woodson
Height: 6’1”
Weight:  202
AGE: 35

Career Stats:

3) Expectations coming into the season: Woodson was expected to bounce back from his collarbone injury and return to form as the most dangerous player in the Packers secondary.  After only two interceptions during the regular season in 2010, the hope was Woodson would make more plays on the ball and force some more turnovers.  Along with Tramon Williams, Woodson was expected to be part of the most lethal cornerback tandem in the NFL.

 4) Player’s highlights/low-lights:  Woodson’s best game of the season came in Week 7 in the Metrodome against the Minnesota Vikings.   With a closer than expected game due to good play by rookie QB Christian Ponder, Woodson’s two interceptions and four pass deflections helped the Packers hang on to a 33-27 win which was crucial in them finishing with a perfect record in the NFC North.  Read more... (487 words + 1 image, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

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Receivers often gained yards after the catch against the Packers because of poor tackling.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look back on the Green Bay Packers 2011 season and identify the obvious reasons for their defensive collapse.

Cullen Jenkins was sorely missed at right defensive end, little to no production was received from outside linebacker opposite Clay Matthews and Nick Collins’ season-ending neck injury handicapped the back end.

But one factor that gets overlooked is just how poor the tackling was for the Packers defense, especially in the secondary.

Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus effectively laid out just how bad it was for the Packers secondary in 2011.

According to the site, which reviews and grades every single play for every single player, the Packers trio of cornerbacks—Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams and Sam Shields—was the worst tackling cornerback trio in the NFL.

And believe it not, the numbers weren’t even close.

Woodson missed 15 tackles on 87 attempts, Williams missed 16 on 80 attempts and Shields missed 10 on 40 attempts. Altogether, the three missed 41 tackles in 2011—a number that ranks them significantly above any other cornerback trio in the NFL.  Read more... (647 words + 1 image, estimated 2:35 mins reading time)

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Tramon Williams

1) Introduction: Tramon Williams burst onto the scene in 2010.  With a career high six interceptions, Williams became known for his clutch playmaking skills.  He made the game saving interception of Michael Vick with 33 seconds left in the Wild Card game at Philadelphia against the Eagles and in Atlanta he made back-to-back interceptions of Matt Ryan including an electrifying 70-yard pick six that blew the game open for the Packers.  Williams was looking to be on course to be the heir apparent to Charles Woodson as the playmaker in the Packers secondary.

2) Profile:

Tramon Williams
Height: 5’11”
Weight:  191
AGE: 28

Career Stats:

3) Expectations coming into the season: The key for Williams entering 2011 was establishing consistency.   Now that he had the breakout season behind him, the next logical step was to put together a strong season every year.   With Woodson showing few signs of slowing down, Williams was likely looking at continual opportunities to make plays.  As part of an aggressive secondary, Williams was expected to force a fair amount of turnovers and reduce the efficiency of the opponent’s passing attack  Read more... (543 words + 1 image, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

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Sam Shields

1) Introduction: Sam Shields was an undrafted free agent going into the 2010 season and when the Green Bay Packers picked him up, no one knew the impact he would have on the team’s march to the Super Bowl XLV title.  A wide receiver and special teams player in his three years at the University of Miami, Shields was a speedster that the Packers decided to convert into a defensive back to add needed depth to their secondary.  Shields made one of the plays of the season as he intercepted Bears quarterback Caleb Hanie in the NFC Championship to send the Packers to Super Bowl XLV.

2) Profile:

Sam Shields
Height: 5’11”
Weight:  184
AGE: 24

Career Stats:

3) Expectations coming into the season: Entering his second season, the expectation for Shields was to continue to grow.  You don’t go from playing wide receiver to All-Pro secondary in one season so the Packers were expecting a few more bumps in the road.  As one of the players who helped fuel the Packers’ magical run in 2010, Shields would have the privilege of learning behind Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams while playing the role of nickel back.   Shields was expected to be aggressive in line with the rest of the secondary and continue to grow.  Read more... (574 words + 1 image, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)

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Packers TE Jermichael Finley led his position in drops with 14.

It might be difficult to say that a team that won 15 regular season games went through many “struggles,” but the truth is that the 2011-12 Green Bay Packers had their fair share of significant flaws that were successfully covered up for most of the season. In the end, all four of them came back to bite the Packers in their 37-20 loss to the New York Giants in the NFC Divisional Round.

The weaknesses I speak of could be summarized by a high percentage of Packers fans. But while those defects pass the eye test, they also pass the stat test. Using numbers from Pro Football Focus, we can take a closer look at just how poorly the Packers played in certain areas of the game this season.

Missed tackles: 109  Read more... (983 words + 1 image, estimated 3:56 mins reading time)

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Shields just one of many who had down years...

Man, this blog has turned into a depressing place this week. Scroll through the titles of the last couple of posts and you’ll see words like “regression” and “loss” mixed with phrases like “it’s over” and “fart in the wind.”

It’s probably best to make sure you don’t have any sharp objects nearby while reading.

This post is no exception. After coming up big in 2010, several Packers on defense took a step backwards. Who regressed the most?

Tramon Williams
After Williams got the best of Calvin Johnson on Thanksgiving, I thought the Tramon of 2010 was back. It looked like he was healthy and ready to blanket the other team’s No. 1 receiver as the Packers headed down the home stretch.

It didn’t happen.

Instead of taking the next step and establishing himself as a legit No. 1 CB in the NFL, Williams started giving up big play after big play. In addition to struggling in coverage, Williams was a tackling liability (his tackling was especially pathetic in the Christmas game against the Bears). He capped his lackluster season by allowing seven catches in eight attempts for 125 yards in the playoff loss to the Giants.  Read more... (722 words + 1 image, estimated 2:53 mins reading time)

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