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Will Packers coach Mike McCarthy give Aaron Rodgers a little less freedom at the line of scrimage in 2013?

The Packers are fortunate to have a very smart head coach, a quarterback who is as well-prepared as any in the game, and a defensive coordinator known for his innovation and scheme adjustments.

When Mike McCarthy’s offensive brilliance, Aaron Rodgers’ ability to read a defense and Dom Capers’ knack for confusing offenses all comes together, it’s a beautiful thing.

But there were times last season when I wondered if perhaps they were too smart for their own good.

Exhibit No. 1 is the all-too-familiar scene of two Packers defensive backs staring at each other in bewilderment and pointing after giving up a big play. This scene typically comes after the defense scrambles around pre-snap like a bunch of worker ants.

“You were supposed to be there!”

“No, you were supposed to take that guy and I was supposed to be here!”

Ugh.

What happened to just lining up, covering your man or your area, and beating the guy who lines up across from you or enters your zone?

Rodgers sometimes drove me a little crazy last season as well with all of his pre-snap maneuvering. Rodgers is the best quarterback in the game. He’s got a group of elite wide receivers and a freakishly athletic tight end.  Read more... (586 words + 1 image, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

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Dom Capers

1) Introduction:  Many expected 2012 to be a rebound season for the Packers defense.  The unit was the team’s Achilles heel in 2011 and it cost them a shot at a second straight Super Bowl.  Ted Thompson reloaded the team with talent via the 2012 NFL Draft,  so it was up to Dom Capers to turn the defense around.  Capers was expected to get the unit closer to 2010 form when it was one of the best defenses in the NFL.

2) Profile:

Ernest Dominic “Dom” Capers

• Age: 62
• Born: 08/07/1950, in Cambridge, OH
• Rookie Year: 1986 (defensive backs coach with the Saints)
• NFL Coaching Experience: 36 years

Biography and more

(3) Expectations coming into the season:  In a word: improvement.  The defense was bad in 2011, but a lot of those flaws were covered up by the record-setting offense the Packers had that year.  When the offense finally had a bad game, in the playoffs of all times, how bad the defense really was became clear.

Thompson infused the defense with youth via the draft and Capers was expected to get the youngsters ready to push some of the veterans.  The defense was not expected to be the liability it was in 2011.

4)Overachievements/Underachievements:  If we were to go by players, Capers got a lot out of rookie Casey Hayward. In fact, Hayward has done the impossible and made it likely the team can survive without the recently released Charles Woodson and in fact maybe even thrive.  Hayward also made Tramon Williams a better player and Williams improved over his atrocious 2011.  Read more... (665 words + 1 image, estimated 2:40 mins reading time)

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Many have called for the head of defensive coordinator Dom Capers (whose head ironically can’t be taken since his contract expired). However, some have argued that the problem goes deeper than just Dom Capers and really its that the 3-4 defense is inherently flawed and that the Packers should switch back to a 4-3 scheme.

This is actually a pretty interesting question: to put it another way, is the 3-4 defense something like the wildcat offense?  What I mean by that is the wildcat offense took the league by storm in 2009 with the Miami Dolphins, but when the rest of the league had proper time to analyze and defend against it properly it slowly faded back into obscurity (see Tim Tebow).  It could be argued that the “Blitzburgh” 3-4 defense run by both Dom Capers and Dick Lebeau took the league by storm when the Packers played the Steelers in the 2010 Super Bowl and perhaps the league has caught up and has finally figured a way to beat the 3-4 defense.  Read more... (735 words + 3 images, estimated 2:56 mins reading time)

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Is Mike McCarthy becoming so stubborn he’s hurting his own team?

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has many admirable qualities, both as a head coach and as a person.

One such quality is that he is incredibly loyal.  McCarthy has stood by his coaches and his players when someone’s ability or dedication has been called into question. That is something so many people struggle with. When the stuff hits the fan, someone usually goes under the bus.  That’s just the way society works, but such is not the case with McCarthy.

That said, at what point does loyalty evolve into stubbornness and when does that stubbornness turn into a negative instead of a positive?

That is the point where McCarthy has fallen in the eyes of many Packers fans as well as beat writers in the wake of the Packers’ stunning 45-31 season-ending playoff defeat at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers.

After yet another defensive implosion in the postseason, McCarthy remained so steadfast in his support of his allegedly beleaguered defensive coordinator that he said he was “appalled” that Dom Capers’ job security should even be in doubt during his season ending press conference.  That comment in turn sparked passionate reactions from fans and local media alike.

While McCarthy should again be commended for feeling loyal to Capers, at what point does this stubbornness start to hurt the Packers?  Read more... (890 words + 1 image, estimated 3:34 mins reading time)

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Lovie Smith and the 4-3 defense for the Packers? I don’t think so.

There has been a lot of talk among Green Bay Packers fans regarding Dom Capers and his future as the team’s defensive coordinator. Saturday’s postseason loss to the San Francisco 49ers was the anvil that broke the camel’s back after a 2011 season of defensive agony, despite their overall improvement in 2012.

Tangential to this discussion is the consideration of who would take Dom Capers’ place. Some people brought up Rob Ryan’s name, though apparently the St. Louis Rams have already snatched him up. There are other gurus of the 3-4 defense, though, that could still be candidates, as well as the option of “promoting from within,” which the Packers are fond of doing.

Meanwhile, some fans are calling for a complete overhaul of the defense. They’d rather see a return to the 4-3 scheme that Green Bay ran before hiring Capers. Names like Lovie Smith have been tossed around as options, and some have even offered up way to reposition the current players to fit the scheme.

And I just can’t help but be dumbfounded by these opinions.

I understand the desire for a change. (Really, I do.) But there are a number of reasons why switching back to the 4-3 or hiring a coach like Lovie Smith just won’t work for this Packers team. Here are a few major ones:

1) No More Clay Matthews  Read more... (933 words + 1 image, estimated 3:44 mins reading time)

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Sam Shields was one of the bright spots for the Packers against the 49ers.

The Packers season is over. They got smoked by the 49ers in the NFL playoffs on Saturday night.

I’m sick of writing about it. I’m sick of talking about it. I’m sick of thinking about it.

On to the stock report:

Rising

Sam Shields
The combination of Shields getting healthy and realizing he’s a restricted free agent really got him going. Shields will likely get a first-round tender and I expect the Packers to open their checkbooks and lock him up for the next few years. Let’s hope he stays motivated, keeps improving, and plays like he did down the stretch.

James Jones
With Greg Jennings likely gone and Jermichael Finley possibly following him out the door, Jones can establish himself as an upper-echelon receiver next season. Jones came to play on Saturday night. It was nice to see Jones use his size a bit this season. I always thought he played smaller than he was, but he went up and got a few balls in traffic this season and played angrier.  Read more... (559 words + 1 image, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

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Kaepernick Sandwich

Having had some time to sleep on and digest the Packers’ loss to the 49ers, there are 10 things about this game I feel the need to address in a little more detail. Here goes:

Packers coaching philosophy: In the NFL, it’s all about success.  There are no style points, no points for technical brilliance. Find what is working and stick with it. If something’s not working, make adjustments. If something is killing you, throw out the caution book and try anything you can. This last aspect becomes especially true when you’re in a one & done situation like the playoffs. Did the Packers coaching staff do any of this in the 49ers game? No they did not.

DuJuan Harris: Harris had nine carries for 47 yards in the first half – that’s a 5.2 ypc average and three more yards than Frank Gore had. Nine carries in only 8 minutes of possession for the Packers offense is actually pretty impressive. This was the balanced attack McCarthy had been touting as being so important to their success. Harris was given 2 carries on the first plays of the second half (ironically when the Packer’s OL was in mild disarray with Sitton having a problem with his shoe).  He didn’t have another carry the rest of the game. Zero. Zilch. Nada.  How did that work out for the offense, Mike? An adjustment that wasn’t needed.  Read more... (1340 words + 3 images, estimated 5:22 mins reading time)

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