I know Andrew Chitko does not count himself as a member of this group, but who wants more Julius Peppers on offense?
Not sure I count myself as a member of that group either. I mean, are the Green Bay Packers” tight ends really THAT BAD that they need to do gimmicky shit to score touchdowns? And what about the receivers? The Packers can”t throw to them in the red zone? Or even hand it to Easy Ed?
Maybe don”t run behind Lane Taylor next time, but that last one seems a much better option than throwing the ball to Julius Peppers.
Not if you ask Buffoon, though. Buffoon loves the idea of throwing the ball to Julius Peppers.
And he”s going to do it again, goddammit!
“I”m not discouraged by Julius dropping the football,” Mike McCarthy said. “I think if you go through preparation phase, and if you online casino had seen the execution of the play over the last six or seven weeks, I think you”d be confident to call it again.”
Oh, good. It worked in practice, so it surely will work in a game!
I mean, come on. You know who runs gimmick plays like this?
Two types of teams.
Type 1: A team that is so far gone that they have to do something outside the box to keep fans and probably their own players interested. Check out the super-awesome Houston Texans sometime.
Type 2: A team so good that they CAN do something outside the box to reward their players. See the “85 Chicago Bears and that fat fuck William Perry.
The 2014 Green Bay are neither type of team. It seems like some people sometimes think the 2014 Packers are some type of elite Type 2 unit — *cough, Buffoon! cough, cough* — but that”s just ego.
And so is running offensive plays for Julius Peppers.
Haven”t been able to teach anyone how to tackle in years and we”re going to take the time to teach Julie how to play tight end…
Time well spent, I say!
Last updated on September 18th, 2015 at 03:23 pm
I’d go one step farther. Let’s put Aaron Rodgers in place of AJ Hawk on defense.
Really monty? Its not that bad. So it’s a silly play, but it might actually like it did with JJ Watt and the Texans. I mean Julius Peppers is 6 foot 7 inches tall so it could Theoritically work.
I will admit that the timing of the play was poorly done. Should have done that in the final minutes against Minnesota.
I still cant understand why they didn’t throw a jump ball to him… I guess they wanted to do something unexpected, but it looked like Peppers had a 10″ advantage on that guy. Toss it up to the corner and let Peppers go up and get a rebound!
Couldn’t agree more, but at least it looks like they’ll give this another shot. Maybe they’ll do just that next time.
Good point, can’t teach them to tackle but have enough time to have Julius bounce balls of his chest. Think Uncle Ted is getting fed up with defense?
I was chatting it up with my pops about this.. I thought it was stupid they tried to pass to Peppers.. old men and wise wisdom (pops) pointed out that Julius Peppers played basketball in college for UNC. While he did not play that much at UNC, he made it as a walk on. He has ball handling skills. He is 6’7 and can clearly can run and move. Rodgers fucked up that pass to him and was low and behind him. He is 6’7 and Rodgers needed to throw that ball high for Peppers to catch it. The DB was a foot shorter than him. That match up was perfect for Peppers.. He could be our new tight end for christ sake.
Peppers is 34 years old. He played college basketball over a decade ago. I hope the next time they run this play it gets deflected by Peppers’ big mitts and is returned for a TD the other way.
We pay some guys to catch the ball and others to tackle the guy carrying the ball. It’s pretty simple.
Several of the defensive players at times are offensive enough with there play. There is no need to make them more offensive by purposely putting any of them on the offense.
The pass to Peppers not only was a gimmick play by having Peppers in the game and split out. The play was also a trick play by trying to make the DB think it was going to be a jump ball to the corner. Instead trick the hell out of the DB by faking the jump ball and run a slant into traffic with a very fine athlete, however with no experience or ability of catching a ball in traffic (see Jermichael Finley).
I would have felt better about the play if it included throwing the jump ball rather than running a trick play within a gimmick. Quit being cute, kick the hell out of the opponents, win the game, and get out of town.
Amen!
I could not agree more with everything you said in this article and all the others you have written too bad the buffoons are in charge and we the fans and owners cant change stupid
I totally disagree. I like the concept and the call…we just didnt get the result because Peppers dropped the ball. Otherwise, we created a mismatch, we went against the tendency, we got him open (which is where MM responsibility ENDS!)…but he dropped the ball. I fail to see how a player, who played college basketball and thus has decent hands, not making the play falls on MM. Everybody, myself included, is always bitching & moaning about how stagnant & predictable we can be on offense and when MM changes it up, adds a few wrinkles, or gets creative…which he did several times these past two weeks….we still bitch? Not me. I totally support his shooting every fricking bullet we have or at least test firing it. Leave no stone unturned.
And this whole “gimmick” argument is a joke. Its 2014 not 1967. We cant line up & impose our will on anybody. Our defense cant stop the run. Our offense can barely run the football. Lacy isnt running through gaping holes, he’s earning his yds with 2nd & 3rd effort. Our receiving depth isnt near the quality of even two yrs ago. We have no TE who can change the game anymore. Wake up. We cant be so arrogant to think we can still play teams straight up all the time & win. Those days are gone. We have to do WHATEVER it takes to give ourselves an advantage, a mismatch, an extra possession, and/or a chance to win the game. And if that means pushing the envelope with personnel or going against conventional wisdom now & again….so be it. I just wanna win the damn game.
Yeah. Let’s put Cobb in at QB for a couple option plays every game and throw Rodgers outside at WR.
Fire every bullet you say? Whatever.
Uhh, hate to break it to you but…we already run Cobb out of the backfield & have been doing it for two yrs now. And putting Rodgers out wide is just stupid. However, putting a 6’7 eligible receiver on a 5’10 CB isnt. Nor is running a slant when the whole world expects a fade because of the height mismatch. I didnt like the result either but no amount of after the fact sarcasm erases the fact that the design was solid. Just gotta catch the damn ball!! lol
DJ I understand what you are writing; however lets consider this subject further. Here are some of the problems I have with the use of Peppers as a wideout or TE.
1. Peppers played college basketball 12 or 13 years ago. Although he is a freak athlete he is not as athletic as he was.
2. Peppers was on a good Basketball team but he was a reserve player. In fact nothing regarding his basketball experience makes him have good receiver hands.
3. Peppers played football in college also but I see no stats that would indicate he ever played TE or wide receiver in college. As gimmicky as college football can be it would make sense if he was even a good wide receiver he would have played such occasionally in college.
4. I know the Carolina Panthers tried Peppers as a receiver at least once and possible more times. I do not see that Peppers has ever caught an NFL pass thrown by his teams QB.
5. We have at least two wide receivers that have very good vertical leaps with height. I do not know this for sure but with the toll 12 + years in the NFL has taken on Peppers legs. Peppers probably can not jump (jump ball) as high as Adams and possibly Nelson can. In addition Peppers in no way shape or form can control his body along the sidelines while receiving a jump ball like Nelson or the other receivers could.
6. Peppers under no condition has the quickness (slant or back shoulder) that any of the current wideouts have.
7. Peppers under no condition has the hands of any of the current wideouts or TE’s including Bostick.
8. Peppers under no condition has the experience to catch a tight fast spiral at close distance in traffic with his hands. It is just not possible he is even remotely as good as any of the current receivers. He just does not have the reps.
I see the design as being solid if the receiver was Nelson, Cobb, or Adams. They have better hands than Peppers and would have a much better chance of understanding the D alignment, setting up the defenders as only receivers know how to do, and controlling their body allowing them to catch the ball no matter the ball location. I believe the offense lost the ability for the back shoulder throw also with Peppers. So we lost one of the route options available.
Peppers is a top quality athlete but he is not a wide receiver. It is not Peppers fault for not catching the ball. McCarthy set up Peppers to fail. The play did not change the outcome of the game but McCarthy needs to look at other options in the red zone including running the ball. Better options are there short of looking to the defense.
Howard, I understand what you’re saying too. I get it. Yes, lets. (1 & 2)- The first rule of basketball, which I coach, drilled into me ions ago was this undisputed truth: If you cant catch the ball…you cant play the game! If Peppers is good enough to play for perennial power UNC & snag 10 career interceptions playing DL/OLB…and still 13yrs later can get a pick six for us…I think its safe to say he has decent hands to catch a ball. His sin on that play was letting the ball get into this body.
(3 & 4)- Mike Vrabel played exclusively at DE at Ohio State and LB in the NFL. He had no experience playing offense at either level. Yet he scored 8 offensive touchdowns for the Patriots via Tom Brady. Why? Because his coach wasnt afraid to think out of the box. And because he caught the damn ball! lol
(5-8)- Peppers is 6’7 with a 7’0 wingspan. By comparison, Calvin Johnson is 6’5 with a 6’10 wingspan. You can defend length like that perfectly & still lose. Even if Peppers has an avg vertical, which he doesnt…its still above avg…Jordy or Devante, on their best days, will never get that high. Ever. NOBODY is arguing that Peppers has their skill sets or is a better option….what he IS though, because of the sheer force of his size, length, & athleticism, is an option that MUST BE respected & defended. He can (If he catches the damn ball) make opposing defenses adjust which can affect the coverages & match ups our other receivers get & help the run game. Either way, they know we’ll throw it to him now so they’ll have to deal with it. If Finley was still around, we wouldnt even be talking about this because Peppers wouldnt have been out there. But he’s gone…and I, for one, am glad MM found a way to replace the threat his length used to give us down there. He said he’ll use it again and I hope he does. The only people against it are some of my PO’d Pack brethren & the 8 def coordinators coming up on the schedule.
And you’re right, it was only one play but lets be honest. Our running the football in a short yardage/goal line situation or our throwing to Peppers in the same scenario nowadays have about the same chance for success. And therein lies the REAL problem. Hence my support for MM in this instance for maximizing our options.
VERY good contributions by DJ and Howard. Interesting read,
you both showed that you can present deep arguments while avoiding insults. That’s good football talk, guys.
I totally enjoyed this entire debate, and I completely agree with you DJ. Peppers isn’t just tall, he’s a special kind of tall. 6’7″ tall. That’s tall.
He and Rodgers have been practicing this move for weeks, and it was just a simple drop away from working. They wouldn’t have kept practicing at this for that long if they didn’t feel it would work.
But I WILL say that it should have been at another time. Either when we’re way down or way up, not when we’re right in the middle of a close game.
I sure hope to see it against Chicago and their joke of a defense.
DJ and Chad great debate. I just want to add an item or two. Both of you use Peppers height or wingspan as a reason this was a good play. As I commented early I would have felt better about the call if it was a jump ball play.
The design of this play has trick or Gimmick written all over it or as McCarthy may say an “un-scouted look”. You both realize that our skill players on that play were Bostick, Kuhn, R Rodgers, Quarliss, and Peppers. We removed from the red zone offense all the skill players who have scored multiple TD’s this year with the exception of Quarliss.
If that was not bad enough then we lined all up to the right with none of the four warranting a double team. Leaving a linebacker and safety on the left with nothing to do except blitz or double up on Peppers. We should at least stress the D besides the vertically challenged cornerback on Peppers. Even though I do not believe Kuhn should have been in the game at least leave him in the backfield and fake a dive. That is a play the linebacker who had nothing better to do than double Peppers would have had to respect. It may have allowed Peppers to not attempt the slant in traffic.
I believe the play was flawed in several regards not just that Peppers was in the game. McCarthy did set Peppers up for failure.
Stupid fucking play all because he returned a pick for a touchdown two weeks ago, I’m over it.
Agree with all the comments here that aren’t condemning the play call, but rather the play design. Julius Peppers should be ‘posting up’ on these little fellas and AR just drop him one of those sweet tosses with some altitude on it.
The other place I’d like to see Peppers lined up is in the slot or at TE. Pull the LB’s and S in, then let Jordy or Randy do their thing 1 on 1.
Ridiculous that they are wasting valuable practice time for idiotic plays like this. No real teams do this. Real teams don’t need Ditka-esque moronic coaching. He was a friggin loser and ego maniacal dumb ass who took a team that should have won 3 Super Bowls and buffooned them into one. McCarthy is a dimwit living off of Rodgers. This team would be below 500 with any other QB in the league given the crap OLine and defense and retarded play calling. One bright spot is he finally learned you can throw to a running back. Get Lacy away from that pathetic O line and in space and eat up the middle of the field. Why this wasn’t done years ago is baffling to anyone not named McCarthy.
I have no problem with the play, wish it was done in a blowout game instead. Thought the pass itself was poor. Peppers has been one of the best defenders on the team this year,perhaps this is a way keep him interested.
Sure would like to see Bostick some more though.
If you run that play during a blowout your a douche.
Love the Peppers acquisition but bad use of him. Not a good play. I guess if he caught the ball it would have been cool, however.