The Green Bay Packers have been fueled by their offense since Mike McCarthy has been coach. That changed in 2015, when the defense often became responsible for winning games and often delivered.
That was just as reflective of how badly the offense — and Aaron Rodgers in particular — played as it was of the overall improvement of the defense.
The Packers finished 15th in total defense and 12th in scoring defense. That’s not great, but the defense did flash signs of excellence here and there.
And that’s the idea.
McCarthy and defensive coordinator Dom Capers are reportedly in year two of a plan to build a championship-caliber defense. One like the Broncos used to win a Super Bowl last season.
What exactly that plan consists of, we don’t know, but we do know it’s based around getting to the quarterback.
Thus, the impetus to move Clay Matthews back to outside linebacker.
It also suggests the Packers will go top heavy on defense during this year’s draft. With glaring needs at outside linebacker, inside linebacker and defensive line, they can’t afford not to if they’re actually going to attain this goal.
So while we’re sure you’ll hear nonsense about “best-available player,” we’ll also probably watch the Packers pick defense in the first three rounds regardless.
The bad news is, since the Packers don’t participate in free agency, Ted Thompson is going to have to hit on all of those picks. That appears to be the only legitimate way to plug all of these holes and build that championship unit.
Of course, that rarely happens.
So it’s a good thing this is a three-year plan.
Let’s build a championship defense with a bunch of rookies. Here’s to anther three years of wait and see. So I take it tight end is gonna have to wait until the fourth round or later? That should work out well. Good thing TT thinks free agency is hot lava.
Cue Kato and Phatgezus to come to Ted defense in 3, 2, 1…..
We signed Jared Cook to fill the tight end need for a one year deal.
Well that ain’t fucking happening.
Yeah, this team has won what, like 7 games in the past three years? They should probably can the GM and coaching staff. Wait…..
The current approach works fine for two things:
a) have a healthy salary total, under the cap.
B) field a good but not championship-caliber team.
Of those, (a) is self explanatory, and is a good condition to be in.
I’ll discuss (b) a bit. Draft additions normally begin contributing in year 2 or 3. If they do so in year 1 it is because they are home-run picks, they play WR, RB, CB or maybe LB. By the third year, you have guys that hopefully are active contributors. But by that time, the already present contributors’ contracts begin expiring, so you have a talent exodus. And unless you have a draft like SEA in 2010 (or at least better than your own norm) you are not improving. Since no drafts are equal, this scheme makes the team level oscillate around a standard related to its draft ability. Even if you draft reasonably well, as Ted has, you are rarely a serious contender. Why? Because teams that utilize free agency AND draft well oscillate with more amplitude. They can seriously contend, then suck for some years, then return, then suck. And unless every other team is in its low moment (VERY UNLIKELY), there is always going to be a team that kicks our asses in the playoffs (which is the recent norm). What happens is that when you lose an important contributor and the next man up is not as skilled, you have a new weakness. Yes, you can improve in other areas, but overall, the level remains the same. With the draft alone you cannot cover all the holes, therefore the team is never making the jump to be over the top. In sum, we have to take some risk at FA. Playing it this safe is unlikely to yield us another trophy. Where would this team be without AR if it kept the current management strategy?
Gawd forbid the Packers hit another Randall or Ha-Ha in the first round. Or even worse, one of their previous draft picks develops into a reliable starter or pro bowler. Nah, the Packers should ruin their salary cap by signing an Albert Haynesworth-Suh-Jarious Bryd-Mario Williams type player. Risk it all for one chance at a Super Bowl followed by a decade of mediocrity. Thompson could learn a thing or two from the Dolphins, Bills, Saints, and Redskins. Those are some perennial Super Bowl contenders!!
Oh, wait they didn’t win any Super Bowls with those picks….
Congrats, you just verbally shit your pants.
If course they will. Somebody has to keep explaining to you idiots how free agency works. You sure as hell won’t learn a damn thing from this site.
You’ll get it, eventually.
Or not.. probably not.
Hi, MyDickYourMom. Stopping by to troll again?
It seems you cannot read simple English.
No one here says that we should go out and overspend like the crappy teams you name. Heck, I mean some signings of decent players (even stopgaps, no need for those signings to be the eternal solution) to at least avoid having glaring weaknesses that more sound teams will surely exploit. Either by gameplanning or by the sheer talent difference, the latter case has been our recent life in the NFC playoffs.
Somehow we were a match for the Cardinals. The Panthers would have steamrolled us. Well, they did in the regular. And let alone the Broncos. We could have faced the Patriots only in the Superbowl, but let me remind you that they were in the game for the whole match against Denver, something not even the Panthers can boast of. But sure, Ted’s ways are smarter than those teams’ managers. The Broncos and their now FA dented team must be really sad due to Elway’s recent movements. Luckily for them, they have a trophy to make their days less soul crushing.
Let me give you an example… Until Ted signed Julius, for how long had we been waiting to find “the guy opposite Matthews” with draft picks that never panned out?
Panthers won by one score with GB with the ball at the goal line at the end.
Because Carolina had an 8 TD lead and played like McCarthy would have. Idiot.
Because McCarthy would throw the ball up a score with a few minutes to go in the game? oh wait that’s what EVERYONE was bitching about him NOT doing in the NFCCG. Fucktard.
Yeah, I guess 2011 and 2014 squads weren’t championship caliber teams. Lol. I see lead in drinking water is not just a problem in Flint
Yeah, i guess a 32nd rated defense could be defined as “Championship caliber” in the world of the blind and uninformed.
Keep fucking that chicken Kate.
Kato just keep slurping away and be content with being offseason, preseason and even middle of the season favorites to win the Super Bowl only to shit the bed in the early rounds of the playoffs every year.
I predict this season is a total debacle. I could totally see us missing the playoffs this year. Clay outside will be a bust and/or he’ll miss 4 games or more. But that’s ok because Ted will get a bargain in Mike Neal who no one else wants.
I can’t wait until Ted retires. I don’t even care if we’re not as successful but we won’t be so predictable and boring. This team is fucking boring.
The 2011 team had no defense, you moron. We were ranked near the bottom in that department.
I agree the 2014 team was a strong contender, only when: they found out that Barrington/Matthews Manning the ILB positions were better than the dynamic duo Hawk/Jones. But oh, how come we could let Matthews handle the middle? Oh, yeah, there was this FA guy, you may know him, Peppers, who had his own contributions as OLB. Incidentally, Peppers had been cut by the Bears, so it didn’t cost us any comp pick. Otherwise Ted wouldn’t have pulled the trigger.
The 2011 team was 15-1. So, I don’t think anyone can argue the TEAM wasn’t “championship caliber.” Doesn’t matter if you win every game 35-31 or 17-13, just as long as you win.
Don’t remember Charles Woodson or Ryan Pickett being cut. Or does only convenient recent history count?
The offense was championship caliber, the defense was horrible.
Our defense couldn’t stop a nose bleed. All it took was for one team to figure out we had no running game. Fucking 2 high safety
The statistical manure of the 2011 season was partially the fault of the fact the Packers led by at least 2 scores in the second half of every game that season except the KC game and the meaningless Detroit game at the end of the season. That meant that every game ended with the opponent getting garbage yards when the Packers really no longer gave a shit.
Don’t get me wrong, the Packers’ D was not good that year, but the memories of Packer fans have been somewhat distorted by the final stats. I remember quite well the Packers D shutting the Atlanta Falcons out in the 2nd half, and the D throttling the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, allowing the Packers to hold a 14-3 lead well into the second half when a long TD by James Jones broke the game open.
The point is- that D wasn’t good, but it also wasn’t as bad as the stats suggest or most Packer fans remember. I believe it finished near the middle of the league for points allowed, and that is probably the truest measure of its quality.
This notion that there is some difference between being a playoff caliber and championship caliber team is a load of horseshit. Sorry.
Would it have surprised anyone if Denver lost their first playoff game last season? Would it have surprised anyone if the Panthers lost in their first game to the Seahawks?
No.
So, were they championship caliber teams or weren’t they?
BS.
They were championship teams because THEY MADE IT THERE. Period. The result is the definition.
Were the 2012 Ravens a “championship caliber team” at any point before they won the championship? Most didn’t think so.
Put a healthy Jordy Nelson on the team and have an Aaron Rodgers playing at his normal level and the Packers would have had just as good a chance to win it all as anyone. Just ask Vegas.
Free agency or no free agency has zero to do with it. There is no fucking magical formula either way. Championships are decided on the football field, not in the offseason.
So by your logic, the Redskins last year were Championship
caliber because they made the playoffs?
All righty then.
No, the Redskins weren’t a playoff caliber team. They won a shit division of 4 teams and thanks to the stupidest rule in the NFL, they made the playoffs. They had no damn business being there in the first place.
But…they made it there(playoffs). so by your own words….
“They were championship teams because THEY MADE IT THERE. Period. The result is the definition.”
Yeah I’m sorry but I would have been surprised if Denver and Carolina lost. They actually have good defenses. But yes with a healthy Jordy and ARod anything is possible but we haven’t seen a Title since that guy Craig was still making old spice commercials.
“Championships are decided on the football field, not in the offseason”.
Browner, Revis (Patriots) and half the Broncos roster disagree.
OK, sarcasm aside, I understand what you mean; teams might peak at the right time. But that’s suspiciously similar to leaving it to chance. You try to increase your odds by every option available, not by letting stuff get fixed on its own and hoping for that miraculous click at the right time. (Unless you have someone as motivational as Ray Lewis, but apparently it is not our situation)
To continue on shawns point, the giants weren’t necessarily championship caliber teams going into the 2007 and 2011 seasons either. Football is a funny sport sometimes. Also remember that 2011 defense may have given up yardage, but also had generated a ton of turnovers leading to more points for the offense. You are so cute when you try PF4L
Colin Kaepernick = 181 yards rushing
Adrian Peterson= 409 yards rushing in 2 games.
Championship caliber!!
Keep fucking that chicken Kate.
I have never seen a playoff team (1st goal) or a championship team that did not have 53 + players to put out on the field. Those 53+ players that make up a playoff team and hopefully a championship team are for the most part assembled during the offseason and preseason. So off seasons are critical to fielding a playoff or championship team.
I have no preference to free agents, undrafted free agents, or draft, although draft and development needs to be the foundation to a team. The key is using all the tools in the tool box to upgrade your player personnel and we all know guys like Barclay, Walker, Palmer, jones, MD Jennings, Bostick, and others were on the team for to long. If TT can’t find upgrades for those guys then a different approach is needed. Yes and some will say you will always have weaknesses. I say Arizona may have not needed Dwight Freeney, however he was signed for a veteren minimum contract, lead the Cardnals in sacks and schooled the shit out of the Packs backup tackles. So what is the problem with getting someone like that if they upgrade your team? How much did Mulumba contribute last year?
And how many players on the Cardinals didn’t contribute last year? Freeney sure as hell didn’t help putting pressure on Cam Newton.
I don’t know how many Cardnials did not contribute and I really don’t care how well Freeney performed against Carolina, because the Pack didn’t get to play Carolina when it counted, Arizona and Freeney did. I do know Freeney made less than Barclay last year in base salary and beat his ass all over the field, 3 sacks, multiple pressures, and QB hits. The difference between a non productive, out of position, undrafted free agent and a veteran player for less money. I will admit that based on bonuses for sacks that Freeney made,Barclay by himself may have made Freeney enough extra in bonus payments to maybe equal Barclay’s salary.
Excellent, Howard. That’s the whole point, to use every available avenue to improve the team, and as deeply as possible. Something that Ted is often reluctant to do.
Phatgzus…Owned.
Explain.