Fire Capers

[rodell330]

Want to beat the Packers defense? Attack the middle of the field. I don't make millions calling plays in the NFL..but I do know football and I especially know offense. Anyone who has watched Capers defense since he's been here knows he's going to play a nickel pkg 60% of the time, and that the middle of the field is where yards come in bunches when you attack that area.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Want to beat the Packers defense? Attack the middle of the field. I don't make millions calling plays in the NFL..but I do know football and I especially know offense. Anyone who has watched Capers defense since he's been here knows he's going to play a nickel pkg 60% of the time, and that the middle of the field is where yards come in bunches when you attack that area.

The numbers keep rising each year, and I'd guess he's up over 80% nickel + dime. 3 down linemen is becoming a pretty uncommon sight. He'll go to nickel on first down and dime on 2nd. and 6. That presents difficulties against an opponent with a stud runner and the best run blocking line in the league.

I call the middle of the field the Capers soft underbelly. It's less evident in man D than zone. Capers zone defenses pretty much suck; he's a man + blitz coach. He's better off in man D. Burnett, Hyde and Ryan have looked pretty decent handling slots, slower TEs (which Whitten happens to be) and backs in man coverage in recent weeks. Assuming FS help goes to Gunter more often than not, the pressure points against Dallas become Randall and the ILBs who have to respect the run.

It will be helpful if they don't let Dallas go 97 yards in 33 seconds as at the end of the first half in the last meeting, helped by McCarthy's 2 timeouts. I had a flashback to this game when McCarthy was calling timeouts on defense at the close of the half against the Giants; it worked that time against a dysfunctional offense in frigid weather. But I would not repeat it again against Dallas in a dome.

It will also be helpful if the Packers use the ball control offense they used against Dallas in the second half of that game where Rodgers went something like 18 of 20 to close out the game. This Dallas LB group is not very fast or particularly deft in coverage. Get some rhythm going with the run and short passes, then take the shots when the opportunity arises. Coming out of the box looking to go downfield has had pretty dreadful results.

Tough match up. The guys need to bring their A games.

 

[HardRightEdge]

New Orleans won a Super Bowl with a less than decent defense. Over their last 2 regular season games and their 3 playoff wins they scored 48, 45, 31, 31 and 45, an incredible offensive roll. It is possible to simply outscore the league in a playoff run. It just doesn't happen very often; one would expect that at some point the D will need to step up.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Just watched Brandon Marshall dis Capers on Inside the NFL. Basically said 'Capers has been running the same defense forever and everybody knows about it'

LOL.....Brandon Marshall.....who lost his Porsche in a bet with Antonio Brown because he thought he would have more receiving yards than the Steelers receiver this season with Fitzpatrick throwing him the ball??? LOL

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...shall-challenges-steelers-brown-to-luxury-bet

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

LOL.....Brandon Marshall.....who lost his Porsche in a bet with Antonio Brown because he thought he would have more receiving yards than the Steelers receiver this season with Fitzpatrick throwing him the ball??? LOL

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...shall-challenges-steelers-brown-to-luxury-bet

Funny....but also interesting...in the fact that wouldn't this be considered to be making a bet on a Sport you are a participant in?

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Funny....but also interesting...in the fact that wouldn't this be considered to be making a bet on a Sport you are a participant in?

I don't think the NFL investigated it though.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I don't think the NFL investigated it though.

Maybe they are waiting for the keys to be handed over to complete the bet

Stupid but harmless bet made between Millionaires, but again, what kind of message are you sending to people by making it?

 

[longtimefan]

2 games... Odell was targeted 23 times... For 84 yards..

luck?

 

[HardRightEdge]

Funny....but also interesting...in the fact that wouldn't this be considered to be making a bet on a Sport you are a participant in?

It's the equivalent of a fantasy football bet.

It would be a bit hard to discipline players over this kind of wager when Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft own interests in Draft Kings while the NFL media outlets incessantly promote fantasy football.

 

[Sky King]

LOL.....Brandon Marshall.....who lost his Porsche in a bet with Antonio Brown because he thought he would have more receiving yards than the Steelers receiver this season with Fitzpatrick throwing him the ball??? LOL

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...shall-challenges-steelers-brown-to-luxury-bet

And some people still wonder why some of these players are flat broke shortly after their careers conclude.

 

[HardRightEdge]

2 games... Odell was targeted 23 times... For 84 yards..

luck?

You should count on shutting down anybody if you double team him all day especially when he is dropping balls and not making any touch catches. Among my 4 points favoring the Packer D going into that game was that Beckham is a distraction, and he came through in spades. The other 3 were lack of a run game, a sub-standard O-Line and Eli Manning inconsistency.

Fortunately, the Giant offense had become dysfunctional coming into that game, putting up a string of games where they couldn't break 20 points. They were who we thought they were.

When you double team the lead weapon, the question then becomes what you give up elsewhere. I would observe that shutting down Julio Jones in like manner didn't help against an offense with alternatives.

I don't see where Dallas even has a lead weapon, though the ability to keep a lid on Elliott, get some favorable down and distance, and make the rookie QB beat you would seem to provide the best chance. Maybe that zone blitz will deceive the rookie and Matthews won't drop the ball this time. Or just plain outscoring them is the other alternative.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

This is just one of those years where you're not sure what to think about maintaining the status quo going forward or using an important playoff loss to enact a big change such as letting your DC go and changing things completely there.

I'm just thinking Capers even with these injuries and what have you may not be on completely safe ground. The Slocums got fired after the 2014 NFC Championship Game, now in their case the Packers had multiple years that the ST struggled and potentially they won SB XLV in spite of Slocum, but still it was kind of a jolt that said big games matter. I think if in a close game in Dallas that Capers's unit doesn't deliver, he could see the same fate as the Slocums.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

I would just say I definitely think Capers owed Rodgers, Cook and Crosby dinner after this last game for saving his bacon.

 

[goldplater]

Hire Capers!

That guy is missing in the secondary the equivalent of Nelson (Shields), Cook (Burnett), has an injured Adams (Randall), no Cobb (Rollins), has an injured Allison (Gunter), no Janis (Goodson) too.

What else you can expect?
To hold the Cowboys out of the endzone to be able to kick the winning field goal is good enough for me.

@TT
Maybe we should for once draft a true CB, not a converted basketballpayer or saftey as Randall, Collins or Goodson ? The slower, undrafted Gunter shows why... and maybe CB's are also better prepared healthwise for the NFL, too.

 

[pacmaniac]

Capers should be thankful Garrett went stupid with his playcalling on their last drive.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

Hire Capers!

That guy is missing in the secondary the equivalent of Nelson (Shields), Cook (Burnett), has an injured Adams (Randall), no Cobb (Rollins), has an injured Allison (Gunter), no Janis (Goodson) too.

What else you can expect?
To hold the Cowboys out of the endzone to be able to kick the winning field goal is good enough for me.

@TT
Maybe we should for once draft a true CB, not a converted Basletballpayer or Saftey as Randell, Collins or Goodson ? The slower, undrafted Gunter shows why... and maybe they are also better prepared healthwise, too.

I don't think anyone denies Ted not having a contingency plan to grab some DBs when some hit the IR is wearing a little thin. BUT...

If you have an injured secondary, you should be utilizing your front 7 to help them out. Where were all these blitzes I was hearing talked about that were supposed to be thrown at Dak on 3rd and long and stuff? I sure didn't see them anywhere. Mostly 3 men rushes and soft zone and ALWAYS open middle of the field that gets talked about.

Sorry, but Capers doesn't have an excuse for that.

Now it's old news cuz we won and that's what counts, but I really think Capers was looking at getting fired if his units blowing that lead cost us the game. Like I said, Rodgers, Cook and Crosby saved his bacon.

 

[Packer Brother]

The fact Rodgers could go off Sunday and still lose is on TT. He is responsible for this thrash D with the likes of Gunter, Ryan, others. If we lose in a 41-38 type game it's on him.

Murphy needs to look at the big picture. This team wouldn't be fighting for the division with a decent D.

 

[PackfansNW]

I'm tired of feeling nervous when we have a two score lead in the fourth quarter. The offense could be flawless but an inevitable missed holding call and typical defense lets the other team back in it every time.

Also how could TT and DC not have a contingency for Sam Shields going on IR. He missed a third of the season last year from a concussion. Even I could predict he wouldn't finish the season.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

The fact Rodgers could go off Sunday and still lose is on TT. He is responsible for this thrash D with the likes of Gunter, Ryan, others. If we lose in a 41-38 type game it's on him.

Murphy needs to look at the big picture. This team wouldn't be fighting for the division with a decent D.

It's still on Capers too. If you mismanage personnel and have them playing soft zone like Richard Sherman was on Julio the other day, that's coaching and bad on them.

 

[gonzozab]

It sure would be nice if we could get more than three quarters from our defense.

 

[PackerFanLV]

It's still on Capers too. If you mismanage personnel and have them playing soft zone like Richard Sherman was on Julio the other day, that's coaching and bad on them

Lol richard sherman cant press julio 1vs1 julio to fast and to strong. A healthy julio hands down the best receiver in the league.

 

[goldplater]

Lol richard sherman cant press julio 1vs1 julio to fast and to strong. A healthy julio hands down the best receiver in the league.

at least if Sherman Plays with an ruptured MCL...
But is JJ fit himself? Not sure, he had not a lot of long Sprints, just telling I think.-..

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

Lol richard sherman cant press julio 1vs1 julio to fast and to strong. A healthy julio hands down the best receiver in the league.

Granted the Seahawks being without Earl Thomas may have influenced that too, but ehhh ... figure Capers could do something to help the injury-riddled secondary by mixing it up front with the LBs, something I have yet to see him do this postseason.

 

[HardRightEdge]

The over/under against Atlanta is running 61.

That's kinda funny because in last weeks "just outscore 'em, baby" posts I was tempted to say if the Packers could score 31 I think Dom could hold Dallas to 30. Pretty close.

So consider it said for this game. Just outscore 'em, baby.

Packers 31
Atlanta 30

 

[HardRightEdge]

The fact Rodgers could go off Sunday and still lose is on TT. He is responsible for this thrash D with the likes of Gunter, Ryan, others. If we lose in a 41-38 type game it's on him.

Murphy needs to look at the big picture. This team wouldn't be fighting for the division with a decent D.

Ryan played a very good game against the Giants. He's been up and down. He struggles against offenses that are threats to run or pass, where he gets caught processing in pass or guessing in run or getting caught in play action. Against the Giants, with a weak run game, he was more natural and free flowing with less to worry about.

On balance over the course of this season he's played better than his compatriots at ILB. Their inconsistencies sure don't help his game much. Ryan looks a lot better with Burnett getting steady work in the box in lieu of the other guys.

Speaking of Burnett, he's my 2016 Packer D MVP. Let's hope he's back on the field on Sunday. He's sorely needed.