I know that most of you have left your pitch forks burning, ready to pounce on Drayton at the end of the season. However, I'm going to challenge all of you to keep evaluating things. Everyone seems to have come around on Joe Barry's defense, which had problems but has found its form. The obvious difference is that there are still some issues occurring on special teams. New coaches take some time to get things together. The DC and ST coaches were new and both seem to be finding a groove.
Let's talk about what has improved:
1) the problems with blocking on FGs and punts has improved, despite teams seemingly testing it every week by going for more blocks than usual
2) the FG holding situation seems to have improved. The times Crosby has missed a kick recently, I've gone back to look. Even on the miss against the Rams, the laces were out and the hold was perfect. The holding has gotten better. It's now mostly a Crosby issue.
3) Coverage has gone from adequate to superb in the second half of the season
Believe it or not, the Randall Cobb muffed punt was good coaching. Apparently the Packers had a contingency plan in place for windy days such as against the Rams. The plan was that Cobb would return those kicks, which is why on that end of the field they put Cobb out there. While I didn't like losing the ball, I can appreciate that the Packers had a plan in place.
At this point of the season, it seems that most of the ST problems are player execution issues more than scheme and coaching. None of us are satisfied and know that ST misqueues can end a team's Super Bowl hopes, but I think that we should acknowledge the improvements.