Stud n dud boys

[HardRightEdge]

This season has superseded any expectation by a mile. I refuse to single out any dud because this team has the swagger and it showed beating the #1 seed.
Go Pack Go!!

This season has yet to meet my expectations. The talent level and cap situation led me to believe that coming into 2015 the prime window was 2015-2016. Let's see if that plays out.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Remember a few years ago when people were screaming for Crosby to be cut?

Pepperidge Farm remembers.

To be fair those reactions were quite understandable as Crosby struggled mightily during the 2012 season.

 

[BrokenArrow]

Oh I get the point alright. I'm definitely not expecting Gunter to perform like an all star. He's playing exactly how I expect an undrafted free agent who runs a 4.6 to perform...and that's the issue. That and he's covering #1's.

Okay, then what's your solution? Get rid of him because he's covering top WRs right now out of necessity? What sense does that make?

 

[BrokenArrow]

God.

Rodgers is St. Michael.

huh?

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Even Tom Brady is in awe of Aaron Rodgers. Here's what the Patriots QB had to say about the Packers signal caller:

"I think he does things that no one in the league has ever done, or can do, just because of his physical ability," Brady said Monday morning during his weekly interview on sports radio WEEI. "Some of the plays he makes are just phenomenal."

"I think he makes everything look so simple because he has such an efficient delivery," Brady said on the program. "Everything really looks effortless with him, which is the amazing part. He's definitely working hard, but he's making hard look easy; it's a very effortless style he plays with. The velocity of the ball, the placement of the ball, I mean, he's just an incredible player. He works very hard at it, he's a very talented player, and he's just having an incredible season.

"I always love watching his tape, admiring the things he can do, because I can't do many of those things. … Whenever he's on, I usually stay up and watch."

http://www.espn.com/blog/new-englan...-when-aaron-rodgers-is-on-i-stay-up-and-watch

 

[El Guapo]

Nick Perry is turning into Mr. January

Two seasons in a row

 

[C-Lee]

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[easyk83]

Burnett's absence was part of it. The bigger factor was trying to defend the run while playing nickel all day. Lots of single coverage on the perimeter yesterday which is why you did not see much press coverage.

Randall "looked" terrific early in his rookie season because, inexplicably, opponents didn't throw at him in the first 3 or 4 games. After the game saver against San Diego in week 6 there has been a steady slide.

You know, Randall played just a little CB in college, and it wasn't because he was especially good at...it was because the guy he replaced was clueless, which is saying something against college competition. He's had to learn corner technique on the job in the NFL. That's no easy task. The injuries have not been helpful. He overplays his outside technique and gets beat underneath; he overplays inside technique and gets turned around. He's susceptible to double moves. He's not trusted to use press technique one-on-one unless they play for the jail break blitz and the quick throw blitz read by the QB. The default cover up is playing him off into a backpedal leaving a lot of separation.

There's also the question of whether he's got a grasp of the defensive "scheme" as it were. I put "scheme" in quotes because it's not as though you would expect top side help coming out of the huddle, but at times would expect it based on the post snap read where instincts meet practice and study. Call it "chemistry". When Randall gets beat over the top, he invariably expresses complaint at not getting the top side help. While sometimes that may well be Dix's fault, hanging around in the middle of the field looking for work, but you'd have to think that's on Randall in most cases.

He's got the talent and he'll eventually be a respectable perimeter corner if he can stay on the field by dint of health and tolerable performance. Study and practice is all fine and good. But there is simply no substitute for learning in real game situations. That's a very big part of "draft and develop". The develop doesn't happen unless the guy can get snaps and build on them (see Brice as an example). Randall is getting a lot of rope because he's a first round pick and because of the injuries. For now, he needs to prevent giving up the big play, and that may be enough if the offense keeps rolling.

I've said it many times and I'll say it again: his natural position is old school ball hawking free safety. Some claim he's not physical enough for the position. That would be the case if you're inclined to alternate your safeties coming up in the box as Capers does or you count on your free safety to intimidate as with Earl Thomas. KC doesn't play that way; Eric Berry is not a particularly physical guy. Same deal with Jarius Byrd in Buffalo before he was injured. Even Dix doesn't blow guys up; he's pretty much an ankle biter in the open field.

I gave this pick a D grade at the time it was made. Not because Randall's a bad player. It's because you can't afford to wait around for 5 years (as with Perry) to see him earn his draft status after a change of position. But that's water under the bridge and a question for the offseason.

Right now, just keep outscoring them, baby!

Good breakdown as always.

As for the pick, I liked it. At that point of the first round either youre picking high upside players with limited polish or college production, Randall Perry and I'd throw in both Rodgers and Matthews, or youre picking NFL ready players with limited upside. I'll be curious to see if he can't bounce back next game.

 

[Arod2gjdd]

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The first play here was next level, really the entire drive was.

 

[C-Lee]

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The first play here was next level, really the entire drive was.

That play action...filthy!

 

[easyk83]

He had a sure sack but was blatantly held on a 3rd down conversion. You can only do so much when the opposing team's OL is exempt from the rules.

Regarding Matthews pass rush, first the other guys get played too and Big D's LT is one of the best there is. Second Matthews got held up pretty badly on two plays that jumped out at me. The first came on I believe the first drive of the game when Matthews beat Doug Free around the edge and Free just yanked him down as he turned the corner. Matthews got up barking for a flag and even the announcers mentioned that it looked like a hold. The second was that big second down conversion when Clay broke into the pocket, Dak ran outside and it looked like Clay was stuck in place even though he was looking at Dak and no one was in between him and Dak. Third unless you're JJ Watt youre not running through Tyron Smith, this pretty much leaves the edge. Watch the Dak highlights, we did not generate much push against the center of their OL, Dak had a lot of space in that pocket all night long.

 

[Sky King]

Burnett's absence was part of it. The bigger factor was trying to defend the run while playing nickel all day. Lots of single coverage on the perimeter yesterday which is why you did not see much press coverage.

Randall "looked" terrific early in his rookie season because, inexplicably, opponents didn't throw at him in the first 3 or 4 games. After the game saver against San Diego in week 6 there has been a steady slide.

You know, Randall played just a little CB in college, and it wasn't because he was especially good at...it was because the guy he replaced was clueless, which is saying something against college competition. He's had to learn corner technique on the job in the NFL. That's no easy task. The injuries have not been helpful. He overplays his outside technique and gets beat underneath; he overplays inside technique and gets turned around. He's susceptible to double moves. He's not trusted to use press technique one-on-one unless they play for the jail break blitz and the quick throw blitz read by the QB. The default cover up is playing him off into a backpedal leaving a lot of separation.

There's also the question of whether he's got a grasp of the defensive "scheme" as it were. I put "scheme" in quotes because it's not as though you would expect top side help coming out of the huddle, but at times would expect it based on the post snap read where instincts meet practice and study. Call it "chemistry". When Randall gets beat over the top, he invariably expresses complaint at not getting the top side help. While sometimes that may well be Dix's fault, hanging around in the middle of the field looking for work, but you'd have to think that's on Randall in most cases.

He's got the talent and he'll eventually be a respectable perimeter corner if he can stay on the field by dint of health and tolerable performance. Study and practice is all fine and good. But there is simply no substitute for learning in real game situations. That's a very big part of "draft and develop". The develop doesn't happen unless the guy can get snaps and build on them (see Brice as an example). Randall is getting a lot of rope because he's a first round pick and because of the injuries. For now, he needs to prevent giving up the big play, and that may be enough if the offense keeps rolling.

I've said it many times and I'll say it again: his natural position is old school ball hawking free safety. Some claim he's not physical enough for the position. That would be the case if you're inclined to alternate your safeties coming up in the box as Capers does or you count on your free safety to intimidate as with Earl Thomas. KC doesn't play that way; Eric Berry is not a particularly physical guy. Same deal with Jarius Byrd in Buffalo before he was injured. Even Dix doesn't blow guys up; he's pretty much an ankle biter in the open field.

I gave this pick a D grade at the time it was made. Not because Randall's a bad player. It's because you can't afford to wait around for 5 years (as with Perry) to see him earn his draft status after a change of position. But that's water under the bridge and a question for the offseason.

Right now, just keep outscoring them, baby!

Once the season is over it will be an interesting topic to discuss: Square pegs and round holes.

TT often seems to draft or acquire guys that are expected to adapt to playing new positions and sometimes with significant weight changes involved. Guys like Perry, Randall, Jones, Palmer, Zombo, and some recent others that I've probably missed. It will be interesting to evaluate how the success of those acquisitions has worked out. We know for sure that Shields has been a success story. Too bad one of the most successful players who changed positions has also met with injury. Let's hope we come back to this subject in, say, another three weeks or so.

 

[C-Lee]

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[Croquet]

Studs : Crosby times 1000' Rodgers, Cook , McCarthy for overall game plan
Duds.... I'm not going to name individuals on the defense.... hey we won. However, I will give McCarthy a dud fir the play calling on the 2nd to last drive... I think he choked a little and got scared and went ultra conservative there.

Totally agree on the play calling comment. It was Seattle all over again. I was screaming at the tv.

 

[longtimefan]

I wish it were so. I also wish my wife's poodle pooped solid gold, but I'm not upset and complaining that he doesn't. You have to think and be reasonable.

People want these players to perform at a level that a starter capable of..

OK they were drafted at 2nd round or at ever.. That isn't Doms fault or Moss, or Perry's fault (coaches)..

People so fast to blame Dom... But how can you make porter house if they get you chopped liver?

 

[BrokenArrow]

The second was that big second down conversion when Clay broke into the pocket, Dak ran outside and it looked like Clay was stuck in place even though he was looking at Dak and no one was in between him and Dak.

What was the game time where that play happened? I wanted to take a second look at it.

 

[BrokenArrow]

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Well that was cheesy.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Regarding Matthews pass rush, first the other guys get played too and Big D's LT is one of the best there is. Second Matthews got held up pretty badly on two plays that jumped out at me. The first came on I believe the first drive of the game when Matthews beat Doug Free around the edge and Free just yanked him down as he turned the corner. Matthews got up barking for a flag and even the announcers mentioned that it looked like a hold. The second was that big second down conversion when Clay broke into the pocket, Dak ran outside and it looked like Clay was stuck in place even though he was looking at Dak and no one was in between him and Dak. Third unless you're JJ Watt youre not running through Tyron Smith, this pretty much leaves the edge. Watch the Dak highlights, we did not generate much push against the center of their OL, Dak had a lot of space in that pocket all night long.

Matthews is paid like an elite pass rusher therefore I expect him to have an impact when facing a top notch left tackle as well. There´s no doubt in my mind that he hasn´t performed up to his contract for quite some time and should be forced to renegotiate his deal next offseason.

 

[Curly Calhoun]

Packers may be younger than Cowpies.

And.....?

 

[HardRightEdge]

I wish it were so. I also wish my wife's poodle pooped solid gold, but I'm not upset and complaining that he doesn't. You have to think and be reasonable.

Aaron Rodgers sh*ts gold. Will it be enough?

 

[HardRightEdge]

To be fair those reactions were quite understandable as Crosby struggled mightily during the 2012 season.

And if it was just 2012, one bad season might be accounted for one way or another but still risky. But Crosby didn't break 80% in his first 4 seasons, had a good year in 2011, and then lost his stroke in 2012. Keeping him at that juncture was very high risk.

In the golden age of kickers, where something like 29 of the top 32 all-time percentage kickers were active in the league at that time, Crosby apologists were arguing for his directional kickoff ability (sheesh!) and premier leg strength (exaggerated by his having kicked at altitude in college). Bad weather does not entirely account for the differential between Crosby and the league (though I admire Rodgers for pumping up his guy in the post-game press conference). I was willing to bump his career performance from among the worst in the league to the middle of the pack on the weather factor. But after 2012, we were looking at an average kicker at best who may have lost his stroke.

Even now, his career 88% from 30-39 yards is weak in the golden age. Even this year, he had 2 misses from that range (13 of 15) plus 3 extra point misses playing under a top 3 contract.

Watching Crosby break down in tears after the winning Dallas kick, you know he's been carrying a justifiable burden of the faith placed in him that he has finally justified.

We argued about that most recent contract at the margins. You contended categorically that it was a bad deal. I argued that it might not look that bad on balance after 4 years if cap and salaries keep escalating apace, which might qualify as damning with faint praise.

So here we are, having witnessed the greatest single-game kicking performance in Packer history given the situations and distances. I suppose we could point to Chandler's "did he or didn't he" kick as most memorable, but this is clearly the superior performance. He made a chunk of that contract on Sunday.

 

[Sky King]

In a typical game this is only a three-quarters defense. The fourth quarter is a time for prayer. Compensating for the inability of their defensive counterparts to finish a game strongly, the offense is constantly under pressure to play a near perfect fourth quarter to hold a lead. Regardless of the reasons, the defensive talent is simply not playing at a level that can match that of the offense.

...So here we are, having witnessed the greatest single-game kicking performance in Packer history given the situations and distances. I suppose we could point to Chandler's "did he or didn't he" kick as most memorable, but this is clearly the superior performance. He made a chunk of that contract on Sunday.

One can only imagine that if the goalpost height had not already been raised years ago (still) disgruntled Baltimore Colts backers would vigorously encourage the Cowboys to produce a documentary "proving" that Crosby's kick was wide left.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

Matthews is paid like an elite pass rusher therefore I expect him to have an impact when facing a top notch left tackle as well. There´s no doubt in my mind that he hasn´t performed up to his contract for quite some time and should be forced to renegotiate his deal next offseason.

So now we're upset that Clay didn't have an amazing impact against the best oline in the NFL?

And the above comment is exactly why players are generally wrong when sacrificing for the team; how quickly we forget that Clay was playing out of position the past two seasons at inside linebacker, a position that doesn't play to any of Clay's strengths. He sacrificed his play for the team to get better....and now he needs to be "forced to renegotiate".

 

[HardRightEdge]

In a typical game this is only a three-quarters defense. The fourth quarter is a time for prayer. Compensating for the inability of their defensive counterparts to finish a game strongly, the offense is constantly under pressure to play a near perfect fourth quarter to hold a lead. Regardless of the reasons, the defensive talent is simply not playing at a level that can match that of the offense.

One can only imagine that if the goalpost height had not already been raised years ago (still) disgruntled Baltimore Colts backers would vigorously encourage the Cowboys to produce a documentary "proving" that Crosby's kick was wide left.

One of three things happened on that Crosby kick. I've already mentioned divine intervention from St. Vince and kismet (could it be fate?). There's a third possibility. I don't know about AT&T Stadium, but other domes have been known to have a very slight "wind", just 2 or 3 mph. I guess it's a peculiarity of the ventilation system that creates a tiny bit of swirl in some of these stadiums. Might it have been "wind" aided?

I prefer the first option...divine intervention.

 

[Sky King]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxIOmst4MCQ

One of three things happened on that Crosby kick. I've already mentioned divine intervention from St. Vince and kismet (could it be fate?). There's a third possibility. I don't know about AT&T Stadium, but other domes have been known to have a very slight "wind", just 2 or 3 mph. I guess it's a peculiarity of the ventilation system that creates a tiny bit of swirl in some of these stadiums. Might it have been "wind" aided?

I prefer the first option...divine intervention.

This guy needed Divine intervention, or maybe it's his landlord that needed it:

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