Whether it was mismanaging personnel
Bryan Bulaga Jersey , failing to evolve and adapt, or simply coming up short in big games, Dom Capers cost the Packers a chance at more sustained success. The
blame should be squarely on Capers, and by extension Mike McCarthy, for wasting
Rodgers’ prime."Around 2011, one could be forgiven for believing Aaron Rodgers
was capable of controlling space and time. Rodgers manipulated defenses with
alacrity, pulverizing them to meet his will. What he never could master was
manipulating his own defense toward those same ends. That task fell on Green Bay
Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers, and too often, his unit wasn’t up to
the task. That, above all else, before the lack of aggression from Ted Thompson
or schematic stagnation from Mike McCarthy, will come to define the
underachieving near decade with Rodgers at the peak of his powers. No Packers
fan doubts the case for the defense costing Green Bay the chance at a wider
window with Rodgers. The team’s failures in big games as it relates to the
team’s future Hall of Fame quarterback have been stated and restated ad nauseum.
This case presents a slightly different, though related argument. Had the
Packers had the foresight to move on from Dom Capers when it became clear such a
move was necessary, much of that heartache could have been avoided. The signs
started in 2008, Rodgers’ first season under center as the franchise
quarterback, a time before we even knew that’s what he was. It was also a season
before Capers arrived. Green Bay’s defense blew six games that season in which
Rodgers and the offense had either tied the game or taken the lead in the fourth
quarter, including a late-season stretch with four blown games in a row. Capers
replaced Bob Sanders specifically to avoid these precise issues. In 2009,
Charles Woodson and Clay Matthews combined to provide a lethal combination and
the defense finished second in total defense adjusted for schedule, according to
Football Outsiders.Problem solved right? That unit, complete with the Defensive
Player of the Year, gave up 45 points on the road to spoil perhaps the most
auspicious playoff debut by a quarterback in league history at the time.No
doubt, a Super Bowl quelled concerns of Capers and 2010 produced an excellent
defense to be sure. However, the following season brought chaos, particularly
following Nick Collins tragic and untimely neck injury
Mason Crosby Jersey , cutting a sparkling career short. Green Bay finished with one of the worst defenses in modern history, setting a record for yards allowed.
Eli Manning (!) hung 37 on that defense in the worst loss of the
McCarthy/Rodgers era and what will likely go down as the ugliest blemish on
Rodgers’ otherwise spectacular resume. Another top-10 defense by DVOA in 2012
gave Green Bay hope. Clay Matthews looked to be on a Hall of Fame trajectory,
Charles Woodson was still making plays and they finished 8th in total defense.
But with the chance to secure a first-round bye in Minnesota against Christian
Ponder, Capers’ defense gave up 37 points including the game-winning drive with
under three minutes to go. In the immortal words of N’SYNC: bye bye bye. Sure,
Green Bay walloped Joe Webb’s version of the Vikings the next week, but Colin
Kaepernick put together his own historic performance, tuning up that top-10
defense for nearly half a hundo. In two straight seasons, and now three out of
four, the Packers defense cost them their season. The death blow should have
come following the 2013 season. Regardless of the collarbone injury that cost
Rodgers have a season, the Packers finished 29th in DVOA and actually got worse
as the season went on. When yet another season ends with the defense on the
field, this time at home to Kaepernick and the 49ers, McCarthy needed to
intervene. This should have been the end of the Capers administration. And while
the team numbers remained solid in 2014 and 2015, Capers made essential
personnel mistakes that held the team back. Casey Hayward’s playmaking never
flourished under Capers, who insisted on asking him to do things to which he
wasn’t ideally suited. He failed to realize the best free safety they could have
was already on the team (Micah Hyde) and a first-round pick on a player who
wouldn’t earn a second contract at that position could have gone elsewhere.
Imagine how different the fortunes of the Packers may have been had Capers been
replaced by a defensive coordinator who moved Hyde to free safety, pairing him
with Morgan Burnett who ultimately became more of a box player eventually even
without such a switch. That theoretical defensive coordinator may have also
realized that in the right scheme Casey Hayward was an All-Pro cornerback. There
wasn’t enough talent on this defense to insist he had to play a certain type of
way. Sam Shields could have handled whatever was asked of him and Tramon
Williams wasn’t long for the Packers world, so why insist on playing Hayward out
of schematic position? There’s no doubt the timeline alters if those moves are
made at that time. Certainly, we can’t guarantee a new DC would have seen what
we now know in hindsight, but given the contracts Hyde and Hayward signed in
free agency and their immediate success on new defenses, there’s pretty good
evidence it shouldn’t have taken a rocket scientist. Ted Thompson often receives
the lion’s share of blame for not re-signing Hyde or Hayward, but he made the
best decision he could with the available information at the time, information
that included Capers’ mismanagement of his personnel. It’s easy to forget now,
but the Packers veterans had serious problems with Capers even when they were
good, dating back to Woodson’s insistence they needed to play more aggressive
and be allowed to play more man coverage. Capers never allowed Damarious Randall
to play his more natural safety position, as borne out by his recent success
there in Cleveland. That makes twice he overlooked better potential safety
options to play Ha ha Clinton-Dix
David Bakhtiari Jersey , a mistake he never should have been given the opportunity to make. Ultimately that blame falls at the feet of Mike McCarthy.
Imagine how different the questions around MM might have been if they’d hired
Wade Phillips following the 2013 season when he was fired by the Texans.
Phillips isn’t the ideal fit tomaximize a player like Hayward, but he is smart
enough to understand how to play the strengths of his players. It was his call
to hold onto Capers, and ultimately McCarthy’s reluctance to move on when he
should have, cost McCarthy his job as well.The Packers likely don’t fire
McCarthy if not for second-half collapses in the 2014 NFC Championship Game, the
‘15 playoffs, or the annihilation by Matt Ryan in the ‘16 NFC Championship Game.
What happened after that falls squarely on the shoulders of McCarthy, who failed
to evolve his offense, couldn’t develop a reasonable backup to Rodgers, and
eventually lost the locker room. Part of the reason players lost faith in the
head coach stems from his faith in Capers when the players lost faith in him
years ago. It’s harder to blame Ted Thompson for not surrounding Aaron Rodgers
with defensive talent when that defensive talent goes on to thrive elsewhere.
That’s a coaching problem. Had McCarthy had the fortitude to move on from Capers
when it was clear such a move was necessary, he may still be the head coach and
the Packers might have more hardware in their trophy case. Now, the burden falls
on Matt LaFleur and Mike Pettine to make up for lost time. They may still find a
way to restore the Packers place among Super Bowl contenders and bring the
Lombardi trophy back to Lombardi avenue, but it won’t replace the time wasted in
the interim. In the NFL, it’s all about bang for the buck. Can the new Packers
still provide that in the back half of their four-year contracts?"WhiteFanposts
Fanshots Sections The APC PodcastPackers Film RoomFantasy Football
AdviceCDTShareTweetShareShareCheese Curds, 3/18: Will Packers get their money’s
worth from the new free agents?Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY SportsSix days later, the
intensity of the excitement that Green Bay Packers fans are feeling has calmed
down somewhat. Still, we’ve gone from a full-fledged boil to a steady simmer, as
the team’s four free agent additions continue to provide reasons to be
optimistic for a turnaround in 2019, particularly on defense.As we’ve mentioned
before, last Tuesday was a first in Packers history with so many big-name
signings coming so quickly. Thursday was the same, as all four players were in
the building to sign their contracts and introduce themselves to the media. Now
that the weekend has passed and we’re into week two of free agency, we are left
with anticipation leading up to the 2019 NFL Draft, knowing that the Packers are
probably finished making their big free agent moves for the spring.The question
now becomes how the new Packers will work into the roster and — more importantly
— if they will indeed provide the impact that the team expects of them. The
players’ contract structures relative to the salary cap are well-documented, as
the Packers did backload a significant amount of cap money into the later years
of these deals. If healthy, these players should have no difficulty justifying
their cap hits in year one; the big question is whether they will do so in years
three and four
Ty Summers Green Bay Packers Jersey , when The Packers, like every NFL team, continue to bank on the cap increasing steadily. In 2021, when the biggest cap
jump will take place for all of these deals, the league will be negotiating a
new collective bargaining agreement, potentially leading to another massive jump
like it saw in 2011. If so, these contract structures will help the team stay
competitive in the meantime while not hurting too much in later years.But most
importantly, if these four players prove to be impact players throughout all
four years of their deals, the cap hits will be nothing to worry about.Packers
won't be splurging next year | Packersnews.comDon't expect a similar free agent
investment in 2020 -- the Packers will probably need to re-sign a few key
players like Mike Daniels and/or Blake Martinez, and they already have a
significant cap investment already up and down the roster. The key now is to hit
on the next couple of draft classes and hope that this year's signings pan
out.Billy Turner feels wanted in Green Bay | Packers.comTurner, a Minnesota
native, saw his dad play for both the Packers and Vikings, so he has seen both
sides of the rivalry. For now, though, he's focused on his fit in Green Bay,
where his athleticism makes him a good fit for a zone-blocking system.The
Smiths: The Packers' new $118 million pass-rushing combination - ESPNZa'Darius
and Preston Smith almost played together at Mississippi State after Za'Darius
took a visit there while at a nearby junior college. Now they finally get to
bookend each other in Green Bay.This stat sums up Packers’ pass-rushing
improvement in free agency | Packers WireMeanwhile, the two players had over 110
total quarterback pressures last year, beating the entire Packers' edge group by
25.NFL Draft 2019: DE Montez Sweat has pre-existing heart condition | SI.comOne
other potential Packers pass-rushing target with the 12th overall pick is Sweat,
whose minor heart condition showed up on Combine medical exams. However, he and
his agents say it's "not news," and the fact that he was allowed to participate
fully at the Combine suggests that there should be no issue there moving
forward.Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill under investigation for alleged battery of juvenile
- SBNation.comThis is the second domestic violence-related issue that Hill has
faced in the past several years.Moose is mistaken for burglar after crashing
into Colorado home | Daily Mail OnlineThis is the second moose-related incident
in Colorado in recent days; a few days ago, a library had to be shut down
because a moose decided to camp out near the front door.
