Don't Panic About The Defense: The Packers Had An Impressive Win

by Brandon on Dec 26, 2011 1:00 PM CST in Green Bay Packers Analysis

There were some blemishes on the Green Bay Packers win over the Bears. But they secured home field advantage, committed no turnovers or penalties, and the only injury was an ankle bruise for RB James Starks.

Packers Minute: Pass Rush Still a Concern | Cheesehead TV. For what it's worth, I didn't think the pass rush was any worse than normal. They flushed McCown out of the pocket a couple times, and that pressure sometimes lead to sacks, but not on Sunday. Outside linebacker, safety, and the defensive line will have to be addressed in the offseason, They won't be riding the defense to the Super Bowl, but it's still good enough to win now.

Packers vs. Bears: 5 Observations from Green Bay's 35-21 Win over Chicago | AllGreenBayPackers.Com. Much of the focus was on the poor run defense and the absence of Ryan Pickett. But I don't think that was the problem. Much of the damage on the ground was done early when the Packers were lining up in the nickel and only had two defensive lineman. I have no idea why Dom Capers thought this alignment was necessary when it was pretty clear the Bears were thinking run first. The fact that he had only three healthy defensive lineman, along with hurting NT Howard Green (foot) and DE MIke Neal (knee), probably was a factor.

It was also a bad game for LB Erik Walden, who had trouble holding his edge in the running game. The Bears had success cutting back to his side. Capers did realize this, and LB Brad Jones rotated in for him in the second quarter. I didn't see much of Walden in the second half, as they gave playing time to seldom used backups Vic So'oto and Jamari Lattimore. None of these replacements were obviously better, so Walden should remain the starter.

Twitter / @MikeVandermause: Rodgers: Barely got touched tonight. There were a lot of concerns about the makeshift offensive line, but they had a great game. They even got a good push in the running game (3.9 ypc) against a very good run defense. The Bears had defensive lineman flying around, Peppers in particular kept trying to beat Marshall Newhouse to the outside, but in the end, Rodgers was barely touched. The Bears even started blitzing Urlacher and Briggs to get to him.

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I didn't think the defense was too bad last night.

I thought they were getting decent pressure, but it didn’t turn into sacks because McCown was quick to pull it down and take off. I don’t think he was getting passed his first or second read before he would take off. He had 8 rushes last night and I can’t think of any right off hand that looked designed, other than the 2 pt conversion.
I was disappointed in the run defense, especially since it sounded like they emphasized it in practice, but they did force two fumbles which is something they have done a lot of this season. Take away a lucky bounce for the Bears and this game wasn’t nearly as close as it looked.
Bottom line is we don’t need Baltimore or Pittsburgh’s defense to win just as long as they can keep it close.

Packers' Magic Numbers:
Clinch Division = DONE!!!
Clinch 1st Rd Bye = DONE!!!
Clinch Homefield = 1

by Bezerkers on Dec 26, 2011 1:46 PM CST reply actions

Same defense as last week

Different offense, though.

13.

Build Lasers And Stuff For More Ownage, Dude!

by Wiedmann on Dec 27, 2011 12:28 AM CST up reply actions

nope…this defense caused turnovers and made stops besides in the red zone.

The Green Bay Packers...Putting bad coaches out of their misery since 2010

by TrevorR on Dec 27, 2011 9:54 AM CST up reply actions

they played almost exactly the way they did against KC

they couldn’t stop the run, and they routinely gave up big gains in the passing game as well, but the offense put up enough points to force them out of the run and become aggressive, which is what led to turning the ball over.

football does not build character, it reveals character.

by sheehan on Dec 27, 2011 11:02 AM CST up reply actions

Maybe they could have made more stops in the red zone

Chi crossed the goal line 3 times. KC crossed the goal line 1 time.

Total yards:
KC: 438
CHi: 441
First Downs:
KC: 23
Chi: 24
Points:
KC: 19
Chi: 21
Drives of 50+ yards:
KC: 5 (FG, TO, FG, FG, TD: 16 points)
Chi: 6 (Missed FG, TO, FG, TD, TD, FG: 21 points [24 if Gould doesn’t miss])

As far as “causing” turnovers, the Packers got lucky on a tipped pass, and Kahlil Bell should have cut Matthews, negating that INT.

SAME. FUCKING. DEFENSE.

13.

Build Lasers And Stuff For More Ownage, Dude!

by Wiedmann on Dec 27, 2011 3:50 PM CST up reply actions 2 recs

but Chi's stats on offense would have been even higher....

if GB left Rodgers in to throw for 2 more scores.

In Every Climb and Place....

by PhoenicianPakFan on Dec 28, 2011 5:09 AM CST up reply actions

So'oto looked close to getting a couple sacks. I was pleased with the pressure he was able to apply.

And I agree with Bezerkers. McCown had to be aware of this pocket all game and was forced to run a number of times. Overall I was pleased with the D, and really happy with the OL

SUPER BOWL CHAMPS

by Chief Oshkosh on Dec 26, 2011 3:15 PM CST reply actions

Considering how horrible the Bears offense has been...

The poor play of the defense should be a concern. The Bears weren’t able to break 20 points in the previous 3 games. Hell, they came away with only a field goal against the Chiefs.

All any playoff team has to hope for is to be able to stay relatively close to a Packer lead and try to steal one.

At this stage, there’s not much that can be done and you’d have to be crazy to not pick the Pack to make the big game, but I get the feeling they playoffs are going to be to-the-wire nail biters all the way. Especially with the Saints and possibly the Giants.

"Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser." - Vince Lombardi

by AdamA on Dec 26, 2011 4:27 PM CST reply actions

I'm not defending the defense here

But I think you can take all of the games Hanie has played this year and not find 4 individual quarters he played better than McCown played last night. Hanie has just been awful and instead of having just a dropoff from Cutler to a backup, Hanie provided negative offense. It’s more of a representation of just how awful he was.

by Danwood on Dec 26, 2011 4:55 PM CST up reply actions

and somehow he almost beat the Packers in the NFC Championship...

the defense really must have checked out once Cutler got knocked out of that game

football does not build character, it reveals character.

by sheehan on Dec 26, 2011 4:56 PM CST up reply actions

Well, the NFCCG was a defensive showdown for the most part

If Hanie was any good at all the Bears might have pulled that one out..

by Danwood on Dec 26, 2011 6:37 PM CST up reply actions

…and yet McCown wasn’t even in the NFL until like 3 weeks ago, he was coaching HS football. This guy is not a good qb.

The Green Bay Packers...Putting bad coaches out of their misery since 2010

by TrevorR on Dec 27, 2011 9:55 AM CST up reply actions

That's my point

For as bad a McCown is, Hanie is worse. So the “not being able to break 20 points in the prior 3 games” doesn’t really mean much.

by Danwood on Dec 27, 2011 11:34 AM CST up reply actions

I thought the D was fine

We played a lot of nickle, probably due to not having healthy DL, so I’m not too worried about our run D. And the Bears scored 10 points late in the 4th, when the game was already decided and backups were playing.

by Shoes31 on Dec 27, 2011 8:22 AM CST reply actions

Anyone else notice how bad the field was?

Not using it as an excuse, but I definitely feel like it played a role. There was a couple plays where defenders missed tackles or let guys get open because they made hard cuts and just flat out slipped and fell on their face.

by LambeauLeap12 on Dec 27, 2011 9:53 AM CST reply actions

better than Chicago's field though

football does not build character, it reveals character.

by sheehan on Dec 27, 2011 11:03 AM CST up reply actions 2 recs

The good news for our D is that they will be playing in cold and hopefully snowy weather which might be a good neutralizer if we end up playing someone like the Saints.

The Green Bay Packers...Putting bad coaches out of their misery since 2010

by TrevorR on Dec 27, 2011 9:56 AM CST reply actions