3-4 defense

[sharpefan]

Looks like our new defense is gaining speed from last year.

[pacdoty]

I agree that it seems to be ahead of schedule. Kampmann seems to be doing much better than I thought. But Hawk(as another posters said) was underwhelming in his position. With Raji in there the three up fron guys should be able to tie up the guards and tackles enough to let Hawk and company make the plays. Thats what a 3-4 is based upon. Its still a work in progress but it can only get better with Raji. He needs to get up to speed fast.

RANGERS LEAD THE WAY!

[TW]

Kampman does seem to be improving a lot.

I can't help but really like the way Poppinga, Chillar, and Bishop have played. Hawk has been extremely good as well.

Thompson just doesn't seem to be on the same level as these guys, and Barnett is going to have to hustle to keep a spot on the field.

Clay Matthews is going to have to show he really has it or he's going to be buried as a sub until he can out muscle and hustle some of these guys.

This is a pleasant surprise. And strangely enough, Poppinga, whom a lot of people wrote off, is making a case for himself being out there on a regular basis.

Loads of credit go to the defensive coaches. These guys are teaching hard-nose football!

And... Jolly is a monster. I hope they find a way to keep him on the field, instead of in an orange jump suit!

[miracle]

Aug 23, 2009 13:27:11 GMT -5 TW said:

This is a pleasant surprise. And strangely enough, Poppinga, whom a lot of people wrote off, is making a case for himself being out there on a regular basis.

It seems as he's in the mix every year. He gets counted out in the pre-season and earns a significant role during the season. Sometimes hustle and will outweigh pure talent.

[amoeba15]

Remember, this was the Bills third preseason game and yet, the Packers defense was able to DOMINATE when the first team units were playing.

Now, the new test will be to see how well the Packers play on the road at 9-7 Arizona, last year's NFC Conf. Champs and at 13-3 Tenn., who had the best record in the AFC.

Tis cool that the Packers opponents are steadily becoming much more difficult teams to defeat. The players for these final two opponents should be faster and better coached then the first two teams that the Packers faced. There should be many more adjustments by the coaches throughout the final two games. Starters and final roster cuts will require more urgency to be productive which should reveal much.

[snowpack]

Only watch the first half of the first quarter so far. Edwards seemed to hold onto the ball too long and that is why the penetration got home. Our secondary must have been doing a great job. Couple times guys were way open in the secondary and Edwards was just off, but Edwards just seemed like he didn't want to get hit and rushed the throw.

Tackling seemed to be an improvement over last year.

Guys are definitely fired up. Lots of energy out there, hope they can hold it up over the course of the season.

* I take that back - the D just got some penetration quick - if this is how they are the 2nd pre-season game, what are the going to look like in a couple months when everyone said they should be getting comfotable in the scheme

[thegreenmeanie]

Remember, when reports came out that we were first going to 3-4 it was said that Poppinga would be the best fit for it. So far this has been awesome. We may not be able to do this every week but the turnovers are huge. Rodgers and company will find ways to score, they just need the ball to do so.

[sharpefan]

I would have never dreamed they would be this far along happy days.

[packfanforever]

Some years back the Pack was getting ready to play the Patriots. A reporter asked Tauscher what playing against a 3-4 was like and Tausch said it's all about speed. You don't know who's coming, or from where. Make an assignment error and it can result in a sack, fumble or interception real quick.

Capers just had the first string defense flying against the Bills.

[miracle]

Aug 24, 2009 10:35:47 GMT -5 packfanforever said:

Capers just had the first string defense flying against the Bills.

The one thing that has been oh-so-nice is the fact there are so many green jersies around the ball carrier -- even the QB -- throughout the early goings. It doesn't seem like any player gets isolated for too long and these athletes are amped up to make the play.

I have frequently wondered if this hasn't been the McCarthy-Thompson plan for years. I wonder if they didn't load up on talent they believed would generally fit this scheme.

[needalife457]

I think that the coaches have done an amazing job of installing the scheme, its cool to see all the blitzes that they have lined up but I hope Capers isn't showing off too much of his hand already in the preseason, it maybe for confidence but I don't want to go into week 1 agianst the Bears and all of a sudden have there entire offense know what they are going up agianst. But all that I know is that if this defense stays like it is, I hope we can keep all these positional coaches from Tragovac,Greene to our secondaries coach. Because we may have potentially have four coaches that could be gone next year due to head coach openings to defensive coordinator jobs.

[amoeba15]

Aug 24, 2009 10:35:47 GMT -5 packfanforever said:

Some years back the Pack was getting ready to play the Patriots. A reporter asked Tauscher what playing against a 3-4 was like and Tausch said it's all about speed. You don't know who's coming, or from where. Make an assignment error and it can result in a sack, fumble or interception real quick.

Capers just had the first string defense flying against the Bills.

I wonder whether the new Madden game have the Packers defenders programmed as being soooooo fast. If so, I may just buy the game so that I can have Packer players smack around Favre.

I remember one of the original Madden games, in which you could jump the count, knock the qb out and a stretcher would take the player off the field.

Ahhhh yes, those were the days. Packers defenders would average more then 10 sacks/game and would repeatedly be playing against backup qb's.

[amoeba15]

Packers D not fully tested yet

Yes, it took 103 minutes and 51 seconds for a team to score against Green Bay’s new 3-4 defensive scheme, but then again the Packers played their first two preseason games vs. the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills.

Both teams aren’t known for putting up great offensive numbers. The Browns ranked 31st out of 32 teams last year in total offense (249.1 yards per game) and the Bills finished 25th (305.1 yards).

“Each and every week is a test. No team in the NFL is a pushover, you can’t sleep on no one,” said Packers’ Nick Collins, who left Saturday’s game after getting hit in the ribs. The safety said X-rays were negative and he’ll be just fine. “You just want to go out there and set the tone and be dominant, and we just doing a nice job doing that right now.”

After creating five turnovers (three fumbles, two interceptions) against the Bills, the Packers’ defense now has forced nine takeaways in the first two games.

“We’ve set the bar now, so it’s going to be something that we expect do game in and game out,” Packers defensive end Cullen Jenkins said.

Last season, the Packers finished 20th overall in team defense and had 31 takeaways in the regular season (nine fumbles, 22 interceptions).

Because the defense is playing so well so early in the season, Jenkins said that is just giving the players more confidence in the new scheme.

“Last year, we still feel like we were a good defense. We were the same defense from two years ago, we just had some unfortunate injuries and some things that we couldn’t control,” Jenkins said. “So it feels like we had the same defense and we can go out and dominate. We already had a lot of confidence going into it, so it’s just a matter of learning this defense.”

Switching defenses has been the answer for the Packers, Poppinga said.

“The bottom line is this, we have a room full of, speaking defensively, aggressive (players) … and when you have a scheme that’s an aggressive scheme, the two fit. Two peas in a pod,” he said.

www.rhinelanderdailynews.com/articles/2009/08/23/sports/local_sports/doc4a92128cad924574122316.txt

[packermania]

I was at the game Saturday, and I must say that I am beyond impressed with how these guys are playing. The defense is absolutely electrifying, and it's the intensity that these guys play with that is putting them in the right place at the right time to make plays. Always a swarm of guys around the ball.

With that said, I'm still wary, and the Packers have a huge chance to put some of those worries to rest this Friday against a very good Cardinals offense that has played against this type of defense often in practice.

My worries stem mostly from the fact that teams typically do not do much gameplanning for preseason, and so it shouldn't be surprising that offenses don't know what they're getting. I'm not even sure Week 1 will be a good measure - it's Week 2, when a team will have all week to look at what you're bringing to the table. I have terrible nightmares of 2004, when after defeating the former NFC Champion Carolina Panthers with new DC Bob Slowik at the helm, Darren Sharper dared teams to throw at us. And they did. All. Season. Long.

With that said, there are several reasons to feel optimistic about what we've seen so far. First of all, this defense will be far less predictable than anything a 4-3 defense in Green Bay could be. Second, it's becoming apparent that we have a considerable amount of depth in at least 2 of the 3 lines of defense. Johnny Jolly appears to be more than capable of playing end, Jarius Wynn has been a pleasant surprise, Montgomery appears to be holding his own despite being undersized and Raji will continue to progress (he looked both strong and very athletic in minimal time Saturday).

Meanwhile, linebacker has revealed itself to perhaps be the strongest position on the team. At OLB, Kampman will take one side, and we have Poppinga as a not-so-surprising emergence at the other side, with Matthews and Thompson trailing and now fighting for playing time. I think that the MLB spot is the one we should be most pleased with. Hawk and Chillar have both made plays, while Desmond Bishop has shined when given the opportunity. On the defense, Chillar and Bishop would be my camp MVP's thus far there. Barnett will go tonight, but it doesn't feel like we need him at this point. Edit: I should also add that Brad Jones had a nice rush. We'll see if he can continue to progress. Looks like he'll warrant a practice squad spot at least.

We don't have a lot of depth in the secondary, particularly at corner, and that's a situation where we'll have to hold our breaths and hope for the best. I will say this - on Saturday, I was very impressed with newcomer Anthony Smith. He knows where to be, and it showed when he was in position to knock at least two passes away. Once Rouse is healthy, I'll be pleased with the depth we have at safety.

I'll be watching anxiously on Friday, hoping that I'm just being overly cautious about what our defense will look like. I think it'll be better than last year, and with an offense that I feel will be extremely difficult to stop, that alone is reason to be excited.