Safety Concerns

The Packer defense could be an elite unit this year. The one area that could potentially hold it back is the play of its starting safeties. This was on display for all to see on Saturday night, when Seattle quarterback Seneca Wallace broke the pocket and rolled to his right to avoid pressure. Spotting a backside receiver, Wallace made a throw back across the field, the kind of throw every coach in football tells you never to throw, the kind of throw that is intercepted almost every time in the NFL. Except against the Packers. Nick Collins, the supposed 'good one' in the safety rotation, had overrun the backside of the play, leaving a wide open receiver to come along and grab the floating football from the air. To add insult to injury, the Packers secondary then decided to treat us all to their own adaptation of the Keystone Cops, as one knocked another off of the tackle, leaving the wideout free to run for another20 yards or so before being caught from behind.

This comic display is the kind of thing one never sees from perennial defensive powerhouses like Baltimore, New England or Philadelphia, and it points out once again the deficiency in the coaching of the defensive backfield. Kurt Schottenheimer is on his second stint in that position. His secondary was legendarily bad in 2004. Last year was almost as bad. If his unit continues to struggle, the Packers need to give serious thought to letting him go.

 

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