I'm very surprised he didn't play in the last game. Our depth on the bench does no good if they never play. Injuries all along the O line, and three huge OTs never played. Grant DuBose is a likely direct substitute for Wicks when he's out due to injury. Bo Melton should fill in when #9 is out, to keep JL10 connected to that much speed if nothing else.

#99 J Ford never played.

"Draft and develop?"

There are 20 candidates, all of whom are an upgrade from JB.

Hopefully GB hires the best fit, before he signs somewhere else ...

The majority of the great Coordinators on either side of the ball never played in the NFL.

Holmgren grabbed Fritz because he was the DC who caused the most trouble for his Offense. The 49rs Defense paved the way for DeMeco Ryans and Saleh to HC jobs. 4-3 defenses and guys who worked them to perfection should be the focus of Packertown, LLC. Gutedkunst should work to get more picks from Rds 1-4. Cory is pushing Savage. I don't see a Playmaker.

He's interviewing with other teams and seems he wants to go back to being a position coach. I cannot imagine Matt would demand the new DC hires Barry on his staff. If I were Joe I would go elsewhere for a new start.

Another reason why Barry Ball lost so many games late in the contest after the O got the lead.

It was not the points given up, it is when they were surrendered...4th quarter, guys playing long stretches, hands on hips, getting wore down, late to the ball, missing tackles...as the game slipped away.

demoralizing? did you read what Preston Smith had to say about Barry and the defense' loyalty to him?

I get it that people are demonizing Joe Barry, he's not a very colorful dude, he doesn't fit the mold that folks have of an alpha personality type, but I never saw that defense quit. I saw it get beaten more often than I like seeing, and I've seen questionable alignments, but they always played hard. At various points in the season we had our 3 top cornerbacks on the shelf at the same time. People need to lighten up.

I agree, Guam,
Every player in the NFL was a star on some team at some time be it HS or college. They all want to showcase their skills, and being held back by a conservative scheme must be extremely frustrating to them.
I think the poor scheme played a part in Alexander's antics as well as the comments by Campbell and Savage during the 3-game 'make a QB great' streak. The failure to rotate in some of the younger guys was also concerning, they need experience while the starters need a blow sometimes.
I believe, and have stated all season, that the Pack has enough talent at present to be much better than they've showed, at least top 10-15 or maybe top 20 at worst.
I'm hoping they chose a young up-n-comer that'll take some risks to make them better.
GPG!

Guam.......I think those 40 and 50 yard plays are a lot more demoralizing than a bunch of short completions. At least on the short completions, you can come up and punish them. You get to huddle up and try again.

I don't think it reflects a lack of confidence, I think it's a question of giving your defense a maximum opportunity to end the possession short of the endzone.

The players, for what it's worth, seemed to like playing for Barry. There were a couple of articles out, one quoting PSmith, to the effect that the defense played for him. That's kind of the opposite of demoralizing, IMO.

IMO, if we're scoring about one more TD per game, this is a defense that will get you to 13 wins, and the Championship game. That's where my focus would be.

It also keeps your d on the field a long time and mistakes happen both ways as in oh, they just passed 55 yards for a td. Guess who broke.
The irony is I dont like running teams because of the fact that yes, you march down the field slowly and it gives your d a break, but again, at some point you make mistake in those 11 play drives whereas one 35 yard pass can make up for four runs.

Interesting. Hire someone smart.

Soft reputation doesn't matter to me provided we limit scoring and prove to be entertaining. We can be soft, provided we are high up in the league in INT's, fumbles caused and recovered and scoring defense.

Minimize scoring is the only metric. The ONLY metric. You get no style points, there's no particular style of defense that is the most effective. There are only points allowed at the end of the day.

It may please the eye to have a defense that attacks like crazy, but take a quick look at the Vikings and see how they finished the year, and how we kicked their asses and made those blitzes look stupid.

I want a unified approach. I want a defense that communicates better than any other in the league. Bend/break, attack, 4-3, 3-4, I just don't care. If it's bend not break, then they damn sure better not break. If it's attack, they damn sure better not give up easy points.

Matt earned the right to pick his guy and have his philosophy run. Barry's shortcoming to me is his defense often looked at odds with itself, guys seemingly not on the same page. That was his inexcusable fault. The new guy better be in lockstep with LaFleur, and have assistants who are the same. No more Jerry Gray's going his own way and undermining the mission. 1 voice on D. I don't care who it is.

Agreed. Aggression can be thought of as hammering folks and playing with attitude. I think most people see it as playing downhill and attacking the LOS. It's every bit as much about using play calls that cut the offense off at the knees by beating them to what they want to do. Feel...the playcaller has to have a feel for the game and what the opponent is likely to do. It all adds up, which is why the best of these guys end up running their own teams.

Our offense finished 12th in scoring, our defense was 10th in scoring defense.

If you have a defense who can consistently keep the score under 25, and one of the better offenses in the league, you'll win most of your games.

Man, Fireball, you've said a mouthful!
Just hearing the suggestion of keeping Barry around must be as frustrating to some of the players as it is to most of us.
I would be surprised if it didn't play a part in some of the candidates decisions and possibly cost us opportunities.
Put Barry on the next bus!

Keeping Barry on in some capacity is a bad idea in so many ways. But it really emphasizes how MLFs' friendship with Barry is totally counter-productive to team success. And the thought of it influencing DC candidates is a horrible thought. We need the anti-Barry now!

Under the structure it’s s solely his responsibility. He reports only to Murphy, who has said that LaFleur had full control.

That said, there were suggestions that it took an internal push to move on to Bissacia from Drayton, Ball and Murphy caused us to lose Rizzi and Rodgers effectively had Clements hired. So clearly Murphy has some involvement and, through him, the influence of others at times.

You gotta lotta moxie comin' in here, hobowilly! You know dern well you still owe me a tin o' tobacco and a cup of shoelace soup from our days ridin' the eastbound C&O. I'll catch up with you one day, you varmint.

The Corner is round, dobber, and time is a flat circle. We've read this article before and we'll read it again, and again. Forever.

Just as the offense should be tailored to exploit the weaknesses of the opponents defense, so the defense should be utilized to take away the strengths of the opposing offense. Yes, there should be an overall "coaching philosophy". But tweaking the defense to take away the strength of an opponent would seem to make sense. Good running game? Shut it down, or at least slow it down, and make them more one dimensional. This would have to work in tandem with the offense, though. Get the opponent behind so they have to pass more, and then use the QB's weaknesses against them. Worse when blitzed? Scheme up some new looks to confuse the QB. Likes to run when allowed? Box in the QB and force him to be a pocket passer.

Mach None:
#25 Jordan Morgan Arizona LT
#35 Quinyon Mitchell Toledo CB
#44 T'Vondre Sweat Texas DT
#88 Darius Robinson Missouri Edge
#126 Omar Speights LSU ILB
#167 Blake Watson Memphis RB
# 203 M. Mustapha W. Forest S
#242 Cody Schrader Missouri RB
#250 Isaac Guenado Louisville RB

Retain A.Jones, Nixon, Owens. Make a move for Antoine Winfield ,Jr.