LaFleur does not look like a gifted judge of coordinators. That’s a HC. For him to make comments about Barry’s D in both of the latter’s first two games suggest that this experiment may need to end very soon. Hopefully we learned from STs last year that it’s better to move in season sometimes. How we avoid future repeats is a problem that is going to be more profound.

They put all the pressure and Money on Rodgers to cover their asses, no change since Wolf let Holmgren fly in a power struggle, settling for the "mechanic ",Ray Rhodes instead of Andy Reid and a perpetual loser in sherman. Read'em and weep.

The leader who doesn't want to be there put up a QB rating of 145.6 on Monday night. And, if you subtract the Jordan Love kneeldowns, allowed the offense to run more than it passed.

Just sayin'...

disgust at your post regarding GB players. Jeez dude, a fan insulting their players. You way diff'rnt kind of dude.

Affirmative, not a stellar collection of draft choices and fill-in-the-blanks.....

Thank you Kenny? I love Clark for all the years but this season he's been a ghost just like the rest of the d line.

Great article. BUT- The change in coordinator wasn't going to make this a winning Defense. For the last 10 years, the DL and ILB never got the attention it deserved. We not only have slow guys there. But they can't tackle. It was build to stop the pass. Pressure the Qb. And dependent on the secondary. So when your secondary doesn't play exceptional. They need Rodgers. Which Gutey and most people thought otherwise. As long as Rodgers is the QB, we can win the division. I'm sure Barry will make improvements. And it has to start by moving people around. I liked what I saw: after he moved guys around. Forget about making guys stationary. Move them. Let the next guy step up. Lets get the guys who can make the plays on the field. We knew there would be change after Pettine. Just don't change Rodgers. Because there are just to many question marks yet.

...Pettine’s refusal to get away from a soft, passive philosophy frequently put his players in a difficult position to make plays and disincentivized aggressiveness...

You need to have the horses to play aggressive defense. Our D-line is getting pushed around and generating very little pocket pressure. Between the D-line and the linebackers we need 3 decent upgrades. Until this has been addressed, it doesn't matter if Capers, Pettine or Barry are at the helm.

It is a shame that the Packers front office couldn't put ALL the pieces together in Rodgers playing time. If it wasn't the secondary it was surely the linebackers and/or D-line that couldn't get the job done.

Tim - I like the beer selection. Flavour without the punch in the face. I'll have two.

The offense AND defense looked like they were playing vanilla, preseason, unschemed ball against the Saints. It was almost as if they decided that game was a mulligan before the kickoff. Monday night was more encouraging on the offensive side and there was a real plan...although the LaF preference for pre-snap motion seems to have disappeared. As for the defense, they've got to play with a lead, and that was the biggest difference between the first and second halves on Monday. If they can't keep Sunday night's game in Santa Clara at least a see-saw affair, it could get ugly fast--and we'll be right back where we were last week. This defense misses Zadarius Smith (or someone like him).

I'll hearken back to the 2016 Atlanta Falcons team that played atrocious defense out of the gate, but scored a lot of points. That defense had quite a few young athletic guys who grew into roles and that defense was far more respectable on it's way to the SB (remember they beat an injury-depleted Packers team in the NFCCG), so there are differences, but that kind of progress is probably the best we can expect from this group.

NFC North--
Vikings seem dead set on playing Zimmer out of a job. They're going to score (I'm glad they weren't on the schedule week 2 for the Packers), but they're making a lot of mistakes--many at key times--and have an old, expensive, and exploitable defense. I had Arizona as a dark-horse SB candidate going into the season, so it's actually a credit to the Vikes that they had a chance to win at the end, but that was a game they should have won even absent the FG miss at the end. If you haven't listened to the Paul Allen call on that missed FG, listen here. It's priceless.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=961NDc_WZNk

I keep saying the Lions have done good things in the trenches. They're subpar everywhere else, but they have good players to grow with on both lines. Campbell might be a lunatic, but they might finally have a front office that knows what it's doing--and with that Matt Stafford trade capital, they might be the up-and-comer (after they can Campbell in a year or two--his kind of schtick doesn't weather well) in the NFCN.

Bears still suck. Justin Fields will get pounded into the turf by Cleveland this week and will look bad doing it. Even against a meh Cinci defense at home last week that likely didn't prepare for him aside from gadget play packages, he looked lost and confused. Good luck, man, that Bears team will be bad for a long time.

I've been a Survivor fan over it's whole run, and Survivor Wednesdays are a staple in our house in the fall and spring. It's good, escapist fun.

Defense: like I mentioned last week, the Packers D linemen are like passive cows that are being “cow tipped” by Offensive Linemen (Clark excluded) they need a damned Bull in there!

Draft: Stokes, Myers, Newman,
maybe the packers should start drafting more for “need” instead of 3-4 years down the road! It has seemed to work this year so far!

I also expect Hill, Rodgers and Slayton to contribute quite a bit this season. Good job Gutey 👍

Run Game: part of the reason the run game was forgotten in game 1 was Rodgers inflated ego from his MVP season, he had to be reminded what got him there….Aaron Jones!

Tight Ends: Dafney was an outstanding pickup and is another of Gutey’s excellent rummage sale finds! He blocks well, is an underrated receiver and is a major special teams contributor. He may be on par or better than Degura.

Game Prediction:
Packers 35 49ers 31
Should be a Sunday Night Classic!

ND

Want to help the defense…run the ball and don’t stop doing it. Long drives, keeps the Packers defense on the bench where they can’t mess anything up.
The defense will get better, but the offense can’t keep throwing the ball around and going 3 and out or it will be a long game.

Maybe the Barry head butt into Stokes helmet will be the Defensive galvanizing play of the year! That was awesome 👏😂

The “cow tip” comment by Nostradanus is one of the best ever—I spit out my coffee!
This defense reminds me of the Bart Starr years, when we had to score 40 points to win. I recall Lynn Dickey once remarked that Bart told him to throw it up and not worry about INTs because they would have to overcome their own defense.
The difference IMO, Bart’s defense played with passion and some reckless abandon; Ezra Johnson and Mike Butler could rush the QB.
This defense however appears to be on some form of opioid addiction—lifeless; in need of a defibrillator or Narcan.
Wake up “D”!!!

Complete, backwards, nonsense.

If you really believe this, you’d trade all our offensive stars for defensive stars.

SF wins 45-30?

I don't see it, amigo. I think it'll be pretty close and fairly low scoring with the winner decided late-- a field goal, could go either way.

Why? I watched the Niners-Eagles game last night and a 49er offense just isn't special. I'm not sure Garapolo is even a top-20 QB, and Philly's D did pretty well. They lost because the Eagle offense was not good. It seemed to me to be one of those "Eagles lost more than SF won" kind of games. The 17-11 score could have gone the other way.

The key for GB this week will be matching the Eagles' defensive intensity and straight up power. Philly looked strong on the D line and in the box, and this hurt SF. If GB can do the same, then the Packer Offense will score enough to win.

This bears repeating, and I've said it several times before: the Packers are tightwads when getting coaches. They don't want to pay for quality coaches at either DC or ST's. So, these groups fail to do well, much less flourish. What are they saving the money for? It doesn't count against the cap. Are they afraid a good coordinator would threaten the primacy of the HC? Or are they just cheap? Until this changes, they're going to be second rate. Also, as long as they hang onto JAG's on the DL and hope that somehow they'll turn into true difference makers, they're going to be stuck with no pass rush. Do these go together? Yes. But if you pay a coach more, chances are he'd have a bigger voice in the room when it comes to getting the players he needs to succeed. I'm not hoping for the next Reggie White, but someone like Sean Jones would be very welcome. A guy with attitude and a leader by example.

The Packer defense was a hot mess for the 1st six quarters of the season which was approximately 75 snaps. I don't think 25-30 snaps during the preseason would do anything to change the paltry level of play we witnessed until the second half against the Lions. Good defense is more than just scheme and technique. It's also about attitude and and confidence. Defense needs to include a sense of urgency combined with a nasty attitude. To achieve that the defense needs to be confident in their assignments and ready to read and react.

Despite the coaching change the Packers defense still lacks a nasty attitude and a sense of urgency. I do see some sparks of change/improvement from Stokes and Campbell. Stokes has the talent and he looks like he has the correct attitude. Campbell isn't going to be confused with Nitschke but he goes sideline to sideline and he is always around the ball. I should mention that Rashan Gary consistently brought pressure on Goff even in the first half. He needs to keep playing the majority of defensive snaps to develop various pass rush moves.

SF will be a significant test for Barry and the defense. If our defense is going to improve this is the game when we need to see it start.

MLFs offense is built around Aaron Jones so it makes no sense to me when Jones does not get at least 15-20 touches per game. However for the offense to work the defense needs to keep the team in the game. If they get blown off the field early in the game as they did against the Saints it's difficult to remain patient and stick with Jones and the ground game. Allowing 15 play TD drives twice in the first half is the surest way to keep Jones and Rodgers off the field and an offense can't execute a game plan when they are not on the field.

If the defense can play an entire game as they played the second half against the Lions we're going to be in the game against any team. GPG! Thanks, Since '61

Gute's team reflects what he has drafted. Since his elevation to GM, Gute has spent 7 draft choices on O-linemen (two seconds, a fourth, a fifth and three sixths) and three draft choices on D-linemen (two fifths and a seventh). The proportions are about right since the Packers typically play five O-linemen and about 2.4 D-linemen per game, but the quality emphasis has clearly gone to the O-line. Gute has not emphasized the D-line in his drafts and we are seeing the results.

One thing to keep in mind with the defense is that it is new. Barry is new. It will likely take some time for him to figure out who he needs to play and where. And what is working and what isn't. For example, the Detroit game. 1st half the defense struggled in the first half. 2nd half we started to see Stokes play more. They went with more blitzing and the defense really played better.

I think Stokes will be a key player in the defense. I'm curious to see how they plan to use King. If he plays the slot, if Alexander moves in there. The one thing about moving Alexander to the slot is he could potentially be a dangerous blitzer from there. But Stokes playing more should help long term.

Rookies:
Speaking of Stokes, it is early, but he is a guy that needs more playing time. He showed his skills already, and the more good he does, the more his confidence will grow.
Myers has been very good very early at OC.
Rodgers has yet to really do a lot but give it time. He is buried deep at WR right now, but I think they will find ways to get him involved in the offense.
Newman has been yet another 4th round OL that has come in and performed well. Could he be our next Bakhtiari, Tretter, Lang, Sitton, Babre. I get that Tretter and Babre moved on, but both as 4th round picks have been really good picks. Newman could be the next in line for that.
Slaton has been getting some snaps. While he hasn't stood out much yet, I think he is a guy that will improve as the season goes on.
Jean-Charles will likely be a guy to watch towards the end of the season. He could be a guy that earns snaps as the season goes on.
McDuffie will likely be a special teams demon for a while.
Hill's KR was probably the best KR we have had in a long time. I would love to see him getting a few more snaps on offense becasue I really think he is that good. But can't really take it away from Jones and Dillon.

I agree that this team will only go as far as its Defense. But the offense needs to become unstoppable also. We need the balance of the run game along with the pass game. The defense I believe will have some rough patches early. That being said I do think they could be a top 10 defense by the end of the year. They have the players, just need to get it figured out. Will it happen? I don't know. We will have to see how it comes together and the most important thing is how it is playing at the end of the year.

Joe Barry is bad and he should feel bad. That said, remember 2011 when Capers got aggressive and the D got a lot of turnovers or got toasted? The problem is, without Z, is that our front 7 sucks. This won't change, regardless of the coordinator.

The defense will be the end of the season in January. Just like in 14 and 19.

Facts, courtesy of pro-football-reference

Scoring defense, 23rd
Total defense, 10th
Yards per play , 17th
Rushing TDs, 1st

Eventually, as the season wears on, you will be forced to concede this is an average to above average defense. Two games is a small sample, but by the 5th or 6th game, it’ll be clear.

Can we vote Joe Barry off the island?

Oh, and for horror movies, it’s gotta be Scooby-Doo! on Zombie Island!

I just wish joe barry would play to win a bit more. Send 5 guys. Stunt some more. I havent seen a stunt yet this season. Play press. Do what the Ravens and bucs do. When you call an agressive game, and cause a negative play or 2, the fire and energy will come with it. The confidence will follow that. Stop playing to lose, with this pettine Jr bullshit. Why would you hire this guy if hes gonna play this soft ass shit? Lafleur obviously wants to play agressive, so why did he hire a guy whos not going to do that?

Tim, nice article and there have been a bevy of constructive football comments made by the Packers fans here and I am one of those "Scary Movie" fans that you were thinking may lurk here and I do have two recommendations for fellow "Scary Movie" fan.

Number one: The original 1931 "Frankenstein" starring Boris Karloff and Colin Clive in which "Victor Frankenstein" (Clive) as the scientist creates a large, living, body "The Frankenstein Monster". Instead of using the intended brain of a "normal" person, an "abnormal" brain was delivered by the assistant. This is one of the true masterpiece horror films which was made 90 years ago.

Number two: The 1980 movie entitled "The Shining" starring Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duvall with Scatman Crothers and the young child played by Danny Lloyd. Jack Torrance (Nicholson) who is somewhat of a down and outer took a job to occupy and maintain the "Overlook Hotel" located in Colorado during the "snowed in" winter months with the intent of writing a book. During his time there he goes "off his rocker" and tries to kill his wife and son. There is plenty of action and excitement with the famous "Here's Johnny" line and a surprising ending that will stick with viewers.

For me the woes of the D begins and ends with the D-Line. A bad d-line will compromise all other parts of the D - particularly when the opposing QB is given an eon to pass the ball - as we have seen this year. Because the D-line remains the same as last year - I think it is logical that we can expect the same defensive results as last year. Perhaps worse due to a more difficult schedule. And it's a hail mary to expect the rookies, Slaton and Heflin, to significantly fortify the line at this point. Another D disappointment - Kingsley Keke - who hasn't made any sort of jump from last year - so...

I appreciate a good beer review. Like the technology boom - it's more and more difficult to keep up with the new wave(s) of products.

As for "Survivor" - I've never been a fan of the series but I do understand its appeal. It's just that I prefer a reality series to be less scripted and a little more natural. For instance, if Survivor dropped-off a bunch of "alpha" people - for a minimum 3 months - on a uninhabited island (say Pitcairn Island) - with only the clothes on their back, a book of matches and a jack knife - then I'm watching!

Speaking of reality shows and movies - "Packers vs. 49ers" - genre: Horror/Disaster (potentially).

Tim,

Have you tried Ahnapee's Two Stalls Stout? https://www.ahnapeebrewery.com/ Had one earlier this month. Smooth with no bite right out of the bottle; I usually let stouts breathe for 5 minutes and didn't need to for this one.

Scary movies...anything in the Conjuring or Annabelle series...Conjuring 3 is recent--haven't watched yet but will be next scary flick on the queue. "The Hills Have Eyes," series 2006 & 2007 have also been memorable.

I saw zero Blitzing in the first half when we got no pressure and QB had all day to throw. The other HUGE problem is we have entirely wrong players on the DL. We need big strong guys that do not get pushed out of their gap and that CAN collapse the pocket and pressure the QB with 4 man front, like most good teams can. Pettine didn't ask for them and Gute is oblivious to the need and his answer was Slayton. I like him but we are suppose to be competing for a chance to go to and win a SB. We need a good veteran DT. Stokes should have started day 1 outside, another thing that bothered me. Hopefully Stokes increased snaps continues to happen from here on out. ILB was very active this last game.

I'm pretty sure The Lighthouse was supposed to be comedy. I laughed my ass off watching it.

Anywho, scary movie recommendation you say.

'Harbinger Down', if you liked The Thing and Alien.

This defense looks like roadkill bloat in a losing battle against the clutches of rigor mortis. Hopefully I’m wrong and/or just being hyperbolic. Regardless, I’m not gonna poke it with a stick! Pew!

I'll add 'The Empty Man' to my recommendation, based on the movies you listed that you liked recently.