November 11th, 2008

Railbird Nails It

packeraaron in Nick Barnett, Packer Blogs

Good to see Brian Carriveau posting with some regularity again over at Railbird Central, and he has an astute post up today regarding the loss of Barnett for the season and the media’s reaction to it. Echoing almost my exact thoughts after reading Tom Silverstein’s article in the Journal-Sentinel, Brian notes:

People can think that the Packers took a step backwards when middle linebacker Nick Barnett was lost for the season against the Minnesota Vikings. The mainstream media is doing it.

“The odds that the Green Bay Packers’ defense will strengthen and stop allowing opposing running backs to run wild were diminished Monday when linebacker Nick Barnett was declared lost for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee,” writes Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Meanwhile, the mainstream media is including polls on their websites asking for the most disappointing player of the season and including Nick Barnett on the list.

Sure, whoever steps into the middle linebacker role is going to have their struggles. They’re going to have a steep learning curve, and they’re going to make some mistakes.

But are they going to be appreciably worse than Barnett? Probably not.


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November 10th, 2008

Nick Barnett Done For the Year

packeraaron in Nick Barnett
nick-barnett-done-for-the-year

Mike McCarthy confirmed that Nick Barnett is done for the season at his afternoon press conference. When asked about replacing him, McCarthy stated:

Well, that’s what we’re talking about. We talked about it as a defensive staff this morning, the potentials. Obviously, Desmond Bishop. A.J. Hawk, and Brandon Chillar also factors into that, too, so we’ll probably make that call tomorrow.


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November 4th, 2008

Sanders’ Blitzing Problem

packeraaron in A.J. Hawk, Bob Sanders, Brady Poppinga, Charles Woodson, Nick Barnett, Packer Defense

Looking at the game again last night, I confirmed something (in my mind, at least) that I had suspected after the Atlanta game.

Bob Sanders can’t design a quality defensive back pressure package. He CAN design a quality linebacker dog/blitz but doesn’t have any quality pass rushers at the linebacking position.

The worst offender is A.J. Hawk. He is simply dreadful when called upon to blitz from the line. If he comes free, he has a distant chance. If he is presented with any kind of resistance, forget it. He simply can not get around or shed any kind of block. He GIVES UP. Let me get this straight - he can’t cover. He can’t rush the quarterback. And we made him the 5th overall pick in the draft? Yikes.

Hawk is not alone, of course. For all the talk of Poppinga’s talent as a pass rusher, after all the puff pieces this summer about how the coaching staff was putting in new packages where Brady could show off his pass rushing prowess, we’ve gotten as much production from Poppinga in rushing the quarterback as we did last year. Namely - zippo. And don’t even get me started on Barnett, who has just forgotten how to play the game.

And then there are the defensive backs. Go back and watch the Atlanta game and then watch the Tennessee game again. Every time Sanders sends Woodson or Williams, a glaring hole is left in the coverage that both Matt Ryan and Kerry Collins easily exploit for big gains. It’s like Sanders just doesn’t take into consideration that offenses can adjust their routes on site. (Note to Bob: Ask your Head Coach about this. His offense does it all the time) I mean, pull up a seat and grab your popcorn when you see a Packer defensive back rushing the quarterback. It’s Amateur Hour!


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October 6th, 2008

Changes That McCarthy Should Make Today

packeraaron in Derrick Frost, Mike McCarthy, Nick Barnett, Patrick Lee
  • Cut Frost and bring in a real punter
  • Bench Nick Barnett and put in Desmond Bishop
  • Elevate Patrick Lee over Will Blackmon in the Dime package
  • Fire Bob Sanders and either hire Jim Bates or use Winston Moss as defensive coordinator
  • Run live tackling drills in practice for the defensive backs
  • Open at Seattle in the two-minute offense


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December 19th, 2007

Nick Barnett’s Chickens Come Home To Roost?

packeraaron in Nick Barnett

I’m not normally one for wild speculation (I leave that to ProFootballTalk and PackerGeeks) but my first thought when finding out that Nick Barnett had not made the Pro Bowl was “All that mouthing off has cost him.”

Think about Barnett after every big hit. After every tackle behind the line of scrimmage. You can always see him jawing with whoever he has just tackled, or whoever has just failed to block him. Talk, talk, talk. And that’s before he does his silly Samurai thing. All that posturing no doubt hurt him in the player and coaching votes, and that’s two thirds of the constituency. Barnett needs to let his play do the talking, especially now that he’s not going to Hawaii.


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December 18th, 2007

Welcome Back To Hawaii, Old Man…

packeraaron in Aaron Kampman, Al Harris, Brett Favre, Donald Driver, Nick Barnett

Congrats to Brett Favre for being named the starting quarterback for the NFC Pro Bowl roster. Congrats as well to Al Harris for finally, FINALLY, making it as a starter and not an alternate. And as well to Aaron Kampman for a well deserved trip. Not bad for a 5th round throw-in pick, huh? Donald Driver trip as a reserve is well desereved as well.

It’s a minor surprise that Charles Woodson isn’t at least an alternate. But the shock to me is that Nick Barnett is not even a reserve. That, in a word, is ridiculous.


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November 26th, 2007

Forget Owens - Witten Is The Real Threat

packeraaron in Nick Barnett, Packer Defense

While the media likes to push anything T.O. related, what I haven’t seen a whole lot about yet this week is how Jason Witten could single handedly beat the Packers, at least from the perspective of the Cowboys offense matching up against the Packers defense.

First, it was Antonio Gates, then Chris Cooley and then Tony Gonzalez. All three tight ends had big days against the Packers, while second tier tight ends such as Jermey Shockey (yes, Jeremy, you are second tier)  and Desmond Clark did almost as well. Even Chicago rookie Greg Olsen had a mini-coming out party against the Packers. (And watching him look horrible against Denver yesterday didn’t make me feel any better…)

Containing Witten is the key to the entire game for the Packers defense, given the way Bob Sanders chooses to match up his linebackers against the tight end. Normally, I would lobby for Charles Woodson to take a crack at it, but his injury throws his availability into question. Nick Barnett and, more likely, A.J. Hawk need to have the best game they’ve had all season when it comes to coverage, or it will get late real early in Dallas.


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November 8th, 2007

Barnett Growing Up?

packeraaron in National Media, Nick Barnett

Nice piece up over at ESPN.com (yes, it is possible…) by Jeffri Chadiha regarding Nick Barnett’s maturing and becoming a more responsible person off the field and how that’s positively influencing his play on the field.


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