Fire the old fart bring in some young blood and energy,we are back to Bob Sanders era

My biggest gripe is that nothing seems to change. Week in and week out there is a running back coming out of the backfield wide open, or a tight end or wide receiver open 15 yards down the middle of the field. Watching this defense is akin to Einstein's definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

While I share your frustration, let's give the rookies a few more games to figure this stuff out. If they can't, then it's on Capers. But when you take seven straight defensive players in the draft, they're all not going to be ready day one. Part of the "Draft and Develop" philosophy is giving them time to, you know, develop. Shields didn't start the first game in the Super Bowl season, and Clay didn't start in his rookie year. Just breathe.

I don't think it's fair to pin all the problems on Dom Capers. His job is to put the right players in position to make the plays. If the players aren't good, get out of position, or fail to execute (tackle), those are problems more in the realm of McCarthy and Thompson. Even the size of the cushions given to receivers might be the result of the coaching.

I am glad that I am not the only one who thinks the same thing. I want to give Dom a chance, but he didnt make any strides throughout the year last year, and after Sunday, I am not expecting much more this year. Yes, its only one game, but he didnt make enough adjustments vs the 49ers. Without Matthews, this defense would be horrendous.

Watch out for the screen passes from Cutler to whichever RB he elects to choose from. Those are usually killers for us, especially on 3rd down.

I want to know why the players don't know the scheme. I couldn't get away with not knowing how to do my job, and my manager couldn't get couldn't with allowing it.

I could not agree more. I was saying (and tweeting) during the game that Dom Capers is one of the most overrated coaches in football. The only people his schemes are confusing are his own players. Something needs to change SOON!

In addition to the loss of Jenkins and Collins, you forgot to mention that Tramon's shoulder injury had him playing at maybe 50% all season. That's a lot for a defense to lose.

I expect Davon House and eventually Casey Hayward to leapfrog Bush in the depth chart, but I agree about every single other thing said here. Perry wasn't drafted to cover tight ends, the DLine gets no push and doesn't even try at times (see Akers long FG how only Raji is trying to block it) and we are the worst tackling team in all NFL (I thought Peprah was released in part because of poor tackling). And if this wasn't enough, the chaos in the secondary is huge. Let Woodson be Woodson and don't try to turn him into Polamalu, don't think Burnett can play both safety positions at the same time and get Bush off the field once and for all!!

We need some kinda change, more stout run D, more physical corners.. Does House play this week? gotta see something or were gonna get blown out by the Misers of the Midway..

This league is graded on results. Doms' unit got an F last year, they are off to a similar start this year. If strides are not made soon, Dom will be out of a job. Youth and injuries are not unique to the Packers.... Need to see results. Period.

GBP 4 LIFE

In poker game Harbah beats Mike and Capers every time as far as Xs and Os. That was my guy reaction with the defense on Sunday, has the NFL game surpassed Caper's play book

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUTnNKhF-EU

Pad level, I tell ya. It's all pad level.

This didn't sound like Brian...took me a few mintues to find the actual byline.

The Packers only gave up 211 yards passing? That's a vast improvement over their average of 300 given up from last year.

I just posted this on another site, before I read this article........"I hate that the DBs are still giving up a huge cushion, all it adds up to are open recievers and completions. DCs blitzing isn’t working again and covering WRs with Perry is stupid. DCs DBs have no clue who to cover, again, just like last year. Other teams have figured out his tendencies , DC is not making the adjustments and is not getting his unit ready to play."

What bothers me the most is that there are no adjustments during the 49's game and all last season. Especially in game adjustments. Seems like they have a plan and stick to it no matter what happens in the game.

I also think Cutler has a chance to throw on us, but he also has a chance to get smashed. His Oline is TERRIBLE. I think we should let Clay and Perry just go all out tomorrow.

I think I heard on the radio yesterday...the defense is too complicated for a lot of the newbies and that's why you are getting dudes out of position. WIth all the new starters they need to get less complex defensive schemes until the guys are better at the plays. Any merit to this?

I think this team (via the HC) is stuck in the mindset of, we do what we do and the other team has to stop us...both on Def and Off. We're inflexible...uncreative.

We are the anti-Patriots...the anti-Niners. Both are teams that approach each game as opportunists, with the goal of attacking and exploiting the opposition's unique weaknesses...even if that means making extreme shifts in game plans week to week.

It appears teams caught up with our Def last year, and are starting to catch up with our Off...though an elite QB and group of WR stretches the curve a bit. People have now read MM and Capers' book enough to recite it word for word.

Sure, MM and Capers mix in wrinkles here and there, and on Off have made a concerted effort to integrate Cobb's abilities, but LARGELY this team does the same things week in and week out.

Now, this doesn't necessarily mean we can't win games, but it does largely mean we will struggle to beat the upper tier of teams...especially the teams with the more creative philosophies (SF, NYG, NE). And on occasion lose to lesser teams that are just more creative and flexible that day (KC).

Maybe this is OK, because upper tier teams are upper tier teams and we will struggle either way. I'm just concerned that this will become a trend, and we will lose a majority of the time against these teams, which is not good enough...not going to win us another SB.

Who would you replace Dom with? I remember a lot of D-cord turning down the job when Dom took it. Wasn't he the third choice? Gonna take a chance on a young unknown so if he is good he'll be a head coach somewhere else in a year, or worse, he isn't good at calling plays.

Can't play bump and run with Bush. Hawk can't blitz. Burnett average. Leading "Thumper" Bishop out. The corner that was clearly the 2nd best corner on the team was House in camp, he's out. The second, or third, safety all look average at best. DJ sure didn't light it up tackling. O line didn't get a push.

We saw what Dom could do with some talent. Sometimes it is on the players.

Unprepared Raji...sure didn't see you stuffing Gore, or pushing back the oline. Saw you in the backfield a couple times, but failed to make the play.

What about Pick, Worthy, Wilson or Merlin? Is Dom suppose to run out on the field with a cattle prod?

You don't hear Matthews yelling about being unprepared, pour scheme, he just goes out there and does him job.

Capers uses who he has. As far as getting them prepared, you can only coach a player so far. Then the PLAYERS HAVE TO PLAY! How would you like to be responsible for getting the most out of MD Jennings, Merling, CJ Wilson, Bush, etc. Late round picks and undrafted guys make a hell of a story when they are Tramon Williams, but how many of them turn out like that?

Maybe a lot of the miscommunications is because every year we have to rely on so many rookies/unproven undrafted practice squad guys.

You don't see the offense starting Bokins, Gurley, Borel at WR. I don't see Saine coming in as the starting RB. How about not signing Saturday and let an undrafted rookie start at C. Remember when we tried putting all the unproven guys on the offensive line for four years?

There was a reason we selected so many defensive players.

An effective tackle eliminates the movement of a ball carrier's legs.

It's a lower-body activity.

I've seen so many instances of linebackers trying to stand-up a ball carrier.
I've seen so many instances of the secondary escorting a ball carrier to the sideline.

There is no effort or attempt to take out the legs.
And I mean this in a fundamental way, not as an attempt to injure.

I just don't understand how this is not addressed by coaching.

Players are giddy about concussive, high-light-reel, career-ending hits -- but they can't go low to make a safe and effective tackle?

Are they worried about missing? as if this would be more embarrassing than the half-ass efforts we see weekly?

Do they just not know how to anticipate where a "plant" foot will be located? where a stride will take a runner's feet, and a good target for wrapping up?

I keep seeing this over and over -- a continuation of last season -- and I understand how some poster's are livid.

I'm not sure Dom needs to go, but I'm fairly certain our Def was MUCH better against the pass when our CBs played a lot more press coverage. Much more physical and much less confusing for the players.

The cusions we give are give-up first downs, and our zone coverages appear to do the same...as well as cause confusion (not in a good way).

The Sky is Falling. The Sky is Falling! After one game you want to go and fire Dom Capers. Does Capers tackle or cover anyone? You can draw up all the different schemes you want on paper but the players have to execute. Why don't we see a few more games before asking for Capers' head? Last I looked Capers was the Defensive Coordinator in 2009 when the Packers won the Super Bowl. Did he become stupid since then? Do not underestimate the loss of Nick Collins, he was the defensive QB back there and he is sorely missed. Just remember that one game does not make a season. If the Packers play a lousy game against the Bears and do not show any improvement on defense going forward then changes will have to be made and since you can't get rid of most of the defensive players then Capers will probably have to pay.

Omg we lost 3 of our last 18 games ,, be careful what you wish for , loosing bishop really hurts our run defense and please give the rookies a chance , the 49rs have a very good team , a huge offensive line ,, if our offense would have made the plays needed for first down ( Finley ) who knows the end result ,, we will be ok

You can't coach AJ Hawk into Ray Lewis.

You can't coach MD Jennings into Ed Reed.

Lets think positive people damn. Its just one game and i dont care who we have on the field thurs. Their all gonna want to kick Cutler in the teeth so we can see him trot off the field with that pissy look on his face blamin everything on everybody but himself as he always does

Has Dom started a season with the same two OLBs from the previous year in the five years he's been here? Those are the key players in a 3-4 D like Dom's. Perry played his first NFL game, here's hoping he gets better, I think he will.

I didnt think the D was all that horrible considering the time they had to spend on the field (they did get 3+ sacks). If the O goes more no-huddle, the D will be spending ALOT less time on the bench between series. That scheme doesnt do the defense any favors.

Ever since our stout run defense in 2009, turnovers have been a rosy deodorant to a stinky defense that cannot stop the run or short passes which comes down to the DL and LB not executing. You can blame the players for not executing due to lack of talent or or lack of effort, but at some point the system itself has to come into question since the Packers are not succeeding. Go ahead and give these rookies the rest of the year to hopefully blossom because its too late in the season to make any drastic changes in system or personnel. TT and MM need to look hard next offseason if it is worth going after more talent to fit the system or find a new system to fit the talent.

Maybe the guys in the secondary, as a whole, are just plain stupid. In interviews, Shields, Bush and Burnett don't come across as Rhodes Scholars. Players like LeRoy Butler(one of the Packer greats) and Eugene Robinson got buy on smarts more so than athleticism. Tramon seems to know what he's doing, but for the last two years CWood is reduced to grabbing and swatting. For God's sake, someone throw him a couple pick-sixes so he can move on from trying to tie and break that record. Hopefully, Hayward and House will be able to raise the level of cerebral play in the backfield. Just being a good athlete isn't enough, you need smarts and instincts.

I asked this question a lot last year. Why when we come with a heavy blitz do those blitzing players so easily get picked up? I don't know how many times we sent in two or more blitzers coming in at full speed, and then give the appearance of running into a brick wall. Think about it, we were one of the(if not number one) heaviest blitzing teams last year, but near the bottom in sacks. When our secondary guys blitz are they telegraphing their intent? It's hard to believe, but they almost universally lose their one-on-one battles.

In Capers defense (pun intended), Tramons arm problems last year, Jenkins move to Philly and losing Collins to injury greatly stressed the D. These were the best players the Pack had at their respective positions. Losing Bishop this year was a major blow also(easily our best ILB). But other teams have injuries and don't fall apart. Something is just not working with this scheme. A cautious player like Alex Smith just emphasises it more. Without the turnovers a patient offense can move the ball all game long whether it's through the air or on the ground. And it's been that way for over a year now.

Can we ever stop anyone on 3rd down when it matters most. Can we make it difficult and not so easy. That is our biggest weakness. And again other than Matthews I do not see a mean angry face to our D. A hate to lose anger. We do not have that identity and it has gotten to the point where are reputation is being Soft. Not just bad but soft.

I think we need an in your face D coordinator not a mastermind. I would rather be 8-8 and known as an opponent teams fear than one who know that they can be intimidated. Does anyone else see this?

I can't believe I am reading this non-sense from a website of supposedly "educated" fans. I initially came to this site for intelligent discussion that is non-existent on a number of other blogs. ESPN may post controversial things simply for the traffic, but I believed this site to be above that.

If there is ANYTHING to be learned from the example set by the Packers organization it is that rash decision making is never wise. Prudent long-term thinking, rather, will always prevail. Everyone wanted the entire coaching staff and front-office fired after the meltdown in Tampa (no pun intended) in 2009. The team responded with something like a 22-6 run since that game through today (my math MAY be off by a game or two but an impressive run nonetheless).

Consider me one who is firmly entrenched in the philosophy of the organization and quite frankly all of the doom and gloomists should be embarrassed of themselves. It was ONE GAME. One game. Against a very solid team too.

The season may play out and you may be correct in your assessment (although I remain doubtful), but to call for the firing of the coaching staff after one game (even if you're back dating your frustrations to last year) is for Browns' fans.

The 8 yard cushions infuriate me. It's so cowardly. Theyre so scared of losing to the big play that they just get eatin alive in small chunks. It's like capers has instructed them to let the other team score as slowly as possible so our offense can put them in a hole and force them into bad decisions. Well, hey that works great against crappy and mediocre teams but it absolutely fails against teams with good defenses. It's like DUH! That won't work against niners, giants, ravens, bears, texans, steelers. Nearly half of the playoff teams. The only way we can win a Super Bowl with this D is by getting lucky with who we play in the playoffs. Lions, Falcons, Saints...something like that. Then we have to hope we meet the Patriots who can all of a sudden run the ball.

I believe we now have the talent. It's just a matter of whether Capers will start playing to win...and not playing trying not to lose. Fucking hit somebody in the mouth!

And another thing: I want to see McCarthy foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog. Players feed off his intensity. McCarthy needs to step his game up as well. Two yard runs and continual bombs to Jordy aren't going to work you fool! What happened to the short passing game and screens? You have Alex green for chrissakes...use him at what he's good at. This praying for the big play crap is pissing me off.

All that said I think we come out and beat the Bears 34-30

Any "D" that can't stop the run is in trouble. 186 yards to SF ---- Ouch! The Bears are capable of 200+. I doubt Cutler will even be a factor in Thursday's game. Forte & Bush all game long. AR & his stable of WRs (minus GJ) will be watching most of the game from the sidelines.

Pack fans need to get use to the possibility that season 2012 is a transitional year. It happens.

Capers works with what he has and he doesn't have much. Outside of Clay, Pickett and Woodson, Green Bay don't have any other defensive players that are above average players at this point.

Green Bay's defence was elite in the Superbowl run because we were ahead of everyone else in scheme and mismatches. Now a lot of teams have caught up and we have declined.

Drafting 6 defensive players in the draft should have been done after the Superbowl victory and Cullen Jenkins shouldn't have been allowed to leave.

I wouldn't mind if Capers left but I am more concerned with the lack of talented players on defence then I am with the defensive coaches.

Spend some money on defensive leaders in free agency. Our defence isn't nasty enough and doesn't carry enough energy onto the field. It's weak physically through the spine of the team at nose tackle (Raji), ILB (Hawk and Smith) and at safety (Burnett, M.D. Jennings).

Personally at the end of the year, I would trade Raji and Finley, let Greg Jennings walk, cut Hawk and rebuild the defence in free agency and the draft.

There is a saying that I particularly like and I think it applies in this situation. "You are who you are all the time." What this means to me is that at your core, you have to be what you have always been. That doesn't mean you are inflexible and don't adapt with situations. It simply means that you have to always stay near to your core philosophy. Drift to far and bad things happen. This perfectly describes Capers for me. This defense is not aggressive. Throw on the tape from 2010 and you'll see a defense that came from all over the place with multiple personnel groupings, disguises, and fronts. In a word...pressure. This also meant that our secondary was playing quite a bit of single high safety and zero coverage. Last year we saw nothing but passive quarters coverage a majority of the time. It was if the philosophy changed. Frankly, that's not Capers' style. Trace his roots and he has always been big fan of zero coverage as opposed to Dick LeBeau's fire zone pressure with a 3 deep shell. Capers has incorporated fire zones over the years with success. In fact when he deployed it last year we were pretty successful. An example of this was the fire zone trap coverage against Rivers in which Williams returned the interception. Great disguise with pressure. But those things were few and far between. I felt like I was watching the Dallas Cowboys defense of the early 90's minus Haley, Maryland, Lett and Co. Those Dallas teams made a living playing passive quarters coverage in particular because their front 7 were so good. That's why it was so maddening to see Sanders and Bates try the same things in their tenure with Packers because we didn't have that talent up front. It didn't work.

Now, some could say Capers was adapting to the personnel he had in the secondary and that is valid. Collins was lost early and Williams was hurt. However, Capers strayed too far. Press man seemed to be jettisoned. I fear, based on the approach in week 1, we are going down the same path. I can certainly understand not wanting to play press man coverage on a guy like Moss. But you can't tell me that Crabtree posed that big of mismatch that Tramon couldn't cover him man to man while a bracket or off coverage was played on Moss.

The bottom line: Unless Capers moves back more towards his core philosophy of multiple looks, personnel (think Psycho), and pressures, this will be a repeat of last year and ultimately, I believe, Capers last hurrah in Green Bay. There is always a time and a place to mix it up and play a soft zone. That time and place just don't happen to be all the time as we have see the last 18 games.

Alen Dominjic had some interesting things to say about Dom's defense before the season started in a little back and forth on twitter.

Basically it boils down to Dom trying to be to "cute" as the seasons stack up with a particular team and getting away from fundamentals.

After seeing the opener I have to wonder if he wasn't spot on. The defense just doesn't seem to know how to hit people in their damned mouth.

Maybe it can be turned around, but if the season goes another year like we had last year and what we saw against SF, changes will have to be made.

After one game, it seems the large majority of you have lost your minds. After just finishing watching the All-22 tape, it's amazing how poor the defense started. But over the course of the game it got better, sounder tackling, hitting proper gaps and less blown coverage, even from Bush.

The differences between the two defenses in the fist half was striking as SF was nearly flawless. However, on offense, the Packers DID make adjustments as the game wore on, and receivers were able to get open.

It wasn't the start anyone wanted, but it's WEEK 1!!!!! If the Packers can improve as much as I saw during the game, improvement over the course of the season is a pretty reasonable expectation.

A few pieces of optimism and actual game breakdown.
San Fran ran one heck of a scheme to kill doms philosophy.
Often ran out of passing formations. And passed out of running formations.

1) this is what raji meant by not being prepared.
2) all this dime is killing us. Too many dbacks equals no run support. Too many guys were away from the play.
3) 3-4 linebackers. On all of the power sweeps they ran, our linebackers were out of positIon consistently. Hawk is not super aggressive which is true. But remember two of our 4 linebackers are practically rookies. I can honestly say that if bishop was there, the 49ers run game would have been a different story. When the other 2 have more in game experience the 3-4 might actually work. And capers may even be more willing to "trust" our players to run his base scheme,
4) someone on here wants to blame the personnel dept. Or TT. Don't forget that we draft super late when you're a winner. You're not choosing Aldon smith and Von miller. You are choosing the best talent you can find. I'm not saying our picks are scrubs. But give them a chance. Clay matthews. Didn't even break the starting lineup until game 6 or 7. You guys are expecting waaaaaaay too much out of rookies.
5) the only thing that I have been annoyed with capers is getting away from our base. But I feel like that has been more of a personnel growing pains. See #3.
6) a 3-4 is meant for this: the front 3 take up blockers. The back 4 are meant to storm the gaps to make plays. This means stopping the run and getting pressure on the qb. Stopping the run is the first priority. This makes teams one dimensional. Unfavorable down and distances let's the 4 pin their ears back to kill qb and cause rushed throws and therefore picks. 2009 was a great example. Other teams aren't catching on folks. We have gotten too far from our base 3-4. And I could argue that it's because our front is not equipped......yet.
7) be patient. Worthy, perry, smith will pan out. 2 of these guys have never played these positions. Now they have one game under their belt. And film to learn from.
8) go pack.

Woohoo!! Someone on here at least has the balls to say it!

Whoa, Nellie! I saw the same things, thought the same things as Brian, but I'm far from declaring that the sky is falling. First, I find comical that grown men, both fans and writers, thought even for a moment that the Packer defense would come out of it's brand new box finely honed. How could they? This defense has way too many new pieces for that. It's going to take at least 4 weeks to see improvement. The is no substitute for game experience. The offense, like last year is going to have to pick up the slack. That said, why is Bush a cornerback, let alone a starter?

Adding to what I said above: It's easy, when frustrated, to blame failure on the highest available victim. In this case, Dom Capers. First, it (as it almost always is) not a systemic problem, but an execution problem. Coaches don't coach chaos, but inexperienced players don't execute. Further, outside of Mathews, there was little contribution from the Packer veterans. Woodson, outside of blitzing, better get his act together. The same to be said for Williams. The Packers failed in preseason to find answers they're still searching for personal-wise.
I'll also add this note for the sake of optimism. We saw some inside pressure, something we NEVER saw last year. I'm talking pressure on the pocket, not sacks. We have much more potential defensively this year. But it will take more then a few games to realize that potential. Get used to it.

Nope. Just....no.

Do we still want to replace Dom ,, I rest my case ????

Point taken , I love this blog , very football smart people ,, Go Pack !!!!