Defense is key

[packercorey]

Sporting News article by Dennis Dillon about the Packers D-

With Favre around, the defense was like a kid brother. Now, it has to be more like the man of the house.

It's not like the defense played poorly in '07. It finished 11th in the league overall (based on yards allowed), tied for sixth in points allowed, third in opponents' third-down conversions and eighth in the red zone. Opposing quarterbacks completed just 55.2 percent of their passes; only the Steelers (54.5) allowed a lower completion rate.

Defensive end Aaron Kampman and cornerback Al Harris were selected to the Pro Bowl. You could make an argument that middle linebacker Nick Barnett should have joined them. He led the team in tackles (165 total), had 3 1/2 sacks, intercepted two passes and broke up six passes.

"Nick Barnett played at a Pro Bowl level last year, no question," Packers defensive coordinator Bob Sanders said. "As far as a 'Mike' linebacker having an effect on a football team, he definitely does that."

Barnett is the linchpin on defense. He is a physical tackler who is dominant at the point of attack. He is quick enough to cover tight ends, running backs and even wide receivers. And he rarely comes off the field.

Here's the problem that he never discusses in the entire article. BOB Sanders is a terrible defensive coordinator. Why? Because he is more Vanilla than a 1975 NCAA Defensive Coordinator.


The only thing he gets right is that the load is on the Packers D this season. heaven help us all.

Link to article here: http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=443919

[packercorey]

And here is Ted talking about the D with Bob McGinn of JsOnline-

Q.I keep coming back to Sanders. In practice Friday night the blitz package was sensational. Can you see a scenario in which this defense comes of age and actually starts dominating good opponents?

A. Yes. I think we have a very, very good defense. We have to get all our horses to the starting gate. This team will win because of our defense and other aspects of our team. Just like everybody else, we’re going to do different packages. As we go along in our building process, we’re going to have more and more people do more and more different things. We don’t talk a lot of trash here about dominating, but we have the defense to hold up.

Q.How confident are you that the aging cornerbacks, Charles Woodson and Harris, along with youthful nickel backs plus two safeties with some deficiencies in coverage can hold up to support a more attack-style of defense?

A. What we are is an attack-style defense. I have great confidence in both Charles and Al. Our secondary, not only the starters but the depth behind them, is as good as it’s ever been. We are very, very confident that we’re going to be good, and good in the secondary.

link to article here: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=781501