Packers @ Rams GDT: Sunday, Oct. 6th, 3:25 PM CST

[MY_TAKE]

Not saying I agree 100% with @lupedafiasco , but our defensive MVP BY FAR is McKinney and he wasn't on the team last year. So where would the defense be without McKinney? Thats a fair question and observation on his part.

McKinney is a difference but we are also seeing attacking the QB in crunch time instead of playing soft as butter and giving them all day to find a target.

Exactly.

Barry was gutless and passive. Hafley’s defense at least attempts to stop the offense.

This defense today allowed 13 pts, had two 4th down stops, had two more turnovers and came up big in the biggest game closing moment.

Were there bad moments? Sure, just as there are with any defense. But to make that comparison, as consistently bad as Barry’s defenses were over a multi-year and multi-player era, is absurd.

They have been better in crunch time but far from good as a whole. They have the most impactful player on defense in the entire league so far in McKinney. ITs not absurd. This defense will have its hands full next weekend. Rams were missing 2 excellent WRs. If they play I wonder how many points Stafford puts up? The Packers missing WRs is why I give Love a tiny pass. Not trying to be such a Debbie Downer but Haffley has had real bad timing at blitzing into screen plays this year too. Probably just unlucky but he hasn't been that great IMO. Shut them down next week and I will be shut down. I want to be.

[lupedafiasco]

I think this defense has potential to be good but they’re wasting time putting bad players with experience on the field versus good players with inexperience on the field. Let them make their mistakes, learn from it, and let them grow. Instead we play bad vets than continue to struggle with the same mistakes.

Cooper should be in for Quay or McDuffie. Idc who but he should be in for one of them without a doubt.

Bullard should be the nickel for Nixon. You just don’t really see anything special from Nixon. Slot is hard but he isn’t getting picked on.

Evan Williams should be the starting box safety. This guy is just a player. All around dog. I also think he’s just straight up a better player than Bullard as a box safety IMO.

Sure that’s 3 rookie defenders but to me you upgrade 2 positions drastically and get 3 total players that would improve the defense over just the one full time starter that we have in Bullard.

[APB]

I think this defense has potential to be good but they’re wasting time putting bad players with experience on the field versus good players with inexperience on the field. Let them make their mistakes, learn from it, and let them grow. Instead we play bad vets than continue to struggle with the same mistakes.

Cooper should be in for Quay or McDuffie. Idc who but he should be in for one of them without a doubt.

Bullard should be the nickel for Nixon. You just don’t really see anything special from Nixon. Slot is hard but he isn’t getting picked on.

Evan Williams should be the starting box safety. This guy is just a player. All around dog. I also think he’s just straight up a better player than Bullard as a box safety IMO.

Sure that’s 3 rookie defenders but to me you upgrade 2 positions drastically and get 3 total players that would improve the defense over just the one full time starter that we have in Bullard.

Don’t disagree with any of that.

[MY_TAKE]

In the end they didn't give much up to the Rams and with the injuries, they shouldn't have. The Pick 6 isn't on the defense. So, maybe I am too hard on them. I know I wasn't loving the eagles and Viking games so much. It would be nice to hold the cardinals under 30. We couldn't against the eagles and Vikings.

[APB]

McKinney is a difference but we are also seeing attacking the QB in crunch time instead of playing soft as butter and giving them all day to find a target.

Exactly.

Barry was gutless and passive. Hafley’s defense at least attempts to stop the offense.

This defense today allowed 13 pts, had two 4th down stops, had two more turnovers and came up big in the biggest game closing moment.

Were there bad moments? Sure, just as there are with any defense. But to make that comparison, as consistently bad as Barry’s defenses were over a multi-year and multi-player era, is absurd.

They have been better in crunch time but far from good as a whole. They have the most impactful player on defense in the entire league so far in McKinney. ITs not absurd. This defense will have its hands full next weekend. Rams were missing 2 excellent WRs. If they play I wonder how many points Stafford puts up? The Packers missing WRs is why I give Love a tiny pass. Not trying to be such a Debbie Downer but Haffley has had real bad timing at blitzing into screen plays this year too. Probably just unlucky but he hasn't been that great IMO. Shut them down next week and I will be shut down. I want to be.

Barry’s defenses struggled mightily against many teams missing key players. Hell, we mocked him here relentlessly because of it.

I’m not arguing Hafley’s defense has been top shelf. I’m simply saying it appears some here have forgotten how bad Barry was as a coordinator and play caller. I’ll take this Hafley defense any day over the best of Barry’s defenses.

[lake shark]

I think this defense has potential to be good but they’re wasting time putting bad players with experience on the field versus good players with inexperience on the field. Let them make their mistakes, learn from it, and let them grow. Instead we play bad vets than continue to struggle with the same mistakes.

Cooper should be in for Quay or McDuffie. Idc who but he should be in for one of them without a doubt.

Bullard should be the nickel for Nixon. You just don’t really see anything special from Nixon. Slot is hard but he isn’t getting picked on.

Evan Williams should be the starting box safety. This guy is just a player. All around dog. I also think he’s just straight up a better player than Bullard as a box safety IMO.

Sure that’s 3 rookie defenders but to me you upgrade 2 positions drastically and get 3 total players that would improve the defense over just the one full time starter that we have in Bullard.

Don’t disagree with any of that.

Playing time seems to be increasing for Cooper and Williams already. I agree Cooper looks better than Walker and McDuffie. Bullard has been solid at safety. I don’t think Williams>Nixon or that Nixon is a major liability, the rams went his way but he held up more or less. We kept getting beat in the zone behind the LBs and not stopping Kyren Williams which lead to play action working.

[musclestang]

We're a lot closer to that week 6 mark I had in my head at the beginning of the year when we'd start to see what this defense was going to be. I'm still reserving judgment, but we're almost there.

Early observations, Quay might need to move out of the middle and see what he can do. He's athletic, he's fast, but he doesn't seem to be reading plays really well. Is that him? is he thinking too much? is he unsure? I don't know, but it's been rough on him out there lately.

Cooper and Williams have shown they should get the chance to learn on the job. Great effort and both making plays when given opportunities.

Kenny and Gary need to start stepping up from here on out. I'd like Wyatt back on that line sooner than later.

We've made some plays in crunch time, we've also given up a lot of plays this year that would have made things so much easier and maybe not have brought us to crunch time. I do like that not just "surviving the down" all the way down the field this year for the most part, but we're still giving up some big old plays too often.

yeah the defense gave up only 13, but it was an ugly 13. Rams were 8 of 16 on 3rd down. that's not good for a defense. Gave up almost 400 yds, we lost TOP. We did stop a couple 4th downs, but they also made a couple. If it wasn't for turnovers, we'd not have much good to talk about with this defense right now.

What's so wrong with forcing a 3 and out. Make 'em punt, get the ball back? When you do that, you know you have a good defense. They didn't seem to punt at all yesterday, 2? 3? times tops. And this wasn't even close to a good offense right now. I'll take the win, but we should have buried this team.

[APB]

Is Love that good or that lucky?



"$%@# it, Reed down there somewhere...just throw it up."

[APB]

Bullard should be the nickel for Nixon. You just don’t really see anything special from Nixon. Slot is hard but he isn’t getting picked on.

Evan Williams should be the starting box safety. This guy is just a player. All around dog. I also think he’s just straight up a better player than Bullard as a box safety IMO.

For what it's worth, it seems X sees what we all see. And truth be told, I'd argue the coaching staff sees it, too, and they've already begun the grooming process for getting Bullard and Evans on the field more often and in bigger roles.

[Backthepack4ever]

Gritty win. Packers still didn't play good. Maybe a C.

D. Still need our big money guys to show up. Gary stinks right now. So awful. He trimmed down this off-season and looks weak and slow. No hand fighting just gets stuck on blocks. When he stunts it looks like he leaves his feet. Like wtf did he forget how to football??

Clark also has struggled but gotten better

Smith looks old and slow. Happy to see wooden and Brooks make plays late. Even the staff is pulling Gary

Secondary going to be scary in a few months with everyone back. This group is loaded with talent. Let the kids eat.

Need Cooper out there


On O it's just clunky right now. Not playing in rhythm. OL struggled at times. Drops again. All stuff to clean up. Still a nice win but to close for comfort.

[salmar80]

Overall it was the kinda win that won't change any of the talking points of past week. The usual suspects of this season did well, and the underachievers did little to change that perception.

Let's hope we get Doubs back, so Wicks can work back from his funk. Wyatt and Ford would be valuable for DT rotation - Slaton was out there a LOT.

This INT streak by X is truly remarkable.

[Acrobat]

I think the Defense will continue to come around, and to address some earlier points, some of these talented rookies will start to take away playing time from the ones that are not performing well. Sometimes the gradual approach is ok.

My real concern is Jordan Love actually. The pick 6 was stupid, but actually the least of my concerns because that was a bit more fluke. My big concern is ball placement/accuracy. It hasn't gotten better and actually regressed so far this year. This was the one area where I was really looking forward to seeing Love improve, and it hasn't. We are leaving points on the field because he's missing 4-5 routine throws per game.

[MY_TAKE]

Bullard should be the nickel for Nixon. You just don’t really see anything special from Nixon. Slot is hard but he isn’t getting picked on.

Evan Williams should be the starting box safety. This guy is just a player. All around dog. I also think he’s just straight up a better player than Bullard as a box safety IMO.

For what it's worth, it seems X sees what we all see. And truth be told, I'd argue the coaching staff sees it, too, and they've already begun the grooming process for getting Bullard and Evans on the field more often and in bigger roles.

Yes I am backing off some of my comments yesterday about the defense. I rewatched the game or parts of it anyway. Statistically they are better than I thought too. I agree with one poster who mentioned Devonte Wyatt being out. He is probably their best D lineman. The defensive line just looks different when he is out there. I still have concerns but I was probably over reacting.

[LombardiTime]

Gritty win. Packers still didn't play good. Maybe a C.

D. Still need our big money guys to show up. Gary stinks right now. So awful. He trimmed down this off-season and looks weak and slow. No hand fighting just gets stuck on blocks. When he stunts it looks like he leaves his feet. Like wtf did he forget how to football??

Clark also has struggled but gotten better

Smith looks old and slow. Happy to see wooden and Brooks make plays late. Even the staff is pulling Gary

Secondary going to be scary in a few months with everyone back. This group is loaded with talent. Let the kids eat.

Need Cooper out there

I agree with every negative thing that you said above regarding Gary, Clark, and Preston Smith above.

I also agree with every positive thing that you said about the Brooks, Cooper, and the Secondary (although I'd say it is more about the Safeties than CBs and I want Bullard & Williams on the field as often as possible).

I further think it is also quite telling that, with Gary, Clark, P. Smith and the pass rush as a group struggling, you do not even bother to mention Van Ness.

But I can't say as I blame you because Van Ness has been mostly invisible in 2024.

[lupedafiasco]

Van Ness is still incredibly young and raw. He came out as a true Sophomore and he just turned 23 in July. I'm going to be patient for one more year with him. The potential for him to be great just based on his size and athleticism is apparent. Hes in his 2nd scheme in as many years pro. Its worth being a little patient here.

[Drj820]

I love X so much. From his playmaking, to his own coverage skills, to how he tackles, to his leadership, to how he talks to the media....He is a STAR! Wow

Imagine letting him walk for free hahah

[Labrev]

Rodgers used to say that going into a new season, each team (being different from the previous season) needs to learn how to win games again.

Last year, beating (with some difficulty) a very weak Rams team with a non-NFL QB helped us right ship. A lot to clean up for sure but this is a good step, our first win with QB1... on the road, out west, against one of the better QBs in the league, with some key injuries and the Doubs drama in the background. We should feel good about this, IMO.

I think Hafley has the right ideas, and to the extent there are issues, the problems are largely fixable with personnel already on the roster. We need to play Cooper more, at the expense of Wilson and/or Walker snaps. 'Hard to stop the run well when your MLB is a literal dummy. We need to play Williams more, at the expense of Nixon and/or Stokes snaps. We need to play Valentine over Stokes at CB2. Wyatt has been great and getting him back will be a big help. Getting Ja back is also huge.

[Drj820]

Garys problem is he has like 2 moves. Dude has always has a limited tool bag.

[Yoop]

agree Cooper and Williams should replace Walker and Nixon, our front 7 play is killing this defense, we give the QB all day to throw which would strain the best of secondaries.

Lafleur nailed it, we start games flat, we lack emotion, Loves pick six was a great example, they showed blitz and we didn't pick it up, Love looked like he was running in mud trying to escape that blitz, terrible play.

our DL look to be playing contain most of the time, they don't shed blocks, and our ILB do not fill backside gaps, I bet Walker and McDuffie took the same A gap as Slaton a half dozen times yesterday as there RB cut it to the other A gap for extra yards, how that continues to happen game after game is a mystery.

[Papa John]

@APB I think that completion from Love was mostly due to luck. It was not the best throw of his career thus far. He threaded the needle on a TD throw against the Cowboys last year. That was a better throw and also not a dumb decision. Love is going to need to play with more consistency. He makes at least 2 very dumb decisions per game. He needs to improve his accuracy. If he can’t do these things, then this organization I will be in a bad spot. But hey, I can remember the days not too long ago when players had to sort these issues out before they were awarded generational wealth.