Green Bay Packers Mailbag: The Victory Monday Edition
Hello Green Bay Packers fans!
Happy Victory Monday!
By now you know we absolutely stomped on the Chicago Bears in the second half for a great win and got our offense started for the year. Hopefully we will get to see this continue on Thursday versus the Vikings.
Our weekly question was this – “Is Aaron Rodgers right? Should we R-E-L-A-X?”
Aaron Rodgers. Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Seventy-five percent of voters said that “Yes, things would come together.” Only 25 percent said to “BURN EVERYTHING TO THE GROUND!”
I did not vote, but if I had it would have been with the come together crowd, though I had my worries. I still have some, but thankfully due to the offensive performance today some of them have dissipated.
On to our questions!
Joey Beck asked …
"“Is it time to activate Jeff Janis?”"
Jeff Janis was officially activated on Sunday due to Jarrett Boykin being out with an injury. He probably would not have even been activated if not for that. I have not seen a snap breakdown for the game yet but I know he did not catch a pass, and I honestly did not see him on the field whatsoever. Aaron Rodgers only threw to 5 different receivers on the day.
Janis will eventually get his chance. But to stick him out there means trial by fire. Just because he made a few plays in training camp and preseason does not mean he will make them in a regular season game.
The other two questions are from Settingtherecordstraight, and they are …
"“How are the Packers actively pursuing a fix for the offensive line?”"
I think they are fine with the line as it is, and know it is going to take some time to gel. Let’s be clear, they are horrible at run blocking and just average at pass blocking.
But it takes time for a line to learn to play together, and we have a rookie center in Corey Linsley who has actually played quite well, and Bryan Bulaga readjusting over at right tackle. When 2-out-of-5 of your offensive line are new there will be a few growing pains.
The second question was …
"“When will the Packers realize that the defensive scheme isn’t working?”"
I still somewhat disagree with the theory the scheme does not work. I do think that Dom Capers does not change things up a lot and that is needed, but the scheme has worked decently.
The bigger problems have been fundamentals and development.
It means nothing to change your scheme if your players are not willing or are horrible tacklers. The Packers, for whatever reason, have not been the best tacklers the last couple of years, and that has hurt tremendously. They do not even resemble the defense that won the Super Bowl in 2010.
Sep 28, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Rashad Ross is tackled by Green Bay Packers cornerback Jarrett Bush during the second half at Soldier Field. Green Bay won 38-17. Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Development has been the other problem. Never before have I seen a team invest in defensive players in the draft and see such little return.
Maybe they have simply lost so much in the way of good personnel that they no longer have a “defensive guru” who can really scout some of these players. Other players have talent but are hurt all the time (i.e. Nick Perry, Casey Hayward).
At any rate we do not have the young players that we used to have say during the 2010 run that could simply step in and produce.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed this week! We cannot wait to see you next week to hopefully celebrate another Packers win!
You can leave your additional questions below in the comment field, head on over to our Facebook page, or reach us via Twitter.
We’ll be monitoring all those available options over the next few days and will publish our eleventh mailbag post late next weekend.
Can’t wait to hear from you!