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Packers preview part two: How will this year's defense be different from last season?
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In part two of the Packers Preview, we will discuss the defensive side of the Packers. With a scheme change and some new faces, the team will look to rebound from a less than stellar 2008. Check out the rest of the week's articles by clicking on the links next to the days and make sure to stay tuned the whole week to get yourself ready for the 2009 Green Bay Packers season.
Monday, Part One: Just How Good Can the Offense Be?
Tuesday, Part Two: How Will This Year’s Defense Be Different From Last Season?
Wednesday, Part Three: What Does Their Schedule Look Like and How Will They Fare?
Thursday, Part Four: How Does Aaron Rodgers Match Up Against the Rest of the NFC North?
Friday, Part Five: Which New Players Are Looking To Rebound, and What Will the Newcomers Contribute?
Saturday, Part Six: Packers-Bears Pregame: Jay Cutler vs. Aaron Rodgers, Round One
In 2008, the Green Bay Packers lost seven games by four points or less, good (or bad) for the most losses by that amount or less in the entire league. In those seven games, the defense gave up 68 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to either lose games or put deficits out of hand.
Many said the Packers' 6-10 record was not a good judge of how good the team actually was, but it probably made the defense look better in many respects. The Packers had just 27 sacks on the season, eighth worst in the league and gave up an average of 131.6 yards per game on the ground, ranking 26th in all of football.
The secondary remained one of the best in the game, led by Al Harris and Charles Woodson and the surprising pro-bowl selection Nick Collins. Green Bay ranked 12th in pass defense, but the problem was not through the air.
No pressure was being sent towards the quarterback and too many times opponents saw basic packages from the defense which allowed them to know what was coming at them, even before the play started. The Packers had nine sacks in the first three games but just 18 in the final 13 contests.
Defensive coordinator Bob Sanders, who was promptly fired at the end of the season, suddenly stopped applying pressure to the quarterback and the results showed. No matter how good the Packers' pass defense was, if a quarterback gets enough time someone will be open.
Enter Dom Capers.
The 59-year-old defensive genius comes to the Packers with a bag full of tricks in his defensive mind and has just the tools to get the job done. Capers has been a defensive coordinator on three teams and a head coach twice, so the experience is there to say the least. The first thing Capers did as defensive coordinator was switch the Packers from a traditional 4-3 defense to a more flashy, AFC-looking 3-4 defense.
Known to be harder to run on and harder to predict by offenses, Capers' scheme is exactly what the Packers were looking for to change last year's woes. One thing that Capers spoke about after joining the staff was the flexibility the defense has and how the best athletes were going to get on the field and succeed.
The Packers took Capers' claim to heart when they spent two first round draft picks on defensive end/nose tackle B.J. Raji and outside linebacker Clay Matthews. Raji is expected to start at defensive end and see some reps at nose tackle, while a hamstring injury has hampered Matthews for a while and will force him to rotate with starter Brady Poppinga.
The two draft picks look to be the foundation to the Packers' defense and will both be integral parts to the switch this season. Matthews is as athletic as players come and will be a great speed rusher off the edge and also plays tough enough to force runs back inside. Raji's body and athleticism make him a perfect fit to play anywhere on the defensive line, and that is exactly what he plans on doing this season.
With such a drastic change to the defense, there was a distinct possibility that not everyone was going to be the "perfect fit" for the 3-4 scheme. The most obvious victim of the switch, at least at the beginning of training camp, was former defensive end Aaron Kampman. With 37 sacks over the last three seasons as a 4-3 defensive end, many wondered if he would have a place in the new defense.
Trade rumors and speculations that Kampman was unhappy swirled all throughout Green Bay, but the veteran went with the switch and moved to LOLB in the new scheme. In the preseason thus far, he has looked fine rushing the passer but a little stiff in coverage. He won't be lined up man-to-man much, but questions are still out there on if he can cover against the pass.
The rest of the linebacker corps includes Nick Barnett and A.J. Hawk inside, rotating with Desmond Bishop and Brandon Chillar, while Brady Poppinga, Jeremy Thompson, and Matthews III will rotate at the ROLB position.
One thing the new defense is known for is opening up space for inside linebackers to make plays, and Hawk and Bishop have done just that. Barnett had been slowed down by rehab on his knee but should have no problem racking up the tackles in the new defense, while Chillar has excelled blitzing in the new scheme.
Speaking of blitzing, the most exciting of Capers' defense are the packages he will put on the field and who will rush the passer from these sets. In the preseason, we would see formations where the Packers would have seven or eight men in the box, all lined up in a two point stance along the line of scrimmage. On the snap of the ball, bodies would be flying in every direction and the linemen would have an extremely tough time figuring out who to pick up.
The same team that had 27 sacks all of last season accumulated 12 in four preseason games. While preseason stats need to be taken with a grain of salt, the fact of the matter remains that the Packers look faster and more exciting on defense. Teams are going to have an extremely tough time scouting the Packers defense when they are dropping B.J. Raji into coverage and sending Charles Woodson in on a blitz.
On offense, the linemen have a saying that they are "overworked and under appreciated". In the 3-4 defense, that same quote rings true for the defensive linemen as well. More so than rushing the quarterback or stopping the run themselves, nose tackle Ryan Pickett and defensive ends Johnny Jolly, Cullen Jenkins, and Raji will be asked to eat up blockers so that the linebackers can be freed up.
The last group of the defense that has certainly not gone under appreciated over the last two seasons is the secondary. Known for having two of the best press corners in all of football in Woodson and Harris, Capers has instilled some zone coverage to help the two of them become ballhawks on passing situations.
Capers has been a defensive backs coach for five college teams, a UFL team, and two NFL teams in addition to his coordinator and head coaching positions. As scary as it sounds, this secondary can only get better with Capers at the helm. The Packers recorded eight interceptions in the preaseason, second to just Buffalo, and much can be credited to the secondary as well as the pressure from the front seven.
Not only will the scheme look different on defense this season, but so will the results. Capers has succeeded everywhere he has gone and has an extremely athletic and talented group of young players on the defensive side of the ball. While not all the kinks have been worked out and the takeaways from the defense overshadowed less than average performances in the preseason, the future on defense looks bright in Green Bay.
The two areas of struggle for the Packers' D last season, rush defense and getting to the quarterback, have been Capers' focal points in camp and the preseason. In five days, we will see just how different the defense will be this season in Green Bay.
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