It doesn't get any better than winning the Frozen Four. It does help to have a history of reaching the Frozen Four in years prior, ask North Dakota.
This wasn't a typical game for Denver, they didn't control all aspects of the game. The "proscess" was falling apart. If you were watching the game, you could see the Duluth was gaining momentum and fast. For the first time all season, Denver was truly out matched. They did the only thing an outmatched team can do: pin the game on the goaltender and hope for the best. Jailett held strong and Denver has 8 national championships.
So where does Denver go from here? Well the first question is the bench boss. In 4 years, Jim Montgomery has established himself as a very good coach. He may be even, dare I say, overqualified. That last part is interesting. Many openings exist in the NHL, and it could be time to jump ship. So for the sake of the Pioneers I'm hoping he stays.
Next are the seniors. Two of which will really hurt: Will Butcher and Evan Cowley. Butcher was an every game performer. He played and worked extremely hard. It's why he won the Hobey Baker. Cowley was a clutch backup goalie. He provided the step needed to get the team back to even.
The next weeks will decide if one or both of our two prized forwards will depart: Troy Terry and Henrik Borgstrom. Both are reliable forwards, but Borgstrom showed his inexperience in the Frozen Four. He nearly disappeared from the stat sheet. He was not the go to forward that we expected.
So going forward Denver has quite a few questions. Next season will be tough no matter what. Denver has a target on their back, just and North Dakota did all this season.
Monday, April 10, 2017
Sunday, March 26, 2017
The Pinnacle: FROZEN FOUR
This year, the frozen four has everything except North Dakota. People may read that, and be like who cares? Well, UND can fill and entire bowl by itself in the United Center. DU, Harvard, Duluth, nor Notre Dame can claim that. If this frozen four isn't full, I wouldn't be surprised.
Here are my thoughts:
First, I'm a DU fan. So if I show any bias, you know why.
Going into the regional final, I was worried about Penn State. DU has a lot of fire power from front to back that I clearly didn't see. I think Union was far over rated, which is why Penn State put 10 on them. To see DU keep up their 4 goals per game was great. But now we are onto a different kind of beast.
DU vs Notre Dame: I loved Notre Dame during the playoffs. I was so excited to see Minnesota knocked out, and very surprised to see Lowell knocked out. This is a big concern to me. Last year, DU and ND faced off in Denver where DU swept the series. This year, Notre Dame has been a ground and pound team. They have stayed consistent and never compromised. It helped them through the playoffs.
Denver on the other hand, has been the EXACT SAME. Never really biting into a problem, but constantly moving the puck. The move the puck from the D to the forwards. They do it well. This has proved to be a problem for the best offensive teams. Controlling the puck has always favored DU, and I don't think that is about to change at the Frozen Four. I wish that I wasn't reviewing DU so that this match up could be more even keeled, but ND lacks the back end where Denver thrives. They exploited St. Cloud with a similar match up. The Irish won't be lucky enough to win this. DU 4-2.
Harvard vs Duluth. The ECAC has proven to be a fraud this year. Every team this year has been beat, and been beat badly. The lone exception has been Harvard. This entire season, Harvard has relied on a 2-2-1 system. They have excellent forwards, a decent D, and good goaltending. The problem is, they have not faced a team like Duluth. UMD will force Harvard out of their comfort zone and push them. UMD plays the game wide. They put their wings at the boards and make their center go up the middle. This will leave Harvard on a constant 2 on 1 that won't do well. After a quick adjustment, Harvard's D will find itself quickly outnumbered and unable to play against a physical team. Harvard will likely try multiple times to go back to the 2-2-1 system, but will be beat multiple times. I don't have a score in mind, but UMD is going to send Harvard back to the books.
UMD vs DU. It's the matchup everyone not named Harvard or Notre Dame wants. It's the juggernauts. DU is far too skilled. UMD is far too methodical. The goaltending in this will make the difference. Jailett is not the best back in the net, but he has a far superior D corps than UMD has. This will be a barn burner that will end with DU strolling down University Avenue with their 8th title.
Here are my thoughts:
First, I'm a DU fan. So if I show any bias, you know why.
Going into the regional final, I was worried about Penn State. DU has a lot of fire power from front to back that I clearly didn't see. I think Union was far over rated, which is why Penn State put 10 on them. To see DU keep up their 4 goals per game was great. But now we are onto a different kind of beast.
DU vs Notre Dame: I loved Notre Dame during the playoffs. I was so excited to see Minnesota knocked out, and very surprised to see Lowell knocked out. This is a big concern to me. Last year, DU and ND faced off in Denver where DU swept the series. This year, Notre Dame has been a ground and pound team. They have stayed consistent and never compromised. It helped them through the playoffs.
Denver on the other hand, has been the EXACT SAME. Never really biting into a problem, but constantly moving the puck. The move the puck from the D to the forwards. They do it well. This has proved to be a problem for the best offensive teams. Controlling the puck has always favored DU, and I don't think that is about to change at the Frozen Four. I wish that I wasn't reviewing DU so that this match up could be more even keeled, but ND lacks the back end where Denver thrives. They exploited St. Cloud with a similar match up. The Irish won't be lucky enough to win this. DU 4-2.
Harvard vs Duluth. The ECAC has proven to be a fraud this year. Every team this year has been beat, and been beat badly. The lone exception has been Harvard. This entire season, Harvard has relied on a 2-2-1 system. They have excellent forwards, a decent D, and good goaltending. The problem is, they have not faced a team like Duluth. UMD will force Harvard out of their comfort zone and push them. UMD plays the game wide. They put their wings at the boards and make their center go up the middle. This will leave Harvard on a constant 2 on 1 that won't do well. After a quick adjustment, Harvard's D will find itself quickly outnumbered and unable to play against a physical team. Harvard will likely try multiple times to go back to the 2-2-1 system, but will be beat multiple times. I don't have a score in mind, but UMD is going to send Harvard back to the books.
UMD vs DU. It's the matchup everyone not named Harvard or Notre Dame wants. It's the juggernauts. DU is far too skilled. UMD is far too methodical. The goaltending in this will make the difference. Jailett is not the best back in the net, but he has a far superior D corps than UMD has. This will be a barn burner that will end with DU strolling down University Avenue with their 8th title.
Sunday, January 15, 2017
What Joe Sakic Did Wrong
Joe Sakic should never, ever be mistaken for John Elway. That would be difficult to do, but even their job performance. Joe hasn't done a very good job.
Let's start with overall performance. I am limiting this to Joe's GM time which starts on May 10th, 2013.
Coaches: Joe picked a wild card in Patrick Roy. Roy only had experience at the junior level where talent would leave guaranteed every 4 years. Molding someone for short terms is difficult, but dealing with long term effects is harder. You can hold a grudge against someone in Juniors and be happy when they leave 1-3 years later. Patrick had no real experience and needed to work his way up. He didn't become a hall of famer just because he played awesome at the junior and high school level. He became a hall of famer because he worked his way up.
Next and current coach Jared Bednar is the same thing. Bednar was an AHL coach. No winning teams to speak of at the NHL level. I get it that he is somehow excused because of the short timing. I can tell you for sure I don't give sakic a pass on this one. He had Kevin Dineen ready to go. Kevin helped Chicago, who's coach we fired, win cups.
Drafting: The first year. I guess you can call this good but I don't. The Avs need defense. Not centers. MacKinnon is a solid forward. But Sakic had Seth Jones ready at D and passed. This is a near failure.
The next year he did another terrible job in Bleakly. The guy was drafted in the first round but never even signed a contract. He was a total bust.
//short
Let's start with overall performance. I am limiting this to Joe's GM time which starts on May 10th, 2013.
Coaches: Joe picked a wild card in Patrick Roy. Roy only had experience at the junior level where talent would leave guaranteed every 4 years. Molding someone for short terms is difficult, but dealing with long term effects is harder. You can hold a grudge against someone in Juniors and be happy when they leave 1-3 years later. Patrick had no real experience and needed to work his way up. He didn't become a hall of famer just because he played awesome at the junior and high school level. He became a hall of famer because he worked his way up.
Next and current coach Jared Bednar is the same thing. Bednar was an AHL coach. No winning teams to speak of at the NHL level. I get it that he is somehow excused because of the short timing. I can tell you for sure I don't give sakic a pass on this one. He had Kevin Dineen ready to go. Kevin helped Chicago, who's coach we fired, win cups.
Drafting: The first year. I guess you can call this good but I don't. The Avs need defense. Not centers. MacKinnon is a solid forward. But Sakic had Seth Jones ready at D and passed. This is a near failure.
The next year he did another terrible job in Bleakly. The guy was drafted in the first round but never even signed a contract. He was a total bust.
//short
Monday, January 2, 2017
Big 10: Big Losers
What a year.
Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State all caught big rankings and big year end bowls. All 3 caught the darling eye of everyone watching. Michigan because the powerhouse at the big house was back. Ohio State because they are the Alabama of the Big 10 and Penn State because they are the once scandal ridden team which was set to come out of the ashes and settle the score.
The problem: None of these teams did. The big reason comes in many forms. 1. Ohio State is a year away from competing. Yet some how pre season recruiting gave them the upper edge over better playing teams.
Michigan is not quite dynamic yet. They are talent driven. This will be displayed come the NFL draft when most of their defensive unit get's paid by the NFL.
Penn State was a victim of circumstance. They showed their true colors against Michigan but somehow won against Ohio State.
This should have been a forecast. This should have been a note of what was to come. But it wasn't. Not even this low level Wisconsin fan saw this coming. Hell Wisconsin should have been playing in mid December had the media picked it right. But instead the media picked LSU as the favorite. Then when WI beat a top 5 team in Michigan State they gave the badger a pass. When they lost by a combined score of 13 to Michigan and Ohio State in the next 2 weeks the media was salivating. When WI beat Nebraska, the badgers were locked in as a Cinderella.
Then comes the result: A Wisconsin team that wasn't ready to play at this level was thrust into the big 10 championship against a team that didn't belong their. Somebody was going to win and that team was not ready for the CFP or the Rose bowl. I'm not being salty towards Penn State.
My point is the Big 10 is about a year away from this season as being elite. That's going to show when Penn State and Ohio State do finally show up. The question becomes how does Michigan respond?
The next question is who will respond in the Big 10 west. The forgotten part of the conference.
My prediction is simple: OSU grows. This is a given under Urban Meyer. The guy lives for recruiting. Michigan is going to get a year off. That certainly doesn't mean a losing year, it just means a year off from this year. Penn state is going to play on, and they are going to play on until they get that rematch with Ohio State. At that point, everyone will know that OSU is far superior to PSU.
The west is going to get dicey, and weak. WI and their awesome year is going to fade to memory. The realization that the QB is no better than the fans at throwing comes to fruition. No running game spells a disaster for WI. I don't think this helps Minnesota in winning the Axe, but it does help Nebraska and Iowa.
Iowa will regain ground lost during this year. They will compete. Nebraska will do the same. The hiccup will come when they play each other. I don't think either will make it to the title game, but that game will decide who was closer to it. Nebraska will likely win and be the "we should be in the CFP" team. But they will in all likely hood face a better Big 10 East team that won't relent. I'm guessing that will be Ohio State. This win will put OSU in the same position they were this year: the CFP.
Where do other teams stand?
Let's look:
Michigan State had a very off year. You can learn from a loss, but this kind of season does nobody good. All that gain from the last 2 years is gone. Diantio needs to start fresh.
Illinois isn't going anywhere. Lovie Smith might have been a bears head coach, but he still has work to do.
Purdue is a Drew Brees away from competing. They only have had 1 of those in the last 25 years so here's hoping for number 2.
Northwestern can be competitive, but the structure of this season didn't help them. My best guess is next year will not either.
Indiana was the most under achieving team this year in the big 10. Curiosity compels me to not count them out, but then realize they cannot recruit.
Rutgers will probably win a game or 2. But let's not hope it's against anyone in the big 10.
Maryland is going to have real trouble in football. Here's to the basketball team!
Now let's show the forces in the big 10 west:
Nebraska: they can recruit and will. But most likely won't be enough to win what they want.
Iowa: They will return to the status quo in the next 3 years.
Wisconsin: Gary Anderson brought tough tests, and good recruits. Those tests are now over, will the recruits be as well?
Minnesota: They can win, but just not at the national level. Where will they fit?
Then the East:
Penn State: No signature wins in the last 6 years. Nothing to really remove them of their past that they so want to put behind them.
Michigan: 2 years of Jim Harbaugh and no big wins. Not a coach firing position but a kind of WTF kind of position.
Ohio State: No points after the Michigan win. Who shows up next year?
Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State all caught big rankings and big year end bowls. All 3 caught the darling eye of everyone watching. Michigan because the powerhouse at the big house was back. Ohio State because they are the Alabama of the Big 10 and Penn State because they are the once scandal ridden team which was set to come out of the ashes and settle the score.
The problem: None of these teams did. The big reason comes in many forms. 1. Ohio State is a year away from competing. Yet some how pre season recruiting gave them the upper edge over better playing teams.
Michigan is not quite dynamic yet. They are talent driven. This will be displayed come the NFL draft when most of their defensive unit get's paid by the NFL.
Penn State was a victim of circumstance. They showed their true colors against Michigan but somehow won against Ohio State.
This should have been a forecast. This should have been a note of what was to come. But it wasn't. Not even this low level Wisconsin fan saw this coming. Hell Wisconsin should have been playing in mid December had the media picked it right. But instead the media picked LSU as the favorite. Then when WI beat a top 5 team in Michigan State they gave the badger a pass. When they lost by a combined score of 13 to Michigan and Ohio State in the next 2 weeks the media was salivating. When WI beat Nebraska, the badgers were locked in as a Cinderella.
Then comes the result: A Wisconsin team that wasn't ready to play at this level was thrust into the big 10 championship against a team that didn't belong their. Somebody was going to win and that team was not ready for the CFP or the Rose bowl. I'm not being salty towards Penn State.
My point is the Big 10 is about a year away from this season as being elite. That's going to show when Penn State and Ohio State do finally show up. The question becomes how does Michigan respond?
The next question is who will respond in the Big 10 west. The forgotten part of the conference.
My prediction is simple: OSU grows. This is a given under Urban Meyer. The guy lives for recruiting. Michigan is going to get a year off. That certainly doesn't mean a losing year, it just means a year off from this year. Penn state is going to play on, and they are going to play on until they get that rematch with Ohio State. At that point, everyone will know that OSU is far superior to PSU.
The west is going to get dicey, and weak. WI and their awesome year is going to fade to memory. The realization that the QB is no better than the fans at throwing comes to fruition. No running game spells a disaster for WI. I don't think this helps Minnesota in winning the Axe, but it does help Nebraska and Iowa.
Iowa will regain ground lost during this year. They will compete. Nebraska will do the same. The hiccup will come when they play each other. I don't think either will make it to the title game, but that game will decide who was closer to it. Nebraska will likely win and be the "we should be in the CFP" team. But they will in all likely hood face a better Big 10 East team that won't relent. I'm guessing that will be Ohio State. This win will put OSU in the same position they were this year: the CFP.
Where do other teams stand?
Let's look:
Michigan State had a very off year. You can learn from a loss, but this kind of season does nobody good. All that gain from the last 2 years is gone. Diantio needs to start fresh.
Illinois isn't going anywhere. Lovie Smith might have been a bears head coach, but he still has work to do.
Purdue is a Drew Brees away from competing. They only have had 1 of those in the last 25 years so here's hoping for number 2.
Northwestern can be competitive, but the structure of this season didn't help them. My best guess is next year will not either.
Indiana was the most under achieving team this year in the big 10. Curiosity compels me to not count them out, but then realize they cannot recruit.
Rutgers will probably win a game or 2. But let's not hope it's against anyone in the big 10.
Maryland is going to have real trouble in football. Here's to the basketball team!
Now let's show the forces in the big 10 west:
Nebraska: they can recruit and will. But most likely won't be enough to win what they want.
Iowa: They will return to the status quo in the next 3 years.
Wisconsin: Gary Anderson brought tough tests, and good recruits. Those tests are now over, will the recruits be as well?
Minnesota: They can win, but just not at the national level. Where will they fit?
Then the East:
Penn State: No signature wins in the last 6 years. Nothing to really remove them of their past that they so want to put behind them.
Michigan: 2 years of Jim Harbaugh and no big wins. Not a coach firing position but a kind of WTF kind of position.
Ohio State: No points after the Michigan win. Who shows up next year?
Friday, December 2, 2016
Colorado Buffaloes: A nutshell
Dear Colorado,
This is your gravestone. You played a well fought season, but in the end the only reason you won was because your QB was decent. You proved this to be the case on 3 occasions: Michigan, USC, and Washington. The reason you lost: your QB.
Let this be a lesson. But let this be also a moment for every buff's fan to realize what has happened since the last time CU was relevant.
The last time CU was relevant was due to a mistake. A 4th down which was accidentally marked a 3rd down. That was in the early 90's. Today your team plays a better game. Though like in the 90's, you relied on a QB to control the tempo.
I want everyone to know that I am a Wisconsin Badgers fan. I watched in the earlier years of WI's bad seasons. Camp Randal was a ghost town. You could give away tickets to anything in Madison. Then came Barry Alvarez. He won a rose bowl, and then another. This gave WI the Midwestern program launch.
This is where I stop my WI charade and talk about CO. This is a major building block for CU. The team has grown and so has the school. Fans jumping the fence for a field rush is cause for a fine. ( I didn't know this until pregame). So now you have a history to back on. It's important to remember this season. You buffs didn't do this for nothing. You played your hearts out. Your 10-3 record is an awesome feat!
My congrats to all CU alumni (including myself) on a wonderful season. Now it's time to focus. What does this bring us? Does it bring us closer to national relevance?
I can answer the latter question. Look at Utah. They came from the mountain west. 2 years ago they got up to the #4 ranking before tumbling. They have been a top 25 team, but not a contender. I truly believe this is where CO will fall if they do not bring in better recruits. This season was based off of a spread style offense. The QB would take off if he didn't recognize the call. That won't be the case next year. Your back up QB cannot scramble. So you'll need to work on your deep and intermediate routes. I honestly see next year as a normal year.
But all in all, thank you CU!
This is your gravestone. You played a well fought season, but in the end the only reason you won was because your QB was decent. You proved this to be the case on 3 occasions: Michigan, USC, and Washington. The reason you lost: your QB.
Let this be a lesson. But let this be also a moment for every buff's fan to realize what has happened since the last time CU was relevant.
The last time CU was relevant was due to a mistake. A 4th down which was accidentally marked a 3rd down. That was in the early 90's. Today your team plays a better game. Though like in the 90's, you relied on a QB to control the tempo.
I want everyone to know that I am a Wisconsin Badgers fan. I watched in the earlier years of WI's bad seasons. Camp Randal was a ghost town. You could give away tickets to anything in Madison. Then came Barry Alvarez. He won a rose bowl, and then another. This gave WI the Midwestern program launch.
This is where I stop my WI charade and talk about CO. This is a major building block for CU. The team has grown and so has the school. Fans jumping the fence for a field rush is cause for a fine. ( I didn't know this until pregame). So now you have a history to back on. It's important to remember this season. You buffs didn't do this for nothing. You played your hearts out. Your 10-3 record is an awesome feat!
My congrats to all CU alumni (including myself) on a wonderful season. Now it's time to focus. What does this bring us? Does it bring us closer to national relevance?
I can answer the latter question. Look at Utah. They came from the mountain west. 2 years ago they got up to the #4 ranking before tumbling. They have been a top 25 team, but not a contender. I truly believe this is where CO will fall if they do not bring in better recruits. This season was based off of a spread style offense. The QB would take off if he didn't recognize the call. That won't be the case next year. Your back up QB cannot scramble. So you'll need to work on your deep and intermediate routes. I honestly see next year as a normal year.
But all in all, thank you CU!
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Scathing Review: Green Bay Packers
It appears I'm quite good at annihilating the teams I love. It's turned out quite a few times that my predictions were correct. I've also been incorrect my fair share of times. Green Bay will be no different. I believe that I'll hit one or two of these topics directly on point while swinging hard but missing terribly on a few others.
Front Office:
Ted Thompson isn't doing anything different than he has the last 5 years. He'll leverage the future of the franchise on the draft and sign a few free agents every once in a while that will commit long term to the Green and Gold. See Charles Woodson and Julius Peppers. While the Packers don't have anything out of the box good coming from this draft, nothing will really change. The guy we draft this year won't be ready for about 3 years, at least.
Coaching:
HC: Mccarthy is a very good coach. He made an emotional decision to give away play calling. With every fan in an uproar for the first 6 games of the season, the packers went 6-0. It seemed to be going well. Then a 2 game skid featuring Carolina and Denver put him back at the controls. As the play caller he went 4-4.
OC: Can't think of his name off the bat but he did a pretty good job the first 6 games. By the end of the 6th game, fans could tell this offense was not ready for prime time. Too much time on the field because of poor defense dragged the OC to the ground.
DC: Probably the Achilles heel of this defense. Capers put probably his worst season on record in the books. It's only gotten worse the longer he stays. The dagger in my heart was week 6 when my beloved pack allowed 500 passing yards to Phillip Rivers. Absolutely disgusting. Unfortunately for my liking, Dom will be back because his defense didn't allow all that many points.
Offense:
This year was absolutely terrible. Probably a huge product of Jordy Nelson missing, but it was bad.
Probable fixes: Get nelson healthy, though it doesn't help that the Packers put a whole season worth of tape on how bad receivers down the depth chart are. I'd put the replacement WR position at number 3 on the offensive needs.
Tight ends were a huge problem. None of them performed. It doesn't help my review that the Rodgers to Rodgers hail mary won play of the year. This is still a bad area. Next season when Jordy is getting covered from every location the TE play won't be any better. That is of course barring a free agent TE fits the bill. I'd put this at number 2 on the offensive needs.
Offensive Line: These guys were terrible. All season long. A combination of inexperience and bad play along with injuries cost this offense. This needs to be fixed with a quickness. I'd put this as the number 1 need on the offense and either a 1 or 2 need for the total team.
Honorable mention: Lacy was supposed to have a great season. He had an offseason like a fan and showed up to camp overweight and unready. I expect Lacy to be out of Green Bay within 2 years.
Defense:
Front 3: Our core of pass rushers were pretty decent. Though the game has changed so much with regards to the depth of this position, the Packers had a fair 2015 at this position. They likely will need to upgrade at some point, but nothing that requires a free agent deal.
LB's: This is the hardest part of the defense. Matthews is clearly not effective as a multi use linebacker. He may be the captain, but he needs to be focused on putting the QB on the ground. Playing 60% of his time from the middle position won't help his cause. I thought I heard something about him moving back outside, which would be great. This would also open a huge problem up the middle. Leading to the number 1 need on defense, possibly number 1 or 2 for the team.
Secondary: This is where it get's a little dicey. Clinton-Dix had a decent season, but he's got too much growing to do. Hopefully this year helped his cause. He's going to need to either add weight or focus on becoming faster and turn towards a corner. He looked lost this year, but I believe this growth will come in time. At the CB position, the packers have a real problem. Sam Shields is the only real shutdown corner the packers have and he was hurt a good portion of the season. No option in the draft will fix this for another few years. This is a huge hole, and the number 2 need on defense. It's also the solidified number 3 need on the packers team. If an OL, or MLB can't be picked up in free agency the packers need to pick up a CB.
Front Office:
Ted Thompson isn't doing anything different than he has the last 5 years. He'll leverage the future of the franchise on the draft and sign a few free agents every once in a while that will commit long term to the Green and Gold. See Charles Woodson and Julius Peppers. While the Packers don't have anything out of the box good coming from this draft, nothing will really change. The guy we draft this year won't be ready for about 3 years, at least.
Coaching:
HC: Mccarthy is a very good coach. He made an emotional decision to give away play calling. With every fan in an uproar for the first 6 games of the season, the packers went 6-0. It seemed to be going well. Then a 2 game skid featuring Carolina and Denver put him back at the controls. As the play caller he went 4-4.
OC: Can't think of his name off the bat but he did a pretty good job the first 6 games. By the end of the 6th game, fans could tell this offense was not ready for prime time. Too much time on the field because of poor defense dragged the OC to the ground.
DC: Probably the Achilles heel of this defense. Capers put probably his worst season on record in the books. It's only gotten worse the longer he stays. The dagger in my heart was week 6 when my beloved pack allowed 500 passing yards to Phillip Rivers. Absolutely disgusting. Unfortunately for my liking, Dom will be back because his defense didn't allow all that many points.
Offense:
This year was absolutely terrible. Probably a huge product of Jordy Nelson missing, but it was bad.
Probable fixes: Get nelson healthy, though it doesn't help that the Packers put a whole season worth of tape on how bad receivers down the depth chart are. I'd put the replacement WR position at number 3 on the offensive needs.
Tight ends were a huge problem. None of them performed. It doesn't help my review that the Rodgers to Rodgers hail mary won play of the year. This is still a bad area. Next season when Jordy is getting covered from every location the TE play won't be any better. That is of course barring a free agent TE fits the bill. I'd put this at number 2 on the offensive needs.
Offensive Line: These guys were terrible. All season long. A combination of inexperience and bad play along with injuries cost this offense. This needs to be fixed with a quickness. I'd put this as the number 1 need on the offense and either a 1 or 2 need for the total team.
Honorable mention: Lacy was supposed to have a great season. He had an offseason like a fan and showed up to camp overweight and unready. I expect Lacy to be out of Green Bay within 2 years.
Defense:
Front 3: Our core of pass rushers were pretty decent. Though the game has changed so much with regards to the depth of this position, the Packers had a fair 2015 at this position. They likely will need to upgrade at some point, but nothing that requires a free agent deal.
LB's: This is the hardest part of the defense. Matthews is clearly not effective as a multi use linebacker. He may be the captain, but he needs to be focused on putting the QB on the ground. Playing 60% of his time from the middle position won't help his cause. I thought I heard something about him moving back outside, which would be great. This would also open a huge problem up the middle. Leading to the number 1 need on defense, possibly number 1 or 2 for the team.
Secondary: This is where it get's a little dicey. Clinton-Dix had a decent season, but he's got too much growing to do. Hopefully this year helped his cause. He's going to need to either add weight or focus on becoming faster and turn towards a corner. He looked lost this year, but I believe this growth will come in time. At the CB position, the packers have a real problem. Sam Shields is the only real shutdown corner the packers have and he was hurt a good portion of the season. No option in the draft will fix this for another few years. This is a huge hole, and the number 2 need on defense. It's also the solidified number 3 need on the packers team. If an OL, or MLB can't be picked up in free agency the packers need to pick up a CB.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Green Bay: Moving Forward at WR
Really, there are only two halves to an NFL season. The first 8 games and the second 8 games. Throw away the bye week for the purpose of this blog.
Let's focus on the Packers first 8 games. 6-2. I would say that's pretty good. But if you break down the numbers, quite a bit doesn't jive with the record.
The receivers had a problem this year. A big one. In the first 8 games, Rodgers did a pretty good job of covering for the catching woes. But those last two games exposed GB and their receiving corps.
The second half GB finished 4-4. Not a good record at all. If it wasn't for some late game heroics at Detroit, this would have been 3-5. The entire second half was what the first half should have been: a disappointment.
Now Green Bay is out of contention and they are golfing. So who does this franchise turn to next? Rodgers is set, and Nelson is back. So we know the two number one's.
The issue this year presented itself early on: No receiver on this Nelson-less team is a clear cut number two. In prior years it was either Jennings or Nelson getting other receivers open. The commanding double and sometimes triple coverage created all hell for opposing defenses. That didn't happen this year. Instead, Cobb couldn't get open and Adam's couldn't catch passes.
Richard Rodgers is a decent tight end, but he certainly cannot handle the load that finley once commanded.
Moving forward, the Packers now have a problem. They have many receivers who are not ready to be clear cut number two's but a whole bunch of mid tier receivers. Cobb, Jones, Montgomery, Abberderis, Janis, and Adams.
From that list above, Abberderis is going to have the hardest time making the team. He played well in a handful of games but didn't establish himself.
Jones was the talk of the team the first 6 weeks. But after that, he wasn't the same player. Not knowing his contract situation doesn't help this blog, but I'll assume he's under contract for next season. He's too slow for the number 3 spot but will have trouble establishing himself as the number 4 guy. too much bottom depth.
Cobb is safe. He's not going anywhere but he's been exposed big time. He got a nice contract extension but should be thanking Jordy for this. He wasn't open when he needed to be and couldn't break from receivers. He does have the entire off season to work himself, but that's quite a bit of work.
Adams deserves to be cut. His play declined badly this year. The reality is he gained quite a bit of experience and will most likely headed to the number 3 spot.
Janis will go back to special teams. Again, he gained experience but unless someone can unseat Cobb for the number 2 spot nothing is going well for these players.
Montgomery is the guy that intrigues me the most. He got the short end of the stick early on. Injuries shortened his season. He has a great work ethic, but not quite the talent yet. Assuming Adam's doesn't get cut, I expect Montgomery to work towards the number 3 spot mid season.
Let's focus on the Packers first 8 games. 6-2. I would say that's pretty good. But if you break down the numbers, quite a bit doesn't jive with the record.
The receivers had a problem this year. A big one. In the first 8 games, Rodgers did a pretty good job of covering for the catching woes. But those last two games exposed GB and their receiving corps.
The second half GB finished 4-4. Not a good record at all. If it wasn't for some late game heroics at Detroit, this would have been 3-5. The entire second half was what the first half should have been: a disappointment.
Now Green Bay is out of contention and they are golfing. So who does this franchise turn to next? Rodgers is set, and Nelson is back. So we know the two number one's.
The issue this year presented itself early on: No receiver on this Nelson-less team is a clear cut number two. In prior years it was either Jennings or Nelson getting other receivers open. The commanding double and sometimes triple coverage created all hell for opposing defenses. That didn't happen this year. Instead, Cobb couldn't get open and Adam's couldn't catch passes.
Richard Rodgers is a decent tight end, but he certainly cannot handle the load that finley once commanded.
Moving forward, the Packers now have a problem. They have many receivers who are not ready to be clear cut number two's but a whole bunch of mid tier receivers. Cobb, Jones, Montgomery, Abberderis, Janis, and Adams.
From that list above, Abberderis is going to have the hardest time making the team. He played well in a handful of games but didn't establish himself.
Jones was the talk of the team the first 6 weeks. But after that, he wasn't the same player. Not knowing his contract situation doesn't help this blog, but I'll assume he's under contract for next season. He's too slow for the number 3 spot but will have trouble establishing himself as the number 4 guy. too much bottom depth.
Cobb is safe. He's not going anywhere but he's been exposed big time. He got a nice contract extension but should be thanking Jordy for this. He wasn't open when he needed to be and couldn't break from receivers. He does have the entire off season to work himself, but that's quite a bit of work.
Adams deserves to be cut. His play declined badly this year. The reality is he gained quite a bit of experience and will most likely headed to the number 3 spot.
Janis will go back to special teams. Again, he gained experience but unless someone can unseat Cobb for the number 2 spot nothing is going well for these players.
Montgomery is the guy that intrigues me the most. He got the short end of the stick early on. Injuries shortened his season. He has a great work ethic, but not quite the talent yet. Assuming Adam's doesn't get cut, I expect Montgomery to work towards the number 3 spot mid season.
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