OldSchoolSnapper

Personally I think way too much has been made of scoring making a difference as it relates to watching or growing the game. I love baseball, but 10-8 and 3-1 are both really "boring" using most people's definition of boring. "Baseball is boring, and then it's not," as they say. I've just never quite believed that more or fewer home runs/runs makes it more appealing to anybody who isn't already "in." The pace of play means much more to me. If the game could could somehow consistently be 2-2.5 hours, that would help more than anything. As well as making it easily accessible on TV, and expanding the postseason. If you want more fans, give more teams a reason to play for something all year. I know lots of people are against those things, but IMO they do more than trying to control how many runs are scored.

Meh. The Packers don't surrender that embarrassing touchdown to end the first half, you are looking at a 14-10 game with the Packers getting the ball. It wasn't some minor event, it was the moment the entire game went off the rails. It's a miracle to me still that GB even made it a game. That looked headed right for 45-17. I will say that the defensive rankings are a joke. The Rams were the best defense? Lol. The Bucs were ranked 8th. That is not just the best defense in the league, it's probably the best defense of at least the past several years until you hit the Denver team that won the SB. And the refs didn't call 'nothing.' They threw a flag when the Packers had one last gasp on a play they hadn't called all game, like 5 seconds after the play. It was nonsense. Conversely, they didn't call the same penalty that would have directly taken the deep TD off the board in the 1st half. In 8 quarters of GB-TB, the Bucs were penalized 8 yards. I can accept that Tampa is a better team than GB. Stating it in absolutes like it's so obvious though? It's not. And I'll go to my grave thinking they really blew this. '14 was a worse loss, but the SB with the Pats was a toss-up. They got everything they needed this year and really blew it. There's no way around SF being in another class last season, or Atlanta running GB off the field the last time, but something about this just felt...different. No doubt Tampa took GB out of their game both games this year. But it always just felt like multiple self-inflicted things. Adams dropping a TD he's caught all year, Jones coughing up a TD - nearly twice if not for Tonyan falling on the first. They just got sloppy at the most inopportune time. Unfortunately, that's sort of what their identity has become. I know personally I'll never believe the Packers are winning an NFCCG until they do. Don't care if they're favored by 14. I just have no confidence in this team to close anymore.

About where I'd expect at the top, and interesting, though I think you weighed winning the SB a bit high. Personally I'd look at something like this as an indicator of the franchise's overall success. For those purposes, there's little difference to me between winning and losing a Super Bowl.

The way I look at it, we get a definitive answer this offseason. They either wiggle around the cap and make a clear commitment to #12 or they don't and the writing's on the wall. He gets to go somewhere else soon that will cater to his demands the Packers move on, which I'd rather do if we're going to continue running essentially the same group every year. At least there will be some room to try a different approach. I'm content with whatever they do.

There are plenty of ways for them to get creative. They can extend Adams and reduce his 2021 cap hit, they can covert DBhak's bonus to save 8-10mm. There are several guys they'll lose, yes, like everyone else. And of course there's Rodgers, the elephant in the room. They could make him happy with an extension and solve their problem for next year by addressing that.

If the Packers offered Jones top 5 money and he declined there is some way to make moves. Gute has already made reference to kicking money down the road. And we don't even know what the cap is. I don't thinks fans stressing about the cap in February is fruitful. When the GM says they are willing to take risks to win now I think that is a pretty strong message. I am expecting a big name to be added. Don't know who it will be but I'm hoping it's a rusher.

I saw enough from MVS this season to believe he could really become a star. I think people have forgotten how much grief Adams took early on for dropsies. Between he and Lazard and Funchess going to camp, I don't view WR as a position of need but if they want Allen Robinson I won't object, lol. I'm excited for AJ Dillon too. If you add some kind of pass rusher, King becomes much more forgivable. What happens on defense will determine where they go next year. The offense will figure things out.

This won't be a popular opinion, but Kevin King's badness has really been overstated since that one dreadful game. I'm not saying it was his only bad game, I've never liked King, and he's been a major disappointment. But all things equal, he is just kind of run of the mill CB2 on probably like 10-15 teams. The problem, like most of those kinds of guys that become lightning rods, is that he was drafted to be a star and hyped like one early on. I think it's likely he'll be signed to start somewhere else. Don't get me wrong, I want him out, but it's really not going to matter if the replacement isn't someone notable. Nothing will really change there if they go out and sign Frank Walker.

Umm lol no. Green Bay's defense isn't even half as good as Tampa Bay's is. The Packers wouldn't have been able to take away Hill like Tampa has. Tampa has actually taken out all of the Chiefs WR's Green Bay couldn't have done that. Also Tampa's pass rush is far better than Green Bay's. It is a completely different game if it is Packers vs Chiefs. The Packers could have scored 50 points on this team. Given they are the Packers they would still probably lose 55-52. I dunno that the Packers were better than Tampa, but they could certainly play with them and KC could not. I will say that touchdown at the end of the first half will haunt me for a long time. It likely was the difference between a 5th Super Bowl title and not even playing the game. Tampa earned it though. An awesome front 7.

There's no getting to the edge on Tampa's defense. The linebackers are insane.

Although I fully expect this to go down to the wire.

Too depressing. The Packers really blew this.

I've said this before but I've always believed Sharpe getting hurt was best for Favre's career. It led to the development of a bunch of players where prior to that injury he just locked on to one guy. I don't have a problem with Calvin Johnson. He was clearly a HOF talent. I do have a problem with Sharpe not being inducted. He was too.

These unit ranking arguments are the exact same ones that were made against MLF. And Mike McCarthy. McCarthy isn't the most popular guy but he was incredibly successful by any measure from 2006-2014 even with marginal teams. He played a major role in getting the Packers back to respectability and before he overstayed his welcome. How many coaches were on those teams in Detroit and Washington? They all just suck? It just doesn't hold any weight to me. Maybe he does suck, but there's no way to know based on those gigs. He's obviously got a solid reputation. I'm happy to give him a chance in a much better situation.

I'll hold judgement. There's no way this hire was made without thorough vetting. MLF is best friends with McVay. I don't think he went in a totally different direction. He likely knew Leohnard was a pipe dream and had the other two in his sights. Probably would have hired Barry two years ago but there was no justification for firing Pettine at the time.

I think the Packers finished 9th in overall defense. Pettine lost his job largely due to one play. My gut reaction is that the Packers defense wasn't actually 9th best, but I think all fans gloss over how bad most defensive play is now, or rather how hard it is to play defense. If they win without that hail mary happening would he really not be back? I think it just gave MLF an excuse to move on from a guy he didn't really want to have to begin with.

I'm pretty meh on it. If you're CB2 is Chandon Sullivan it doesn't matter if Buddy Ryan is calling the shots.

While this would be a boring hire I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock in a dead-last ranked defense from 13 years ago, including a team that went 0-16. I have a feeling the problems in Detroit extended far beyond the DC. Short stints in two of the worst run franchises in all of football don't hold that much merit to me. This guy is obviously highly regarded. He was just poached from one team to another and may get poached again. There's a long history of hum-drum ranked assistants doing a lot with better opportunities. The coaching community has a better idea of capability than the rankings an assistant has with poor-talent rosters. In other words, I don't think fans really know anything about assistant coaches.

I don't doubt that Pettine was on the higher end of DCs and a million wouldn't shock me given that he was a HC so it likely took a lot of money to talk him into coming back. Garrett also made a ton as an assistant in Dallas. It happens, but is rare. In any case I was shocked that Leohnard makes 7 figures at UW. I had no idea NCAA coordinators made that much.

NFL coordinators make very good money. Mike Pettine made a salary of $2.5 million last year. Where is that figure coming from? I've literally never seen his salary reported and given that Wade Phillips, in 2017 was the noted highest paid DC with a 3 year, 2.1mm deal it seems highly unlikely. Literally every reputable source says the top OC/DCs in the NFL are now approaching 7 figures for the first time. There is no way Pettine made $2.5 million.

I don't think turning down an interview is ever a good idea unless a person is way overqualified to the point it's a waste of time. If they did offer him more money that wouldn't surprise me, but wouldn't that make him the highest paid coordinator in the NFL? It's tough to say because I don't think those deals are public. But he made over a million at UW and isn't even in the top 20 assistants. I don't think any NFL assistants make a million dollars. It makes sense. A college assistant has much more wide ranging duties than the pros. They're often the lead recruiter.

I was hoping he would go to the Packers but looking at it from his POV leaving UW would have to be really hard. Like HC or bust difficult. The Badgers had a rough transitional year but that program feels like it's on the verge of really getting over the hump of the past few decades. He's so heavily invested there it would be so tough to jump ship now. He also makes way more money than I thought at UW - this would have been a pay cut.

Leohnard just may not be interested in the NFL. Those coaches do exist. Some really like the "shaping young men," aspect, the recruiting, the absence of the contracts and lesser egos. College coaches have far more authoritarian roles than NFL coaches.

I'm disappointed. Not that it really means anything but I don't like the taste of a 2017 staffer running the defense. Of course he could be totally fine.

There isn't a bad deal they can make because it doesn't matter. They can do whatever they want. Baseball is going to eat itself. The Dodgers had the NL MVP, so they bought the AL MVP. They won the World Series, then bought the NL Cy Young winner. It's broken. This stuff, and their appalling TV rules, are going to continue the sport's demise. At some point, either the owners realize this can't go on, or the MLB bubble pops, and a new league rises from the ashes, one that can't sustain the current player salaries and the players have no option but to play in a cheaper, more balanced league. That would be way down the line, obviously.