Rush the passer, stop the run. Protect the passer, run the ball. If you accept average expect average results and quick exits or no entry in the playoffs.

I think it's been since Dave B was injured at left tackle and they started shuffling people around, that the Packers were above average on the O-line. That happened to coincide with a great season by the Smith brothers on the D.

Been pretty average (at best) on both sides since then.

Looking forward to your draft outlook, Al.

Addressing the Pass rush- @ #! - Check.
Another Rashon Gary or play a normal 4-3-4 ?.
Gary and VanEss won't change anything.
And Gute has Clark and Wyatt in the middle.
They won't stop the Lions Gibbs!
Blame the DL coach all you want.
But blitzing is the only way.
And thats on the LBs. Not 2 but 3.
Trouble is we don't have 3. we have 2.
And 3-4 tweeters aren't the next step.

Two corollaries that I don't think are an accident:
You've got to be able to sack the QB
You've got to be able to protect the QB

Maybe it's less about how many sacks as it is when you can get them. I hate to dredge up an all-time great as an example, but how often when the Packers needed a sack was Reggie White able to just dial one up?

Did Chicago get the highest profile candidate? Yes. I seem to remember that what's-his-name Nagy was the peach that year, too. If the organization isn't with it enough to build a quality roster, the coach won't matter enough. If they address the lines heavily this off-season, he's got a chance.

Also hearing now that there were comments of those in the interview rooms for some teams saying they thought Johnson was too introverted and nerdy with a weak personality to be a real leader, and they wondered if he was benefitting from the cult of personality around Campbell in Detroit--a very strong personality. We'll find out.

The Packers finished 8th in sacks during the regular season, with 45. That's more than all of the remaining playoff teams. They have several players who are decent at generating pressure, plus some good blitzers. To bring the pass rush to the next level, they need to add an elite player. That's going to be hard. The last two pass rushers they drafted in the first round, Gary and Van Ness, have not been elite, and they got those guys with higher picks than the one they have now. Maybe they could find a pass rushing specialist to put in on obvious passing downs, rather than an every down player. But pass rushing specialists are not easy to find either. I agree that they need to do something.

The thing I've noticed in the playoffs, more than anything, is QBs running for first downs and often putting their heads down to pick up the extra yard or two at the end. Those are important plays that inspire the whole team. Our QB wanted nothing to do with that at the end of the season. That's one thing that needs to change.

Both TT and Gutekunst view the lines the same way. They value the outside and bargain shop the interior. Gutekunst in particular has reached for edge rushers and ignored the big uglies. Collapsing the pocket while not letting guys run by you is a big part of pressuring a QB and we generally can't do that. Combine that with Gary and Van Ness running high around the outside and this D-line isn't carrying you to a championship.

Similar on our O-line. The interior of this line is weak and generally gets pushed back. How Josh Jacobs got all those tough yards is a credit to his determination. How about this - if it is your turn to draft and all the stud tackles, DEs and CBs are gone - pick a big man who knows football and moves people! No team ever regretted building up the trenches.

Al, you got it right. WR and CB are issues, but the pass rush is the most important thing to improve. First by free agency and then by coaching. And I would like to see Gute draft for performance and not so much for potential.

They will have to do something for WR though. Watson will not be available for most of the season and may lose a step and I am worried about Doubs and his concussions.

CB will have to be addressed. I think perimeter is Nixon's best position. So maybe a veteran CB free agent.

we need a lot of help. Gary turns out to be just a guy, and VanNess looks like a bust. Do we trust Gutey to find the right people? I think that the O is more of a problem than this year's quite improved D. we are stuck with a mediocre qb.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. LVN needs to move inside on passing downs. His best pass rush move is the bull rush and that would help collapse the pocket. Love Kenny C. but he's not the stud as far as penetration any longer.

I feel bad for the Texans. Two really controversial calls gifted KC with first downs and 15 yards on 3rd downs. Refs have got to quit calling what they think they see, and just call what they can actually see.

Don't know what it would take, but I would love to see Gutey make a play for Crosby from LV. That would be one scenario, where I would be OK with dealing Malik away.

Thanks for the article Al --Lots of creative excuses for the Pass Rush this year.

".Unfortunately, the Packers offense and special teams took up that mantle to ease Philly's path to victory."

-----Special teams will likely remain unchanged with the same coach---

----Why would we expect a metamorphosis from the Offense? A new receiver won't make an appreciable difference with the same coaches, play-caller, OL.

--The only 'urgent' person I see is Hafley.

Look @ what the Commanders did in 1year? What the Bears may do? The Lions had a spectacular run. The Vikes will recover quickly. Anyone see a pattern?

I'm tired.

Adam Gase. Matt Nagy. Josh McDaniels. Norv Turner. Pat Shumer. Hue Jackson. MIke McCoy. Ben Johnson. The curtain will be pulled back, and the Bears won't see a wizard.

I feel bad for Mark Andrews, Shades of Jackie Smith.

"So what's the point of all of this? Over the last few years, we've heard a lot about how pass rushing isn't just all about the sacks, it's more about the pressures and affecting the quarterbacks."
Pressures are great. Getting the QB off the spot and forcing them to move when they don't want to is a good thing. But getting the QB down in key moments of the game can change the game.

"Even though the Packers' WR and CB rooms have issues that need to be addressed, for me, pass rush is the top priority to address this offseason."
They absolutely have to upgrade the pass rush. They have to be able to get to the QB's without blitzing. I do think that getting a new DL coach will help. Something was just off all season with the front. And they immediately fired the DL coach.

"the Packers defense stopped Barkley from being a game wrecker. Unfortunately, the Packers offense and special teams took up that mantle to ease Philly's path to victory."
The Packers defense was actually a quite a bit better at stopping the run this season. I think that is one area that was greatly improved. I don't know if stats will show it, but you could see the difference. They did a tremendous job of containing Barkley. He did not beat the Packers. Packers beat themselves, well that and the refs didn't help either.

"Ben Johnson to the Bears is disappointing. I would have loved to see him get out of the division, but who know if he'll be a good head coach, which is very different than being a coordinator."
I have already seen that Johnson is the top HC in the division. Ohh and LaFleur is the worst HC in the division now. Its barely the offseason and we are already reaching peak delusional time.

If a Team.
Is moving the Ball at Will.
Take will Out and Replace.
Him. accountability matters.
But that won’t Happen because of.
Gute. Bad. All other GM’s.
Good.

RE: Ben Johnson. I saw a couple interesting points the last couple days, one by Mike Martz saying Johnson is the best OC he's ever seen, but I couldn't agree more with AL's take...that greatness may or may not transcend to the HC role. Johnson is very cerebral, from an engineering background if I'm not mistaken...does he have the charisma to lead a team? The other was a vid short that supposedly went viral from Nag's on Johnson...I felt it was one of his best ever, look for it.

Gary, LVN, Clark, Wyatt, Slaton, Wooden...etc. Theme I gather here is we're stuck with much of what we have. Underachievers this year? NO QUESTION. Be it GM, coach, or player, just have to make the best of it and make lemonade out of lemons if the case.

A worst case scenario? Saleh becomes DET DC after scouting our offense for most of '24?

Hooray for Al for pointing out the fallacy of big numbers of hurries and pressures. They mean something when you play the Kirk Cousins and Bryce Young’s of the league but when you play the big boys; Mahomes, Allen, Lamar, Daniels, and Hurts ; pressures and hurries are meaningless. They routinely beat pressure and hurries, you need to get sacks.

Sending four guys against five suggests to me that sacks are not the primary focus of a Hafley defense. Nice when we get them, but not a focus.

Perhaps your objection is to the scheme.

That said, the defense appears to have improved in just about every category this year, maybe some patience is in order. Crazy, right?

If Chicago fixes their O-line, they will be a problem next year. Ben Johnson will help Caleb Williams no doubt. Sometimes the smartest guy in the room isn't the answer to the problem. I keep wondering why the Lions offense didn't ride Gibbs to victory. He was running at over a 7 yards per carry clip and he watched a lot of the game without involvement. Johnson got a little too gimmicky for his own good. Let's hope he doesn't learn his lesson.

For as long as I can remember, it's been axiomatic that the team which protects their QB best will probably win the game. That's not just pass blocking, it's play design and overall scheme, but yes...you do have to pass block.

In 2005, we had guys like KGB and Kampmann and people were lamenting our pass rush, just like now. Then we added Charles Woodson, and all of a sudden our pass rush was much improved. I absolutely, positively, believe that if we improve our coverage we'll see our sack numbers go up, because an awful lot of sacks are coverage sacks.

You could rush 13 players and if the QB just has to quickly throw it to an open guy, you won't get a sack.

The two most important positions are the QB and a home wrecking pass rusher.
I have previously posted that perhaps Hafley should pay attention to the most respected/successful D-Coords—they blitz…and then they blitz some more—Spagnola, et al.
I cannot forget the stupid, spineless, and gutless defensive play call that secured a win vs the Bears. If that is a precursor of our future defense….?
Reggie White helped win a SB and
I believe Max Crosby can do the same thing—he may have three years left and he seldom get hurt—Go get’em!!!
Go Packers!!!

From ESPN...🤦‍♂️more salt in the wounds

The Packers have two first-round picks in their cornerback room (Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes) and two at defensive end (Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness), yet those are their two biggest needs this offseason. Neither Gary nor Van Ness has been anything close to a dominant pass rusher, and there's a huge void there after Preston Smith was traded in early November. It has been another injury-filled season for Alexander, who played in only seven games and finished on IR following knee surgery. His future with the team is very much in doubt. Stokes doesn't have a single pass breakup over the past three seasons (more than 1,000 snaps) and isn't under contract for next season. -- Rob Demovsky

"Whether it's via a new DL coach..."

I believe this will be the first big step forward. I am confident DL, OL and CB are going to be atop Gutey's shopping list in both the Draft and Free Agent stores. But if you can't consistently coaching them up, your purchase will likely be disappointing. Get the very best DL coach out there.

Two drive offensive killers from the OL and DL are holding penalties and sacks. The former negative, the latter positive.

And while both result in 10 yards or so of lost yardage, a sack is more positive than the hold is negative because the sack also gobbles up a down.

The 1996 Lombardi was powered by Reggie, Dotson, Jones and Brown...the LBs and DBs were good groups but the DL controlled the game and the reason the D was #1 in the NFL that year.

Wondering what's happening with decisions re: DL coach interviews?
Aaron Glenn got the Jet's HC job, wonder if he will want to keep Whitecotton? Saleh may want him too.

in all this an interesting aspect is to understand how free gutekunst has been. as we all know there are 3 people on top murphy ball and gutekunst so he is not the only one to say the last word as was with TT.
and now in april ed policy will be on board too...not a very good situation....i'd prefer to have just 1 man to make the last call. I hope ed policy will make some change for the 2026 season because murphy made a total mess

I hated the Gary pick. Pre draft I was hoping Gutt just passed on this guy. He had a reputation at Mich for going missing in games. He was hailed as a god before he got there and really didnt do much unless it was Rutgers or Maryland.
Pre draft one analyst rated him a mid second or early third because he lacked the upper body strength to deal with the much bigger O line men he was going up against.
He is not an effective pass rusher and you get film of when he did get a sack it was sneeking around an o linemen being rushed by someone else. He is never bull dogging and O linemen and getting at the Qb.
We took Van Ness, why cant he cut it. If he was a first round pick there must have been something Gutt saw. he aint learning how to pass rush sitting on the bench.
This lack of pass rush is on Gutt. This is his defense.

Kenny Clark is not a household name, invisible during games time to move on from him.

Goddammit! I've been saying it for years.

SACKS. Pressures are fine, but finish the freaking job, Rashan, Kingsley, Lukas, Brenton... Lay the hurt on the opposing QBs. Force fumbles. BRING IT!