You do realize that not only does Bush play gunner, but he is also the one covering the other team's gunner.

Put differently, Jarret Bush is always going to be one of the first Packers back near the PR due to the nature of the position he plays.

And when you are covering a gunner, you simply cannot take the time to figure out where the ball is or is not. The moment you focus on the ball, that is the moment you are liable to lose any chance of staying in front of the opposing gunner.

And of course, once the gunner gets past you, you cannot block him in the back because that would constitute an illegal block.

Frankly, I am not sure why you single out Bush for concern. He - along with Tom Crabtree - have been our most dependable Special Teams players this year in my opinion.

And, actually, Bush is not prone to committing as many penalties as people constantly make him prone to commit. In 2008, Bush had six special teams penalties. Since then, in the next 25 games he had a total of 3.

That is to say, up until the week before our bye-week, Bush had committed a grand total of 3 penalties the previous one and one-half seasons. ((Source - 6th paragraph from the bottom) 

Now he had one this past game... but it is very unfair to label him penalty prone given that he has really cleaned up his play. It seems people single out Bush based on perception and his less than adequate performances when forced to go out on defense.... that is unfair to do.

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I agree with Campen and Slocum. They've been around long enough and yet we've seen marginal at best improvement. The offensive line has been average at best the past few years.

I'd also like to see them can the Strength and Conditioning staff. The sheer amount of injuries we've indured the past few seasons makes me think it's time for a change there.

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As for Slocum, it's hard to argue he is a coach worth hanging on to.

Last year was terrible, and this year is somewhat better. Still not good enough by NFL standards, though.

I have to throw this out though: the first few weeks, our special teams were outstanding. Heck, even the Eagles ST (with their returner DeSean Jackson and new reputable ST coach in Bobby April) were shut-down.

Fast forward to now and it is obvious our Special Teams have regressed.

You could argue that the first quarter of the season was an anomaly. It might be.

Alternatively, you could argue (although few would consider doing so) that once injuries started hitting the Packers, our Special Teams units suffered most.

The only players to be constantly available to play Special Teams every game this season have been Jarret Bush and Tom Crabtree. Meanwhile, coach Slocum has lost the availability of players such as: Desmond Bishop, AJ Hawk, Brandon Chillar, Atari Bigby, Brandon Underwood, Brandon Jackson, Pat Lee, Morgan Burnett, Brad Jones, Brady Poppinga, Korey Hall, Nick Collins, and Charlie Peprah at some point or another.

Then you have the replacements to those players that have been lost: Spencer Havner, Anthony Smith, and Erik Walden (returned yesterday).

My point is that the turnover on Special Teams personnel has been insane this past season. That may explain the regression and sub-par play on special teams this year.

What I'm trying to say is that I would understand if Slocum was fired - his units just have not produced. I would also understand if McCarthy decided to keep Slocum to give him one more season to show what he can do with more consistency in ST personnel.

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I'm kind of an agnostic on this issue. I don't think we as fans know enough about assistant coaches to have informed opinions about them. As AADP just explained, the number of injuries to special teams players has been ridiculous this year. So Slocum might not be to blame for the regression we've seen during the season. Or maybe he is. Who knows?

I will say, however, that I would not mind seeing the zone blocking scheme scrapped, and if that means getting rid of the OL coach, so be it. I don't think it's likely, but then again, McCarthy was able to switch from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 last year, and scrapping the ZBS would be less of a change than that.

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Dom Capers may be the best defensive coordinator in the NFL behind Dick LeBeau (Steelers).

We have Barnett, Burnett, Chillar, Harrell, B. Jones, Martin, Neal, Poppinga, and Anthony Smith on IR. Bigby and Barnett started the year on PUP. Some of our best defenders have missed significant playing time (Jenkins, CM3, Pickett).

Players we've relied on heavily this year include: Sam Shields, Zombo, Francois, Peprah, CJ Wilson, Jarius Wynn, etc.

Only one team (Patriots) has scored more than 30 pts against us, and 7 of those pts were a result of a pick 6.

If you guys want to dump on Dom Capers, tell me which D-coordinator you would rather have? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

31 - Patriots


Who scored the next most points on us?

26 - Lions, in our place!

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Any and all offensive line coaches. slocum.

There is absolutely no reason for the oline coaches to have not been fired long before now, and our special teams have been garbage for years. force 1 coach into retirement only to promote someone from within who is equally awful. sweet move

Yeah, as I said, not his fault. And I didn't say I was being fair. Guess I'll just have to get used to disappointment. 🙂

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And we were #1 in scoring defense going into this weekend. We're now 2nd, 14 pts behind Pit and 24 pts ahead of #3 (Atl).

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Jimmy Robinson has done a fine job with the WRs. Jennings, Jones, and Nelson has developed. I believe Nelson was his project this year and he has turned into a fine WR.

The problem is the WRs don't hang onto the football. This isn't anything new. James Jones has never had as reliable hands as some made it out to be. Even Greg Jennings has been prone to drop ball occasionally. This is not on the coach. This is on the player. You catch the ball!

As a WR coach, you're more about getting the players fundamentals ready for the NFL. It is more about route running and timing with your QB. How is their down the field blocking? Is their technique off? Are the players not responding?

I have seen nothing wrong with that unit at all.

Now, OL and special teams is a completely different story.

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