Can someone explain what our problems with running the ball and defending the run?

I feel like our passing O and D are good enough, but we've got to be able to run and stop the run in order to really compete.

Some plays, it looks like our run blocking sucks. Other plays it looks like our RB isn't getting it done.

Do we need to give Grant more carries?

As for our run D, all I can say is "WTF??????"

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Green Bay is missing Corey Williams. Sure, he may suck in Cleveland, but in Green Bay's system he was great - and he has not been replaced by anyone.

hopefully Harrell comes on and becomes a beast.

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We lack depth along the defensive line.. we wear down and don't have the rotation we had last year.. add to it that Jenkins injury might be more of a negative impact than the Harris injury.

I think Sanders is reverting back to his conservative nature with the amount of injuries along the defense.. vanilla defense with straight cover man. Guys are failing to stay in their gaps and the lack of push up front is exposing Barnett's weakness.. shedding blocks. I seriously wish they would move him outside and bring in the thumper in the middle.. Bishop. It would help that center of the defense.

Our entire offensive line is subpar currently.. I still don't see the progression on these young guys.. they all seem average at best. I think it may be time to look closer at the position coaches.

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I agree with 93 Z.
It's time to take a close look at our position coaches and for good measure closely scrutinize our strength and conditioning program.
Injuries are part of the game but so many hamstring issues raises a red flag to me.

Ryan Pickett played great football last year. This year he is playing below average at best. He was out of shape in training camp and it's showing this year. He's behind and starting to catch up. When he does, I think it'll improve. Nick Barnett played Pro Bowl football last year. This year he is playing very average. A.J. Hawk is hurt and isnt playing as aggressive as he usually does. Atari Bigby is a huge help to the run defense and is out right now.

All in all the run defense has a mixture of underachievers and injuries right now.

The offensive line is suffering from team's stacking the box and not quite respecting Rodgers like they did Favre. It's having a big effect on first down. Favre gave the Packers that threat to throw on any down and throw well. Teams respected that, but now they really dont. I think thats minor, but it is there.

The big problem is the offensive line isn't good. Plain and simple. Scott Wells is an average center. The guards are below average. Tauscher and Clifton had one last hurray in them and it was last year. This year they are playing alright. I do give Clifton credit for his play against Jared Allen, but ever since then he hasnt had it. I thought he was on his way to a Pro Bowl year, but obviously he isnt.

Grant actually ran his style for the first time all year this year against Atlanta and GB might have been able to have more success running the ball, but the defense put them in a bad spot. They played behind all game long and when youre down, its hard to run the ball.

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I wish more people could be as objective as you porky. I enjoy reading your posts.

Agreed. Porky's post is quite good.

I'd like to add:
1) Corey Williams missing. It was said by Bigfog, I'm just repeating.
2) O is not staying on the field long enough. If you looked at the TOS from yesterday's stats, they were deceptive. The O wasn't on the field at all in the first half and the D was worn down. Most of our TOS was in the 2nd half. We started the game with 2 3 and outs, which is not acceptable. You cannot compete with the top tier teams in the NFL if you're playing catchup all day with middle tier teams.
3) Jenkins is out. That's a huge difference. Jenkins was playing good football before he got hurt.
4) Morale is down significantly. This I blame on MM . He needs to start leading, like he was last year. And yes, morale is HUGE. It does matter.

Why we can't run? Our OL sucks.

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Atari Bigby has been out, and he is a great run stopper. Our running game is just due to poor offensive line play and play calling in my opinion.

I don't buy Corey Williams being much of an upgrade over Jolly or Pickett. All three are similar in talent and losing one of them wouldn't lead to our entire running defense disappearing. Bigby replaced with Rouse or Peprah however, is a big loss for our run defense. He stops the big ones from getting loose and frequently is at the line making a big tackle. Our run defense won't look right until he gets back on the field.

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Williams may not have been an "upgrade" over Pickett or Jolly in the run game, but he was part of a rotation that keep those horses fresh.. something we don't have the ability to do this year. Cole isn't in the same class.. but he, Harrell and Muir were also on the roster to cut the number of snaps this hog mollies in the middle had to take.

But one thing Williams did do for the Packers last year.. is give us a pass rush from the interior of the defense.. something we are missing awfully bad right now..

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Good call. Forgot to mention Bigby. Yes, he's one of the keys.

However, with Williams, we had a DT rotation that kept the DTs fresh. The way our DTs play football, you have to rest them. You cannot expect them to finish the whole game, so Williams is not an "upgrade" but rather with Williams in there, the three of them are more fresh (and count Cullen Jenkins in that too).

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