"No Darren Rizzi: Whatever the real reason is, this was a major opportunity lost. Special Teams woes would have been a thing of the past. Now, who knows?"

I know Al, I know...BUT

There was another post on another Packers site which had the following to say about Rizzo...

"The Packers, who are paying the first year of LaFleur’s new deal and the final year of Mike McCarthy’s contract, reportedly balked at Rizzi’s demands.
It doesn’t sound as if the fit between LaFleur and Rizzi was a problem. Per Silverstein, the two had a “great visit” in Green Bay last week."

Sigh....I love Russ Ball and Mark Murphy.

But hey, the Packers are looking at an Assistant ST coach from the Jags (Mike Mallory) who was actually the Jags ST Coach before being DEMOTED by the current Jags ST Coach (Joe DeCamillis) in 2017. I guess the new ST Coach did his job since the Jags ranked 4th in DVOA for 2018.

Hopefully the Jags Assistant ST Coach (Mike Mallory) who USED to be the ST Coach learned something from the new ST coach (Joe DeCamillis) in 2018.

I'm holding my breath at the thought of another assistant coach who can be had on the CHEAP by the Packers. Boy o boy I hope you guys who are so optimistic are right...

I WILL GET optimistic at some point because I LOVE the Packers...It's just hard right now when I have to Google EVERY new hire because I've never heard of them. Not wanting to pay Rizzo if Silverstein is right IMO shouldn't be in the equation for the Packers.

Packers did ok with that high school tennis coach Back in the 90 ‘s .

Hey Al, I like your thoughts re: OT almost as much as my own suggestion on another thread.

I would hope the reason Rizzi wasn't hired was the fact that his asking price was so far out of the scope of what an assistant coach is paid in the league, or more than what the new OC and Pettine is getting paid, that they just had to tell him no. If it is just the old ways of the Packers penny pinching style, then the team is going to have the same issues going forward as we have in the past.

"Rodgers vs. Brady: Brady was 5 for six on third downs in the second half and overtime. There was no waiting for the perfect pass, holding the ball, running around and then heaving the ball 20 yds downfield. He identified where the single coverage would be, let the receiver run the route and got the ball (quickly and accurately) and picked up the first down. Yes, it can be that simple. It's a mindset more than anything. "

Amen!

Drew Brees:
I just have to add that how can you not feel bad for Brees after the last 2 years. Last year they lose a heartbreaking game after a rookie misses a tackle. And this game they would have won had the ref not swallowed his whistle. Now they did have a chance to win after that, but no doubt the game would have ended with that play.
Sidenote, has anyone checked on the ref? I mean did he get the whistle he swallowed removed?

Move the chains:
I think the key is to be balanced. If you run and pass equally on early downs it will keep defenses honest which means they should be able to exploit some mismatches.
LaFleur has talked a lot about being balanced. I'm looking forward to seeing that in GB.

A Mathematical Formula:
I know I will be in the minority in this. I would be ok with Graham coming back. I get why they would let him go, but I think another year with Rodgers he might improve. Sometimes it takes guys a while to work together.
Perry, the only way I bring back is if he takes a massive pay cut.

Referees:
Whenever the games become about the refs and not the players, that means there is a problem.
My philosophy is have a guy in the booth and have him buzz down to the head official when something that is clear happens. He should be able to do this in 15 seconds or so. Meaning it won't add much time to games.
I'd rather get the call right. Refs are humans and miss things. Also the angles they are in, they are limited in what they can see. So why not help aid them and have a guy above that can see everything.

Rodgers vs. Brady:
Rodgers can do what Brady does. He has done it. Hopefully the new coaching staff will get Rodgers to do this more often. Hopefully the new scheme will let Rodgers get the ball out faster.

No Darren Rizzi:
I have no idea why they weren't able to land who is quite possibly the best special teams coach in the league. Maybe there is a difference in what they wanted? Maybe Rizzi wanted more then being the special teams coordinator?

Overtime Rules:
I think both teams should possess the ball especially in the playoffs. I have heard the argument that the Chiefs defense had a chance to stop the Patriots offense and they didn't so they didn't deserve to win. Well what about the Patriots defense? They didn't have to stop the Chiefs offense. So did the better team really win?
I think both teams should touch the ball.
I said yesterday that the only caveat that I'd add is to force both teams to go for 2 points.
And if they are tied, go back to sudden death.

Coaching staff:
I'm not going to lie, I really wonder how all the veterans will handle this. The good thing is there aren't a lot of old vets on the team. But the seasoned vets that have been grown in the McCarthy led team will definitely be in for a bit of a culture shock. Hopefully all the players buy into it.

Re: Rodgers vs. Brady

As I watched both CCG's, I noticed that all four QB's were adept at throwing soft, touch passes with some air under them on screens and wheel routes. Those passes allowed receivers to catch them out front and in stride and turn pedestrian opportunities into large gains.

Now compare that to AR's passes when the Packers run the rare screen play. They're usually in the dirt or at the receiver's feet.

I hope this offseason sees The Man reflect upon what's happened to him as a thrower of the football, forget the years of press he's been reading and get back to working on his mechanic's, delivery and command of the entire passing game. No one can make the WOW throws you do; it's the misses on the bunny throws that are troubling.

Oh, and if it's not too much to ask, please lose the obsessive paranoia about possibly throwing a pick and the addiction to hero-plays. Move the chains, as was pointed out above.

This is your team. You're being paid like no other, and it's past time to get back to playing at the level that got you there.

One thing is for sure, with this new and youthful coaching staff plus a young GM, this is going to be an energetic bunch that can grow together and at the very least get the Packers out of the McCarthy Doldrums.

Make no mistake, there will be growing pains as the Packers field a very young team in 2019 (with the exception of Rodgers and a handful of other vets).

A winning record and a playoff berth would be a reasonable goal for this squad in 2019!

GO PACK!!

So far my biggest concern is the special teams and certain players who are always injured. We almost need to draft another shutdown corner because they are so critical to a defense. The other areas of need we all know. Many positions to be filled.

Thanks for the update Jersey Al. I watched the entire game between the Rams and Saints, because I was playing with my grandson, and feel very bad for the Saint's fans. The Chiefs/Patriots not so much. I don't see a need to change the OT rules. What I saw from the Chiefs was score quickly and give the ball back to Brady and New England..why? Yes take some time off the clock so Brady doesn't have 2+ minutes left to get a TD. You already showed the world that you couldn't stop them. Not a lot of strategic thinking by the Chiefs.

All this talk of Brees, Brady and Championship games has me wondering how we fell so far off the pace. The Packers are a mid tier team, drafting in the middle of the order these days. Is there a New Orleans style of turnaround coming or will we be pushing the big reset button in another year or two. Lot of work to be done next year.

Al - please stop leading with pictures of a bewildered Mike McCarthy lost on the sidelines. Winter is long enough as it is.

Mallory interviews for ST coach
BUT.....READ BELOW

Mallory has been coordinating special teams in the NFL since 2008. He served five years (2008-12) as the assistant special teams coordinator for the New Orleans Saints before leaving to be the coordinator for the Jaguars in 2013. He held that role for three seasons before being demoted to assistant special teams coordinator in 2017 under Joe DeCamillis.
In 2005, Mallory was retained as the defensive coordinator at Illinois by Ron Zook, the former Packers special teams coordinator. He was fired by Zook in 2006. LaFleur let Zook go after he was hired earlier this month.
WTF?

With losing comes disrespect. MM couldn't change this around. He became the target and still is. The season was on him. He got fired. But I still see how much the players played into this. Missed points are on your Qb and kicker. Teams don't advance with blown opportunities. LeFleur's coaching and staff is nothing more then a new SPIN. Their trying to wake the zombies. This team needed medics last year. They would have been better hiring an exorcist. The devil is always in the details with a new coach. The packers tried to make changes last year. And it blew up in MMs Face. I'll be looking for the boobie traps again. The pats on the back. And if the packers go below .500, do we fire the coach? Get a new QB. Get a new Kicker. Get a Rg. Get a pass Rusher. Get a Safety. Etc. Etc. People targeted MM. The excuses already look like a dump. Are we going to judge Lafleur on his play calling? No, MM was the goat. GreenBays new goats are Rodgers and Crosby. Murphy and Gute will see to that.

"Each team gets one possession on offense - if still tied, then it's sudden death"

It is that simple, right?

I have felt MM has been losing the team for years. Big signs to me were when players were instructed to perform very specific duties and they became insubordinate and defied instructions. Nothing shouts out more problems to me than that especially when they occur at very critical points in games. A coach who has control is less likely to have behavioral issues like this. The fact MM had an extra 5 or 6 assistant coaches seems now to fit with him struggling to remain control of the team. The fact the WR coach according to Rodgers had no clue what he was doing and MM kept him screams problems internally. All season I kept saying these WR's have been balling their whole life and practicing every week with Rodgers, so how difficult is it for them to learn to come back towards Rodgers in a scramble play? Well now it appears the problem 'may' very well have been with the assistant coach instructing the receivers to keep going down field. I mean what else would be the explanation? You have monster megatron TV screens on each end of the stadiums that players watch when running down field. The WR's know when the play has broken down and Rodgers is scrambling. There were huge problems going on in GB and I think more serious than most of us even realize.

Two comments. So, if teams start passing more on first down, then you'd need to have LBers who could cover, rather than those "third down specialists", correct? At least until teams started running more on first down to take advantage of LBers who are coverage aces, but not as good at run defense. The chess game continues.

Second, if you go with each team getting a possession in OT, even if the first team scores a TD, and then go to "sudden death", then its still the coin flip that gives one team the advantage. So, what has changed, other than the game getting longer?

good points Al!

"NFL teams overall averaged 7 yds per pass on 1st down, 6.6 yds on 2nd down and 5.4 on 3rd down."

While I agree that throwing more often on 1st down may be a good idea, I think this analysis conflates down with distance.

That is, it may well be that teams average more yards on first down because they are trying to get 10. On second down, they are trying to get (on average) maybe 6? And on third, maybe 3?

To really uncover the relationship between down and distance, I'd like to see a breakdown of yards gained on 1st and 10, vs. 2nd and 10, and 3rd and 10.

Interviewing Tom Quinn....SERIOUSLY

Under Quinn, the Giants’ special teams units were all over the map. According to Rick Gosselin’s annual rankings the Giants finished as high as second (in 2015) and as low as 32nd (2017). Quinn oversaw two top-five units and three top-ten squads, while seeing his groups finish in the bottom five of the NFL three times as well. Here are the Giants’ places in those rankings over Quinn’s tenure:

2007: 17th
2008: 4th
2009: 20th
2010: 30th
2011: 22nd
2012: 7th
2013: 28th
2014: 25th
2015: 2nd
2016: 18th
2017: 32nd