A Long Way From Lambeau
Changing In The Bays
by Mark Lyne-Austen
5/11/2009
So Brett Favre walked into his former home and walked out with a key divisional win, 4 Touchdowns, and knowing exactly what he has done to his legacy in the eastern Wisconsin area. What the performance showed most clearly though was the difference between a good team ready to win it all now and a decent team in the middle of a transition. That transition has nothing to do with Brett Favre, it has to do with the hallmark of every successful Green Bay team through the decades – defense.
Switching schemes is always a difficult process and the defensive transition the Green Bay Packers are going through at the moment is a clear example of some of the positives and weaknesses of making a big move. The hiring of 3-4 defensive guru Dom Capers to run the unit was a direct response to a 6-10 season in 2008 that saw the defense exposed repeatedly. In particular the Packers in 2008 were unable to stop the run and ranked 26th against the ground attack. What the team that year did do exceptionally well was scoring on defense and special teams with defensive backs the strength of the team as a whole.
At the midway point of the 2009 season the new scheme developing under Dom Capers has changed the defensive approach radically and transformed the team into a run stuffing force despite Minnesota Vikings superstar Adrian Petersen managing nearly 100 yards. In making this move, the team now use a primarily zone-based scheme that changes the focus of playmaking away from the defensive backs, in particular at corner, and towards the linebackers. Why transitions can be unpredictable can be shown in the example of Aaron Kampman and Clay Matthews.
Aaron Kampman is an elite 4-3 defensive end. Kampman hit opposition quarterbacks for 47 sacks during the 2006, 2007, and 2008 seasons. Learning and playing a new position is not easy. There have been numerous examples of college ends successfully converting into outside linebackers in the 3-4 system but so far Kampman has struggled, not least because he lacks the lateral agility and straight line speed to be effective in coverage. On the other hand, the formation suits rookie Clay Matthews perfectly. A contender and on current form probable runner up for defensive rookie of the year, Matthews has the size, shape, and speed to be a dangerous weapon in a 3-4 scheme.
The problem for the Packers is that Matthews as a rookie is just the start of the transition. Existing experienced players that do not fit the new formation will not produce the same results and it takes time to build a team in a new image. The play of the defensive line has been powerful against the run but it has come at the cost of struggling against the pass where most of the Packers playmakers are located. The transition into zone and away from bumping the receiver at the line of scrimmage and fighting for the ball has not kept the interceptions away but against the Vikings the defensive backs were bystanders for much of the proceedings.
Next up for Green Bay is a match against a team in a different kind of transition in the form of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The newly installed worst team in the NFL meet their former NFC Central rivals after a week off to cope with the jet lag from a dismal outing in London. The Buccaneers are at the start of a radical overhaul of their entire franchise. Having lost standout defensive coordinator Monte Kiffen and sacked the team's only Super Bowl winning coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen. The firing of offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski just before the start of the season was not part of a recipe for stability. First year head coach Raheem Morris is truly up against it and recent results have not been favourable.
Perhaps the only positive to come out of the London game for the Bucs was the flamboyance of some of their fans including those from the Netherlands. The team will have won few more though with their poor showing at the third international series game. In 7 straight losses so far Tampa Bay has only been truly competitive against the dire Washington Redskins as the second youngest team in the league attempt to find a win somewhere. The transition from old to young was rapid. The cutting of Jeff Garcia, Derrick Brooks, Warrick Dunn, Joey Galloway, Ike Hilliard, and Cato June was probably the right thing for the future of the franchise but has made the 2009 season an uphill struggle.
The Bucs hope the future of their franchise is in Josh Freeman as their first rounder is anticipated to make a first start against the Packers next Sunday but it will take more than the throwback uniforms they will wear to improve. The Packers are struggling with parts of a transition and fighting to go from being a decent team to a good one. The Buccaneers are overhauling everything and thanks to St Louis winning in Detroit and Tennessee going back to their strengths against Jacksonville, Tampa is now the favourite to select first in the 2010 draft.
Change is a positive thing and a crucial part of the blueprint for success in the NFL but an overhaul is a difficult thing in the shot term. Aaron Rodgers found that out while watching his team lose to a hated divisional rival, a blow perhaps more painful than 311lb Minnesota defensive lineman Kevin Williams landing on the back of his foot. For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans the big changes have brought a lot of suffering so far this season and it may not get better. The team does not have an obviously winnable game the rest of the season and will have to spring an upset to avoid going winless through the entire season. The young Bucs are a project for the future but they will be looking across Raymond James Stadium next week to see how hard it is to move up the NFL pecking order when they take on the youngest team in the league, the Packers.
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