I would really like to know what you think on all or some of these topics…. go ahead and leave a comment below!
Wisconsin Badgers Basketball: In the big game of the week, the Badgers failed to show up to a non-hostile environment….. Gard once again showing perplexing decisions in playing Davison over Potter….. Davison was giving it up again on defense and was 1 for 7 in the 1st half on offense…. Davison repeatedly trying to ram the ball inside. Gard is incapable of realizing that you want the BIG people to get the ball inside and the SMALL people should mainly play outside. We lack any kind of inside back outside plan….. it is either 1) Drive it inside and that is where the ball stays or 2) Pass it around the perimeter and take a three…… There is no throw it inside, kick it back outside or pass it to another inside player.
In the other game of the week, the Badgers hang on in the soul sucking arena at Rutgers….. The Badgers offense has really been plagued with no inside game with Reuvers in some kind of funk but I wonder if it is a sign of the bigger problem with the Gard offense of having big players play outside while the small players go inside?
When Potter and Reuvers are off their game then you have to turn to the offensive black hole known as Brad Davison……… 3 for 12 ……….. at what point do you ask yourself if you are Gard is Davison helping or hurting you? You have to ask how bad the Freshman that arrived in Madison have to be to not get more playing time or usurp some of the current players? Or Gard just does not want to try other concepts……… Kind of like MM cutting Taysom Hill who every Packers fan I talked with knew he was better than Brent Hundley but since Hundley was MM pick, there was nothing anybody could have done to override that decision.
Green Bay Packers: So the Packers were able to pull one out against the Rams Saturday night. The offense was moving for the most part besides the two big drops that could have made the score worse. The defense continues to be up and down…… we play this off the ball “bend don’t break” style….. but I have to ask you…. have you seen a Super Bowl winner with the “Bend don’t Break” style? No …. do you see a team win the Super Bowl with a 2 Defensive Line scheme? No……. We had this scheme in 2014 and we know how that ended up. You win by playing though, opportunistic and in your face defense. Nothing draws my ire more is when we blitz with 4, 5 or 6 but then play 10 yards off the ball across the board…… if you have faith in your defense, you should be able to play close on the WR’s because if the blitz gets home the ball will be coming out quick else the QB will have to eat it and take the sack. By playing 10 yards off, you are negating the blitz as the QB will just hit his quick/hot route.
The other possible obstacle could be the special teams….. a bad snap on the extra point from our DRAFTED long snapper…. I’m already on this player because we had to draft a long snapper when you traditionally should not have to…… not necessarily his fault this is more of the organization drafting a punter and long snapper. These are positions you don’t need to draft as you need to just find the 32nd best player in America or even THE WORLD. I can stomach it if it is a 7th round pick and all our other needs are covered.
Milwaukee Bucks: So the Bucks have won a few since the last posting but issues remain on the horizon…. the Bucks are winning on skill along which will work for about 2/3 of the league but you need actual plays to beat the top 1/3 consistently.
Milwaukee Brewers: So the Brewers for whatever reason are bringing back Hader on a 1 year / $6.6 Million….. The Brewers severely overpaid for him. This is a pitcher who pitches only a reputation and not on skill….. he only throws about 30% of his pitches in the strike zone (League Average ~50%)….. It baffles me that more teams don’t just sit there at the plate and let him walk them like the Nationals did a couple years ago in the Wild Card game or the time the Pirates did last year when he walked 5. I know that it is difficult to say “Just sit there” but that is what these hitting coaches should be telling their players until there are two strikes (if you get there)
Getting Woodruff at $3.2 Million is a STEAL for the Brewers and he is more than worth it. Woodruff can pitch and hit so 3.2 is great.
Other Thoughts:
Other Thought #1: Mike McCarthy doing what Mike McCarthy does best…….. evade to cover his own issues. Sure you can say that injuries derailed the season but since his Super Bowl victory, there has always been an excuse. Additionally it seems that when he is coaching that injuries increase to key personal go up (I have no numbers to prove that)
- 2018 – WR Cobb, LB Ryan , WR Adams, CB King
- 2017 – The long snapper….. that is right MM could not keep his LS healthy, OL Barclay, DL Adams, CB Goodson, CB King, QB Rodgers, OL Spriggs
- 2016 – RB Lacy, OL Lindsley, CB Shields, OL Tretter
- 2015 – WR Nelson, DL Boyd, LB Barrington (who was not that good but was MM lap dog along with Jarrett Bush), The long snapper (again), RB/WR Montgomery, TE Quarless
- 2014 – OL Barclay, DL Raji, LB Mulumba, LB Palmer, OL Tretter
This is only the last 5 years of MM reign in Green Bay…. if you look at 2020, the only players that got hurt that were or were going to figure David Bakhtiari who got hurt in practice ahead of the Week 17 matchup.
Mike McCarthy has his built in excuse for this year with the injuries and already has his excuse ahead of next season as he will say “It is the first year of my new defensive coordinator”. Players were already complaining early in the season that MM and staff “totally unprepared and claimed that they weren’t good at their jobs”. With Ted Thompson might have put up with this in Green Bay….. Jerry Jones will not.
Other Thoughts #2: Just a quick thought, in college football, it is time for college to implement the illegal man downfield rule for punts like the pro’s. In the last decade the number of the “rugby” style punts has increased to the point where few punts are returned anymore.
A few thoughts from Brian 