Why has the Green Bay Packers defense become one of the best in the NFL and the main reason that the Packers have won three straight games on the road and are now on their way to the Super Bowl?
Surely part of the answer to that question is the progress of their young players like free-agent cornerbacks Sam Shields and Tramon Williams.
Pro Bowler Charles Woodson is really the starting left side cornerback for the Packers, but he rarely lines up there any more. Shields and Williams are so good that Dom Capers loves to use Woodson as a safety/linebacker, so that he can wreak havoc on offenses as a blitzer and spy on running quarterbacks like Michael Vick.
Amazingly during the playoffs, Shields and Williams showed that there’s not a better set of coverage cornerbacks in the NFL.
Shields is a rookie, who was a wide receiver for three years at the University of Miami, then was switched to defense as a senior. The Packers signed him and the Packers defensive coaches developed him into a player.
Williams played his college ball at Louisiana Tech. He was cut by the Houston Texans at the end of training camp in 2006. In November of that year, Williams was signed by the Packers. In 2007 he made the Green Bay roster and contributed on special teams and as a nickel and dime back.
In 2008, he played in every game and started nine of them. Williams was third in the NFC in interceptions with five picks and he had 52 tackles with 15 passes defensed.
In 2009, he started 10 games in place of Al Harris, who was injured. Williams picked off four passes and made 55 tackles with 14 passes defensed.
In 2010 Williams became a starter along with Charles Woodson. He picked off six passes in the regular season and has added three more in the playoffs. He became a Pro Bowler when Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel bowed out of the Pro Bowl, but he can’t go either because of the upcoming Super Bowl.
Williams picked off a pass by Michael Vick in the end zone to seal the Packers win over the Eagles. He picked off another pass in the end zone against the Falcons, then hit Atlanta with a kidney punch when he intercepted Matt Ryan’s pass with seconds to play at halftime and returned it for a touchdown to take any hope of winning out of the Georgia Dome.
In the NFC Championship game, Shields picked off two passes as he had blanket coverage on Bears speedy wide receiver Johnny Knox. One of the picks stopped a drive at halftime and other interception sealed their trip to the Super Bowl.
Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers leaves these two youngsters in man-to-man coverage on all receivers. They’re both very fast and capable of running with the fastest receivers in the NFL. In addition, we’ve seen that they play the ball in the air very well.
Much credit must be given to the Packers player personnel department and the defensive coaches who have developed that talent.
Well when you practice against some of the best wide recievers you get better results as a defender…… They have Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, Jones, and a good slot reciever in jordy Nelson…… We would have put up a better outing then Atl. and Chi…….. I think the Eagles with a young core of players learned alot this season as far as where there talent stands….. We defended there recievers well and Aaron Rodgers didnt scorch us for a ton of yards……..
the Eagles have D-Jax, Maclin, Avant and Cooper…. no slouches there…..it really comes down to scouting…. the Packers continue to draft great and get production out of their picks….the Eagles continue to draft garbage on the defensive side of the ball….
Their scouting department must be the best in the NFL. You put 15 guys on IR and go to the Superbowl? That’s unheard of. Our personel dept has gotten alot better since Heckert left. The fullback and runningback pick ups were great and the Rookie Linebacker and Saftetys played well. Look forward to the draft. Just hope the don’t trade out of the 1st or 2nd round. If they do, then it’s still bargain basement eagles playing games with the fans trying to save a buck.
Practicing against good players doesn’t necessarily make you a better football player. You need good coaching to develop players. A coach should at least make his players play smarter if they know what they’re doing. The Eagles have had too many players who just go out and play without being prepared with thorough knowledge of the opponent.
I think the best all-around Coached teams in the NFL are pretty obvious..
#1) Patriots
#2) Steelers
#3) Colts
#4) Ravens
#5) Now the Packers, who have surpassed the Eagles, who have slipped each year Defensivley for a while now..
I think the Eagles and Oakland Raiders have consistently lead the league in Peanalties over the
last 10 Season.. How does this occur if you have a good Coaching Staff with smart, bright, good players… The Eagles are more talented that people think, they are not Coached very well on both sides of the ball ,..
GCobb — name them.
Paulman,
Your list looks good. I might make a few changes but overall those teams are all very well coached. In my opinion I feel as though you could make an argument for several teams and as a result making there no clear top 5. A team you left out though is NO, they are hard to ignore in my opinion w/ the success they’ve experienced and how highly regarded Payton is league wide. In addition, KC has to be considered with the changes they’ve made in the last year, which has made them one of the more decorative coaching staffs in the league. In no particular order I’d say 10 best are Phila, NE, Pitt, SD, KC, Chic, NO, Balt, NYJ, GB. Love to hear what G thinks. Not quite sure on Indy mainly because its hard to differentiate between how much of their success is the coaching staff or Manning’s intangibles on the field.
Also, with Williams and Shields FAs this year, assuming the CBA is sorted out, what do you guys think is the chance GB lets one of them walk? I’m sure Shields would be cheaper to keep for GB than Williams for obvious reasons. If were pursuing a DC from GB, I’m sure he’d love to bring Williams with him to team up with Samuel. And even though I don’t care, you know our FO cares about money so that being said he’d be a lot more affordable than Asomugha or Cromartie.
To BF09
Shield’s is a pure Rookie, there’s no way GB let’s either one of them walk for they will be the conerstone of that Seconday for the next 6-8-10 years..(Remember that Woodson is not getting any younger and probably has 2 top years left and really plays more in the slot and as a rover than an outside CB anymore..) .
I did mean to put NO on that list..(S Peyton is an excellent coach) and you could probably add Atlanta to it also..The Chargers I think have relied on more talent than good Coaching in recent yers .. I think N Turner Coaching ability as a HC is very questionable at best, their Special Teams units alone cost them at least 2 games this season.. Norv Turner is excellent at Offense, as a HC, not so good..
agree that the Eagles defensive coaches for the past 4 seasons were all not qualified and absolutely appaling as coaches and stole money from the organization….look at the LB and DL coaches….pathetic wastes who never did anything at the college level or NFL level… Reid is to blame.
and don’t forget the 1 year wonder in former Secondary Coach Bill Stewart who coached last season and was probably only hired since he worked with the Cowboys for a few years and could possibly help COAch Ar/Mcdermott when facing them and then at the end of the 2009 Season it was the Cowboys who knew all of the Eagles plays … ridiculous
Coach Stewart did a poor job with the Cowboys and then with the Eagles . what a turkey he was