I Give Up

Dom Capers cheering my giving up

One of my missions in my Green Bay life is to see Dom Capers on another team or at the very least not the Packers Defensive Coordinator any more. I have stated that fact over and over and over again, but now I am stating a new fact that this will be my last word on the subject until I can sing to rooftops, "Ding, Dong, the Dom is Dead."

 

I may not like Capers and his too complicated schemes, but I do give credit where credit is due and the defensive game against Seahawks last Sunday night reminded me of one of my favorite defensive coordinators Fritz Shurmur's games and that is the highest compliment I can give.

 

The hallmark's of Capers reign of terror in Green Bay has been the inability to stop the run. the inability to cover a tight end and the inability to play coverage overall. Against the Seahawks the scheme Capers used stopped Marshawn Lynch (however, age and hubris may finally be catching up with him like Brett Favre suddenly turning old between January 24th and September 9th of 2010) and for the most part played good coverage.

 

The game I'm referring to was played on January 6th, 1996 in San Francisco - the year before the Super Bowl. The 49ers had one of the best passing attacks in all of football (channeling Chris Collinsworth again) with Steve Young, Jerry "NFL's All-Time Leading Receiver" Rice and John "The Catch" Taylor.

To make a long story short, the Packers didn't play bump-and-run with cornerbacks Craig Newsome and Doug Evans, but the only way to beat this high-powered offense was to take the wide receivers out of their comfort level, so in the span of one week Shurmur totally changed his philosophy and had the cornerbacks play right across from Rice and Taylor to chuck them as they left the line. It worked with the underdog Packers winning 27-17.

 

What happened last Sunday night wasn't that dramatic, but the defense did its part in winning that game. I have to tip my hat (if I wore a hat) to Capers for not playing prevent in the fourth quarter. I still have problems with Capers not making adjustments at halftime while the other team always does, which is what happened when the Seahawks took the lead in the third quarter, but it didn't lead to a loss, so that turned out to be minor annoyance. I only mention it now, since I won't be criticizing Capers any more this season.

 

Last year's playoff game Capers also had the Packers playing great defense, but they took their foot off the gas in the final minutes. Since Coach Mike McCarthy won't fire him I give up and will never call for his firing any more.

 

The Rest of the Story

 

Super Bowl I ring

 

That has thrown me off my game. I had other stuff to say, but I seem to be having trouble...............now I remember. The Packers had their annual Alumni Game last Sunday with several Packers Hall of Fame and members of the Super Bowl I (or as it was called at the time the AFL-NFL World Championship) team serving in Sunday’s Ambassador Line during pregame festivities, and then introduced from the field during halftime.

 

Empty seats at AFL-NFL Championship

The Super Bowl I alumni stayed in town and will introduced again Monday night when the Packers play their opponent in that game the Kansas City Chiefs. I was going to blast the Packers for holding the reunion of the Super Bowl team the week before playing the same team, but it seems they had thought about after all. So my bad.

 

Jim Taylor and Forrest Gregg are in Green Bay

Like I said, this is my tribute to RC, the TIT crowd and all you rosy glasses fair weather Packer fans who hate anyone who criticizes the Packers. Like I said earlier I give up and I hope you enjoyed it.