This is Ted Thompson’s Defense and Ted Thompson’s Season

With all the problems the Packers are facing of having to stay in the race without Aaron Rodgers and half an offensive line there is another set of problems not related to injuries on the defensive side of the ball unless you think Morgan Burnett is Aaron Rodgers and I don’t that will doom the season and snap the “coveted” playoff appearance streak.

Last week the other 10 defensive starters began the game and all 10 ended it with super undrafted free agent Kentrell Brice replacing Burnett. With “super star” Clay Matthews, suddenly “super star” Nick Perry, Pro Bowler Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, should be Pro Bowler Mike Daniels, “up-and-comer” and top draft pick Kenny Clark, top draft pick Kevin King, “suddenly “super picker” Damarious Randall and “tackling machine” Blake Martinez joined by Josh Jones, Davon House, Jake Ryan and Dean Lowry this is the defense that General Manager Ted Thompson drafted and Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers has chosen to lead the Packers to the Super Bowl.

Almost all of the backups (9-of-11) are undrafted free agents (Josh Hawkins, Lenzy Pipkins at cornerback; Marwin Evans and Jermaine Whitehead at safety; Joe Thomas at linebacker), street free agents (Quinton Dial, Ricky Jean Francios on the line and Ahmad Brooks at linebacker) and waiver acquisitions (Chris Odom at linebacker). The other 2 are No. 3 draft picks (Kyler Fackrell at linebacker and Montravius Adams on the line).

So there are no knights in white horses in the wings ready to save the Packers in the future. This is the starting defense with only Burnett and super sub Thomas out with injuries right now injuries can’t be an excuse for their level of play. And if they are then what does that say about all the high prized talent Thompson has drafted.

The starting unit along with rotation players has 5 No. 1 draft picks (Clay Matthews, Nick Perry, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Damarious Randall, Kenny Clark), 2 No. 2 picks (Kevin King, Josh Jones), 1 No. 3 pick (Morgan Burnett), and 5 No. 4 picks (Davon House, Mike Daniels, Jake Ryan, Blake Martinez, Dean Lowry) all drafted by Thompson. The other 2 Kentrell Brice and Joe Thomas are undrafted free agents signed by Thompson.

Last week the Thompson Defense was gashed for 445 yards, including 161 rushing (4.5 per carry) and 324 passing (8.3 per throw), and 25 first downs allowing a score on 5 of the 9 offensive series, including all 4 possessions in the second half when the team needed a stop to win the game. There was only 1 sack, 3 quarterback hits and 4 tackles for loss. Clutch this unit is NOT.

This high draft pick defense is currently ranked 22nd in the league giving up 348.9 yards a game, including 27th in rushing defense (125.7) and 16th in passing (223.1). The Packers are ranked 27th in sacks (12) and15th in interceptions (6). The Packers defense is the 9th most penalized in the league (429 yards).

The week before in the loss to the Vikings the defense had 0 sacks, 1 quarterback hit and 5 tackles for loss while giving up 351 total yards (112 rushing and 239 passing) to a journeyman quarterback Case Keenum.

The offense led by No. 5 draft pick Brett Hundley needs all the help it can get and sadly it won’t get any from Dom Capers’ unit. Just to ride this point to death when the Packers were leading at the half last week 14-7 the defense gave up scores on all 4 second half possessions except the last one where they kneeled down.

I bet you there is no other starting defense in the league that is totally home grown and has more top 4 draft picks (13) than the Packers. Add the 2 reserves who are No. 3 picks and that makes 15 top 4 picks on the unit. And yet this unit SUCKS and it is totally Ted Thompson’s lock, stock and barrel.

If the “Trust in Ted” crowd and their leader Larry McCarren has any sense (and they don’t) they have to realize how incompetent their god Ted Thompson really is. The rest of the “uniformed” do. We CAN see the forest for the trees, we wake up each morning and CAN smell the coffee and we CAN see beyond our noses.

The loss of Aaron Rodgers should open everyone’s eyes to the true state of the Packers and how bereft the roster is of talent and since Ted Thompson is a tyrant he alone is responsible.

The season is probably lost, so let’s not let it go for nothing. A new front office is needed for a new direction and that means a man like Dominic Olejniczak or Bob Harlen needs to step forward and lead the Board of Directors to fire CEO Mark Murphy because he is a “Tedder” and won’t fire Ted Thompson, “Ted and I, we have a great relationship. As long as he wants to continue to work, and he’s still doing a good job — and I think he still does a great job for us — we want him to continue to be our general manager. At a point he decides he doesn’t want to do it anymore for whatever reason, then we would do a search.” (07/12/17)

The time is now to take an honest evaluation of the direction the Packers are going and the loss of the indispensible Aaron Rodgers, who has masked the deficiencies of Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy and Dom Capers, allows ALL of us to wake up and smell the coffee and see that forest in spite of the trees. Let’s not waste it.