The Ice Bowl, Part 2: The Official COWBOYS (#3) @ PACKERS (#2) NFC Divisional Playoffs Thread
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philmonroe
Superstar
BigE214
Future GOAT
All I want is two sounds halves of football
Spade
Superstar
18 degrees at kickoff....With GB having Lacy and Dallas having Murray and if the wind is blowing, I think the new generation is about to be introduced to old smash mouth football.
This game will be a classic 
such insight on the game
Cause of conference records Dallas was screwed. Pack lost to Seahawks while Dallas beat them and all finished with the same records. Dallas has the best victory of the season so far
Bboystyle
Bang Bang Packers gang!
ok
Make up rules to try to make your team look better brehs.
Since DAL lost some depth on the dline and with our offensive line ballin
We may have to play by their strategy and keep Romo off the field
The problem is our offense is efficient and scores quickly
The Bears ran all over us early in the year and we beat them by 21 cause of scoring every drive and a couple INTs. The Cowboys pass rush and pass defense is their major hole. Conversely our pass rush and pass defense has been the strength of our D
Romo has only thrown 9 INTs but if he chooses to throw some up instead of taking a sack our guys have to catch it
For the Boys fans, this is a good read on our secondary which is the strength of our defense. Your WRs will have one on one opportunities. But our depth in the secondary is one of the best in football. One safety deep. Shields and Williams will be playing press man to man on the outside.
Packers' defense transformed by cornerbacks' coverage
Mark Hoffman
Packers cornerback Sam Shields is often alone in man coverage on the right side of the defense. He has allowed 9 1/2 passes of 20 yards or more this season.
By Bob McGinn of the Journal Sentinel
Jan. 3, 2015
Green Bay — When the Green Bay Packers' defense was at low ebb two months ago, adjusting the role of Clay Matthews and several other players wasn't the team's only major response.
Heaping more responsibility on the secondary, especially the cornerbacks, was the other.
At times, the Packers' marvelous depth at cornerback has gone underappreciated. So, too, has the Packers' ability to plan man-to-man coverage and shut down even the top receivers.
Green Bay's remarkable rise as a run defense can be attributed to many factors, particularly using Matthews at inside linebacker while at the same time reducing the role of A.J. Hawk.
Just as critical has been the Packers' decision from Game 9 on to sell out stopping the run.
Defensive coordinator Dom Capers acknowledged he generally has played with just one safety deep (usually Ha Ha Clinton-Dix) and one safety at or near the line of scrimmage (usually Morgan Burnett) since the bye.
The Packers tried to play defense early with a seven-man box. They found out that nose tackle B.J. Raji was missed, the defensive line was ordinary and the inside linebackers were borderline awful.
At the same time, Capers made the decision to blitz even more than he had in the first eight games.
No team in the league has two more highly paid cornerbacks than the Packers. Sam Shields' four-year deal signed in March is tied for sixth at the position in average salary per year at $9.75 million, and Tramon Williams' expiring contract averaging $8.25 million ranks 13th.
Shields, Williams and backups Davon House, Micah Hyde and Casey Hayward accepted the challenge, put on the saddle and in some ways carried the defense back to respectability and beyond.
"I really like our corners," coach Mike McCarthy said last week. "I think what we ask them to do and the confidence we show in them is reflected in how we call the game.
"We put them out there on islands and they do a great job playing to their leverage. The coordination between our safeties and corners has really improved. It's a younger group that's continuing to get better."
The eight-man box gave the improving Burnett the chance to register a career-high 99 solo tackles and a team-high 125 total tackles.
Week after week, the Packers attacked the run. Pierced for 100 yards or more by Marshawn Lynch, Matt Forte and Mark Ingram in Games 1-8, the Packers allowed just two rushers to gain more than 60 in Games 9-16 (LeSean McCoy, 88; Fred Jackson, 71).
By the same token, it left Williams on the left outside and Shields on the right outside often to fend for themselves knowing their only help would be in the deep post area from Clinton-Dix, the single-high safety.
At the same time, Capers increased his frequency of blitzing. His five-man pressure numbers on pass plays went from 36.2% in Games 1-8 to 39.3% in Games 9-16, and his all-out pressure (more than five rushers) rate almost doubled from 5.7% to 9.2%.
"Obviously, the more you pressure, the more the corners become a premium," said Capers. "They've got to be able to run with the receivers. The more single-high that you play, it puts more pressure on the corners. If you go split-safety, you take some of the pressure off the corners."
Late in games, including Miami and Buffalo, the Packers felt confident enough in their cornerbacks to play Cover 0. That means there is no safety help.
The 39.3% is Capers' second-highest blitz rate in his six seasons. The 9.2% all-out rate is markedly higher than his previous high of 6% last year.
According to STATs, the Packers' defense ranked sixth in the NFL blitzing on passes. From 2009-'13, the Packers under Capers were heavy blitzers, evidenced by rankings of sixth, tied for seventh, second, eighth and sixth.
Generally speaking, the Packers are in man coverage with a deep safety on blitzes. Capers still refers to many of his pressures as "fire zones," but my definition of a zone blitz includes five or more players rushing despite the fact one of the front people drops into coverage.
Capers zone-blitzed on 23.7% of passes in 2010. Since then, the number has decreased each year to a low of 5.6% this season.
"We have fire-zone coverage principles where obviously there's the combination of an extra rusher," said McCarthy. "You'd probably view it more as man but there's some match and some help that's included in that.
"We definitely put a lot on our guys if you want to break them all down and say, 'Times locked up.'"
It should go without saying that Capers couldn't begin to play such daring defense with zone-type corners.
"The decision you have to make is, can we break the quarterback's rhythm and force him to throw the ball on a time clock as opposed to if they block those things up and you leave those guys hung out there one-on-one?" said Capers. "If you can't, you become vulnerable to big plays."
Kansas City might have played even more man coverage than the Packers. New England played a lot, too.
The difference is the Chiefs ranked 22nd in blitzing at 25.4% per STATS and the Patriots were 31st at 19.7%.
Joe Whitt, the Packers' cornerbacks coach and seventh-year assistant, constantly tells his players there can be no excuses and that the buck stops with them.
"Coach (Whitt) tells us in the meeting room, if there's any pressure on defense, it's going to be on us," said Jarrett Bush, the ninth-year cornerback. "He says that a lot."
Green Bay has allowed 50 completions of 20 yards or more, significant improvement from 61 last season and 71 in 2011. Of the 50, 34% came with Capers pressures.
In a risk-and-reward business, the Packers trust their cornerbacks. The numbers suggest that trust was well-placed.
Perhaps the best measure of a pass defense is average gain allowed per pass (net yards divided by attempts and sacks). The Packers finished eighth, a continuation of topsy-turvy performance reflected by rankings of 25th in 2013, 7th in '12 and 32nd in '11.
The cornerbacks did it with a pass rush that ranked 12th, down from sixth a year ago.
Darren Perry, the sixth-year safeties coach, and Whitt have been preaching the anti-big play message since spring. Eight wide receivers had 100-yard games against Green Bay in 2013, including six in the last nine games.
That number has shrunk to three this season. Julio Jones gained more receiving yards (259) against the Packers than anyone in franchise history, but other than that the top yardage game by a wide receiver was Brandon Marshall's 112.
Unlike the last few years, Capers didn't match cornerbacks against Calvin Johnson or anyone else. Williams and Shields just played their sides.
Williams, with five passes of 20 yards or more allowed, has had a better year than Shields, who has given up 9 1/2. Hayward has yielded two and House 1 1/2.
At safety, the allowances were 8 ½ for Clinton-Dix, 2½ for Burnett and one for Sean Richardson.
Hyde gave up five 20-plus plays, some as a safety early in the season and some as the nickel and dime back later.
If we split Hyde's yield evenly between cornerback and safety, it would give the cornerbacks responsibility for 20½ and the safeties for 14 ½.
In the terrible coverage seasons of 2013 and 2011, the cornerbacks gave up 28 ½ and 37 ½, respectively.
When it comes to receptions for more than 35 yards, the Packers were fit to be tied a year ago allowing 14. That number was 10 this season, equaling the regular-season low under Capers.
Of those 10 bombs that averaged 46.4 yards, five came on five-man pressures and five came on four-man rushes. The cornerbacks were charged with 3½, including three on Shields, and the safeties were charged with 6½, including three on Clinton-Dix.
The Packers held up one-on-one without fouling, too.
Despite the hue and cry of new rules emphases, the cornerbacks adjusted beautifully to the ticky-tacky world they must live in.
There were just 13 penalties called on the cornerbacks. Shields' only penalty was for unnecessary roughness.
"Shields can have some undisciplined moments, some head-scratching moments," an executive in personnel for an NFC North team said last month. "But as far as a pure cover corner, a guy that can make plays on the ball, I do like him.
"It gives you more flexibility to do things with your linebackers and D-line and safeties when you have a cover corner that can match up."
Shields missed too many tackles (11) as well, whereas Williams has eight after missing just two in Games 9-16. Together with House and Hayward, they are the lithe, speedy style of cornerbacks that Capers needs to operate his type of aggressive defense.
The Packers, like many teams, play some Cover 2 on third and long with both safeties deep. They also mix in Cover 3, with the cornerbacks on the perimeter backing off at the snap to form a three-deep zone alongside the middle safety.
"We've played more (Cover 3) this year," said McCarthy. "Absolutely. Which is a good compliment to the corners to be man and zone...in zone to play with leverage and have more vision to the quarterback."
So let's add it up.
The talent, speed, size and nerve of their cornerbacks enabled the Packers to turn around an inept first-half performance against the run by permitting Capers to remove a safety from coverage and consistently creep him into the box.
At the same time, Capers blitzed even more knowing his cornerbacks would hold tight regardless of coverage or opponent.
That's the definition of a job well done.
Packers' defense transformed by cornerbacks' coverage
Mark Hoffman
Packers cornerback Sam Shields is often alone in man coverage on the right side of the defense. He has allowed 9 1/2 passes of 20 yards or more this season.
By Bob McGinn of the Journal Sentinel
Jan. 3, 2015
Green Bay — When the Green Bay Packers' defense was at low ebb two months ago, adjusting the role of Clay Matthews and several other players wasn't the team's only major response.
Heaping more responsibility on the secondary, especially the cornerbacks, was the other.
At times, the Packers' marvelous depth at cornerback has gone underappreciated. So, too, has the Packers' ability to plan man-to-man coverage and shut down even the top receivers.
Green Bay's remarkable rise as a run defense can be attributed to many factors, particularly using Matthews at inside linebacker while at the same time reducing the role of A.J. Hawk.
Just as critical has been the Packers' decision from Game 9 on to sell out stopping the run.
Defensive coordinator Dom Capers acknowledged he generally has played with just one safety deep (usually Ha Ha Clinton-Dix) and one safety at or near the line of scrimmage (usually Morgan Burnett) since the bye.
The Packers tried to play defense early with a seven-man box. They found out that nose tackle B.J. Raji was missed, the defensive line was ordinary and the inside linebackers were borderline awful.
At the same time, Capers made the decision to blitz even more than he had in the first eight games.
No team in the league has two more highly paid cornerbacks than the Packers. Sam Shields' four-year deal signed in March is tied for sixth at the position in average salary per year at $9.75 million, and Tramon Williams' expiring contract averaging $8.25 million ranks 13th.
Shields, Williams and backups Davon House, Micah Hyde and Casey Hayward accepted the challenge, put on the saddle and in some ways carried the defense back to respectability and beyond.
"I really like our corners," coach Mike McCarthy said last week. "I think what we ask them to do and the confidence we show in them is reflected in how we call the game.
"We put them out there on islands and they do a great job playing to their leverage. The coordination between our safeties and corners has really improved. It's a younger group that's continuing to get better."
The eight-man box gave the improving Burnett the chance to register a career-high 99 solo tackles and a team-high 125 total tackles.
Week after week, the Packers attacked the run. Pierced for 100 yards or more by Marshawn Lynch, Matt Forte and Mark Ingram in Games 1-8, the Packers allowed just two rushers to gain more than 60 in Games 9-16 (LeSean McCoy, 88; Fred Jackson, 71).
By the same token, it left Williams on the left outside and Shields on the right outside often to fend for themselves knowing their only help would be in the deep post area from Clinton-Dix, the single-high safety.
At the same time, Capers increased his frequency of blitzing. His five-man pressure numbers on pass plays went from 36.2% in Games 1-8 to 39.3% in Games 9-16, and his all-out pressure (more than five rushers) rate almost doubled from 5.7% to 9.2%.
"Obviously, the more you pressure, the more the corners become a premium," said Capers. "They've got to be able to run with the receivers. The more single-high that you play, it puts more pressure on the corners. If you go split-safety, you take some of the pressure off the corners."
Late in games, including Miami and Buffalo, the Packers felt confident enough in their cornerbacks to play Cover 0. That means there is no safety help.
The 39.3% is Capers' second-highest blitz rate in his six seasons. The 9.2% all-out rate is markedly higher than his previous high of 6% last year.
According to STATs, the Packers' defense ranked sixth in the NFL blitzing on passes. From 2009-'13, the Packers under Capers were heavy blitzers, evidenced by rankings of sixth, tied for seventh, second, eighth and sixth.
Generally speaking, the Packers are in man coverage with a deep safety on blitzes. Capers still refers to many of his pressures as "fire zones," but my definition of a zone blitz includes five or more players rushing despite the fact one of the front people drops into coverage.
Capers zone-blitzed on 23.7% of passes in 2010. Since then, the number has decreased each year to a low of 5.6% this season.
"We have fire-zone coverage principles where obviously there's the combination of an extra rusher," said McCarthy. "You'd probably view it more as man but there's some match and some help that's included in that.
"We definitely put a lot on our guys if you want to break them all down and say, 'Times locked up.'"
It should go without saying that Capers couldn't begin to play such daring defense with zone-type corners.
"The decision you have to make is, can we break the quarterback's rhythm and force him to throw the ball on a time clock as opposed to if they block those things up and you leave those guys hung out there one-on-one?" said Capers. "If you can't, you become vulnerable to big plays."
Kansas City might have played even more man coverage than the Packers. New England played a lot, too.
The difference is the Chiefs ranked 22nd in blitzing at 25.4% per STATS and the Patriots were 31st at 19.7%.
Joe Whitt, the Packers' cornerbacks coach and seventh-year assistant, constantly tells his players there can be no excuses and that the buck stops with them.
"Coach (Whitt) tells us in the meeting room, if there's any pressure on defense, it's going to be on us," said Jarrett Bush, the ninth-year cornerback. "He says that a lot."
Green Bay has allowed 50 completions of 20 yards or more, significant improvement from 61 last season and 71 in 2011. Of the 50, 34% came with Capers pressures.
In a risk-and-reward business, the Packers trust their cornerbacks. The numbers suggest that trust was well-placed.
Perhaps the best measure of a pass defense is average gain allowed per pass (net yards divided by attempts and sacks). The Packers finished eighth, a continuation of topsy-turvy performance reflected by rankings of 25th in 2013, 7th in '12 and 32nd in '11.
The cornerbacks did it with a pass rush that ranked 12th, down from sixth a year ago.
Darren Perry, the sixth-year safeties coach, and Whitt have been preaching the anti-big play message since spring. Eight wide receivers had 100-yard games against Green Bay in 2013, including six in the last nine games.
That number has shrunk to three this season. Julio Jones gained more receiving yards (259) against the Packers than anyone in franchise history, but other than that the top yardage game by a wide receiver was Brandon Marshall's 112.
Unlike the last few years, Capers didn't match cornerbacks against Calvin Johnson or anyone else. Williams and Shields just played their sides.
Williams, with five passes of 20 yards or more allowed, has had a better year than Shields, who has given up 9 1/2. Hayward has yielded two and House 1 1/2.
At safety, the allowances were 8 ½ for Clinton-Dix, 2½ for Burnett and one for Sean Richardson.
Hyde gave up five 20-plus plays, some as a safety early in the season and some as the nickel and dime back later.
If we split Hyde's yield evenly between cornerback and safety, it would give the cornerbacks responsibility for 20½ and the safeties for 14 ½.
In the terrible coverage seasons of 2013 and 2011, the cornerbacks gave up 28 ½ and 37 ½, respectively.
When it comes to receptions for more than 35 yards, the Packers were fit to be tied a year ago allowing 14. That number was 10 this season, equaling the regular-season low under Capers.
Of those 10 bombs that averaged 46.4 yards, five came on five-man pressures and five came on four-man rushes. The cornerbacks were charged with 3½, including three on Shields, and the safeties were charged with 6½, including three on Clinton-Dix.
The Packers held up one-on-one without fouling, too.
Despite the hue and cry of new rules emphases, the cornerbacks adjusted beautifully to the ticky-tacky world they must live in.
There were just 13 penalties called on the cornerbacks. Shields' only penalty was for unnecessary roughness.
"Shields can have some undisciplined moments, some head-scratching moments," an executive in personnel for an NFC North team said last month. "But as far as a pure cover corner, a guy that can make plays on the ball, I do like him.
"It gives you more flexibility to do things with your linebackers and D-line and safeties when you have a cover corner that can match up."
Shields missed too many tackles (11) as well, whereas Williams has eight after missing just two in Games 9-16. Together with House and Hayward, they are the lithe, speedy style of cornerbacks that Capers needs to operate his type of aggressive defense.
The Packers, like many teams, play some Cover 2 on third and long with both safeties deep. They also mix in Cover 3, with the cornerbacks on the perimeter backing off at the snap to form a three-deep zone alongside the middle safety.
"We've played more (Cover 3) this year," said McCarthy. "Absolutely. Which is a good compliment to the corners to be man and zone...in zone to play with leverage and have more vision to the quarterback."
So let's add it up.
The talent, speed, size and nerve of their cornerbacks enabled the Packers to turn around an inept first-half performance against the run by permitting Capers to remove a safety from coverage and consistently creep him into the box.
At the same time, Capers blitzed even more knowing his cornerbacks would hold tight regardless of coverage or opponent.
That's the definition of a job well done.