Vorstellung » Wade Phillips and the Patriots’ coaching staff put together

virtuoso performances on Sunday. For the Packers to get back to a Super Bowl Cheap Jace Sternberger Jersey , they have to fortify the defense for playoff runs."Few fanbases take a Patriots Super Bowl win more personally than Cheesehead Nation. They look at what Tom Brady does and (rightly) believe, ‘Our quarterback can do that. And look at all the things our guy can do that Brady can’t. Why do they win all the time? Why is Brady the GOAT? It should be Rodgers.’ Sunday provided the explanation, one that Green Bay Packers fans ultimately didn’t need at this point because they already know: defense still matters in the playoffs and the Packers have let their quarterback down over and over in the postseason. Since 2009, the Packers have given up 40+ in the playoffs three times and allowed 37 in another contest. They’ve lost four times on the final play, and three contests in overtime.In other words, the Packers’ seven playoff losses under Rodgers fall into one of two categories: the defense got absolutely thrashed (‘09, ‘11, ‘12, ‘16) or gave up the game-winning score after Rodgers tied the game (‘13, ‘14, ‘15). The only playoff loss ending with the Packers having a chance to drive for the game-winning score was the 2009 game that ended on a fumble-return touchdown (and a non-called penalty every bit as egregious as the missed pass interference in the Saints-Rams game). Brady and the Patriots maintained a dynastic stranglehold on the league because their defense, particularly in the playoffs, comes through. They have the best coach in NFL history to thank for that, as their actual squad doesn’t have considerable blue chip talent. Yet in the Brady/Belichick era, the average points required to win a playoff game has been 21.62. For the Packers under Rodgers, it’s 25.2.If that difference doesn’t seem huge, remember the Patriots won three Super Bowls and lost another by three-point margins. The Packers lost to the 49ers by three at home and beat the Cowboys by three on the road in the playoffs. Three points in a playoff game means everything.And the Patriots haven’t even had the kind ultra-elite defenses a team like the Seahawks boasted over the last five years. In the playoffs under Russell Wilson, Seattle’s average required points to win in the playoffs sits at just 20, a number Rodgers and company have never failed to meet in the postseason. Imagine being able to win a playoff game with 13 points Jace Sternberger Jersey Womens , or 17, or 22, or 26.This is hardly new ground. ‘Defense wins championships’ has been a truism in the NFL for as long as football has been played. The confluence of one embarrassingly bungled draft (2015), Ted Thompson’s unwillingness to enter free agency, and Mike McCarthy’s reluctance to move on from Dom Capers precluded this team’s ability to build a championship level defense with any kind of consistency, watching the talents of players like Damarious Randall, Casey Hayward, and Micah Hyde wasted. It wasn’t that Thompson drafted bad players, though his inability to ever truly find a suitable running mate for Clay Matthews stands out. It was that he only drafted players. Dom Capers required veterans to run his system and never managed to adapt or evolve it, hamstringing this team. Green Bay has since turned over the front office and defensive coordinator position, installing general manager Brian Gutekunst, who has already shown a willingness to fortify the team in free agency as well as an aptitude for draft maneuverings. Though Mike Pettine’s defense didn’t make enormous statistical strides, that fell more on the football gods and bad injury luck than anything Pettine did. His adaptive, aggressive, disguising defense gave plenty of good offenses problems.Ultimately, a team like the Rams, stymied early by Pettine’s looks, went to matchups to win and the Packers didn’t have enough players — or in this case the right players — to make the adjustments. Though it’s important for the Packers not to forget their identity as an offensive team, the biggest talent deficiencies — the holes most likely to prevent Green Bay from championship contention — fall on defense. Edge rusher Jace Sternberger Green Bay Packer , athleticism at linebacker, and playmaking at safety stand out. As injuries tore through this secondary, the Packers didn’t have the cornerback depth to adjust either, making the returns of Bashaud Breeland on a new contract and Kevin King from injury all the more important this offseason. If the Packers want to compete with the Saints, Rams, Patriots, and other top teams in the league, the defense can’t continue to let them down in the playoffs. Tom Brady is great, just like Rodgers is great, but his defense comes through far more often than the ones in Green Bay. For the frustratingly low ring count on Rodgers’ hand to change, so too must the defensive performance. Green Bay believes it found the right coach to change that. This offseason must further that mission to improve the talent to give not only Rodgers, but more specifically Mike Pettine, the best opportunity to succeed. Protect the football and it should fix everything.That seems to be the viewpoint of Mike McCarthy, whose Green Bay Packers have a variety of issues that have led to a 2-2-1 start."The big part of that game is focusing on the things we can control," McCarthy said Monday, one day after his team lost at Detroit, 31-23, after digging itself a 24-0 hole. "We have to take care of the football."The Packers turned over the ball three times Sunday. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers lost a pair of fumbles and the ball glanced off cornerback Kevin King while he was blocking on a first-quarter punt.Green Bay didn't force any turnovers defensively, and through five games Jace Sternberger Jersey 2019 , the Packers are minus-2 in turnover differential, having lost it eight times (six fumbles, two interceptions) while taking away the ball six times (two fumbles, four interceptions).McCarthy said he believes turnovers contributed to his team losing the field position battle; he had the Packers at minus-300 in terms of hidden yardage.While he admitted that veteran kicker Mason Crosby's five misses 鈥?four field-goal attempts and one extra point 鈥?also factored into Sunday's loss, McCarthy said the Packers' struggles went deeper than the 13 points those misses left on the field."The common thread there is the turnovers, which obviously that rolls into the field position," McCarthy said, pointing out that Green Bay outgained Detroit 521 yards to 264. "Obviously we missed some field goals and so forth. (But) the fact of the matter is, I was very pleased with how we moved the football."In three of their games this season, the Packers have trailed by double digits: 20-0 early in the third quarter against Chicago, 28-10 at halftime at Washington, and 24-0 at halftime Sunday.Rodgers took much of the blame publicly after the game, acknowledging, "I've got to play better in the first half.""It's frustrating. We've been kind of a one-half team: one good half and one not-so-good half," said Rodgers, who finished the game completing 32 of 52 passes for 442 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions (108.0 passer rating). "I was a little off. I missed a couple I usually hit. We missed some opportunities there."(It was) definitely a disjointed game 鈥?not punting, putting up a lot of offense and not winning the game."The offense hasn't been the only side of the ball that's been disjointed.Against Washington, for example, Green Bay gave up 323 yards in the first half Jace Sternberger Jersey Mens , and only 63 in the second. Against the Lions, the defense allowed 160 of 264 yards and 24 of their 31 points in the first half."We need to put a whole full game together," safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix said Monday. "Making more plays, finishing tackles, making this defense better. If we can critique ourselves and figure out what we can do better as individuals, I think we'll be better as a whole."As DBs, the one thing we want to do is catch interceptions, and capitalize on the opportunities we get. This is a long season. We've got to take advantage of our opportunities when we get them, and when they come, they come in bunches. We just have to make plays when the time comes."The Packers also have struggled with penalties, committing 12 for 112 against Detroit. For the season, Green Bay has committed 43 penalties for 413 yards; the Packers' opponents have been flagged only 30 times for 262 yards."Whether it's a slow start, fast finish, loose in the middle, it's all irrelevant because if you don't take care of the football, there's going to be other negative statistics that come off of that," McCarthy said. "This is not a getting-close-enough type of sport. We get that. We didn't win the game."It's part of the challenge in the early season. We have to get a little more detailed. The penalties were another negative. But taking care of the football and the penalties was a huge part of our not reaching the goal we set out to accomplish."