Well, the Green Bay Packers have got some problems, particularly on defense. Defensive tackle Mike Daniels thinks he has them diagnosed.
He says the Packers need to get tougher.
“We need to get tougher,” Daniels said. “We need to choke people, punch them in their throat. I mean, that guy got a helmet-to-helmet on us, you know what, but he was trying to send a message.
“Every now and then, you’ve got to do that. I’m not condoning illegal hits, but we’ve got to punch somebody in their throat for once.”
Daniels was referring to the hit Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy put on tight end Ryan Taylor on Thursday. That shot put Taylor out of the game.
Daniels went on…
“They just played a better game than us,” Daniels said. “But, like I said, we need to get more violent. I think we’ve lost some of that violence. Somewhere down the line, we’ve just got to get it done.”
Get it done, they haven’t.
The Packers defense can’t stop the run, they can’t tackle, they rarely create turnovers and they can’t get off the field on third down. So is violence the answer?
Probably not exactly. The Packers certainly don’t need to start adding penalties to the mix.
The heart of the issue, and what we think Daniels is getting at, is a lack of leadership and any sort of fire or passion. It’s like guys are just out there to collect their checks.
The leadership role on defense was supposed to go to Clay Matthews this year, but let’s face it. Matthews is a play hard kind of guy, but he hasn’t really shown any leadership qualities.
What about Morgan Burnett? Well, he isn’t even playing well, but he hasn’t demonstrated any of those qualities either.
And don’t even get me started on A.J. Hawk.
The heart of the defense left 1265 when Ted released Charles Woodson.