Posted: Sept. 22, 2008
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LeRoy Butler[/FONT]
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5 Questions[/FONT]
After each game this season, former Packers all-pro safety LeRoy Butler will team up with Journal Sentinel beat writer Tom Silverstein for "Five Questions with LeRoy Butler." Butler appears on behalf of his charity, "The LeRoy Butler Foundation" (leap36.org).
The following is the Q&A after Sunday's 27-16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys:
Q.: Do you think the absence of Atari Bigby and then the loss of Nick Collins and Al Harris was the reason the Packers played poorly on defense or do you think that's just an excuse?
A.: I think it was a big thing. First Al went out and then Nick Collins went out and it seemed like the Cowboys went to a different game plan. They went to attacking the perimeter. The play at the point of attack wasn't very good at the corners. They were throwing the ball more and they wanted to run the ball, trying to get the running backs one-on-one with the safeties. With Bigby being out and Collins being out, Dallas went to a more perimeter game, trying to get wide and into the secondary. On the long run, it looked like a breakdown. He was untouched. You can't let a guy with that kind of speed get out wide like that. It's almost impossible to get him. I think the safety (Charlie Peprah), it probably surprised him that Jones got out so clean. At that point, you have the wide receiver in front of him and the guy is out of the gate. Missed tackles was one of the top three things that was a problem. And bad angles. They have to work on their angles as far as pursuing runners. It's causing big plays.
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Q. What did you think of the gameplan to put Charles Woodson on Terrell Owens with Collins over the top and then doubling tight end Jason Witten with linebacker Brandon Chillar and another defender? Was that the way to go?
A: I think so based on what Terrell Owens did last week against Philadelphia and what he did last year. I have no problem with that. There wasn't enough pressure at times to do a lot of that. The game plan should always be double "82" (Witten) and double "81" (Owens). But if you can't stop Miles Austin, then you can't do that. This guy had eight career catches coming in and had a career game. It's just embarrassing to see a guy like that to come into Lambeau Field and make two big plays like that. But "82", you have to take him away. There were times Romo was able to just stare him down and get the ball to him for some crucial first downs. You have to find someone who can cover that guy. Believe me, every team is seeing that. They're going to try to exploit the tight end and get big plays down the field. But 200 yards rushing, that's unacceptable. They have to find a way to get that cleaned up.
Q. What do you think happened with the Packers' offense? They never seemed to find a rhythm.
A.: I think Dallas had a good game plan, but it's all about protection. (Nose tackle) Jay Ratliff had a great game and (linebacker) DeMarcus Ware had a great game. They just didn't protect Aaron (Rodgers) enough. He didn't have enough time to get to his second progression. He didn't have enough protection to get where he needed to be. Maybe they should have gone to more "max" protection because with that secondary, there would have been more opportunities down the field if he would have been able to get protection. At some point they wanted to establish the run. But if the running game isn't working, you've got to just line up in shotgun and try to win the game. You have to go to your five wides and take your chances. They probably couldn't because James Jones got hurt, but when people blitz you a lot and you get frustrated, jump into your five-receiver set and your 2-minute offense and play ball. That's what I was hoping the Packers would do. The pressure was on the Packers and I wanted them to put the pressure on Dallas. The weakness of their defense is their secondary. If you look at the Philadelphia game, that's what the Eagles exploited, the match-ups in the secondary.
Q: The two big plays Austin made came against Collins and Tramon Williams. Can you explain how those plays could have been prevented?
A: On that long pass, Nick stopped his feet. If you stay in your full backpedal, you're going to make a play on that long pass. His responsibility is to stay inside of Austin and stay in his backpedal. When that guy starts to run to the post, just turn and run with him. He's over the top of the deepest guy to the middle. Owens is to the outside on that side of the field, but it doesn't matter what route he's running. If Owens runs the post, he has to keep on running with him. But the other guy ran the post, and he has to be deep and to the inside of that guy. Once you're in your backpedal, you don't look at the quarterback. Keep your eye on the receiver. When the receiver makes his cut and you make your cut, then you can look at the quarterback. You don't stop your feet. The one on Williams, he has to stay on the guy's upfield shoulder more. He pushed off, but you're not going to get that call. Don't even ask for it. It was a straight deep route. Don't look back for the ball until the receiver looks back. The most important thing is breaking that ball up.
Q: All that being said, are you convinced Dallas is the best team in the league right now?
A: I think they're the best team, but the Packers aren't far behind. I think the Packers showed me they know how to handle adversity and they don't get down on themselves. They know they can play with that team. I think it proved one thing to me.
I saw the game in person and I played 12 years so I want people to know that, from what I saw, Aaron Rodgers is a better quarterback than Tony Romo. Based on throwing the ball in certain areas. The interception Romo threw to Collins and some of these other passes and the way he moves around, Aaron is a much better quarterback. Aaron doesn't put his team in those kinds of situations. When you look at Romo's stats, you'll see those long passes and those glamour things. Aaron's stats are OK, too, but if he gets the opportunity to throw 40 or 50 times a game, he's going to be good. No interceptions for three straight weeks? I'm excited to get this Dallas game over with. You want to play your best football in January.
He is out of his mind...
