My point was to all the people on this blog saying that Edwards will be a bust because he was only successful because of MN line. Edwards will also benefit from Atlanta’s line. They don’t get a lot of press, but 3/4ths of them have been very good. People are saying Edwards benefited from Allen, but Abraham is just as good of a pass rusher as Allen (though I think Allen is a more well rounded player). They say Edwards benefited from the Williams wall. While ATL doesn’t exactly have the wall, they do have one of the deepest rotations of good DT in the league. It makes no sense to say Edwards benefited from the MN line, but will not benefit nearly equally from the ATL line which is very similar in quality.

Now, I hear what you are saying about his attitude and mental stability. The only thing I can say to that is that Blank learned his lesson with the Petrino/Vick situation and went out and hired the wonder boy from the organization he admired most which was the Patriots. Dimitroff and Smith know what they are getting in Edwards. That is why he is only getting 11 mil guaranteed out of a 30 mil contract. We actually have a net gain in the cap by cutting Anderson and Jenkins and signing Edwards. I believe Dimitroff has sent a clear message to Edwards that it will be very easy to let him go if he doesn’t fall in line. We will see.

My point is that he is being asked to do the exact same thing he was asked to do in MN. We aren’t asking him to be the man. He isn’t the best player on our line. He is in the exact same position everyone is saying he benefited from in MN.

I’m confused…. Are you saying that Edwards will be successful with Atlanta because they have more talent on the DL? Or was it less talent? Or was it that since Abraham got more sacks two of the last three years that Edwards will get more sacks? I really don’t know what you are trying to say here by comparing the two teams…..

Look, I don’t think anyone is going to argue that Edwards is an upgrade over what you have had the last few years, both against the run and pass.
His ability isn’t in question. His head is what slows him down. Like I said before, you’ll see what I mean….. For six million a year, I hope he can turn out 6-8 sacks at least. But with Abraham entering his 12th season….

John Abraham had more sacks then Allen 2 out of the last 3 years…WITHOUT two of the top 10 DT in the league… WITHOUT a pass rushing end to compliment him. Abraham had more sacks last year than any othe DE. The most sacks the DE opposite JA55 has had? Jamaal The Bust Anderson – 2, Kroy Biermann – 5 (the year JA55 was hurt, only 3 last year), Chauncey Davis – 4 (that was 3 years ago he has gotten one sack the last two years). So, our second best pass rusher got 3 sacks.

Now, are you telling me that with a DE who is a better pass rusher than Allen and DT who are pretty good (but not as good as the Williams) that Edwards isn’t going to be able to get us at least 4 sacks?

Yeah, I think so too. He is a huge leap above what ATL has had the last 5 years. Atlanta’s line is not as weak as the media would have you believe. They aren’t the Vikings line from 2-4 years ago, but they just got a whole lot better. This was the best fit for Edwards because he will benefit from having 3 very good players beside him…we aren’t asking him to be the man… we are just asking him to do exactly what he did in MN which was offer a small deterant for teams who double our JA.

is only really good against the run

only gets sacks vs TE’s when playing with 3 pro bowlers

should be seen and not heard

The Pack were due to dominate in 2011 no matter what happened in 2010 ……. The SB ‘V’ in 2010 was a gift because the rest of the NFL were sitting on their thumbs ……

Face it & accept it ….. The Pack has yet to peak ….. It all starts on 9/8 with the initial thrashing of the Saints …….

How sweet it is to be a PackFan in the 21st century …….
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Where do I start……

To begin with, 2 years from now, Woodson, Driver, and Clifton will be retired, and 3/4 of the core will be over 30. Yet to peak? Wishful thinking….

How are they improved? The return of injured players? Tauscher and Barnett are already gone, and Jenkins is leaving too. I’ve read a lot of Packer fans saying that Starks should start over Grant anyway, so you can’t be talking about him….. Is Jones a signifigant upgrade over Zombo/Walden? Funny how much crowing we’ve heard over them….

So what does that leave? Finley, and a bunch of players who have yet to play a down. So basically you are assuming great things from this year’s rookies and Neal and Burnett, and that is your argument? Have I got that right?

So the improvement will come from whatever late-round pick steps into the LG job, Cobb replacing Jones, Burnett over Peprah, Neal over Jenkins, and Finley staying healthy. Of yeah, and the belief that certain players will get better, like Nelson (because most WRs make a big jump in their 4th season) and Shields (lots of players who couldn’t dedicate themselves to their craft enough to turn their natural abilities into a good WR manage to become good CBs).

I think it’s safe to say we’ll see pretty much the same team we saw last year. But, of course, I’m not “in the know”……

2 questions:

1) Who was creating openings for Allen to collect the 43 sacks he got in his 4 years in KC?

2) What “solid depth” has the team bled in the last few years? Taylor and Hicks? Wanted to start…. Birk? Yeah, you got that one. Udeze and James? Who have they lost the last few years that you want back?

Can be counted on to say very inappropriate things at the worst time with alarming frequency.

The Atlanta press/talk radio will have plenty of fun with his utterances and teammates will have to “explain” his remarks.

Importing trouble is not the way to become a contender.

He only wishes he could be a DOLEMAN#56

My point is, it’s not like Edwards is coming here to be “the man” for us, at least not with Abe still here. With Babs, Jerry and Peters in the middle, plus Biermann and Sidbury in our DE rotation… we have a lot of talent up front. Just time to see if they all mesh together in their current roles. No reason Edwards can’t live up to this contract, it’s very affordable and reasonable. He got $10-20 million less than I expected him to overall. This was a great signing for the Falcons, especially at that price.

I actually am not mad at anything the Vikes have ever done, just that I am amused at the decisions they are making and the talent they are leaking, then proclaiming they will be big players in the free agent pool. Every year they let their solid depth escape while whiffing on big contract FA’s (Berrian, Allen come to mind ASAP). I really don’t care if anyone disagrees with that assessment, it should play itself out in the next couple of seasons.

The Pack were due to dominate in 2011 no matter what happened in 2010 ……. The SB ‘V’ in 2010 was a gift because the rest of the NFL were sitting on their thumbs ……

Face it & accept it ….. The Pack has yet to peak ….. It all starts on 9/8 with the initial thrashing of the Saints …….

How sweet it is to be a PackFan in the 21st century …….

Edwards faces solid LT’s weekly and gets his job done.

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dude, Lazy Ed played the other side. Jared Allen was the one Dominating LT’s Gabroni…

If my purple and Gold won a super bowl the last thing I’d be doing right now is posting of PFT B/c i’d be watching all my games that I DVR’d instead of giving it to anyone.

It makes me wonder what you guys are really mad at as Pack Fans…

@ vikingdoode -

“Over rated Ray Edwards….well see how well you do. Stuggled to get sacks when Jarred Allen was double teamed. Good player but not big FA money good.”

I always love to hear some of the Nordic faithful talk about Allen as if he is a threat. To me, the guy is easy: wheel around and keep him outside (which ironically is his only move) and if even necessary use a back to chip or stay in the pocket and keep him outside. Dominating below average RT’s by beating them around the edge isn’t show-stopping. Now, if you refer to the Williams boys (especially Kevin), then I will grant that as being a double team worthy of note. He consistently gets a C-G double team, and in some cases a G-T double team which frees Allen for a straight line sack and pads his stats. Edwards faces solid LT’s weekly and gets his job done. He was a main reason Minnesota was able to have some semblance of a run defense, he was strong and solid with the ability to make a rush now and again. I wouldn’t be so quick to say it’s not a big deal, and Vikes fans will see that rather quickly this season. Good move by the Falcons, and another message that Minnesota is becoming somewhere no one wants to be.

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Stellar breakdown genius, except for the following:

Allen is the RDE so he’s going against Left Tackles not Right tackles, and Edwards is (was) the LDE so he was going against (you guessed it) Right tackles.

Yes, Allen did next to nothing last year — I do agree with that.

Also, in the past fews years, Minnesota has done outstanding against the run (as opposed to having ‘some semblance’ of a run defense). This was primarily due to Pat and Kevin — whose effectiveness (as others have noted) is also in decline.

Edwards is a decent player in flashes, but he’s a got a bad attitude and going to the Falcons has strictly to do with cash.

BTW – do you even know who will be taking Edwards spot and what he did last year (without going to Google)?

Next time, ask your mom or dad to read your post before you hit submit.

“Over rated Ray Edwards….well see how well you do. Stuggled to get sacks when Jarred Allen was double teamed. Good player but not big FA money good.”

I always love to hear some of the Nordic faithful talk about Allen as if he is a threat. To me, the guy is easy: wheel around and keep him outside (which ironically is his only move) and if even necessary use a back to chip or stay in the pocket and keep him outside. Dominating below average RT’s by beating them around the edge isn’t show-stopping. Now, if you refer to the Williams boys (especially Kevin), then I will grant that as being a double team worthy of note. He consistently gets a C-G double team, and in some cases a G-T double team which frees Allen for a straight line sack and pads his stats. Edwards faces solid LT’s weekly and gets his job done. He was a main reason Minnesota was able to have some semblance of a run defense, he was strong and solid with the ability to make a rush now and again. I wouldn’t be so quick to say it’s not a big deal, and Vikes fans will see that rather quickly this season. Good move by the Falcons, and another message that Minnesota is becoming somewhere no one wants to be.

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Where do you people come from???

Who???

Whether you like it or not, you’re losing your team. You better sign some big time free agents or you might be the next 0-16 team in about 5 months from now.

The Packers lost their division by a game and made the playoffs – they didn’t go 7-9 and barely get in. I’m surprised by the arrogance of fans of other teams in trying to diminish the Packers’ Super Bowl season. Then again, jealousy breeds contempt. And I’m sure fans of other teams, besides the ones you listed, would never ever think of being arrogant or obnoxious, right?

It’s the NFL – every team has moron fans. If it hurts your feelings, maybe you should watch golf instead.