Morgan Burnett’s return to slot corner with Kevin King out a

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Morgan Burnett’s return to slot corner with Kevin King out and what it could mean moving forward

Dr. Seuss would be proud of the Packers defense.

Dom Capers plays so many fronts, mixes and matches so many combinations of secondary players and linebackers, he’s run out of names for all of them.

The days of “nickel” and “dime” are long gone. We’re into “NASCAR” and “Nitro” with elephant ends and safeties playing linebacker or corner.

Up is down. Cats and dogs living together. Mass hysteria.

either are the other two) is a credit to Morgan Burnett.,The fact that the last part isn’t actually true (Ok

On Sunday he played just about every position a player can play: free safety, box safety, slot corner, linebacker, and even a little on the edge albeit as a disguise. I kept waiting for Capers to line him up next to Kenny Clark and ask him to take on a pulling guard in the hole.

Playing 100% of snaps, Burnett spent 26 of them at safety, and another 16 playing his Nitro linebacker spot., 28 in the slot playing corner>womens Dwayne Allen Jersey

With Kevin King dealing with an injury, Capers opted to play House and Randall almost exclusively on the boundary — Hawkins got in the game temporarily thanks to injuries to each starting corner at different times — with Burnett in the nickel corner role., rather than sliding Josh Hawkins into the starting lineup outside

Tampa Bay plays mostly from two receiver sets,Authentic Jay Ajayi Jersey even running their 4-3 look with Clay Matthews off the ball more than a dozen times., often opting for two tight ends. That allowed the Packers to spend much of the game in a more traditional base personnel on defense

just a redux of an old one; Capers had Burnett play the slot against the Bengals and he was outstanding.,Authentic Ryan Tannehill Jersey,Having Burnett in the slot isn’t actually a new development

The difference this time was they went to some of what I’ll call ultra-Nitro where instead of bringing in Josh Hawkins,<,Capers played Josh Jones at safety, and brought in Jermaine Whitehead to play the other safety position.,womens Rob Gronkowski Jersey,, Morgan Burnett in the slot

With Jones playing nearly 80% of snaps,that meant spending most of them at safety (43 out of his 50 snaps). In fact, That strategy paid off and neither DeSean Jackson nor Mike Evans created much of anything down the field.,womens Brandin Cooks Jersey, they was almost exclusively covering the deep half as the Packers consistently kept two deep safeties to protect against big plays

In fact, or came off dump offs and underneath throws., most of the success the Buccaneers offense had passing was either schemed up as screensAuthentic Julius Thomas Jersey,

Setting aside the snaps for Whitehead, the idea of playing Burnett in the slot makes sense., who has apparently crept past Marwin Evans on the safety depth chartwomens Julius Thomas Jersey

or negative (which is another way of saying Burnett may truly be better) when you add in Burnett’s strengths as a tackler compared to Randall.,He’s either the best or second best slot corner on the team as Damarious Randall has excelled since his benching early in the season. The drop off from Randall to Burnett is either negligible

On the other hand, at the very least in terms of proven capabilities., the drop off from Randall to Hawkins on the boundary is considerable

Capers decided to put his best cover players on the field and see what happened.,In short

Aside from the deployment of Jermaine Whitehead in man coverage against Cameron Brate, Davon House and Randall combined to hold Evans and Jackson to just 57 yards on four catches and the Packers pass rush took care of the rest., this idea worked. Burnett even covered Mike Evans effectively in the slot. Burnett

of course,The downside, is the Whitehead snaps can’t just be explained away. If Burnett is in the slot, then someone has to play his safety position. If that’s Josh Jones, but with Capers insisting on playing two deep safeties, Green Bay is in good shape in coverage against tight ends and backs, he (rightly) decided to put the one he trusts more in the back end next to Haha Clinton-Dix.

that creates a situation where Josh Jones’ cover skills and playmaking in the box can’t be utilized to their fullest capacity.,Unfortunately

this strategy stymied the Buccaneers for much of the day.,And after the opening possession in which Winston picked on Whitehead for two third-down conversions including the 28-yard touchdown to Brate.womens Ryan Tannehill Jersey,

Capers forced Jameis to hold the ball, plus the fumble Dean Lowry housed., leading to seven Packers sacks and 13 quarterback hitswomens Jay Ajayi Jersey,

it’s 230 net passing yards and suddenly an 8.5 YPA average plummets under 6 (the seven attempts where he’s sacked also count).,The final passing numbers suggest Winston had a very good day: 21/32 270 yards 2 TDs 0 INTs. Except when you account for sackswomens Julian Edelman Jersey>

this could have been one of Green Bay’s best defensive performances of the season.,<Authentic Kenny Stills JerseyIf not for a Packers offense that couldn’t move the ball in the second half until the waining minutes

Even with those struggles, the Packers defense gave up just 10 second-half points with that touchdown coming mid-way through the fourth quarter' t>Authentic Julian Edelman Jersey<,' ' and the Buccaneers possessing the ball almost literally the entire third quarter

This strategy was effective.Authentic Tom Brady Jersey,

And there could potentially be a home for it moving forward as well even with Kevin King healthy.Authentic Rob Gronkowski Jersey,

the Packers defense could become more like a Seattle team that doesn’t have to go to nickel personnel as often because its linebackers and safeties are so good in coverage. That means better run fits and bigger bodies near the line of scrimmage.,In other words

except he kept four at the line of scrimmage and his two traditional linebackers on the field as well.,Authentic Brandin Cooks Jersey,Capers went to a similar package against the Steelers only it was Randall in the slot with Jones on the bench. This wouldn’t be that abnormal

It’s as close to a traditional front as Capers likes to get.womens Kenny Stills Jersey,

Against a versatile team like the Steelers, which substitutes Jones for Randall if for no other reason than Green Bay doesn’t need the extra corner to cover tight ends.womens Tom Brady Jersey,'' it would have made more sense (to this writer anyway) to play the above group

That’s literally why they drafted Jones.>Authentic Dwayne Allen Jersey,

Instead of using him to replace a player like Jake Ryan, who has played extremely well this season, with Burnett in the slot they can have their cake and eat it too., or taking a defensive linemen off the field to get Jones on it

This week, with a Browns team with very similar weapons (a big, a speedy receiver opposite, fast outside receiver, and a athletic pass-catching tight end) Capers could again take advantage of Morgan Burnett’s versatility.

but potentially good news for the Packers defense.,It’s bad news for Josh Hawkins’ playing time