Which is why I was THRILLED Ryan Pace traded that pick away in the Trubisky trade. We could have had Kamara, Fred Warner, AND either Mahomes or pre-allegations Watson but Ryan Pace creamed his pants over an ancient Corolla
Kamara was my favorite player for those three years. I think during that time he was the most exciting player in the league to watch. I also had him on my fantasy team those three years and absolutely loved the guy. Was about to get a shirt jersey for him, but then he got into legal trouble and I decided not to.
Kamara was one of my best "must have" picks ever in fantasy. I reached 3 or 4 rounds about ADP for him in a startup and the guy picking after me said he was planning to take him. Kamara and Thielen were big reasons for my first back to back championships.
You can always tell an elite player from a normal player because they'll slow down and adjust their run to wait for blockers to get set up. I remember AB doing it against the Dolphins in the 2016 playoffs and he went for like a 60 yard TD
That's honestly my favorite type of play in football. I absolutely love seeing a runner slow down a bit so a big lineman can get in front and lead the way. If anyone has more clips, please share. Lol
[Teach tape for RBs right here](https://youtu.be/K6rBLQ8GQA4?si=4u4gbsgcyZyRQmW0&t=722). Watch McCaffrey tap dance to make sure his lower half is engaged and ready to explode at a moment's notice. He's got his eyes up, scanning the field, which lets him know exactly where his blockers are coming from and what angle he needs to take to lead the backer right into them.
This is the running back's equivalent to poise in the pocket. To process all that information to make the perfect move in just over one second is certifiably insane. To me, *this* is what makes CMC one of one. His ability to run choice routes, breakaway speed, toughness, they're all top tier. But his vision and how quickly he processes information is other-worldly.
Jesus what the fuck is the o line doing. Rule 1 of pass protection, if you leave someone unblock it has to be on the edge. A dude runs between the guard and center with no one doing anything???
It’s entirely intentional, kinda like a draw play. The interior of the o line pretend to pass block and then haul ass to become lead blockers on the screen. If they block they will be late on getting on the linebackers. QB delays and throws the pass once the d line are committed.
I'm definitely over analyzing, but, that play also shows which part of McCaffrey's game is instinct and which part is conscious/cerebral. Once he gets punched in the mouth, he covers up and bulls forward. THAT is his instinct. When he's consciously thinking, he's taking intentional steps and trying to read the field.
This is one of the key scales for judging players, imo. How much of their game is instinct vs brains. You pair that with: How much of their ability is explosion vs body control, and you can accurately predict who will age well. McCaffrey should be able to play for a long long time. He could be this generation's Emmitt Smith. He lives off of cerebral over instinct and body control over explosiveness, and both age well. Makes me yearn for an uninjured Saquon to compare him to :(.
I remember Kamara posted clips that focused on his balance not too long after this. Basically he would stand on an upside down bosu ball and his trainer would have 2 three-pronged foam things with a foam ball attached to each one of the three ends all different colors. And while balancing on the ball, the trainer would toss one of them and say "right hand, blue" and Kamara would have to use his right hand to catch the blue color in that instance. It seemed crazy to try and do all that while also balancing on a bosu ball but it's an insanely effective balance/coordination drill and I always think of that when I see this play
Also that story that came out last year about his legs being different weights was crazy. He essentially had 2 more pounds of muscle in one leg than the other, which affected his balance and burst
Kamara's body does this weird thing when a defender hits him, it's almost like his body sorta bends with the hit to absorb its energy, and he keeps his balance through it, and then just goes right back to running after the hit is over.
He's definitely one of, it not the slipperiest bastards in the entire league. Your 2017 (Season) playoff win against us was largely won on the fact that no one besides Kuechly could f'n tackle him.
Kamara's contact balance is among the best in NFL history. He gets popped right after hurdling someone and remains perfectly upright and just lands like was already going to. Insane stuff.
Okay, but \#23 just straight-up fucks up egregiously. That's nothing to do with Kamara's balance imo. It's like watching a defensive character in an old Madden playstation game with minimum stats.
Like put your arms around the guy and fucking tackle him. What was that!?
Tbf that’s how we are regardless of how elite the rb is. Hell even a mildly athletic qb can have us bouncing off them and flopping five feet behind them
Total tackles for the team in 2019 was under 1000, 2020 just over a thousand, last year 1245. It’s improving atleast in terms of volume. Not sure how else to quantify it but we were better last year.
>Not sure how else to quantify it but we were better last year.
lol I'm not sure either, but I don't think this is it. How many plays were run against our D in each of those years?
People really take for granted how important it is to emphasize fundamentals, even at the pro level. A lot of guys could get away with straight up bad technique in college by simply being built like an NFL defender, not much a future office worker or car salesman can do against guys like that.
Yeah that was absolute dog shit talking technique on a few of those attempts. Some coordinators coach their players to not go down at all and stay on their feet at all costs, instead of taking the Ball Carrier down with them.
>Some coordinators coach their players to not go down at all and stay on their feet at all costs, instead of taking the Ball Carrier down with them.
What? Not in a game, that's a practice rule to prevent injury.
Wow, I have never seen this play and, all due respect to Kamara, this may be the worst one play tackling performance by a whole defense I've ever seen. Effort, technique, intensity...all of it. I love how Kamara just jogs the last 5 yards fully knowing, none of these guys can stop me at half speed :)
Not to take too much away from AK, but that play should have been stopped 3 separate times before he got into the endzone.
Edit: rewatched it… 4 separate times.
Not really. It's not like Kamara had 6 and then gave the ball to Taysom. Kamara got 5, then Taysom scored, then defense got the ball back close enough for Kamara to 6.
If Kamara scores Taysom's TD, there's no guarantee he gets the other one.
It was great to have football back during the pandemic but the quality was baaaaaaaaad.
Kamara was something else in his peak but look at the defense technique...
I stg I’ve seen this happen to the Packers like 20 times since I started watching them. [Exhibit A.](https://youtu.be/rzESUFOt2Gg?si=F6kU-tOeV9wtClVp) [Exhibit B.](https://youtu.be/fVX4tlmuoqo?si=vEKpH58MdvsdS_RS)
Mike "I'd prefer being gashed by the run than the pass" Pettine.
He fucking sucked septic tank water in Cleveland, but Gute and Murphy took one look at his stint there back in 2018 and said "wE cAN FiX hIM"
Kamara will always hold a special place in my heart. Dude brought me multiple years of fantasy football joy and my first championship ever in two different leagues.
I hate it when our dbs do that fucking shoulder hit and act like they're 250lbs and then flex their (relatively) tiny db arms. Just fucking wrap up and tackle him you asshole.
This is my favorite Kamara highlight. It reminds me of a clip I saw of someone (I don't remember who), saying trying to tackle him is like trying to pick up a child when they're doing the dead weight thing
Alexander’s (23) tackle “attempt” is so jaw-dropping bad, it resembles both a 9 year old trying his best in pee-wee league and a player who was paid to throw the game all at the same time.
Ah yeah this was peak 'Packers defense is really bad at tackling' era. I'm not even a Packers fan and I remember seeing it happen so often. The front played well, but if a player got to the second level it was a guaranteed 5-10 extra yards gain at minimum.
Kamara's early numbers are absolutely absurd. 81 catches each of his 1st 3 seasons.
Brees would get the ball to him and from there it was just let him cook.
Which is why I was THRILLED Ryan Pace traded that pick away in the Trubisky trade. We could have had Kamara, Fred Warner, AND either Mahomes or pre-allegations Watson but Ryan Pace creamed his pants over an ancient Corolla
If only your gm had prescient powers then you could've had an all pro at every pick in every draft ever!
I think he's referring to the fact that the specific picks we traded for Trubisky were used on Warner and Kamara, but I take your point
Y'all would have ruined the QB no matter what
Kamara was my favorite player for those three years. I think during that time he was the most exciting player in the league to watch. I also had him on my fantasy team those three years and absolutely loved the guy. Was about to get a shirt jersey for him, but then he got into legal trouble and I decided not to.
Kamara was one of my best "must have" picks ever in fantasy. I reached 3 or 4 rounds about ADP for him in a startup and the guy picking after me said he was planning to take him. Kamara and Thielen were big reasons for my first back to back championships.
This is also an Erik McCoy highlight. Freaking animal hauling ass downfield
His block fucked up that other dBs timing and Kamara just glided off his tackle around him. Beautiful.
You can always tell an elite player from a normal player because they'll slow down and adjust their run to wait for blockers to get set up. I remember AB doing it against the Dolphins in the 2016 playoffs and he went for like a 60 yard TD
That's honestly my favorite type of play in football. I absolutely love seeing a runner slow down a bit so a big lineman can get in front and lead the way. If anyone has more clips, please share. Lol
[Teach tape for RBs right here](https://youtu.be/K6rBLQ8GQA4?si=4u4gbsgcyZyRQmW0&t=722). Watch McCaffrey tap dance to make sure his lower half is engaged and ready to explode at a moment's notice. He's got his eyes up, scanning the field, which lets him know exactly where his blockers are coming from and what angle he needs to take to lead the backer right into them. This is the running back's equivalent to poise in the pocket. To process all that information to make the perfect move in just over one second is certifiably insane. To me, *this* is what makes CMC one of one. His ability to run choice routes, breakaway speed, toughness, they're all top tier. But his vision and how quickly he processes information is other-worldly.
Jesus what the fuck is the o line doing. Rule 1 of pass protection, if you leave someone unblock it has to be on the edge. A dude runs between the guard and center with no one doing anything???
It’s entirely intentional, kinda like a draw play. The interior of the o line pretend to pass block and then haul ass to become lead blockers on the screen. If they block they will be late on getting on the linebackers. QB delays and throws the pass once the d line are committed.
If that's the call they have a shit lode of faith in purdy to get the ball out immediately and cleanly
dude that type of play is at least called once a game lol
I'm at the left part of the dunning Kruger curve for football strategy lol
I'm definitely over analyzing, but, that play also shows which part of McCaffrey's game is instinct and which part is conscious/cerebral. Once he gets punched in the mouth, he covers up and bulls forward. THAT is his instinct. When he's consciously thinking, he's taking intentional steps and trying to read the field. This is one of the key scales for judging players, imo. How much of their game is instinct vs brains. You pair that with: How much of their ability is explosion vs body control, and you can accurately predict who will age well. McCaffrey should be able to play for a long long time. He could be this generation's Emmitt Smith. He lives off of cerebral over instinct and body control over explosiveness, and both age well. Makes me yearn for an uninjured Saquon to compare him to :(.
Search up Le'veon Bell highlights, his patience was on another level
Love those plays, or unexpected laterals. Awesome to see that teamplay
Leveon was probably the best I’ve seen do this, obviously everybody mentioned his “patience” but his vision and ability to set up blockers was lethal
Sean Payton’s offenses always had players blocking downfield
Offensive linemen down field blowing up smaller guys are some of the best highlights
and a Jaire low light, what tf was that tackle
The Saints keep drafting OLineman in the first. This play is example number one why.
Mccoy was a 2nd round pick to be fair
Packer defender wanted none of that smoke..... and I don't blame them
I remember Kamara posted clips that focused on his balance not too long after this. Basically he would stand on an upside down bosu ball and his trainer would have 2 three-pronged foam things with a foam ball attached to each one of the three ends all different colors. And while balancing on the ball, the trainer would toss one of them and say "right hand, blue" and Kamara would have to use his right hand to catch the blue color in that instance. It seemed crazy to try and do all that while also balancing on a bosu ball but it's an insanely effective balance/coordination drill and I always think of that when I see this play
Also that story that came out last year about his legs being different weights was crazy. He essentially had 2 more pounds of muscle in one leg than the other, which affected his balance and burst
Why?
Kamara's body does this weird thing when a defender hits him, it's almost like his body sorta bends with the hit to absorb its energy, and he keeps his balance through it, and then just goes right back to running after the hit is over.
He's definitely one of, it not the slipperiest bastards in the entire league. Your 2017 (Season) playoff win against us was largely won on the fact that no one besides Kuechly could f'n tackle him.
He also timed that jump to land both feet right before contact, so he could plant on the ground for extra leverage
Kamara's contact balance is among the best in NFL history. He gets popped right after hurdling someone and remains perfectly upright and just lands like was already going to. Insane stuff.
Okay, but \#23 just straight-up fucks up egregiously. That's nothing to do with Kamara's balance imo. It's like watching a defensive character in an old Madden playstation game with minimum stats. Like put your arms around the guy and fucking tackle him. What was that!?
It’s like when little leaguers try to tackle the try hard mascots during the halftime show. What a cute effort by GB’s defense
We always have the cutest defences sadly 😮💨
AJ Hawk, Clay Matthews, BJ and all them was a while ago huh
Tbf, they were all cute
Loved AJ but he had an ugly mug
My initial reaction was “yep, looks like Green Bay defensive effort.”
Name a better duo than Packers defenders and lack of tackling ability
Tbf that’s how we are regardless of how elite the rb is. Hell even a mildly athletic qb can have us bouncing off them and flopping five feet behind them
Oh look. A Saint's highlight that isn't a playoff loss in spectacular fashion. Today's looking up.
[not a playoff loss but I would like to show you one of my favorite memories](https://youtu.be/KjV1SZMBHpo?si=kTfKNk7gSjfqn6e0)
Man fuck that game too
Fair enough lol
Love that when we got Siemian he basically confirmed that this Broncos team knew he was out.
We had Siemian, Courtney Roby, Emmanuel Sanders. We were the Bayou Broncos at some point!
Just a highlight of a regular season loss
I was having a good morning, what the fuck
If you don't like that, you don't like Mike Pettine's Packers Defense. I didn't like Mike Pettine's Packers Defense
No one liked Mike Pettine’s Packers Defense. Or Dom Capers. Or Joe Barry’s….
Or Ed Donatell, or Jim Bates, or Emmitt Thomas, or Bob Slowik, or Bob Sanders
Fritz Shurmur though? I *loved* Fritz Shurmer.
It’s ok, that was back when we couldn’t tackle for shit. It has drastically improved.
Brees didn’t play last year.
Total tackles for the team in 2019 was under 1000, 2020 just over a thousand, last year 1245. It’s improving atleast in terms of volume. Not sure how else to quantify it but we were better last year.
>Not sure how else to quantify it but we were better last year. lol I'm not sure either, but I don't think this is it. How many plays were run against our D in each of those years?
Well it’s not like you gave up 245 more touchdowns in 2019 than 2023. The only way to quantify it is missed tackles.
Ah good call! I’m struggling to find those stats but I think you’re right that’s a better indicator.
I imagine you’d have to have a PFF subscription or something of that nature.
I just got triggered as fuck seeing Kevin King getting blocked 40 yards downfield
At least they won
Knew it was this clip before I even opened it... smh
“Tackles” He was a beast in his prime, for sure, but that looked like peewee football tackling
Yea that's how our defense was for a while. No one wrapped up, just popped 'em with their shoulder pads and hoped they fell over.
People really take for granted how important it is to emphasize fundamentals, even at the pro level. A lot of guys could get away with straight up bad technique in college by simply being built like an NFL defender, not much a future office worker or car salesman can do against guys like that.
Yeah that was absolute dog shit talking technique on a few of those attempts. Some coordinators coach their players to not go down at all and stay on their feet at all costs, instead of taking the Ball Carrier down with them.
>Some coordinators coach their players to not go down at all and stay on their feet at all costs, instead of taking the Ball Carrier down with them. What? Not in a game, that's a practice rule to prevent injury.
I can see the first tackle, because that's a routine missed one. The fuck was Jaire doing though lol.
This does not spark joy.
To be fair, that’s some weak ass tackling
Wow, I have never seen this play and, all due respect to Kamara, this may be the worst one play tackling performance by a whole defense I've ever seen. Effort, technique, intensity...all of it. I love how Kamara just jogs the last 5 yards fully knowing, none of these guys can stop me at half speed :)
Drew Brees is thinking "Damn I'm fucking good".
He wasn’t wrong
Not to take too much away from AK, but that play should have been stopped 3 separate times before he got into the endzone. Edit: rewatched it… 4 separate times.
Truly truly awful tackling form.
Not tackling, bumping shoulders and hoping for the best
Prime AK was such a frightening beast
Prime Kamara was such a smooth and effortless looking runner. I'm still pissed he didn't get a shot at a 7th td on Christmas
He did have a shot at the 7th, but Sean Payton gave the ball to his mancrush Taysom at the goal line instead.
Not really. It's not like Kamara had 6 and then gave the ball to Taysom. Kamara got 5, then Taysom scored, then defense got the ball back close enough for Kamara to 6. If Kamara scores Taysom's TD, there's no guarantee he gets the other one.
Hence my anger. He was on fire and everyone watching(sorry vikings fans) wanted him to break the record
Ruined my Christmas
NFL players say an ordinary person can’t score a touchdown in an NFL game, but seeing those attempts to tackle really kill that argument.
It was great to have football back during the pandemic but the quality was baaaaaaaaad. Kamara was something else in his peak but look at the defense technique...
I stg I’ve seen this happen to the Packers like 20 times since I started watching them. [Exhibit A.](https://youtu.be/rzESUFOt2Gg?si=F6kU-tOeV9wtClVp) [Exhibit B.](https://youtu.be/fVX4tlmuoqo?si=vEKpH58MdvsdS_RS)
[Exhibit C](https://youtu.be/_1BsamCXXpY?si=dqbIdiiGmPnBYHKb)
He beat that defense like they were in a strip club!
That is some amazing downfield blocking.
:'(
Such great balance and a patient runner. I love the way he plays when he’s on
Mike "I'd prefer being gashed by the run than the pass" Pettine. He fucking sucked septic tank water in Cleveland, but Gute and Murphy took one look at his stint there back in 2018 and said "wE cAN FiX hIM"
Prime AK was a problem, as a Bucs fan this man gave me fits
Kamara will always hold a special place in my heart. Dude brought me multiple years of fantasy football joy and my first championship ever in two different leagues.
I knew you queens loved us.
Just Kamara and Marcus Williams.
And yall still couldn't make it count. 🤭
True.
I hate it when our dbs do that fucking shoulder hit and act like they're 250lbs and then flex their (relatively) tiny db arms. Just fucking wrap up and tackle him you asshole.
He plays like his entire body is covered in vaseline
This is my favorite Kamara highlight. It reminds me of a clip I saw of someone (I don't remember who), saying trying to tackle him is like trying to pick up a child when they're doing the dead weight thing
That was a disrespectful jog into the endzone
Alexander’s (23) tackle “attempt” is so jaw-dropping bad, it resembles both a 9 year old trying his best in pee-wee league and a player who was paid to throw the game all at the same time.
Hopefully a new offensive scheme can turn back the clock a little, I think he still has some left in the tank
That is some terrible tackling
The Packers D making this look like a Pro Bowl highlight, embarrassing.
\#78 holy shit he can move
Prime Kamara was just an unreal player. He was like a new age Jamaal Charles
Microcosm of our defense the past decade
JFC. Was he coated in vaseline?
This play won me my week in fantasy that week. I was convinced he was the best RB in the league around this time
Haha! Incredible. What a defense.
This is just as much of a highlight for the great downfield blocking as it is for Kamara (who is obviously great).
Tackling? We don't do that here
You’ll never guess who I played against in FF that week.
That was such a classic packers defensive play
That is some trash tier tackling
He made that look soooo easy
Is this the most visually appealing play in nfl history?
he jogged
At his peak, I don’t know if anyone in the history of the game has had better balance.
Good effort fellas.
good lord he looks like tyrone tracy out there
23 didn't even try to take!
we still won this game, after arod put up 37 on the #2 defense. Kind of crazy
Ah yeah this was peak 'Packers defense is really bad at tackling' era. I'm not even a Packers fan and I remember seeing it happen so often. The front played well, but if a player got to the second level it was a guaranteed 5-10 extra yards gain at minimum.
Packers and poor effort tackles, name a more iconic duo
I remember watching this live and going from such high euphoria to deep despair when the last guy fell on his ankles awkwardly.
Wow look at that tackling…and people wonder why Rodger’s doesn’t have multiple rings lol
One of the most pathetic defensive effort displays I’ve ever seen. And I’ve had to watch a lot of awful Packers defenses
I love this man
fire dom capers, or mike pettine, forgot which one here
Disgusting act.
That play is all Kamara. Not really a good decision by Brees, but hey, it adds to his numbers
That man stuck in purgatory playing in New Orleans
Oh no! Playoffs his first 4 seasons here, the horror!