The Green Bay Packers defense has been scrutinized for the past years and just last year snapped out of a seemingly endless slump of plain old “bad years”. The Packers ranked 7th in total defense in 2005, allowing their opponents just over 293 yards in total offense per contest. Many people bashed the Packers, me included, after general manager Ted Thompson didn’t choose Jim Bates as the predecessor to Mike Sherman, rather, going to the 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy who was Brett Favre’s former quaterbacks coach when Mike Holmgren was head coach and promoted incumbent defensive ends coach Bob Sanders to defensive coordinator. Many people thought that bringing an offensive minded head coach into the fold was a bad idea because the defense still needed more help than the offense did. The 2005 Packers were always playing from behind, 11 of their 16 regular season games. The secondary needed a spark all year long as players like Ahmad Carroll and Nick Collins, who fairly new to the defense scheme, got alot of pass interference penalties called against them on long balls. This offseason the Packers had a boatload of cash to spend, 16 million under the salary cap. Ted Thompson took a conservative approach into free agency calling it “dangerous waters”. Instead of going after big name free agents like Lavar Arrington and Nate Clements, the Packers very quietly inked mid-level free agents like Marquand Manuel and Ryan Pickett, while other teams were burning all their money in the first week. Some of the bigger moves were resigning Aaron Kampman and then later signing pro-browl/injury plagued corner Charles Woodson, who many thought the Packers had overpaid. The draft came around and the Packers were still missing a starting linebacker after Na’il Diggs went to the Carolina Panthers via free agency. They scooped up stud linebacker AJ Hawk from Ohio State with the fifth overall selection in the draft. Fans were upset with Ted Thompson’s approach and thought he should have made bigger splashes in free agency. But I think it was his careful approach and conservative manner that will save the Packers both for the present and the future.