Morning Buzz: Packers face tough road in 2018

Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers and the NFL from around the web and here at PackersNews.com. Grab a strong cup of coffee and get caught up on everything you need to know about the Packers.

We’ll start with Tom Silverstein’s look at the linebackers for the latest in our nine-part positional overview series.

From Tom:

It wasn’t just that starter Nick Perry was injured again and didn’t have a sack in the final seven games or veteran addition Ahmad Brooks looked beat-up in the second half of the season or Joe Thomas was a non-factor, a year after playing 40 percent of the defensive snaps.

It was the stupefying miscommunications in pass coverage, the glaring lack of interceptions and forced fumbles and the inability to keep quarterbacks from scrambling out of sacks.

Pettine will have some talent to work with when he meets his defense for the first time in April, but figuring out which pieces fit and where could be a process. If there’s one thing Pettine wants more of, it’s versatility with his personnel.

Matthews is the most versatile player Pettine has and figuring out where he can have the most impact will be critical. Pettine values edge rushers, but he might benefit more from having Matthews play a hybrid inside/outside spot where his positioning determines whether it’s a 3-4 or 4-3 front.

Perry could wind up being a defensive end as much as an outside linebacker and Fackrell and Vince Biegel give Pettine a pair of guys who can drop into coverage from rush-linebacker positions.

I chatted with readers via Facebook Live on Monday afternoon:

Elsewhere, the Packers have the toughest schedule in the league next year, based on 2017 records:

Bill Barnwell notes five moves the Packers should make:

Deep questions with Peter Bukowski:

Some ugly numbers for the Packers' defense this past season:

Larry McCarren breaks down the Packers' red-zone offense:

The Pack Attack looks at the Packers' free-agent situation:

Cory Jennerjohn writes on the pending Rodgers deal:

Interesting nugget from the Power Sweep:

Chat Sports suggests Jordy Nelson could be a cap casualty:

ESPN looks at how close every team is to winning a Super Bowl: