Desmond Bishop is a tackling machine. I think anyone who has watched the Packers the last two years knows that and his stats prove that. Desmond Bishop loves to make the big hit and blow up running backs – again, no big surprise. But there is one thing about Bishop that perhaps goes overlooked – If you’re an opponent carrying the football, he will track you down from wherever he is on the field. Simply put, he wants to get to you more than you want to get to the end zone.
Remember the Eagles playoff game last season? 1:45 left in the game, Packers up by 5, Eagles marching down the field… Without this play, the Packers’ playoffs could have been over after one game. In case you’ve forgotten, here it is:
Simply amazing. He’s in man coverage on a tight end on one side of the field and comes all the way across to catch up with DeSean Jackson and probably save the game. Most inside linebackers probably would not have even tried.
I was reminded of this play as I watched the Packers Vikings game this past Sunday. We all saw Adrian Peterson rattle off three very big runs against the Packers. On two of those plays, Desmond Bishop comes a long way with incredible effort to track Peterson down and make the tackle.
On this first play, Hawk reads the play, avoids the OL coming out to block him, takes a good angle and comes all the way from the LILB spot to track down Peterson. Not a spectacular play, but it does show his enthusiastic pursuit and athleticism, as he whizzes by A.J. Hawk, the RILB on the play who gives a half-hearted jog towards Peterson.
Fairly impressive, but you say you want spectacular? Coming right up. Watch Bishop closely on this play:
The first time you watched this, did it seem like Bishop just appeared out of thin air? It did to me. I had to watch it a few times before I was able to follow Bishop the whole way.
Bishop had absolutely no right to make this play. He had no right to even think he could make it out of that pack of players at the line of scrimmage and catch Peterson 50 yards down the field. And yet he did.
Desmond Bishop just wants it more than anyone else on that field. Simple as that.
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Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.
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Packers kicker Mason Crosby has been named NFC special teams player of the week after his performance in the 33-27 win against the Vikings.
Crosby was 4 for 4 with field goals of 39, 45, 24 and a franchise-long 58-yarder. He now holds the team record with 21 consecutive made field goals.
The is the second time Crosby has been honored this season – he was named after going 4 for 4, including a 56-yarder against the Falcons.
I’ve been really impressed with Bishop this year (and last) but what the hell is going on with Hawk? He’s the invisible man this year.
Those clips should be running on the locker room flat screen all day. Maybe, just maybe they will inspire others on the D to finish their damn tackles. Are you watching Hawk, Walden, Wynn, Burnett (yes, no excuse for the club, you’re starting), et. al. Hesitation has no place on an NFL defense. Please clone Bishop’s attitude into the rest of them and the rout is on.
Thanks for the clips Al. They are always informative.
OH YEAH MR AUGUST CHANGING INTO MR NFL!
Wow – great clips. Thanks for pointing this out. When I watched the game live I was too upset at the big runs to notice how much effort Bishop gave. catching AP like that was awesome to see. Agree with earlier comment on Hawk. He seems to wait for the game to come to him and seems satisfied to be the 2nd or 3rd guy on the tackle. Haven’t seen much killer instinct. Same for Walden – maybe he just isn’t good enough. Waiting for Zombo to get healthy – perhaps he can show some spark.
Oof, these videos are hard to watch if you don’t focus on Bishop. Could letting all our inside linebackers leave come back to bite us in the butt? Sure looks like Hawk is playing in non-contract-year mode. Thank goodness Bishop is still hungry. Has Brad Jones been injured this year?
Jones has been injured physically and mentally all year.
I’m convinced Bishop is one of the best players on the D. Although Hawk and Bishop play similar positions, Bishop has 65 tackles (52 solo) to Hawks 34 (20 solo). I believe Bishop has become one of the players others look up to on that team. If he were injuried the Pack would be in big trouble. Maybe it’s time we saw more of D.J. Smith instead of broken-wing Hawk.
According to McGinn, Hawk has had 73 blitz attempts to Bishop’s 57, yet Bishop has twice as many sacks. Bishop is just the better impact player.
Don’t tell me that Hawk sacrificies himself to set everyone else up. He’s just to slow. We need less A.J. and more D.J.
Right mojo, I saw Hawk hesitate on tow of the three clips. By the time Hawk moved his guy went flying by. Ray Nitchke he ain’t.
Yes, I definitely remember Bishops tackle on DeSean last year, wow that was huge, not many other players make that tackle. Bishop is becoming one of the cornerstone players a la A-rod, CMIII, Tramon. Need more guys like him!
DJ Smith has the desire and the hunger a smaller version of Bishop. We just have to wait and see if the size issue is enough to limit him. It wasn’t for Sam Mills, but he was an exception…
For all the talk of how instinctive Desmond Bishop is, (Which he IS), I think DH Smith is not only MORE instinctive, but he takes better angles, too…
If DJ Smith was 6’3″, 255lbs, there’s no question in my mind he’s a day-one starter as a rookie. Great tackler, great understanding of attacking angles, sees the whole field and understands where and when the traffic lanes are going to open and close.
He’s going to get stronger and find a role in this defense. The shame is he’s got two qualified starters in front of him. IMO, he can be a better play maker than Hawk, but Hawk’s role is about far more than tackling the ball carrier. Hawk makes the defense operate at a higher level all around.