True Packer Fans Must Let Favre Hear It

The talk on ESPN today was the state of fans in Green Bay when Brett Favre is announced as the opposing starting quarterback this weekend. Will they boo him? Will they cheer him? What will the split be? 80/20?

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sports Editor Gary Howard wrote a great piece imploring Packer fans to cheer for the man who has done so much for the NFL’s proudest franchise.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/66230602.html

Former Packer, and close friend of Favre, Leroy Butler insisted Packer fans ought to boo him mercilessly. He also wrote in the Journal Sentinel, “if you’re going to stand up wearing Packer clothing or a Packer uniform and cheer when Brett Favre comes out, you should bring a bag and put it over your head.”

Expect to hear cheers and jeers Sunday when No. 4 takes the field for the first time.

I can’t imagine Brad Childress is dumb enough to introduce his offense in starting line-ups to give Cheeseheads a specific opportunity to boo Favre. Then again, I just started a sentence with, “I can’t imagine Brad Childress is dumb enough to X.” Famous last words.

I know how I think Packer fans ought to react. Much like LeRoy Butler, I believe if you are a fan of the Packers you are a Packers fan first and a Favre fan second. Ultimately, Favre plays for a division rival and his departure from Green Bay was less than amicable no matter what you believe happened between Favre and Ted Thompson.

That means you boo, hiss, yell obscene things about his mother (unless you’re in a family section), and you wave your Bredidict Favrold signs because No. 4 plays for Minnesota. That means he’s going to bust his butt to beat the Packers.

Your team.

It doesn’t matter what you believe about how he left Green Bay. Whether he was kicked out the door, or whether he wanted out, none of that matters. He left.

He could have come back after retiring in New York, signed a one day contract in Green Bay, and officially retired as a Green Bay Packer. He will go into the Hall of Fame as a Packer, and that does deserve a certain amount of deference and respect.

So, maybe the obscene mom comments should be kept for Jared Allen or Bernard Berrian.

His three MVPs, Super Bowl trophy, gazillion passing yards, and almost two decades of Green and Gold memories don’t matter when he takes the field wearing purple and yellow.

Howard points out that the feelings angry Packer fans have are simply “the passion that burns for the Green and Gold, not your true feelings about a player that some of you even named your sons after.” And he’s half right.

The animosity towards Favre is based on unbridled enthusiasm for their team, but only because Favre broke their collective hearts when he bolted for Minneapolis. Trading Green and Gold for Viking horns and purple effectively ruptured the relationship connecting fans to Favre.

It is not THAT Favre is coming back, it’s who he’s bringing with him that makes Packer fans potentially booing so justified.

And I’ll prove it.

If you’re a Packer fan and Brett Favre comes back last year in a Jets uniform do you boo him? Absolutely not. He’d have come out to raucous applause and signs about how Brett will always be a Packer and all sorts of other nonsense.  

But not when he comes out with those annoying horns blowing and Jared Allen running around like a drunken maniac rocking the colors of your most hated rival. 

Brett Favre wants to beat Green Bay more than anything else he could possibly do this season. How could you possibly cheer for a man who stated explicitly part of coming back was to show the Packers he could still play, specifically by beating them?

As a fan, that is treason.

Gary Howard is a tremendous writer, one of the most respected in the Midwest, and he has been a trailblazer for African-American journalists. But that doesn’t mean he can’t be wrong.

Brett Favre deserves to have his jersey retired in Green Bay to a standing ovation and tears. He ought to have unified support from fans when he gets his bronze bust in Canton as well as anytime he comes back to Lambeau in his famous Wrangler jeans.

Just as long as he doesn’t have that Viking purple on too.

You can love Favre, but if you love football and you love the Packers, you have to boo him, at least until he retires for good.

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Packers Play the Perfect Team to Set Up Their Marquee Match of Season

A couple months ago, the Packers beat the living daylights out of the Cleveland Browns at Lambeau in the preseason. The defense was devastating, the offense looked sharp, and it was clear the Browns were simply overmatched.

Through five games, the Packers aren’t who we thought they were, but this Browns team may actually be worse than we thought they were. No, it won’t be a test for Green Bay heading into Judgment Week, but it should be the perfect tune-up.

The quarterback situation in Cleveland is the worst in the NFL. By far.

Derek Anderson is a shell of the quarterback who threw for 3,787 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2007. He was benched last season in favor of Brady Quinn, who won the job outright this season.

The hometown favorite from Notre Dame was so pathetic in Anderson’s stead that they went back to Anderson who responded by throwing six interceptions to just two touchdowns for a marvelous QB rating of 41.7.

Turnovers should be plentiful from a Packers defense that is as good as it gets when it comes forcing take-aways from opposing quarterbacks.

Much like last week, the receivers should be no problem. Josh Cribbs is an explosive return man, but a marginal receiver at best. Mohamed Massaquoi is a physical, talented rookie out of Georgia who had a big day against Cinci three weeks ago, but has yet to score a touchdown and has only had two multiple catch games.

Playing defensive back has a lot to do with swagger. Guys like Charles Woodson and Al Harris don’t need much help in that department, but a Sunday of man-handling a group of receivers should do wonders for a team when they go up against a quarterback in Brett Favre, who torched them in the first meeting.

The biggest concern, in some ways, is the offense’s rhythm heading into the November match up with Minny.

No one gives up more yards than the Browns do at a staggering 407.3 yard per game clip. They are 30th in the league in rush defense giving up 165 yards per game and even though newly signed Ahman Green probably won’t play in this game, getting the offensive line some confidence in the run game will be vital for success against the Vikings (Remember, Ahman Green had some big days against the Vikings).

If you’re Aaron Rodgers though, your biggest concert has to be this offensive line gaining some cohesion and confidence in pass protection. Jared Allen ate the Packer’s lunch in that Monday Night game, and things didn’t get much better against the lowly Lions when they gave up five more sacks.

Jared Allen is playing like the defensive player of the year, so if the Packers hope to slow him down, they have to make some adjustments and get the offensive line squared away. Mark Tauscher won’t be ready by then, and even if he were ready, Allen would be matched up on the opposite edge more often than not.

The Browns do not boast a devastating edge rusher, but neither did the Lions. In fact, the Lions were missing half their defense and still managed to get in the grill of Aaron Rodgers. Getting the Browns means getting a team who has struggled to get consistent pressure and who lacks true playmakers along the front seven in terms of rushing the passer. The O-line should be able to handle this group, and feel good about themselves heading into the following week.

The big picture here is clear: get things corrected this week against a terrible team, so you can have your heads on straight to play the biggest game of your season.

That means this cannot be a trap game, it means too much. The Packers offensive line has to play well this week, or face a ferocious pass-rush next week who will sense the blood in the water.  Aaron Rodgers and company have to come away with six in the redzone instead of three, because Minnesota will. And the defense has to rush the passer, and force take-aways because Favre has shown he can still fire rockets if he has time.

I hate to keep looking forward to that game, but if the Packers don’t win November 1st , the division is gone. The only way that game even matters though, is if the Packers win this week. They don’t have to win by 100, they just have to cut down the mistakes and play solid football. If they do that they’ll win, and be on a roll headed for the monster matchup of the season.

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Hey, Packers, Just Shut Up and Start Winning

Jermichael Finley rubbed me the wrong way when he tweeted “Next is lion should trash them,” in reference to the upcoming match-up with the Detroit Lions. He gave a half hearted apology of sorts while basically saying, “What do you want from me? It’s the Lions”

Now I love JMike as a player, but much like this Packers team, he is talented while proving nothing.

So until this team proves something, shut up.

I don’t want to harp on Finley or single him out. It’s not on him, he’s just the one who said something. The kid should have confidence in his abilities, after all he did trash the Vikings last week. He has every reason to believe an inferior defense would fare even worse against him and this offense.

He’s also right in saying the Packers “should” trash the Lions.  Especially now that word out of Detroit is that Lions All-World wide out Calvin Johnson likely won’t play, the Packers should and need to beat the Lions.

But Green Bay is 2-2, coming off a painful not to mention sloppy defeat at the hands of an arch rival, I don’t want to hear a word out of Green Bay that isn’t “We’re working our (bleeping) tails off to get this turned around.”

Against Minnesota, the Packers looked listless at times. They played with no passion, energy, or heart. There was no chip on their shoulders, no anger, no fire. It was as if the players were just waiting for the light to turn on and they’d start playing like the Super Bowl team everyone thought they were coming into the year.

That time has passed, the press-clippings aren’t pretty anymore so the players need to stop reading them and start reading their playbooks. The bye week gave the team a chance to heal physically, now it’s time to put the hurt to someone else.

It’s good to play Detroit and Cleveland after such a bad beat, because Green Bay has a reason to come out and pulverize the opposition in the next two weeks. Oh, and did I mention what’s his name and that team from next door come to Lambeau after those two games?

When the Packers lost to Cincinnati, the talk was not to panic, it was just one game.

When they lost to Minnesota, it was the wrong kind of talking, the excuses the explanations for such a pathetic display of mediocrity (And I need to remind you, they still had a chance to win that game).

Did Aaron hold the ball too long? Did the offensive line suck? Did the defense play with no life or creativity? Will Mark Tauscher be signed?

Enough talk. Enough excuses.

There’s no hype this week for a Detroit Lions team with one win since Clinton was President (Okay not quite, but it seems that way). There will be even less for Cleveland as the intensity of a division game will give way to an AFC powder puff game.

These are must wins, and they need to be crisp and convincing. And I don’t mean by explaining that it wasn’t close.

A good linebackers coach will tell his players that you do your talking with your pads. You think Kevin Greene is saying that to his guys right now? He better be.

It’ll be clear after just a couple minutes against Detroit where this team is. If they talk with their pads and put a butt-whooping on Detroit early, maybe this team is starting to figure it out. If they have to squeak out another W (or God forbid they lose), and we have to hear more excuses after the game, the real talk will need to start again…Talk about next season.

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No Defense For Packers As They Hand Brett Favre His Vindication, For Now

If you had told Packer fans Monday morning Adrian Peterson would rush the ball 26 times for 55 yards, lose a fumble for a Green Bay touchdown, Aaron Rodgers would throw for almost 400 yards the Packers would still lose, they’d have told you that you were insane.

Welcome to Crazytown, population: Cheesehead Nation.

As if seeing Brett Favre wasn’t unequivocally maddening in an of itself for Green Bay Fans, a Brett Favreian performance and Vikings victory came on a night when nation’s eyes were squarely on that new purple No. 4 jersey.

Brett Favre can still get it done, he can still win football games, he is still an electric talent in the NFL. None of those should have been questioned before Monday Night, but the Packers certainly didn’t do themselves any favors in helping Favre of today look like the Favre of old.

Green Bay’s defense was listless rushing the passer, reactive rather than aggressive in coverage, and was on its heels most of the night despite containing Adrian Peterson all night long. It was as if the Packers dared Favre to beat him, and Favre obliged.

What??

Why, in the name of all things Vince Lombardi, would the Packers just LET Brett Favre beat them? I wrote last week that the Packers wanted the ball in the hands of Brett Favre, and that is still true. Brett Favre was outstanding, never making the gunslinging mistake plenty of Packer fans were hoping he would. But the Packers didn’t MAKE Brett Favre beat them, they let him.

The Packers didn’t get sliced and diced by Favre because they were too busy worrying about Adrian Peterson. Favre carved up the secondary on straight drop-backs with absolutely zero pressure on his face. Tavaris Jackson could have thrown for 270 yards and three touchdowns against that defense.

No creativity, no pressure, no aggression from Green Bay’s defense.

That is unacceptable in a game the Packers defense had talked about since August. There weren’t linebackers running around creating pressure, or defensive backs flying in on unexpected downs.

A blitz is a blitz to some degree, and if you want to create pressure on the quarterback, while you’re there you might make a tackle on a running back should he get the ball instead. Had Dom Capers not heard of a run blitz? Because a run blitz on a pass play is still a blitz. It still means bringing more people than the offensive line can theoretically block. It means moving Favre a step or two off his spot.

Just ask Aaron Rodgers. He knows what it’s like to be moved from his spot. The guy was running for his life all night, and has been all season, and yet had the Packers within an onsides kick of going on a game-winning drive. He was sacked about 28 times, and that was just by Jared Allen.

It started on the opening drive. Green Bay, with a chance to quiet the crowd early and put Favre in a must-throw situation, marched down the field. Rodgers was brilliant, making stick throws and converting third downs. Then, he held the ball a little too long, was sandwiched and lost a fumble. Favre lead the Vikings down the field and all of a sudden it’s 7-0 Vikings instead of 7-0 Packers.

Similar scenario just a few moments later when the Packers, having tied the game and forced Favre three and out, marched down the field again. This time, Rodgers threw a comeback route that Antoine Winfield came back with. Favre drove the Vikings down the field and the Vikes are back up 14-7, instead of the other way around.

That is 14 points off turnovers on two of the first three drives of the game. The Packers come away with touchdowns the other way instead of turnovers (highly plausible given the way they moved the ball much of the game) and a Favre-lead 31 throw night trying to overcome a 21-7 deficit does not end well for Minnesota.

Green Bay let Brett Favre have this moment, he didn’t take it. The Packers played wildly inconsistent football, made mental mistakes with penalties, turned the ball over, and still had a chance to win the game on the road in the most emotional football game played in Minneapolis since I’ve been alive.

The Vikings wanted it more, and showed it with tenacity, hustle, and better execution.

The Vikings with Brett Favre, needed to win that game more than the Packers. A Super Bowl contender wins a game against a division rival at home on a Monday Night.

It was horrible, awful, terrible, excruciating, and difficult to watch for Packer fans, but let’s not jump to conclusions about what this means about Ted Thompson, Aaron Rodgers, and the first Brett Favre retirement.

No way, with the kind of time Rodgers got, that 39 year-old Brett Favre nearly puts up four bills and has his team in a position to win the game late. Just saying.

It was unbearable at times to look at, and it came to a point where I’d shut off my phone and turned the TV off. But fans cannot quit on the team,and more importantly the Packers can’t quit. They showed the kind of talent they have, but some mistakes and some strange coaching decisions were the difference in a game where the Vikings were basically perfect and Green Bay was mediocre at best.

Brett Favre and the Vikings needed their best game of the season to beat the Packers at home in a game with much more importance to them. They got it, and the Packers, particularly the defense, didn’t even get off the bus. Yet, 30-23 is essentially as bad as it could get.

A loss is a loss, and this one is horrible. The Packers have two weeks to think about it, to stew over it, to make corrections, and to get it right against some weak opponents coming up. The Vikings proved they were a top-tier team when they took care of business Monday Night.

But, rest assured, the Packers gets their chance to do the same in a few weeks. If they bring their best game November 1st the same way the Vikings did Monday, the tundra will seem even chillier for one Mr. Favre.

Revenge is after all, a dish best served cold.   

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Ted Thompson and Packers Flying With No Safety Net

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Packers Defense Can’t Let Bengals Offense Regain Form

Carson Palmer to Chad Johnson used to be one of the most dangerous combinations in the league. If you want to get technical, Palmer now throws to Chad Ochocinco, but the point is things just aren’t the same in Cinci.

The Bengals had gone through a renaissance of sorts, making the playoffs in 2005 thanks in large part to the arm of Palmer and a talented trio of receivers. However, that year in the playoffs, Palmer went down with a ripped up knee and things haven’t been the same for Palmer, or the Bengals since. He battled injuries since that surgery and just hasn’t seem quite right since that Steelers game.

Chris Henry has struggled since having been suspended due to his off the field conduct. T.J. Houshmandzadeh plays in Seattle, and Chad Johnson and is now Chad Ochocino coming off one of the worst years in his career.

The Bengals did bring in Laveranues Coles and they like their second year Florida speedster Andre Caldwell, but Caldwell has shown very little except promise, and Coles promises very little.   

Now 1,000 yard rusher Rudi Johnson is nowhere to be found as former Bears bust Cedric Benson now resides in the backfield. This just isn’t the offense that was slinging it up and down the field even when they were losing.

Some comments have been made about Cincinatti’s familiarity with the 3-4 defense. They play against it at least six times a year in the AFC North, so they certainly have seen how it can work. Considering two of the best defense in the league reside in their division, you would expect they could handle it.

But all you have to do is look at the record to see that just because they see it a lot, doesn’t mean they’re having success. The Bengals haven’t had a winning season since 2005, and they’ve only lost on offense since then. Clearly, any advantage they have from seeing the 3-4 defense all the time is negated by the fact that they’re just not a great offensive team anymore.

Against a Denver team who was horrible against the run last year, the Bengals managed just 86 yards on 27 rushes. Oh, and the Broncos just switched to a 3-4 too, without half the talent Green Bay does.

Yes, the Packers made Jay Cutler look like a fool last week, but throwing to new receivers (who aren’t very good anyway) certainly didn’t help. Palmer does have some young faces to throw to, and his top target from last year plays in Pacific Time now, but Chris Henry and Chad Whateverheisthisweek are talented and explosive. This would not be a good week to let them find a rhythm.

This game and the next are trap games for Green Bay; teams they should beat but they could very easily overlook thanks to their imminent Monday Night matchup with Adrian Peterson and Co. (He’s the only big-name player on that team right?).

The Bengals defense has been much improved the last two years despite being much maligned under Marvin Lewis. If it weren’t for one of the wackiest plays in the NFL regular season history, the Bengals would be heading into Lambeau 1-0 and feeling confident about their team. And the Packer’s offense wasn’t particularly brilliant Sunday Night. Cinci could have felt good about their chances.

But Brandon Stokley invoked the spirit of Madden users everywhere and broke the Bengals hearts. They come in winless, struggling, and thoughts of “here we go again” are likely creeping in.

If the Packers let the Bengals hang around, their confidence will grow. Get out to a fast start and an early lead though, and the Bengals could hang their heads and quit.

People like to say NFL players don’t do that, but when a guy like Carson Palmer who has played in Cinci his whole career, gets beaten and beaten it effects a person’s psyche. At a certain point those wounds don’t heal as fast and you don’t recover as fast from a bad throw, bad drive, or bad game.

The Bengals are coming off a bad game, and it is up the Packers defense to make sure they continue to hang their heads. The Bungles don’t have much of a chance if that happens.

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Packers on Track After Escaping With Win, Despite Sloppy Play

Last week, I attempted to be the voice of caution for excited Packers fans and pundits ready to anoint the Packers as the favorite in the NFC. After an underwhelming offensive performance and a narrow victory, it should be clear why I was so reserved in my judgment.

That being said, Packer fans need not panic. The offense was sluggish and play calling unimaginative at times. The pass protection was poor, after a preseason where Aaron Rodgers basically stood in the pocket for as long as he wanted, surveying the field to throwing whenever and wherever he desired.

With the Bears’ pressure, Rodgers was out of rhythm and missed a ton of open receivers. To be fair, his pass catchers didn’t give him much help as they dropped some catchable balls.

The offense we saw Sunday night looked nothing like the offense we saw in August, but we couldn’t expect it to be. That Bears’ defense is much better than expected and boasts a pass rush considerably more fierce than anything the Pack had faced in preseason.

This is the first time the young O-line has had to face that kind of aggressive pressure. Allen Barbre struggled with Ogunleye, but most tackles do. This offensive line has not played together as a unit in the regular season, and we had to expect some growing pains.

As I mentioned last week, teams don’t scheme in the preseason, so once a team gets film on you, they’re going to create matchup problems. Coaches and scouts get paid just to do that.

There was bound to be more pressure in the regular season than the preseason. That’s just the difference in intensity. It will only increase in the playoffs, should the Packers wind up there.

The offense will come around. The real story from the game is the defense. They stuffed Matt Forte and, with the exception of the big play to Hester, held the Bears’ offense in check. Corners are going to get beat like Woodson did, but the Packers’ defense held on that drive. That kind of play-making was non-existent last year.

The Packers turned Jay Cutler into a JV quarterback, forcing off-balance throws and bad decisions to the tune of four picks. If Tramon Williams hadn’t had a case of the “dropsies,” it could have been even more. The Packers could have conceivably picked half a dozen from Cutler, as Dom Capers defense lived up to its preseason billing.

That was the question mark. Aaron Rodgers is in control of the offense, as long as McCarthy grows a pair and picks up his aggressive play calling back up where he left off in the preseason.

But the defense’s ability to matchup with offenses was the big question. Could Al Harris and Charles Woodson adjust to playing zone? Could the Packers get pressure from their front seven without giving up big plays? Could Nick Collins be the same game-changer he was last year, without giving up as many big plays or missing as many tackles?

The answer seemed like an emphatic “Yes,” (with the exception of the Hester TD on which Collins cramped up, whether physically or mentally) after Sunday’s performance.

We watched some of the best teams in the league struggle opening weekend, and the Packers were no exception.

But in the NFL, a win is something to be savored no matter how you come by it or against whom. Luckily, the Packers will get a chance to do a lot more right this Sunday against cellar-dwelling Cincinnati, and they won’t really be tested until that massive Monday night matchup against the Viqueens.

Getting the Bears in Week One was a blessing for the Pack because that offense won’t be held in check for long. When they roll into Soldier Field late in the year, you can bet things will be different.

But after one game, Green Bay got the W and that is all that matters. They sit at the top of the division now, and they’ll get a chance to get in sync as the schedule is soft the next few weeks.

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Lovie Smith Injected Life Into Packers-Bears Rivalry

When Lovie Smith arrived in Chicago as the new man in charge five seasons ago, he had a major, but specific goal, “Beat Green Bay.” 

At that time, Green Bay was the only division champion the new NFC North had known, and was a perennial winner in the previous NFC Central.  In fact, from 1995-2008, the team in green had won seven of 14 division crowns.  

In Chicago though, they’d won just one division title since a guy named Ditka left town. Even in 2001, when the Bears went 13-3, they were swept by Green Bay.

The oldest rivalry in football had lost its luster, because even if the games were close, they didn’t matter since Green Bay was going to win more games than Chicago anyway.

Within a year of making his famous anti-Packer decree, the Bears had gone from 5-11 cellar dweller to 11-5 division winner. The next season, the Bears used their pulverizing defense to dominate opponents and wound up in the Super Bowl.

Four out of the last five seasons, the NFC North division winner has come from Chicago or Green Bay.

In the 1980s, the Bears were the powerhouse and the Packers the team struggling to find a course.  In the 1990s, it was the other way around for the most part. In fact, the Packers seemed to play better at Soldier Field than anywhere else (maybe it’s karma from all those Cubs fans who invade Milwaukee for Brewers games all summer).

No football fan wants to see a rivalry game end in a blowout. Not consistently anyway.  Sure, it was great to beat the hell out of the Bears in Lambeau last year. It was just payback for the whooping they put on Green Bay in the coldest game I’ve ever been to the season before in Chicago.

Game broadcasts love to use the Brett Favre statistic about the number of QBs starting in Chicago while Favre started in Green Bay (I believe the number is somewhere around 683).  But in some ways, it is nice to finally have a foil in Jay Cutler.

Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, Devin Hester, they provide a solid core for a Bears team that had been aging.  With Minnesota setting their franchise back another half decade with this Favre debacle, and the Lions being the Lions, the Packers and Bears look like they’re going to fight this thing out for the foreseeable future.

No excuses for either team now with Super Bowl expectations in both cities for as long as Cutler and Rodgers stay under center in their respective cities.

Who would have thought a man named Lovie would bring such change the Monsters of the Midway.  But he has, and Packer fans should be happy that he has.

This season the talent on the field will reflect the richness of the history between two marquee NFL franchises. If you love football, I don’t know how you could get sick of Cutler/Rodgers promos.

Sunday Night will be what Packers versus Bears is all about. And it’s due in large part to a man with a simple goal, “Beat Green Bay.”   

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Packers Bandwagon Closed Until They Earn It

What the heck is going on in the NFL?

The returning Super Bowl champions return 22 starters who were on the team last season, their schedule is easier and their division is terrible. Somehow, the Patriots and Chargers are getting way more ink as the contender in the AFC this year.

In the NFC, the Panthers are getting no love, despite winning 12 games last year mostly because their quarterback threw an epic stink bomb, not to mention about 54 passes to the other team, in their playoff game.

Meanwhile, the Giants were almost equally terrible in their only playoff game, and yet they continue to get serious love from preseason pundits.  That doesn’t even include the fact that they have absolutely zero at wide receiver and lost a key cog in the running game to free agency.

Then, and this is perhaps the strangest of them all, a team that went 6-10 last season is being picked as an NFC title contender and potential Super Bowl team.

Yes, I’m talking about the Green Bay Packers. The third place NFC North team from a year ago.

What is the basis?

Talent? That can’t be, this team is essentially intact from last season from a starters stand-point. If anything the loss of Mark Tauscher is the biggest roster change. Losing one of your best horses upfront can’t be a talent upgrade.  

The Packers are loaded from a talent standpoint, but like I said, its not any different from last year when they went 6-10.  

What about experience? The Giants are deserve some of their credit because they are just a season removed from one of the greatest and most improbably runs in playoff history. The Packers are just a few months removed from losing close game after close game, finishing third in the division.

Aaron Rodgers has never started a playoff game, and Mike McCarthy has only won one, count ‘em, one, playoff game as the Packers head coach. Oh, and the Packers roster is still among the youngest is the NFL.

Then it must be injuries? Ok, this one I’ll buy to some extent. Green Bay was hurt by injuries last year, even players who fought through injuries and played, like Ryan Grant, were clearly not 100%. Getting this team back to full strength will be a key factor in improved play this season.

But the real reason the Packers have sports writers salivating? The preseason.

Read that again. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

The preseason? You mean the game where no one schemes for opponents and you play your scrubs and you’re just really getting back into shape? Oh yeah, that one.

The same season where an 0-16 regular season team went undefeated. That preseason.

I saw the games too. They were impressive. At times, it honestly looked like a varsity high school team against a middle school team.

Let me be clear cheeseheads, that isn’t going to happen every week.

People will scheme for the defense. They won’t cause 34 turnovers a game. They will give up points and the Packers will lose some games.

The offense will not move the ball at will every possession…Well maybe they will. The offense was damn good last season, they’ll be even better this season with a healthy Ryan Grant and an emerging superstar at tight end. I will believe the offense is good for 8-10 wins this year. In fact, the Pack should win 12 games this year. But they should have done the same last year.

The preseason is like the NFL Combine, never get too excited or too discouraged by what you see. The tape will tell you what you need to know.  And the tape, shows a 6-10 team last year. I don’t care if the games were close, the point is you lost.

Go back and watch the games from last year, you’ll see inconsistent play-calling, poor red zone offense, and a defense that couldn’t get a stop when they needed one.

That is all that matters. Ask any coach, there’s no such thing as a moral victories. Players don’t get millions and fans don’t play hundreds for tickets to watch moral victories.

As Herm Edwards once said, “You play to win the games.” And that means when they count.

You can expect some of those things to change, heck you might even expect them all to change.  I don’t believe the Vikings are the team people think they are, nor would I trust Jay Cutler to win me a playoff game….ummm ever.

The Packers, based on talent, are an NFC title contender. Not making the playoffs should be considered absolute failure and not winning the division should be considered disappointing. But that is the case every year in Green Bay. Packers fans are the best in the world (everyone says that, but you go to Lambeau and you’ll see it’s true about Green bay), they expect a winner.

And you should. It’s up the players to get motivated and make changes this year.  They don’t keep track of preseason. You’re 6-10 until you win a game in the regular season the next year.

No, they don’t deserve credit for being a talented team, because they’re a talented 6-10 team. Until they take the field Sunday Night against Chicago, that is what they are. Period.

Yes, they have a shot to win it all this year, but until they start winning ball games and changing the things that killed them last year, and I mean in games that matter, they don’t deserve the kind of positive press they’ve been getting.

They have not arrived, not until they win some games. Not until they beat the defending NFC Champions when it counts, or the defending division champions when it counts.

A wise man once said, “Don’t believe the hype.” The Packers have to earn it. I believe they will. So do they.  

Until then, you’re a 6-10 team. Go out and earn it. It starts this week in primetime.

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Weird Wheelings and Dealings for Green Bay Packers, Others on Cut Day

So Saturday’s 53-man roster deadline proved once again that most NFL GM’s have no idea what they’re doing. Al Davis, who doesn’t know where he is much less what he’s doing, gives up a top 10 pick for a 30-year-old 3-4 defensive end who isn’t an impact player anymore, not to mention doesn’t stay healthy.

The Ravens gave up something, anything for Tony Moll (that’s bad enough, he can’t play at all).

Oh, but Ted Thompson doesn’t escape without looking a little foolish. He kept three fullbacks when John Kuhn and Korey Hall are essentially the same guy (if you switched their numbers would you be able to tell the difference? No). 

He cut Anthony Smith and not Jarrett Bush…and that’s really all I’d have to say even without a game every being played. But then Anthony Smith displayed an aptitude for the defense, and was making plays all over the field, while Atari Bigby struggled and Bush was well, Jarrett Bush.

This is a talented, talented team and while Smith was brilliant this preseason, Aaron Rouse probably has more natural talent and better physical tools. In fact, I never understood why Rouse wasn’t getting time at strong safety this preseason because with his body he seems like a natural fit there.

Some interesting questions now though, because there are some very talented players on this team who don’t seem to really have a clear role.

Quinn Johnson is a road-grading fullback with underrated receiving skills and limited special teams potential.  He’s a third string fullback sitting behind John Korey Kuhn Hall and likely won’t even be active most games.

So why keep a player on your team for depth at a position where you don’t need depth unless they can play special teams, which he won’t because the guys in front of him will? How does that make sense?

Brad Jones at outside linebacker is off the charts athletically, but with Kampman the starter on one side for as long as he wants to play in Green Bay, and Clay Matthews the man being paid to play opposite him, where does Brad Jones fit?

Jeremy Thompson bigger and stronger than Jones, but certainly doesn’t have the same burst or agility. As long as Kampman, Thompson and Matthews remain on this team, he’s no better than the fourth outside linebacker, and we haven’t even talked about the current starter Brady Poppinga. Plus, lord only knows why Chillar hasn’t been getting time there.

The offensive line seems painfully thin. Word out of Green Bay is Jamon Meredith will be brought back on the practice squad, but there isn’t an awful lot of experience on this line. Two first year starters make up the right side of the line, not to mention Jason Spitz has never started a full season at center.

Other than Scott Wells, the back-up offensive lineman have started a grand total of zero games. For a team that had to do a lot of shuffling due to injuries last season, this seems like a dangerous game to be playing particularly when the face of your franchise is the man these guys are protecting.

Ultimately though, the starters remain in place. The Packers boast one of the deepest receiving cores in football, a stable of talented linebackers, and some man-eaters on the defensive front.

The offense will need to stay healthy at running back and offensive line, but if they do it seems hard to imagine them being stopped.

The defense has been flying around the field, and they have plenty of athletes to continue to put pressure on opponents, force turnovers, and create opportunities for the offense.

No, we won’t always understand NFL GM’s, but Ted Thompson normally seems easier to read. This was a somewhat strange cut day for him, but there was no Hall of Fame quarterback locked out, no first round pick bungled (Justin is sitting at home), so Packer fans can’t complain too much.

The 2009 Packers now need to focus on making a statement on national television. They’ll see Cutler and Co. in a week.   

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