Blog Suspended Indefinately

I am suspending this blog indefinitely. Due to the State of Illinois' inability to manage its budget and/or choke down a minor income tax increase, I have to find a new job.

If you live in Wisconsin, you have a great University system. Keep it.

If you live in Illinois, write your elective officials and tell them to leave the Universities alone.

If you don't like public universities, write your own damn blog and have fun trying to pay for the Northwestern or the University of Chicago... oh never mind. If you are in this category, you are not smart enough to get into any of these places.

Go Pack!

D-Line Wins Game Within Game

This year the Packer defensive line fight the Cowboys big line and won more than they lost. When the Packers were on defense, I tried to watch the first 2 seconds of the play and draw a composite line of where Packers defenders and Cowboys offensive linemen were in relation to the line of scrimmage. More often than not the Packers were pushing the pocket in, not getting locked up and engulfed.

The cast wasn't much different except for the addition of BJ Raji and having the ball 8+ minutes longer than they did last year (36-28). They can thank Charles Woodson for that. Raji also seemed to help. "Their defense brought it to us today, pure and simple," receiver Patrick Crayton said in Monday's Dallas Morning News.

You had to enjoyed watching the Hawk / Barnett twists run at full speed. The blitz on the Woodson sack - "unreviewable play" was something to behold. It was as the refs added style points by awarding the Packers the ball at the 3 yard line.

The Cowboys were getting their bells rung, and were not prepared for a "playoff intensity" game. Romo and his OL looked cornered in the late third quarter. They kept trying for that BIG play that would get them off the field.

The fans in the media who were ready to run this gang out of town if they "laid another egg" with half-hearted play were given voice by fan favorite, Donald Driver. This was a good time & place for fans to draw the line in the sand.

In 2008 they were soft, giving up 218 yards on 34 carries to Barber / Jones. Yesterday it's 32 yards on just 8 carries. Talk about abandoning the run!

This is still a team that lost decisively twice to the division leading Vikings. All the Packers have to do to nullify this victory is lose one of the next two games. The Packers were as good against Dallas as they were bad against Tampa. Wild card chase team seems like an authentic identity for the 2009 Packers. Let's see if they can settle on that and enjoy the turn of fortune against the Cowboys for now.

Woodson Beats Cowboys!

I've actually never seen a CB play that kind of game. Charles Woodson was unstoppable today. Johnny Jolly got out of the dog house with two tipped passes. Clay Matthews, Nick Barnett, and AJ Hawk provided some real heat. This year we saw Cowboys limping off the field instead of Packers.

The offense recognized the opportunity and came alive in the second half and provided the biggest upset of the year calming the Lambeau faithful. What surprised me most was how McCarthy, Philbin, and Rodgers actually played a game within the west coast philosophy. Ryan Grant found some cutback lanes and really got things rolling in the second half. The game plan took account for the capabilities of the Packer offensive line and surprise... victory!

I'm happy to take one of those eggs out of the carton and slap in on my forehead for a victory over the Cowboys at Lambeau. Who wants to talk about firing people in week nine? Now how about giving the maintenance guy his job back?

Final Thoughts Before The Pummeling By Dallas

Every game and every season is it's own. But thinking back to 2007 when Favre was knocked out under heavy pressure and Rodgers lead a minor comeback, it's hard to see where this game shouldn't be worse. The offensive line is now much worse. So are the special teams units.

Neither the great Favre nor the good Aaron Rodgers can do anything about that. I doubt the greatest scrambling QBs of all time like Roger Staubach or Fran Tarkington could survive this line either.

How about a surprise?

Congrats UW Badgers!

Michigan 24
Wisconsin 45

Yesss!

Defensive Line: The Game Within The Dallas Game

This season the story has been the offensive, offensive line for the Green Bay Packers. The defensive line has been more difficult to assess. First, they have failed to generate pressure on opposing QBs on a regular basis, but that's not their job in the 3-4 defense.

Let's take them one by one:

Ryan Pickett: B+ probably not pro bowl material but his reviews are positive

Cullen Jenkins: B- he has probably played too many snaps & leads team with just 3.5 sacks

Johnny Jolly: D remember when he use to tip balls at the line and occasion beat guys?

BJ Raji: Incomplete / D - if he can stay healthy he'll take snaps away from Jolly

Let's not get into the inconsistent LBs now, but let's watch the line of scrimmage and see which way it moves when the Cowboys have the ball. The Cowboys OL is as good as litmus test as the DLs will have in dealing with bulk. Then we can file that information away for the post-Thomspon era. Will the Packers be "soft" like last year? None of the aforementioned four guys is on the injury report, so it's showtime for them. It's "get home or go home" time.

Also, who is Brad Jones and why is he starting at LOLB? He was the Packers pick in the 9th slot of the 7th round. Capers likes him. We will see.

McCarthy Madness!

The Journal Sentinel is reporting Mike McCarthy fired a part-time maintenance worker that had been working for the Packers for 22 years over some alleged remark. Apparently, McCarthy is so fond of his personnel getting sacked he couldn't just let the guy off with a warning. Can his press get any worse?

Speaking of firing why is Breno Giacomini still on the roster if he can't play RT better than Alan Barbre? Last week, I personally gave up on the much maligned Jared Bush. He's suppose to be an asset on special teams. He's not good enough to save us from Derrick Martin's lack of experience with the defense earlier this year at safety. Meanwhile, former Packer special teams standout Tracy White is playing for the Eagles.

The table is set for an unforgettable shellacking at the hands of the Cowboys. For some bizarre reason the Packers are only a 3 point underdog. Perhaps the odds makers are banking on the Packers playing like a wounded animal backed into a corner. But as we have seen the past two years, the Cowboys are the more physical team and football is still a contact sport. Resist the temptation to bet the house. Weird things happen in the NFL.

Donald Driver knows what time it is. He's quoted in the J/S as having said in a team meeting "If we don't win - and I mean now - they are going to fire all of our (butts) at the end of the season," Driver said. "I'm serious." Nothing written on fan blogs like this one is going to change that, although I'd except Driver and other worthy players.

One of the things about Dallas, despite their misfortune of being the Dallas Cowboys, they have mined the lower reaches of the draft and undrafted free agents to find gems like WR Miles Austin and NT Jay Ratliff. Bob McGinn notes these successes in his game preview. But Ted Thompson's low round picks have at best yielded the likes of Mike Montgomery, Johnny Jolly, and DeShawn Wynn. The Packers are as well resourced as the Cowboys with leading apparel sales and a full house every game, yet our scouting department hasn't found a hidden gem since the aforementioned Donald Driver in the Sherman era.

Hang on to your hats folks. This could be the "Ugly Bowl".

Note added on 11/19/09: Good piece by Robert Borland on the egg incident and why it matters at the National Football Post.

Tampa 38 Packers 28

Boooo!

The ingredients for a disaster were present and acknowledged.

1. A winless team, playing at home, coming off a bye week.
2. A dispirited team coming off it's second loss to the Vikings.
3. Old beat up OTs trying to step in and shore up a bad offensive line.

When you look at those second half Packer possessions on the drive chart, you see the run game gaining some traction behind Ahman Green only to stall out. This was foreshadowed in the first half when the Packers failed to convert good field positions into points. Here's the drive chart summary for the Packers second half possessions.

#1 punt (almost safety)
#2 interception on 1st & 10
#3 punt
#4 Rodgers runs for TD
#5 punt
#6 punt
#7 interception on 4th & 12 returned for TD

The offense didn't have any 4 & outs after the first possession where they were pinned on the goal line. But 4 of the 6 sacks came in the 4th quarter. In crunch time, things got harder and you could feel the Packers "trying not to lose" and they choked.

The unreliability of the offensive line is causing this anamic feeling. It's not just the sacks, it's not being able to a set of dependable plays... screen passes, slants, U-72 type runs. The bread & butter of the Packer offense has become the "quick strike". On the one score the Packers ground out early in the fourth quarter, the effort was immediately nullified by one of the few kickoffs Mason Crosby didn't put out of the endzone.

So add kick coverage (if you haven't already) to offensive line play to areas that repeatedly lets the rest of the team down. And now even punt protection is becoming an adventure. One get's the feeling that coaches are saying the same things over and over. Guys don't come free to block punts due bad coaching. No one coaches that. Maybe a player was under coached, or maybe they made a mistake on their own. Either way, the Packers seem to be devolving into a bad team despite having players that have shown plenty of ability in the past.

One aspect that will not be discussed in the Packer media, at least directly, is how this team had so much invested in beating the Vikings that it played a dispirited game afterwards. You could almost say that the Packers have lost 3 games to the Vikings counting this one. This is another aspect of putting Brett Favre behind them.

Maybe the Packers can use Grant & Green as a one-two punch as they hinted at in the 3rd quarter and build a more physical and confident offensive line through that? It's worth a try. This team can not survive on deep strikes from Rodgers to his WRs and defensive turnovers alone.

Phoney Favre-agedonn Has Bitten The Dust!

"No expense spared by team in Favre PR war" was posted on the J/S website Oct. 28, 2009. It is the most important piece of reporting since Ted Thompson traded Brett Favre to the Vikings. In it we learn that Ari Fleischer was not hired by Thompson but at the behest of a member(s) of the Packer Executive Committee. The buck stops with Mark Murphy, but the push to hire Fleischer came from elsewhere. And Fleisher was likely responsable for the anti-Favre slur that divided Packerdom.

Christl writes: "The theme offered by Favre's critics was almost always the same: That he had become a diva (a word that curiously kept popping up), and that he was a self-absorbed ingrate for being wishy-washy and dragging out his decision." Christl notes that Allen Barra of The Wall Street Journal, a publication that editorially was pro-Bush and one with which Fleischer might have had some influence disseminated those talking points in his reporting.

While embracing the ends - dumping Favre - Christl questions the means noting the historical inverse relationship between involvement in football operations by members of the Executive Committee and the Packers winning football games. That's going to be something to watch for in the future. Further down the page, Christl writes "some people on the board said they were becoming ever more wary of the growing influence of certain executive committee members - notably John Bergstrom and Carl Kuehne - at the expense of the administration".

Christl then uses the record of Packer precedence as a wrecking ball against the Fleischer / Barra premise that Favre's "diva" behavior was that of a "a self-absorbed ingrate" citing similar behavior by Don Hutson who retired and unretired a number of times. Want to excommunicate Favre? To be consistent, you also have call Don Hutson & Forrest Gregg divas.

As McGinn has reported, Favre's future with the Packers was decided in January & February when Thompson & McCarthy were silent on Favre's return. They punted and pinned Favre into a corner. Favre's 13-3 record and the NFC runner-up status were not going to stand in the way of Aaron Rodgers no matter how many "Favre 4-ever" signs appeared at Lambeau. It's an open question if a Super Bowl victory and an MVP award could have thwarted the Rodger's timetable. Playing with out Thompson's & McCarthy's support would have been the real "diva" move.

Note: More on this by Andrew Brandt in the National Football Post:
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/The-difficult-parting-of-Favre-and-the-Packers.html

That's way I'm wearing the Green & Gold #4 tomorrow. That is the most ambivalent statement I can make. If the Vikings win, there is less of a chance these teams will meet again in the playoffs. That would be fine with me. On the other hand, if the Packers win it will advance the inevitable demise of a good but not great Super Bowl pretender of a Vikings team. Sure they have a shot, but it's a long shot because one season with any QB probably isn't enough to develop playoff chemistry. The close the Vikings come, the more likely they are to want Favre back to try again.

In 2007 it was "Favre 4-ever"
In 2008, it was "Favre 4-get-her" (Trying to forget the look on Deanna' face at that press conference.)
In 2009, it's "Favre-whatever"
4-2010, we have to look at the Vikings free agent situation.
4-2011, we may well be saying "he's still going he really does love to play!"

On the upside, Favre playing the Packers while commentators wonder aloud if Rodgers is holding on to the ball too long, may yield a wider spread understand among Packer fans of what made Brett a great QB. It's not just a strong arm, awareness in the pocket, ability to throw accurately off his back foot and use the recoil to avoid tripping over and falling under blitzers. Favre will throw to a spot and trust his receiver to beat coverage and get the ball. Doing that means accepting interceptions and the resulting criticism.

"Game managers" don't make those throws. "Gunslingers" can only win making those throws selectively to talented receivers they know and trust. That's what we saw in 2007 and in 1996-97. Let's watch Brett play for the Vikings and make sure we know and we remember traits of a great QB. That will help us be good Packer fans and good team owners long after Brett and Aaron are done playing and the ESPN hype has long been forgotten.

I'm not inferring Aaron Rodgers is a game manager. Fortunately, he is way better than that. But I did joust with some Packer fans who want him to be just that in the Sportsbubbler chat rooms last year. That bad idea is certainly out there.

As Ron Wolf might put it, if we were a fart in the wind in 1997, we are a total gasser in 2009.

Those wondering what there is to do in Green Bay on a Friday night read this:
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Biggs-Police-nab-man-who-stole-Aaron-Rodgers-Dr-sign.html

Sackless! Packers Bury Browns 31-3

A sackless performance by the offensive line and overall good reviews give some hope for the Packers vs. Vikings next week. Personally, I'm not getting my hopes up for that game, but the OL putting up a goose egg put the breaks on the record setting pace of yielding sacks for the season.

Personally, I think this is the first season of Favre's revenge. There will probably be a sequel. That's bad enough, but I'd rather not remember it as the worst OL ever to boot so I will track that for the rest of the year.

Can they avoid the tag of worst OL since 1990? Maybe, but only if Sitton and/or Barbre improve this year, and go on to have successful careers with the Packers. I can remember Marco Rivera being shaky at times his first year starting, so we will wait and see.

Congratulations Donald Driver!!!

There is no better representation as to what a Packer should strive to be than Donald Driver. He's got a date with the ring of honor when he is done playing. Until then enjoy the 100% he gives us on and off the field.

Update: Welcome back Mark Tauscher & Ahman Green. What can it hurt? Like the Packers this season, these two guys have nothing to lose and everything to gain by giving it the old Mike Sherman try.

The Worst Offensive Line Since Before Lombardi?

Note: I updated this article on Sunday, October 11 to correct for the year Gale Gillingham was drafted. It was 1966 not in the early 1970s. I also added information about QB injuries in 1980 & 1991.

It turns out that NFL.com has what I figure are unofficial sacks going back to at least 1970. You can look at sacks per passing attempt. You can look at number of sacks surrendered in a season by team. You can also look at where a team ranked in sacks allowed vs. other teams.

The Packers led the NFL in sacks surrendered in 1990 with 62. They were in the top 6 from 1988-91. From 1979-82 they stayed in the top 8 with 1981 being the worst ranking #3. The best years were 1971 ranking 24th and 1972 ranking 22nd.

The most sacks allowed came in 1990 with 62. Next worst was 52 in 1981. The best years were 1972 & 1974 with 17. But everyone ran a lot more in those days. There is no reason to look at the Favre years because of how quickly he gets rid of the ball. Also not much point in looking at 1968-69

In 1990, the sack to attempt ratio was the highest since 1970 at 8.7. In sacks per passing attempt, the 1970 Packers gave up a sack every 8.2 attempts. In 1976 it was every 8.7 pass attempts and 8.3 in 1982. The best years where 1974 at 19.4 and 1986 at 15.3.

The worst of any team I saw by far was the 1986 Eagles who surrendered 106 sacks. I think the second worst was 69. So even if the Packers keep up their sieve like ways, they might only be the second worst offensive line in NFL history.

So 1970 seems to be a bad year, and if I recall the old guys were breaking down then and this led to the drafting of Gale Gillingham. It's probably not right to pick on them, so let's look at 1981 and 1990.

1981 Offensive Line - all played 16 games except Koncar who played 11 and Gofourth who miss one.

LT Mark Koncar
LG Derrel Gofourth
C Larry McCarren
RG Leotis Harris
RT Greg Koch
Tim Huffman G-T
Syd Kitson G-T
Karl Swanke G-T-C

1990 Offensive Linemen

LT Ken Ruettgers - 11 games started
LG Billy Ard - 15 games started
C James Campen - 16 games started
RG Keith Uecker - 13 games started
RT Tony Mandarich - 16 games started
Alan Veingrad
Ron Hallstrom
Rich Moran

The 1990 line just looks bad. Mandarich. Keith Uecker played for my high school in Florida, a dubious place if there ever was one. Campen is the current OL coach. I recall Ard wasn't much. It looks like a 62-sack line to me.

The 2009 OL has allowed 20 sacks in 4 games. Projected over 16 games and the 2009 Packer line will allow 80 sacks shattering this ignoble of 62. In order to avoid breaking this record, the Packers can only allow about 3 sacks per game which seems like a tall order at this point.

Of course allowing sacks is only part of what the offensive line does. They have to run block also. And there we can probably acquit the 1981 line as that was a Dickey / Coffman / Lofton / Gerry Ellis / Harlan Huckleby team. QB Lyn Dickey was notoriously immobile playing with a steel rod in one leg. Huckleby and Ellis combined for 1,241 yards rushing. The sacks per attempts ratio supports the notion that while this like gave up a ton of sacks, it protected Dickey too. They gave up a sack every 9.9 passing attempts which ranks only 9th worst in the 22 years I surveyed.

The 1990 team had Sterling Sharpe, Ed West, Perry Kemp, Keith Woodside, and Michael Haddix. They went 6-10 where as the 1981 team was 8-8. Woodside and Haddix combined for 493 yards rushing for the year which is about Ryan Grant's current pace. Lack of ground game and an one-dimensional Sterling Sharpe based offense make the 1990 line my candidate for the worst line ever.

It should also be noted that David Whitehurst started 3 games for Dickey in 1981. Majkowski started 8 games in 1990, Dilweg started 7, and Blair Kiel started 1. So the 1990 line was a bad line on a bad team with injuries at QB to boot.

So it is safe to say that through four games, the performance of the 2009 Packer offensive line has probably been worse than any other line since before the days of Vince Lombardi.

UPDATE: On October, 10th the GBPG's Mike Vandermause writes: "At this rate, the Packers will shatter the single-season record for sacks, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers will suffer a serious injury."

8 Sacks

55 seconds left in the Vikings game and it's a one possession game. What a waste of talent on the rest of the roster doomed by the OL.

Sitton on Failed Conversion

Larry McCarren says Josh Sitton was beaten in pass protection by a 3rd string defensive tackle on the failed conversion. Now what are we suppose to think? This is the guy that was suppose bring some beef to the line.

Later McCarren notes a few minutes late that Pat Williams split Sitton and TJ Lang to tackle Donald Lee for a 2 yard loss.

Can Rodgers Survive His Coffin?

I've been worried about Rodgers physically surviving this game. Even if he does, it will take a lot of great plays behind a whole new line for him to ever lead a team down the field like Favre.

lol... saftey. Want to say it with me? "Gonna get that cleaned up, Mike?"

4th & 1 @ the 1....

Empty backfield? Not even a threat of the handoff... failure. Is anyone surprised? At least Donald Lee has earned his "wedge of Swiss" to make sure we have 7. Five or six blocks of Swiss would fail to mirror the legendary seven blocks of granite that Vince Lombardi was part of at Fordham University.

I really believed that McCarthy had Barbre and Sitton ready to play. When they didn't sign anybody and didn't draft anybody, I thought "These guys are pros. They won't go into this year with the worst OL in the league. They have too many resources to get that completely wrong." But they did... and Colledge just went down. Bring on T.J. Lang... our secret ace in the hole?

At least we can look forward to Favre fadding down the strech, right Bob McGinn?

Predictable Prediction @ 9:00 in 3Q

Down 2 TDs, McCarthy will hand the ball off less than 5 times in this second half.

Postscript: I was about right. I think it was 6 times.

Penalties

Just after the end of the half Vikings go up by 2 TDs.

Penalties:
Packers 6-47
Vikings 0-0

"Hey Mike, you gonna get that cleaned up?"

Halftime: Packers 14 Vikings 21

Forget the score. Forget Farve. Will Aaron Rodgers survive the second half or will he join Will Blackmon on the injured reserve on Monday? You gonna get that cleaned up Mike?

The seven blocks of Swiss Cheese are horrible. It's worse than Favre in purple.

Fuzzy & Jerry Lead The Way to Ambiguity!

Fuzzy & Jerry Lead The Way to Ambiguity!

I loved Greg Bedard's piece on how "It couldn't be worse". Look folks, that offensive line is a problem. Point the figure at who ever you like and the run defense has been bad. Maybe they will get better, but I don't see any reason to be a blood-drunk Packer partisan Monday night.

Ted Thompson pulled a Lombardi. He didn't get rid of the Hornung & Taylor. He got rid of the QB. And that old QB still has some life in him. Remember, those TD comebacks with no timeouts left? No offense to Aaron Rodgers. He's in there and hopefully for a long time. If he can beat the Vikings and Favre, he begins to build his own story. If not, I'm not going to hold it against him. Taking the punishment he has this season has resolved any question I had about his toughness.

My guess is that neither of these teams are going to the Super Bowl this year. They would both be underdogs and in the NFL teams like this make it sometimes, but they usually lose. They are both "good" teams with real weaknesses. Both are fun to watch this year.

Dante Culpepper and Randy Moss are gone and so is Darren Sharper and Mike Tice. Beavel and Childress are not exactly arch-enemy material. So I'm more than happy to let Brett Favre have his victory lap if he and his purple lutefish eating friends can earn it.

I'm going to underscore what I have been saying about the 2007 Packers and repeat the Aaron Rodgers corollary. Favre made that young offense play over-their-heads in 2007. Anyone, read Mike McCarthy, who found fault with Favre was simply looking too hard. The Rodgers Corollary is that he appears, barring injury, a worth successor to one of the greatest QBs of all-time. McCarthy and Thompson should get credit for that.

Even if you don't buy into this view, if the Packers win or lose, remember how lucky we are to have had this guy for 16 years. The Packer Hall of Fame & the Ring of Honor will be waiting. Why rush it? Go Brett and Go Pack!

Driver Watch

With his 4 catches for 95 yards, Donald Drive is now 5 catches from breaking Sterling Sharpe's record for most career receptions as a Packer. Go Donald! I hope the NFL will allow a brief stoppage of play to acknowledge this team milestone if it happens at Lambeau.

Saying Dumb Stuff About Favre...

I was too lazy to immediately turn off WTMJ after the Packers O.T. I was treated to the remark by James T. Harris that he hopes the Packers end Favre's streak. This would mean injuring him badly enough for him to miss the next game.

To be fair, Harris also said he enjoyed watching Favre lead the Vikings' final drive today. Harris seems like an affable guy, but while injuries are part of football it's never been very classy to hope for them. Wouldn't be just enough to win?

Given his poor protection and willingness to take hits, Aaron Rodgers seems like the more likely to leave a game with injury this year. As a German colleague once told me, "don't call the devil".

In my entire career as a Packer fan, I think I have only wished ill on one player. That was Bruce Clark a defensive lineman who the Packers drafted in the first round who flat out refused to play in Green Bay. I was a teenager at the time and in 1980 the Packers had been down on their luck for 10 years. It was the ultimate insult. I wished injury on him, but then I thought about it just didn't seem right. So I wished him a short and unremarkable career. He had a few good years with the Saints and then faded away.

It was only with the arrival of Ron Wolf, Mike Holmgren, and Reggie White that I realized it was probably the Packers' fault. They never should have drafted a guy who didn't want to play for them. Teams need to do their research.

Week 3: Packers 36 Rams 17

Early in the season the saying "a win is a win" is especially true. That's one reason for the high degree of frustration with the loss to the Bengals last weekend. It was a home game against a team the Packers were favored to beat.

Next Monday's grudge match with the Vikings will be for the lead in the NFC North. The game will show which team is better at this stage of the season. With the exception of the Packers turnover differential, I think the Vikings probably have the edge.

It may actually be more important how the Packer OL is playing in the second half of the season. Can Alan Barbre and Josh Sitton actually become assets? But if the Vikings win this one and keep winning, the Packers will be playing for a wildcard slot and have acquired an inferiority complex to the Vikings. That's not a script Packer fans want to see play out.

What's Right With the Pack? Donald Driver!

Donald Driver is nine catches away from breaking Sterling Sharpe's record of 595 career receptions. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

I am lucky to be able to honestly claim to be an early DD fan. I have Cliff Christl to thank because I was an early subscriber to the Journal / Sentinel's Packers Plus membership site. I noted that Driver was a world class high jumper at Alcorn State and had played just two seasons of college football. Jumping is really helpful playing WR so I watched for reports from training camp.

Through Christl the reports camp of "leaping grabs" and "diving catches". My hope was kindled because the Packers needed a talented receiver for Brett Favre. Driver didn't play too much his first two years, but the camp reports kept coming. And then Mike Sherman started using him in 3-WR sets. Everyone knows the rest, but Donald Driver has exceeded expecations until now a milestone of greatness.

Upon Further Review...

I've got to admit, like a lot of NFC North fans, I don't keep up with the AFC. The Bengals have definitely improved. Let's hope the Rams still stink because this Packer team needs to get on track and take one away on the road.

In case you missed it, the Bill nabbed this years fifth round pick, James Meredith off the Packers' practice squad when their LT when down with injury. I'm not sure if that means he'll start or even play.

No one in their right mind would make any judgements on a game week two, but a few more clunkers like that one and you can come to some judgements. That was one of the worst Packer offensive line preformances I can remember. I think you have to look back to the pre-Favre era and that's not because Favre always had a great line.

Yes - he's 40. Yes - he'll probably fade down the stretch... but just remember how he plays the position. Some people may NEED to watch him play for the Vikings to get it. Too many simply never will.

Week Two: Bengals 31 Packers 24

Who was that Cedric Benson guy? Are we SURE he was the same one that played for the Bears a few years back and was run out of town? This new and improved Benson seemed to benefit from some good initial blocks from his line.

Aaron Rodgers will be lucky to last the season with the kinds of hits he's taking. I said the same thing early last year, but Brett Favre's about to get the ball out quick and use the recoil from his throw saves him from those kinds of hits. One play in the first half, Rodgers stood there after his release for just half a second and was knocked over the guy on the ground behind him. Favre made a bad line look respectable in 2007.

The situation at OT is terrible. However, there is hope and that the hope is that Josh Sitton will be OK as a starting guard. For all the problems on the line, I'm not hearing about him too much about Sitton, so I'm hoping that's good. I was listening to the TV announcers this game. If I get a chance to listen to Wayne & Larry, I might get a better read on him.

Things were bad before Clifton's injury and only got worse with Colledge getting whipped at LT. What is particular galling is that the Packers weak link has been exposed in both games and cost them this one.

You can talk about run defense, penalties, and poor tackling too. But IMHO, that game is on the OTs and the OC. Don't call 7 step drops when your OTs stink.

Week One: Bears 15 Packers 21

3 & 1 at the 50 with 1:18 left. Rodgers calls timeout. Comes back locks on Jennings down the left sideline with Vasher in his rearview mirror - TD! Packers win!

The J/S got player of the game right: Cullen Jenkins. As good as Ogunleye played, Cullen Jenkins was also a force against Orlando Pace who is now a stiff.

Great win for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. The Bears played good enough to win this one. That's a Bears vs. Packers game for ya!

10-6

I predict the Packers will finish 10-6. I feel like I'm being pessimistic with all this hype based on preseason success. But I do feel last year was not a complete aberration. Everything shrinks down to the Packers red zone offense. So how do I feel about that? Maybe 9-7? With these WRs plus Finley, I'll stick with 10-6. Yes - Aaron Rodgers will have to improve. Yes - I think he will.

Playoff predictions are really a guessing game at this point. But I will venture the sort of improvement that gets you deep into the playoffs will NOT be achieved this year. It could happen, but it's a very competitive league and "the breaks" often count for the margin between good and great.

Three Cheers For Ruvell Martin!

Wayne Larrivee's catch-phrase for Ruvell Marin was "all he does is make plays". Martin has lost his roster battle with Brett Swain. I have always been a fan of Martin's. He is no Donald Driver or Greg Jennings, but he brought smart play, tight routes, good blocking, soft hands, and his 6'5 frame to every game. Once or twice I recall him lifting a sputtering offense with a nice size gain downfield. I'm not sure this wasn't a "chemistry mistake".

I can't think of a #4 or #5 receiver that was as reliable as Martin since Don Beebe. Also Martin was one of Aaron Rodgers buddies. One has to worry about TT & MM breaking up the "fab 5" corp of WRs, but one remembers other unpopular cuts, like Mike Holmgren cutting John Jurkovic on the eve of the Super Bowl runs. And who knows, perhaps Swain is the next Donald Driver?

So rather than critique the Packer management, I'll just praise Ruvell Martin's time with the Packers. He had some key catches in 2007. Even McCarthy said it was the hardest cut. Let's hope keeping 3 Full Backs and a 3 TEs counting convero-tight end, Spencer Havner has some upside.

Bears Preview

There have been some changes on the Bears OL. RG Frank Omiyalestarted one game for the Panthers before joining the Bears thisoffseason. RT Chris Williams was a second rounder out of Vanderbiltin 2008. He sat out the last 9 games last year with a back problem.Orlando Pace from the Rams was signed as a FA to replace John Tait atLT. LG Roberto Garza and C Olin Kreutz return.

Game to Remember: Last year's thrashing of the Bears at Lambeau onNovember 16, 37-3
Game to Forget: Last year's loss at Soldier's Field on December 22, 20-17.

What I'd do on offense: Finley down the middle. Lots of play action.

What I'd do on defense: Hit the right side of the Bears OL hard.Play lots of nickle and dime. Beware of TEs.

Packers 44 Cardinals 37

It ain't always gonna be this easy.

Packers WRs feast on steak before the game and then feast on Cardinals in the first half. They are solid. Even if technically Ruvel should have taken a knee, what the heck... let him score if he can. I'm not even sure why the first string played beyond the second quarter.

Charles Woodson is one smart football player. He's LeRoy Butler smart. All three of his plays came when he was lined up in the slot. J. Finley is good, and gives the offense a whole new dimension. Just what the Packers' opponents needed.

They look great, but it's going to be different once the regular season starts. Here comes the ugly reality of the Bears with Jay Cutler.

Three New Starters On Offensive Line

Scott Wells is out. Jason Spitz is in at center.
Allen Barbre gets the nod over Breno Giocomini at right tackle replacing Mark Tauscher
Josh Sitton will play right guard where Spitz played last year

Scott Wells, for the moment is a highly paid cheezed off back up, but the Packers did something that indicates that they may not be looking to trade him for anything but perhaps a lower paid younger back up center. They released their only other experienced back up center, free agent Duke Preston. It would be surprising not to see Wells back on the field if a guard or center is dinged up and not playing near their full capacity.

Centers don't just snap and block. In today's NFL they call out blocking assignments before and during the snap count. Not only must linemen listen to the QB for the snap count, listen for audibles changing the play, they must also listen to the center. The center is traditionally a tough leader of the offensive line unit. One thinks of the friendship Frank Winters had with Brett Favre.

So it's ok for Scott Wells to tersely respond to Greg Bedard's questions about be dethroned from his starting job. Scott Wells is a good center, but his is ranked behind the Bears Olin Kreutz and at least up to this year, behind the Vikings Matt Birk. Now that Birk has left as a UFA to play for the Ravens and some guy named John Sullivan will start for the Vikings, Wells had the opportunity to move up a notch. And he still does.

The statistical chances that an interior lineman will miss time with injury this year are probably at 40%. Sitton had the job sewn up last year was injured. Wells can already play right guard and will hopefully get some work at left guard. If Chad Clifton were to go down with an injury, the Packers would likely slide Colledge over to LT rather than playing Tony Moll there - if Moll makes the team over project Jamon Meredith.

Offensive linemen play with pulled, bruised, and even torn muscles. As linemen wear down, there play suffers. You can see it late in the season when an OL is gased. They can hang in there for spells but the big runs decrease and the protections don't react as quickly to blitzes and these things add up. Potentially, having four servicable interior linemen and the ablity to survive without Chad Clifton for at least a game or two gives the Packers something they have been lacking for since the days of Flannagan, Rivera, Wahl... and yup Scott Wells who did back up at guard center in 2004.

Scott Wells' biggest deficit is his size. He gives up an 1.5 inches in height and 6 pounds to Spitz, but he real size gain comes when you compare Wells to Sitton who is the same height as Spitz but Sitton is 15 pounds heavier than Wells. This can make a difference when trying to block a fast and strong 320 Pat Williams or a 360 Grady Jackson-type. On the other hand, it's a game of leverage and "pad level" on the interior line, so height is always an advantage, but speed and strenght are.

What makes this a challenge for Wells to accept is that his predecessors, Mike Flanagan and Frank Winters never lost their jobs. But this did happen to Mike Wahl a failure at LT, who became a key blocker in the Mike Sherman / Ahman Green power-gap offense at LG. As we learned from that experience, good help on the OL can be hard to find. Hopefully, Scott Wells will be on the roster and active for game one. When his check for that game clears, it should help him focus his anger and be ready to play.

Also, it is important to remember that Mike McCarthy has tried to start Barbre and J. Colston before and they flopped and were quickly yanked. So we could see this new line up a few games and then another switch in games 2-5 based on performance.

I think Wells will play this year, but if he doesn't, it's one less year of beating on his body. The odds are more than double he will be needed next year. Hopefully, Packer fans will give Scott Wells some encouragement. It's not like the sixth man in basketball. Not starting is not good, but sometimes it's better than playing with a bunch of stumble bums that are going to roll up your knee and put and early end to your career.

Don Capers' Defense

This is a fan blog, and I've never made any pretensions that I really know anything about NFL coaching. What I attempt to do, is examine what's information is accessible and what we see and hear on the broadcasts and on video and share what I find with other fans who want to compare notes.

So passing judgement on something like McCarthy's defensive coaching purge is difficult for me. It's one of those areas, I think, where the proof is only in the pudding. So for what it is worth, I like what I heard and what I have read about Don Capers, Mike Trgovac, and the defensive staff. Last night Bill Michaels and Wayne Larravee gave the new crew a pretty good review.

It's no secret that last season early last season, I felt that Mike McCarthy came off as "smug & cocky" at times. He had it coming and he got it. I hope in the midst of his hirings he got in some R & R because NFL coaches need to stay at the top of their games.

It appears that Capers & crew have the defense pretty well disciplined. That's impressive in the first preseason game. Capers certainly has good credentials, but it was good to see that in practice (pun intended) last night.

Pass Blocking On Driver's TD

Got to hand it to Aaron Rodgers for being able to throw the ball with depth and accuracy on the highlight reel TD to Driver. Notice the 5 Browns at the LoS and the 3-man rush that matches Clifton and Colledge on the LE, presumably Wells and Spitz on the NT, and only Barbe (I think) on the RE. The RE almost goes over Barbe's right shoulder, but Rodgers steps up in the pocket and Barbe's foot work allows him to reestablish himself between the QB and the rusher. A TV announcer singled out Clifton's block, and that block did really take the LE out of the play, but the RT had the single match up and stood up well against a strong charge.

Let's not kid ourselves about Jay Cutler. He's a pretty good QB, but tonight Aaron Rodgers looked better. That pick where Cutler steps up under pressure, lobs one up across his body, and under throws Hester was the inverse of the Driver play. Culter's protection was softer, his receiver not as decisive, and his pass was terrible to the point it shouldn't have been thrown. To be fair, Cutler threw a bullet to TE Desmond Clark.

This one game doesn't mean too much, but since the Bears the defending NFC North Champs, it's worth a quick comparison between Cutler's two seasons with the Broncos and Rodgers 6-10 campaign last year. Give Cutler a QB rating of 87.0. Rodgers weighs in at 93.8. Give Cutler 22.5 TDs to 16 ints. Last year Rodgers threw 28 TDs to 13 ints. Make an adjustment for the Packers great WRs and you still probably give the edge to Rodgers and the Packers. Yet the two QBs are in the same league, literally and figuratively.

People trying to figure out who will win the Bears vs. Packers games this year will need to consider more than just the QB position. And all of that still goes out the window as it does in every Bears vs. Packers game.

Browns: Preseason One

Based on internet radio coverage:

First team wins
Second team wins
Third team wins

Driver leading the way is a nice way to start. Lot of good performances by non-starters like Bishop, Antonio Smith, RB Tyrell Sutton, James Jones, Matt Flynn... other running backs did well so the blocking must have been good.

74 offensive plays for the Packers. Wow... that was a fun way to start the preseason at Lambeau!

I'm in such a good mood I'm going to risk a kind public thought for old Brett. He's just a football junkie going cold turkey right now. He always gave us his best. I hope he starts his own 40 and over football league. Maybe play six games in the spring. Pick four tiny southern towns with great high school football traditions and put teams there. I'd watch that. Golf & Tennis have senior tours, so why not football?

Offense Starts Early

Driver is present and accounted for. Rodgers... Jennings... Grant... looks good. Larry McCarren paying compliments to the likes of Duke Preston is also sounding good. James Jones "freezing vodka with that move" according to Wayne L. T. Williams gets a pick. Got to love this. For this team this year a strong start does help set the right mood.

Let The Football Begin...

OK - I got through the offseason with only a few posts. That's a good offseason.

Favre's not a Viking. Vick's not a Packer. Promising start to the season.

Exploiting Depth @ WR

Tom Silverstein reminds us in his May 13th article that great QBs must come through on final drives and win close games. We all remember how BLF could do this or throw a game ending pick. But it was his ability to run the 2-minute drill that made him great.

And so we are reminded that it's not JUST the defense that needs to improve if the Packers are going back to the playoffs. That's got to worry anyone familiar with the sophomore QB slump. But when you think about the Packer WR, you have to have confidence. Nobody is talking about the WRs. Occasionally, someone whispers Donald Driver is 47 or something like that. But look at him. Drivers' body fat levels seem to be genetic wonder plus impeccable conditioning.

Greg Jennings didn't have a sophomore slump. He was 13th among WRs in catches. Driver was 20th. Rodgers will need to hit them in stride as Favre was doing in the second half of 2006 and all of 2007. This is the key to the Packer offense. In 2007 Driver ranked #14 and Jennings #42. Not like N.E. in 2007 with Welker tied for #1 and Moss #9, but things weigh out better when you add in the #3 & #4 receivers.

The image of James Jones' helmet flying off last season reminds us it's a dangerous position. Some QBs have a knack for getting their WRs splattered. That's a real intangible, but I hope to see fewer Packer WRs creamed, especially on slant routes this year.

We can also hope the Packers' offense is tweaked to involve James Jones, Jordy Nelson, and Ruvell Martin. When you consider the quality of nickle and dime backs in the NFL vs. starting CBs, you have to see a golden path to getting Jennings and Driver through to the playoffs.

It would make some sense to pull the plug on Jennings "contract year" and sign him to an extension now like they did with Donald Driver a few years back. I could really care less about Jennings' individual stats this regular season. Playoff teams will have capable nickle & dime backs, and Jennings & Driver will be needed at full-strenght.

Let's ask a few Packer media folks about how the Packers might exploit their depth at WR this season and see what they say.

Favre Anti-Magic

"Nobody will tell me the Favre drama did not factor into the Packers' season last year. The drama in training camp drained those guys and completely screwed up a weeks worth of valuable training camp practice time. You could see it in their faces and how they worked."
-Greg Bedard J/S Packer Blog May 8, 2009

We are often told how little difference there is between a lot of NFL teams. Chemistry and fortunate cause some average teams to make the playoffs and others to lose close games and miss. A team can have a double dose of bad luck two years in a row, but Bedard acknowledges the Favre whammy set a bad tone for last year. As a devote Packer fan and Favre fan, I have to go back to the pre-Wolf era to remember being so ambivalent towards the Packers as I was early last year.

I remember reading hundreds of message board posts from Packer fans. Only the biggest Pollyanna's were predicting a record similar to 13-3. I don't know if the whammy can work again if Favre is a Viking. I suppose it could if the Vikings win the first game vs. the Packers and take an early lead in the division.

Ted Thompson: Neither Hero Nor Villan

Ted Thompson is neither hero nor villain. He is displaying the same measured reaction to the 2008 6-10 season as he did the 2006 8-8 season. The answer then wasn't Randy Moss, but Greg Jennings. He didn't mess with Favre then either when he might have.

I about melted down on draft day when I woke up to see McGinn projecting WR Michael Crabtree. Was the "best available athlete" doctrine going to role over team chemistry and balance? I'm pretty sure a Crabtree selection would have led to continued defensive woes and a premature departure for Jennings and/or Driver with scant compensation.

We are expecting too much of our two first round rookies, I think. That's kind of inevitable though, isn't it? But beyond that, why did I assume Ted Thompson was unconcerned about the state of the defensive line. I accused him of being content with three starters and nothing behind them but street free agents.

I was wrong. I am sorry. But Ted has sometimes failed to address weaknesses for a year in the past. Colin Cole and Justin Harrell failed to replace Corey Williams last year. We are still talking about Wahle and Rivera at Guard and the running game hasn't been a sustained force since Ahman Green's heyday.

But I can not accuse Ted Thompson of ignoring the DTs or LBs or Gs. He may be a cold fish, but he and his crew are not impractical. He may think longer term and allow a weakness to persist more than one season. But the Packers are not governed by inflexible principles or vanity. They have been cautious and cerebral in drafting. They try to hang on to good players like Aaron Kampman even when they change defensive schemes.

We can hope for above average 2009 season because of our strong WRs and a QB who has shown he can throw like an NFL QB. There could be a sophomore jinx for Aaron Rodgers, but the team could battle through the rough spots, if the defense can improve.

Fate of the 2009 season may be more determined by how good the Bears and Vikings are. The Packers will be competitive barring disaster. The bigger variable may be the level of competition. Any thoughts about the Vikings or the Bears?

The Ghost of Ice Bowl 1.5

So just after the draft up pops old Brett to menace Ted Thompson and cause a minor aftershock to last summer's Cheese War. Bedard points out that Favre and ESPN are pretty much business partners by now. Brett Favre doesn't talk to the Wisconsin media, he talks to ESPN.

So has the national branding of Brett begun? How much is this grudge against Ted Thompson showmanship casting Favre as the star who loved the game so and would not go gladly into that good night?

Favre as a Viking right now is very attractive for the Vikings. He's got Bevell. He's got a great running back and a strong defense. But his WR would be 2007 1st round disappointment Sidney Rice and Bear castoffs Bernard Berrian and Bobby Wade. Last year the Vikings passing attack was #25 in the NFL just behind the Lions. And Favre in a dome? I know cold weather games have become a problem for old Brett, but is he now going to start playing well in domes?

In 2007, Farve wasn't magic by himself. Jennings, Driver, along with alternative targets James Jones, Ruvell Martin, Koren Robinson, and Donald Lee all contributed to the #2 passing attack in the league. So could the Vikings with Favre go far? Could Favre bring them up to an average passing attack that would gain an additional edge because of the Adrian Peterson threat? It's conceivable enough to give you nightmares. But it's not probable.

With Favre the Vikings could make the playoffs and when you do that anything can happen. But we Packer fans have been disappointed enough times by teams with clear weaknesses. In 2001, the Packer defense couldn't get off the field and the Packer running game couldn't take any heat off Favre who threw six picks vs. the Rams.

In 2002, the Packers got Vicked by the Falcons. In 2003, the Pack when down on 4th & 26. They fizzed in the Wildcard vs. the Vikings in 2004, before losing Walker & Green and 2005. Those were some good Packer teams led by Favre. There were a few years Green was as effective as Peterson is today.

But what if Favre did get the Vikings deep in the playoffs? I wanted nothing more than for him to get another SB ring with the Packers. The specter of having that occur with Favre and the Vikings is something I'd rather not think about. Fear is never rational.

Last year I could think about the day when Ted Thompson is no longer GM and Brett Favre comes back to Lambeau to have his number retired. This storybook franchise and its fans and Brett Favre and his crazy clan have a lot to celebrate together. Now it seems like that day is a lot farther off.

For those of us feeling collaterally damaged by Favre's dalliance with the Vikings, it is important to remember that time passes quickly in the NFL and this too shall pass, just like the Packers' offense last year which slipped from #2 to #8 in the league in total yardage by air.

I still think Ted Thompson will historically bear some fault for not developing a warmer relationship with Brett and his brood. The unexpected 2007 magic merit ted some warmth in January & February 2008. Losses like the one to the Giants at home can haunt a team beyond the memory of players & coaches involved. Let's ask a Cleveland Browns fan about haunted football teams. I'll post his reply if it's printable.

Where Are Top DT Drafted?

In the last 10 NFL drafts, the average draft position of the first defensive tackle was 9.1. B.J. Raji was universially proclaimed the best defensive tackle in the draft, so the Packers did not "reach" according to this metric.

In the last 10 NFL drafts, 19 defensive tackles have been selected in the first 16 picks. Let's give their career a label:

Pro Bowler
Starter
Journeyman
Bust
Too Early to Say (1998 picks)

This is nominative since you could consider anything less than a starter a bust when taking with a top 16 pick, but since the there was a discernable difference, I have made this distinction between a player who contributes and one who doesn't.

Pro Bowlers (25%)
Tommie Harris
John Henderson
Richard Seymour
Corey Simon

Starters (37%):
Amobi Okoye
Adam Carriker
Haloti Ngata
Brodrick Bunkley
Travis Johnson
Dewayne Robertson
Anthony McFarland

Journeymen (19%):
Jimmy Kennedy
Ryan Sims
Gerard Warren

Busts (19%)
Justin Harrell
Johnathan Sullivan
Wendell Bryant

Too Early to Say (2):
Glenn Dorsey
Sedrick Ellis

So there is a 38% chance B.J. Raji will stink, a 25% chance he will be great, and a 37% chance he will be ok. I think he will fall into the starter catagory and at this key position in the defense that might be enough to help the Packers. Hopefully, his career will be long like Anthony McFarland's and will spend it in Green & Gold.

Front Seven Polka Time!

Front Seven Polka Time!

Roll out the Barrel
Raji and Matthews will stop the run
Roll out the Barrel
Playing the Packers just got less fun

First, second, and third downs
Opponents have something to fear
Because now they are going backwards
Finally some help is here!

Roll out another
Ted Thompson traded up everyone!
Roll out this defense
It's our day in the sun

Boom, down go their blockers
Sideline to sideline we cheer
Now we have a defense
And two guys who could tackle a deer!

Now tuning in to WTKM for Polka Party!

Packers Bolster D-Line with Raji!!!

My fears were unwarranted. The Packers added vital depth to it's defensive line by drafting Boston College's B.J. Raji with the ninth pick of the draft. Raji won't have to play right away, but he will need to be ready when the almost inevitable injuries occur.

This is a needed moral boost for those who believe that games are often won and lost in the trenches. It is encouraging to see Ted Thompson acknowledge the dire situation and address it head on. He has acknowledged that Justin Harrell shouldn't be counted on and isn't a nose tackle anyway.

Watching the tape on youtube is difficult because it's so jerky, but it's apparent that on the college level B.J. Raji can overpower offensive lineman. Part of his power is explosiveness and ability to find the ball carrier. On some plays all you can see is a scrum and a pile short of the line of scrimmage with Raji on top of the ball-carrier. This is very good.

Daily Paper Football Beat Writers Survey Says...

3 for Tyson Jackson
2 for Brian Oropko and Malcolm Jenkins

Any of those would seem to be helpful. Even if they take WR Michael Crabtree, anything less than a DT and a DE in rounds 1-3, will be an admission that either:

a. The Packers' current defensive philosophy is not to contest the line of scrimmage but make a tackle on running plays within five yards of the line of scrimmage. On passing plays, the philosophy is to assume that FA stumble bums will at least occupy a blocker and speedy linebackers will create pressure on the QB. But when a team can average five years per carry, why do their opponents even need to pass?

b. Ted Thompson is delusional in his hopes that Jolly will be available and Jenkins and Pickett won't get sidelined, dinged-up to the point of ineffectiveness, or ever tire. The case that Thompson thinks Mike Montgomery is anything but a liability vs. the run and a non-factor vs. the pass is already pretty clear. Notice I have not even mentioned the ultimate delusion, that J.H. guy actually contributing?

Now are we ready to bang our heads with our draft boards? It's looking more and more like a "crabby" day.

Joyful Rite of Spring Turns Sour

The NFL draft springs hope eternal, but new reports in that the Cleveland Browns will pass on "can't miss" WR Michael Crabtree. This probably leaves him to the Packers. No B.J. Raji, no Tyson Jackson, no help for the undersized undermanned defensive front. Just play the "Justin Harrell Polka" one more time.

The selection of Crabtree, who according to Bob McGinn left unfavorable impressions on visits this month to Cleveland, St. Louis and Oakland, would lead to the premature departure of 34 year old lionheart Donald Driver and contentious contact negations with Greg Jennings.

This Crabtree scenario will have some fans tuning out, and others cheering for Thompson to trade down. Is Bob McGinn in a state of depression? I know I am. Why did TT pick Jordy Nelson last year and James Jones the year before? Is Ruvell Martin so undervalued that they would cut him? The Bears will grab him in a second! The guy is 6'5, catches everything thrown to him, and blocks!

The state of the Packers defensive line is approaching that of complete break down. When a team can't even contest the line of scrimmage they are looking at 4-12 season or worse. Alfred Malone? Anthony Toribio? Fred Bledsoe? These guys are next on the depth chart - three unrestricted free agents!

Defensive linemen get injured and tired to the point of ineffectiveness when on the field too long. Last year the Lions gave up 2754 yards on the ground for a 5.1 per carry average. The Raiders where next worst with 2555 and 4.7. The Packers ranked 26th in stopping the run giving up 2,105 yards for a 4.6 average, so they are already not far behind.

Sure Thompson could address DL, LB, and OT with other high picks, but I fear he will take a punter and a swarm of 250 lbs speed-rushers instead. Maybe we should all just go back to bed?

Bears getting a QB doubles down Packers draft

So the Bears have a legit QB in Jay Culter. Sure he owns a 17-20 career record, but his stats and his play shows he's got a better arm than Orton. The price was high but the chances that the Cutler gets hurt or underperforms are probably less than than mid-first round picks ending up being of the ilk of Ahmad Carroll or Justin Harrell. Culter could be a thorn in the Packers' side as long as Favre was in the Bears.

One of the unintended consequences of giving up on Brett Favre a year before Brett Favre himself through in the towel was to give Bus Cook some experience extricating unhappy and unwanted QBs from their contracts. Comments on Sportsbubbler and the J/S Packer Plus site show that some Packer fans now deplore Cook more than the agent we all use to agree was Jerk Agent #1, Drew Rosenhaus. How long was it that peace & harmony reigned between Cook, Favre, and the Packer management?

Am I saying that the Bears wouldn't have Culter if Favre hadn't been retired? Of course not. Heck, who knows what Aaron Rodgers would have done if he didn't play last year? Maybe he would have hired a Rosenhaus type and made a run for it? What really matters is that Ted Thompson must hit on some of his high draft picks or any of his draft picks (past, present, and fewture) and put some distance between the Packers and the Bears & Vikings.

However, just because there is no provable causation between the Favre and Cutler trades, it's a fact that Bus Cook had to have acquired some confidence in his ability to move a star QB. There is no denying the law of unintended consequences. Less the Packers fans acquire the former organizational attitude toward QBs of the Bears, let's review the lesson of Jay Cutler and other NFL star QBs. The chances of talks leaking is too great to risk losing a top QB. Sure, I'd love to trade Aaron Rodgers to the Vikings for their next 10 drafts, but only Ditkas and McMillians do that, so why risk disaster? I am glad this has never happened to the Packers in recent history and hope that continues.

Culter cost the Bears 1st rounders this year (#18), next year's 3rd rounder. They will need to hit on a Greg Jennings type #2 pick to fully capitalize. From the Bear's perspective, it's the move they should have made years ago while their defense was still young and receiving corps slightly more serviceable. The Vikings are still hoping they will have a good enough QB.

So while it's likely a good deal for the Bears, but there is a feeling here in Chicago that it's probably too late... "the defense is too old and maybe too rich to be hungry... but maybe not... wait until football season and we will see... how bout those Cub / Sox?" It has the "fresh air" feel to it that should help the Bears a lot. Yet, to keep things in perspective Culter's QB rating last year, his best so far ranked #23 in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers was #12. Who will be better in the long run is clearly an open question.

Quantitatively, the Bears and the Vikings now have to hit more often on their remaining draft picks and the Packers need to hit too but they can afford a few misses. The stakes on the Packers' next few draft, or more accurately their on going player development efforts, have been exponentially raised by these two trades. Love or hate the current GM, if you care about the Packers next ten years or so, we better hope for the best.

If the Packers hold serve in the draft, meaning that they get a few very good starters, a few servicable players, and only a few busts. The Packers could be competative in 2009-10 and pull ahead as the impact of the lost draft choices begin to be more accutely felt in Chicago and Minnesota.

O. Lineman Duke Preston Signed

So the Packers have signed 6-foot-5, 326-pound guard/center Duke Preston. He's played in 59 games with 20 starts. News reports say he was shaky vs. guys like Shaun Rogers, Kris Jenkins, and Vince Wilfork. Why else would would the Bills have let him go? But that's the name of the game in today's free agency. Can this guy get better? Is "shaky against elite competition" better than what is on the current roster?

Given the injuries and the shaky performances against non-elite competition of the current O-line, it can't be a bad signing and with Tightwad Ted, we can be pretty sure that the price was right. If there is a fault with Ted Thompson, it's that too many of his draft picks are under-achieving, not failing to sign free agents.

My frustrated blog entry for last year's week 3 game at Dallas focused on the Packers undersized interior O-line getting folded as Rodgers struggled to get the ball out fast enough. In pass protection, they gave ground and fought to keep their guy in front of them. Rodgers threw from an uncomfortably narrow pocket. They gave up five sacks for 40 yards. It was a mugging unworthy of the Lombardi Legacy.

The Packers ground game was no better. Ryan Grant ran 13 times for 54 yards. The tone was set early when he fumbled on the second play. Only Donald Driver showed athleticism competitive with the Cowboys. Maybe Duke Preston can bang some guys around. Let's give him time to learn what he's doing. It would be wise to resign Tauscher to show him what he needs to do.

With Josh Sitton and Preston the Packers have two guards with size. This could take tons of pressure off Scott Wells or compliment Spitz at center if he takes over for Wells at some point. Regardless, some outside experience from a cold climate team could really help the cause.

It will likely take some time for Preston to learn the offense and their ZBS. Who knows who will emerge at RT or the two guard positions? Can Preston, Barbe, or Sitton displace any of the usual suspects like Tony Moll, Spitz at guard? Darryl Colledge seems entrenched at LG. Some times I wonder why, but he does seem to "get" the ZBS better than anyone or at least he gets some chances to make some blocks that key break-a-way runs and he pulls some of them off.

I think the ZBS allows more exposure to injury than Mike Sherman's power-gap scheme. The Packer O-line can no longer be considered young developing players. Neither can Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson. They have got to do the job this year or it's a coffin nail for the Thompson / McCarthy team. With some healthy veteran bulk added there is a little more hope for improvement.

Defense still wins playoff games...

Turned out to be quite the game. Two good teams went at it. Surprisingly, the Steelers managed that last drive. I started out cheering for Pittsburgh a little, but I liked Darnell Docket and the Cardinal defense. When they got the safety, I started hoping the Cardinals would score and they did.

Pittsburgh answered, but the Cardinals still had 2 minutes left, but they couldn't win a shoot out.
The old Maxim "defense wins playoff games" carried the day in the end.

How the Cardinals Win...

Q: How do the Cardinals win this game?

A: They get in their time machine and go back and draft Adrian Peterson instead of RT Levi Brown.

Let's hope the Packers draft board makers take note of that. Game changers before roll players in the first round.

Cardinals DTs

Pittsburgh's defense vs. Arizona's offense is the main story, but sometimes things can go the other way despite all predictions. What about the Cardinal's defense?

Line watchers may recognize NT Bryan Robinson from his days with the Bears in 2004 & 2005. Robinson entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 1997 with the St. Louis Cardinals and as been with the Bengals, Bears, and Dolphins. When he was with the Bears I thought he was a come down from Ted Washington and Keith Traylor who were the equivalent of the Pat and Kevin Williams. Don't even try to run at them.

The most amazing thing is that the Cardinals have drafted 14 DTs since 1997 including the two guys listed behind him in the Cardinal's depth chart Alan Branch and Gabe Watson. This includes two coveted former Badgers Wendell Bryant the 12th pick in the 2002 draft and Tom Burke taken in the 3rd round in 1999. That's quite a story that I would be surprised gets a mention on today's fluffy TV coverage.

I would expect the Steelers to blast some plays up Robinson's gut and try to wear him down. McGinn says, at 300, former Bear Bryan Robinson is one of the smallest nose tackles in the game, and is a decent technician and plays with adequate strength at the point.

The other DT was the Cardinal's 3rd round pick in 2004, Darnell Docket. He is considered the stronger and quicker of the two DTs.

Eagles vs. Cardinals Aftermath.

You got to hand it to Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald for putting the Eagles on their back and not letting come back for the win. Anyone one from a distance can see if you put Larry Fitzgerald on the Eagles, the Eagles win that game. Reminded me of Antonio Freeman in 1998 in the way he goes and gets the ball. Fitzgerald was the 3rd pick in the 2004 draft.

I just took a peak at philly.com and was surprised. Lead columnist Phil Sheridan has led with the headline "Lessons to be learned from this? Not really." He writes, "The Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers are testaments to randomness, good fortune and supernatural forces overcoming logic and intent."

Anger is muted throughout the pages of the Philly Inquirer. Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson has cancer and is undergoing radiation therapy. This has thrown some cold water on an temper tantrums by players or journalists. Dawkins and McNabb want to come back and try again. There is love and concern for Brian Westbrook's knee.

But one has to wonder if the Eagles can find the talent to put them over the top after having drafted at the bottom as long as the Packers did. It would be easy to write the Eagles off as a team now on decline because of age, disappointment, and uncertainity that Westbrook can return to form. Running backs tend to be a disposalable lot. But they do come back strong sometimes and a team running out of Super Bowl chances ala the Denver Broncos can be a dangerous one. For more on that see Bud Lea's poinient recollections of "The Game that Got Away".

Eagles Soar Against Short Yardage

Brian Westbrook carried the ball 18 for 36 yards. The Giants accomplished their primary objective, but the Eagles still won. Buckhalther was worse with 5 catches for 7 yards. But McNabb threw 40 times completing 22 for 217 yards with 1 TD & 2 picks.

It all added up to 23 points. With a good defense, 23 points gives the Eagles a chance to win. At least three times with the game on the line in the second half, the powerful Giant running attack couldn't pick up short yardage first downs. That made the difference. And the Eagles coveted 7 of 14 third downs, but none of which were 3 & 26. You can give some credit to the Eagles' linebackers but those short yard runs were right up the Eagles' gut and they were stopped by those two first round draft picks they've got clogging the middle for the Eagles' defense.

There are two things that Packers fans and hopefully Ted Thomson will take away from this. The Packers couldn't have converted those short yardage runs either. And they couldn't have stopped either of these teams from making those first downs either. We didn't see it all season and cold weather doesn't transform the "Seven Blocks of Cheese" into the "Seven Blocks of Granite".

Eagles at Giants - The Defensive Tackles - HT

Barry Cofield is the Nose Tackle for the Giants. He was the Giants' forth round pick in 2006 out of Northwestern which means I probably saw him help the Mildcats upset the Badgers a few years back at Ryan Field. He's got 31 starts and some honors.

The other DT is Fred Robbins who was drafted by the Vikings with the 55th pick in 2000. Packer fans should know him well. He came to the Giants as a unrestricted free agent in 2004.

The Eagles DTs are both first round picks and are reviewed a few posts back. Let's watch them

The Giants defense has totally choked off Brian Westbrook in the first half. The Eagles ability to punch in Samuels' interception for a TD neutralized the Giants' defensive dominance. One would think without Plexico, the Giants would have trouble throwing the ball, but they don't really need to. Jacobs / Ward have 65 yards between them, but the Eagles lead 10-8. The Giants team ERA is really taking a beating, lol.

Cardinals at Panthers at halftime

Shades of the 2001 playoff game when Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce, and Tory Holt. Except the Packers only trailed 24-10 at half-time. The Panthers are down 27-7, but it is doubtful they will best the Packers 8 turnovers in that worst of all Packer playoff contests that ended 45-17. The commonality of course is Kurt Warner. He picked the Packers apart and Brett try as he did, couldn't keep pace with the Ram juggernaut.

Who are the Titan DTs?

We all know about Albert Haynesworth. Taken with the 15th pick in the 2002 draft by Tennessee he's a start and much talked about as the sort of free agent that the Packers could use to make up for the Justin Harrell bust.

Next to Haynesworth, Tony Brown was an undrafted free agent who spent time with the Panthers, 49ers, Dolphins, and was cut by the Panthers after a one game second look in the 2006 season. The Titans picked him up and he started one game and played in 12. In 2007, Brown started all 16 games for the Titans.

Rookie Jason Jones is next on the depth chart for the Titans. He was drafted in the second round with the 54th pick, two picks before the Packers selected Brian Brohm.

The Baltimore 3-4 Defense

I don't know if the Ravens call their outside linemen tackles instead of ends because they are the size of tackles or if that's just a considence.

Nose Tackle Haloti Ngata was the 12th pick in the 2006 draft. RDT, Trevor Pryce is a 12 year veteran who came to the Ravens in 2006 as a free agent. He was originally drafted by of all teams, the Denver Broncos in 1997 two picks before the Packers drafted OT, Ross Verba. LDT, Justin Bannan came as a UFA in 2006. He was drafted in the 5th round by the Bills in 2002.