The Lions are Improving...

But they still stink. Granted if Stafford and Calvin Johnson weren't both dinged up, it may have been a little closer but probably not. Even with the scare of the fumble on the opening kick off and quick score by Detroit, the Packers had the game well in hand by the beginning of the 2nd quarter. It made for a much more relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving Feast in the afternoon. But here's the good news:

Cowboys win (which makes little difference to us) and the Giants lose, which gives us another game of cushion in the playoff race. Now with the Ravens, Bears, Steelers, Seahawks, and Cardinals (respectively) ahead. I don't believe that there is any reason we wont finish with at least a 10 win season. Not even the Ravens and Steelers have had as impressive a season as anyone thought they would. Not to say they will be easy victories, but at 5-5 (Ravens) and 6-4 (Steelers) It's not impossible to think that we could end up at 12-4. The play of Cutler and the Bears has gotten worse since the opening game in Lambeau, and if the Pack don't win by at least 14, it will be a disappointment. If the Seahawks performance against the Queens is anyhting to go by, I believe that it should be the easiest game remaining on the schedule. The Cardinals will be tough, but hopefully they will have their playoff spot clinched at that point and sit Fitzgerald and Warner early. All in all, it's looking a lot brighter after losing to Tampa in week 9.

GO PACK!

Another Good Win, but 2 HUGE Losses

The Pack pulled out another great Conference win on Sunday vs the 49ers moving them 1 step closer to a playoff appearance. The big news coming from this weekend's game however is not good. OLB Aaron Kampman and more importantly CB Al Harris are out for the season with ACL tears. This is going to pose problems for what was a solid defensive unit. The trickle down effect is going to be the issue for the CBs. Tramon Williams is a solid CB and I believe that he will be a starter for years to come for the Pack, the problem is going to be our nickel and dime packages. Now Williams will be replaced by Jarrett Bush, Underwood (the rookie), or newly acquired Josh Bell. Bell is the most accomplished of the 3 having started 4 games in 2008 for the Denver Broncos, so I anticipate either he or Bush being the initial starter. I do like what i've seen from Underwood so far, but he's still a rookie and prone to make big mistakes which we cannot afford. Hopefully these 3 can form a rotation and be a suitable replacement for Williams. If they can't it takes something huge away from our defense...the ability for Charles Woodson to move aroudn the field as he has done over the past few weeks so successfully. It limits Dom Capers' ability to use him so liberally in blitz and coverage packages, which takes us back to where we were against the Vikings and Bengals. Let's hope for the best!

Kampman on the other hand is not as big of a loss. Although he is an effective pass rusher at times, he has not been nearly as successful in his OLB role as he was as a DE. Brad Jones has been effective in replacing him over the past 2 weeks, and i anticipate him to continue to play well. The return of Brady Poppinga and Brandon Chillar should make this transition easier as well. It's a good thing we play the lions this week!

Happy Thanksgiving...and GO PACK!

And We're Back in the Hunt!!!

Where did this defense come from? Dom Capers may have single-handedly saved Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson's jobs in one fell swoop. This is how we all hoped this 3-4 defense would look when it was announced that we were making the switch from the 4-3. We blitzed the lights out, got pressure on the QB, and held a potent offense scoreless until there was only 0:38 left in the game. The Pack registered 5 sacks on Sunday...before then we had a total of 13. I think if this type of pressure was put on Favre, the outcome of both Vikings games could have been different.

Maybe the loss to Tampa was exactly what this team needed...a kick in the rear to get them jump started. And with losses to Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Chicago an NFC Wild Card spot is a realistic possibility for this 5-4 Packer team. The big question is will we keep up this defensive aggressiveness or will we go back to our conservative ways? I think it's proven that if you pressure the QB, you have a heck of a lot better chance to win the game. So my vote is to keep blitzing and keep up the momentum gained by beating the Cowboys. With the 49ers and Lions coming up, it's a legitimate possibility that this team could be 7-4 going into the game against the Ravens which will be a tough one. But with yesterday's performance at Lambeau, I finally believe that this team can be good!

Who's to Blame?

After coming off a disappointing loss to the Queens making the Pack 4-3, it was reasonable to think that we would enter the second half of the season with a winning record. Even with 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter it looked like it was in the bag. The score was 28-17 when the Packers' special teams buckled for the second time in the game giving up a huge return which would result in a quick buccaneers' TD cutting the score back to 3. From there, the offense could not move the ball, and the defense could not stop Josh Freeman (rookie QB making his first start) ultimately ending in a loss, a 4-4 record, and a shower of Gatorade for Bucs' coach Raheem Morris' first NFL win. So, who's to blame for the loss? For the mediocre record? For the disappointing season thus far?

My vote...EVERYONE! The fact is that this team is just not as good as all packer fans thought during the pre-season. The defense still gets no pressure on the QB (the fact is that we're even worse than we were in 2008). The offense is productive, but can't move the ball when it really needs to. The O-line is still having trouble protecting Rodgers and Aaron is still having trouble getting rid of the ball quick enough. And don't even get me started on the special teams, I believe that they had the most to do with both of the last 2 losses. I think it all comes back to coaching.

Packers' President Mark Murphy has publicly come out and said that both Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson are being watched more closely now. And if they don't make the necessary changes in the final 8 games, I believe that at least 1 of them will be looking for a job come February.

I believe the talent is there and that we have the players to be a good team (we're only 5 starters different from the 2007 NFC Championship team). For some reason we just aren't able to put a 4-quarter game together on the field. Let's hope for some improvement this week against the Cowboys. I believe it will make or break the season. GO PACK!

What do you think? (Poll)

Where do we go from here?

Everyone put up 1 finger if you are #1...Not so fast Aaron.

Well Brett Favre made his historic return to Lambeau, got booed, and left with a "W". I watched the first half of the game and during halftime I set my alarm so that I could take a 20 minute nap and I ended up sleeping through the 2nd half. Regardless, i'm going to talk about the game anyways as well as talk about the rest of the season for the Packers.

It was a long game and the Packers put up a fight, but the momentum and the game were lost in the first quarter with Johnny Jolly's personal foul for headbutting on what would have been 4th down and a FG but instead lead to a TD for the Queens. I don't care what happened the rest of the game, that set everything in motion. What a tool!

After that the Packers did what they could and put up a fight but could not win the battle for field position because of Percy Harvin's return game. Aside from that, Greg Jennings made his return to the Packers for the first game this season (implying that he was worthless the first 7 games). Brandon Chillar has a broken hand and had surgery this morning, and Ahman Green returned kicks, weird.

I think that this was a good game for Packer fans because it showed us the most important thing of the season...the Vikings are better than us! Anyone can point out what we should have done or could have done, but lets all be honest and move on by saying that the Vikings are looking like one of the best teams in the NFL right now and there is no arguing it. I think we can rule out a Division Championship, but I think its time to start playing for a Wildcard, which is completely possible at this point.

The Packer's remaining schedule is as follows:

@ Tampa

vs Dallas

vs San Fran

@ Detroit

vs Baltimore

@ Chicago

@ Pittsburgh

vs Seattle

@ Arizona

The Packers right now are sitting at 4-3 and have the tougher part of their schedule upcoming. of the 9 remaining games, I think that if the Pack can win 5 games they give themselves a chance at a wildcard, and any more than that would be fantastic.

The Packers also have to rely on other teams throughout the NFC from this point forward. Right now the teams in front of us are the Falcons, Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Saints and Vikings and we are tied with the Bears. The Saints, Vikings, and 1 of the 3 teams in the East will be division champions, and there are then 3 other teams ahead of the Packers in the race for the Wild Card. That being said, there will be little room for error should the Pack hope to make the playoffs this season. All we can do at this point is hope.