Jay Cutler...Injured again...

By all counts, the Bears game was looking like a tough one on the schedule. It had the potential to ruin my Christmas with a loss or even a close game. But on Sunday afternoon Jay Cutler threw an Interception and attempted to make a tackle to stop a touchdown. During the process he broke the thumb on his right (throwing) hand. He is expected to have surgery and miss the rest of the regular season. It is possible that he could return for the playoffs, should the bears make it that far. I never like to see anyone get hurt, but when it's Cutler I don't feel too badly about it.

First Quarter Grades: NFC North

We are 1/4 of the way through the season. Here are the NFC North teams' grades through 4 games:

Green Bay Packers (4-0) - B+



The Packers are undefeated, but I definitely seem room for improvement. The pass defense in particular needs to get better. Granted, Pro Bowl Safety Nick Collins is out and Pro Bowl Corner Tramon Williams missed time too. I am hoping that with time this will improve. Aaron Rodgers and the offense have been stellar, special teams have not given anything glaring up (except the punt return TD in week 1 vs the Saints), and the offensive line has been surprisingly good.

Detroit Lions (4-0) - A-



The Stafford to Johnson combination has been unbelievable, and Ndomakong Suh and the Lions' front 4 are one of the best in the league. They are definitely in the playoff hunt as one of the 2 undefeated teams left in the NFL. They can't seem to get it going in the first half of a game though. They have had to come from behind in 3 of their 4 wins. But as i've said all season, this team's ability to win games hangs on Matt Stafford's ability to stay healthy. If he does, they'll be pushing the Pack in the division race at the end of the year.

Chicago Bears (2-2) - C



The bears still have a tough defense, and probably the best linebacking corps in the NFL. They also have the greatest return man in the game in Devin Hester and an elite running back in Matt Forte. But for some reason, the bears just can't figure out that Jay Cutler is not an elite QB. Forte finally got a bunch of touches against the Panthers and put up over 200 yards! Yet, I guarantee that next week Cutler will be slinging the ball all over the field (and by "all over the field" I mean to the players wearing the opposite color jersey) again...and I'll be happy about it.

Minnesota Vikings (0-4) - F



The Vikings still have Adrian Peterson...but that's about it. Percy Harvin is underutilized and is always bogged down by injuries. Donovan McNabb is washed up and doesn't fit the scheme. The offensive line is old and needs to be rebuilt. The defense is worse than the offense. They have been leading in 3 of the 4 games they have lost at halftime and have found ways to blow big leads. I'm happy to see the queens playing so poorly and I hope they trade AP and Percy to other teams to try to rebuild...and fail.

GO PACK!

Cutler Cry!

I found this picture on BrentFavre.com and I just couldn't resist posting it. I love the hate for Cutler and in the words of the Black Eyed Peas, I'm addicted and I just can't get enough!

Happy Manlarn Day!

Although we have many loyal followers here at The Malnarn, few actually know the origin of the sites name. There was once a very dear friend to the creators of this blog that we commonly referred to as Malnarn. She was a very nice girl, and although we had a falling out these days, this website was named in her honor, and today is her Birthday!

This will be the first annual edition of The Malnarn Day Preseason Post, full of news, predictions, insight and pure poppycock.

The NFL Lockout is water under the bridge and football is back! The Packers are coming into the season as the team to beat and the favorite to win the Super Bowl, and with good reason as we have some key players coming back from injuries who certainly can improve the team. Much like Malnarn, these players are coming out of hiding in the swamps and are ready to pounce on their competition.

As is typical of the Pack, we did little through free agency this season to improve our squad, and may have arguably moved back a couple of steps with the departure of Cullen Jenkins and Darren Colledge. Jenkins leaves a big hole to fill at DE, and with the injury to Mike Neal, that hole is a glaring one to us at The Malnarn.

Several rookies will be expected to make an impact early in the season. Through two preseason games, Randall Cobb looks like lighting in a bottle. He is already a little banged up with a couple of bruised knees, but he has looked dynamic in the return game and could be dangerous anytime he gets the ball in his hands. I'm excited about Cobb and I'm really looking forward to seeing what he can do this season.

Alex Green is another skill position player who can positively effect our already potent offense. Green is going to be thrown into the running back mix with Ryan Grant and James Starks this season. The Packers seem to really like this kid and want to get him into the mix and get the ball in his hands.

Aaron Rodgers is going to have more weapons that he had last season and I don't think there is a team in the league that is going to be able to cover them all, especially with Finley back in the lineup.

There has been a lot of talk this week about Ryan Grant's future with the organization. I believe this is mostly speculation, but the emergence of James Starks last year in the playoffs and the ability of Alex Green could lead to Grant being less valuable to the Packers. Grant did restructure his contract earlier in the month, taking less money but getting it all guaranteed. This could be a sign that he has a home in Green Bay for at least the 2011/2012 season. We will just have to wait and see what happens as final cuts in the NFL will occur September 3rd.

When it comes to The Malnarn, there is always a lot of discussion about the Packers and the NFL in general between myself and my co-editor. We are often on the same page but there are times when we don't always see eye to eye on topics. For this reason, I am going to make some predictions for the upcoming season that he may not agree with.

#1: James Jones will take over Donald Driver's spot as the #2 WR. It was clear this offseason that Aaron Rodgers wanted to keep Jones around. James Jones has a ton of talent that last season was often trumped by dropped passes. I think that Jones is going to break out this season and show that he is on his way to being a very good wide receiver in this league. I expect him to step up and take over as the #2 WR on the team, and although I still think Driver is going to play a role in the offense and get his catches, I think that Jones will start to take some of his targets.

#2: Clay Matthews will lead the league in Sacks. Last season Clay had 6 sacks in the first two games. It came out earlier this preseason that last year Clay played with a stress fracture in his leg or foot, I don't remember which, but the bottom line is that when he is healthy, there is no stopping him.

#3: Alex Green takes a larger share of running back duties than you expect. One of my favorite things about the NFL is the NFL Draft. I always love watching the draft and waiting to see what the Pack does. I remember hearing a little about Green prior to the draft, but it was nothing compared to what i'm hearing coming out of Green Bay's training camp and what i've seen so far this preseason. The Packers are looking for ways to get the ball into Green's hands and I think that is whats going to happen during the season. We here at the Malnarn see the Pack going with a true "running back by committee" strategy this season and we expect Alex Green to be a surprise this season and prove to be a great draft pick.

#4: The Bears will still suck. Regardless of how the Bears were last season, making it to the NFC Championship, they will always suck. I continue to hate the Bear Nation with a passion and I continue to bash them with every chance I get. Watching Jay Cutler cry on the sidelines to end their season was one of the greatest gives I've ever received. This season the Bears have made some serious moves in Free Agency...just kidding, they got Roy Williams and Marion Barber. This is so laughable because everyone in Chicago thinks that Roy Williams is going to lead the league in receiving, all because out of his lackluster seasons that compile an average at best NFL career, his best season was under Mike Martz, now offensive coordinator for the bears. So obviously, it makes complete sense that after doing nothing in Dallas for a couple years he will come into Chicago and be a top WR. Again, I'm completely kidding. The bears suck, Roy Williams sucks, and I smile everytime I think of him being the #1 receiver. I'm putting Chicago in the #2 spot in the division, but the Bears still suck.

That concludes my predictions for the start of the season. I would imagine they will all be correct. We now have less than two weeks until the Packers season debut against the Saints. All we can do now is sit back, relax, and get ready to defend our title!! That being said, happy birthday to Malnarn and stop back often for more award winning blogging from us at The Malnarn!

Injuries and Penalties Plague Packers

It's been a couple of weeks since our last post, sorry to keep all of our loyal fans waiting. Anyway, it's been a disappointing sequence of events.

First the Pack loses a game that should have been a win due to careless mistakes (18 penalties and dropped interceptions).

Then they scrape by in a 28-26 win over the lowly Lions.

Ted Thompson misses out on the opportunity to trade for Marshawn Lynch.

Randy Moss rejoins the queens and gives He Who Must Not Be Named a big-time receiving target.

In the process, Nick Barnett (wrist) and Morgan Burnett (knee) are lost for the season. Brandon Chillar will also miss significant time with a shoulder injury.

That leaves us with a big hole at safety, and an even bigger hole at linebacker. Hopefully Atari Bigby can return from his stint on the PUP list in 2 weeks and provide some stability at Strong Safety, and AJ Hawk will need to prove that he is worth his 1st round draft status and big bucks he's earning this year. Desmond Bishop will fill in for Barnett. He is a solid replacement, but doesn't have the talent or leadership that Nick brings to the field.

The one bright spot in all of this is that the Bears lost to the Giants, Cutler was sacked 9 times (in the first half) and concussed. He will miss at least this weekend's game against the Panthers.

Hopefully backups can fill voids where they are needed (RB, ILB, Safety) and the offense can find a rhythm. Thankfully...we still have the bikini girls. GO PACK!

About What We Expected...

The Bills are probably the worst team in the NFL, so the 34-7 victory comes as no surprise. Here are my notes:

Clay Matthews = still awesome (Defensive Player of the Week)

Ryan Grant = missed. Jackson and Kuhn are not going to cut it, Thompson will have to break out of his comfort zone and trade for someone who can get the job done.

Chad Clifton = getting old. This is also not new news, but Bulaga saw some significant playing time against the Bills. I like that he's starting to see the field, but it's not a good sign if Clifton is injured.

This week we travel to Soldier Field to take on da bears. Cutler and the offense have looked much more impressive so far this season under Mike Martz's direction. I think that Chef Dom has a special recipe cooked up for that attack though. GO PACK!

Bears get a new QB; what can we expect in 2009?

It has been a few weeks since i've put a new post on the blog so I apologize to all of my loyal followers. I live in Chicago now so I have to put up with all of the lame bears fans who think their team is God's gift to the NFL. As everyone knows by now, the Bears have picked up Jay Cutler from the Broncos. There is a lot of talk now about the Bears potentially being the team to beat in the NFC North now, and it makes me sick!

I think that Jay Cutler is a very good quarterback, but I also think that he is a whiny baby and makes me hate the Bears that much more. I don't doubt the fact that he will make the Bears a better team, but I think that the thought of them being the favorite to win the division is a little premature. Bears fans have a lot to be excited about, but they forget to understand that he is only one player, they still need someone to be able to catch the ball, I mean, their TE was their leading receiver in 2008.

I don't necessarily think that the Packers are going to be a huge threat to win the North this season, but you never know. The Packers are a very good team and Rodgers is getting better and better the more snaps he takes. The question mark with the Pack is the new defensive scheme coming into play this season. I have a feeling that there will be some serious growing pains and our defense is going to be a problem for the team this season.

Regardless, I hope that Bears fans are disappointed when Cutler gets pissed for not having the threats that he is expecting and the Bears end up behind both the Pack and the Queens in the North. That would be great!!