Packers Outplay Bears, Move to 3-0

It's always nerve racking for me leading up to the Packers-Bears matchup. Especially the one at Soldier Field. There aren't many things that can slow down the Packers' potent offense, but the bears defense and the crappy field in Chicago seem to do a decent job every year.

But it seemed like McCarthy and the Packers had a great gameplan ready this time to kill the bears...Here are my thoughts:

WHAT I LIKED:

JerMichael Finley - This is the most obvious of anything that we saw in the game. Finley finally showed the dominance we have been expecting of him all season. I expect this to be a trend that will continue and the Packers' offense will only get better the more that Finley is involved in it.

Ryan Grant - Grant put up 89 yards on 15 carries. We had thought up until yesterday that Starks was starting to move into the featured back role for the Packers, but seeing Grant play well is a good sign for us.

Matt Forte - We have agreed all week that the Packers' focus needed to be to stop RB Matt Forte and that if the defense could do that, it would be a W for the green and gold. Forte had 2 yards on 9 carries and only a couple of catches for minimal yardage...impressive.

Morgan Burnett - With the loss of Nick Collins, someone in the secondary needed to step up. Burnett looked great yesterday with 2 INTs. Let's hope this continues.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE:

Charlie Peprah - I understand that Peprah is a significant downgrade from 3-time Pro Bowl Safety Nick Collins, but Charlie was out of position, missed tackles, and was the reason for several big plays for the Bears. I expect him to improve, but we are lucky that it didn't result in a closer game or a loss.

Penalties - Thankfully none of these killed us like they did in the Packers-Bears game last October, but there were too many false starts and delay of games. Simple mental errors that can easily be avoided.

Bryan Bulaga - Bulaga's injury raises concerns with our already shake offensive line. Marshall Newhouse is the backup, and while he didn't make any glaring errors that I saw, I have a feeling that if Bulaga's injury is lingering we may be in for some trouble.

Pass Rush - The Pack's D amassed 3 sacks and a few more hits on Cutler, but I was not impressed. With the Bears depleted offensive line, I was expecting Jay to be on his back all afternoon. This needs to improve for the Packers to get to Super Bowl XLVI.

Special Teams - The crazy play the end of the game concerned me, we got lucky with the holding call. But I just don't understand why we would kick the ball to Hester at all. Crosby needs to kick touchbacks every time and Masthay should just kick the ball out of bounds.

All in all, I am very happy with the win and it's great to be on top of the division (in a tie with the LIONS?! Crazy!). I feel a lot better after the win yesterday than I did before. Bring on the Broncos! GO PACK!

SUPER BOWL XLV CHAMPIONS!

THE LOMBARDI TROPHY IS BACK WHERE IT BELONGS...GREEN BAY!!!! GO PACK GO!!!!!

Super Bowl Preview

Well it has been some time since I have posted, but I think its finally time. The Super Bowl is coming up this weekend and I know that I'm cheering for the Saints simply because I don't like the Colts, and I really don't care for Peyton Manning for a couple of reasons. I know that this has nothing to do with anything, but let me explain.

I grew up watching Brett Favre as QB #1 for the Green Bay Packers. As hard as it is to talk about Brett right now after what Packer fans have gone through recently, he was something to watch, a pure gun slinger. He wore his heart on his sleeve and he was fearless, pure guts. When I compare that to Peyton, it just bores me. Don't get me wrong, I think in the grand scheme of things, Peyton is probably one of the greatest QB's ever. He is a calculator, he reads the defense, calls audibles and he is a true student of the game. I have great respect for the preparation that goes into every game that Peyton plays, but there is something about him that just seems boring. I would love to see him take over a game and show some grit and some personality.

Please don't get me wrong, I do think that the Colts will win the Super Bowl since I don't think that the Saints were the best team in the NFC and the only reason that they won was because the Vikings couldn't protect the ball. Needless to say, the Saints are a very good team and behind the arm of Drew Brees, there is no saying that they can't show up on Sunday and upset the favored Colts.

I think that the Saints are a very good team and if they can get their offense rolling they will be hard to stop. The main thing about this game that bothers me is that to me, the Colts do not seem like that good of a team. Their defense is average at best and their best defensive player (Bob Sanders) hasn't played all year. But for some reason, they just seem to win their games. The real reason that the Colts have been so successful this season has been their young receiving corps and the emergence of Austin Colley and Pierre Garcon. Who would have thought that these two young receivers would be able to step in and complement Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark the way that they have? If you ask me, this will again be a game of offense and whoever is either more powerful on offense or can make more stops on defense will win. And as much as I dislike it, I think that Peyton is the steadier QB and has too many quality targets to be stopped.

Moral of the story, I am picking the Colts to win 31-21, but I will definitely be cheering for the Saints. Who Dat!