Merlin
09-26-2006, 01:09 PM
Historically, Brett Favre has not played well in Detroit. Whether it was the Silver Dome or Ford Field, he for the most part looked like crap there. I heard an announcer say that Detroit has never beaten Brett Favre at Lambeau. So that would mean in 31 meetings during Favre's career, The Packers have are 15-0 at home and 7-9 at Detroit vs. the Lions. If we take a look to last year and the opening game debacle, one can see why I was concerned going into Detroit. If history has taught me anything about the NFL, it has taught me that the Lions always play us tough at home. The big difference this year turned out to be a positive performance by Favre. Detroit's offense looked good, our defense was none existant until the 4th quarter.
Not enough has been said about Brett's 400th, 401st & 402nd TD passes. The media has kind of glossed over it. This is a HUGE achievement by any standard considering only Marino has done it before. It would have been 403 if Heron wouldn't have fumbled the shovel pass. Anyone who thinks Favre is done needs their head examined. Anyone who thinks Rogers should start so we can "see what he's got" is no Packer fan. The goal here is to WIN. Brett Favre gives us that chance. If you don't believe me, look where Favre stands in the QB rankings after 3 games. Remember that the first game he threw 2 INTS and no TD's. How is it that a QB who is washed up, hurting the Packers and needs to retire be in the top 5 in the NFL, especially with a that terrible game in there? He doesn't lead the league in INT's, he is near the top in TD's, Yards, Rating, Completions and I think he leads in Attempts. If you ask me, if the MVP ballot was held today, Brett Favre is the winner hands down. He has been the ONLY consistent player through 3 games and the reason we were close in one game and won another. He means more to this team then the nay-sayers will ever know. Well enough of stroking Favre's um...ego here.
Overall I thought the offensive line played well in pass coverage. The running game, although abandoned once again, could have been better. I did see better blocks and the linemen actually knowing what they were doing, that is a very positive sign. Colledge is doing a good job for being the #2 guy, Moll played very well and Wells is a keeper for sure. I read somewhere that Favre was never even knocked down in the game. I don't know if that's true, but I must have missed it if he was. Against a very good defensive line by any standards in the NFL, that says a lot. Sean Rodgers was a non-factor.
Ahman Green, can the guy show up and play a whole game from start to finish? Last week he fumbled the game away. This week he tried to fumble it away again and thank god our defense showed up. The first game he had no fumbles and 100 yards. The second game he dropped passes & fumbled, this game he had what? 60 yards, a fumble BUT he caught the ball. Heron didn't show me much when he was in there, I mean come on, the guy fumbled on the 2 yard line. That reminds me of Green. Morency got a little playing time but not enough to judge whether or not he is the real deal. At least he didn't fumble!
It's hard to be a standout WR on the Packers when Favre completes passes to 10 different people. However, outside of Driver's 2 uncharacteristic drops on the first drive, a drop by Robinson, the WR's played very well. They blocked well, had good instincts and didn't have a bad case of the dropsies like last week. When Driver and Jennings are on the field, I don't know about you but I have a hard time telling them apart when they catch the ball. I know Jennings is faster but he has good hands and moves like Driver. Doesn't hurt to have them both out there. Robinson made a helluva catch as well. I didn't realize that he was a WR in a TE body. He is a big boy!
Special teams - played very well. Dummond is a very good returner and we shut him down. Strong Punting, Field Goal and Kick off average. It's about time the coverage teams wake up. Robinson looked good on returns. He's got some moves and speed.
It's so hard right no not to blame the coaches for the defensive issues. I know Poppinga blew a coverage, but he was better then the previous two games. Taylor didn't get in enough to get a feel where he stands. We paid a lot of money for Woodson and Manual. I was never sold on either of them. Woodson played "ok" but still not worth the money we shelled out. Al Harris played well as he usually does. Even Ahmad "Cut Me" Caroll had a decent game. Manual got burned and badly. He is a safety, he got his first NFL INT in this game, you think we overpaid for him? DUH! Even Sharper was better in coverage then this guy although Sharper couldn't tackle a wet paper bag and was horrible against the run. So here we have a safety that is very good against the run but can't cover worth a crap. He was not an upgrade over Roman who IMO played well for us last year (I don't understand the move). Now to Nick Collins. Some would say he didn't have a good game and got burned. I disagree. He was the de facto scapegoat on blown coverage underneath. The LB's read the play wrong and everything went downhill from there leaving Collins covering man to man. Collins was actually supposed to be over the top support in that coverage. The whole defense comes down to COACHING. I read that Sanders let the defense call the play late in the 3rd quarter until the end of the game. How many points did Detroit score then? 3? If true, that scares me. Shottenheimer needs TO GO. He has done nothing to warrant a second stint in Green Bay and it's obvious that he hasn't done his job in teaching the DB's how to read the offense. Let me at the DB's and no QB will put up 300 yards on us again. This wasn't Drew Brees, it was Jon Kitna. Now Kitna isn't a "bad" QB but he sure isn't a good one either. 350 yards??? GIVE ME A BREAK SHITENOUTYERHINEY!
Whew, that felt better. I attribute a lot of the Packers ups and downs on the coaching. I think McCarthy is doing a good job. Each week, something gets better. This week it was handling a good pass rush and catching the ball. Brett Favre looks like a Pro Bowler out there in this offense. The defense got blown out in every aspect of the game until the 4th. that isn't a lack of talent, that is a lack of coaching and play calling. Sorry Bob Sanders, you are not Jim Bates. Learn to MOTIVATE your defense.
This week we go to Philly. The last two trips, well three, we lost. Last year we got demolished. The bright spot, the Eagles are 2-1. Our only two losses came from two 3-0 teams. AND we almost pulled one of those out. I look forward to this game with optimism. We are 1-2 and I believe this week will define our season. The Eagles are a good team and McNabb is back in form. If we lose small, then I consider it a victory. If we get blown out then we truly need to fire some coaches NOW. If we win, then I believe that we have potential to be in the play offs.
Not enough has been said about Brett's 400th, 401st & 402nd TD passes. The media has kind of glossed over it. This is a HUGE achievement by any standard considering only Marino has done it before. It would have been 403 if Heron wouldn't have fumbled the shovel pass. Anyone who thinks Favre is done needs their head examined. Anyone who thinks Rogers should start so we can "see what he's got" is no Packer fan. The goal here is to WIN. Brett Favre gives us that chance. If you don't believe me, look where Favre stands in the QB rankings after 3 games. Remember that the first game he threw 2 INTS and no TD's. How is it that a QB who is washed up, hurting the Packers and needs to retire be in the top 5 in the NFL, especially with a that terrible game in there? He doesn't lead the league in INT's, he is near the top in TD's, Yards, Rating, Completions and I think he leads in Attempts. If you ask me, if the MVP ballot was held today, Brett Favre is the winner hands down. He has been the ONLY consistent player through 3 games and the reason we were close in one game and won another. He means more to this team then the nay-sayers will ever know. Well enough of stroking Favre's um...ego here.
Overall I thought the offensive line played well in pass coverage. The running game, although abandoned once again, could have been better. I did see better blocks and the linemen actually knowing what they were doing, that is a very positive sign. Colledge is doing a good job for being the #2 guy, Moll played very well and Wells is a keeper for sure. I read somewhere that Favre was never even knocked down in the game. I don't know if that's true, but I must have missed it if he was. Against a very good defensive line by any standards in the NFL, that says a lot. Sean Rodgers was a non-factor.
Ahman Green, can the guy show up and play a whole game from start to finish? Last week he fumbled the game away. This week he tried to fumble it away again and thank god our defense showed up. The first game he had no fumbles and 100 yards. The second game he dropped passes & fumbled, this game he had what? 60 yards, a fumble BUT he caught the ball. Heron didn't show me much when he was in there, I mean come on, the guy fumbled on the 2 yard line. That reminds me of Green. Morency got a little playing time but not enough to judge whether or not he is the real deal. At least he didn't fumble!
It's hard to be a standout WR on the Packers when Favre completes passes to 10 different people. However, outside of Driver's 2 uncharacteristic drops on the first drive, a drop by Robinson, the WR's played very well. They blocked well, had good instincts and didn't have a bad case of the dropsies like last week. When Driver and Jennings are on the field, I don't know about you but I have a hard time telling them apart when they catch the ball. I know Jennings is faster but he has good hands and moves like Driver. Doesn't hurt to have them both out there. Robinson made a helluva catch as well. I didn't realize that he was a WR in a TE body. He is a big boy!
Special teams - played very well. Dummond is a very good returner and we shut him down. Strong Punting, Field Goal and Kick off average. It's about time the coverage teams wake up. Robinson looked good on returns. He's got some moves and speed.
It's so hard right no not to blame the coaches for the defensive issues. I know Poppinga blew a coverage, but he was better then the previous two games. Taylor didn't get in enough to get a feel where he stands. We paid a lot of money for Woodson and Manual. I was never sold on either of them. Woodson played "ok" but still not worth the money we shelled out. Al Harris played well as he usually does. Even Ahmad "Cut Me" Caroll had a decent game. Manual got burned and badly. He is a safety, he got his first NFL INT in this game, you think we overpaid for him? DUH! Even Sharper was better in coverage then this guy although Sharper couldn't tackle a wet paper bag and was horrible against the run. So here we have a safety that is very good against the run but can't cover worth a crap. He was not an upgrade over Roman who IMO played well for us last year (I don't understand the move). Now to Nick Collins. Some would say he didn't have a good game and got burned. I disagree. He was the de facto scapegoat on blown coverage underneath. The LB's read the play wrong and everything went downhill from there leaving Collins covering man to man. Collins was actually supposed to be over the top support in that coverage. The whole defense comes down to COACHING. I read that Sanders let the defense call the play late in the 3rd quarter until the end of the game. How many points did Detroit score then? 3? If true, that scares me. Shottenheimer needs TO GO. He has done nothing to warrant a second stint in Green Bay and it's obvious that he hasn't done his job in teaching the DB's how to read the offense. Let me at the DB's and no QB will put up 300 yards on us again. This wasn't Drew Brees, it was Jon Kitna. Now Kitna isn't a "bad" QB but he sure isn't a good one either. 350 yards??? GIVE ME A BREAK SHITENOUTYERHINEY!
Whew, that felt better. I attribute a lot of the Packers ups and downs on the coaching. I think McCarthy is doing a good job. Each week, something gets better. This week it was handling a good pass rush and catching the ball. Brett Favre looks like a Pro Bowler out there in this offense. The defense got blown out in every aspect of the game until the 4th. that isn't a lack of talent, that is a lack of coaching and play calling. Sorry Bob Sanders, you are not Jim Bates. Learn to MOTIVATE your defense.
This week we go to Philly. The last two trips, well three, we lost. Last year we got demolished. The bright spot, the Eagles are 2-1. Our only two losses came from two 3-0 teams. AND we almost pulled one of those out. I look forward to this game with optimism. We are 1-2 and I believe this week will define our season. The Eagles are a good team and McNabb is back in form. If we lose small, then I consider it a victory. If we get blown out then we truly need to fire some coaches NOW. If we win, then I believe that we have potential to be in the play offs.