Good Article

[Packnut]

http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061007/PKR07/610070314/1989


Pretty much says it all.

[mraynrand]

He got paid to write that?

[chewy-bacca]

my fav part is the comments on Hawk and Jennings. :lol:

no one seems to understand just how hard it is to be a playoff team every year in the NFL.

[red]

Mike Woods column: Forward progress? haven't seen it yet

By Mike Woods

Now that the Packers have reached the quarter pole, it's time for some key members of the organization to file progress reports, much like a teacher does for your kids, so everyone knows where they stand before those all-important midseason grades are due.

With that in mind, here's how you would expect a few of those to read.

Mike McCarthy to Bob Sanders, Kurt Schottenheimer

You guys are supposed to be teachers, right? So what the heck are you teaching these guys on pass coverage?

Is it the Cover-2? For that's all they seem to be able to cover on any given play. What about everyone else?

If you've noticed, they don't play well with others. They forget their assignments. It's clear by their actions they don't have a firm grasp of what they're supposed to be doing. They're often confused. I mean, it's clear they're often unsure of when they're supposed to be in the game or not. How basic is that? That's your fault, gentlemen. We've been here for four weeks and I would expect to see at least some progress. I'm not seeing any. You're both failing.

Offensive line coach Joe Philbin to his starting unit

Fellas, you may have heard Coach McCarthy wants to establish the run. Your season to date was captured in a nutshell at the end of Monday night's game. Four tries inside the Eagles' 2 and we can't get in the end zone.

This was about more than execution. This was about pride.

This was a time when we were supposed to just man up and make it happen. But we couldn't.

I know we're inexperienced as a whole, and I know we've had some changes in the lineup, but we're 25 percent through the year and we can't get a couple of yards to save a little dignity? That's below average.

Bob Harlan to Ted Thompson, cc: John Jones

Ted, you've done a fine job of ridding this team of Mike Sherman's many blunders, Ahmad Carroll being the coup de grace (then again, what took you so long?).

However, I have concerns about the quality and skill of the new people. Where are the playmakers? We didn't have a Pro Bowl player last year, and it's clear to me we won't again this year.

I know a lot of the boys are young, but I don't see anyone out there who looks like they'll be a stud puppy in the future.

I know A.J. Hawk is progressing, but he was a top-five pick and he should be making more plays than he is.

That Greg Jennings guy looks good, but he doesn't look like a guy who other teams are going to game-plan to stop some day.

You've been charged with procuring talent. So go procure.

Not enough time has passed for me to get a firm grasp if you know what you're doing or not, so you're going to get an incomplete.

But if you're wondering whether I'm brimming with confidence about our future, I'm not.

Most of us were going to be satisfied with seeing progress this season, the won-loss record notwithstanding.

Here we are, four games into this season, and for every baby step we take forward, we take at least that many backward.

I would expect our progress to be much improved over the next four weeks.

Please do your homework.

Mike Woods writes for The Post-Crescent of Appleton. E-mail him at mwoods@ postcrescent.com