PACKER INSIDER'S FIRST ROUND OF PREDICTIONS

[HarveyWallbangers]

Minnesota with more talent than GB???
WTF???

I agree, and they also have a new coaching staff. New schemes on both sides of the ball too. Their QB manages games well, but I don't see him as much better than average. Plus, he'll likely go down for a few games and then they have Mike McMahon or J.T. O'Sullivan throwing the pill. I like Taylor. Their WRs are a crapshoot. Everybody raves about their OL, but we'll see if Birk can stand up. Hicks is nothing more than average, and Marcus Johnson is all potential at this point. The left-side of the line should be taken care of. Their OL is pretty similar to Green Bay's. Two very good starters for both teams. If Birk comes back healthy, then they'll have a 3rd top notch starter. They have great DTs. Their DEs are all potential at this point. I wasn't impressed with either DE in their rookie years. Who knows what they'll get from Greenway his rookie year. IMHO, he's nowhere near as ready as Hawk is. Leber? Could be good, or he could struggle. MLB? Crapshoot. Antoine Winfield is solid. Fred Smoot is overrated. Sharper is good. The other safety spot? Who knows.

You could do the same thing for the Packers lineup, but I don't see this wealth of talent on the Vikings. I see some potential, and some spots where they could be in serious trouble.

[RashanGary]

I agree...Minn is nothin.....

[Rastak]

I agree...Minn is nothin.....

Nice interpitation of what he said Nick. By the way, that isn't what he said but nice try.
What I read was both teams have questions and I agree with most points. I don't agree that it's a 100% sure Johnson get's hurt. It could happen, old QB's get hurt more often no matter how resiliant they've been in the past. I agree on the new coaching staff questions too. Minnesota has questions on their right side of the line and GB has questions on the interior. Minnesota has WR questions, so does GB if you ask me.


We'll have a better idea how both staffs are doing by the end of preseason.

[packers11]

[quote="wist43"]I don't see any hope of getting to 9-7... The Packers don't even belong on the same field as the Patriots, and I fully expect them to struggle mightily out of the gate due to the new coaching staff, and the new blocking scheme. quote]

... please.... the patriots are not as good as what they used to be... I live in New England, I have to see every one of thier games.... That team never blows out teams, and has used that defense to thier advantage for the past couple of years... Things have changed and people on New England are starting to worry about that depleated defense...... packers vs patriots is going to be the most exciting game for me this season.... I am expecting a packers win ! Pats haven't showed the Pack up in the last decade... Why should it change??

[woodbuck27]

I agree...Minn is nothin.....

Nice interpitation of what he said Nick. By the way, that isn't what he said but nice try.
What I read was both teams have questions and I agree with most points. I don't agree that it's a 100% sure Johnson get's hurt. It could happen, old QB's get hurt more often no matter how resiliant they've been in the past. I agree on the new coaching staff questions too. Minnesota has questions on their right side of the line and GB has questions on the interior. Minnesota has WR questions, so does GB if you ask me.


We'll have a better idea how both staffs are doing by the end of preseason.

Rastak.

Realistically I believe we will see two very close game bet. the Vikings and Packers.Two late FG's settled the issue last season.We blew one huge half time lead because of conservative coaching,IMO.

Have the Vikings improved over the off season? They picked FA's up to replace alot of what they loss'd and their draft wasn't rated as strong as OUR's.They are without Culpepper and need Johnson to guide them conservatively. as he did so well standing in for Culpepp last season.

We certainly improved with OUR FA acquistions in Woodson,Pickett and Manual. Many rated 'the Packer' draft in the A - B range. I truly believe we will surprise alot of the experts in 2006 and could very well handle the Vikings this season in at least one of two contests. I am getting more hope for one win over you fella's (at least) in 2006.

A prediction:

Both OUR games will be, as we saw last season tightly contested, and I do feel that we are stronger at QB. OUR "D" has real potential to . . . . if the Packer OL comes on . . ' a HUGE if ' so NFL teams we face, look out ! We will beat the Vikings in one game in 2006.

[Polaris]

Minnesota is a 9-7 team that improved during the offseason. I think objectively you'd have to consider them as being ahead of the Packers at this point. Most neutral observers.....you know, the Power Rankings guys and the people who set the line in Vegas.......consider the Vikings ahead of the Packers. It kills me to say it but I think it's true. You especially have to think that adding Steve Hutchinson and Matt Birk to the offensive line is going to help.

I think the Packers, on the offensive side of the ball, are not as good as they appeared to be at this point last season. I'm not sure that they're really any better than they were at the end of last season.. Defensively, yes, I think we're much improved but we're still not on level with the Bears in that regard

I see us as a 5-11 team, last place in the NFC North, and quite possibly one of the weaker teams in the NFC this year. I won't be at all surprised if we're picking around 5th again next year.

[motife]

From Gary Horton @ Scouts, Inc.

Nate (Madison): How good can the Packers defense be this year? They were #8 at the end of the year and now added a lot of talent via the draft and FA.

Gary Horton: Ironically, even though DC Jim Bates moved on they will still run his scheme. I know they are excited about the tandem of Harris and Woodson at CB and we'll see a lot of in-your-face press schemes out of them. Hawk will be a tremendous addition to the defense at LB. They played above their talent level in 2005, though, and I'm not sure they can repeat that. They got produciton from players no one expected to contribute and they played much better than anticipated. A key for that defense will be getting some help from the running game and getting Favre to cut down on mistakes and turnovers that put them on the field too much last season. But if I'm a Packers fan I'm not overly optimistic in a division where it seems like all the other teams improved in the offseason. But with Favre they always have a puncher's chance.

[SD GB fan]

first off, i'd like to say that in our division, we probably improved the most. with that said, i agree that repeating at #7 on defense is going to be tough because we played a lot of teams w/o QBs last year and they worked with shorter fields due to TO on our offense. but, with new talent, i expect a doubling in turnovers and better scoring defense this year, the two most important stats. of course, if we improve our rushing defense and our CBs play up to expectations, top 10 shudnt be a problem.