All-around crappy football

[Patler]

No, not just the Packers. So far the games I have watched this year come down to who plays the least poorly, not who plays the best. There have been a lot of close games, mostly because both teams are playing poorly.

Just seems to be a lot of mediocre football being played this year. The only excitement has been from close scores, not from seeing good football. One team doesn't win it, the other one loses it; if you know what I mean.

Particularly in the NFC North. Has any team really played well yet in any game?

[denverYooper]

Re: All-around crappy football

No, not just the Packers. So far the games I have watched this year come down to who plays the least poorly, not who plays the best. There have been a lot of close games, mostly because both teams are playing poorly.

Just seems to be a lot of mediocre football being played this year. The only excitement has been from close scores, not from seeing good football. One team doesn't win it, the other one loses it; if you know what I mean.

Particularly in the NFC North. Has any team really played well yet in any game?

Lions vs. the Rams?

[mmmdk]

Re: All-around crappy football

No, not just the Packers. So far the games I have watched this year come down to who plays the least poorly, not who plays the best. There have been a lot of close games, mostly because both teams are playing poorly.

Just seems to be a lot of mediocre football being played this year. The only excitement has been from close scores, not from seeing good football. One team doesn't win it, the other one loses it; if you know what I mean.

Particularly in the NFC North. Has any team really played well yet in any game?

Yup and that's yet another reason why the sulky injury card is useless, dear McCarthy apologists.

The above not aimed at you, Patler.

[Joemailman]

Parity has hit the NFC this year. The good teams from last year are mostly struggling, and the bad teams from last year are better. So for instance, when the Lions almost beat the Packers, we don't really credit the Lions. We say the Packers played bad. In a few weeks, I think we'll start to see some teams separate themselves from the rest of the pack. (No pun intended).

[Bossman641]

Sulky injury card?

Look at our fuckin team. Anyone who doesn't acknowledge that injuries are clearly holding this team back is more blind then any TT or MM apologist.

[Patler]

Sulky injury card?

Look at our fuckin team. Anyone who doesn't acknowledge that injuries are clearly holding this team back is more blind then any TT or MM apologist.

Were they playing well before Mathews, Barnett, Burnett, Tauscher, Finley, Picket and Neal got hurt? Not really.

This team was being "held back" even before the injuries hit it in the last two weeks.

[Bossman641]

Sulky injury card?

Look at our fuckin team. Anyone who doesn't acknowledge that injuries are clearly holding this team back is more blind then any TT or MM apologist.

Were they playing well before Mathews, Barnett, Burnett, Tauscher, Finley, Picket and Neal got hurt? Not really.

This team was being "held back" even before the injuries hit it in the last two weeks.

I wouldn't really say they were playing well, but certainly better then now. Insert cliche but "this is the NFl and it is difficult to win games." Especially this year, anyone who has played pick 'em can tell you that.

It seems like 90% of games I've watched this year (not just Packers) comes down to the final 5 minutes. When you don't have 1/3 of your starters and a lot of your impact players it is tough to win. Nearly every game this year, we can point to a handful of plays that decided the game.

On top of that, McCarthy's teams have always started slowly, which is a discussion for another time. This year, with all the injuries, I doubt they can make the second half jump they normally do.

[mraynrand]

Anyone who doesn't acknowledge that injuries are clearly holding this team back is more blind then any TT or MM apologist.

How many injuries did they have when they ran up 18 penalties against Chicago?

Shouldn't an offensive genius like McCarthy be able to generate more than 20 points from this group, even without Finley and Grant? Shouldn't the offense be able to adjust to protect Rodgers from the same D lineman beating the same O lineman, the same way, again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again ?

[channtheman]

Injuries are a factor yes, but not as big as some want to say. Very good point made by mranyrand. Before the injuries we racked up 18 penalties agains the Bears. Today, we couldn't coach up a player to not line up over a center on a punt (probably because the coaches didn't even know the rule).

I know though, injuries are the reason we have bad coaching and players who can't execute. I mean, how can you possibly expect James Jones to actually catch a ball when Finley is out? Can you really expect Rodgers to not run into a sack or not throw to the open guy in the flat when Chillar, Barnett, Burnett, Bigby, Pickett, and Matthews are all out on defense?

This team flat out sucks and injuries are only a convenient excuse.

[bobblehead]

Sulky injury card?

Look at our fuckin team. Anyone who doesn't acknowledge that injuries are clearly holding this team back is more blind then any TT or MM apologist.

Were they playing well before Mathews, Barnett, Burnett, Tauscher, Finley, Picket and Neal got hurt? Not really.

This team was being "held back" even before the injuries hit it in the last two weeks.

weren't we 3-1 with one game the refs took away from us while being "held back"??

[pbmax]

Sulky injury card?

Look at our fuckin team. Anyone who doesn't acknowledge that injuries are clearly holding this team back is more blind then any TT or MM apologist.

Were they playing well before Mathews, Barnett, Burnett, Tauscher, Finley, Picket and Neal got hurt? Not really.

This team was being "held back" even before the injuries hit it in the last two weeks.

weren't we 3-1 with one game the refs took away from us while being "held back"??

While you and I might disagree on the cause, McCarthy clearly has not yet figured out how to ignite the offense. Even when Finley was available, they were leaving points on the table. Capers seems to be getting about the most that could be expected out of his 2nd team D, but M3 has a way to go.

[Tarlam!]

Miami had its way with the Packer defense yesterday, or at least it looked that way (I only have the drive tracker and your comments to go by). Still, the makeshift, injury ridden defense held Miami to a manageable 20 points. That's on Capers, IMHO.

Now TT is getting hammered for the OL woes, while he was being lauded for re-signing the vet OTs earlier in the year. Rodgers isn't making it easier on them with his "sack me" play. And when he does throw it between the numbers, it gets dropped.

It must be frustrating for the "D", that when they do get a stop either ST screw it up, or the "O" can't sustain a drive.

Everybody's coming down hard on M3, I know I am. But to try and remain objective, I've decided to see how he leads this team out of adversity, before I call for his head.

As Patler pointed out, the league is full of crappy teams this season and maybe lady luck will return to the team.

I think TT should consider sacrificing Slocum in an attempt to appease the Football Gods, but a goat might be enough.

[pbmax]

I think this year has shown that Thompson has put together a very good roster with depth. Tackle looked like a problem this week with Bulaga, but he is a rookie starting for a vet, its going to take some time for him. And while the D has a pass rush problem with Matthews and Neal out, it wasn't entirely overmatched against the Skins or Fins.

What is not excusable, is that we seem to be on track for McCarthy to start making serious changes to the offense by week 8 like last year and slightly earlier in 2007. I never figured out what caused slow starts or the inevitable 3 game losing streak under Sherman, but with McCarthy, he is stubborn about altering the plan.

[Fritz]

Sulky injury card?

Look at our fuckin team. Anyone who doesn't acknowledge that injuries are clearly holding this team back is more blind then any TT or MM apologist.

Were they playing well before Mathews, Barnett, Burnett, Tauscher, Finley, Picket and Neal got hurt? Not really.

This team was being "held back" even before the injuries hit it in the last two weeks.

weren't we 3-1 with one game the refs took away from us while being "held back"??

While you and I might disagree on the cause, McCarthy clearly has not yet figured out how to ignite the offense. Even when Finley was available, they were leaving points on the table. Capers seems to be getting about the most that could be expected out of his 2nd team D, but M3 has a way to go.

I agree with this point. Since MM is the defacto offensive coordinator, you can say that the Packers' defensive coordinator is outcoaching his offensive counterpart, despite losing more pieces - and m ore key pieces - than the offense has lost. And on top of that, going into the season most people believe the offense was more talented than the defense any way.

[Patler]

Sulky injury card?

Look at our fuckin team. Anyone who doesn't acknowledge that injuries are clearly holding this team back is more blind then any TT or MM apologist.

Were they playing well before Mathews, Barnett, Burnett, Tauscher, Finley, Picket and Neal got hurt? Not really.

This team was being "held back" even before the injuries hit it in the last two weeks.

weren't we 3-1 with one game the refs took away from us while being "held back"??

Yes, but playing the way they did getting there didn't lead me to believe they would keep it up, especially when playing teams better than Buffalo and less snake-bit than Detroit. They self-destructed against Chicago, for example.