Enjoying This Team, This Season

[woodbuck27]

Fritz, you restore my faith in this place with posts like that. Well done sir.

Yup. it sure must be like Homer and I'm not referring to Simpson.

Two weeks ago after the GIANTS game our team was dragging their collective ass's out of New York and there was alot of legitimate concern. Too express that concern was an extention of an accurate observation. Was such expression proof of a lack of faith or telling it as it was then?

[Fritz]

Yup. it sure must be like Homer and I'm not referring to Simpson.

Two weeks ago after the GIANTS game our team was dragging their collective ass's out of New York and there was alot of legitimate concern. Too express that concern was an extention of an accurate observation. Was such expression proof of a lack of faith or telling it as it was then?

I thought I'd kick this thread and update it as the season goes along.

Okay, so the Packers beat the Bears, and right now I'm feeling pretty good about this team, despite the injuries. Last year, despite the gaudy record, we all knew the defense was really, really awful, and all it was going to take was one poor showing by the offense, and it was all over.

And that's what happened.

Now, IF Mike Neal can stay healthy, and IF Matthews can stay healthy, and IF the others stay healthy, and IF Wilson comes back, this defense appears to be rounding into form. I am happy especially about Neal, because I've been rooting for the guy. he seems to me to be the most talented of the ends right now, at least in terms of pass rush ability. But I saw the article today about Matthews working off Neal, and that's what we wanted to see.

I think that the key to winning in the playoffs is toughness - physical and mental toughness. Well, and talent, of course, but it's that mindset of grinding it out that seems to work. When you look at the Packers' run two years ago, you note that the offense kinda sucked there in the last game against da (Pubic) Bears (I think the score was 10-6 or 13-6 or something. And the offense was not exactly sizzling in that first playoff game against Philly. I believe that score was 21-16. But the defense was tough, tough, tough in both games. Not so much that they were flying around and killing guys. But they had this grim, nose-to-the-grindstone mentality that kept other teams from moving the ball very well. And against Atlanta, the offense kicked in.

I am hoping this defense, this year, is developing that same mentality. I think Pickett and Matthews can sniff it.

I think that kind of grim toughness comes from adversity. It comes from the injuries that the team has had to disregard and move on from (as a fan, don't we all still wish Nick Collins was still here. Imagine if the defense had him...).

I am also encouraged, oddly enough, by the offense. If I could take any one injury away from this team this year - from Bishop to Matthews to Benson and back - I'd take Bulaga's injury away. I know he didn't seem to be having a great year, but he was better than Barclay, and with him this offense would not have struggled quite so much. Yet, it's hard not to wonder if maybe that injury has forced MM to rethink the offense and run the ball more, since Barclay is better at that than pass blocking.

I like this renewed emphasis on the run. If the team can continue and improve in this regard, eventually some team will come out of that cover-2 crap and Rodgers will sting 'em. So I hope MM keeps running the ball, and I hope too that Finley sees an increased role over the middle.

I think that MM has done a good job this year. Like many fans, I have called him a knob and a tool many times during games for his play calling, but in the cool of the day, he's a hell of a coach. The players respect him, and he has the ability to get his team to rise above excuse-making and injuries. And after the Lions game, when I explained to my girlfriend (who knows nothing about football) that one of MM's faults was that he abandoned the running game too soon too often, he proceeded to run the ball down the Lions' throats.

Of course, it could all come crashing down in the playoffs on one missed kick by Crosby. But I admire MM's guts for keeping the guy. I do. Not just for the warm fuzzies of the story (the rumor on Packerrats that Crosby is having personal problems and the team is helping him out by keeping him on), but for understanding the risks and rewards and following his own intuition on this one. I mean, we'll all be sick if Crosby misses a game-tying or winning kick, but won't we all be just as sick if Neal Rackers misses one, or Schlongwell, or whatever flotsam or jetsam is out there now?

Besides, this is what I'm talking about. Whatever happens, the Packers are headed to the playoffs, have won their second division title in a row, and have won 10 or more games for what, four years in a row now?

Sure, you can pick at MM's playoff record, and we will all gnash our teeth over losing some high profile names (the price of TT's success; it's a salary cap world, man), but in the end, this organization is as good as any in the NFL right now. They're right up there with the Patriots and Steelers.

But goddammit, if they lose in the first round of the playoffs, I say fire 'em all.

Just kidding. No, really. I'm kidding.

[Tony Oday]

O'Day, you strike me as a very arrogant person.

You strike me as a leach on society so I guess we will not be getting a beer anytime soon.

[mraynrand]

leech

not
leach

[mmmdk]

Tough wins versus NFC North foes has been huge. Sweep of Bears & Kittens is double sweet - Vikings are next soon enough. But I have to add that our QB is not named Majkowski or Dickey; more to be expected from guys like Starr, Favre & Rodgers. A downer to not win SB with the latter and beat da Bears is fine with the former.

[Fritz]

Tough wins versus NFC North foes has been huge. Sweep of Bears & Kittens is double sweet - Vikings are next soon enough. But I have to add that our QB is not named Majkowski or Dickey; more to be expected from guys like Starr, Favre & Rodgers. A downer to not win SB with the latter and beat da Bears is fine with the former.

From a long-distance perspective, that's true, but man oh man, when I watched Dickey march the offense down the field, over and over, scoring touchdown after touchdown on Dallas, only to see the defense let the Cowboys go through them like vagina butter, well, it hurt. Especially because the week before the Pack had beaten the Rams in the first round.

The point is, you hoped against hope, but years like that - or Lindy-the-Infant's one good year - were an aberration. Now we have the kind of organization that can keep the team in the hunt for a SB, year in and year out. I am working on trying to enjoy that more, and scream at the television less when the Packers can't tackle someone or the offensive line looks like a turnstile at Cedar Point.

[denverYooper]

The pieces might very well be falling into place at the right time.

[woodbuck27]

Was I castigating them? Maybe I was. But I think, if I was, I was not castigating them as perennial fuck-ups.

Like a lot of us, when I'm in the thick of watching a game, or right after a loss, I am infuriated by the shitty play of the o-line, or the defensive front seven not stopping the run or not getting pressure, for sure.

But when I step back and see the bigger picture, and when I'm not indulging my online Packer id identity, I do see that this is the kind of organization I've wanted for the Packers ever since I watched Scott Hunter's Christian Ponderlike peformance in his one playoff appearance in, what, '71 or '72?

If that was just after the Packers came off a deep sleep in New York Fritz? Your reaction was rather normal.

I'm enjoying the Packers this season because I do see some similiarities RE: the course of adversity due to injuries this season ala 2010 and how our team somehow manages to play well enough for the 'W'. I'm enjoying seeing Aaron Rodgers grow as a QB in terms of leadership and to find the way to offset deficiencies on his OL. I'm enjoying watching 'at least' a near MVP performance by Aaron Rodgers.

I'm enjoying James Jones breakout season.

I find it very interesting and / or puzzling the way that TT and MM have handled the kicking game problem. Their patience is certainly overwhelming and falls under the category 'Risky Business'.

I'm enjoying some signs of an emerging running game.

I'm enjoying the rookie performance of #29 Casey Hayward. Nice pick TT !

GO PACKERS !

[Fritz]

Just trying to enjoy the ride, man. I get caught up in the play-to-play negatives sometimes, and I want to be sure I appreciate what we are seeing unfold in GB.

[Fritz]

Just trying to enjoy the ride, man. I get caught up in the play-to-play negatives sometimes, and I want to be sure I appreciate what we are seeing unfold in GB.

Who knows how the ride will end, but doesn't it seem perfect that the Pack has at least one wild card game to host, and might get a bye and at least one home game, too, if they beat Minny, who also has something to play for?

It seems perfect - the team has to be sharp because they've got something to play for, they're on the road, the competition will be fierce. It seems like a perfect launching pad.

Mostly the defense has to play well. While we fondly remember the Packers playing great football at the end of 2010, in truth the offense was quite dull against the Bears in the last game, and not great against Philly, either.

[Bossman641]

I'm really hoping Jordy and Woodson play this week. The thought of integrating them back during the playoffs is giving me flashbacks of the Giants last year (see: lack of chemistry between Rodgers and Jennings).

[Fritz]

Yes, and even one game is not much. See Jennings, Greg.

I do wonder if Jennings will break out in the playoffs. Seems like Cobb has the slot job locked down, and you can't take a spot from Jones this year, not the way he's playing. So I think Nelson and Jennings will compete for the other starting spot. Then it's mix and match.

If you're a Packer receiver, and you get a ball thrown to you, you better catch it.

[Teamcheez1]

If Woodson doesn't play this week, then I don't really want him to play again this season (except maybe for some spot duty).

I don't see how we can expect him to contribute when he hasn't played in 3 months. Play with the guys that have gotten you to this point.

[Fritz]

I dunno. I think I'd rather see him out there at safety than Jennings or even the rook, McMillian.

By the way, anybody have a sense of how that kid's been playing? Early on, we heard a lot of good about him, but I haven't heard much lately.

[ThunderDan]

I dunno. I think I'd rather see him out there at safety than Jennings or even the rook, McMillian.

By the way, anybody have a sense of how that kid's been playing? Early on, we heard a lot of good about him, but I haven't heard much lately.

When you aren't hearing about your safety one way or the other it usually means that your LBs and DL are playing well. You don't want your S to be making tackles left and right. Of course an INT here are there would be outstanding.