Broken-But-Not-Dead-Yet

[oldbutnotdeadyet]

Too much doom and gloom around here! Come on u fuckers and fuckees, we are heading into the stretch run. Time to kick some ass.

Lions on deck, in their house, but who da fuck cares! We got this.

Who's with me!

(Poor animal house copy)

[denverYooper]

I'll come around.

I still hate Thursday games though. Yuck.

[yetisnowman]

Too much doom and gloom around here! Come on u fuckers and fuckees, we are heading into the stretch run. Time to kick some ass.

Lions on deck, in their house, but who da fuck cares! We got this.

Who's with me!

(Poor animal house copy)

As much of a trainwreck as the last 5 weeks have been, our goals are still attainable. Romo getting re-injured and Oakland coming back to earth a little bit, those looked potential losses two weeks ago. Now very winnable. I'm worried about Thursday quite a bit. The Lions are much better than their record, and their defense and offense are playing as well as they have all year especially at home. And even with 7 losses they can't consider themselves out of it in the NFC. Not a great matchup. 10-6 gets us in the playoffs I believe and might be enough for the division. That seems realistic.

[Patler]

This is what sports are all about. For any who have been involved in sports for a while, I'm sure you can look back at teams you were with that were talented, but under performed. Sometimes that is the death knell for the season, sometimes it is only a point of interest for a season that rights itself before the end.

I don't care that they lost to the Lions. I don't care that they lost to the Bears. I don't care that they have lost two in a row at Lambeau in which they were strong favorites.

I do care that they are 7-4 and could still finish the season at 12-4. Will they? Probably not, but 11-5 or 10-6 are certainly attainable.

At this point they have two goals, figure out/fix what is wrong with their passing game and make the playoffs. If they accomplish both, they will be playing well in December. Successful playoff teams are not always the ones who cruise through a season without a rough spot. They often are the teams who are playing their best football in December. The Packers very well can be a team that plays its best football in December because ST and Defense are improved from last year, and the defense can be decent enough at times. The running game seems to be finding its way. The one aspect of the team that I think this staff, both players and coaches, can fix on the fly is the passing game; and that is the area needing repair.

They may or may not do it. I make no predictions. However, this is shaping up like a very interesting end to the season.

[Joemailman]

I think the key right now is whether Adams can pick himself off the mat, or whether his season will continue to be a bust. Lacy is back to being Lacy, but they still need someone to take some pressure off Cobb. If Adams can be some semblance of the player we expected, this could still be a very interesting season.

[mraynrand]

I don't care that they lost to the Bears.

No Packer fan should ever write, utter, or even think this. This is the worst thing you've ever written. It hurt me to quote it.

[denverYooper]

I think the key right now is whether Adams can pick himself off the mat, or whether his season will continue to be a bust. Lacy is back to being Lacy, but they still need someone to take some pressure off Cobb. If Adams can be some semblance of the player we expected, this could still be a very interesting season.

I thought bevaux had a great take in another thread, that they just needed to accelerate Adams's responsibilities in the offense out of need. I thought M3's comments about some players needing to stop worrying about how they run their routes, etc and just play ball were most specifically pointed to Adams. I have the narrative in my head at this point that most of his issues stem from being force fed Jordy's role and responsibilities and that's why the Packers keep throwing him the ball.

Adams will probably improve but I have to wonder if they will scale that back or change up the offense soon to mitigate his issues. I don't know yet but the time has got to be drawing close on a decision.

Of course Monty and Abbredaris coming back could make everything moot. If they can get a #3/4 on the field to present some new matchup problems, then it might not matter.

[denverYooper]

Should they pull together for a playoff run, I think the DL could be a factor in the playoffs. Both Raji and Daniels are going to want to make a statement to get paid, Peppers might only have 1 or 2 shots left, and Datone Jones has been coming on.

[oldbutnotdeadyet]

Well, that's a start, BUT I CAN'T HEAR YOU.......

[hoosier]

Well, that's a start, BUT I CAN'T HEAR YOU.......

Ok, here goes....This season is down the toilet, they are dead in the water and just circling the drain. But that is not the worst of it. If you're not in ascension then you are by definition in decline, and that is what the Packers are today. They may be the youngest team in the league but they are already dead. Nelson will be 30 and coming off a major knee injury, so they need to draft his replacement and groom him for a couple of years. Peppers is all but finished, and past history suggests it will take TT about four years to find his replacement. The offensive line is incapable of staying healthy for an entire season. The writing is on the wall with Lacy, whose body and running style will cause him to break down early. Adams would rather play video games than work on improving his questionable hands and route running.

[Patler]

I don't care that they lost to the Bears.

No Packer fan should ever write, utter, or even think this. This is the worst thing you've ever written. It hurt me to quote it.

Perhaps you are correct. Let me put this a different way:

I don't care that the Bears kicked their ass in Lambeau.
(Now, at least my previous statement won't be the worst thing I have ever written! )

[Patler]

Ok, here goes....This season is down the toilet, they are dead in the water and just circling the drain. But that is not the worst of it. If you're not in ascension then you are by definition in decline, and that is what the Packers are today. They may be the youngest team in the league but they are already dead. Nelson will be 30 and coming off a major knee injury, so they need to draft his replacement and groom him for a couple of years. Peppers is all but finished, and past history suggests it will take TT about four years to find his replacement. The offensive line is incapable of staying healthy for an entire season. The writing is on the wall with Lacy, whose body and running style will cause him to break down early. Adams would rather play video games than work on improving his questionable hands and route running.

That is certainly a possibility. I wrote in another thread that what we are seeing could be the start of a directional change, a precursor to a significant roster upheaval the next several years. I have long feared that Lacy could be John Brockington II, a guy who will have a 3-5 year career, then disappear.

But, I think it is just as likely that the train got derailed for some reason, and it can be back on track next year if not yet this year.

Time will tell.

[Maxie the Taxi]

That is certainly a possibility. I wrote in another thread that what we are seeing could be the start of a directional change, a precursor to a significant roster upheaval the next several years. I have long feared that Lacy could be John Brockington II, a guy who will have a 3-5 year career, then disappear.

But, I think it is just as likely that the train got derailed for some reason, and it can be back on track next year if not yet this year.

Time will tell.

For what it's worth, a glaring shortcoming of this team is and has been at TE and I think the Packers know it. The draft this year was weak in TE talent. I heard rumors of TT looking at the FA market (Gonzalez? Graham?) but, of course, nothing happened.

Patler, do you remember earlier this year when the Packers tried out several basketball players who seemed in the Gronk mold (at least physically) but none of the tryouts panned out? That right there was a signal to me that the Packers knew a significant weakness existed at TE. I can't remember if Nelson was healthy at the time of the tryouts.

[Patler]

For what it's worth, a glaring shortcoming of this team is and has been at TE and I think the Packers know it. The draft this year was weak in TE talent. I heard rumors of TT looking at the FA market (Gonzalez? Graham?) but, of course, nothing happened.

Patler, do you remember earlier this year when the Packers tried out several basketball players who seemed in the Gronk mold (at least physically) but none of the tryouts panned out? That right there was a signal to me that the Packers knew a significant weakness existed at TE. I can't remember if Nelson was healthy at the time of the tryouts.

I agree about the TEs, and I do recall the basketball player tryouts. The guy on their practice squad didn't play in college, but was very good in HS as a basketball player. Needs weight and strength, but was good enough for the Broncos to claim him from GB at the final cutdown, when the Packers had told him they would offer a PS contract. When Denver ran into roster problems and released him a month later, the Packers brought him right back.

http://www.packersnews.com/story/spo...away/71901976/

The Packers know what they need. They've drafted a TE each of the last two years, and have brought in a bunch of prospects. Sooner or later they will find one.

[beveaux1]

I'm in the camp that this team has severely underperformed this year based on their level of talent. As Patler pointed out, the defense and special teams are better than last year, the running game is beginning to round into shape. I think they have treated at least 2 of their losses as a kind of training camp to improve their passing game. My feeling is that if they decide to use their superior personnel to run the ball, use their defense and special teams to win the field position battle, they will win at least 10 games and go into the playoffs with some momentum. If they have success running the ball against nickel defenses and decide to force their undermanned passing game, we'll have trouble winning more than 9. I expect every game to be close, but I have confidence in this coaching staff. I hope it isn't misplaced.