Strange Season, Weird JuJu

[Fritz]

I found it really interesting to read the post-game comments yesterday from both coaches and players.

On the negative side, which is the easier one to see and believe, there's some really weird dysfunction going on with Rodgers and McCarthy and maybe Rodgers and others. I read in the post-game transcript with Michael Cohen that once again Rodgers on the field is doing that eye-rolling, "what-the-fudge" shoulder shrugging - all that negative body language that suggests frustration - not so much with his own performance but with that of players like Janis, Dick-Rod, and Adams, and with MM, too.

The offense really seems to have no identity. One week Eddie Lacy looks like Marshawn Lynch; the next week he looks like Torrance Marshall's girlfriend. Fans clamor for Janis; he gets a pass for a TD - and drops it. Davante Adams probably can't even hold onto his penis right now. I wouldn't want to be standing at the urinal next to his. The offensive line looks like a damn M.A.S.H. unit. Nobody can figure out why Quarless isn't activated (Cohen said he looked good in practice) and Montgomery put on the shelf as he tries to practice once a week and then goes on the shelf.

James Starks is turning into a fumbling machine. Aaron Rodgers is throwing picks. James Jones is a nice guy who can't get open very well any more. Cobb, we have learned, is a great #2 receiver. Etc, etc.

Yet, strangely, this might be the crucible that forges the gutty kind of team necessary to get through the grind of the playoffs. This certainly isn't 2011, when the offense cruised through the season, only to be found lacking in the playoffs. It's interesting to read the post-game quotes from the players not named Aaron Rodgers. There was a lot of talk about this being a tough team, this being a complete team, the defense as young and improving, and the ST as tough and settled. And there's MM's weird comment - they're right where he wants to be? I assume he meant as far as their record, but did he mean that this team is being tested and toughened for the playoffs?

The defense is better than past editions. There's some depth on the D-line, certainly at corner, and Clay Matthews has shored up the inside again until, we hope, Jake Ryan can learn how to play. The ST is better just because Slocum isn't coaching them any more, and Jeff Janis, for all his shortcomings as a receiver, is becoming a ST force.

So what is the future of this team? Is it a dysfunctional team that never did get past last year's loss? Is it just a dysfunctional offense, period, with nothing to do with last year? Have MM and A-Rod just been working together for too long?

Or is this the kind of teeth-clenching, gut-wrenching regular season that gets a team in that "fuggit, we're going to fight like hell" mindset that so many of us Packer fans in years past (especially in 2011) yearned for? The kind that won't allow them to be stopped as they get overlooked in the playoffs, like the Giants did in their SB-winning years?

It's hard to be optimistic. I tend to see this team as not only not getting a first-round bye - it's just not that kind of team to get an easy road - but as getting bounced early. But I'm trying to keep an open mind. After all, in 2010 this team's offense liked like shit against the Bears at the end of the season. I think the Packers won something like 10-6 to get into the playoffs. Not an offensive maching.

What think you?

[Joemailman]

This team is the anti-2011 team. That team had maybe the best group of receivers I've ever seen, but couldn't stop anybody unless they came up with an INT. This team is a very good overall team with a weak group of receivers. As a result, teams can scheme any way they want to on defense without worrying about getting beat deep. I think that's why the Packers seem so inconsistent. If teams want to load up the box to stop Lacy, it's not that risky.

It doesn't seem like the Packers are good enough to make a Super Bowl run. Yet, this team is 3-2 against teams that will likely be in the playoffs. It's not that they're just beating up on the weak sisters of the NFL. The Packers had a 3 week stretch recently where they lost at home to the Lions, soundly beat the Vikings in Minnesota, and lost at home to the Bears. They really can beat anybody or lose to anybody.

[TravisWilliams23]

From Rodgers comments, I get the feeling he wants more of Abbrederis and less of Adams. Maybe in practice he gets to see Q running routes better than RRod and come game time there's no Q. Perhaps MM thinks Arod is changing the play too much and has put some control over when he can call his own play. We just don't know but you can tell from his post game interview he's pissed at something. I sure hope he looks in the mirror when he evaluates what went wrong because he's certainly contributed to some of the offenses woes.

That being said, MM is correct when saying they have 10 wins and are in, plus how close they were in 3 of the losses. They're heading into game 15 and still having troubles moving the ball at times. The D hasn't been getting much pressure on the quarterback and has had it's good and bad moments as well.

It's been frustrating watching this group all year. I guess we've been spoiled with some of those well-oiled offenses they've put out on the field before and
it's so damn hard to see this years version struggle so much but by December you expect to see improvement and it's just not there.

If a teams identity is revealed in December, I haven't a clue as to what it is. They really need to win the division to get at least one game at Lambeau. They'll need that if the opponent is either Minny or Seattle. I'm always hoping the Green Bay Packers we all want shows up on Sunday but it's been a season of frustration so far BUT they've won 10 and are in. So we live with that and hope the next game is THE one where it all comes together.

[Cheesehead Craig]

This is the most unimpressive and infuriating 10-win Packer team I've seen in quite a while. In the past it was that they didn't have enough defense or their running game was subpar. But there was always the beyond elite passing game that carried the day.

That elite passing game is now above average at best, the running game is still subpar. The defense is improved and that's what's keeping this team afloat right now but that units history makes that an uncomfortable feeling to say the least.

This must be what the majority of the NFL feels like, just hoping that your team doesn't pee down their legs and finds some way to hold on to win.

[Patler]

I was thinking about starting a similar thread after reading the same player and coach comments. Often, people talk about the team not being very good, then discuss only the shortcomings on offense.

In fact, the quality of the team is the combined impact of performances on offense, defense and special teams. We have seen for years that teams having one of the best offenses with mediocre (or worse) defenses and awful special teams don't go very far. This year's version might have a better balance. As of today, they are #5 in points allowed, #9 in points scored and #8 in net points. As ugly as it has been, they are 10-4 and only 4 teams have better records, two in each conference.

It is a difficult team to evaluate, but they have shown some tenacity, even giving themselves chances to salvage games in which they were awful on offense. Seattle didn't care that they were outplayed most of the NFCCG last year, they only cared that they won. At this point of the season I don't care what the offense looks like, I care only about the result.

[Deputy Nutz]

I think it was set in motion at the end of last year's loss to Seattle that the 2015 season was Super Bowl or bust. Well this season looks like a bust. Fans aren't happy their expectations are currently not being met with the play on the field.

[Patler]

I think it was set in motion at the end of last year's loss to Seattle that the 2015 season was Super Bowl or bust. Well this season looks like a bust. Fans aren't happy their expectations are currently not being met with the play on the field.

But isn't it mainly just the offense that isn't meeting expectations?

I think it is premature to categorize this season as a bust. Too many sixth seeded teams have gotten to the Super Bowl to make that conclusion. Coaches like to say that by the latter part of the season a team is what its record is. This Packer team is 10-4. That's not a bad team. It may have a mediocre offense, but a team with the third-best record in its conference after 14 games certainly has a chance to make a playoff run. It might not be one of the favorites going into the playoffs, but many Super Bowl champions have not been favorites at the start of playoffs, including the Packers in 2010.

[Fritz]

The old saw is that winning cures everything, but that does not seem to be the case with this team or the fan base. They won yesterday, but everybody's pretty disgruntled, including the starting QB.

It's really weird. This team is 10 - 4, and the two achilles' heels, the defense and ST, are better this year. But nobody's really happy.

I wonder if the players sense this could be a special team - a couple have referenced the tough-it-out, never-say-die attitude of the team - yet there's Rodgers, hacked off and silent, and MM getting bristly.

Maybe they're special because they're forging a tough identity, or maybe they're special because they have a former MVP QB and the same team as last year, basically, yet they still can't put it together. I just don't know.

[Patler]

Losing to the Bears makes it a tough season for a lot of fans. Losing at Lambeau once is bad, twice is unspeakable. The impact of combining those in the same season might not be cleansed even with a Super Bowl win by this team. For some, it will simply be a fluke if they do.

[Deputy Nutz]

Patter most of those teams that weren't picked to win the super bowl or were not one of the first two seeds in the playoffs had momentum going into the playoffs. This team doesn't seem to have that momentum. The offense is under performing compared to years past. Rodgers doesn't seem to have that magical ability to make his receivers better than what they are. I don't trust this defense against a high powered offense like Arizona. Could the Packers stop the Seahawks at Lambeau? Seattle has a tremendous amount of Momentum right now and is going to be a tough draw for any team in the playoffs.

[Patler]

Patter most of those teams that weren't picked to win the super bowl or were not one of the first two seeds in the playoffs had momentum going into the playoffs.

Didn't someone dispel that notion in another thread a week ago or so by posting the late season records for several of those teams?

In 2010, the Packers went L, W, L, L, W, W. in their last six games. With two games to go in the season, did they have any momentum, having lost their last two, and three of their last four? Any momentum they had came from their last two games, nothing more. How much faith did we have when they were 8-6 to even make the playoffs, let alone go more than one-and-done?

Ugly or not, this team has a 3 game winning streak, and has won 4 of its last 5.

[mraynrand]

It's the combo of the O-line injuries and WR/Lacy dysfunction, Rodger's inaccuracies and temper and Stubby's play calling Stubbiness. It makes you think there are too many variables that all have to line up for a playoff run to a Championship. If they do line up, they can win with this, but the likelihood is not high.

So does Stubby show everything next week in a desperate attempt to maybe capture that #2 seed (require win out and Seattle beat AZ), or does he start resting guys now, pull the entire starting O-line and play Hundley in a desperate hope to have everyone healthy when it matters? (the two extremes).

I think that Stubby plays all out, still trying to find that magic recipe on offense.

Will be very interesting to see what kind of leader Rodgers will be down the stretch. His comments about Abracadabra really show how disgusted he is with and how much he attributes the teams' woes to the poor WR play.

[mraynrand]

Losing to the Bears makes it a tough season for a lot of fans.

Yep, that was the silver tuna. The chance to even it all up and they pissed it away.

[Bossman641]

I'd love if the offense came together and this team won the SB. The story writes itself....overcame injuries, MM taking back play-calling spurs the offense, team learns to rely on D and ST (the weak links of the past), turn back Seattle and wipe last year's NFCCG from memories. I just don't see it happening though. There are not enough difference makers on offense. Rodgers is having a subpar year for him and may or may not have a fracturing relationship with MM. Lacy is way too inconsistent and Cobb can't seem to get more than 5-6 catches a game for 45-60 yards. I really think the only chance the offense has is for Montgomery to come back and Abby to pull a 2010 James Starks routine.

It's been a strange season indeed.

[Deputy Nutz]

when you lose to teams at home that you should beat easily it doesn't spell out good things. Losing against the Bears, and the Lions at home says a lot about this team, Winning on a miracle against the Lion, these things should tell you about the makeup of this roster. Getting their asses kicked after a bye week to Denver should also tell you something. You learn more about the losses than the wins.

2010 was a magic carpet ride, they needed to win their last two, they won them that is what gave them the momentum they needed. I said nothing about how many games in a row they needed to win. It is winning games when your back is against the wall, put up or shut up time.

This team has already made the playoffs, which is a good thing. They are now playing for a Division championship and a higher seed in the playoffs.

Tell me this, who on offense is going to step their game up to take this team to the next level? Why haven't they done this already? Rodgers is unhappy what is going to change this going into the playoffs? The receiving corps is disorganized and the routes are terrible, what is going to fix this problem? Eddie Lacy can't getting any consistency and the offensive line is playing on a total of 9 good legs, how is this going to get fixed? I see more problems with this team than I do solutions. I am not going to start throwing dirt on this team quite yet, but the hole is already been dug and they have to prove they can climb out of it and be contenders.

Next week will give spectators are real indicator if this team is ready to win in the playoffs.