A Few Random Observations

[The Shadow]

1. I predicted a Packer upset over the Chargers in week 3 in a post some time ago & I am sticking by it. In looking over the schedule, I figured that the Chargers, opening with the Bears and taking on the Pats in an evening contest the following week, would have to be at least somewhat emotionally drained by week 3 - when they would face a Packer team that has been, until recently, looked upon by the national media as a weak sister.
And I stick by that prediction : I really expect the Packers to beat the Chargers Sunday.
The combination of our new stout defense (which may very well be capable of containing LT), a smart passing attack, and formidable special teams play may be enough to pull it off.
2. I am greatly enjoying the 'new' Brett Favre. I have always felt that Brett suffered from a kind of fatal flaw - that although possessed of truly rare physical ability, he refused to evolve as a true field general, ala Bart Starr. I believed he would retire almost exactly the same player he was when he entered the league - relying solely on arm at the expense of smarts. I saw a player that, even after many years of experience, was just as capable of a rookie mistake as a great play. Maddening!
After 2 games (early, I admit) I see a quarterback finally playing smart.
So for me at least, this could well turn out to be Favre's best year of all.
3. The whole team seems to have much more energy than the teams of the Sherman years.
4. Boy, what a great feeling to not have to dread punting the ball back to the opposition. A solid defense always seems to keep you in the game.
5. This team is clearly on the ascendency. After so many years of muddled management, what a great feeling to have a GM who really knows what he's doing and a coach who can mold the talent provided.

[RashanGary]

These Packers are VERY exciting and they have the means to continue to get better and better with no financial wall in the near future.

The Packers are a team to be reckoned with for the next 5 years. TT is doing his job to a T. Ironic . Maybe that is the third T in Merlins name

Speaking of Merlin, him and Retail guy have been awfully quite. You wonder if they'll admit being wrong if the Packers make it to the playoffs. I doubt they will. PB, gbpackfan and others have admitted they may have been wrong. RG and Merlin seem completely invested in defeat as Rush would say.

[falco]

These Packers are VERY exciting and they have the means to continue to get better and better with no financial wall in the near future.

The Packers are a team to be reckoned with for the next 5 years. TT is doing his job to a T. Ironic . Maybe that is the third T in Merlins name

Speaking of Merlin, him and Retail guy have been awfully quite. You wonder if they'll admit being wrong if the Packers make it to the playoffs. I doubt they will. PB, gbpackfan and others have admitted they may have been wrong. RG and Merlin seem completely invested in defeat as Rush would say.

Goddam left wing posters! They hate the packers!!!

[Rastak]

These Packers are VERY exciting and they have the means to continue to get better and better with no financial wall in the near future.

The Packers are a team to be reckoned with for the next 5 years. TT is doing his job to a T. Ironic . Maybe that is the third T in Merlins name

Speaking of Merlin, him and Retail guy have been awfully quite. You wonder if they'll admit being wrong if the Packers make it to the playoffs. I doubt they will. PB, gbpackfan and others have admitted they may have been wrong. RG and Merlin seem completely invested in defeat as Rush would say.

Dude, it's week 2. Packers do look solid as hell but I'd wait a few weeks before calling those guys out.

[b bulldog]

I'm excited about the Pack but we could easily lose our next two games.

[Joemailman]

I agree with much of what Shadow said, but his claim that Favre has never emerged as a great field general like Starr is off the mark. I suspect that Starr himself would strongly disagree with that sentiment. A lot of people focus on Favre's interceptions, while at the same time thinking that Starr seldom made mistakes. Actually, Starr had about 1 out of every 23 passes intercepted, compared to 1 out of 30 for Favre. I'm sure some may point out that since Starr retired, there have been rule changes which favor the passing game, which would favor Favre. However, it is also true that Favre has had to face much more complex defenses than Starr had to face.

Bottom line is that Starr and Favre were both great quarterbacks, and both were great field generals. It is really only their styles that differed.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Did Starr really have 9 TDs and 17 interceptions the year of their second Super Bowl victory? That was 14 games, right?

[oregonpackfan]

I agree with much of what Shadow said, but his claim that Favre has never emerged as a great field general like Starr is off the mark. I suspect that Starr himself would strongly disagree with that sentiment. A lot of people focus on Favre's interceptions, while at the same time thinking that Starr seldom made mistakes. Actually, Starr had about 1 out of every 23 passes intercepted, compared to 1 out of 30 for Favre. I'm sure some may point out that since Starr retired, there have been rule changes which favor the passing game, which would favor Favre. However, it is also true that Favre has had to face much more complex defenses than Starr had to face.

Bottom line is that Starr and Favre were both great quarterbacks, and both were great field generals. It is really only their styles that differed.

Starr also had many quality players around him both on offense and defense than Favre has had.

[retailguy]

These Packers are VERY exciting and they have the means to continue to get better and better with no financial wall in the near future.

The Packers are a team to be reckoned with for the next 5 years. TT is doing his job to a T. Ironic . Maybe that is the third T in Merlins name

Speaking of Merlin, him and Retail guy have been awfully quite. You wonder if they'll admit being wrong if the Packers make it to the playoffs. I doubt they will. PB, gbpackfan and others have admitted they may have been wrong. RG and Merlin seem completely invested in defeat as Rush would say.

I've been around. I post here and there, but have been and continue to be damn busy at work.

I am grateful that they're playing better than I thought. I still don't believe they're a "force" to be reckoned with, the OL and RB's will destroy that. Funny, though, I was concerned about (in this order, I believe), OL, RB, TE, Safety and Special Teams. Other than special teams, and safety (tho the depth is very suspect), my concerns were right on. So far, they have been able to compensate, once due to our 2007 miracle, but we'll see. can they continue that for FOURTEEN more games? ahem. we'll see.

Last week is being touted as their "most complete game". If that's true, we're in for a bumpy ride ahead. NYG are no powerhouse and they averaged 5.9 yrds per rush attempt. Since we won, I won't talk about our ypc...

I'm patiently waiting.... and watching. I'm not going away. either way, I'm not going away. i'm just reading what you and others are writing. we'll see who eats their words. the fat lady is not even warming up yet, much less singing.

[RashanGary]

haha, nice to see you are around, RG.

I'll eat my words if the time comes. For now, I'm just happy to see things going more my way than yours

There is a little stubborn pride in me that doesn't want to be wrong. I'm sure that is the same pride that you have. You know, the pride that has you invested in defeat

Enjoy the season man. Sherman sucks. Get over it

[HarveyWallbangers]

Funny, though, I was concerned about (in this order, I believe), OL, RB, TE, Safety and Special Teams. Other than special teams, and safety (tho the depth is very suspect), my concerns were right on.

TEs have been pretty damn good. You might have been wrong about the majority of your concerns. The OL will play better. Who knows about the RBs. At least, they are young and have the potential to get better.

[Bretsky]

Funny, though, I was concerned about (in this order, I believe), OL, RB, TE, Safety and Special Teams. Other than special teams, and safety (tho the depth is very suspect), my concerns were right on.

TEs have been pretty damn good. You might have been wrong about the majority of your concerns. The OL will play better. Who knows about the RBs. At least, they are young and have the potential to get better.

TE's stunk IMO in game one and were good in game two. The OL should get better; in reality their run blocking can't get much worse so that might not be saying much. Safety is still a big TBD as well.

That being said, I'm glad we're 2-0 and that's one more win than I expected us to be at right now.

[HarveyWallbangers]

TE's stunk IMO in game one and were good in game two. The OL should get better; in reality their run blocking can't get much worse so that might not be saying much. Safety is still a big TBD as well.

That being said, I'm glad we're 2-0 and that's one more win than I expected us to be at right now.

Other than the drop by Bubba, how would you say they stunk? They did have 6 receptions in game 1, and 8 receptions and 2 TDs in game 2.

I think we're all worried about the run blocking and RBs at this point.

Safety? So far, so good. There haven't been too many of those terrible breakdowns--like you saw last year or see with other teams even. I haven't seen the safeties get beat much. There were two good throws. One by McNabb to Curtis in the first game. One by Manning to Burress in the second game. They happen. Plus, Collins misplay on the Shockey ball. However, they are hitting people. They are tackling. They've broken up some plays. They have been around the ball enough that if those first two throws had been off by a little bit, they would have been picks. I'd say the safeties would get at least a B up to this point.

Special teams would get an A- up to this point. Good coverage. Good returns. Turnovers. Ryan has to get his act turned around though, and so does Rob Davis.

[superfan]

I wasn't terribly concerned about the OL following the draft, but their play in the preseason raised several red flags. Now, I'm definitely concerned. Pass pro has been OK, run blocking has been abysmal. Clifton and Colledge, especially, have been major letdowns.

TEs have exceeded my low expectations in the first two games. I haven't seen enough of the RBs yet to have an opinion on where we stand there. OL will play a much bigger role in the success of the ground attack.

Going into the draft, WR looked like a big concern. Now it looks like we might be able to manage even with Jennings out, although without him it is overall a position of weakness. If he remains unable to play and something happens to either Driver or James "Earl" Jones, then the offense is really in trouble. If Jennings can return healthy and contribute at his previous levels, then WR becomes a position of strength.

Irregardless, it is way too early to start suggesting whether anybody is "winning" based on their training camp and preseason opinions and speculations.

[the_idle_threat]

I believe the proper word is "Irregardly." Please make a note of it.

Agree on all points, btw.