Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Even Santa Thinks The Bears Suck

Santa Claus could very well have brought an actual quarterback to Lambeau Field for the Chicago Bears' Christmas present this year. Instead they got an adequate one from the recycling bin, who still had a few interceptions left in him.

He also could have brought them some defensive backs that don't suck. But he hasn't figured out how to clone Charles Woodson yet.

He could have kept their playoff hopes alive. But title hopes in Chicago never live long. Neither does anything else, for that matter, like hope, success, optimism, a smile or things that are good.

In fact Santa doesn't even visit Chicago anymore because, as was evident in Christmas Day's NFL match up between the Bears and the Green Bay Packers, the Bears suck; and even Santa knows it.

It used to be that Santa stopped going to Illinois because on his way down from the north pole every year, he would have to pass through Wisconsin first. And every year the Cheeseheads, all of whom are armed deer hunters, would slaughter Santa's reindeer and he would have to use a couple of Ski-Doo's to get his sleigh home.

Santa got sick of that, and eventually when he saw that no residents of Chicago ever even qualified for his Christmas list, well, he just stopped going altogether except for that time he gave them Obama instead of the usual coal. (And later on in 2012, showing himself to be a bit punitive, Santa is going to drop the nation's Democrap's onto the city for their convention, the curse of curses for Chicago.)

Though, yes, the Bears did gain quite a few yards on the Packers, that doesn't make them special because everyone gains big yards on the Packers. The Packers give up yards like Obama gives other people your money.

And it was the score, not the yards, that determined the game. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn't even play in the 4th quarter and the Packers still won 35-21. For Santa had given plenty of gifts to Rodgers, as in five touchdown passes. He also gave gifts to coach McCarthy, home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. In fact the only Packer Santa is not pleased with is Jermichael Finley, who could not catch a cold if he were flying through Manitoba strapped to the front of Santa's sleigh dressed like Lady Gaga. Santa has warned Finley that Tom Crabtree will be the Packers starting tight end if he doesn't start hanging on to the ball once in awhile.

Furthermore, he has also threatened to trade Finley to the Argentinian national soccer team, where you don't have to catch the ball, for 39 pesos, a hat, a mule and some home made tortillas. So Finley is clearly walking on thin tundra.

But let's hope that Santa also brought the Packers a pass rush for Christmas that they will open soon.





Monday, December 12, 2011

Lombardi Kicks Al Davis' Butt in Afterlife Game

Somewhere above the clouds yesterday beloved Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi was once again getting some excitement.

Of course, you thought the game was between coach McCarthy and the Raiders coach, or Aaron Rodgers against the Oakland defense. Nope, you were wrong.

The real action was up there in heaven where once again, like in days of lore, coach Lombardi got to welcome one of heaven's newest citizens, Al Davis, to the place by schooling Davis again and eating his lunch.

Just for kicks, Lombardi dropped a watermelon into the bellies of the Raiders kicking professionals. It was quite apparent by looking at Janikowski or the punter that Lombardi had succeeded, with the front of their jerseys protruding like a pregnant cat.

Lombardi also tossed down some arthritis into aging Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer, though Davis countered and at least got Palmer out of his wheel chair long enough to play a few quarters of questionable football.

When Davis tried some of his magic against the Packers by putting a hard pass rush on quarterback Aaron Rodgers, it backfired as Davis had forgotten to figure in the Kansas Flash, Jordy Nelson. Lombardi made him pay for that twice.

Davis also tried to tried to squelch the running game by making sure James Starks could not play, even going to the extent of limiting his own running back, McFadden. However, Lombardi, who didn't just arrive in heaven that morning, had his own plans and enabled running back Ryan Grant to have his best day of the season.

One did go to the Raiders, though, as Davis engineered the injury of Packer deep threat Greg Jennings who had to leave the game. Jennings, however, is a man of faith himself and personal friend of Jesus. So Davis will probably have some 'splainin to do about that one.

But just like in Super Bowl II, where the AFL's Oakland Raiders tried to climb the ladder into the big leagues, Lombardi had too much mojo for them. Too much talent. Too much execution. Too much planning. Too much karma.

And like that January day back in 1968, Lombardi once again got to punk Al Davis.

After all, the NFL trophy IS named the Lombardi trophy, and not the Davis trophy, now isn't it?

Good game, Pack.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Packers Beat Giants but Play Like Sibyl

Yes, they beat the New York football Giants today, but the Green Bay Packers play football like Sybil.

It is more than mere dysfunction, it is more like psychosis.

How else can you explain a team that can just as easily cut its own wrists or kill you dead on any given play?

One second the opponent is running circles around your defensive backfield making them look like second-graders, the next second the defense is picking off Eli Manning and running into the end zone untouched.

At one moment they can be giving up an Aaron Rodgers sack, and the next Jordy Nelson can be making impossible body moves to bring in a timely long pass.

On one play, the offense can be moving the ball, but the next, kill the momentum with mindless false start penalties.

The Packers can be very great or very bad on any given play. If they were your wife, you'd plan to renew your wedding vows and also try to kill each other.

It's like combining Halloween and Easter. Or putting asparagus in your ice cream. Or working at a sewage plant in Hawaii. The contrasts are extreme and disturbing.

But that is what the Green Bay Packers are this year. They are both the best team in football and, in some ways, the worst team in football. And if that is not the Sibyl of the NFL, nothing can be.

We'll be sleeping with one eye open the rest of the season.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Intense in Detroit

It is the third quarter on Thanksgiving Day's early game in Detroit. And it is not pretty.

John Kuhn just scored the Packers second touchdown, to give them a deceiving 14-0 lead, but it was only after a number of dropped passes, a flurry of penalty flags, an ejection and plenty of bad blood.

Thankfully.

For it seems that Green Bay is finally having to play with the intensity that is necessary to continue to improve.

Previous games have seemed to be more of a party for the Pack with smiles, Lambeau Leaps, joking, spooning with the opposing team's players and head coaches, and other things that are fine for late in the fourth quarter, but not until then.

Instead of smiling, the Packers should be showing their teeth until the final two-minute warning.

The concentration on the faces of Packer players is nice to see.

Perhaps it will work to ensure the Lions get properly cooked.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

No Pressure; Capers AWOL

Sure, it seems like Tampa Bay has never been too intimidated by the Green Bay Packers; it doesn't take a great memory to recall them being spoilers, and often making the Packers look like the choking Minnesota Vikings.

So who can blame them for not reading the press clippings about the undefeated and reigning NFL Champion Green Bay Packers, for not buying into the hype, and for coming into Lambeau Field today and playing like they expected to win?

And, to their credit, they snuck into the city and then into the stadium, and almost all the way through the fourth quarter without so much as causing a stir in the sleep of one Dom Capers, Green Bay's former defensive coordinator. What's that you say? Capers isn't the former defensive coordinator, but the current coordinator? Well, no he isn't. For where has be been? He wasn't at Lambeau Field today.

And he hasn't been with the team this entire season. Yes, he showed up last week when Minnesota came to town, but other than that Dom Capers has been AWOL from the Green Bay Packers.

Gone are the pressure packages which intimidated opposing quarterbacks and made the sacking-Clay Matthews a household name. Gone are the days when they didn't have all day to wait for a receiver to eventually get open. Gone are the days when whatever opposing quarterback happened to be playing the Packers did not earn himself a career best performance, and candidate for NFL player of the week.

Because back when Dom Capers used to be the defensive coordinator, the Green Bay Packers used to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Do you remember that? It used to be a frenzy of people attacking from every direction but up. It was a free-for-all in the opposing team's backfield. Heck, even the pencil-necked wiener, Barry Obama could have got in for a sack.

But now, well, there is just no pressure.

Nope. no pressure at all. Why, Clay Matthews' hair is longer than ever. It is probably even longer than Pittsburg's Troy Polamalu's. And Aaron Rodgers? Well, he's on track for breaking PeyTom Branning-dy's records. He might be the NFL's MVP this year.

As for the Packers, well, are they going to be the next undefeated NFL team or not?

Are not all those important issues? Certainly. Indeed there is some pressure there, to gain all those milestones, dontchaknow? But, of course, no pressure on the field. We got this. Right?

WRONG! The Green Bay Packers do NOT 'got this.' They have been lucky to be a mere 10-0. Why do I say 'mere?' Because it seems to this writer that the Green Bay Packers have forgotten the GOAL in football. And the goal in football is to win the next game. 16-0 means nothing. 16-0 is not a goal. Winning the next game is the only goal the Packers ought to concern themselves with and right now they are not playing with the necessary urgency and fever that they ought to be playing with. They are playing like there is no pressure on them. Remember this: complacency kills.

Though the offense is putting up points, a football team is not just a few passes. And Dom Capers had better start consistently dialing up pressure on the opposing team's quarterback or January is going to be a lonely month.

Mike McCarthy ought to make Clay Matthews cut his hair - shave his head, even. And the rest of the team as well. This team deserved to lose today because the offense played with no pressure, or urgency, and the defense didn't put any pressure on Tampa Bay.

And though Green Bay is capable of going 16-0, an undefeated regular season means absolutely nothing in the NFL. Neither do individual passing records. The best any team can hope to accomplish is to play up to its own potential and play with hunger until that is achieved. Once this is accomplished, the winning and losing take care of themselves.

This Green Bay Packer team can be so much better. Dom Capers can make them better. If only he wold show up.

This week's game ball is split between Jordy Nelson and Packer fan #88, who, when Tampa Bay's running back faked a touchdown-celebratory Lambeau Leap and then tossed the ball into the stands, batted the ball out of the stands and back at the Tampa player. Atta boy.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Packers Put Vikings in Chokehold; Give Charles Woodson a Cape



Not only did the Minnesota Vikings not have the answer for the high-powered Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Monday night, they played like they didn't even know what the question was.

Sure Jared Allen spent more time in the Packers backfield than Ryan Grant, but he really got little help, even from a great running back and a pretty good rookie quarterback.

Because what was different about this game is that defensive coordinator Dom Capers finally dialed up a whole phone book of blitzes and pressure packages for the waning Vikings which made the whole defense look good and continually put the Vikings in poor down and distance situations.

And when Capers dials up such chaos, it becomes clear that Charles Woodson needs a dang cape - he flies around the field like Superman and makes more plays than Shakespeare. Even SoCal Clay Matthews got into the sack-tion.

The offense looked typically sharp, and all credit goes to their tremendous weekly effort. But it sure is a sweeter day when the defense performs as well.

Tonight was the first game this year when the Packers began to play up to their potential. Previously they have performed like mere juveniles compared to their true capabilities.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Ponder This: Charles Woodson is a Dangerous Man


Charles Woodson is a dangerous man. Ax-murderer dangerous. Shackles and leg irons dangerous. Hide your women and children. Especially of you are a rookie quarterback starting your first NFL game.

And so the Vikings shiny new quarterback Christian Ponder came out pretending he was a gun-slinger and helped give his team the lead for most of the first half. But then he tried to sell his act to the wiley Woodson. Result? Ponder can add himself to the list of those NFL quarterbacks humiliated and victimized by Charles Woodson. As Woodson takes another bow.

But Woodson did not win this game alone. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers exhibited a nearly perfect game. Andrew Cobb decided to stop playing for the Vikings and join in the Packers efforts instead. Closing pitcher James Starks came in relief of Ryan Grant and dug the knife deep with some wicked, punishing running late in the game.

Though the Vikings proved once again that records do not matter in the NFC North and made it interesting, the Packers generally dominated the second half and, most importantly, once again found a way to win.

The Vikings tried passing the ball, running the ball, and even kicking Packer players in the groin, but Green Bay overcame Jared Allen, Adrian Pederson, and the referee's poor call on a Clay Matthews roughing the passer- that wasn't.

But the Packers are still not playing 'well,' or up to their potential; they have a lot of room for improvement. Perhaps if Dom Capers will dial up some pressure on the opposing team's quarterback here pretty soon, it won't put so much pressure on Green Bay's injury-riddled defensive backfield.

Regardless, once this unbeaten team starts rolling, they are going to be a pretty darn good football team.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Pack Spams Rams


The Acme Meat Packers did what meat packers do yesterday against the visiting St. Louis Rams - they killed them, cut them up and canned them.

Though some may call rams big game, it was the meat packers Aaron Rodgers who had a big game at the big game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Rodgers, the Packers .12-gauge, was merciless to the Rams as he delivered one deadly shot after another in the second quarter. It helped that Al Harris was on the visiting team - all Jordy Nelson had to do was imitate Plaxico Burris and Harris obliged by getting burned for a 90+ yard Packers passing play for a touchdown. One had to think Jordy must have felt like he was sitting on top of the world as he paused there on the rail during his ensuing Lambeau Leap to drink it all in.

Nelson has an outstanding Lambeau Leap, which, you will remember, is much better than Aaron Rodgers' Lambeau Leap...Rodgers Lambeau Leap still sucks. But as long as he keeps dishing the touchdown passes to Nelson, Driver, Jones, Jennings and Finley, we won't complain.

Decked out in their brown helmets and pants, and navy and yellow jerseys which get better looking with each win, the meat packers also shot down all attempts by the Rams to get into the end zone. Though allowed to graze almost at will on the other parts of the green Lambeau turf, the Rams just couldn't butt their way through when the Packers defense got stubborn near the goal line. PackSmack speculates that the meat packers were just letting the rams fatten themselves up on the nutrient-rich Lambeau grass to make better ram spam at the end of the day. If so, that would be a real caper by, er, Dom Capers. But let's hope that the season closes soon on such generosity by the Packers defense.

Also memorable was some punishing blows delivered by the meat packers .44 magnum, James Starks, who seems to have as big of heart as Ryan Grant and maybe a little more power. As the explosiveness of the .44 magnum is legendary, so Starks is starting to become known for packing a hefty portion of gunpowder when he slams through the line and through the defense.

And .50 cal A.J. Hawk also did some unforgettable damage as he blasted his way through everything Ram and destroyed the St. Louis quarterback. Together with Clay Matthews, 52, these dual weapons might be called 'Ma Deuce,' the twin fifties. And when they get sacks, Matthews can hold up his index finger, while Hawk can continue to hold up the other half of the peace sign, the finger he likes to hold up.

So what's on the menu this week? Plenty of Ram Spam. And cheese.

Compliments of the Acme Meat Packers.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Green Bay Burns Atlanta


It was sort of like the Civil War. You know, the Confederate Army looks for a fight, then does some damage like at the battle of Manassas. Well, the Atlanta Falcons did just that as they dominated the first half of the game against the visiting Green Bay Packers, reigning NFL Champs.

Perhaps the Falcons were still bitter about the crushing they received in the NFC playoffs courtesy of the same Packers. Regardless, they came out and blasted out two touchdowns on their first two drives. While Green Bay had nothing. Except the will to find a way to win.

And then things got worse for the Packers as their only healthy offensive tackle, Chad Clifton, went out with an injury. The Packers were suddenly left to bring in pass protection packages which left few slots for receivers.

But just as the Union Army began to turn the tide of the war with swift moves at Gettysburg, Green Bay struck hard with a quick score as James Jones hauled in an Aaron Rodgers pass and did the rest himself. It wasn't long after when Greg Jennings out-hustled Atlanta defenders and sliced his way into the end zone and suddenly the Packers had a solid lead.

Meanwhile, as in the Civil War where General Sherman marches his Union troops into Atlanta and burns it to the ground, the Packers defense had figured out how to stop the Falcons and the team then enforced their will the rest of the way.

PackSmack thinks that Green Bay's Jermichael Finley ought to spend less time on practicing his celebrations for the rare occasions when he does catch a ball thrown to him, and more time on focusing on actually catching it.

Aaron Rodgers played great football. James Jones and Greg Jennings played full-throttle football. The Packers offensive line and running backs played gutsy football. And the defense played inspired football...in the second half.

But the game ball has to go to coaches McCarthy and Capers. These guys were the genius behind a difficult game to win. But together, and with a patient, talented team, they found a way.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Packers Soar - Broncos Can't Keep Up


The Denver Broncos are not a horrible team; they just brought their horses and their horsepower to an event at Lambeau Field where the Packers play on jet fuel. And the results showed as much.

With Green Bay's quarterback Aaron Rodgers delivering air-bombs to all his favorite receivers for touchdowns and rushing for two more, the Broncos found that they simply could not compete.

Effective runs by James Starks and multiple gains in the short passing game set up the Broncos defense for Rodgers' pin-point down field passes. The Packers offense was flying high in all areas of the game, playing at an altitude far above the mile-highers, and putting up a convincing 49 points.

Their defense also showed up to play, shutting Denver's run down early leaving the Broncos fate in the hands of Kyle Orton and his talented receivers. Orton did do some damage and Green Bay's pass coverage did yield yards and points. But the defense not only giveth, they also taketh away. Making more turnovers than Sara Lee, they really contributed in getting Rodgers and the offense back onto Lambeau turf. Charles Woodson's early interception was just the start. Soon everyone was in on the action, getting picks, picking up fumbles or recovering onside kicks.

This game was lopsided, and the Broncos were as out of place on this field as Budweiser's Clydesdale's would be on the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier.

And though Aaron Rodgers' Lambeau Leap really sucks, the Green Bay Packers are a very good football team. The sky's the limit.

Friday, September 30, 2011

Chicago Bears - Vortex of Suck

It is days after the Green Bay Packers most recent slaughtering of the Chicago Bears, but the extent of just how much the Bears suck still hasn't worn off or faded away. It just sits there…and bubbles.

Perhaps it is the vision of Bears sissy quarterback Jay Cutler flinching as he walked to the sidelines at one point in that last game. I guess with an ineffective offensive line like the Bears have it is understandable; Cutler gets more hits than Google. He is like Inspector Cluseau’s boss in the old Pink Panther movies, jittery, twitchy, shell-shocked.

Or maybe it is the realization of the expected disgust at how quickly Chicago and Bears fans revert to humanity’s lowest levels of behavior once they lose the game. They hate everybody. The coaches, the quarterback, the refs, the victors, each other; like tomato sauce at a spaghetti party – it’s everywhere. Of course you knew this was going to happen because it always does, but watching it raise its ugly head again is simply disgusting.

Even the city itself hates. Sunlight is not allowed within Chicago’s borders. Gloom just rolls in from Lake Michigan in the morning and rolls out again at night. Smiles are not allowed, nor is happiness; just obnoxious behavior. One is not allowed to speak unless his or her communication includes vulgarity, perversion, evil and psychotic fascinations. The regular intake of inhaled carbon monoxide and bus fumes is required.

But listening is banned. A Chicago-an must never listen, he can only speak. When someone tries to talk to him, he is forbidden from hearing what that person has to say. Instead, he must begin talking very loudly using plenty of curses, until his is the only voice. At that point he has won, so he moves on the next conflict.

It was probably fated that Chicago would always suck. If you look at a map, it becomes apparent that it is the very sewer for Lake Michigan. What happens when Lake Michigan gets flushed? You guessed it, all the nasty stuff drains right into Chicago. (You thought Soldier Field was a football stadium? Nope. Toilet bowl.)

Add to this that it is also the low-point in the region and the entire state of Wisconsin also drains right into Chicago. Just look at a map, it all runs downhill. These phenomena have in effect contributed in making Chicago what it is; essentially, the Vortex of Suck. In fact, Chicago’s Suck is so strong that residents of Green Bay do not even need to flush their toilets, the Suck from Chicago just pulls it through the pipes and it lands on the desk of the Chicago Bears head football coach. For as it turns out, Soldier Field is the very center of the Vortex of Suck.

Some would have you believe that it was the Bears who brought Suck to Chicago and created this vortex. This theory does not have scientific fact to back it up, however; kind of like Al Gore’s global warming.

So the Chicago Bears really stood little chance to do anything other than to suck. It seems to have been fate.

But given that their role is indeed to suck, they certainly are doing a fine job at that.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

The Bears Still Suck Still and Packers Win Again


Jay Cutler is the best 9 year-old female quarterback in the NFL.

And from his sporadic, herky-jerky involuntary right shoulder twitches, it looks like he might be the NFL's best Turret's sufferer, too.

Honestly, he looked like Steve Young when Young was a child. He is skinny, whiny, throws temper tantrums and mopes around like any other Real Housewife. He is almost as much of a spoiled little diva as Chicago's Devin Molester.

No wonder the Bears fans boo their own team more than they cheer for them.

Sure Urlacher made some plays, but he's always going to make a few, that is a given. But other than his play, the Bears had nothing. No run game. No pass defense. No discipline. No professionalism, just the regular dissipation into self-destruction. Eventually every Chicago Bear and every Chicago Bears fan end up eating their young.

The only good thing in that stadium not wearing yellow and green was the 27-17 score on the scoreboard. Everything else sucked.

The Packers tried to suck by getting a train-load more penalties than they should have, but guys like Greg Jennings, Jermichael Finley, Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and the run stoppers of the Packers kept them alive. Ryan Grant also got to contribute, which is good for him because he is so hungry to do so after last year's injury; it is also good for the Packers. Grant had a solid running game.

So getting out of Chicago is always good, but getting out with a convincing win is better.

The Bears lost. The Vikings lost. And the Bills even took down the Faketriots. It was a great day in the NFL.

Blaze Orange Bears Suck Too


Someone within the Chicago Bears dis-organization thought that it was a good idea for the Bears to show up to today's game against Green Bay in blaze orange jerseys.

Knowing that they had to change something up because they were humiliated by the Packers twice at the end of last year, including the Bears loss to them in the NFC Championship game, some genius decided that the orange jersey was the answer.

Maybe it was a subliminal message to try to get out of the cross-hairs of Green Bay; for everyone in this region knows that Cheeseheads wear orange when they hunt deer (state law); perhaps this was , er, aimed at the Packers to activate their instinct to hesitate while on the hunt when they do see orange. Bears are afraid of humans, after all, and will try anything it seems.

But let's not mince words here, the orange and blue jerseys suck. They look like salmon eggs. And a Bear of any other color is, yes, still a hated Chicago Bear.

And though Brian Urlacher and Jay Cutler may enjoying wearing orange skirts and orange heels when they dress up in drag on Friday nights, the orange and blue jerseys really have no place in the NFC North. Nor do the Bears.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Packers Give Cam the Shaft

(Streeter Lecka, Getty Images)

Carolina's rookie phenom quarterback lit up the sky in Charlotte Sunday, but guys like Charles Woodson and Aaron Rodgers gave Cam (Newton), in the end, the shaft.

Newton's early brilliance eventually met up with the cunning of Woodson as the legend snagged two of the quarterback's passes for interceptions. Later, Woodson would run down a loose Panther ball for another theft.

After the latter turnover, the television camera found Woodson sitting on the bench enjoying a cup of Gatorade...but it could just as easily have shown a shot of a cat sitting with bird feathers in it's mouth as people fretted about trying to find a missing canary. So often after the ball has been stolen from the opposing offense, there is a follow-up shot of Charles Woodson; the cat who ate the canary.

As regularly advocated on this blog, they should not wait until the future to put Charles Woodson the the Hall of Fame, they should do it immediately! Today. The guy can and does give any quarterback the shaft either from his interceptions, his forced fumbles, his fumble recoveries, his reckless tackling, or his lightening blitzes. Charles Woodson is a dangerous man.

But there were other Packers who helped put Cam and the Panthers into the shaft. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers found both Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson open behind enemy lines and each dashed into the end zone for big-yardage scores. So much rookie drama canceled out by two effortless Rodgers passes.

Running backs Ryan Grant and James Starks also had a big role in turning out the lights in Carolina. For a certain period of time, Packer coach Mike McArthy decided to advance the ball down the field via the ground game. Both running backs demonstrated toughness, speed, durability and dependability as Green Bay established a definitive running game. Of course, as the Panthers shored up their defense to answer the running game, Rodgers stabbed them in the heart with a touchdown pass.

The Packer defense allowed more points and yards than they should have, but the likes of Newton, a 6'5" slasher, is pretty rare in the league. Teams will have to begin to figure out how to stop him. For now, he remains an anomaly with a bright future. And Newton got to meet fellows like Clay Matthews and BJ Raji, usually followed by meeting the Carolina turf. Matthews was again a relentless wild man effecting all areas of the football field, and Raji the monster in the middle. Though Carolina is known to not have a running game, all the defensive men in green worked to confirm that suspicion.

Though the Packers win was not pretty, the team did not panic when it found itself down early 10-0 before the Packer offense had even stepped on the field. Indeed, they showed poise. A strong Panther rush took away Green Bay's signature wide-open passing game but the Packers found that the pressure could not stop screens and the rushing game; the Packers, thus proved themselves adaptable and versatile. Donald Driver caught one pass. Jordy Nelson caught one pass. James Jones caught one pass. Each were only thrown to once. So it was not a typical Green Bay game, but championship teams find a way to win. And the Packers did just that.

Sorry Cam. Welcome to the big league.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Who Can Keep Up With the Packers?

The 2010 Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers began their league title defense tonight at home in Lambeau Field against a highly-touted team from New Orleans.

But did the Saints have what it takes to stop the multi-tooled Packer offense? Nope. Nobody does. Which is why the Packers are the reigning NFL champs.

For how do you stop Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, Jermichael Finley AND Ryan Grant, James Starks and John Kuhn? Answer: you don't. Doesn't matter if you were the 2009 NFL champions; doesn't matter if you were the NFC North champions; you don't have an answer to Green Bay threats. You can't stop them.

Now if tonight's game was any indication, you can score on them. The Steelers did in the Super Bowl. The Saints did tonight.

But the real question is: Can you keep up with them?

The Saints came close. The Chargers might be able to. But no matter who you are, you had better have a lot of horses in your stable, because it the 2011 title will be a race of thoroughbreds.

It is great for the NFL champions to return to their home field. It is great for the NFL season to be under way. And it is a great year to be a Green Bay Packer fan. This team is loaded!