Early season showdown rare lately

It has been a long time since the Packers played a meaningful game in September. In their heyday they were rolling over teams in the first month, but the last few years they have struggled out of the gate to put it mildly. Now the Packers have a chance to go to three-and-oh by beating the the team that had the best record in the NFL last year at 14-2.

The Chargers did indeed go 14-2 last year, but after their off-season of change, that 14-2 record might as well be 10 years ago. This is not the same Chargers team. Marty Ball is long gone, Norv Turner Ball is in. Good luck with that. Marty Shottenheimer was a winning head coach, granted, he struggled in the playoffs, but Norv Turner hasn’t won in the regular season or the playoffs. He has to be the worst head coach in the NFL right now. I didn’t do the research, but record-wise I bet that is a fact.

And not only did the Chargers lose their head coach, they lost both coordinators and have pretty much an entirely new coaching staff that after two weeks doesn’t know how to use the best running back in the NFL. They also have a quarterback that hasn’t played a solid game since the middle of last season and is starting to look like a choker, or a benefactor of LT.

I think the Packers will win this game. I have a big wedding this weekend and will be attending the game Sunday, so my prediction has to come now. Packers 24, Chargers 20. Brett Favre’s third touchdown pass of the game wins it for the Packers and ties Dan Marino for the most all-time.

It’s the Norv Turner factor. And for the record, I don’t think San Diego or Chicago makes the playoffs this year.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 20th, 2007 at 8:44 pm and is filed under Al Davis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Ed

    Packer’s offensive game plan should be focused on exploiting SD’s weakness downfield but how can it when Favre is throwing from 3 step drops to avoid getting killed? And they can’t rely on the run. So, it’s more of the Favre dink-gun offense, only this time, the opponent has the LBs and safties to make Favre pay with TOs. I just can’t see any way the Pack O being able to score. If the Pack falls behind early, it only gets uglier.

    Keys for SD offense – vs run – must get Barnett blocked. Neal should be the ticket for that. Nick Barnett is the heart and soul of Packer D. Vs pass, they need to continue to get Barnett blocked and isolate either LT or AG on either OLB. If Pack uses a nickel CB to defend AG, Poppinga leaves field and LT should find room to run.

    My focus during game will be on how SD attack’s Nick Barnett. Packer CBs will be taken away from play in man coverage of SD WRs Jackson/Davis. If they cheat, or go zone e.g., quarters, watch for long TDs to SD’s lesser known weapons – Vincent Jackson and 2007 1st rd pick, Craig “Buster” Davis.

  • Jeff

    Ya know, in all these years, regardless of pressure, Favre has never been a 3 step drop kinda QB. He’s just not that crisp. He’ll move around, dodge a guy, roll out or hopefully just take the sack instead of forcing something.

    I have to say, it would be nice to have a TE with some wheels. I predict several attempts at screen plays – if they work, we could shake some things loose. If they try to go end-around, I bet SD drops poor Driver for about a 5 yard loss. I think our best chance at a big gainer is to either catch them by suprise with a DD short slant special or if one of the WRs breaks a tackle or two. Either way, I think any big gain is going to come after the catch.

    If the D can keep us close and the O can keep from doing something stupid, we could be a break or two away from stealing this one. Much like the Philly game. SD has much more talent, but I think Philly had far better coaching.

    I’m not quite so doom and gloom as Ed, but I do think we’ll be stealing this one if we pull it out.

  • Jeff

    We’re partway through Q2 – Pack up by 3. Defense shut ‘em down. O-line is playing lights out ball. Whatever else happens, if O-line can pass protect like this, we will go to the playoffs.

    Good job so far, guys.