Bring on the Cowboys

The Packers made it interesting, but in the end the resulting 23-point win was pretty much what it should have been. This was a trap game for the Packers, a huge win last week, short week, and against a division rival. Call head coach Mike McCarthy what you want, but “good coach” has be part of the description at some point. McCarthy kept his team together throughout the offseason turmoil and his faith in his players has paid off so far. The Packers have now won 19 of their last 22 regular season football games. In the NFL, I might add. Granted, they do not have a Super Bowl ring to hang on that accomplishment, but I do believe that is just a matter of time.

Today Aaron Rodgers passed another big test. Can he bring a team from behind? After the Packers blew a 21-point lead, Rodgers did just that, leading the team on drives that resulted in a field goal and a touchdown to give the Packers a nine-point lead. From there the Packers’ defense unloaded on the Lions offense and turned the game into a rout. What a great day it was. From rout to disappointing loss back to rout in five minutes time.

The Packers did have some hard times. The new punter let a snap go through his hands for a safety, Rodgers fumbled and the Lions got a field-goal out of it. The defense gave up too many passing yards prior to getting ticked off and ending the affair. Rodgers also struggled in the third quarter adjusting to the Lions halftime adjustments. In the end, however, Rodgers gets his first come-from-behind-win and the Packers are 2-0. Like last year when they met, the two best teams in the NFC meet next Sunday, this time at Lambeau. Providing, that is, the Cowboys beat the Eagles tomorrow.

Packers’ fans should feel confident. This is a good football team. Better than last year I think.

More to come…

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 14th, 2008 at 6:03 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.

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  • Bratwurst Lover

    Assuming the Cowboys win tomorrow, next Sunday will be……..

    Showdown in Titletown!

  • Mel e Mel

    That would be a huge assumption. I hope they beat Philly so they will come into Lambeau over confident. Unlike times past Philly can match them player for player on offense now so it will be a tough one.

  • TRIP

    I hope its a hard fought game that has Dallas on top so they can be tired for Green Bay. Overconfident is even better. But regardless of how good they might be, I doubt they will be too overconfident when we put up 48 points today.

    But this is indeed, A-Rod’s rematch! I like our chances!

  • cali cheeez

    Our O- line needs to get it together, too many penalties and Rodger’s feet kept some plays alive. The cowgirls are going to pound us if we don’t get some consistency up front. Giving our defence some rest is going to be crucial, keeping Aaron upright and establishing a running game are a must.
    Happy to see DD and Jordy score a TD.

  • Cody

    If our corners play like they did early in the 4th next week, t.o. and romo will turn it into a rout, if they play like they did at the end of the game, it will be a rout for us.. our offense will have no problem, its our pass defense that worries me.

  • Larry

    An OT can come right in from college and play if he has upper body strength and quick feet. An OG needs to learn and adjust to the pro game speed. Hence the run game troubles. However, Stinton looks like he can push the starters (if he does’t start himself) and Jackson/Grant could be the real deal. A true FB needs to come forward and the backup QB is on the roster, I think! The D is suspect in my mind due to the fact that we’re having trouble finding a #3 CB like Harris was in Philly. I’m sure the Safeties are capable of stepping up and the Special Teams are great. Don’t worry about the punter he’s much smarter and can do more. What a pleasure to see the KO improvement from the Longwell years. Finally someone who can reach the end zone. Relax we’ll lose some but we won’t beat ourselves. We might get overmatched with personnel sometimes, but we won’t be out-coached. This has the makings of a fun ride…………..

  • Richard Krause

    I hate to show my ignorance by posting amongst you professional football fans, but I understand GB uses the “Bump and Press” pass defence. Whenever I watch Al Harris, he never bumps the receiver. He always lets them off the line and then chases them down field.

    Of course that is probably why is was selected to the Pro Bowl last year!

    Always a GB fan! GO PACK GO

    Deek

  • IC Cyclone Fan

    The Sunday night tilt versus the Cowboys should be a great game and it’ll be nice to play them at home, as the Packers are 4-12 all-time at Dallas!

    Al – The team’s off to a nice start, but I’m not certain it’s “better than last year” based on victories versus the 0-4 Vikings / Lions. Possibly that’s a small zinger placed in your text so as to bring out the AR-hatin’ trolls who’ve been absent the last couple weeks? :) Please don’t bait them; I’d rather they stayed over on their Jet board of choice! JMHO…

  • AllAboutThePack

    Cody – I have to agree with you man. Our offense appears to be able to score at will, but if our D can’t slow down a subpar offense like the Lions I can’t imagine what could happen against an explosive offense like the Cowboys. The Cowboys have a decent D line against the run, but I think we’ll be able to pass on them all day long and Rodgers is showing some fire with those long passes downfield. So hopefully MM doesn’t get all conservative if the run doesn’t work. I say put the ball in the hand of the man with the best chance to move the team at that point. All I have to say to MM is, don’t keep “trying” something that isn’t working – stay with what works! Play all four quarters to win, don’t play three quarters and then one not to lose the game. It’s almost as if MM wants the games close. Reminds me of the Sherman days when we’d be killing ‘em the first half and in the second half the other team would make adjustments and we wouldn’t. Course, Kitna gift wrapped a couple errant passes that gave us the ability to make a couple big plays. I live in Texas so I’m really hoping we pull the game out this next weekend. These bandwagon Cowboys fans really tick me off so I’d love to see them eat their words :)

    GO PACK!!!

  • Reid

    I watched the game in a sports bar where several Bears and Vikings fans showed up to watch their games too. It was extra sweet.

    There was a serious drop off when Bigby went out. I’ve thought Rouse should get more playing time. I’m not so sure now, he seemed lost and completely out of position on the TD’s.

  • AllAboutThePack

    Is anyone else as relieved as I am to have a QB that’s thrown as many TD’s as AR has and not have any INT’s? I love to see that big goose-egg in the INT column these days… I’m not saying, I’m just saying…

  • Reid

    Scrambling for extra time and running for 1st downs seems to be working out better than trying to jam a 90 mph fastball into double coverage.

  • PA Z

    The game against the Lions seemed to be three games in one. First part Pack takes 21-0 lead. It then seems the team played as not to lose and became too conservative and allowing the Lions to take the 1 point lead. Part III is when the defense took over the game with the interceptions. Green Bay and Aaron looked good – however; the Pack must play a consistent game against Dallas. Also, Aaron must continue to manage the game as he has these last two outings and keep the turnovers to an absolute minimum. If the Pack beats the Cowgirls then we can be sure the team is for real!

  • AllAboutThePack

    Well, the team is for real in the NFC North – the question is, are they the complete package to compete for the NFC title? If they beat the Cowboys they may then be considered the favorites in the NFC – at least for awhile…

  • Bob

    I’m still very scared with this team, TT & MM have put the Packers in a terrible place. Rodgers is a fine QB and will only get better. If He gets hurt our great start will be for nothing. I believe that TT & MM wanted Favre to stay retired for their own security blanket. If Rogers makes it the whole season great, Favre would stay retired, If Rogers went down, A quick call to Mississippi and Favre would come in and save the day. All this while they would be grooming the 2 young guys. That I believe was the plan until Favre decided to come back. Now lets pray Rogers stays healthy if he does the Pack is in Good shape But….. If he gets hurt it’s over!!!!!!

  • AllAboutThePack

    I’m sure you feel that way, but the fact is, this is a pretty darn good team. What we saw in preseason apparently has no bearing here in the regular season. Our young QB’s might be fine if something happened to Rodgers. Lots of unknowns with this team but so far they’ve panned out OK… Sometimes opening the Crack Jack Box leads to some pretty cool surprises! :)

  • http://Orlando Mark

    Bob it’s too late to worry, relax and enjoy the fun. The ‘Pokes are a very good team and we get home field advantage. I just hope our D-line puts some pressure on Romo, and our O-line keeps improving.

  • JeffN

    QB controversy in Green Bay is planted 6 feet in the ground at this point. No reason to talk about that anymore. 2-0 and moving forward. Dallas next week is going to be one exciting game. I can’t wait.

    We have to wait until somewhere around week 4-6 to decide if this years Packer team is better than last year. At this point there is a pretty good chance it might be. Rodgers is the stongest point of this team right now.

  • Jeff

    Of course it’s a darn good team – we were a couple first downs away from a Super Bowl appearance as the youngest team in the NFL. The question is not whether this is a good football team, it’s a question of whether or not we have a shot at making a deep playoff run.

    We know we’re among the better teams in the NFC – are we among the best?

  • monkeon

    There still is a controversey at backup.

  • AllAboutThePack

    Not sure I’d call it controversy, but definitely uncertainty…

  • Reid

    Controversy at backup QB? Give me a break, who cares?

  • Dan

    Lions and Vikings were terrible pass defenses last year and I haven’t seen anything to convince me they have improved.

    Cowboys will be a much tougher opponent. Will MM roll out Rodgers regularly to force the Cowboys to worry about his legs and arm?

    This will be the measuring stick to know if we can compete with the Giants. I don’t buy the Cowboys being the best team in the NFC. Until the Cowboys change coaches, they will continue to choke in the playoffs.

  • Pete H

    The only problem I had with yesterday was the chicken sh#@ play calling to start the second half! It was a replay of the Bears game last year. Learn the lesson MM….put a team into submission!!! That vanilla off tackle left, then right, then safe pass and punt doesn’t cut it. The biggest problem with the defense was that they were on the field through the whole second half. The pass rush was slowed and the coverage slipped because there was no rush. 21-0 is not game over…

  • AllAboutThePack

    Pete, I agree – put the nail in the coffin, don’t ever underestimate a teams ability to come back. I say kick ‘em when their down and keep ‘em down…

  • Roy Jamison

    Be happy Pack fans like myself. I live in Kansas City and the Chiefs are absolutely terrible. No QB. No O line. Bad D line. Good punter, and he keeps busy!

  • Reid

    Roy – that is hilarious, maybe the funniest thing I’ve read here in a while.

  • http://www.buyingbranson.com Russ Prothero

    I think I’d rather have our two backup quarterbacks than any of the other nfc north teams starters. We’re not sure what we have they are and can’t do a thing about it.

  • zach

    I certainly hope Bigby is healthy by sunday. I would feel much better having him back there that Rouse. Apparently he has a hamstring strain????

  • Larry

    Where was all the concern about Rodgers when he was a rookie, 2nd yr, and 3rd yr backup? We were lucky BF never went down although I think he started many, many games in those 16 yrs he shouldn’t have. Interesting case, Bigby. Reminds me so much of Doug Hart and Murphy; can’t get into the starting lineup, but what an impact player when he’s in. I know our BU QBs are learning fast even if in the film room because thats the McCarthy way. At least, if needed, they will have to adjust only to game speed, not the playbook.

  • Matt

    Let’s not get overconfident, here, don’t forget the Atlanta stickin’ Falcons put the hurt on the Lions last week, too…I’ll start to be a believer if we can beat Dallas on Sunday night…don’t forget that the last Packer QB to start 2-0 was Scott Hunter…Scott who from 1972? …Bart Starr’s replacement and he was out the door in 2 years…keep it in perspective folks, it’s just 2 games and I’m not sold, yet. Honestly, it will take a Super Bowl victory or 2-3 years playing at this high level before you can say undoubtedly, that the 3 stooges made the right call. What if he gets hurt in week 6? What if the Pack loses in the 1st round of the playoffs? What if he can’t win the big game when they are down by a TD or more in the 4th quarter? These are still all unanswered questions…Honestly, I like the kid and want him to succeed, but I’m jsut saying, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, just yet…

  • TRIP

    Dallas-Philly game:

    Many good things:

    -Plenty of film to help MM and A-Rod figure out how to put up points.
    -Hard fought game, hopefully took something out of them.
    -Short week for the Cowboys.
    -They have to travel.

    If they are the Super Bowl team the media has anointed them to be, none of this will matter. I’m not saying I’m too confident we’ll win, but I like our chances.

  • cali cheeez

    Don’t care what the media says, don’t care what the the TT and MM haters say, I’m just concerned about the O-line. We have to be able to run. Aaron looks great and like a lot of you was suprised to see Rouse get burned on a couple of plays. It’s going to be a heck of a game. GO PACK GO !!
    Hopefully playing on grass will slow the girls down and the BIG “G” Greg Jennings (hey maybe that will catch on) and DD will embare -ass the girls db’s all night long.
    AHHHH GO PACK GO!!!!!!!

  • cali cheeez

    Hey Matt, the haters are on the other blog! I know It’s early but don’t say the Pack is not playing well regardless of who there they are playing. It’s still in the confrence and they all hate us. AHHHH GO PACK GO!!!

  • cali cheeez

    OOOPS, too many brews, “regardless of who they are playing, and conference”.
    AHHHHH GO PACK GO!!!

  • Larry

    TRIP you just gave the MM/TT denyers the ammo to explain a Packer win. Not sure who the third “stooge” is since Murphy is so new. Wow, can’t imagine what this site will be like if we lose; the “Star” gazers will be all over us “Team” guys.

  • Larry

    LeRoy Butler –
    Week 2 is a must read!

  • Bob

    I believe we don’t have to win this game to make a possative statement about our team, but we must make it a game. Give Jennings a raise now

  • packer_Bob

    Didn’t get to see the game as it wasn’t televised in my area, but a few observations:

    Rodgers definately looks good, although I think you have to factor in who we played before going too nutty about it.

    Greg Jennings is awesome, and in general our recieving corps is the real deal.

    Our ability to run the ball against a good team is suspect.

    Charles Woodson doesn’t get enough credit from Packer fans and definately not from the national media. He saved our bacon last year in the Washington game, iced the KC game, and now this one.

    I’m happy we’re 2 and 0 and I think it’s pretty clear we’re still the best team in this division. Can we hang with the NFC elite? Guess we find out this Sunday.

  • TRIP

    Haha, Larry. Oh well.

    I’m trying to keep myself leveled with how successful this team is. And we should be mindful that win or lose on Sunday, for ANY team that makes the type of QB change that we did, a playoff season is a victory. This game is NOT a must-win. We clearly do not want to lose by more than 10 points, but we lost by 10 last season and went 13-3. It’s only week 3 and we creamed the Giants week 2 last year and guess how our season ended. It’s a long year and I think we should focus on this team winning the division, and making sure the Bears stay in their place. If we top the ‘Boys, I just pray it wouldn’t make this team overconfident, but I guess I should trust MM with that.

  • Bratwurst Lover

    I like our chances against the Cowboys for the simple reason that Aaron has, so far, been able to scramble around to give his receivers more time to get open.

    It’s gonna be another high-scoring game.

  • Devil’s Advocate…

    Howdy Boys…………. New guy here. Question for Matt: If your not happy w/the three stooges, who’d you pick/have picked for the jobs then? I like a little meat w/my potatoes………….

  • JeffN

    The Pack can play with Dallas, this one is going to be too close to call. Games like this one are the NFL at it’s best.

  • Devil’s Advocate…

    Hey Matt, buddy. For you to refer to those three guys who have spent a majority of their careers and lives in football, as the “three stooges”, I’m expecting some pretty good stuff from you since you must have some pretty good football knowledge!!! Just didn’t want you to think I was going to be easy. I love a good debate.

  • Roy Jamison

    Packers, let’s accomplish these 3 things:
    1. Protect Rodgers better than Philly did McNabb
    2. Stop those “explosive” long passes to T.O. There should be a challenge to shut him down and up.
    3. Wear their defense out, just a little bit better than Philly. Altho, Philly had the game in their hand and let it go. We are not gonna do that!
    Pack 31 Cowgirls 24

  • Mel e Mel

    Some lessons from watching both Dallas games this year.

    #1 Dallas will give up long passes Braylon Edwards, Desean Jackson got wide open several times.
    # 2 Dallas knows about their shortcommings in the secondary so they have a very aggressive gameplan on offense.
    #3 Roy Williams is out this game, positive for the packers because he is a better in run game than his understudies.
    #4 No one can cover Jason Witten, after he catches the ball please tackle him.
    #5 The Packers will be far healthier this time around KGB should be able to pressure Romo.
    #6 T.O. is the only wideout they have so Woodson should be able to freelance somewhat.
    #7 Dont be surprised if this is the last we see of Daryn College and Tony Moll.
    They are good pass blockers and that is it. You need earth movers i.e. Babre and Sitton to control the Dallas Front. Notice how all big Packer runs have gone right FB,TE RT aka the strong side of the line.
    #8This is the Game where Brett got hurt last year look for more max protection packages
    # 9 If Grant is not 100% please bench him 2nd and 9 doesnt help anyone.
    #10 We have a better DLine than the Eagles so we should be able to cause a couple of punts. Will Blackmon this your chance!

  • IC Cyclone Fan

    Matt says, “it will take a Super Bowl victory or 2-3 years playing at this high level before you can say undoubtedly, that the 3 stooges made the right call.” (in reference to Aaron Rodgers as the starting QB).

    The Packers haven’t won a NFC Championship game since 1998, yet Aaron Rodgers has to win a Super Bowl to justify his installation as starting QB!?!

    I know BF played well last season, but he didn’t play well when it counted and faded badly down the stretch (Bears, Giants). Did BF get the job done in over-time playoff losses to the Eagles and Giants? No, he threw game-changing interceptions! Was BF ever on the losing end of first round playoff games? YES (49ers, Falcons, Vikings). Yet in your mind, AR will be a failure if we don’t win a Super Bowl…

    Bottom Line: Aaron Rodgers wasn’t competing with a reigning league MVP and recent Super Bowl winner for the starting job; he was competing with a 39 y/o faded superstar with messiah complex and motivation concerns. Aaron Rodgers, Matt Flynn and Brian Brohm are the present / future, which will hopefully be as bright as the distant past you’re still pining for….

  • Larry

    Well, well, well, these positive posts are what a GBP site should be. Trip got his wish for a tough Dal/Phil game. IC right on like he always is. Reid has BF’s number too! AATP buck up, be positive, don’t worry; even a loss would be a learning experience and not the end of the season. We can’t win ‘em all. Cali, be more concerned about TO than our OL, those big WRs always give us fits. Welcome Devil’s A. As you can see we “Regulators” regulars kind of take Al’s blog away from him at times. Roy and M e M you’ve hit the nail on the head. I guess having a game like this this early is a good test and win or lose will have a positive impact on “our” team. Finally; no Matt and Jon I’m not really up and awake when this gets posted. By the way, haven’t heard from Jon for a while, he must be posting on the J-E-T-S sites.

  • AllAboutThePack

    Maybe Jon is eating his humble pie – the first game we lose though I’m sure will get him hyped enough to post here again… :)

  • CheesyD

    Just heard Vikes are putting Gus Ferrotte in as starting QB and benching Tavaris Jackson.

    I’m sooo glad we have A-Rod!!

    GO PACK!!

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