Packer football returns in the second half yesterday

That is the way they draw it up. With the Packers’ season hanging in the balance late in the first half, trailing 10-3 to the fading Seahawks, the Packers, led by the courageous Aaron Rodgers, scored 24 straight points and dominated the second half on their way to a 27-17 victory in Seattle. Rodgers was superb while playing hurt for the second week in a row. For the fourth time this season he didn’t throw an interception in the game and had another of his patented quarterback sneaks for a touchdown. Rodgers’ toughness should never be questioned again. I mean come on, Tony Romo is out 4-5 weeks with a broken pinky? Brett Favre played with a broken thumb, I think that is a little more important than a pinky. I mean, you have three other fingers.

But I digress, the Packers win Sunday was just what the doctor ordered, and I don’t care if Charlie Frye was the quarterback. When someone hands you a victory you damn well better take it. The Packers did just that and hopefully built some confidence in the process, because the big bad Indianapolis Colts come to Lambeau next week. A win over the Colts would shed a whole new light on the rest of the season, a loss and we are back to wondering what we actually have here.

The Packers have talent, that is for sure. Greg Jennings is fast becoming one of the best receivers in the NFL, he leads the league by almost a hundred yards in receiving yards and his 108 yards per game is also tops. Jennings right now is unstoppable, which should start providing more opportunities for Donald Driver and the up-and-coming Jordy Nelson. Nelson is going to be a player if you ask me. All the things you saw in his highlight film from college you see starting to come out. A little bit at a time. I predict a 60-70 yarder for him coming in the next few games. If Jordy keeps improving and replaces Driver in due time, he and Jennings are going to be quite a duo for Rodgers over the years, maybe a better duo than even Favre ever had to work with.

On defense Charles Woodson is certainly a Pro Bowl player. He just continues to shut down half the field and when they throw his way he picks it off. Almost had another pick-six yesterday. Tramon Williams played well again in replace of Al Harris and Nick Collins continues his much awaited emergence. The Seahawks were unable to run the ball but much of that of course was due to the fact the Packers knew Seattle couldn’t pass the ball. Still, secondary played well and they are the strength of the Packers’ defense. However, they will need to play twice as well against the Colts next Sunday.

No matter what, the Packers are off the snide and any chance they had of beating the Colts would have been down the drain had they lost to Seattle. I’m not going to predict a victory just yet, but if the Bears can beat the Colts, the Packers should be able to. By the way, wasn’t that one of the greatest moments in Packers’ history yesterday when the Falcons came back with 11 seconds on the clock to beat the mini-Ditkas? In fact, my NFL Ticket paid for itself in a nine minute span yesterday afternoon. All was good except for the Vikqueens winning ugly once again.

It appears the Packers didn’t suffer any serious injuries, but I’m extremely worried about Ryan Pickett. His injury I think is more serious than the team is letting on. Let’s hope I’m wrong as usual.

More to come. Let’s enjoy the victory and think positive this week. Is that too much to ask?

This entry was posted on Monday, October 13th, 2008 at 7:16 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.

  • Mel e Mel

    IF we Had Tony Gonzales you could guarantee victory over the Colts

  • Steve Cheez

    “Pinky” Romo sits it out. Good point about Favre and his thumb; regardless of anything else that some of the folks on this site say either for or against him, you won’t find anybody who will say he wasn’t tough. And A-Rod is certainly showing some toughness of his own; well-deserved kudos.

    I also remember Ken Bowman playing most of a season with his arm literally chained to his body, I guess so it wouldn’t fall off.

  • TRIP

    Al, I have to call you out on this, haha:

    “Greg Jennings… …leads the league by almost a hundred yards in receiving yards and his 108 yards per game is also tops.”

    Obviously, if you lead in total yards, your average over the games played is going to be the highest as well. Just a pointer, lol.

    And yes, thinking positive so quickly is much to ask. We’ve beaten the Lions, Vikings and the lowly Hasselback-less Seahawks. That’s not the heftiest resume.

    The Colts got dumped by the Bears and snuck wins over the Vikings (by 3 points) and Texans (by 4 points). This surely isn’t a must win, but win or lose, I think we can learn something about this team in how they play on Sunday.

    Ninety percent of us (including me) got way over-confident in this team after week 2. I’ll be emotionless towards the Pack until something drastic happens to prove they have rebounded or are truly sub-.500 material.

  • TRIP

    I’m not TRYING to be pessimistic, but let’s be honest. We’ve beaten 3 teams who COMBINED only have one more win than us! MIN: 3-3 SEA: 1-4 DET: 0-5 No need to start partying now.

  • Matt Hayton

    Excellent points Trip. Let the record state that I was part of that 10% minority, and that I will gladly eat my words and become a believer if somehow this team can go 9-7. But I doubt it. A good start to going 9-7 would be a win at home over Indy. But my predicition is that we will lose by 14 points or more. I’m just not a believer, yet…

  • Michael Legat

    Here’s the thing, TRIP. Nobody’s all that special this year. Who looks really scary right now? Anyone? And if so, doesn’t that team look average or worse two weeks later?

    Six week’s in this season is the very model of parity. This is a season where Detroit is just as scary as Tennessee, because if the Rams can beat the Redskins, the Browns can beat the Giants and the Dolphins can get their two wins off of the two AFC Championship teams of last year, anyone can beat anyone, and thus, we can beat the Colts.

    Or we’ll get killed. No one knows nothing. I kinda miss the days when you knew exactly what you were getting from your football team, but the new era makes every game a must-see.

  • Michael Legat

    Here’s my one prediction this year that I feel confident about. Nobody in the NFL wins more than 12 games.

  • Larry

    Well, “on any given Sunday” who knows? Harrison and Wayne scare the begeezies out of me. Our secondary will determine the outcome, I feel, and they get a starting LB back. Their RBs are in bad shape but they get an OG back; our LBs will be tested too. Let Saunders be “gentile” on our WRs and we very well might pull this one off at home. Now is the time for the Specials to win this game.

  • Pete H

    Hey TRIP, just so you know, if a team has had their bye week and the Packers haven’t, they could easily have a receiver with more yds/gm and less total yds…….

  • Pete H

    Mel, again with the Gonzalez really??? I seriously hope you are not being legit with this..

  • Jon

    Obama is a Muslim!

    He said he has campaigned in “57 states”!

    There are 57 Islamic states in the world!

  • TRIP

    Ok, Jon, I hope that garbage gets deleted.

    Legat,

    Your point is well-taken. Perhaps no one is special or we haven’t accepted the fact that teams like the Titans and ATL are on the rise? Ehh… yeah, no one is special.

    Pete H,

    Thanks for busting my balls, lol. I did consider that when I wrote it, but given GJ is 100+ yards up, that’s unlikely. Thanks for keeping me honest, while I keep Al honest. And I agree that the Gonzalez talk is pointless, we haven’t capitalized on TE usage for years. The TE is not a pivotal position in our offense, so that would be a waste of money. The few seasons of Favre-Franks connection in the end zone were nice though.

    Hayton,

    We can get 9 wins, maybe 10 if we can beat the Bears at home. I really don’t care about how many wins we get. I’m concerned with how many wins the Bears (and maybe the Vikings) get. Remember, MM’s first season when we were warming up at the end of the season and lost a three-way tie breaker @ 8-8? I’d hate it if we get things going and lose the division title.

  • Larry

    This team will be an unknown all year long. I had IND as a loss, but now feel we will win. I had ATL a win, but didn’t expect their rookie to be so good. As evidenced by last SUN this is the NFL and parity(which I hate). We’ve been spoiled by more than 8-8 seasons for a long time and we’re still rebuilding wether we like to accept it or not.

  • Pete H

    THe thing thats scary is that Indy looked to be finally finding its groove last Sunday. I know there is a lot of love here for the way Williams has played at CB, but also remember that Miles Austin and Roddy White have had pretty good days with him covering them. I just worry about what a Harrison and Gonzalez (Anthony), just for Mel, will do to him. I imagine that Woodson will be wrapped up with Wayne. Also, if Bigby is still out, Dallas Clark is going to eat them alive. They are going to need to score early and often Sunday.

  • Cody

    Wow Jon, as much as a may agree or disagree with that, come on man, this is a packers fan site, keep that out of here and in other places. I guess that is all that you can say when A Rod plays great again, with a sprained shoulder on his throwing arm… when there is nothing bad to say about A Rod, or management, you resort to politics.. that’s real mature..
    Anyway, TRIP, I agree completly that we shouldnt be excited about being 3-3 when our 3 oponents were so terrible. I told myself that i wasnt going to get emotional until we got a big win. Indy would be a start, but we have to be firmly above .500 before I am as excited as I was when we beat the vikes in week 1.
    This game is definitly winable, and so is Tenn. after the bye. They will be tough games, and they will for sure be good measuring sticks for out injured d. The good news is that we did compete with Atlanta, who i think is a legit team in the south. We managed to stay in the game against the bucs, who are scary, and i think if we played dallas agian, we would wipe the floor with there tears.
    But Al, like you said, all is well in packerland for the week, lets enjoy it and see if we cant pull out a great win at home this week, that would make my month.

  • Jon

    Cody, go blow. I commented on the win in Al’s game blog. So put your three middle fingers together, and now read between the lines.

  • Cody

    Real mature Jon, real mature.

  • Reid

    Did anyone notice the scruffy red beard on the referee who called holding on Wahle to bring the long run back? He looked a lot like Chuck Norris, it might have been him.

    Matt Hayton – you were at the game, did you notice? Was he also wearing a black cowboy hat and a Texas Ranger star?

    Somehow squeaking out a win this week against the Colts would be huge, especially with a few reinforcements scheduled to arrive (hopefully) after the bye week.

  • cali cheeez

    Reid, that’s hella’ funny

  • zach

    With a Giants loss last night, I am starting to wonder who the powerhouse of the NFL is this year, also. Seems like some big teams last year are not what they used to be, including the packers. I am very scared about stopping the pass next week, even with the surprising performance of some of our back up secondary. We shall see…..go pack

  • cali cheeez

    zach I’m not worried about the CBs as much as I am the pass rush. Give Payton time and he’ll kill you with 11 DBs on the field.And what’s with capitalizing the “G” but not the “p” in Packers, come on show some respect. Just kidding.

  • TRIP

    I defended Jon not being banned. Boy, don’t I look stupid now.

    We are happy you commented on the game, Jon. But why are you bringing that here?

    You can bring up your “theories” and slurs about Sen. Obama just as someone can rant about Sen. McCain, Gov. Palin, Todd Palin. But why here? It is getting awfully annoying.

    I’m 21 and I pray you aren’t a day older than me. Grow up.

  • http://Orlando Mark

    Geez, Jon are you mentally unbalanced, this is a PACKER website. Speaking of which, if St. Louis can go into DC and win and the Browns can blow out the Giants, what’s to stop us? The passing game is going well and the commitment to the run can only help. Of course we’ve got to straight mix up the playcalling and the special teams have to improve. But our whole team is improving. I only wish we had a little more of the “win now” attitude that other successful teams have. It would help to get a great older TE or DE, Ron Wolf wasn’t afraid to get some veteran help. Not out of desperation or unrealistic hope but based on clear thinking.

  • http://www.packernet.com admin

    One more comment about the election and I will shut it down. It will not be tolerated. And please do not respond to any comments from Jon. Good or bad. This is the 2008 season.

    Child care!

  • zach

    I had to put a capital G in Giants because Giant means BIG……;-)

  • Cody

    Thank you Al, that was getting out of hand!

  • JeffN

    I just have to comment on the status of the Pack’s secondary. With 2 of their 4 starters injured in the secondary… it’s pretty impressive that they are playing up to this level. Tramon Williams deserves a lot of credit for stepping in and playing at a high level.

    Now we just need to get a win this week!

  • Jake C

    so frustrating reading some of the posts from a user on here…

    anyway. i love the handshakes after the interceptions…keeping it classy boys. now we have a huge week coming up against the colts. hopefully we’ll go into the bye with a W. a win against manning would bring us right back to the forefront like we were before we dropped three straight. i’m sick of watching espn and seeing cowboy news and just a blurb about the packers!

  • http://www.packernet.com admin

    Yeah the handshakes were hilarious. How can something so simple make every highlight film in the country. Probably because it is the exact opposite of what you would expect for an NFL celebration. I like the Packers chances Sunday. This is not the Colts of the previous few years.

  • Wyatt Starr
  • Roy Jamison

    We can beat the Colts. Their running game is not great, but we have to contain the Manning passing game. You can figure at least 2 TDs to Wayne or Harrison. So we should win 24-20.

  • AllAboutThePack

    At this point I’m not putting all my eggs in one basket – the came away with a win but I still haven’t seen anything that makes me believe we’re better then Indy. I think this will be a close one and the team with the most takeaways wins it.

    Did anyone see what the Cowgirls did since they lost Pac-the hitman -Jones? They lose a loser like Pac-man and go and trade half of their 2009 picks for Roy Williams of the Lions as if the Lions weren’t bad enough already – talk about rebuilding. I HATE the Cowgirls and that moron they call an owner. Lose a QB, buy a receiver. GEEZ! Anyway, there’s being frivolous with cap money and there’s being over thrifty – apparently the Cowgirls and Packers are at the complete opposite ends of that spectrum.

    I do like our chances though if it’s our secondary against their receivers (Indy). I think we can win that battle, my biggest fear is, they have no run game, but will come this Sunday when they play us. AR needs to keep the ball protected, Grant needs to keep the ball protected and our secondary needs to do what they’ve done almost every week, force a turn-over or two. If those things happen, I think we get a win in a close one – otherwise we enter the bye with L. Just my thoughts.

  • Jake C

    right jon, tell us more about your political views on a football site. real interesting stuff. idiot. you are by far the most hated poster on this forum, i don’t get why you can’t catch a hint and leave. guess all those schoolyard beatings really chapped your ass.

  • Justin

    If we can get any pressure on Manning we have a great chance in this game. It is time for KGB our highest paid player to step up and do something he has been invisible all year. What our offense need to do is score early and often as the Colts will put some points up on the board. We must control the clock which is by far the easiest way to beat the Colts don’t let Manning on the feild. If we score too quickly our front four gets way too much playing time and not enough rest. To sum it up RUN RUN RUN the ball!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!