Statement made

I told you so. Why do you question me? The Green Bay Packers beat a team I told you they should beat and head in to the bye week with a 4-3 record. I could not be more happy with the way the day unfolded. I guess I would have liked to see the Bears lose because we have the win over the Vikings already, but either way, the last two weeks show the Packers are still a team to be reckoned with in the NFC. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been nothing short of spectacular the first half of the season and the Packers have to be considered one of the favorites to win the NFC.

I don’t know why I felt so confident in getting this win, probably more thinking that the Colts are not that good, but either way, a win is a win and after all the crap that has happened to this Packers team team the first seven weeks, to be 4-3 feels pretty damn good. Rodgers is clearly an upgrade at quarterback and running Ryan Grant is finally getting back to his 2007 form. More importantly, the defense is showing some of it’s teeth, despite injuries to key players.

Things change so fast in the NFL,though. After the Cowboys beat the Packers in week three Dallas was anointed the best team in the league. Now they are long shots to make the playoffs. The Packers were written off after three straight losses and now are right there in the NFC. The NFC East is no longer looking so hot and the Packers and Chicago Bears are starting to look like forces in the conference. Arizona may even factor in the mix yet.

What a great way to enjoy the bye week.

More to come…

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 19th, 2008 at 8:34 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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  • Michael Legat

    It’s an anything goes league right now. Why not the Green Bay Packers?

    The Tennessee Titans are very good, but not 8-0 good. They are overdue for a loss. It would be nice to get some momentum this year, because it seems to be a rarity in this league these days.

  • Cody

    In my last post, I had the Packers winning in a close game with a Woodson Pick Six, well we won a blow out, and Collins and Rouse got a Pick Six each, so I’ll take it! Talk about a great game in all aspects, we dominated them physically and mentally, and I feel great about it. I am not going to get ahead of myself, but I will enjoy these next two weeks. If we can beat the Titans, we will definetly be on the road to a deep playoff run, but I won’t think that we are the best in the division until we beat Chicago, something that we have struggled with of late.
    Great win for the Pack, lets enjoy it EVERYBODY!

  • Reid

    I am looking forward to hearing the comments about “Rodgers is clearly an upgrade at quarterback”.

    And obviously, the entire team spent the week training on the Total Gym with Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley. That was a serious roundhouse kick to the facemask of the once formidable Indianapolis Colts.

  • Jeff

    We ran well and moved the ball steady early on – defense was amazing – After making many comments about our linemen, I would so love to eat a steady diet of crow for the rest of the season.

    It’s OK with a good white sauce.

  • TRIP

    Al, you are always far to the left or far to the right.

    It was a great win, a surprisingly dominant win.

    However, though a “statement” was made, you’ve seem to acquire a full transcript.

    Believe me, I pray that today was a peek into the evolution of this season to come.

    However, was it not just a few weeks ago and you said you were wrong and Jon won?

    So I guess when the Packers win, you are a genius, and when they lose, Jon won.

    That sums up why many of us question you.

    Great game, great timing, let’s knock the Titans off their high horse.

    P.S. Since you want to go off on tangents, making statements that you obviously WANT to be criticized (A-Rod being an upgrade), let’s focus on the great defensive play. Subtract their contributions and we lost 21-20, points-wise. Collins and Rouse contributed 2 TDs, one of which would have been an Indy TD.

  • Mel e Mel

    I hate to bring up the negatives but Chad Clifton is not right. Hopefully he gets well during the bye. Does anyone notice Pack is undefeated when Korey Hall is Healthy?
    2 Safeties with great Range, Rouse and Collins are the ballhawks. Since Jenkins is out and Clearly the secondary is strength of the D, we have to blitz more. A Rod has some growing up to do. He is trying to do too much, Donald Lee wide open and he forced a ball into coverage. I am happy this team still has a way to go. The Bears and vikes (no caps on purpose) are purely mickey mouse outfits. The Bears have injuries and tough breaks but the vikes are clearly bush league. Mcarthy said in the preseason he was going to give Bjackson some carries to lighten the load on grant where was that today.

  • http://orlando Mark

    Great win. Perfect execution of a game plan against a team that struggles vs. the run. Better defense than I thought we had, especially Chillar. It really helped the D playing so few minutes the first half and penalties killed the Colts this time instead of us. The Titans will be tougher but we’re improving and we get some guys back. I think we’re going to catch the Titans at the right time.

  • http://www.themissingrocks.com Tom from Delaware

    The Colts game was a perfect example of what can happen when a run game is established. Keeps the defense honest, and cuts down on the 3 and outs so our defense isn’t beaten to crap by the middle of the 3rd quarter. When our defense is alert and not beat, they have some serious playmakers, especially in the secondary. Unfortunately it won’t be that easy with other teams to run.

  • Richard Krause

    I focused on KGB, most of the day, what a drop off!! Poor guy gives 110% but he just hasn’t got it anymore.

  • CheesyD

    A-Rod had a 104 QB rating, a TD pass, no turnovers, no sacks, all with a sprained shoulder, and still some criticize his play. Unbelievable.

    A great all around effort by the Packers. I would have liked to have seen more of a pass rush but other than that, it was the best they’ve played as a team in quite awhile. Heck, even the punter did OK. The missed FG was a surprise.

    No comments here on the report Favre contacted the Lions and fed them info before the Pack-Lions game? Favre denies, but then again he denied wanting to come out of retirement, too. My opinion? I wouldn’t put it past Favre doing exactly what was reported. I noticed the Lions officials aren’t denying it.

  • Larry

    Looking at the various videos I could find I couldn’t believe the game Woodson played. He was like a glove in everything I saw. No more than a one to two yd separation no matter who he was on. Didn’t see every play but what I did convinced me he was MVP for the day. Granted IND didn’t field their best RB tandem but what a performance by the DBs in any case. I know nobody wants to bring it up but this latest BF rumor is huge.

  • Matt Hayton

    Chomp…chomp…chomp…what’s that sound? Me, eating my words!!!! Great win, this one showed me something!!! The only negative, and I mean the only negative, is that Indy was a big contributotor in beating themselves with 12 penalties for 110 yds. But nonetheless, AR just beat Peyton Manning and this team looked dominate in all 3 phases. Great win all the way around – statement game! I’m becoming a believer in #12. He proved me wrong. Now, one game doesn’t make you an all-pro or a HOFer, but a large step was taken from being a good game manager QB to a great one. You can only become great by beating great ones. Score for AR.

    The only thing that sucks about that is that somewhere that egotistically pig TT is gloating and grinning somewhere from ear-to-ear. And that’s what I can’t stand and truly pissed me off about the whole BF, AR, TT deal is that I felt like TT’s moves were made to get his guy in place to pad his ego and not what was the best for the Packers like he kept spewing. And our success this year pads the ego of that pig-headed jerk. Nonetheless, even if it pads TT’s ego so much his head explodes, I’ll take a Packer win any day. Beating the Titans would be huge and make me so giddy that I just might have to join my nemisis with my head exploding in joy, as well.

    As far as the BF rumor, come on people…you live and die by the guy for 16 years and yet for the last 4 months all anybody can do is throw the guy under the bus. If there is one thing BF has it is class and that would be a very classless move that would endanger him getting suspended. Adn why would a guy who wants to play so bad do that? I’m not buying it, some guy is just trying to sell a newspaper…

  • IC Cyclone Fan

    Smiles all-around this morning, except for the fact we’re seven weeks into the season and BF talk still dominates Packer message boards! :(

    I grimaced when BF threw the ball up for grabs (for an INT) in OT against the Raiders. We understand your pain, Jet fans….

    While I don’t think Al can honestly say AR thru 7 weeks is “clearly an upgrade” at QB (over BF thru 7 weeks last season), I have agreed since training camp that AR is the QB this team needs at this point in time. The fact that he’s playing as well as he is is only icing on the cake, and probably attributable to his close friendship with Chuck Norris….

    P.S. My 14 y/o son reminded me last night how little I know of football. We were at Training Camp prior to the 2007 season, with BF absent due to family issues. I was impressed with Ingle Martin and commented that he looked better than Aaron Rodgers, prognosticating he’d follow in the footsteps of Brunnell & Hasselbeck! Duh….

  • Jeff

    Kids recall the darndest things . . . . just a little BF stuff here. It is a really sordid rumor – if there’s any truth to it at all, it’s a real problem.

  • Reid

    That game was also simulcast in France and the French faxed a surrender letter to the GB Packers organization after the game, just to be on the safe side.

  • IC Cyclone Fan

    paul Says: October 8th, 2008 at 9:28 am
    “Winning is about momentum and winning some that you should lose. The Pack appear to be losing the ones they should win and I fear the ones they should lose they will. I said 4-12 before the season started…just had a bad feeling about the whole TT ego thing interfering with rational decision making….”

    Two weeks later, things have changed abruptly and that 4-12 prediction isn’t looking so stellar. I love how the anti-TT crowd celebrates a big Packer victory in which some of Ted’s projects turned up big. Somewhere I can hear paul muttering, “yeah, well you’ve got crabgrass in your yard.” :)

  • Larry

    It is always true in the NFL “any given Sunday”. We’ve sure lost plenty we should’ve won (on paper). I think w/ a young team like this and last yr, you hope they play above their heads. I’ve got to hand it to the coaching staff, this last game was as good as it can get. It might be a boring, healing, two weeks but look at the roster we could have against TENN if everyone comes back and Woodson can get off that toe for a while. I think this team is as good as last year if the lines get healthy.

  • JeffN

    Pack wins, all of the bashers don’t even bother to log into the sight now. Looks like we get some relief for a few weeks minimum now that we are headed into the bye.

  • JeffN

    Yeah KGB is at the end of his career. Looks like their going to have to take his 7.7 million and add to Rodgers contract so we can sign him to a long term deal.

  • Matt Hayton

    Hey JeffN-

    I am a TT basher and I’ve logged in to take my beating like a man. What I will say is that if BF was on this team, they’d easily be atleast 6-1 and maybe 7-0. They simply don’t lose to Tampa or Atlanta on this team and everyone who is honest knows that. Plus, no Patriots to deal with, Jags are injured, Cowgirls just lost Romeo, Colts aren’t who they used to be, same with the Chargers. If Favre is on this team right now- They are clearly the favorite to win the Superbowl and not just a contender like we are today. Think about that!!!

    If Favre was on this team, the Superbowl would be ours for the taking!!! TT screwed up the chance at another SB, for his ego. It migth be the right move to go with AR, for the long-term, but there are no guarantees, how long this wondow will be open for this team. And I still think they should’ve taken their chances with Favre to win a SB, I’d much rather be 7-0, than 4-3 and if Thompson’s ego doesn’t get in the way, we’d be talking Super Bowl right now. Instead, we just hope we can get into the playoffs. That sucks!

  • Matt Hayton

    correction: “they don’t lose to Tampa or Atlanta with Favre on this team and everyone who is honest knows that.”

  • Matt Hayton

    come on people we’re excited that we’re 4-3, when we should be 7-0. TT sucks!

  • Larry

    Darn, Matt, for the life of me I just cant understand why we werent undefeated last year. Damned lousy front office, lousy coaching, we have more super-stars than DAL or NE; your right w/ Favre we would be 7-0 and frankly I think everyone would be laying down for us because we would have been picked to win the SB from day 1. I say get Farve back and pull in Gonzalez and it would be automatic. Oh, hell, I forgot the refs would probably take it away from us. That and those nagging injuries, shoot. It could have been so easy if only………….TT and MM werent here.

  • Reid

    If Chuck Norris was on our team we would be 8-0.

  • paul

    I am so happy I was wrong. Great victory. However, we were 4-0 against AFC last year. We need to win against the Bears and be consistent or we are headed to a disappointing 8-8. Some of you may be excited with 8-8 but I am not. The division is in our hands by beating the Bears, something that has not been easy lately. However, I love being wrong…and TT still has made too many poor decisions…i.e. What happens if Rogers goes down?

  • Devil’s Advocate…

    Millen is avaiable………. We could trade a pick and get Childress I suppose…… Or a couple more losses in Dallas and we can get Wade Phillips…… Just curious, anyone know how the stats compare w/Favre and Rodgers. Wondering how much better we’d be w/his stats???

  • Devil’s Advocate…

    “What happens if Rodgers goes down?” Probably the same thing that happens to most teams when their stating QB goes down………… not much good happens.

  • Reid

    IC Cyc – I think that is comparable to the crabgrass comment. Some people are really good at finding gray clouds around the silver lining.

  • IC Cyclone Fan

    Reid – Paul might be more enthusiastic if he purchased a Total Gym and started his days working out with a Chuck Norris DVD! Better yet, he could probably find some old Richard Simmons videos on eBay…

    Those of us who believe the Packers are on the correct path are just lucky we’re supported by “the network”; paul, jon & matt hayton will be in “dead zone” purgatory once the Pack gets to 10+ wins.

    As for the “if Rodgers goes down” comment, who the heck was available that TT should have acquired? Don’t say Culpepper, as not one team wanted him! Somebody previously had cited a Brad Johnson-like backup as being desirable; that worked out well for the cowboys! Ryan Fitzpatrick is experienced yet he’s bombing for the Bengals. Bottom line: unless you’re paying starter money to a backup QB (Kerry Collins), you’re in big trouble if your starting QB goes down. That goes for everybody (Patriots, Cowboys, etc.), not just the Packers. If having a starting caliber backup QB is the mark of a good GM, I’d submit that 27 GM’s in the NFL should be considered failures!

  • Pete H

    Good aftenoon fellas…whoever it was who barked about TT bashers not logging in to take their beating might want to wait until after Monday before spouting off. Personally I just got back to Illinois after being at the game. I have been one of those critical of many TT moves and I, unlike some here, do not jump on and off bandwagons on a weekly basis! All of my critiques still apply. TT put alot of the bodies who made plays out there yesterday on this team and they won. He also put alot of the bodies out there who didn’t make plays against Atl. I would hope that a GM of a team with as high of expectations as are of the Packers would have put some of the bodies out there to make plays. People here have mostly questioned whether he does ENOUGH! The jury is out and won’t be dcided ona week to week basis, like many of your opinions. This probably won’t be decided this year. This was a fabulous win! Dominating, but hardly a statement made to anyone in the league, other than the Packers can beat anyone on any given day. Statements are made with consistency. Grant showed me something, finally, but being there and watching him, he still needs to make someone miss him more often. This was one of the WORST run defenses in football, we had a big lead, our defense let our offense be on the field all day, and he just scraped 100 yds. I am thrilled about the POSSIBILITIES with this team, but they have hardly become the favorite of the NFC yet. Their DBs were awesome on a day that I thought they would get roasted. Still no pressure. I am excited to see what happens when we get some bodies back in the fold. Al, don’t statments that have no backing. Really bad comment!!! All that is is an argument that cannot be won by anyone and doesn’t serve any purpose other than that. Go Pack and lets get healthy.

  • Reid

    I hear TT approached Chuck Norris about being a back-up and after being stared down for what seemed like an eternity, he began to feel extremely uncomfortable and decided to leave without any further discussion. Thompson knew he was lucky not to get a roundhouse kick to the face and a serious case of beard rash. Chuck Norris doesn’t play back-up to anyone.

  • http://orlando Mark

    Matt you’re wrong about BF doing much better than AR. I saw the Jets vs. Oakland and at the end he gave it everything he had but he was physically done. I’m a big fan of his and I hate people running him down, but for our team he would be QB depth. Paul you’re right about the Bears. If we have any hope of making the playoffs we have to beat them period.

  • Devil’s Advocate…

    Anyone find it interesting that Tony Gonzalas turned down the trade to the undefeated Buffalo Bills in favor of the Packers??? And all those who said that after TT’s treatment of Favre, no F/A would ever want to come to Green Bay again……… Huh.

  • Matt Hayton

    None of you have intelligently refuted that we wouldn’t be 6-1 or 7-0 with Favre at the helm. You haven’t because you cannot and you all know it. Sorry, Mark- BF w/the Jets is not what he would be doing with the team he led to 6-1 and 13-3 last year. Someoen tell me intelligently why?

    You cannot…we’re giving up a SuperBowl this year and you all can’t admit it!

  • paul

    IC cyclone,
    You obviously are more interested at trying your wit at improv than attempting intelligent debate, conversation, etc., but there is no comedy with the Packers this season. I am man enough to admit I am likely wrong in my 4-12 prediction and very happy as I am a die hard fan. However, we now need to be better that 8-8 or even 9-7. Let’s see some consistency before you blow your wad. We got beat by Atlanta and tried really hard to lose to Detroit until Kitna refused to let us lose. Lastly, your head is on the top of your body and your a** is on the lower half as it seems as if you are having difficulty telling one from the other…bit*ch…..Go Pack

  • Matt Hayton

    Why because it is too painful to admit. TT sucks!!!!

  • Devil’s Advocate…

    What makes you say we’re giving up a SB this year? It’s week 7…….. And how do you know one would be automatic if we have Favre? It takes just about everything to go right to get one of those. Look at the N.E. Cheaters last year….. who’d have thought that sitting at 18-0, that they wouldn’t win the SB???

  • Michael Legat

    Matt, with all due respect, you are completely and utterly full of shit if you think we’d be 7-0 right now with Favre. It just doesn’t work that way. Injuries and poor line play were the cause of our three losses. Brett Favre had nothing to do with that.

  • PETE H

    Matt, I agree with you in principle on Brett. I was one who thought it best to keep him here, for alot of reasons. I will say though, that there is no vslidation to what you are saying. People aren’t responding to you because it is silly. Noone can say what they would or wouldn’t be with Favre. Could they be 7-0, sure…could they be 3-4…sure. Its a pointless venture. If you want a reason though here you go…..Dallas overmatched on defense O-line…….Atl. couldn’t stop Turner or White. TB…..Brett makes that same bad throw 7 times a year minimum. Grant can’t run, Oline doesn’t block and gets penalties. Defense can’t stop the run, injuries…blah blah blah really what kind of argument is this?

  • Matt Hayton

    Hey Devil-
    fyi – you still didn’t answer the question. Tell me the Packers lose to Tampa or Atlanta at the helm? They don’t and you know it. We’d easily be 6-1 and I personally think we would have beaten Dallas, but that is debatable…

    You are right, though, there are no guarantees, which is my point exactly…There is no guarantee that we will ever win a SB w/AR. If we do, that vindicates TT’s move, but we have passed up the opportunity we had now, today, to reload w/Favre and win one. Why, the only logical reason is TT’s ego.

    My point is that today, on October 20th, there are no clear cut favorite to win this thing this year, but if we were coming off of our 13-3 season and we are sitting at 6-1 or 7-0 w/Favre leading this team, we would have as good of a shot to win it, as anybody else does and that is all you can ask for in this league.

  • Matt Hayton

    Hey Michael,

    we had poor line play and injuries last year and we still started 6-1. What is the flovor of the TT koolaid today? You sound drunk!!!

  • Matt Hayton

    PeteH-
    All I’m saying is that we’re a superbowl contender with Favre and with AR we’ll be lucky to get into the playoffs. I still like my 7-9 prediction. As stated by other folks, gotta beat the Bears to get in. No wild card will be coming out of the NFC North this year.

  • cali cheeez

    Matt you truly live in a fantasy world. Maybe if BF grew 3-4″ and gained 80-100lbs and played DT or OG would we be 6-1. We lost 3 close games because of poor line play……period. Not in any way because of poor QB play. I’m done with the past I’m just looking forward to the future, GO PACK GO

  • http://orlando Mark

    Matt I can’t say you’re wrong and that we’re not better than the Jets but if our run game can improve you can see how good we can be, just give this team a chance to develope. I would have done things far different from TT. It reminds me of Billick dropping Dilfer after SBXXXV, that didn’t solve the Raven’s offensive problems. Dropping BF didn’t help our run game or D-line but we have an exciting team that’s improving let’s cross our fingers and see how it turns out.

  • Devil’s Advocate…

    Can’t tell you Matt that we don’t win those two games w/BF at the helm. How a team is playing when you play them, how your team is playing when you play them and many other factors play in. I suppose a person could try to mathmatically inject a Favre factor ratio into the game and try to replay it to see how it turned out, kind of like a computer simulation….. Then again, if the Pack were to play those two teams in the next two weeks , I’m not so sure they wouldn’t beat them as well as Dallas, all with out Favre at the helm. But after what Glazer has reported about Favre and standing behind his story 1000%, I wouldn’t want Favre on the team!!!!

  • http://orlando Mark

    DA, the story seems hard to believe. Like the phony Packer issued cellphone story proving collusion with the Vikes. It doesn’t make sense. The Packer offense played great in the first half against the Lions, I thought it was going to be a blowout.

  • Pete H

    Jay Glazer is a loser……he needs readers….cmon thats like taking Marriotti at his word. Just look at how he headlines it. Can we please, at least give a guy who did what he did for this franchise and city just a little benefit of the doubt. Its almost like people now are either looking to throw Favre under the bus for anything that crosses the wire, or their looking to throw the curent Packers under the bus regardless of what happens. GOOD LORD, its done!!! He’s still playing we’re doing fine, finding a rythm….let the damn thing go!

  • Cody

    Pete H, I absolutly could not agree with you more! PEOPLE GROW UP AND STOP TALKING ABOUT FAVRE!!!! He is the greatest QB of all time, he gave us a shot last year, he is playing for New York this year, and thats it, end of story. Stop talking about ‘what if’s and the ‘whose to blame’s, it doesn’t change anything. If you people are that immature, then just go find another place to rant because this is getting ridiculous.
    As for the whole Favre/Lions thing, it’s total BS. Like Pete said, Favre deserves the benefit of the doubt people, espeically from all of us Packers fans.

    *for the record, those who will say that I am being hypocritical for talking about Favre, I believe this is the first time I have talked about him since week 1 on here, so I’m not a hypocrite.

  • Matt Hayton

    Well…I think I’ve successfully stirred the pot on this blog to my liking for another week…hope you boys know it’s all in good fun…going back to Sunday – I was actually very impressed by AR and the entire team, dominating win…as I’ve said before, Lord Favre went 9-7 back in ’92, so that is my measuring stick for this team. If they go 9-7 or better and get into the playoffs you’ve got to feel pretty good about the future. But if they can’t get that done, no bueno.

    Overall, I have concerns about the OL and DL, CLifton and Tauscher don’t have much longer left and I don’t see a player on this roster than can replace either one of them. That needs to be addressed ASAP. And aside from Kampman there isn’t a difference maker on that D-Line. They must draft a DE early next year…maybe even 2. Still need a TE, and guard play still is below average. I think AR is a completely different type of QB and if this team is going to be successful long-term they need to beef up both lines. This team needs to fit the profile of running the ball and stopping the run. And right now they don’t. If this group is going to develop into a SB team, the weakness of this team needs to become it’s strength and right now, both lines are weakness.

  • Larry

    Need, need, need, need, need. Thats all I hear from the naysayers and TT bashers. Second guessing constantly. OK, we need a backup QB, a TE, (2) new OTs, (2) OGs, a backup C, (2) RBs and a blocking FB that can catch in the flat. We also need a run stuffing wide-body DT, a sacking DE, (2) CBs ready to start, a LB with range, and lets throw in a long snapper and punter then we’re set. It takes time. I’d rather go with the 10-6 yr and a SB once in a while with lower round picks, than that super-star loaded jugaurnaut SB winner where everybody demands the super payday and walks out when you cant pay the piper. The league then rewards you with a tougher schedule and lousy draft picks and you have no cash. Formula for disaster long term. In some ways our current troubles will have long term value giving the personnel people opportunity to see what we have on the bench in game conditions. I think our backup QB is here now.

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