The Green Bay Packers may only be 4-4 and by all means could have had a better record at the midpoint of the season. But considering all the turmoil of training camp and the injuries to the defense, and the fact they have played only two teams with losing records at this stage of the season and just took the best team in the league to overtime on the road, I’m not too worried. In fact, I’m kind of excited. This Packers’ team and new quarterback Aaron Rodgers are becoming more battle tested every week. Poor Rodgers, he has to play a first-place schedule in his first year as a starter as opposed to the third-place schedule the Packers played last year. No cream-puffs other than Detroit and Seattle thus far. Six of the the Packers’ eight games have been against opponents with at least a .500 record. To be .500 is not all that bad after that.
No matter what, the first half of the season is a learning process for the Packers and new quarterback Rodgers. For most of the first half of the season the Packers’ defense has been a sieve against the run, the last three games they have improved, but the early damage was done. If the Packers want to look at the game that they really blew in the first half it has to be the Falcon loss. The Packers might have been overconfident going into that game and even though the Falcons are proving to be a pretty good team, it was still a game the Packers should have won.
For his first eight games as as a starter, I couldn’t be happier with the way Rodgers has played and the fact that the Packers have amazingly found a quarterback to lead them for the next ten years hopefully. Rodgers, at age 24, is light-years ahead of where Brett Favre was when Brett was 24. In this day and age of the NFL, quarterbacks who make mistakes like Favre did in 1992 and 1993 find themselves on the bench. The Packers finished 8-8 both years. I guess Favre couldn’t raise the level of play of Sanjay Beach to Jerry Rice level at that time. Don’t ask me why.
I don’t think the Packers will finish 8-8 this year. I think 10 or 11 wins are more likely. Ten will probably win the division and ten is what the Giants won in the regular season last year. Like the Packers of this year, the Giants started slow and lost tough games to tough opponents. Not only did they rebound, the rebounded by winning it all and now carrying it over to this season. They did it with a 27-year old quarterback. I may be wrong but I don’t think a 39-year old quarterback ever won a Super Bowl, in fact I doubt one ever made it there.
I think the way the Packers played against the Titans was a strong effort. If anything the Packers’ vaunted secondary had one of its worst games. Three dropped interceptions and gave up crucial pass plays to receivers who couldn’t make the Packers’ practice squad. One of those crucial pass plays was a linebacker mistake though when Chris Johnson was left wide open in overtime. That play pretty much won the game for the Titans. Rodgers was the first QB to pass for 300 yards on the Titans and running Ryan Grant had his best game, if not yardage-wise. The Packers should have used Grant much more in my mind as he was gaining huge chunks of yardage at times. After giving him the ball 64 times the previous two games, for some reason head coach Mike McCarthy went away from the run and as usually happens the Packers lose.
I know everybody is gripping right now, but lets see this thing play out. I am not concerned about 4-4, I am excited about the future of this team with the improving Rodgers at quarterback, not only this year but in future years. If Rodgers’ career would have started last year, the Packers might have won the Super Bowl. One thing is absolutely indisputable, Rodgers would not have thrown that lame duck in last year’s NFC Championship game. This year Rodgers is on pace for 10 interceptions while Favre is on pace for 26. I know who I want.
If Rodgers thought the Packers opening night game against the Vikings in Lambeau Field on Monday Night Football was a big deal, he hasn’t played in a big game yet, which in a way he hasn’t. This week’s game against the Vikings in Minnesota is the biggest game of Rodgers life. A loss to the Vikings and dropping to third place in the division could be disastrous, then again in the NFC North this year, who knows? Now I sound like Mr. Kimble. But falling below .500 will put the heat on like we haven’t seen since Mike Sherman’s last year as head coach. I don’t see it happening. Rodgers bounces back, the defense bounces back, Packers 34, Vikings 13.