Packers-Cardinals Game Live

Well, the Arizona Cardinals proved to be no match for the Packers’ offense. Aaron Rodgers was again on fire as it was a simple march to a 7-0 lead. A John Kuhn TD gives the Packers a 7-zip lead. A great drive.

  • http://Orlando Mark

    Mel, I knew that would be the first comment on this board about the Vikes game. I think you’re going to fit right in. Did you notice when the Houston QB’s had time the deep recievers were wide open. The Vikes DB’s don’t look any better this year. If their DT get the 4 game suspensions that defense is going to struggle.

  • Devil’s Advocate…

    I was questioning “our all time passing leader” packer_bob. Last I knew, he isn’t ours, he’s the Vikings.

  • packer_bob

    Oh, you’re right, that does mean he’s not our all time leading passer. My mistake.

    I looked up the Cowboys all time leading rusher, expecting to see the name “Emmett Smith,” but there was an asterisk indicating they erased all his stats as soon as he went to the Cardinals. (And something about how he was “dead to us now.”) And Jim Taylor isn’t our leading rusher anymore, nor James Lofton our all time leading receiver since they ended their careers somewhere else.

    In fact, I found out most NFL teams keep their record holder’s name on a chalkboard now, for easier erasure.

  • roy jamison

    I thought Favre looked good last nite. But the trouble is not with the first 8 games or so, it’s during those last 8 when his 40 year old body is gonna feel like 80 years old. I thought the Vikes defense was okay, but I really thought they would look better than that. Maybe it’s just the phoney games where they don’t play a notch higher than during the regular season. Be glad you’re not a Chiefs fan where your team keeps their O-coordiator till almost the season opener then decides to fire him. What the?

  • packer_bob

    I agree, Roy, he looked Ok, especially if you consider he’s been there, what, two weeks? His best pass was the fade to Harvin that Harvin didn’t quite get to, but he made some nice plays, was efficient and didn’t turn it over, which is about what they want out of him at this point, I suspect.

    Whether he can hold up for a season at this point is anyone’s guess.

    Thought of Punk/Larry last night during the broadcast. It was early and one of the announcer’s commented on how Favre looked like Elway at the end of his career, because Favre was doing so much handing off. The more I think of it, Larry, you’re probably right, he wants to have that last smile before going into that last good night.

  • Punk

    I think so, p_b, but he IS entitled to do what he’s doing, he HAS earned it. I don’t think he can pull it off but we’ll see. Heard a good analogy today. If you dump your girl friend, don’t bitch about who she dates, especially if you’ve dated for a long, long time. Is McCowen being dangled in front of us? Is he worth 2.5 M to sit? Maybe if we dangle the right WR, LB, or S they might pay some of the tab to get rid of him. The thing I’m concerned about is if you bring in a #2 that is now better prepared than Flynn do you retard Flynn’s development? We didn’t do that with AR and it paid off. I doubt any of those #2s available out there would come and be a #3 and I don’t want to pay millions for a #3.

  • Reid

    All I know is with former ABA star Ben McAdoo coaching the tight ends we should see some real action when one of our tight ends scores a TD and dunks the ball over the goal post.

  • iccyfan

    Larry – That Czarnecki article you referenced was interesting. The Czar sees ten trades that need to take place throughout the entire NFL (before waiver deadline) and the Packers figure prominently in four of them. In the first we acquire McCown from TB as the backup QB, but the other three involve getting value for talent we won’t be able to retain (Harrell, Wells & a safety). I guess the Czar thinks Ted has done a pretty good job of stockpiling talent! Heck, our cast-offs are already littering other NFL rosters and it looks like they’re lining up to shop for our blue-light specials again! Somebody is likely to make off with a fine RB, FB & LB, in addition to those the Czar highlights.

    I like pre-season if for no other reason that to watch past-Packer draft picks or FA signees trying to make it with other teams. Our 7th round DE from NW Missouri State (Tollefson) a couple years back stuck with the Giants and saw playing time. I think Ted’s first draft included a flyer on a fast CB from Oklahoma that was “raw”; he’s on somebody’s roster now, at least for pre-season! I’m just blown away that Ted’s still largely unappreciated by our fanbase…

  • Punk

    Yeah, iccy, but then I’m on the “done a good job” side. See there’s the quandary I’m in. I’m willing to pay Wells 2.5 but not a QB, and that on the face of it doesn’t make sense. But pull back the facade and I think Wells has more value. ie; I think he gives us a lot more high quality options if someone goes down. And sometime, throughout the season, somebody in the interior of the OL will sit down. FB, RB, and S cuts I can live with but dislike losing any of our LBs. Some other GM is going to make TT an “offer he can’t refuse”, because in the last five years we haven’t been as stocked. But then, thats the downside of rebuilding thru the draft; you end up losing guys you just hate to part with after you’ve put in all the time, training, and patience developing them. On the other hand it makes you stronger in the long run. When it happens this blog will jump at how un-characteristic of TT it is, but in reality he hasn’t had much to deal with either. This all started in ’05 with Rodgers, Collins, Murphy (excellent choice, terrible ending), Underwood (+-), Poppinga, and Montgomery.

  • packer_bob

    Ted’s still largely unappreciated because 1 playoff appearance in 4 years doesn’t get any streets named after you in Green Bay. Although there may be a steakhouse near the stadium he can pick up on the cheap….

    Seriously, if we turn into a dominant team he will be lauded until the end of time. Until then, what do you expect?

    And “talent we won’t be able to retain” and Justin Harrell don’t belong in the same sentence. I appreciate you bringing up the article, I’ll go read it when I can, but if we can get anything for him from anyone at this point we should take it and run before they sober up.

  • Punk

    Should we really be concerned about MIN? Start w/ Div champs last year. 1) The QB that got them there isn’t playing. 2) Why would you “wildcat” w/ Brett Favre wide? 3) Would you throw a crack-back w/ a cracked rib (if you’re into the rib story)? 4) Would you even call a play like that if your QB had any kind of a injury? MIN caught the Bearse D injured, like us, and with no QB or WRs. Ditto our D and our “musical chairs” OL. Their coach tells Jackson he’s the future and then brings in Rosenfels. He then tells Jackson he’s the starter and brings in Favre. Then in a meaningless Pre calls that kind of play w/ a forty year old QB. One might think Childress needs a week or so of rehab.

  • packer_bob

    You can always dice these things two ways (except that wildcat play where you expect BF to block, that’s just dumb.)

    Minnesota is the defending division champs. They have the best running back in football right now, young and in his prime. They’ve just acquired a veteran QB that knows the system and can pass for a high percentage. In case that QB goes down, they have a veteran back up that they actually brought in to compete for the starting job to begin with. They stuff the run and have a pass rushing force in Jared Allen. Can’t really speak to their special teams, as far as I know they’re OK and think Longwell is still a reliable kicker.

    Does that mean I’m scared of them? No, but those are all some pretty good reasons to be concerned. They’re certainly not chopped liver. So many of these questions are so much “If this, this and this happens, and who stays healthy, etc” that it’s basically impossible to tell what’s going to happen. At this time last year, I doubt any of us thought last season’s record was even a possibility. But broadly I would be concerned about Minnesota and the Bears, yes. I think it’s going to be very exciting to watch division games this year.

  • http://Orlando Mark

    If the GM job was just drafting, TT has done a good job. But like Wolf pointed out(after hiring 2 second rate head coaches) there’s a lot more to the job. He’s also got to use trade and free agency to fix areas of need( if he can identify what those areas are). It’s a tough job competing with sharks like the Pats for the limited talent. So I wish him well, also hope he can trade some excess players for future prospects this week.

  • Devil’s Advocate…

    I see brent injured Wilson w/his crack back block (hame page: Bing) No mention from home page Fox Sports. Hmmmm??

    You see those two shots to the legs from last year on Schwab from Jared Allan? (showed during the game) Looked like he was aiming for them. Vikings are a dirty team……………..

  • Punk

    P_B, with all that, MIN split with GB and CHI after we both started piling up the injuries in the 2nd half of the season. They lost to IND, ATL, TB, and TEN. My point was that Childress is a lousy coach and cannot get the most out of the talent he has. They lost to PHI in their only playoff game after beating a weak Bearse team by one game in the Div. I think you are overrating them on the field too. With the best back, the two best DTs, the best DE (share w/ Kampman last yr) they should have done better outside the Div. Enter Childress, this year depending on a rookie to be their best WR, a decent TE, but then that downright lousy secondary. I wouldn’t wanna be a Vike fan.

  • packer_bob

    Larry,

    I’m not saying they are a dominant team with no weaknesses, but obviously they felt they lost that playoff game last year due to Tavaris Jackson. You asked if we should be concerned with them, I just pointed out a few reasons why the answer is yes.

    We lost to ATL, TB, and TEN last year too and you can’t blame it all on injuries. Does that make McCarthy a lousy coach that can’t the most of his talent? I’m not trying to defend Childress as I haven’t watched Vikings games that didn’t involve us, so I really can’t speak to what kind of coach he is. Just saying in the games I have seen, mainly against us, it seemed they never had a QB that could consistently complete the basic of throws to keep the chains moving.

  • http://jlworden1suddenlink.net Punk

    Oh, p_b, you’re so close to becoming a believer. We were a better team than MIN last year; I don’t care what the record shows, and I realize that ten years from now it will still show we only won (6) games. But, the ever loving BUT, I keep saying last year was an anomaly, and here’s why: TB, a loss true, coming off that horrible game in DAL, at TB. TB held us to (28) yds rushing and (8) first downs. (10) points against due to turnovers; see what I mean about anomaly? TEN we beat everywhere but on the score board. Harrell played better than Haynesworth in the only good game he ever had. They beat us w/ a FG in OVT. ATL, another (3) pt loss that we’re either ahead or tied w/ (2) minutes to go. This team is stocked with twos that can replace ones w/o any fall-off. Take the Fab5(6) any could start, LB (6) deep w/ Chillar/Bishop as good as the ones at either inside or outside. Williams could start at CB and we now have a TE that can go deep. I think Jolly could start and Raji could start at NT. Weakness maybe at Safety and I could feel more comfortable at QB. As to their new QB; he’s doing just what I predicted several posts ago. Dink, dunk, flair, screen, and handoff to #28. His long ball is now a 50/50 gamble but leave it the Childress to try. C’mon, p_b, start drinking out of the top half of the glass…!

  • http://jlworden1suddenlink.net Punk

    Here we go; don’t like to lose Peprah, but I’ll take Rouse. Steelers allowed 14 per game last year; thats like ’60s Packers. Let us set that as a goal. PS is a nut. Picking Bearse is like saying Hester is a better receiver than Marshall; no way. What CHI needs is more 13yr vet OLs. Is it true that their lawyers are the Williams’ backups? Seems to me they’re more important this year than the real backups. Wow, this is going to be a long two weeks.

  • roy jamison

    Quote PB:”Ted’s still largely unappreciated because 1 playoff appearance in 4 years doesn’t get any streets named after you in Green Bay.” That’s funny stuff! Now two playoff appearances in 5 years might get the first letter of his name on a street.

  • Michael Legat

    I see that Aaron Rodgers is the cover of the NFL Preview issue of Sports Illustrated this week.

    http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/si_online/covers/images/2009/0907_large.jpg

    So much for flying under the radar…

  • http://Orlando Mark

    Is there still an SI cover jinx? Of course, the worst thing about being touted(for playing great in games that don’t count) is the players might get overinflated. If the coaches can show them how the Bears beat us 4 of the last 6 maybe that will pop their balloons. The opener is going to be tough. I only wish we played them this Sunday so this junk won’t go another week.