I can’t wait for Monday. Win or lose at least the Packers can get on with their season and focus on the task at hand. While I first wished the schedule makers would have brought the Vikings to Green Bay in late December, putting the hype to bed with nine games to go is much better in the long run.

The Packers are focusing on their team goals which hopefully won’t be played out until January. One has to wonder how focused Brett Favre will be after Sunday, especially if the Vikings beat the Packers again. In Favre’s mind, no matter what he says, it would be mission accomplished with half the season to play. The Devil made me do it, but the thought crossed my mind that a loss by the Packers would be almost as good as a win. Thankfully, righteousness quickly returned and I dismissed that thought. Good over evil again.

The fact is this game is as even as they get. Both teams have played almost the same schedule and are separated by only one game in the loss column. The Packers rank higher in on both sides of the ball but have weaknesses on the offensive line. The Vikings have the veteran QB who has injected life into a once one-sided offense, but defensively the Vikings are very one-sided.

All the Packers need to do is give quarterback Aaron Rodgers time to pass and even if the running game struggles, he should pick apart the Vikings secondary, much like he did four weeks ago when he threw for his career high 384 yards against the Queens. I hope T.J. Lang starts at left tackle only because Cliffy has only played much football the last six weeks and hasn’t looked all that good when he did play. A healthy Lang is better at this point.

On the right side I would start Barbre but get Tauscher in for a series or two, or if need be, more. Even coming off a year out of football I feel better about Tausch than I do Cliffy. Why is that? I don’t know.

The Packers will miss Finley if he can’t play but Rodgers has confidence in Havner, so it might not be as bad first thought. With the home field, the crowd screaming every time Favre steps under center, the Packers have a great chance to knock off the division leaders.

I just can’t wait until it is over.

The Green Bay Packers racked up another dominating win over a team there were supposed to dominate and now face their second measuring stick of the season when the ViQueens bring Wisconsin’s favorite/hated son back to Lambeau Field. The Packers absolutely destroyed the Browns and they should have. Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers said the Packers scout team played the Browns defensive scheme better than the Browns did. How sad is that?

The Packers actually committed to the running game early so when Rodgers went to the air, everybody was wide open, it was like watching an out of conference college game. The Browns, like the Lions, simply have no players. It doesn’t matter what scheme you run if you don’t have the players it ain’t going to work. Fortunately, the Packers have the players on both sides of the ball. Sure, there are question marks on the offensive line and running back, but overall the Packers talent level was clearly on display Sunday against Cleveland as it was last week in Green Bay.

Certainly the talent level the Packers will face on Sunday against Minnesota is of equal or greater value, but the Packers have a little confidence now and that goes a long way. This could be really interesting with Brett Favre making his return to Green Bay as part of the enemy. The venom runs deep here and while he will have his supporters, and I suspect this game will have a ton of Vikings’ fans in attendance, I could see the crowd either booing or being extremely loud on every single Queens snap. In fact, I expect none the less.

The Queens will no doubt be planning for that and Favre is a master of the quick snaps and quick hitters, he worked it to perfection last year when the Jets beat Tennessee in Nashville. Do the Packers go all-out blitz and risk the consequences? The game plan they used three weeks ago wasn’t exactly effective even though they did not give up an unusual amount of yardage. Inability to get off the field on third down was the big factor. Offensively, will the Packers try to run the ball more even though they know it will be much tougher sledding than it was against the Browns? Will Ahman Green be able to come in and run a few screens to take the heat off the Vikings pass rush?

One of the biggest questions is who will start at right and left tackle? Is left tackle Chad Clifton better at less than 100 percent better than rookie T.J. Lang, who has performed well spelling the oft injured Clifton this year? Is Alan Barbre a big enough liability that Mark Tauscher starts in his place in a crucial game having been out of football almost a year? My guess is Clifton and Barbre start but both Lang and Tauscher get a series or two. I like what I’ve seen of Lang.

The Packers can make a huge statement Sunday, and I know I just probably jinxed them by saying that, but wow! What a victory would mean. The Packers would move back among the elite in the NFL and with a quarterback as good as Rodgers that is where they belong. The old man beat the kid the first time out, I think it is time for the student to become the master. Confidence is high.

12:03 PM: Here we go. Penalty on the first play. How can hitting the pylon be out of bounds when if you touch it running the ball it is a touchdown?

12:20 PM: The only team that can beat the Packers is the Packers. Failure to convert on 4th and inches is not a good start. And now a wasted challenge costing a timeout. It was close, but I wouldn’t have challenged, not enough evidence to overturn – you couldn’t see the ball. We need a turnover now.

12:50 PM: Wow, Spencer Havner? A 45-yard TD pass and the Packers are out in front. Nice defensive stand but another special teams penalty. 12-men this time. Hard to believe, now the Browns have a first down. That is pure coaching. 10 bucks says the Browns score on this drive now.

1:02 PM: Sweet! 71 yard TD pass to Driver! The veteran Driver didn’t have the flat out speed to get in the zone but his savvy got him all the way. A great stiff-arm got him just enough distance to score. Packers 14, Browns 3. Not quite game over, but close. Nice game plan to run the ball the first quarter, opening up the passing game. Why didn’t I think of that?

1:31 PM: A solid first half – 21-3. No shutout though so there is room for improvement. Rodgers needs to work on his accuracy, two imcompletions in the first half. We get the ball to start the second half so lets pour it on.

1:55 PM:  Here comes the penalties – cost the Packers points. Lee with an illegal contact call and now a dropped pass. Browns have great field position after a missed 55-yard field goal. Bad call there, the Packers just gave the Browns life.

3:22 PM:  Finally, complete and total domination. The Packers best game of the year. Two shitty teams but we beat them by a combined 57-3. The Packers ran the ball well, passed the ball well and did what they had to do. Bring on the Vikings.

The say a wounded animal is the most dangerous, and while I’m not exactly sure what a “Brown” is they play in the Dog Pound so I’ll call them a wounded animal. The Browns more than wounded, however, they are half-dead. The Browns have the worst defense in the NFL and second-worst offense and 20-some plays had the flu this week and missed practice time. I almost don’t know what to expect from them Sunday, but even if they play their best game I don’t think they can beat the Packers.

The only team that can beat the Packers this Sunday is themselves. If they were to lose to the Browns it would go down as the worst loss since the Packers lost to the winless Indianapolis Colts in 1997. The Packers were defending world champions then would go on to win the NFC again that year. Just goes to show it can happen I guess. In the Browns case they at least have a victory so they don’t have that goose-egg hanging over their heads. The Browns will probably go into the game hoping for the best but not really expecting to win. The Packers can’t give them life early, they need to score quick like they did against the Lions last week. The Browns have no passing game so if they get down by two or three touchdowns they’re not coming back.

I’m looking for another attacking game plan from the defense to put pressure on Derek Anderson, probably the worst starting quarterback in the NFL today. The Packers should get a good look at some of his errant throws and if they make the play a few times this will be the easy win the Packers need with the Vikings looming next week. I’ll be watching to see if anything got “cleaned up” this week in practice, a.k.a, the penalties and sacks. If Rodgers has time he may hit 400 yards for the first time in his career.

Look for the Packers’ first all-around solid performance resulting in a 37-13 win.

Yeah I know I’m a day late but I agree with the Ahman Green signing rather than bringing up Kregg Lumpkin from the practice squad. Green is a proven entity who can help the Packers right now. Thankfully the Packers won’t need Green this week against a woefully bad Cleveland Browns team that hasn’t even hit step one in rebuilding and now has 23 players sick with the flu. My biggest concern this week is that nobody from the Packers gets sick Sunday.

But back to the subject at hand. The Packers clearly made the right choice if that choice was Ahman Green over Dominic Rhodes. Green may be two years older but he forgot more about being an NFL running back than Rhodes will ever know. Rhodes’ last and only 1000 yard rushing season was in 2001, Green ran for 1000 yards in 2006 in only 14 games. Green never should have left Green Bay and was never a good fit in Houston even before he got hurt. Not saying this is a huge signing but in the final ten games of the season the Packers should get more production out of their backup running backs than they have so far, which has been zero.

In my opinion Green should be the number two back the day he suits up on Sunday, whether that is Sunday against the Browns or next week against the Vikings. Brandon Jackson is a complete waste of a roster spot if you ask me and Green will immediately make an impact in the short passing game. He will also improve the protection package which has been the biggest problem the Packers have had so far this year.

I can’t wait to see how this plays out because obviously if you compare Ryan Grant and Ahman Green in their primes, Green blows Grant away. Maybe the Packers get lucky and Green makes a huge impact, but even not, he is better than Wynn or Jackson.

Green is a class act and will also be a great veteran influence in the locker room. The Packers made the right move here.

If only statistics told the whole story, and I’m not getting detailed enough here to make a serious analysis, but here a few stats that seem kind of weird as we approach the midpoint of the season.

The Minnesota Vikings are 6-0 and the media darlings most likely to make it to the Super Bowl. The Packers on the other hand are generally perceived as not playing up to expectations and could be considered a disappointment  after five games because of their two losses. The Chicago Bears might also be disappointed in their 3-2 record. If you had to guess records based on stats alone you might think different.

Currently the Packers’ offense ranks 10th in the NFL, the Vikings are 13th and the Bears are 19th. Defensively the Packers are 8th, the Bears 13th and Vikings are 18th. Who is leading the division? The NFL has so many statistics and you can analyze them in so many ways that in this case the phrase “statistics don’t lie” can be thrown out. At least when at looking at won-loss records, as that is the only stat that counts.

When I look at these stats which show the Packers as the best offense and best defense in the NFC North Division I like to think it is a positive considering the way the season has played out. I mean it is not like the Packers are playing horrible football.

If the Packers continue to remain in the top ten on defense all season it will mean they are continuing to get better as the opposition gets stronger which will in turn lead to good things. Despite the problems on offense right now I think with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback the Packers will move the ball all season and will again rank in the top ten like they did last year when coming in sixth. Going into the season all we asked for really was a better defense, the problems on the offensive line came out of the blue for the most part but I think they can be fixed as the season progresses. It could be blind optimism but I’ve seen it before when an individual unit, be it the offensive line or defensive line or secondary, come together and even turn into a position of strength as the season wore on. It happened in Green Bay two years ago when Ryan Grant exploded for 900-some yards over the last seven games when the Packers couldn’t run a lick the first nine games.

I like to see the Packers ranked high in the stats and winning is the most important, but remember, if you are last in offense and defense you aren’t going to be winning many games. Moving the ball and stopping the opponent does help a little. My question to you is does the fact that the Vikings are not exactly statistical superstars against pretty much the same schedule the Packers have played give you any hope the Packers can catch the Vikings? It does me. At least a little bit. I think the Packers’ defense can get better, I think the Vikings are who they are. The Bears are the big unknown on both sides of the ball, but I get the feeling the Lovie Smith era in Chicago might be winding down. If you are going to have Jay Cutler at quarterback you can’t be a running offense. But that is another story.

It’s between the Packers and Vikings if you ask me.

It wasn’t exactly pretty, although it did have its moments, but the Green Bay Packers did what they had to do and beat the Lions 26-0 to improve to 3-2. The Lions fielded the equivalent of a”B” team and never came close to mounting any kind of challenge to the Packers. The only team that could stop the Packers Sunday was the Packers and they did an excellent job of that with more penalties and sacks. I guess two weeks of cleaning the house wasn’t enough.

Head coach Mike McCarthy better find a new vacuum and scrub brush because whatever he is using to “clean our house” is not working. 13 penalties against the Lions? That is ridiculous, but not any more ridiculous than five more sacks of Aaron Rodgers. The Packers can beat the Lions and probably the Browns next week playing like that, but the Vikings will most assuredly give them beat-down number two when the teams meet again November 1. Rodgers did have a little more time to execute and had an excellent day with 350 yards passing and a TD on his way to a 113 passer rating.

The Packers defense welcomed Clay Matthews to the starting lineup and he was an instant hit. I love Brady Poppinga but I’m barring injury he won’t be playing much linebacker anymore for the Packers. Matthews looks to be everything the the Packers thought he was and he needs to be is on the field getting better and better each week. I think the Packers’ defense will improve as the year goes on as they learn what they can and can’t do in the new scheme. We already might be seeing more of Aaron Kampman lined up at end than we did the first four games and Kampman seemed to respond favorably.

We really can’t tell much about this win because the Lions are so depleted, but it is a win and game one of the two must-win games is in the books. The Browns are up and the Packers might actually be able to pick up some ground on the Vikings with a win. The Steelers are early four point favorites over he Queens in Pittsburgh. Just once I’d like to see complete and total domination. I mean, five weeks into the season we shouldn’t have our quarterback faking a hand-off to thin-air like Rodgers had to do Sunday, that was embarrassing. I guess we’ll see Sunday if any cleaning gets done this week.

The Packers get just the team they needed today to remove the bad taste in their mouth, now they just have to go out and do it. Go out and play the game like we know they can and send the Lions back to Michigan with their 19th straight loss in Wisconsin. I’ll be there, follow me on Twitter at packernetblog.

The Lions are not a good team even though they are better than last year – kind of like an old t-shirt I used to have said  – “Better than nothing, but not much.” The Lions only really have one A+ player in Calvin Johnson and he is banged up and likely won’t play today. Retread Daunte Culpepper will start at QB and while he did throw for almost 300 yards last week against Pittsburgh, he is not the same Culpepper of old as he can’t run a lick anymore, evidenced by his seven sacks last week. The Packers will likely open up a little on defense today and put some heat on Culpepper.

The Lions secondary is in a state of flux and the their defensive line is banged up. The Packers offense might find their groove a little today. After a dreary week in Green Bay, this morning dawned a beautiful fall day built for football. Lambeau Field will be rocking and the Packers will win 34-17.

The Green Bay Packers can paint any picture they want, but the bottom line is if they are to salvage their season they need to win the next two games and preferably the next three. Certainly the next two against the Lions at home and at Cleveland simply have to be won. There is no excuse available outside of losing Aaron Rodgers on the first play of the Detroit game that can justify losing either game. The Packers are in college football mode, they pretty much can’t afford another loss, for sure not in the division.

The Detroit Lions have lost 18 straight games in the state of Wisconsin and are facing a team on the brink. While the Lions are light years ahead of where they were last year, which isn’t really saying much, they should be no match for an angry Packers’ team. At least I hope the Packers are mad. They have underachieved on both sides of the ball thus far this year and are what they are at 2-2. Two convincing wins and 4-2 would look real nice going into the Vikings game in which the Vikings could very well still be undefeated. They also need two wins to keep pace with the Bears, who are looking better and better each week. The heat is on and it is hotter than ever since the Ted Thompson/Mike McCarthy era began in erst.

If I was GM for a day I would look at doing what I have to do to pry Steven Jackson out of St. Louis. The Rams have nothing to play for and I believe would gladly take a first or second-round pick to help them rebuild. Jackson would give the Packers the running back who can do it all – run up the middle, run the edge and most importantly, catch the ball out of the backfield, in other words it would make the Packers an instant contender. It would also be an admission of guilt to making a mistake on Ryan Grant but like Thompson’s mentor Ron Wolf would do is correct the mistake as soon as possible. Ask Ray Rhodes about that trait of Ron Wolf. Thompson can fix his mistake by getting Jackson.

Rumor is the Dolphins are dangling Ronnie Brown but I’m not sure he has the skill set to match the Packers’ offense, for one I don’t think he is as good of a receiver but he is younger and an awesome runner, which would make him more worth the compensation. Wolf, in his prime,  pulled the trigger on Keith Jackson and it is time for Thompson to make his signature move. Thompson, like Wolf, found a QB, but Thompson hasn’t found the remaining pieces, which I think comes down to his choice of head coach. Wolf went two-for-two, Thompson’s choices still hang in the balance.

We will probably find out what we need to about McCarthy over the next 12 games, especially if the Packers don’t suffer any major injuries. Against Detroit they should have pretty much their opening day lineup on the field providing Atari Bigby and Chad Clifton return from injury. No more excuses, even though losing Bigby wasn’t nearly has huge as losing Clifton. Now with Mark Tauscher back in the fold and on track to start by the Vikings game, the offensive line does actually have a chance to improve. I still want to see Scott Wells back at center and Jason Spitz at right guard. You can’t tell me that Wells is not one of the top five lineman on this team. I have not always been a Wells fan, but right now he is easily one of the top five and you find a way to play your top five no matter what.

Like the US Government and its DEFCON level I have my Packers’ confidence level and at this point in time confidence remains high. Well, maybe PACKCON 4, PACKCON 5 should be reserved for when we win the Super Bowl

More to come…

Man, you would think the Packers lost the Super Bowl. Apparently Packers’ fans have forgot how hard it actually hurt to lose the Super Bowl after the 1997 season because losing to the Vikings in October is not even close. If it wasn’t for Brett Favre this game would have been just another in long history of disasters in Metrodome, and really, this game was a good game. The Packers have nothing to hang their heads about and their playoff hopes were not dashed Monday night, no matter how hard it was losing to Favre. In fact, I think this will make the Packers stronger.

I know I predicted a Packers’ victory and tried to point out all the reasons the Packers could win the game but in the end I knew it was a tall order. Still, the Packers were in great position to steal one until Donald Lee dropped a pass in the endzone. It’s a whole different game if Lee hangs on. Do the Packers have some problems to correct? You bet. Did they make some bad decisions? No doubt, but this is still a good football team. The Packers have the players they just have to find out if they have the right coach.

Almost like Ron Wolf and Mike Holmgren, Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy have put their careers on the line by sticking with Aaron Rodgers when Favre changed his mind last year. I mean really, if Favre really loved to play the game so much why was it so hard for him to decide to play every year for the last five years? The Packers had to make a decision for the future and did so. Rodgers has done nothing yet to prove it wasn’t the right decision. Favre didn’t win a Super Bowl his first year as a starter, in fact, and I’m counting 1992, it took him five years. I think in all fairness we should give Rodgers two years before we label him a bust.

I believe the Packers this year have been faced with some unexpected circumstances and while I wish the won-loss record was one game better, I can’t complain too bad. The two teams they lost to are a combined 7-1 and should be 8-0 if not for a fluke play. The Packers have not been blown out and even with the struggles on the offensive line have still been able to make big plays. Yes, in my game blog, I was worried against the Rams, but that lasted about three minutes as the Packers dominated in the end.

I am not worried at all right now, the Packers have a favorable schedule with the Lions and Browns the next two games, followed by the Vikings at home, at Tampa Bay and at home against the Cowboys. Anything other than 4-1 during that stretch will be a disappointment. All I know is I’m not throwing in the towel nor am I calling for people to be fired with three-fourths of the season to be played. I mean, who would have thought the Cardinals would have made the Super Bowl last year?

Do the Packers have problems? Yes. Does Aaron Rodgers need to take the next step? Yes. Are these problems correctable? Yes. Have I watched too much Seinfeld? Yes.

Left tackle Chad Clifton will be back for the Lions and I’m hoping the Packers sign Mark Tauscher and get him ready to start at least by the Browns game. He will need a full game I think before facing the Vikings the following week. I don’t want to sound stupid, or any more stupid than I normally am, but I think the return of Tauscher can be a huge lift not only on the line but in the locker room. Now if we just get him back on “Tuesday Night Touchback”.

Come on people, let’s look at what we can do now and worry about the off-season during the off-season. I still think this is a good football team, they just need to find out who they are. Is it a “West Coast Offense” or is it a “Let’s get vertical” offense? Is the defense going to pressure the QB or not? Both sides need to make up their minds and commit to it. I say reel in Rodgers and stick with the short stuff knowing he’ll hit the bomb when it’s there. Move the chains. On defense I think Dom Capers needs to commit to his defense for good or bad and let them loose on the QB. Capers’ fear of Brett Favre, which we saw Packers’ opponents succumb to for 16 years was the main reason the Packers lost Monday night. Time to let them play.

The bye week came at a great time for the Packers, Cliffy will be back, Bigby will back, even some guy named Jackson might be back, so step off the ledge, cut the rope, unload the gun, barf up the pills, we’re not done yet.