Back in the hunt?

The Green Bay Packers are not dead! Just when you (I) thought the season was in serious jeopardy, the Packers go and knock off the NFC East leading Dallas Cowboys to put themselves right back in the playoff hunt.Who are these guys? The Packers’ defense dominated the Cowboys high-powered offense all day and the Packers’ offense made enough big plays to get the job done and also put together the best drive of quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ young career. If, as we hope, the Packers’ season turns around now, the 15-play drive the Packers put on the Cowboys to take a 10-0 lead will clearly be the turning point.

Rodgers was absolutely masterful in directing the 80-yard march that was a grind from the first play. The two unbelievable third-down passes to keep it alive I think are signs Rodgers is still getting better. It’s one thing to make those throws on first down but to thread the needle like that on third-and-long shows how good Rodgers can be. For the first time in several weeks Rodgers was decisive with the ball and either threw it away or took off running. Maybe the fact that Rodgers was given more leeway at the line of scrimmage by head coach Mike McCarthy had something to do with it. I believe Rodgers is a very smart QB and like a guy like Peyton Manning he should have free reign to call what he wants when he gets to the line of scrimmage.

Despite the win McCarthy did not have one of his better days. His challenge of the Jordy Nelson non-TD was insane. I mean, really! Do the Packers have anybody watching TV during the game? It didn’t take a 72-inch HDTV to see Nelson was down well short. A poor camera phone would have picked that up. McCarthy’s excuse today was laughable, saying he was going to call a time out anyway. What? And then to challenge a call later on and not have a challenge left was a classic Chris Webber moment. A team should really get penalized for that.

I think the return of Jordy is a big factor in the offense’s ability to hit some quick release passes. Nelson will go anywhere for a ball and is always open. James Jones is good for a big play every now and then but he had a huge drop in the endzone against the Cowboys and is a sideline only receiver. Nelson is clearly the Packers’ third best receiver and not having him or tight end Jermichael Finley the last few week certainly contributed to the inconsistent play of the offense. Finley will be back this week and with the addition of Ahman Green the Packers’ offense might be able to develop a little consistency the next few weeks.

With games against the 49ers at Lambeau this week and at Detroit Thanksgiving Day, if the Packers are to qualify for the playoffs this year they will win these two games. Following that they don’t play again until the following Monday night so they have what amounts to a mini-bye week.

A couple of other thoughts. Does Ryan Grant look like a different player since Green was signed? I think so. Why is it that the Packers’ defense got home on the blitz against one of the best offensive lines in the NFL but couldn’t touch Brett Favre or Josh Freeman? I think Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji are big-time players and the Packers’ defense has some solid building blocks. I also think Nick Barnett might be having the best year of his career. You all have always bashed Barnett, but all he does is make tackles like he is supposed to do. Now he gets a chance to rush the QB  a little and the results are promising.

I’m just finishing watching the second half and I am still amazed at the defensive performance. If the Packers can control Frank Gore next week, and they have been solid against the run all year, they should have no trouble shutting down Alex Smith. It’s Rodgers against the first team that passed on him in the 2005 draft, which I’m sure he will get plenty of questions about this week.

After Tampa Bay, I will never call a game a gimme, and neither should the Packers. The Packers will be favorites to win the next two games for sure, and probably will be favorites over Baltimore on December 7th at Lambeau. The opportunity is there for the Packers, the problem is we don’t know yet which team will show up from week to week. The good Dr. Jekyll or the evil Mr. Hyde.

Because of the play of the Packers’ defense though, I am feeling more confident about this year’s team than I was at this point last year. I can’t wait to get to Lambeau next week. We’re not done yet!

This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 10:56 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.

  • 25 Yrs Pack

    Feels good again, have atleast a week to feel postive now, like to think the good things will keep on going and everything else will continue to improve.

  • PackerPete

    LarryTex,

    I am specific with Jags because he is a Yooper, Sconie guy, he was the reason McCarthy went into the Zone Run scheme, he has shown himself to be capable of leading a program successfully (BC) and he has had some issues at his previous jobs because of his leadership and competitiveness clashing with less qualified HC (Sherman, Morris), but he has worked well in other situations where he fits, GB with MM and Atlanta with Alex Gibbs.

    He is a firey guy with regional roots who simply will not take losing as acceptable. he is a good play caller and a good strategist using the ZBS and WCO. He is the reason our offense is structured as it is, and his absence is the reason we have floundered. When he came everything was in alignment for success, when he got the HC at BC job, our scheme fell into disrepair strategically and educationally with the current crop of stooge OL/OC coaches.

  • http://jlworden1suddenlink.net LarryTex

    Thanks, PP, I’m not knowledgeable about him and what I heard I didn’t like. Was the reason he left the BC job? What is he doing now? I’d like to know more about him.

  • PackerPete

    he left BC because he spoke with the Jets about the HC position and BC fired him for talking to the Jets. Totally BS.

    He is sitting at home now because Morris the TB HC fired him right before the season due to Morris being an incompetent boob and Jags being competitive and wanting to WIN. He is collecting his paycheck from TB while sitting at home.

    Look up his history as a coach, he is an Alex Gibbs ZBS decendant, he has been successful everywhere he has been, he is a good leader and would demand excellence with whatever organization he joins,

    His downside is that he thinks he is the smartest guy in the room wherever he has been. Insecure HC cannot handle having great coordinators and coaches, Great HC surround themselves with coaches that have the confidence and ability to ascend to the next level. Great HC use the drive and intellect of ambitious coaches to further their own agendas, not being afraid of driven people on their staff.

  • monty

    hey al and fellow packer fans…one game does not a season make nor does it correct the fact that we still are in need of a real O-Line and running backs that can catch screens. You saw the results of the screens we tried to run, only Action Jackson had any success. Perhaps he can make a career of coming of the bench on 3rd and long. Ahman Green is a retread, we need better younger backs. McCarthy made the same mistake with his time out as he did last year when we lost to the Queens by one point. AP was given a touchdown and McCarthy used a timeout to see if he was down at the 1 ft line. We later needed a time out to try and get closer for Crosby to kick the winning field goal. Im with ya on that one AL, McCarthy is terrible at using his time outs and challenges and he didnt know hey you only can challenge so many plays…duh. Also, as long as he is head coach we will never clean up the penalties. What’s with all the holding calls?? That whole mess has to be cleaned up, from getting the right linemen to the penalties. You dont see good teams making that many mistakes. That whole O-Line needs an overhaul and we need to get away from the ZBS. We need to go back to the power line and get some big backs that can bring the rock. If Thompson extends any of those O-Linemen, then he’s a fool. Charles Woodson is the one that needs and extension, that is the way you are suppose to play football. It seems though that Woodson is on and off, its like why the heck happened with the D in Tampa Bay? I agree with you about Nelson, he brings a different dimension to the offense. Hey did anyone see that the Jets finally got smart and cut Ahmad Carroll? Well 10-6 is not out of the question, not sure how that plays for a wild card spot. Lets just hope we dont lay eggs in the next two games and the boys spent their season on Dallas. I still think that maintenance worker should get his job back and they should fire McCarthy, the man is a control freak just like Thompson. That worker had been there 22 years..22 years!! And Big Mike comes along and says kick is arse out of here because he offended me…give me a break. They better give that guy his job back!!

  • AATP

    McLardy never said to get rid of that guy… I’m gonna guess there was more to it then we know about so making generalizations probably isn’t in anyone’s best interest…

    Personally I’m gonna hang on to the Dallas win for awhile cause I live in Texas and this is the one game – for bragging rights sake – I really wanted to the Packers to win.

  • Bob

    I can’t believe i’m about to say this, but do you think Aaron Kampman is a liability to us on defense? he can’t cover anyone, Kampman is a machine when he is on the line rushing the Qb. If we are going to keep the current regime of TT AND MM, I think we should trade him for some o-line help for next year. But I would hate to lose Kampman if for some reason we would end up going back to the 4-3.

  • Reid

    Bob – I agree. He needs to rush the passer, and that’s it. Maybe he can be a situational player, but his inability to cover in the 3-4 defense pretty much means the rest of the league has us by the NADS. They aren’t going to give us jack for him and, if we franchise him, we will have to pay him huge $$’s and take the chance that no one wants him. Or, maybe this injury will be a good thing and he will see the writing on the wall and step it up a notch. I wouldn’t put that past him, the guy is a real competitor.

  • Oddball

    Reid –

    It’s the competitive streak in Kampman that has me thinking we’re just asking him to do something he’s not physically capable of doing. If he had it in him to do it well, I have to believe we’d already be seeing it.

    He’s a serious 4-3 pass rusher – sad as it would have made me to see it, we probably should have traded him when we committed to the 3-4. His value back in May would have been very, very good.

    At the moment, however, I just don’t see letting a guy with his ability go and get nothing in return. It’s on Capers (as a noted and very veteran coach) to find a way to effectively use the players he has. Ok – so the only guy on your team who has demonstrated a knack for getting to the QB can’t be a traditional OLB. Find another way to make it work. Improvise. Adapt. Discover. You just don’t let a guy like Kampman walk away.

  • http://jlworden1suddenlink.net LarryTex

    CHARLES HALEY, down here we remember him well. OLB w/ 49ers 3-4 and DE w/ DAL 4-3. It amazes me that Capers has not found a situational role for Kampy like the way Haley was used in DAL. He only came in on third and passing, but it worked.
    A top rushing 4-3 DE is worth a hell of a lot more than an OT but now thats the best we can hope for, or a high draft choice. If he cannot be used ala Haley we, honestly, have no use for him, and thats a damned shame because he does not deserve this.

  • Rick

    I don’t know about a liability on defense but I do not think he is a fit in our scheme. He is not going to recover in Pass Defense. We can pitch the Raiders Kaupman/ Jarret Bush and a 1st and 3rd for their Corner Nnamdi Asomugha before the draft in April . They can load up on one of the deepest drafts in years and we can move Al Harris to the Nickel Back and stop using Tramon on the defense and remove Bush from the team.

    That would give us one of the best 1-2 corners in the game with Harris a solid #3 DB.

    Raiders would have access to a Solid down Lineman in the 4-3 that can also move into the 3-4 sets they use with Seymour. A servicable PR/KR #5 DB and great picks for this years draft before a lockout possibility in 2011.

  • roy jamison

    I like Jago, but he is one of those guys who can’t keep his mouth shut apparently. He could have developed himself as a head coach at BC and eventually gotten into position to be an NFL head guy. But, couldn’t he have done that better as the offensive coordinator of the Packers before he decided he wanted to be a top dog somewhere? And, then to decide to blow himself up with the brass at BC wasn’t the most brilliant thing to do at the flourescent factory. I don’t think McCarthy would want to hire a guy who will move on in another year or two anyway. He’s definitely a “me” first guy who needs to chill to save his career.
    Sorry about taking so much space on that. I still think we may be better off with a “real” linebacker in Brad Jones than trying to put a square peg in a round hole with Kampman. And, I really like Aaron but he is in the wrong system for his talent.

  • http://jlworden1suddenlink.net LarryTex

    Roy, do not think of being sorry for a long post, we’ve all indulged. Further, I think these last several posts are what this site is all about – expressing different views about how to reach the same goal. I’d say very interesting reads.

  • Sammy

    Finally Al, someone got it through your thick skull that no team is a gimmee. Not Tampa for us and not us for Dallas. A GOOD coach needs to instill this in their team. I think you also call the team from Ohio….the Bungles…now look at them, and what they did to us. Every team is dangerous every week but it looks like MM is more worried about the ground crew stating we are going to lay an egg, than trying to prevent it from happening.

  • Mel e Mel

    How long will it take MM to admit Kampann cant do it in this scheme. They know Poppinga cant do it but since Kampman is a big name they would rather sacrifice the defense than bench him. Something tells me the bloodflow to MM’s brain is not very good.