In 2007 I had the opportunity to go to Brett Favre's last game as a Green Bay Packer. When we arrived to our seats there was a guy from Florida who was a Giants fan. He didn't expect his team to win, but from the moment he sat down he was happy. He looked at me right away and told me that he was able to cross something off his bucket list to be able to be at a playoff game, at Lambeau, in the cold, with everything on the line.

Whether you are a Packer fan or not there is just something special about Green Bay and Lambeau Field. It's one of those venues that seems to transcend the individual game being played and provide a sense of history and entertainment that few other places can give in the sports world. This is especially rare in the NFL where more and more teams opt to go for big, fancy, and high tech rather than celebrations of tradition and what came before in their stadium designs.

As a result, Lambeau Field is one of those destinations for countless Packer, and NFL fans, want to visit at least once in their lives. I have talked to fans who dream of making the trip and just being part of that action once. Here at APC we see that play out every year with fan posts of people who are asking advice on making the trip and getting pointers on what to do once in Green Bay. Since I'm a Green Bay native I thought it would be a good thing to centralize some of these tips and advice into a series of columns for visitors and community members a like to reference and find some of the outstanding advice our community is able to give to make a memorable pilgrimage to the NFL's greatest shrine.

Continue reading this post »

Change is life in the NFL. Players and teams are constantly getting better and worse and so each year looks different from the previous one. Those who study the NFL will tell you that most players improve in the offseason between their first and second year. Reasons abound for why this is the case, such as having a full offseason for the first time, better conditioning throughout the offseason, or finally understanding the playbook. No matter what the reason is though we see it year in and year out that a guy who ran hot and cold his rookie year steps up year two or three and just breaks out on the scene.

So bear with me as we leap from player to player, each of these guys striving to right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that their improvement will help bring the Lombardi trophy home. What can I say...I hear quantum leap and I think Scott Bakula, I just can't help it.

Continue reading this post »

First of all I have to apologize for being fairly scarce the last couple days. It seems my life has turned upside down over the last couple weeks with the wife and I buying our first house, graduating law school, and getting all of those thing settled has soaked up my time as of late.

Despite this flurry of change I did notice an interesting story hit the NFL offseason circuit a few days ago. It seems Mark Murphy got out to talk about the retirement of Brett Favre's number. Now a story about Brett Favre and the Packers, especially one about a number retirement ceremony, is kinda like a sports talk show host in Cincinnati talking about Pete Rose. You don't have to work hard and no matter what you write the whole thing is going to turn into a mess people on either side of the issue just screaming at each other. If you need proof just read the comments of the PFT article and watch the mix of Favre haters, Packer haters, and people wanting to shame Packer fans for ever booing the man.

We all know the Brett Favre story for good or ill and so I don't feel a need to retell it here again. At the same time this piece of news is too important to just let pass without some reflection; so I say this is a good thing. The number should be retired and right now I hope that the ceremony is the first step in healing the divides between Brett, the Packers, and the Packer fans. Typically these ceremonies are a chance for a player and fans to gush about the player's accomplishments with the organization, and while that may not happen this time, there is still something special that can happen, namely a moment of forgiveness for all sides.

Perhaps this can also be a moment to offer forgiveness to other legends of the Packer family as well. Right now Favre's is not the only number in a state of Limbo; two other numbers are currently out of circulation but not officially retired either. Curly Lambeau's #1 has not been used since he wore the number way back when, but the Packers have never retired the number. Similarly, Paul Hornung's #5 is not used either, but officially recognized as retired. Even though Lambeau and Hornung had enough scandal around them to warrant this delay in the full recognition Hutson, Starr, or White have received, perhaps the forgiveness Favre will get is a the perfect time to fully embrace these two figures in Packer history and give them the full recognition they each deserve.

Continue reading this post »

Stability.

Once the Packers moved past through the Lindy Infante years it's probably the one word which can really describe the franchise as a whole. One great example (and sure fire way to anger a Bears fan) is to ask your local Bears fan how many starting QB's the Bears have had since 1992, if they are still talking to you tell them since '92 there have been three. Well, maybe four if you want to count Don Majkowski in there as well as Matt Flynn's two games. Four....that's just sick. After that ask a Lions fan how many coaches they have had since '92. If they give you an answer to that tell remind them that the Packers have had four. It's mind boggling when you think about it...four coaches and four starting quarterbacks over twenty years!

All this stability goes back to one person, Ron Wolf. Ron Wolf is the guy who fired Infante. Ron Wolf is the guy who hired Holmgren. Ron Wolf is the guy who traded a first round pick for a third string quarterback who would become one of the best quarterbacks for the next decade. Ron Wolf is the guy who landed the biggest free agent the NFL has seen in Reggie White. More important than any of that though? Ron Wolf built a system of scouting talent both on the field and off the field. It was this system that has made the Packers one of the most successful franchises for the last twenty years, and it's this system that should continue to make the Packers one of the best franchises for the next twenty as well.

Continue reading this post »

Today is the first day of a new era for the Vikings for better or worse. As you probably know, the Vikings have an important vote to face in the Minnesota Senate. If the stadium effort passes then the future looks bright in Minnesota for the Vikings. They will have a shiny new stadium and what looks like a decent long term plan to rebuild the team. If the stadium doesn't pass....well let's just say that's a fate I wouldn't wish upon any fan, even a rival.

In the midst of this change, some news came out demonstrating the flux the Vikings organization is in right now. Ryan Longwell was cut by the Vikings. Now this isn't too surprising, after all the Vikings did draft a kicker and that usually means that the kicker currently on the roster is going to be let go. It's not even the first time that Longwell has seen the team he has been associated with draft a new kicker. Longwell first rose to prominence beating out Brett Conway, a guy drafted by the Packers to replace Chris Jacke. Longwell was also replaced by the Packers when they drafted Mason Crosby.

So as unsurprising as this new is, it is still significant because it marks the end of an era in the rivalry between the Packers and the Vikings. For a long time in the 2000's it seemed like the Vikings had this fascination with former Packer players. Every offseason when the Packers would cut a bunch of guys there always seemed to be one that ended up on the Vikings. Sometimes it was guys near the end of their rope like Robert Furgeson, but sometimes it was a notable guy. The big three that come to my mind on this are Longwell, Darren Sharper, and Brett Favre.

Continue reading this post »

Draft weekend is kinda like Christmas for Packer fans. It's that time of year where we know the organization is going to go out and really upgrade the team, giving Packer fans a bunch of players that we can talk and get excited about. We also know that the Ted Thompson and company aren't going to give us much the rest of the year; so like a kid who gets really nice Christmas presents and not much on her birthday, we really look forward to the draft and spend days and weeks going over it again and again. As a result of this sometimes we miss a small pieces of news that pops up around the same time. For me it was the news that John Kuhn was voted to the Top 100 Players list on NFL Network.

Wait....John Kuhn is considered to be one of the top 100 players in the NFL? Really?

Yup, really. What may be even more surprising though is that I don't disagree with his placement there. John Kuhn probably is one of the top 100 players in the league as surprising as that may sound.

Continue reading this post »

In the world of the NFL a win/win scenerio is pretty rare; and so it is often the case that for every winner there is a loser. When we talk about the draft this typically an older veteran having to watch at home as the kid who is going to push to replace him gets drafted and celebrates being in the NFL.

In the last post we took at look at the players and coaches who benefited from the draft. Now the attention gets turned to the guys who have an uphill battle after the draft. They are the losers. For this particular analysis I am going to limit t to two guys for each teams. This is done for two reasons: 1) right now the signs point to the NFC North teams all having a generally good draft and so there aren't many losers out of the bunch; and 2) most of the biggest losers of the draft are guys who are sitting at the bottom of the 53 and don't have the talent to compete with the shiny new first round picks....the Frank Zombos and Erik Waldens of the world. I don't really find noting all these players very interesting to write about for the Packers let alone our division rivals. Instead I am going to focus on some notable players who will still make the team but may be looking at a tough year due to the decisions made. We start with....

The Green Bay Packers.

Tom Clemments. There is an old saying that seems to be used by coaches at every level: "If you aren't getting better, then you are getting worse." After the Packers had one of the best, and historic, offenses last year and little to no reinforcements sent to the offense through the draft I don't see how they are going to get much better. The quote suggests that they would probably end up being a bit worse than last year. Who is the guy who gets blamed (especially if it gets really bad)? I'll tell you this, it's not going to be Aaron Rodgers or Mike McCarthy.

Sam Shields. This is a career at a crossroads. His rookie year he was a sensation who shocked Packer nation with his speed, solid performance and making some key plays. Last year his raw cover skills showed and he suffered through a sophomore slump. Now he's getting a full offseason to hone his craft and improve, but he also has to compete with two young guys at the same spot in Davon House and Casey Hayward. Shields is still the starter and will have plenty of fans pulling for him, but if he can't have 2012 look more like 2010 than 2011, then his position is going to be in trouble.

Continue reading this post »

AUTHOR'S NOTE: By no means do I represent Mr. Hargrove or his viewpoints in any way. The use of apology in this article is more in the classic sense (Similar to Plato's dialoge Apology).

Today we got the news that Anthony Hargrove has been suspended for half the year. He received the second highest suspension of those players getting punished and received this punishment due to his participation in the program and his interference with the investigation. I offer no defense for this, no excuse, and no justification....that is for another article, another advocate, and another time. No, this apologist wishes to stand up and offer a defense and reason for Hargrove (and a lesser, but similar argument could be used for Mike Neal) to make the roster for the Packers this year.

It has been said that the Packers were looking to add some juice to their defense this year. Specifically, the Packers were looking to "juice up" the pass rush which I think all of us can agree was woeful last year. Yes this was done with through the draft; and yes there were some young guys drafted at his position who can help with that...but let's not forget what exactly Hargrove can still bring to the table. Hargrove can bring the heat. Hargrove can play with an attitude. Perhaps most of all though, Hargrove can infuse a bit of that attitude and swagger to a position group that is a bit laid back.

Continue reading this post »

Great post, fronted -Kevin

The offseason tends to be a start and stop affair; either news comes in all at once or not at all. With the draft done we are in one of those liener times for news which results in us looking and analyzing the same things over and over. The key is to try and present it in a different way.

Every year there are players and coaches that benefit from the new influx of talent that come in. Whether it's a quarterback who just got some new weapons, a pass rusher who sees a guy who can distract the offense away from him, or a coach that gets a player who can change the X's and O's of his scheme....the draft makes a team stronger and opens the door for a lucky few. So who are those lucky few in the NFC North? Well some are obvious and some aren't; but let's start close to home with......

The Green Bay Packers

Clay Matthews. As Thursday wound down the Packers selected Nick Perry and as soon as that pick came in there was a sharp divide on whether this was a good pick or not. It didn't matter whether you are talking about fans or professional talent evaluators, there was an equal amount of people who loved the pick or those who were cool towards the pick. Regardless of what you thought about the pick itself there is one thing that all seem to agree on, that Perry is an upgrade from what the Packers had and should take the pressure of the Claymaker.

B.J. Raji. It has been pointed out more than once that the Packers didn't just pick six defenders, but also drafted two defenders for each level of the defense. Despite this, there was only one position that the Packers drafted two of on defense, namely, defensive end. This has to be good news for Raji. It was no secret that Raji had a down year last year and there seems to be two reasons for this....1) that he was overused and gassed and 2) he missed the attention that was drawn to Cullen Jenkins. Well getting two young guys (both of whom tend to be interior pass rushers) and a FA who is an interior pass rusher (Anthony Hargrove) should take the pressure off Raji and address those two things that areas that slowed him down last year.

Dom Capers. We Packer fans are passionate and fanatic, but sometimes we can be fickle. If you look at the attitude of APC sometime in late 2010 or early 2011 you would get the picture that Dom Capers was some kind of rock star. The guy could do no wrong. If you only tuned in later in the fall of 2011 through the end of the 2011 season you would think that Capers was a guy who couldn't figure out anything and might even be fired. Really Capers was a guy who doing the best he could with some truly inferior parts....well now he got some much needed reinforcements.

Continue reading this post »

I know, I know....this is kinda like making up a mock draft for 2013 already. There are still a whole bunch of moves to be made and many more UDFA's to bring in. Finally we don't know which of these rookies are going to shrink away once camp starts. What really is though is a way to process the draft and sort through what it means. I don't feel like giving a grade, but I do want to look at how these draft picks are going to push and shape the roster.

That said....let's take a wild guess as to who will make the roster now that we drafted defense, defense, and more defense.

Continue reading this post »

Well friends the end of the regular season is upon us. It has been a great season for the Packer and one that has been historic for our franchise. Hopefully we can cap this off right and put this team down for the ages in Packer history. In the meantime though this is a perfect time to evaluate what was happening in our neighborhood this past year and see how our rivals measured up against their hype.....also give a nice forum to just make fun of them for a bit because that never gets old either.

Overall I have to say that the NFC North was a disappointment this year. This was supposed to be the year that the NFC North took its place as the best division in the league and for the most part the franchises couldn't deliver. We were suppose to have three teams push for the playoffs and have them dominate the conference. I'm not sure that happened. Part of it is how terrible the Vikings were (more on that in a bit) part of that comes from the Bears folding (more on that too), but if I am going to point the finger anywhere it's going to be Detroit. Maybe I'm being too hard on them, but this is a team that came up small in big games typically. They were able to make to the playoffs for the first time in forever, but having our traditionally worst team become a real contender would of added cred to the division like the old NFC East. Instead with the Lions not showing up in tough games and the Bears getting the injury bug made the division much more average. Tough, sure, but not quite on the level of the AFC North.

Individual grades after the jump.....

Continue reading this post »

There are lots of reasons why I love being a Packer fan right now. There are the obvious reasons of coarse, the championships, Super Bowls, perfect season so far, etc. etc. But there is a different little thrill that so many of us get after we signed on to the TT & MM way of thinking. It's that rush you get when you see one of the young players grow into a contributor for the team. As such we revel in seeing D.J. Smith, Sam Shields, and T.J. Lang come out of no where and show they are ready for playing time. It's also why some people almost irrationally push Vic So'oto.

Continue reading this post »

It's been a busy week in the NFL. Not just one, but two coaches were fired and now their teams go into battle with an interim head coach. It's never a pretty sight to see, but it's one that seems to happen many a year and is part of the life of the NFL. These recently fired coaches are alone. There are sure to be more head coaches losing their job at the end of the year and this week has brought news of who might be out a job if things continue. Last time we Packers fans saw this was 2005 with the dead man walking routine of Mike Sherman and Jim Bates interviewing for the job as the defense seemed to be the only part of the team motivated. But I digress....

The coaching carousel is an interesting reality of the NFL. Since the NFL is a pretty small world most of these guys tend to shuffle around and go from one stop to another. Sure some of the bigger name guys drift into TV Land with cushy jobs, but really an old head coach ends up as a coordinator, a promising coordinator ends up as a head coach in a different place and cycle goes on and on.

The other half of the recycling process is that as sure as bad teams fire coaches to turn things around; good teams will lose good coaches who wish to move up the ladder. Last year we were lucky. The Lockout made teams conservative and gun shy when firing guys and pretty conservative when hiring new coaches. Many of the new coaches had either held that interim title (like Fraizer or Garret) or were pretty hot names for a couple years (Jim Harbaugh).

This offseason will be different though and I see a storm of locusts on the horizon. This swarm of needy teams is going to come through our front office, coaching staff, and maybe even roster to try and pick clean all the promise and winning ways that the Packers have built over the last couple years. The major question is who is going to go and who will we be left with when the storm has passed?

Continue reading this post »

Monday has been a big day for Chief fans. As an NFL fan, and someone who has seen what coaching changes can do for a team good and bad, my thoughts and sympathies are with all you right now. Leadership turnover is always tough and I hope that the Chiefs are able to get through this and come out a better team.

Last week the Packers got to relive Super Bowl II and this week we all get a rematch of Super Bowl I. Of all of our AFC match ups this year I think this is the one I have been looking forward to the most. The Chiefs are a great franchise and since we have our annual preseason match up with all of you I tend to have more sympathies with the Chiefs and Chief fans than some of your other division rivals, especially the Raiders. Also, a visit to Arrowhead is on my NFL bucket list. Just one of those places every NFL fan should see a game at before they die like Solider and Lambeau.

Anyways, you didn't come here to hear a Packer fan talk about how great your tradition is, you came to learn more about the Packers, have some questions answered, and maybe talk a little trash. With that in mind let your questions fly. I'll try to keep up as much as I can and hopefully a few other of the Packer faithful will come by and answer questions as well. I may be a bit behind responses through the week since I am mired in finals, but I'll do my best to keep up.

Biggest piece of Packer news that I can hammer out now is that you won't have to face Greg Jennings. The MRI came back today and he's out for 2-3 weeks, so he should be shut down the rest of the regular season but should be ready for the playoffs.

Anyways, keep those questions coming and I'm hoping for a good game this weekend.

Many of us who offer our take wait until MNF is done. I'm not sure if it's being polite to that last game or if it's because that last game of the week is really important, but that's just what's done. I thought about doing that this week, but then decided against it because MNF this week is so terrible that it doesn't affect much and doesn't deserve respect. Seriously, the only way it has any meaning for the playoffs is if Seattle wins and wins out to sneak into the playoffs. If that happens weep for the NFC because we deserve to be thought of as second to the AFC.

Well things have cleared up since the last time I checked in on this front. The Packers have a strangle hold on home field advantage and may be able to clinch that next week. The Niners are folding, the Saints are surging, and the NFC East is still over hyped and a mess. Then there is the wildcard race. Man, these wildcard teams are fluky this year.

So let's break this down and see what all of today's action means for the Packers.

Continue reading this post »

Tis the season to be fighting over end of the year awards. It could be who should go to the Pro Bowl, some sort rookie of the year, Defensive Player of the Year, or even MVP, but in the end these discussions are a chance for us fans to quibble over the finer points of who is better and who is worse in a way that goes just a little beyond the scope of the scoreboard. Now these awards don't necessarily go to the most popular or even the most deserving. Often it's just a combination of current performance, name recognition, expectations for him and his team, and how his team is doing. In this sense the media controls this about as much as the players and coaches themselves do.

With these things in mind let's talk about an award that has been on my mind the last couple weeks....Coach of the Year. It's a fairly important award and handed out every year by the AP (there's that media influence again).

Anyways, before I get to my point I want to tell a story. Once upon a time there was a team in a bit of transition. The team was turning over its roster, but still had some talent. It was being led by a first time head coach going into his second year and coming off a year that was pretty mediocre. Needless to say expectations were low going into the year, but then something happened. The team got off to a fast start and won some close games. The QB that many thought were washed up and proving that he could still play in the league. The weeks went past and this team kept winning. It may not of been the most impressive team that year, but it was a fun feel good story that went on through the year. That team won its division and ended up taking second seed in the NFC playoffs.

Now many of you know I'm talking about the 2007 Packers. It was a great little team that could. Those who may not have remembered that year, as close as it is in time, may have thought that I'm talking about a team like the San Francisco 49ers or popular story teams surfacing now. Whenever a team jumps out beyond its expectations, like the 49ers, or the Bengals, or the Lions, or the Titans, or the Broncos, people start talking about the coach for coach of the year honors. Rightly so, but what happened to to that 2007 squad and its head coach? Did McCarthy win for improving a team beyond people's expectations and taking previously middling group to the edge of the Super Bowl?

Continue reading this post »

It's official, I miss the Packers being the underdog. I really do.

The last two seasons most of the sane guys for the various talking head media outlets have been on the Packers' bandwagon, or at least the guys who are paid to talk football and not stir trouble (looking at you Bayless and Cowherd). At first this was cool, after all it's always nice to professionals say good things about your team. Hell, it's even been fun to watch Viking and Bear fans get enraged over how much love the Packers get.

But now I've had enough. What was once a good and novel thing has twisted the way I enjoy the Packer season and worse it's made countless annoying occasions for fans of opposing teams. As xenophobic as this may sound, I think I'm just ready for the national media to go away and leave me with just the normal Packer media going forward. So in the spirit of the holidays, and the all encompassing holiday for all of us, Festivous, I'm going to air my grieviouses against ESPN, NFL Network, and the other talking of heads. Later we can gather around the Festivous Pole for the Feats of Strength.

Continue reading this post »

Hey all,

I just wanted to swing by and thank all of you for your hospitality this week and say what a great game. Watching this game all I could think of was that this is the reason why the Giants are one of the teams I worry about when the playoffs hit. The front four was getting pressure on Rodgers and was able to get him to put in one of most uneven games this year.

I would be lying if I said that I hope you guys make the playoffs (there is still enough of the 2007 Giants to this team to have this Packer fan worried)...but I do wish you all the best of luck through the rest of the season. My main condolence if you guys make the playoffs is the fact that if you do get in that probably means that the Cowboys have sucked a good deal down the stretch.

Like any good leader, Mike McCarthy set out a list of goals for this team to accomplish on their way to the ultimate goal of repeating as Super Bowl Champions.  Unfortunately I don't know what exactly those goals are, but I do have a good guess.

Win the division.

Secure a first round bye in the playoffs.

Secure homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

Have a top five offense.

Win the Super Bowl.

After eleven weeks these goals seem very attainable.  In fact it looks like this coming week the Packers could knock the first one out.  Yes, if the Packers win and the Lions lose the Packers will have won the NFC North division for the first time since 2007.  Perhaps more important than the last time this has happened is that it will be the first time since Aaron Rodgers has taken over as starting QB that the Packers will have won the NFC North division.  

Continue reading this post »

It's two days after Thanksgiving and I have awoken from my post-holiday slumber.  I have to admit that of all the games this year this past one against the Lions was the one I was looking forward to the least.  As the season went on I started to look forward to it less and less.  There something about that game and all the elements combining together into a perfect storm of annoyance for this Packer fan.  

It all started innocently enough, a loss to Detroit in Detroit last year.  Making things worse was the fact that Aaron Rodgers was knocked out of the game.  After this event many Lion fans started to thump their chest like their team was the one destined to rise up and stomp the mighty Packers.  After all, the last time the two teams met the Lions won, and they played them close the first game too.  It got worse when the Packers won the Super Bowl and Lion fans treasured the win more.  The draft intensified it all.  Nick Fairly is going to work with Ndamukong Suh and Corey Williams to form this mythical line that was going to pound Rodgers all day.  Good grief.

Continue reading this post »

A couple years ago I started to see people around DN float the idea of a 3-4 defense for the Minnesota Vikings.  At that time I scoffed at the idea and shamed those fans for not appreciating the depth and quality of the Vikings defensive line.  After the last couple seasons this impression hasn't totally changed.  I don't think the Vikings will or should switch to a 3-4 front, especially considering the coach's background and beliefs.  But then again if there was a time to switch doing so after a season like this one would seem to be the right time.  It may not be as crazy as I once thought.

 ow I will admit that I am not a die hard fan, or a fan of the Vikings at all.  I don't know the roster quite as well as any of you do as well.  But I'm going to respectfully throw out some ideas for a switch and see what catches your attention.  If I missed something or you disagree with my analysis of a player or position group let me know.  After the jump I'll give a quick look to the positions commonly needed in a base 3-4 (no weird 2-4-5 packages in this piece) and how the Vikings current personnel fit these requirements.

Continue reading this post »

One of the great truisms about being a Packer fan is that the week is so much better after a Packer win.  More so when that win is over a biter rival.  Even more so when we essentially curb stomp the team.  It's extra darn sweet when it's the second blow out in two years on said team.  But enough about the Lions!  Wait....that was the Vikings we were playing?  Holy $*^*(^!! What the hell happened to that team?

But enough about kicking Viking fans in the teeth, let's move on and kick a bunch of other team franchises in the teeth while we look at how the playoff picture is shaping up.  I'll try and make more of these posts down the stretch as the playoff picture changes weekly and more teams die off, but you know that life thing gets more hectic as the holidays approach so we'll see.

As always there are three categories that the teams are sorted into.  This week I'm going with a boxer theme in light of the passing of legendary Joe Frazier, but it will be the contenders, those still fighting, and the guys who are just done.

Continue reading this post »

The Packers are now in a nasty little stretch of games that may define the 2011 season.  This  is the stretch of games that we knew would be trouble when the schedule came out.  Three games in 10 days with two of them in prime time.  That's not an easy lot for any team to carry but this is our schedule and so we take it and move on.

The next game is one that is going to be boom or bust in my view.  The Buccaneers are a team that is fluky.  One week they are able to hang with some of the best in the NFC and look to compete for the playoffs.  The next week they are completely owned and get dominated in all three phases of the game.  They are a team that has given the Packers trouble, but they are also a team that has made some desperation moves in the last couple weeks in order to keep things going for this year.  In short it's a team that I can't seem to get a handle on at this moment and should promise for an interesting game.

Then the Lions.  Maybe the toughest game of the year for every reason not pertaining to the football team in Detroit.  Sure they are good and all, but they have been slumping as of late and seem to play less and less sound football with each passing week.  No, what makes this game tough is the crowd, the setting, and the day of all days.  Thanksgiving.  This is a game that, even when the Lions are terrible, they are driven to win and to look good.  This is a setting similar to what the Bears faced @Detroit when they played the Lions on MNF in the Detroit's first appearance on MNF for 10 years.  The crowd will be frenzied and the team will feed on that.

If we can take these two games and play them as complete as last night the Packers are in great shape.  Which brings me to the confession part of the post.....

Continue reading this post »

Now that we've reached the mid point of the year it's time to take the pulse of the NFC to see how the playoffs are shaping up.  So far the NFC North has been shaping up nicely.  The Lions are quite good, the Packers are awesome and the Bears are still being the Bears by hanging around and making things interesting.  Huh?  There's a fourth team in the division?  Well, the Vikings are playing NFL level football again now that they have a guy interested in playing QB on the field, but even their most ardent fans have resigned themselves to the Vikings playing more of a spoiler role this year than an actual contender.

But this is a more global view of our conference.  Right now arodgb has a great discussion going about our division, I recommend checking it out, but here let's focus on who is going to make it to the NFC....and who might have a shot to beat the Packers in the playoffs. 

As with the last time I took on this endeavor there are three basic breakdowns of those that are probably going to go, those who still have a punchers chance and those that are basically done for the year.  On a whim I also decided to name each of the categories after  TV shows.  

So join me after the jump to look at one fan's impression of how the teams are shaping up in the playoff race.

Continue reading this post »

Last week king.nothing took on the ambitious task to fill our bye week dull drums with some analysis to this point in the season.  The article I was looking forward to the most posed the question of whether the Packers overpaid for James Jones, but alas we never got that article.  So instead of crying myself to sleep another night in the face of this disappointment, I decided to face the issue myself and see what kind of response would come back.

Well then....without further ado.....Did the Packer overpay for James Jones?

In short, no.

Continue reading this post »

I'm a person who is fascinated by rivalries.  There is just something about watching two groups of people who dislike to hate each other and see how in some ways they are so similar, yet wildly different.  Typically this interest grows with our current rivalry with the Vikings because the franchises have had similar moments and touch points, but made wildly different choices causing the franchises to move in two different directions.  Today though I look south instead of west.  

Whenever I visit a Bear blog, or encounter any grouping of Bear fan in their natural environment really, I am taken in by the absolute reverence they have for the year 1985 and the god-like devotion they have to Ditka.  Don't get me wrong, I understand the fondly remembering a bygone age, I did grow up a Packer fan in the 80's when Lombardi's Packers were really the only thing we could celebrate, but really we Packer fans don't really have the same kind of idolatry towards our single greatest coaching legend....or era of football.  Really what is interesting to me is that Lombardi's Packers don't come out nearly as much as the 85 Bears do for Bear fan.  Sure there is a special plaice in our hearts for Starr, Hornung, Nitschke, and the rest, but well.....let's just say we never would of had something like this with Vince. Instead there is just a quite reverence for the man, and well we might pray for his intercession on Sundays.

But let's dust off his bust for a moment and ask a near blasphemous question:  What modern Packer head coach can come close to measuring up to Lombardi?

Continue reading this post »

Hey Viking fans and DNers.

I just wanted to stop by quickly and say good game last Sunday.  As much as I didn't want to see a game quite that competitive, it was still fun to watch.  I'm also happy for you that your QB looks to be a legit NFL starting QB, probably even a franchise QB.  For a franchise that's been trying to find someone to call their own for a long while it's good to see.

Also got to send my sympathies for the Cook deal.  It's tough on a fan base when a guy that your team is counting on goes all knuckle head and does something stupid, illegal, and rather inexcusable.  Double tough when there's nothing a fan or team can do other than watch and see what could of been a promising career implode.  

Here's looking forward to our showdown again at Lambeau in the coming weeks.  Hopefully the Packers can get healthy and analyze a bit more tape in order to have a better defensive showing.  Other than that game best of luck on your up coming season.  

Right now it's Friday afternoon of Vikings week and I'm bored.  This has been a generally disappointing Vikings week since Packer fans are out of good things to say about their team and Viking fans are running out of bad things to say about their team.  What's left is a mish mash of what can Ponder do against Capers stuff that got old fast.

As a result my mind started to wander to why the Vikings as an organization just gets under my skin, and one of the main things that I came back to was Brett Favre being named one of the 50 greatest Vikings of all time.  Seriously, how mediocre to terrible history do you have to have as a team for a dude, from your arch-rival no-less, to come in and have ONE GOOD SEASON and be named one of your 50 greatest players.  How bad of rosters do you have to have for this!?

Well from this nauseating thought grew a challenge.  First of all, I knew that any one of us could easily fill 50 Packers who gave more than one good year in their career, but somehow this wasn't enough.  No, I decided to name 53 players.....but this wasn't enough....I decided rather to assemble 53 Packers as a roster.  So like Barney Stinson, I got a far off look in my eye and cried "Challenge accepted!"  

Now there are a few assumptions that I am working with for this challenge.  First, for the most part I am assuming that players from a previous generation would be generally able to compete athletically with current day players.  While there is a bit more evolution with guys getting stronger and faster, there is also a greater knowledge in performance training and more opportunity for current players to have state of the art work out facilities.  I am also giving deference to guys in the Hall of Fame for the same reason (with a few exceptions).

Finally I am assembling a roster that would generally be able to compete in today's NFL.  So that means that there are offensive and defensive players (unlike say the 20's) and traditional alignments (against differing from most of Lambeau's teams).  I am also assembling what a roster would look like in today's NFL with emphasis on passing and opening up the field as much as possible.  

Continue reading this post »

Professional sports are a funny thing.  On one hand there are clear haves and have nots in every league, where you know certain teams are going to be good year in and year out.  Contrasting this is the fact that nothing is truly certain since all of the teams are filled with professional athletes who can surprise you and pull out miracle seasons.  The NFL is no exception to this, rather the NFL might be the most fickle of all the sports.  Every new year brings a new roster and a new dynamic to each individual team.  This plus injuries makes for a new roller coaster each year.

I bring this up because I'm sensing a large shift in the tone of the Packers' season.  Have you felt it too?  On one hand, that which we should never speak about has been spoken.  Now it hasn't started here, but there are some national pundits who bring it up.....again and again and again.   There is this growing sense of invincibility, whether it's from glowing praise of pundits or the occasional biter remark from a fan from out ask a Packer section who talk of the almighty Packers.

Contrasting this view is the notion that there is something deeply wrong with the Packers.  After all, we didn't score any points in the second half of last week's game.  The defense is "struggling."  Injuries are piling up.  The sky is falling!!

Where is the truth in all of this and what should we expect out of this year's squad?  First and foremost, I want to thank everyone here for not speaking the unspeakable.  We need to keep that up and try avoid that topic with our guests who might ask about it.  More importantly though, this team is very talented and probably the most well around team in football...yes including the defense.

Continue reading this post »