The day the Green Bay Packers sent Brett Favre packing, the sports radio chatter class blasted Ted Thomspon’s decision to go with Aaron Rodgers at QB. Fox Sports Radio’s Tom Looney, a sports anchor for “JT The Brick” forecasted a 4-12 record for the team that went 13-3 in 2007. Former 49er Derrick Deese hated on Rodgers’ alma mater, the University of California, sarcastically referring to the school a “a great quarterback factory” with a palable scorn in his voice while appearing on the “The Drive”- Chris Myer’s radio show.
I have two responses: 1) Looney lives up to his name, and gets a little swept up in the emotion of working alongside a “B grade” version of Jim Rome. The guy writes and delivers a colorful sports report, but his understanding of one man’s impact on a game is suspect, and 2) Deese must have been hit in the head too many times by opposing offensive linemen during his playing days.
The Pack Is Back! Here’s why:
No less than coaching immortal Vince Lombardi said the great game of football was about blocking and tackling. The Packers do both quite well.
Case in point: last night’s game with Minnesota. The once sack on Rodgers the Packers surrendered was wiped out by a penalty. Tge “O” line wasn’t perfect with all the penalties, but Rodgers for the most part had time to get off his throws, resulting in a solid, if unspectacular performance. They also enable Ryan Grant, a key ingredient in any success Rodgers may have this year, as he must keep defenses honest. As for the tackling, the Packers “D” will do just fine, led by pressure play of the front seven and the physicality of a secondary anchored by Al Harris.
The Packers, and Favre in New York, will live just fine without each other.
The Minnesota Vikings are the sexy pick for htis division. you can’t help but love Adrian Peterson as a runner, and you can’t help but like what the Vikes are doing with their defense, picking up Jared Allen from the Chiefs to go with a defense that was already on the way up. The challenge for Minnesota is the passing game. Minnesota will only go was far as Tavares Jackson will take them at QB, therein lies the rub. He’s slippery in the backfield and a threat to take off, but Jackson STILL appears to have accuracy issues. He can still work it out, but too many performances like last night, and the Purple Gang may find themselves usurped by the Bears.
Admit it. You, like me, were surprised at Chicago’s uset win over Indy. Matt Forte showed great promise, Kyle Orton showed a steady hand, and the defense was it’s usual big play making self. I’m not convinced they have enough scoring ability to go real far, after all, it’s still all about scoring points. At the same time, Lovie Smith doesn’t need greatness from his offense, just an ability togive the defense a breather and pull their end of the load. Their certainly poised to make noise should Green Bay or Minnesota falter.
I so want to see Detroit show signs of life. I think Kevin Smith can electrify the offense and provide some balance to a pretty darn good passing game. I like Calvin Johnson as a wideout, and as well as Roy Williams, Shaun Mc Donald and Mike Furrey. The question remains of whether or not journeyman signal caller Jon Kitna can avoid failed attempts to emulate Brett Favre, resulting in costly turnovers, and whether or not the defense can make the strides needed to take the pressure off the offense.
The Bears have the defense, the Lions have the offense, but the Packers and Vikings have the balance to succeed. What bears watching is the development of Rodgers and Jackson at QB.
I give the edge to Rodgers.
Predicted order of finish:
1) Green Bay Packers
2) Minnesota Vikings*
3) Chicago Bears
4) Detroit Lions
