Week 17 Wrapup

Week 17 Wrapup

Can anyone stop Finley in the red zone?

While they played an uncaring Giants team, the Vikings looked sharp. They will be really tough to beat at home. And Green Bay rolled over Arizona as they sat most of their starters. I think it was a good move by both teams, the Cardinals have playoff experience on their roster while the Packers are young and have virtually none. Whoever emerges from next week’s rematch will be the dark horse to make a run to Miami. They are both solid on offense and defense and have gifted, mistake-free quarterbacks.

Week 17 Winners

  1. Aaron Rodgers
  2. Ryan Grant – He’s been playing solid last 5 weeks now.
  3. Packer D – Woodson (another TD), Matthews (constant pressure)
  4. Favre – Since the 2nd half of last week’s loss to the Bears, he’s been smooth. Question is, does this signifiy that he is calling the plays now or?

Week 17 Losers

  1. Giants team – They started 5-0, and finished 8-8. Last two games they were outscored 44-7 and 41-9. Ouch.

Published on January 4, 2010 9:25 am.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Dark Horse, Favre, Game Summary, NFC North Tags: , , , , , ,

Brad Childress hates Tom Powers

So after a MNF loss to the Bears, the Vikings now have to get ‘help’ to earn the #2 seed in the playoffs. The Vikings played good in the second  half an injury riddled Bears but it wasn’t enough as Jay Cutler threw an overtime TD pass. The Vikings did nothing in the first half and moved the ball at will in the second half. It makes me wonder who was calling the plays here, maybe Favre tried to prove a point by not audibling any of Chilli’s play calls in the first half. Anyways, after the game it was fun to watch Childress explain the game. Notice during minute nine when he’s responding to questions from Tom Powers. You can tell Chilli didn’t appreciate him too much.

This reminded me of an article last week where Mr. Powers wrote about interviewing Childress while he was in a towel after last week’s loss. I agree with Chilli here, first of all Powers shouldn’t be hanging around the locker room so long. And if you are, that means the Vikings trust you a bit and won’t report on any meetings (arguments) you overheard.

So now the Vikings need the Cowboys to beat the Eagles next week (and beat the Giants) to secure the #2 seed. Otherwise we could potentially see Favre vs Packers III.

Published on December 29, 2009 8:37 am.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Bears, Favre, Game Summary, NFC North Tags: , , , ,

Week 14 Predictions

Packers @ Bears

This seems to be an easy pick here…Packers are rolling, Bears are reeling. Its the a must win for Green Bay and a who cares game for the Bears. But there’s one thing in favor for the Bears…Soldier Field and recent history. Lovie Smith has a good history against Green Bay and was embarrassed Week 1. And if its frigid conditions with the normal December blistery wind its anybody’s game.

But the Packers have too much on the line to lose this one…I think they don’t win without consequences though. I can see them getting a couple injuries that linger for a couple weeks. But please, JUST DON’T SCREW UP ON SPECIAL TEAMS!

Green Bay 22-13

Bengals @ Vikings

Last week, the Vikings found themselves behind by two scores and what happened? Collapse. Favre turns into the Gunslinger, Chilli does nothing, injuries happen, etc. So this week, even though the Bengals are mainly a running team, maybe they come out passing. If they can get a lead, watch out. (There could even be boo-birds at halftime) But I don’t know, AP is SOOO due. And Favre has had a great year, as much as I’d love for him to flop he’s not this soft.

Vikings 31 – Ravens 28

Lions @ Bengals

Prediction….Pain

Ravens 30-3

Published on December 12, 2009 11:26 pm.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Bears, Favre, NFC North, Predictions Tags: , , , , , ,

Favre was so overdue for this!

It was about time for the real Brett Favre to stand up….he finally had some crazy, uncalled-for passes during last night’s 30-17 loss. The Vikings finally played a good all around team last night. And once the Cardinals were up by two scores everything changed. First there was a pass that Adrian Wilson should have return for a TD but dropped. Then another almost INT. Finally after two dropped INTs the Cardinals came through and Favre through picks on two consecutive drives.

The Vikings also came out of that game with a number of injuries. Including a tragic one to LB McDaniel. That didn’t look good. Next week they have to play against another good all-around team, the Bengals.

Sterling Sharpe had some great picks this week, wish I would’ve trusted them.

“I’m picking the Cardinals this week because I don’t think the Viking are that good. You don’t believe me now so obviously nobody is listening to me, even though you should.” Sterling Sharpe, 12/4 NFL Network NFC Roundup.

After yesterday’s games, tonight’s Ravens / Packers game is huge for both teams. The Packers can open up a 1.5 game cushion on the Wild Card spot with a win while the Ravens can get a slight edge for their Wild Card spot with an upset tonight in Lambeau. Hopefully Green Bay comes to play tonight because this is the biggest game of the year for them.

Published on December 7, 2009 9:08 am.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Favre, Game Summary, Old Packers Tags: , , , , ,

Favre got his revenge

Love the onion…sometimes forget they originate from Madison,WI. They sometimes capture a truth that isn’t talked about much. And this time it relates to how much of a single minded, selfish douche Favre is these days.

GREEN BAY, WI—Brett Favre beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday for the second time this season, his decisive 38-26 victory exacting some small measure of revenge for the adulation and hero worship heaped upon him by the city of Green Bay and the entire state of Wisconsin for the better part of two decades. “It feels good to finally get retribution from the team that gave me my first chance to start, believed in me despite the pitfalls of my early career, and ensured I will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Favre said at a postgame press conference. “And to do it in front of those fans, who unconditionally loved me through thick and thin while I struggled with a Vicodin addiction and disastrous interceptions, just made it that much sweeter. Sixteen long years of devotion, and they’re finally getting what they deserve.” Favre mentioned that when he does retire, he is looking forward to “really sticking it” to the wife and daughters whose loving presence has been the one constant during his playing career.

Here’s the link. And now all of a sudden I’m pondering whether Favre is back on the Vicotin? How else is he keeping things going these days? Don’t foget the hero worship Roger Clemens received about 10 years ago, now look at him.

Published on November 5, 2009 9:15 pm.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Favre

Favre Lambeau Beatdown – The Day After

Favre Lambeau Beatdown - The Day After

This is the point where my predictions and reality diverge.

Gulp!

So I’ve been titling the past few posts with “Favre Lambeau Beatdown”….for what I thought would be a painful day for Favre…turned out to be quite the opposite. What a diss! I guess the young Packers aren’t ready for big games yet, they seemed surprisingly tense and scared until they were down 24-3. What is driving me nuts is how long do Packer fans have to keep saying this? When will this team either mature or pay out for some veteran players!? I feel for Woodson and Al Harris…

Still digesting this game a bit, but here’s a good story to keep an eye on. As painful as it seems to us Packer fans, this whole situation worked out for both sides. The immediate needs of the Vikings have been met by FINALLY getting a legit QB. And the future looks bright for Green Bay’s QB needs…

It will be interesting to see how it unfolds. Two different philosophies…TT’s building for the future and Zygi’s win now. Unfortunately for Green Bay, it seems most teams have adapted the latter strategy. I’m starting to see why….things change and are too unpredictable to try to build a team with the draft and then after a few years bringing in some veterans to put you over the top. The thing is, with Green Bay being such a small market team, I don’t think they have any other option besides building for the future.

Ten years from now, if the Packers haven’t won a Super Bowl I’m sure fans will look back to these past couple years. And how management squandered the most talented player they’ve had by trying to build through the draft….I mean TT easily could have traded for Moss, signed like Julius Peppers, and picked up a couple solid offensive lineman. But would it have worked out?

I’m thinking no…Favre had his run here and going to a different team has sort of rejuvenated him.

Anways here are my complaints on the Packers in this game…

1. jolly’s head butt
2. zero short pass or fluid offense
3. kicking to percy harvin
4. kicking that FG instead of going for it or punting it
5. not challenging second to last favre TD
6. not capitlizing on first turnover by vikings
7. that tipped pass where it was up for grabs and nobody caught it
  1. jolly’s head butt – what a dumass, this took the air out of the D’s momentum
  2. Zero short pass or fluid offense – why no West Coast Offense in the first half? And what’s with the crazy almost trick plays? Who is calling these plays? Why not just throw short quick passes to stop the pass rush?
  3. Kicking to percy harvin – seriously this is inexcusable, he should not have seen the ball after that first 80 yard return.
  4. Kicking that FG instead of going for it or punting it – So your team is down by five with over eight minutes left facing 4th and 8 from the Vikings 35…And you decide to kick a 51 yard FG knowing that your kicker is worthless from beyond 50? Why not at least punt it and for once put the Vikings deep in their own territory? This is by far the worst decision of the year.
  5. Not capitalizing on first turnover by vikings – You are at home facing your bitter rival with Favre at QB and they gift you a chance to take all the momentum and go up 7-0. McCarthy’s game plan was horrid.
  6. That tipped pass where it was up for grabs and nobody caught it – The Packers had cut the lead to 24-20, Favre gets hit as he throws and the ball is up for grabs…Like 10 players are around it and the ball falls to the ground.

In summary, the football gods are on Favre’s side after all. I was so so wrong…

Published on November 2, 2009 1:34 pm.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Favre, Game Summary, Lambeau Field Tags: , ,

Favre Lambeau Beatdown Eve

Favre Lambeau Beatdown Eve

The Ghosts of Lambeau await the return of the star who betrayed them

So this game is now only 13 hours away! Wonder what is going through Favre’s mind right now? There’s no way he’s sleeping? What about Ted Thompson? He’s probably sitting in his basement bar having a scotch or something..taking some Zantac and maybe even some Xanax at this point. Ok maybe he made the right move by not taking Brent back, but tonight…he has to be just dumbfounded that he has to sit in the box S and watch this all play out.

I bet this is a waaaay bigger deal to Packer fans than the actual players in this game. Players all know this is a business and how many have actually sat though countless Sundays screaming at your TV as you watch your team win or lose? Or have rituals on how you watch your team on TV because you actually think your actions have an impact on a football game? And, for some real hardcore fans the outcome of Sunday’s game pre-determines how the week will go…angry and remoreful or happy/awesome.

So that makes me think, its just after midnight in Green Bay…its Halloween and daylight savings time grants an extra hour of drinking in the several dive bars around Lambeau…I wonder how many fights have already happened? Or how many crazy ass packer fans are plotting their actions for the game. From seeing it first hand at run of the mill Packer games,I can only imagine the level of drinking going on tonight. I mean overall, most Packer fans are pretty normal, and wouldn’t resort to physically harming the opposing fans. But jesus, its Halloween and Brett Favre is suiting up in a purple freaking helmet in like 13 hours!

Anyways, the Packers better be insanely pumped up for this game! The D needs to beat the shit out of Favre today since he made fools of them last time.

Here are things to watch during one of the strangest sporting matchups in recent history, even for non-Packer/Viking fans.

  1. Farve – If he’s wearing long sleeved shirt, they’re done.
  2. Packer Fans – Really this whole game is about redemption for Packer fans. I mean the guy we all loved for 16 years is now playing for the Vikings! And he dissed us pretty bad the first game. Is this for real? I mean imagine if Vince Lombardi left the Packers only to come back to Lambeau coaching the Bears? No way, never happen.
  3. TT (Ted Thompson) – Maybe he’ll show some sign of life today every time he’s shown and the announcers talk him up or totally trash him…how about blink twice for once or something?
  4. Ryan Grant – Besides the Packer D, this is the key to the game for the Packers.

Besides all the star players in this game…IE Kampman, Jennings, Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, Favre, Rodgers, Jared Allen, etc….in games like these there’s always some no name or other not-so-famous player who comes up HUGE!

For the Packers it could be:

  1. B.J. Raji – They say his ankle has limited his burst but man..come on you’re a top 10 pick! He is a impact player waiting for a big setting to show off.
  2. James Jones – With J Finley and J Nelson out, he needs to step up. I said at the begining of the year that he was going to have a breakout year. Well, ya he was hurt, but time’s a wasting…He has all the physical tools to be an awesome receiver.
  3. TJ Lang – Can he hold up the redneck?
  4. AJ Hawk – showed some life last week, can this continue?

And for the Vikings:

  1. Paymar – He’s the corner stepping in for the injured Wingfield. For sure, Rodgers will test him early.
  2. Loadholt – The Vikings rookie right tackle could make a name for himself if he can hold off a pissed off Aaron Kampmen.
  3. Benard Berrian – Yes he is well known, but he’s been relatively quiet this season. Maybe he’ll burn Al Harris or find a seam against Bigby.

I’m still thinking that the Packers will prevail, they HAVE to! The football gods say so! Hopefully the Refs stay the hell out of this game. McCarthy better not have his head up his ass either. This is by far, the biggest MUST-win game in his career.

And, no matter if they win or lose, will Favre be crying afterwards? What are the odds on that? At least 50/50.

Published on October 31, 2009 10:53 pm.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Favre, Lambeau Field, Predictions Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Favre Lambeau Beatdown – This sums it up

Favre Lambeau Beatdown - This sums it up

A great video that pieces together this whole mess…This is masterful! Man, just remembering being at Favre’s last win as a Packer makes me realize how surreal this Sunday will be for lots of long time fans…Going from throwing snow balls to his teammates during a playoff win against Seattle to coming back as the QB for the hated Vikings!

Published on October 30, 2009 1:20 pm.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Favre, Videos Tags: , , ,

Favre Lambeau Beatdown, about 48 hours away

So there’s lots of good articles out there today and this week concerning the upcoming arrival of the mercenary QB. I have mixed emotions since I watched him play QB from when I was a sophomore in High School until I was married and having a baby. In 1992, after Favre had solidfied himself as the starting QB, I custom ordered a #4 Packers jersey and paid someone in Duluth,MN to etch in the name Favre. I have worn that jersey to over 15 Packer’s games since…Now it is folded up and put away in my closet forever. Today I probably don’t live for football as much, lots of bigger things in life to live for besides a football team! Anyways, a lot has changed in the past 18 years.

Luckily for Brent, the weather looks to be a non-issue Sunday. Maybe the ghosts of Lambeau will come calling…In my view this is a monumental game for this year’s Vikings, the future of the Packers, and personally for Brent.

I think if the Vikings can pull of this win, their confidence will go sky high. Similar to the 1998 Vikings after their MNF delousing of the Packers, 37 – 24. Vivid memories from that game still today…I recall the 3rd or 4th quarter shot of a shocked Lambeau crowd. After that game the Vikings rolled big time. They were unstopable and opponents feared them. This year’s Vikings team hasn’t come close to that level yet. But a win at Lambeau might just propel them for a Super Bowl Run.

On the other hand, if the Packers win…this could be the game that people look back on a couple years from now. Winning this game might be the boost this young team needs to becoming a solid playoff contender for years to come. They have a good young nucleus but are short on confidence. This team, since Favre departure, hasn’t won a big game. Sure, they beat the Bears in the opener but this is a BIG, mid-season game. And it might also suddenly boost Aaron Rodgers notoriety. To no fault of his own, he’s been unable to escape Favre’s long shadow. I bet he never thought it would be this difficult to get Favre out of his view. He probably thought it would take a long time to win over fans and be compared to him. I’m sure the farthest thing in his reality was playing against him at Lambeau….

All things being fair, the Packers should win this game. Favre already had his revenge game…now its time for a little payback for Packer fans.

Packers 34 Vikings 17

Published on October 30, 2009 11:01 am.
Filed under: 2009 Season, Favre, Lambeau Field, Predictions

Comparing 96 Packers to 09 Vikings

Comparing 96 Packers to 09 Vikings

So after reading through a jsonline article comparing the two teams…and hearing Favre’s quote about how this year’s Vikings is the ‘best’ team he’s been on…I thought I’d look at the two, position by position. First of all, you have to take what Favre is saying with a grain of salt, people take him way to seriously sometimes and things get blown out of proportion.

Anyhoo…ranking each position on a grade of 0-10 for each position, with 10 being All Pro status and 0 being complete dud. So let’s start with QBs..

Here’s a 10 minute video to help remind fans of the dominate, 1996 Brett Favre..

OFFENSE

QB + 6 Packers

  • Packers – Brett Favre, Jim McMahon
  • Vikings – Brett Favre, Sage Rosenfels, Tavaris Jackson

Really cannot compare the 1996 version to today’s version. The only advantage today’s Favre has is experience in the WC offense. He also is much less reluctant to force things…But the 1996 Favre easily eluded pressure and probably made two or three “I can’t believe he just pulled that off” plays each game. That easily made up for any crazy INTs he had. He was also not the true gunslinger he’s known to be now until after Holmgren left in 1998. Holmgren kept him under wraps.

RB + 4 Vikings

  • Packers – Dorsey Levens, Edgar Bennett
  • Vikings – Adrian Peterson, Chester Taylor

Minimal edge goes to the Vikings just for the fact that AP is the best back in the league right now. And, even though Levens was pretty solid and Bennett was an awesome receiver, they didn’t really start rolling till the end of the year.

WR + 5 Packers

  • Packers – Robert Brooks*, Andre Rison*, Don Beebe, Antonio Freeman
  • Vikings – Bernard Berain, Sydney Rice, Percy Harvin

Not knowing how solid the Packer’s receivers were that year, I’m sure many Viking fans will say WTF on this…but really they suffered season ending injuries to their best WR (Brooks, who was never the same), five weeks to Free, and brought in Rison. By the time playoffs came around this was an awesome foursome of receivers. Plus Beebe finally got a ring! Oh and small sidenote…the Packers’ decision to NOT bring back Rison (Spiderman) the next year was the start of their downfall!

    TE +7 Packers

    This is easy…Jackson is a HOFer and Chewy was an all pro before deciding to jump in a hot tub with high schoolers like two years later. Now his name isn’t familiar to many fans today. The double TE formation from that year is still envied by most Packer fans today. Both TEs could catch and block…ok maybe Jackson not so much…but Chewy dominated linebackers.

      OL + 4 Vikings

      • Packers – Frank Winters, Aaron Taylor, Adam Timmerman, Earl Dotson, Gary Brown*
      • Vikings – Bryant McKinnie, Steve Hutchinson

      Even though Winters, Taylor and Timmerman would later all make multiple pro bowl appearances…in 1996 they were just starting to become solid blockers.

        DEFENSE

        Gravedigger wouldn't like Favre's comparisons

        DL + 5 Packers

        • Packers – Reggie White, Santana Dotson, Gilbert Brown, Sean Jones
        • Vikings – Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, Pat Williams, Kenny Peterson

        If anyone disagrees with this, just look at one stat…Packers were #1 in points allowed in 1996. They never really had to blitz either, just got pressure from the front four. Seriously, Reggie White alone would sway this in the Packer’s favor. He wasn’t a one dimensional speed rusher like Jared Allen. He took away that entire side of the field basically. I don’t recall seeing a team have ANY success running the ball to White’s side until is last year in Green Bay. Dotson was deceptively good, Sean Jones was lanky, powerful, and a veteran. And Gilbert Brown was the anchor to the entire D. (Athletic, fat, and huge) I contend this is the second best D-line next to the 85 Bears. (Well at least out of the football I’ve witnessed over 25 plus years)

        LB Push

        • Packers – Brian Williams, George Koonce, Wayne Simmons
        • Vikings – Ben Leber, Chad Greenway, E.J. Henderson

        I think both of these linebacking corps get held up by their D-lines. Not much else to say here other than Simmons was a terror that year!

          CB +2 Packers

          • Packers – Craig Newsome, Doug Evans
          • Vikings – Antoine Winfield, Cedric Griffin

          While Winfield is probably the better of these four, the Packers twosome of Newsome and Evans easily outperforms the Vikings corners. Newsome was an alternate in the Pro Bowl and probably would’ve been there a couple more times without the serious knee injuries that sidelined him for most of his career after the 96 season.

            Safety + 8 Packers

            • Packers – Leroy Butler, Mark Prior
            • Vikings – Madieu Williams, Tyrell Johnson

            This is probably the biggest advantage to the Packers position wise. Butler will be in the HOF someday, and that season he was a game changer. Prior was a savvy vet as well.

              Kicker +1 Packers

              • Packers – Chris Jacke
              • Vikings – Ryan Longwell

              Since both played for the Packers I’m quite familiar with these kickers. I gave Jacke a slight edge because of how clutch he was that season….when he had to be. And he was a much better bad whether kicker.

                Punter +9 Packers

                • Packers – Craig Hentrich
                • Vikings – Chris Kluwe

                Hentrich was another guy Ron Wolf regrets not signing after he became a free agent. Besides Favre, he is the only active player from the 96 team.

                  Special Teams + 6 Packers

                  • Packers – Desmond Howard
                  • Vikings – Percy Harvin

                  Harvin is definitely a legit kick returner but Howard just has too much here…his career was resurrected this season with Green Bay. He lead the league in return yardage and touchdowns. And dammit, he was the Super Bowl MVP, and was pretty much unstoppable during the entire season..especially in the playoffs.

                    Coaches + 100,000 Packers

                    • Packers – Mike Holmgren
                    • Vikings – Brad Childress

                    This is where comparing the two teams goes out the window, I mean Holmgren will more than likely be in the HOF someday soon. And look at his coaching staff that year! Jon Gruden, Steve Mariucci, Andy Reid, Fritz Shurmur, Marty Morningwig…its just amazing. And ya I may be bias, but seriously “Chilli” has some serious mental lapses and I haven’t seen him lift this Vikings team up one bit. If anything I think he holds this team back.

                    Overall, the 1996 Packers were a much more dominant football team. They were #1 in points scored and #1 in points allowed, #1 in yards allowed, #1 against the pass and #1 passing the football…And they absolutely blew people out in 10 out of 16 games. And they did this while suffering some pretty significant injuries along the way.

                      Published on October 29, 2009 6:31 am.
                      Filed under: 2009 Season, Favre, Old Packers Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,