We Need a Miracle

Will The Valley of the Sun Be A Garden of Earthly Delights or a Disaster in the Desert

The Packers are in the playoffs, but they still have things to play for. With games against the Arizona Cardinals on the road and the Vikings at home the Packers are masters of their own domain. If the Packers beat the Cardinals and Vikings the No. 2 seed is still in play and a first round bye. If the Packers lose to the Cardinals and then beat the Vikings they Packers win the North and clinch the No. 3 seed and a home game instead of having to hit the road as a wild card to play the Vikings again.

Palmer and Fitzgerald Are a Dynamic Duo

One of the many problems the Packers have is defense. "Panty Shields" (Sam Shields) will be missing the game against the Cardinals leaving "Randall Time" (Damarious Randall), "Q" (Quinten Rollins) and "Commodore" (Casey Hayward) at corner. Carson Palmer is having an MVP type season and Larry Fitzgerald is in the running for Comeback Player of the Year so the secondary will be primary Sunday.

 

The Key is How Much Pep 'Pep' Has Left After Christmas with Girlfriend Claudia Sampedro

The defense is suspect at best, but being down a man on the outside is a recipe for disaster Sunday. So with the secondary below par the key to the game will be the pass rush, but with "Sackmaster" (Jayrone Elliott) out with a quad injury and newly minted millionaire "Heaven's Man" (Mike Daniels) hampered with a hamstring injury and "Claymaker" (William Clay Matthews III) playing on a bad ankle the key man will be "Pep" (Julius Peppers) making his presence known early and often.

 

So that leaves the offense to have a big game and I also don't sense that is coming either even though Mike McCarthy does. He is now in complete control of the offensive direction and thinks last week was just fine. If you take away the two interceptions that directly led to 14 points the offense only produced 16 points. That kind of production will get a team no where and an early exit from the playoffs.

 

However, McCarthy did his best imitation of Ted Cruz when he said this last week about weekly changes in offensive styles, "Well I mean I think you have to look at the definition of different, you know. I mean is it, are we talking different personnel? I think the majority of our offense will be a similar personnel than we've been in the past. I mean they're different schemes. I think everybody around the league, I know we have always, you hang your hat on base concepts and things you can believe in. I think especially in the run game, there's things that we do very well there, that we need to stay true to, make sure we get the first down, get the attempts where you want them each and every week in the run game. And even more so in the passing game. Aaron Rodgers is at the point in his career where there's concepts that he can do in his sleep, so it's important to stay true to that but also protect those and give him the opportunity for adjustment at the line of scrimmage to take advantage of what he sees from the opposing defense. So, I hope that answers your question."

 

As Colonel Henry Blake once said, "That's clear as mother's milk," NOT. McCarthy summed it up on whether there is a clear-cut direction offensively, "From my viewpoint, I know what direction we’re going each and every week with the football team and clearly now calling the offensive game plan."

 

If you break down what he said last (forget that confusing first part) he was admitting that before last week he didn't know what the offense was doing. Hopefully, the second week of Mike McCarthy seeing clearly now will make the difference in a win.

 

However, the offense also has injury issues. Right tackle "Beluga" (Bryan Bulaga) has been downgraded to doubtful while backup tight end "World Tour" (Justin Perillo) is out. That leaves "Sushi" (Don Barclay) to play right tackle again and he has been shaky this season and rookie "Leaner" (Kennard Backman) and the freshly activated "Drew" (Andrew Quarless) to help out "Hail Mary" (Richie Rodgers) and the offense. God help us all.

 

So with all this in mind I will again predict a Packers loss, but not as good luck but because I don't think they can win. Still I'm hoping Sunday's game with be known as the "Phoenix Miracle" rather than the "Disaster in the Desert".

 

One More Thing

 

'Superman' Thinks He Can't Be Beat

Carson Palmer is having a career year, but unfortunately he isn't even being considered for the league's MVP with Cam Newton leading the undefeated Panthers. The Carolina fans have started to refer to Newton as "CaMVP". While that is clever giving Newton a nickname like that and with the gushing sideline girls praising him with each post-game interview his ego "has grown three sizes each game" and if he actually leads the Panthers to an undefeated season and is named MVP as well as Super Bowl MVP they there will be no room in world for his ego and anybody else.

 

"Fig" as I like to call him has already be talking crap when he said this after being asked about being the frontrunner for league MVP, "It's irrelevant to me right now. It's about the team. It's a culmination of guys making plays and (me) feeling comfortable in the pocket. Everybody is doing their job. Offensive football is the ultimate team sport. You need all 11 members to do their job."

 

"Fig's" publicist did a great job writing a good answer for the man who thinks he's Superman and loves, and I mean loves, the limelight. There's something about hypocrisy that gripes my butt.

 

Can The Packers Rise Up to be the Panthers' Worst Enemy

I wish Aaron Rodgers hadn't gotten scared and found a wide open Randall Cobb in the endzone instead of throwing an interception to beat the Panthers. Well, maybe if the stars align and the Packers really do have a "McCarthy Miracle" up their sleeve Rodgers will have a second chance in the playoffs to not only tug on "Superman's" cape, but wipe that smug ass smile off his face.