Clueless From The Head Down

The old saying, "a fish rots from the head on down" certainly relates to the current state of affairs with the Green Bay Packers. For the first time since 2008 the Packers are under .500 at this stage of the season and besides all the happy talk from CEO Mark "The Laughing Cow" Murphy down to quarterback Aaron Rodgers the fortunes of the Packers over the last six games will not improve by just ignoring the situation and saying it will turn around.

 

Murphy had stayed in his Ivory Tower all season and has made no statements since August until last week when he stuck his head out of his ass and made these statements, "I do hear from a lot of fans. And I tell fans: Like them, I'm disappointed."

 

Really when has he sat down and said anything to the fans directly as he just said he has. I would like any ordinary Packer Backers who have talked to Murphy one-on-one to let me know and I will admit I am wrong, but  I digress, "Certainly, the season hasn't gone the way we had all hoped, but there's a lot of football left to be played." Hold on there buckaroo, it seems "there's a lot of football left to be played" is the catch phrase of the season because Rodgers and few of the other players, Coach Mike McCarthy and General Manager Ted Thompson have used the same phrase. The watchword for surviving a crisis is to stay on message and the Packers braintrust and team leaders certainly are doing that.

 

NOW Invades 1265 Lombardi Avenue

It's been an interesting week after the Packers were embarrassed in Nashville and fell below .500 this late in the season for the first time since 2008. The defense was manhandled and the offense was spotty.

 

After the game Aaron Rodgers came out of the "Sanctuary" and set us stupid idiots straight who are worried about the Packers in general and Head Coach Mike McCarthy in particular by saying this, "I think it's ridiculous. I think people don't understand how difficult it is to win in this league and win consistently. The success that we've had here, it's tough to do. We've set the standard pretty high. But I wouldn't listen to some of those people out there. I mean they're not in this locker room, they're not in the meeting rooms, they're not in the practice environments. They don't know what's going on, they don't know the type of work ethic that we have here and that Mike has here."

 

Well Mr. Rodgers put us in our place telling us unwashed masses that we don't know enough to get in out of the rain. He tells us that we should be grateful the Packers were as good as they were and that we shouldn't expect to be good this year and to "quit your bellyaching."

 

FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS, PART ZWEIUNDZWANZIG

(German because our soon to be ex-president was in Germany this past week)

 

SUBLIME

 

There is nothing sublime in Packerville these days. Actually I am wrong come to think about it. I made Frozen Tundra Chili last week and it was delicious. Here's the recipe:

Not So Frozen Tundra

 

The Current State of the Packers

The Packers have hit their rightful level I'm afraid. They have lost 3 in a row and 4 of their last five to fall under .500 (4-5) for the first time this late in the season since 2008.

 

While the offense hasn't been up to the lofty standards of the Aaron Rodgers era it has seemed to found some sort of productiveness averaging 27.25 point a game over the last 4 games after averaging 22.8 the first 5 games.

 

The ironic part of the offensive explosion is the Packers only score major points in 1 of the 4 quarters during a game - the 2nd quarter - where the Packers have scored 80 points compared to 60 in the 4th, 58 in the 1st and a measly 25 in 3rd quarter.

 

At a Crossroads

The season is at the proverbial crossroads. The Packers are third in the North Division a game behind the Minnesota Vikings (5-3), who have lost three in a row, and a half a game behind the Detroit Lions (5-4), with a 4-4 record. Where the future of the Packers lies literally lies over the next eight games.

 

Do they rebound and win their next 8 games, do they limp alone being Just Good Enough to make the playoffs for the 8th year in a row thusly saving the jobs of Mark Murphy, Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy and Dom Capers. Or do they collapse and  miss the playoffs triggering a needed housecleaning.

 

I am on the fence on where I want this season to go. More than half of me wants the collapse so Thompson and McCarthy are gone. The lesser half of me would hate to see a collapse week in and week out, but unless something drastic happens the Packers Board of Directors will not make any needed changes.

 

Another One Bites The Dust

Every week another starter is lost to the Packers and this week it was starting center J.C. Tretter, who was put on the shelf with a knee injury.

 

Through the first seven games during which the Packers went 4-3 the Packers lost 16 players to injury for a total of  37 missed games. In fact, there hasn't been a week where the Packers didn't have a player out because of injury.

 

Week 1 Josh Hawkins (hamstring), Trevor Davis (shoulder), Chris Banjo (hamstring) and Jayrone Elliott (hamstring) sat out the game. Week 2 Hawkins, Elliott and Banjo were still out with Sam Shields added with a concussion.