Thank God for the Seahawks

Ever since the Failed Mary I would never have thought I would be singing the praises of the Seattle Seahawks, but today I can truly say, “Thank God for the Seahawks”.

Now why would I say that? It’s very simple Seahawks General Manager John Schneider (a former Packer) and/or Head Coach Pete Carroll were the only people to want former Ted Thompson Aaron Rodgers heir apparent Brett Hundley and thank God they were desperate enough to want him.

Position Evaluation: Quarterbacks and Receivers

I’ve been reading the pap and FAKE NEWS coming out of Green Bay since the end of the season and the restructuring of the front office and have a few observations. First, FAKE NEWS is alive and well with Ted Thompson now behind the curtain running the show instead of being the tired old face of the team like he’s been for the last 13 years.

The pap usually reserved for Larry McCarren and his “happy news reports” has been almost universal, especially in the evaluation of the Ted Thompson’s roster despite the fact the Packers could only beat the Bears, Bucs and Browns when the crutch (Aaron Rodgers) was removed. I’ve seen reports that the Packers will automatically be in the hunt for the Super Bowl once again, despite the fact the Packers haven’t been for many years, Dom Capers’ incompetence accepted. It’s like the old joke, “A man needs surgery on his hand and asks his doctor if he will be able to play the piano after the surgery. The doctors says of course, and he said, that’s funny I couldn’t play the piano before.”

With all of that aside I will evaluated the Packers roster over the next few days starting with the quarterbacks and wide receivers.

The Rubber Meets the Road Starting Tonight

Tonight is the 1st game of the rest of the Packers life when the NFC South Leader New Orleans Saints travel to the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football.

This most crucial week continues at noon on Sunday when the Cleveland Browns host the Green Bay Packers, the Carolina Panthers host the Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Bucs host the Detroit Lions, the New York Giants host the Cowboys and concludes at 3:25 p.m. when the Jacksonville Jaguars host the Seattle Seahawks.

Predictions

With Aaron Rodgers on the sidelines the Packers have lost 3 straight games at Lambeau Field – the longest losing streak at “The Shrine” since 2006 (also with Mike McCarthy at the helm) – and have the Tampa Bay Bucs coming to town with their hotshot quarterback Jameis Winston returning from a 3-game rest because of a shoulder injury.

On the whole the Packers are predicted to win, but I don’t know why. The last time Brett Hundley had a good/great game he not only crapped out the following week, but was shutout. So after another watershed game last week in the loss against a defensively challenged Pittsburg Steelers which Hundley shows up the “Great White Hope” or the “Pretender”. I don’t know.

A Leopard Will Change His Spots Before Ted Thompson Changes His

The “Just Good Enough” Packers of the Ted Thompson Era may not be just good enough this year, but it seems even the loss of the best quarterback in the game today and a defense that can’t be depended upon isn’t enough to get Thompson to adjust to the current dire situation and actually do something to help the team during the season.

Different Quarterback Same Result

I went into the game against the Saints with no expectations. Aaron Rodgers wasn’t even at Lambeau Field, but master play caller Mike McCarthy and his play chart was and the grand dame of defensive coordinators was still sitting up in the clouds directing the Packers defense and with those 3 strikes against him the new “Great White Hope” of the Packers didn’t have a chance.

A New Season or the End of the Old Season?

The Brett Hundley Era begins when the New Orleans Saints invade Lambeau Field today at noon. The Packer faithful will get a glimpse over the next 8 weeks of what life would be without Aaron Rodgers and whether General Manager Ted Thompson has built a team that is truly a playoff contender or a team built around just one player who lifted his teammates to that level.

It Seems Losing Aaron Rodgers Was Just Another Day at the Office

The Packers lost the greatest quarterback of our recent times (my times saw Brett Favre and Bart Starr) and here it is Wednesday 3 days later and all that has happened is Head Coach Mike McCarthy got mad at a press conference and General Manager Ted Thompson brought up a quarterback from the practice squad 2 days later and signed greener than green quarterback to the practice a day later.

Strange Week and Stranger Conclusions

It's Cowboy week in Packerland and the transactions or lack there of is very strange. Last week in the win over the Giants running back Eddie Lacy sprained his ankle and has been limited in practice. James Starks stepped in and finished the game and would be the starter if Lacy can't answer the bell or will have to play extensively if Lacy is hurt again early in the game, but he missed practice with a mysterious knee injury.

 

In the past, especially the last couple years, Starks has been a rock. He is in 7th season and is 30, which is usually the age and experience when a running back starts to slow down, but in his case he hasn't been a starter, so his shelf life should be doubled.

 

Coming into the season Starks was averaging 4.3 a carry. Last year when Lacy was benched he proved to be a valuable starter (4 games) gaining career-high 601 yards on a career-high 148 carries for 4.1 a carry.

 

Almost Perfect

The game against the Raiders at Lambeau Field was almost a perfect outing. If you take away a play here or there and the injury to second string quarterback Brett Hundley the Packers played well both offensively and defensively.

 

First and utmost Brett Hundley is the real deal. When he gets healthy, if he does, (remember Ty Montgomery had an ankle injury and never recovered after the second hurting), will demand a pretty penny next year when Thompson trades him. He has to. Unless Hundley is going to push Aaron Rodgers out as the starter like Rodgers did it wouldn't be fair to have him sit. Favre was closer to retirement (hahahaha) than Rodgers is.

Deja Vu Every Year

There are some certainties in the world you can depend upon. Death (I'll vouch for that one), Taxes (I'll vouch for that one, too) and Packer injuries (Hell, I will write about that one). Heading into Sunday's Hall of Game against the Colts the best laid plans of mice and Mike McCarthy have been derailed by flurry of second week injuries.

 

The first thing that came out of the Bill Belichick Injury Report this week was the declaration by the Trust in Ted press corps that "There’s no sign that the latest training-camp injuries are serious." Now how in the HELL can they say that with any certainty?

 

Hoping on a Ghost

After I found the offensive line free agents not worth a look I will turn to the skill (sorry linemen, but that is what they call them) positions to see if an upgrade is out there.

The Real Ghost Jordy Nelson

Wide Receivers: Not a single starter had a good season, including the Ghost of Seasons Past Jordy Nelson.

With Nelson missing the entire season Randall Cobb was the leading receiver (79-829-6TD), but he averaged only 10.3 yards a catch. James Jones was a season saver averaging 17.8 yards a catch with 8 TDs (50-890), but he hit the wall and unless he is signed to a veteran's minimum he shouldn't be asked back.

The Offense Has Been Anything But Offensive

While Dom Caper's defense has been iffy at best and the Mike McCarthy/Ron Zook special teams completely un-special the Tom Clements/Edgar Bennet offense have provided the only shinning moments in a somewhat dismal pre-season.

 

Which Aaron Rodgers will play? I don't know either

QUARTERBACKS: Like I said in an earlier post I can't really say how Aaron Rodgers is playing after playing just 18 minutes and 15 seconds in the first two pre-season games and sitting out the final two. He took 46 snaps (plus one 2-pt. conversion), throwing 24 passes (completing 15), one run (for 8 yards) and suffering 3 sacks (including one for a safety). He finished with a quarterback rating of 84.4 a good 21.6 points below his career average. He also suffered a bruise to his throwing arm on the safety three weeks ago.

Post-Game Analysis: The Offense - Backfield Edition

Offensively there was a lot to feel good about except for the red zone problems. I would hope Associate Head Coach Tom Clements and Aaron Rodgers will get together without Mike McCarthy in the room and figure out how to score touchdowns from 20 yards in as well as they do from 20 yards out.

QUARTERBACKS:

(27-of-43 for 295 yards, 2 touchdowns, no interceptions with 4 sacks)

 

Aaron Rodgers Zeroing In

For the second year in a row Rodgers looks a bit tentative on his throws. I noticed last year his accuracy was off and it was again Thursday night against the Patriots. He completed 11-of-19 for 117 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions for a quarterback rating of 76.0. He had two tries for touchdowns from the red zone and missed on both. Not a good outing for him.

 

He missed twice on the first drive with incompletions to Davante Adams from the five to the right and to Eddie Lacy from the two to the left. After going four-and-out from the New England 43 the Packers drove from the Patriots eight from the Packer 14, but once again couldn't punch one in. First down was an incompletion to Adams in the middle followed by a one-yard completion to Adams to the left and another incomplete pass to Adams to the right. FIELD GOAL resulted. Rodgers was also sacked twice, including on the first play.

 

Scott Tolzien looked good. He went 10-of-16 for 107 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions for a rating of 102.9. He showed a good pocket presence and a nice touchdown on his longer throws, especially his fourth-and-one from the New England 26 to Jeff Janis for the touchdown. Now that was a great play and if you haven't noticed it came from outside the red zone.

UNDERWHELMING TO SAY THE LEAST

Day Three of the NFL draft General Manager Ted Thompson had his own four picks plus two compensatory picks in the sixth round. After being disappointed with the first three picks (S Damarious Randall, S Quentin Rollins and kick returner Ty Montgomery) I was anxiously awaiting some third day gems taken by the master of the third day gems.

 

However, when I finally got home from a thrilling doubleheader sweep by the local college softball team I clicked on the list and couldn't believe my eyes. After my first perusal I couldn't find a gem among the clinkers. Upon further reflection maybe there was one, maybe.

 

After avoiding like the plague the most needy of positions - inside linebacker - the first two days Thompson finally drafts Jake Ryan from Michigan. At least he isn't a project like the first two picks who are moving from safety to cornerback because he moved from outside linebacker to inside linebacker his senior year.

 

Jake Ryan

The scouting report has him listed as 6-2, 240. His strengths are being a downhill tackler with a burst to the ball and the ability to go sideline to sideline. He's also good in zone coverage. His weaknesses are being a block magnet and staying tied up for too long as well as needing improvement on diagnosing and reacting to the play. He is overly aggressive (considering the Packer defense that is not a weakness), but he does tend to miss tackles (that could be a problem).