The LaFleur Era Has Begun or Has It Really?

It took 1 year, but the refurbishing of the Green Bay Packers is finally taking place. Like I said before the Packers move like a glacier under the leadership (or lack there of) of Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No. Evil CEO Mark Murphy and in the case of Head Honcho Ted Thompson and Head Coach Mike McCarthy, it took over seven years for him to recognize the deliberate deterioration of the Packers budding 3rd Dynasty.

Some More Things We Now Know

After last season when the basically season-ending injury to Aaron Rodgers showed some stark realities to the local kiss ass media and the lovers of Ted Thompson or the “Tedders” as I call them that except for Rodgers the Packers 52 + 10 rest of the roster was not championship quality. So a meeting of the minds in 1265 Lombardi Avenue resulted in the “big spring of change” during the offseason and the Packers were now new and improved and totally energized to make a serious run for the Super Bowl.

However after seven weeks of games the Packers sitting in second place in the North Division behind da Bears of all teams at 1-1-1. In this short time we have learned that the “big spring of change” was just smoke blown up our collective skirts by the local kiss ass media and the brain trust of the Packers.

Packers – Redskins

The Packers are 1-0-1 and are lucky to be that. I gave up being proud a long time ago and will accept the former rookie place kicker for the Vikings gave the Packers the tie. The 38-yard field goal was normally a give-me, but I felt the rookie was already rattled and would probably have missed a 10-yard field goal at that point. Cutting him was cruel. If he was good enough to win the job then he should have been given the time to grow into the job. Mason Crosby had his trial by fire in 2012 (making only 21 of 33 field goals and he was a veteran, but nobody would have griped if he was cut, but head coach Mike McCarthy stayed with him and since then he’s made 125 of 147 field goals coming into the season and this year he’s made 5 of 6, but the one miss was for the win last week. He didn’t get cut.

The Packers offense is ranked 17th in the league with a one-legged Aaron Rodgers, who is only one hit away from being lost for a long period of time. DeShone Kizer is NOT a quality backup and the Packers need a veteran behind Rodgers ASAP. But the stubborn Ted Thompson influenced front office WILL NOT admit they made a mistake and sign one.

What Have We Learned After the First Two Games

1. Aaron Rodgers is the Packers MVP.

2. Aaron Rodgers is one tough son of a bitch.

3. If Aaron Rodgers goes down for good the Packers don’t have a second string quarterback for the second straight season. TT/BG should have signed a veteran quarterback after what happened last year.

4. If Aaron Rodgers goes down the Packers won’t win another game.

5. Mike McCarthy’s offensve scheme makes it harder to be Aaron Rodgers.

Week 1 and Hopefully not Done

The Packers open the season at LAMBBBBBBBBBBBEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAUUUUU Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin against da Bears. The first week power rankings has the Packers dropping two spots to No. 9 while the Bears rose nine spots to 15 after making the trade Brian Gutekunst should have made for Kahlil Mack.

Sunday Night Is Football Night at Lambeau Field

The team that takes the field Sunday night against the Bears is a team we haven’t seen since ever. The offensive skill starters hardly played in the preseason, which is no surprise because Coach Mike McCarthy does that every year since Jordy Nelson was hurt in the second preseason game three years ago and pretty much before that, but it's worse now.

The Packers are notorious slow starters at the beginning of the season and I think that is a direct cause of this practice. So come Sunday night Aaron Rodgers will be under center Corey Linsley. Justin McCray is the new right guard replacing Jahri Evans. Lane Taylor missed most of the preseason and returns at left guard. David Bakhtiari is back at left tackle and Bryan Bulaga returns at right tackle after missing the last eight games of the season on injured reserve for the third time in his 8-year career and second because of knee surgery. The first was a hip fracture.

The Cuts Are Really In And….

The cut to 53 has come, but it probably hasn’t gone because what was left from Saturday’s cutdown leaves more moves to come to actually fill out the roster, but if there are not any changes then some of the positions have been left in a lurch. So let’s see how I did position by position.

Da Bears, Oh My

I think if Ted Thompson/Brian Gutekunst had listened to me and threw Clay Matthews into the mix the Packers would have gotten Khalil Mack instead of the formerly hated Chicago da Bears.

Faint Heart Never Won No Lady

Reportedly the Bears gave up 2 No. 1 draft picks and possibly more, but I think a No. 1, Clay Matthews and a No. 2 or 3 or 4 or all or a 2nd No. 1 would have swung the trade the Packers way. But the current version of the Packers doesn’t have the stones or the strong heart to make a season or team changing move like the Mack trade and I will NOT go out on a limb to say if the current front office faint hearters were in charge of the Packers in 1992 they wouldn’t have pulled the trigger on Reggie White and the Packers never would have won the 1996 Super Bowl.

The Cuts Are In (At Least Mine Are)

Here’s my prediction for the roster cutdown (just to show how good I am I’m also a picker (not like Mike and Frank of American Pickers) for the paper I work for on the high school games in our region and I went 13-6 last week leaving me tied for second to last out of eight pickers), so give my picks the grain of salt they deserve since I have found the Packers management doesn’t listen to me.

My Preseason Wrap Up

The Packers did what the Packers always do under the leadership of Mike McCarthy – stunk up the last preseason game, so the Packers won’t have any momentum heading into the first game of the 2018 season. The second thing the Packers did during the preseason was not play the starters much, so they have to develop chemistry during the 1st 3 games. Back in the day the offensive starters would play a quarter in the first game, a half in the second, into the third quarter in the third and a quarter or a half in the fourth and would be ready for the season opener. McCarthy doesn’t do that and the Packers are never ready for the opener offensively.

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.

Dez Bryant Is A Pill The Packers Need To Swallow

I loved Golden Richards, Bob “The Bullet” Hayes, Lance “Bambi” Alworth. I hated with a passion and still hate “Cocaine” Michael Irvin and Terrell (I will never call him TO because he likes it) Owens. And I never liked Dez Bryant. OBTW I hated and still hate Deion Sanders, even though he has nothing to do with this article except he is a former Cowboy I despise even more now that he is a talking head. That said the other talking heads I don’t despise are buzzing about the Packers maybe signing Bryant and I might agree it might be a good move.

Pre-Draft Analysis

The roster former General Manager Ted Thompson left the new guy left a lot to be desired if the Green Bay Packers are to return to the Super Bowl while Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback.

The “Tedders”, who worshipped Ted Thompson and the local kiss ass media who are just as delusional still can’t see the forest for the trees and for some delusional reason think the return of Aaron Rodgers is the only thing that needs to be done this season to return to Super Bowl contention.

I hate to break your bubble (actually I love to break your bubble) the Packers haven’t been in the Super Bowl for the last seven years when Rodgers was the best quarterback in football and Jordy Nelson was one of the best wide receivers, Eddie Lacy was one of the best backs, Clay Matthews was the best pass rusher, Tramon Williams and Sam Shields were the cornerbacks, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was an up-and-comer and Josh Sitton and T. J. Lang were the Pro Bowl guards.

None of that except for Rodgers is still happening, but what is is that Ted Thompson and his cheap-ass ways turned a budding Super Bowl dynasty into the “Just Good Enough” Packers built around failed top draft picks and undrafted free agents. Ted Thompson and his enablers have wasted the prime years of the best quarterback in the game and will never see another Super Bowl unless the current management cuts the ties to Thompson and takes some chances.

What Murphy and the LOCAL KISS ASS MEDIA Has Wrought

Ding, Dong, The Ted is Dead. Ding, Dong, The Dom is Dead. Those two refrains should be enough for any Packer Backer to be dancing in the streets and for most of us we are, if for no other reason that Dom Capers’ wide open in the middle, laid back pass coverage and “No Tackle” zone defensive is really gone.

However, in the infinite wisdom of the Packers Brain Trust (I have my doubts about the brain part) Ted Thompson wasn’t fired or retired, but given a promotion where he could and probably will be influencing the moves “new” general manager Brian Gutekunst will be making this offseason, including the upcoming draft. I have acid indigestion over the thought that the man who gave us a team that needed overtime to beat the 0-16 Browns is still wielding influence.

I’ve Been To The Mountain Top…..At Least For A Day And A Half

It’s been an emotional nine days. The Packers savior – I’m not the savior – Aaron Rodgers couldn’t pull off another miracle and Brett Hundley, who is not a NFL starting quarterback who couldn’t beat anyone, but the da’ Bears, the 0-16 Browns (needed overtime) and the still disappointing Bucs even without Vinny Testaverde, even though both former General Manager (I love that) Ted Thompson and current (I hate that) head coach Mike McCarthy think otherwise., drove a nail into the season with two losses to the Vikings (ouch) by his second shutout (OUCH) and the Lions (ouch).

The season ended with a rout and then within hours word began to leak out of Thompson’s FAKE NEWS operation that Dom Capers was actually being fired. Could it be? Or were they just screwing with the Packers Backers who have been hoping for this moment since 2011? Mike McCarthy loves the man. He didn’t care if the defense sucked or gave up a chance to go to the Super Bowl three years ago because McCarthy had Rodgers to bail the team out. He didn’t care that the same problems kept popping up game after game, year after year, because he had Rodgers to bail the team out. He didn’t care…..

So I was trying not to get too excited, but it seems there is another force acting here since the Packers just had their eight-year playoff streak broken and even the “Tedders” had to have a scapegoat since they couldn’t blame their demigod Ted Thompson for putting together a lousy roster. However by the time I went to bed Sunday night Dom Capers was still officially the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers.

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.

The Packers Are……..

There are 4 games left in the 2017 season and the Packers are still in contention to earn a NFL record 9th straight playoff appearance, despite the loss of the best quarterback in the game Aaron Rodgers (for 8 games), their No. 1 running back Ty Montgomery (for 7 games and the season), their No. 2 who became their No. 1 running back Aaron Jones (for almost 3 games), their No. 1 left tackle David Bakhtiari (for 5 games), their No. 1 right tackle Bryan Bulaga (for 7 games and the season), their No. 1 left guard Lane Taylor (for 1 game), their No. 1 tight end Martellus Bennett (for 5 games and the season), their No. 1 slot receiver Randall Cobb (for 1 game), their No. 3 tackle Kyle Murphy (for 9 games and the season), their No. 4 tackle Jason Spriggs (for 8 games), their No. 1 right cornerback Damarious Randall (for 2 games), their No. 1 left cornerback Davon House (for 3 games), their No. 1 strong safety Morgan Burnett (for 4 games), their No. 1 left outside linebacker Clay Matthews (for 1 game and for half the plays during a game), their No. 1 right outside linebacker Nick Perry (for 2 games), their No. 1 left inside linebacker Jake Ryan (for 1 game), their No. 1 3rd inside linebacker Joe Thomas (for 8 games), their No. 1 right defensive tackle/end Mike Daniels (for 2 games), their No. 1 nose tackle Kenny Clark (for 1 game), their No. 1 backup cornerback Kevin King (for 3 games and lost for the season), their No. 1 backup safety Kentrell Brice (for 6 games and the season), their No. 1 edge rusher off the bench Ahmad Brooks (for 4 games) and their No. 1 long snapper Brett Goode (for 6 games).

The injuries have gotten so bad (97 games lost to injury) there are only a handful of key players who have been available for all 12 games (Brett Hundley, Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams, Aaron Ripkowski, Corey Linsley, Jahri Evans, Lance Kendricks, Richie Rodgers, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Blake Martinez, Kyler Fackrell, Dean Lowry, Justin Vogel and Mason Crosby).

What We Found Out Tonight

The one thing the loss to the Steelers should tell Mike McCarthy, Ted Thompson and Mark Murphy is the Packers defense under the leadership of Dom Capers cannot be depended upon to make a stop when they absolutely, positively, must make a stop.

It’s Not Aaron Rodgers or Brett Hundley’s Fault

The Monday Night Football game before a national audience and the faithful at Lambeau Field against the sad-sack Detroit Lions losers of 3 straight games let everyone know, except Packers President Mark Murphy, Packers General Manager Ted Thompson, Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy and the “In Ted We Trust” crowd that the 2017 Packers are not very good and that fact has nothing to do with Aaron Rodgers being on the sidelines and Brett Hundley in the huddle.

For the past 6 years and 5 games Aaron Rodgers made Mike McCarthy look like a play calling genius and papered over the incompetence of Ted Thompson of putting a team around him worthy of his talent or even a roster better than the Detroit Lions, who by the way have ex-Packers T.J. Lang, Jared Abbrederis and Khyri Thornton playing for them.

There Are Legacies And Then There Are Legacies

There are the New York Yankees in MLB with 27 titles, the Montreal Canadians in the NHL with 24 titles, the Boston Celtics in the NBA with 17 titles, including 8 in a row and Brazil with 5 World Cups championships, but the most storied team in the history of sports is the 13-time World Champion Green Bay Packers from the smallest town (105,139 population) to field a major sports team and the only sports franchise to be owned by stockholders and not by a deep pocket owner.

2012 Dancing With The Stars Champion Donald Driver

The Packers story is the story of the NFL itself. The immortal Curly Lambeau founded the team in 1919 and joined the fledgling NFL 2 years later. It was by shear will and personality that Lambeau kept the team alive as general manager and as coach he built a team that along with NFL founder George “Papa Bear” Halas ruled the league during his official 29 years at the helm (1921-1949).

Lambeau’s Packers won 6 championships (1929, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1939, 1944) becoming the first and only team to win 3 championships in a row until the Packers under Vince Lombardi did it again in 1965, 1966, 1967. In comparison Halas won 6 championships (1921, 1933, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1963) over his 48 years as coach of the Bears (1920-67).