Packers 2010

[CJH]

The Pack dominated, enough said. The bye should help a lot of guys get healthy for the games that count. 6-3 in the NFC isn't a bad place to be.

The Pack activated Bigby before last nights game. Didn't play a ton, had one tackle.

Apparently they are releasing Harris. So, either they don't think they need him or his depth (which IMHO is doubtful) or he hasn't come back all the way from knee surgery. He has practiced for three weeks in live action. He never was "fast" to begin with and an old corner with knee problems........ Just kind of a surprising twist.

Haven't heard anything on Starks yet, but something has to be done today.

[Mudcutter]

The pack are ahead of the Vikes by 2 in the loss column. A win by the Vikes agst the Bears on road puts the pressure on. Another win agst the Pack at the Dome,, really puts the pressure on the pack. Pack have a harder schedule down the chute. If the Vikes beat them at the dome,, NFC games take the cake,, and I see the Pack have lost to Wash, CHI. The Vikes also have 2 losses to NFC teams being NO and GB.

The game in the Dome will decide the fate of NFC North!!!!

[SkunkedAgain]

I'm shocked that they officially cut Al Harris today. However, after reading an article or two it makes some sense. Williams is playing great and Sam Shields (as evidenced last night) is really coming on as a nickel cornerback. The Packers want to use their dime and other remaining CB roster spots on young/developmental players instead of aging veterans, so they cut Harris. Harris sounded a little bitter, saying that the Pack cut Brett too, so he kind of expected it. Football is a tough business these days.

I also read that they Packers have until Wednesday to make a decision on Starks. Nance didn't do anything in mop-up time against the Cowboys, so maybe they will activate Starks (and cut Nance) so that he can get his feet wet for next season.

[LMITOUT]

Harris is going on 36 years old and coming off a completely blown out knee. Not surprising that he was let go at all, especially in light of Williams and Shields stepping up.

[SkunkedAgain]

...and how's that so much different than a 34 year old Woodson who is the king of nagging injuries? Brett Favre = 41. Harris can still play and everyone said he looked "exellent" in practice. The move is surprising because if the Packers lose Woodson, Tramon Williams, or Sam Shields due to injury, we are in the same boat as last year. Playoff QBs will spread the field and tear our nickel and dime defenses apart. Wouldn't you like a 36 year old Harris for that? Pat Lee and Underwood are hurt and not performing as well as Harris even when healthy.

From a business standpoint, I would have rather seem them keep him on the roster for insurance purposes while putting Pat Lee on IR. Then if the Packers really want to develop more youth, they could trade Harris in the offseason for a prospect or a coveted draft pick. This really makes no sense to me.

[Antero]

I hated to see Harris go too but I do recall that last year he had many penalties for holding as rcvers went by him. That would seem to indicate that he maybe lost a step and had to hold to keep up.

So if he seemed a bit slower last year I fail to see how this injury would have helped. I give the coaches the benefit of the doubt on this as they see him every day.

So long Al, you were a great Packer, but time catches up with us all.

[LMITOUT]

Because Woodson is 10X better than Harris.

[CJH]

Another one bites the dust - Tauscher was put on IR.

TE/LB Spencer Havner was signed to his roster spot.

[SkunkedAgain]

Hopefully TJ Lang is ready to step up if one of the tackles go down.

[mrklean]

gonna be a tough end of the year thats for sure

[SkunkedAgain]

You've got to hand it to Thompson and McCarthy for having a team that could sustain so many key injuries but have sufficient depth at all positions to pick up the slack.

[FISHINGURU]

I'd give more credit to Dom Capers then anyone else. Without him you guys would get paddled.

[mrklean]

Getting Dom and Kevin Green were HUGE the past two years look was Green has done with the linebackers

[SkunkedAgain]

Right on. I loved the addition of Kevin Greene. I still remember the video of him being excited to play at Lambeau Field against the Packers in the 1996 NFC championship game.

I read that McCarty essentially said "farewell" to Tauscher, that he had a great career in Green Bay. The guy is only 33, and while the injuries are racking up, I don't see why the Packers don't entertain the notion of bringing Tauscher back as a LT/RT backup next season for the veteran minimum. Having a veteran to motivate and mentor the younger guys can be invaluable.

[SkunkedAgain]

Well that was an impressive game. It started out looking like neither team wanted to take the reins, but the passing game finally got into gear and the defense continued to play well. I also recognize that the Vikings weren't a good team yesterday, so that helped too. I'll take it.

It's hard to pick out negatives, but here are a few that come to mind:

- The passing game looked out of synch early, very much like the first Packer/Viking game. I wonder how much to credit the Viking's secondary with solid coverage. It may just be Rodgers and/or the receivers not figuring it out.

- The running game came through in short yardage, but we still didn't do much on the ground against a team that has been a lot more mortal this season than normal against the run.

[FISHINGURU]

- The passing game looked out of synch early, very much like the first Packer/Viking game. I wonder how much to credit the Viking's secondary with solid coverage. It may just be Rodgers and/or the receivers not figuring it out.

I'd venture to say you shouldn't give the Vikings secondary very much credit. It looked like Rodgers and the WR's weren't on the same page quite a few times. The difference is the Packers adjusted and well you know how our coaching staff adjusts through out a game.

[Jim Panfish Uran]

I'd venture to say you shouldn't give the Vikings secondary very much credit. It looked like Rodgers and the WR's weren't on the same page quite a few times. The difference is the Packers adjusted and well you know how our coaching staff adjusts through out a game.

That's just it GURU, my brother always preaches the same thing. They make adjustments, and we don't. Not to take anything away from a dominating performance, but we just laid down!

[FISHINGURU]

Hey I'd like to thank the Packers for slicing us up 8 different ways and helping get that coach out of town.

Thanks Fudge

[CJH]

- The passing game looked out of synch early, very much like the first Packer/Viking game. I wonder how much to credit the Viking's secondary with solid coverage. It may just be Rodgers and/or the receivers not figuring it out.

I think that had to do with the bye week more than anything. It always take a little bit to get used to game speed again.

I'll take the win and its always good when its a border battle!!

Bigby and Smith were the only injuries. Neither seem that serious, but they will probably be out a week or two. Bush will practice as the backup safety while both of them are out.

[SkunkedAgain]

Well it sounded like a good game as I listened to it driving through Wisconsin. Too bad that we weren't able to pull it out against the Falcons. They are a good team. One comment that I heard afterwards was that the difference between the Packers and Falcons is that Atlanta is a powerful offense with their running game. I agree. The Packer's running game exists only because of the passing game, and without Finley and a healthy Driver it's not even that great. The team is still playing well but we definitely need to improve to go beyond last year's first-round bow out.

[mrklean]

its gonna be tough to make the playoffs with the schedule they have for the rest of the year i hope they make it but the road will not be easy

[CJH]

They have a good shot at the Wildcard, or even the Division title if Chicago falters, and that could easily happen as they have to play the Pats, Vikes, Jets, Pack. (Lions too, but I don't think it needs to be explained why I left them out)

They almost beat the best team in the Conference, if not for Rogers fumble at the goal line, and the Special Team's giving them a field goal at with less than a minute left. Rogers is a stud and carried the offense with almost 400 total yds, and the clutch throw to Nelson in the end zone.

Finley and Grant's absence is noticeable, especially when they play really good teams. But they were right there and could have pulled it out.

Not good that Chillar re-injured his shoulder.

[SkunkedAgain]

While the offensive line has gotten much better at pass protection, they still are not executing well with their run blocks. Clifton was never good at it but hopefully Bulaga will become good at it on the other side.

[CJH]

Bulaga is a better run blocker than Clifton, no doubt. He's not quite as good as Clifton in pass blocking, but is pretty solid considering his situation, and is getting better every game. Colledge and Quinn(FB) are worthless. I am not sure why they are both still on the roster. When they are in short yardage, they should ALWAYS run to the right behind Sitton.

[CJH]

Chillar and Havner were both placed on IR today. Their spots have not been filled yet.

That brings the total to 13 players placed on IR this year. This doesn't include players missing a few games that are kept on the roster. Can't remember a year with this many injuries!!

[SkunkedAgain]

Yeah, it hasn't been mentioned much by the media (lately) about how much those 11-13 players might have impacted the loss to Atlanta. Imagine if we had a healthy Ryan Pickett and Johnny Jolly on the D-line. Imagine if we had Nick Barnett, Brad Jones, and Brandon Chillar at linebacker. Imagine if we had Atari Bigby, Morgan Burnett, Pat Lee, and Al Harris in the defensive secondary.

The Packers had played great defense in the past couple games, but in my estimation it's going to be hard to maintain for the long haul. I hope that they can but it seems like last season, when the good teams ripped apart our secondary. Rodgers and especially the O-line and WRs need to play lights out to keep the Packers in games.

[CJH]

Agree with you assessment!! The D didn't get any turnovers, so look for them to rebound in that dept going forward. The D didn't play on 3rd downs as well, and I don't think Dom will put up with that. Can't expect ARod to carry the entire team all the way to the Playoffs/Super Bowl.

The Pack signed Tramon Williams to a 4 year deal, through 2014. He would have been a free agent (depending on what happens with the CBA). His contract makes him the 12th highest paid corner in the league if he hits all of his incentives, which seems reasonable considering how he played this year and last year when he took over for Al Harris. I expect they will sign 2-3 more people before the season is over.

Not bad for an undrafted free agent. Crazy that 2 of your 3 top corners were undrafted (shields). Very unusual.

[Antero]

We have very little margin of error the rest of the way, it is imperative that we beat who we are supposed to beat (SF and Detroit) plus beat the Bears and Giants at home. Lions on the road may not be a cake walk, they are better I'd say. That would be 11 wins, pretty tough I'd say.

10 may get us in but the loss to Atl and Chi will hurt in tie breaker scenarios.

[SkunkedAgain]

Right on. I see the next two opponents as momentum-building games and the final three as gut-check games. More than ever, they better have the mentality that running the table is imperative to getting into the playoffs. They need to make up a game on Chicago AND beat the Bears in the final game to have any hope of a divisional title.

This is where we find out what kind of heart and talent the 2010 team possesses.

[Stcloudangler]

I gotta say, the pack had the game to take from an excellent opponent. But you just dont win in Atlanta. The only major criticism is that whomever the joker is that keeps calling Rodgers' number at the goal line will be immediately fired when (not if) his hand or finger is broken in the pile. When you have a QB like that, he is too valuable to waste for a sneak. Possibly the dumbest call you could make.