8-8, if lucky

[net]

Bob McGinn at J-S wrote a column about the Packers personnel. He talked with a personnel director who said the Packers largely have no depth in key positions.
McGinn said early on the team was going to be 12-4. A better projection is 8-8, about where they were last year.

It is fairly clear the team is not what it was three years ago. It's a combination of things, but mainly other teams have figured out the offensive system and the defense, while good in spurts, isn't consistent enough.

What has evolved in Green Bay is a modern version of the Bart Starr coaching era. Mediocrity was rewarded with more money, and everyone was so busy praising themselves they didn't realize they couldn't play routinely with the good teams.

I remember watching the 1961 NFL championship game involving the Packers and the Giants. That is how long I've been following the Packers. I see a team in decline and I don't think a remedy will occur until they fall even more.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Bob McGinn at J-S wrote a column about the Packers personnel. He talked with a personnel director who said the Packers largely have no depth in key positions.
McGinn said early on the team was going to be 12-4. A better projection is 8-8, about where they were last year.

It is fairly clear the team is not what it was three years ago. It's a combination of things, but mainly other teams have figured out the offensive system and the defense, while good in spurts, isn't consistent enough.

What has evolved in Green Bay is a modern version of the Bart Starr coaching era. Mediocrity was rewarded with more money, and everyone was so busy praising themselves they didn't realize they couldn't play routinely with the good teams.

I remember watching the 1961 NFL championship game involving the Packers and the Giants. That is how long I've been following the Packers. I see a team in decline and I don't think a remedy will occur until they fall even more.

That personnel guy lost all credibility with me as soon as McGinn wrote about him picking the Vikings to win the division before the season.

 

[gatorpack]

I say the packers will be 8-8 if they have REALLY bad luck

 

[realcaliforniacheese]

Bob McGinn at J-S wrote a column about the Packers personnel. He talked with a personnel director who said the Packers largely have no depth in key positions.
McGinn said early on the team was going to be 12-4. A better projection is 8-8, about where they were last year.

It is fairly clear the team is not what it was three years ago. It's a combination of things, but mainly other teams have figured out the offensive system and the defense, while good in spurts, isn't consistent enough.

What has evolved in Green Bay is a modern version of the Bart Starr coaching era. Mediocrity was rewarded with more money, and everyone was so busy praising themselves they didn't realize they couldn't play routinely with the good teams.

I remember watching the 1961 NFL championship game involving the Packers and the Giants. That is how long I've been following the Packers. I see a team in decline and I don't think a remedy will occur until they fall even more.

Not ready to throw in the towel on the season after just 3 games. But as far as personnel goes, its a simple matter of always picking at the back of the draft order. You can't load up with great players when 20 some odd teams are picking before you. But I would rather be constantly picking at the back of the draft then constantly picking at the front of the draft. I totally disagree with your assessment of the team being mediocre. The ship will be righted and be an ice breaker down the stretch. Win the division and go into January hot, that's all I'm focused on.

 

[PackerDNA]

I believe that most of what we've seen so far is correctable, and may just end up largely taking care of itself.
Poor timing between Rodgers and his receivers, Lacy's struggles, etc.- these can all change in a heartbeat because it is proven players- high level players who have done it before. No reason to think they won't get it figured out and again perform at a high level.

 

[ivo610]

we have had the same record through 3 games the past 3 seasons I believe... So I will not be throwing in the towel.

 

[Dagger85]

1-2 doesn't scare me. We should be use to 1-2 by now. We played a bad game yesterday, no doubt, but I'll never understand the early gloom and doom. Lions have lost 1, we have lost 2 and 13 games are left....and we play at the end of the year. When a team starts hot you hear, "this is our year." When a team starts slow, "well, that's it."

It's not about who is on a hot steak at week 3, it's about who is looking good in December. I'm sorry, but I still think we win the North and in the possibility we don't, there are 2 wildcard spots still available. We are going to have great games and bad games over 16 weeks, but we are fine.

 

[Packerlover]

I felt that the Pack would go 11 and 5 this season and I'm still optimistic about that prediction

 

[Dagger85]

I felt that the Pack would go 11 and 5 this season and I'm still optimistic about that prediction

If we started off fast, I thought 12-4. But I think 11-5 is good. Falcons, Bills, Buccaneers and Lions in December. While Falcons have looked good and anything can still happen with the other teams, I like our December schedule to end the regular season.

 

[AZpackerbacker]

I agree with the 8-8 record. Our WR corps is questionable (can't seem to get open). We don't have a reliable TE stepping forward. O Line play has been pretty bad. Rodgers looks tentative.....Lacy is not the same. The defense is off and on......now Clay is hurt AGAIN. A lot of money being dumped on someone who seems to always be injured.

 

[Packerlover]

I agree with the 8-8 record. Our WR corps is questionable (can't seem to get open). We don't have a reliable TE stepping forward. O Line play has been pretty bad. Rodgers looks tentative.....Lacy is not the same. The defense is off and on......now Clay is hurt AGAIN. A lot of money being dumped on someone who seems to always be injured.

Glass half empty?

 

[Packerlover]

If we started off fast, I thought 12-4. But I think 11-5 is good. Falcons, Bills, Buccaneers and Lions in December. While Falcons have looked good and anything can still happen with the other teams, I like our December schedule to end the regular season.

I agree with you completely. November and December are more important

 

[AZpackerbacker]

Bears and Lions are both more complete teams right now.

 

[Zeck180]

Before the season started I predicted the division would look like this:

Pack 13-3
Lions 11-5
Bears 8-8
Vikes 4-12

Right now if the team continues to play like it has, 13 wins is a long stretch, 9-10 maybe.

 

[Packerlover]

Bears and Lions are both more complete teams right now.

Key words are RIGHT NOW. The Lions may lose 8 in a row, who knows? The Bears.. well they're the Bears, they'll find a way to blow down the stretch

 

[Dagger85]

Key words are RIGHT NOW. The Lions may lose 8 in a row, who knows? The Bears.. well they're the Bears, they'll find a way to blow down the stretch

Exactly. Week 3 is just entirely too early. This season has barley begun.

 

[AZpackerbacker]

This team has blaring holes. We have one of the best QBs in the league, yet an O line that is questionable. We have several TEs but not one that has risen to the occasion. Jordy is our best WR......Cobb and Boykins can't seem to get separation......so Rodgers talents are really being wasted. Line blocking has been horrible, so Lacy can't seem to get on track. Defense finally showed up last week....but still don't feel comfortable with it. Opposing D coordinators pretty much have any easy time preparing for us, because we are really predictable. We don't have a true O coordinator, and until we do, I expect the offense to stay stale.......

 

[Croquet]

I agree with you completely. November and December are more important

I thought all the games counted the same. While I can agree that it is great to be hot at the right time it doesn't hurt to be in a great situation playing well all the time.

 

[JBlood]

The O line is not questionable. It is bad. The offense can't stay on the field; the defense can't get off the field on 3rd down, just like the last couple of years. Poor tackling, open receivers--not much new there. Maybe we'll get hot in December, but if you're 4 and 8 at that time it won't make any difference.

 

[Croquet]

This team has blaring holes. We have one of the best QBs in the league, yet an O line that is questionable. We have several TEs but not one that has risen to the occasion. Jordy is our best WR......Cobb and Boykins can't seem to get separation......so Rodgers talents are really being wasted. Line blocking has been horrible, so Lacy can't seem to get on track. Defense finally showed up last week....but still don't feel comfortable with it. Opposing D coordinators pretty much have any easy time preparing for us, because we are really predictable. We don't have a true O coordinator, and until we do, I expect the offense to stay stale.......

Great post. Rodgers is not playing anywhere near where he has before. Lacy, Harris, Boykin all seem out of sync.

 

[AZpackerbacker]

Jared Allen will kill Rodgers if he plays that well against us.

 

[ExpatPacker]

Here's why I am not ready to dismiss McGinn's take, in which he ventriloquizes through an unknown source:

- Since the Super Bowl the Packers have been trending down. They put it all together at the end of 2010, their 2011 season was incredible, but the first signs of trouble came with the KC game and they got embarrassed by the Giants in the playoffs; 2012 they went 11-5 and got stomped by SF; last year they barely made out partly due to AR's injury and probably shouldn't have made it with an 8-7-1 record thanks to Detroit's implosion.

- Part of the reason for the down trend is the draft. TT's Draft and Develop strategy has not been successful, or at least successful enough. 3 1st round draft picks--Sherrod, Perry, and D. Jones--have not developed into impact players. 2nd rounders like Worthy are history. Yes, there have been some successes, and Dix seems to be the real deal, but the level of talent gained from the draft has not replaced the talent lost, and TT has been notoriously unwilling to dip into FA until this year with Peppers.

- Other teams have gotten better. The Bears, Lions, and Vikings are better. We spent 2-3 years stomping them. Not any more.

- Rodgers has in my opinion regressed. After the 2011 season I like many Packer fans thought the sky was the limit for him. His injury last year slowed him down, and this year he is way off: he is not confident, his tendency to hold onto the ball too long has become a bad habit, his accuracy isn't there, and he doesn't scramble like he used to, which was one of his main weapons. There could be plenty of reasons for this and I'll only speculate--the receiving corps isn't getting open, he's trying to do too much, he doesn't want to risk an injury on a scramble, but something is not right with Rodgers. He is no longer the trump card. Plenty of other QBs are playing better than him this season.

- The offensive play-calling seems stagnant. Whether it's ineffective players or a lack of innovativeness on MM's part, a failure to make adjustments in-game, or whether it's Rodgers and MM not being on the same page, I don't know, but MM fails to impress me at all with his offensive scheme and his game decisions. When was the last time MM out-coached anybody? I can't remember. End result: this offensive doesn't have the explosiveness it used to.

This year's 1-2 concerns me a lot more than the 1-2s of previous years to be quite honest. And if you watch tonight's MNF game, Chicago is going to be tough to beat. Cutler is off to one of his best years.

 

[longtimefan]

I'm watching the Bears-Jets game and I tell you what, with all the injuries they have at DB, if our offense can't destroy this Chicago defense then our offense is in a bad spot. I mean, Detroit was bad enough when they were missing all kinds of DB's, so we can't have back-to-back stinkers.

Part of the trouble is the Packers faced prob the best def front lines in the league the 1st 3 weeks..so while Det backfield is horrible, Rodgers needed time to attack them..We saw what happened..

The bears dont have a front line like that (at least I dont think so) so attacking that backfield should be a LOT easier

 

[longtimefan]

- Rodgers has in my opinion regressed. After the 2011 season I like many Packer fans thought the sky was the limit for him. His injury last year slowed him down, and this year he is way off: he is not confident, his tendency to hold onto the ball too long has become a bad habit, his accuracy isn't there, and he doesn't scramble like he used to, which was one of his main weapons. There could be plenty of reasons for this and I'll only speculate--the receiving corps isn't getting open, he's trying to do too much, he doesn't want to risk an injury on a scramble, but something is not right with Rodgers. He is no longer the trump card. Plenty of other QBs are playing better than him this season.

So why the scoring output vs the Jets?

 

[ExpatPacker]

So why the scoring output vs the Jets?

1 game out of 3?