How pivotal was it?

[warhawk]

I was just thinking about the offseason and looking ahead to '07 and got to thinking about '06.

What a HUGE year that was!

Our stronghold on the North had gone from a stranglehold to sucking wind.

The Lambeau Field thing.

New coaches/new system.

A bunch of new and young players.

This could have been a DISASTER of huge proportions! A follow up to '05 or worse and not much down the road to look forward to either.

We have NFL guys out there saying we have a legitimate shot at the North and the playoffs and they actually MEAN IT.

This team fought back and turned the corner and if we could do it with what we had last year we damn sure can do even more this year.

While it's the offseason and everyone is trying to figure out who we should be getting to get better lets not forget that these guy BACKS WERE UP AGAINST THE WAll in '06 and they showed us WHAT THEY WERE MADE OF.

This team was heading one way or the other in '06. I'll take what they ALL showed me. From the young coaches who didn't panic, to the vets that didn't quit, to the rooks who never backed off.

And I appreciate you and am behind you 100%. I know it's only going in to April but I am so ready for some football!

 

[Timmons]

Good post. My only dissapointment about the season was McCarthy abandoning the run early in the season. I am very hopeful and excited about the upcoming season.

 

[robkeg]

I agree with you warhawk, last year was better than I expected. My only concern with the 8-8 record is the teams we beat. We did not beat any of the contenders with the exception of our last game against the bears. Hopefully this season we can win the close ones and beat some of the stronger teams.

 

[Packnic]

granted the teams we beat werent very good... but you still gotta go to work and beat those teams. give the team credit for at least beating the teams they should have beaten.

and on a positive note... we were in most of the games we lost... with afew exceptions Jets, pats ... with a few more positive plays we could have had a much different record. i hope the team learns from this.

from 4-12 to 8-8 to.... dare i say 12-4????

 

[warhawk]

I agree with you warhawk, last year was better than I expected. My only concern with the 8-8 record is the teams we beat. We did not beat any of the contenders with the exception of our last game against the bears. Hopefully this season we can win the close ones and beat some of the stronger teams.

I know what your saying but when it get's down to it only a small percentage of teams do great overall against other winning teams. You have to beat the teams you should but yes we want that record to improve.

Also, right when we got into the schedule with vs a string of teams with winning records Tausher goes down and we have three rookies in there.
It may not have made a difference but there's no coincidence that our "0" struggled at that point. Three rookie "0' lineman starting is virtually unheard of.

 

[warhawk]

Good post. My only dissapointment about the season was McCarthy abandoning the run early in the season. I am very hopeful and excited about the upcoming season.

It was frustrating but I noticed after several games how many teams we played were in the top 10 in run defense. Not only did we get teams like the Bears and Vikes but some others who ranked way up there in that catagory. We lost the battle against some of those teams in the run game but so did a lot of other teams.

The other thing I expect to see us do better is handling the 3-4. It seemed last year like that was just to much of an adjustment for the young guys to make and they struggled against everybody that brought it. There always seemed to be a guy left unblocked after the RB got the ball against a 3-4.
With a year under their belts I see them solving the mystery there.

 

[Timmons]

I hope so Warhawk, it will be a pleasure for Favre to have an open dump off on pass plays too (due to not needing max protection.)

I'd like to get back to being a running team that can't be stopped whatever year it was when Favre broke his thumb, well, I loved that year. They knew we were going to run and we did it and it worked. no trickery required, just execution.

 

[retiredgrampa]

As per usual, how we start the season will bear heavily on our season. We can't count on 3 easy games in a row at the end to pull us out this year. The bright sign I saw last year was that we DID beat the teams we SHOULD have (mostly). Luckily, I haven't seen the Vikes or Lions improve themselves this year in FA. Of course, neither have we but I have more faith in TT in the draft than the GMs of those teams. I feel sure that TT is hanging on to the cap space in order to pay for one or two expensive trade scenerios. We sure as hell won't spend it all on draft picks.

 

[packerfan1245]

I actually thought we would do good this year. Idk if it was just hope, or confidence in my team. I do that every year so....SUPER BOWL IN 07 BABY!

 

[cheesey]

I for one am hopeful! I haven't seen anything to destroy that hope yet. I think as a team they will be lots better, as they have expierience with the new O and D, and with each other as players. I think that will make alot of difference for this coming season.

 

[PackFaninBucLand]

The last game was their best game. Frankly, they destroyed the Bears.

Say what you want about the Bears not trying, etc. but I thought we blew them up!

 

[flapackfan]

Im getting more and more optimistic about our upcoming season even though we arent making any offseason moves. I still firmly believe we need a very good receiving tight end, a good veteran safety and a good versatile running back to share the load with Morency(better than Herron) but im thinking that a great tight end will help us more than getting Randy Moss will.

Moss would be great but i think we could fill all three of the other holes with the money we would pay Moss. Plus, our receivers are alright i guess. As long as we get K-Rob to produce like he did last year on a full time basis.

I'd like to see us get Marshawn Lynch in the first round and try and trade for a good tight end and sign a safety. Ricky Williams has allways been a favorite of mine, maybe we can get him for almost nothing. He is a weirdo but he can produce and as long as we dont invest big in him and depend 100% on him, would be a good pickup.

 

[Since69]

from 4-12 to 8-8 to.... dare i say 12-4????

If you're willing to settle for an arithmetic progression, I suppose that's good enough. I prefer a geometric progression:

4 wins doubles to 8 wins doubles to 16!