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Fan reaction: Green Bay crushes Minnesota, but what does it mean?
Fan reaction: Green Bay crushes Minnesota, but what does it mean? - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
By Van Walker, Yahoo! Contributor Network 6 hours, 45 minutes ago
This article was produced by a Yahoo! Sports user. Submit a story
(Disclaimer: the following article was written by a life-long Chicago Bears fan, thus the following commentary will be tinged orange and blue. Were he given his choice, the author would have preferred that both teams finish in a flat-footed tie, with his second choice being that either team get blown out. His uneven and possibly severely medicated judgments follow.) Having watched my beloved Chicago Bears stomp a mudhole into the Miami Dolphins last Thursday night, your humble scribe took in Sunday's tilt between the (expletive) Green Bay Packers (the author pauses to spit) and the Minnesota Vikings, which the (expletive) Packers (the author pauses to spit) won easily, 35-3
(Note: for the remainder of the article, the author will refrain from his usual expletives and spitting when referring to the Green Bay Packers because, unlike Green Bay's ridiculous uniforms, one can only take a joke so far…)
There are three things that can be taken from Sunday's result in desultory Minnesota.
1. Now we will discover the true depth of Brett Favre's(notes) character.
Jason Whitlock of Fox Sports called before the season began, stating that Favre's not-so-subtle efforts at drawing attention to his many ailments in the preseason were an attempt at ameliorating the results of this season if things went badly. If the Vikings were still in the hunt, then Favre's a hero for playing through injuries that would sit a lesser man. If the Vikings were also-rans, one could hardly blame Favre; after all, look at that laundry list of broken things he's carrying around. With the Vikings now sitting at 3-7, and millions of Zygi Wilf's dollars to cry himself to sleep on, it sez so right here that Favre "succumbs" to his many wounds and shuts it down for the rest of the season.
Thus will end part of the biggest remaining soap opera in the NFC. Everyone involved in this farce should be held accountable, because Brett Favre surely wasn't. Favre knew he had carte blanche when the Vikings were staring down the barrel of a season with Tarvaris Jackson(notes) atop the depth chart…not that they would have fared worse than they actually have, mind you, but whose fault is it that either Jackson or Joe Webb(notes) (who? surely not the Dragnet guy, right?) were the other options at quarterback in Minnesota? Bidding against themselves for a 40+ year old coach killer with bad wheels and an empty cannon (how many of Favre's passes weren't in the neighborhood of Viking receivers on Sunday?), the Vikings deserve to be in this position. The saddest part of the spectacle is that they are wasting the prime years of the division's finest running back since either Walter Payton or Barry Sanders caused sleepless nights for opposing defensive coordinators. Adrian Peterson doesn't deserve this and now can look forward to a complete regime change with a new coach and a new quarterback, and the next QB won't be very good right away for a couple of reasons: he'll be a rookie, he'll be Tarvaris Jackson, or he'll be a middling journeyman (Wilf is through paying big contracts to free agent quarterbacks for a while, methinks).
Maybe Prince can write them another dreadful fight song. Meanwhile…
2. Green Bay is no better than Chicago. No, really.
One will have to forgive Dave Campbell, the AP sportswriter who got a bit caught up in the hype of Green Bay's rather easy victory over Minnesota, because the Packers are not "the Super Bowl contender they were purported to be this summer." Right now, the Packers have the same record as the Chicago Bears: 7-3, but they trail in the division (he Bears are 3-0, and the Packers are 3-1). That one, however, was to Chicago. The Packers find themselves in the unenviable position of hoping that the Bears will lose to either the Detroit Lions or the soon-to-be-without-Favre Vikings; while possible, it's just not likely. Once the Bears reach five wins in the division, the Packers will be unable to win the division by virtue of the tie-breaker belonging to Chicago, which means they will find themselves thrown into the wild card mix…with teams like the Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Giants, the Atlanta Falcons, the New Orleans Saints, or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as the NFC West will only contribute one first-round lamb to the playoff slaughter. Moreover, Green Bay's remaining schedule outside the division is every bit as brutal as Chicago's (the Packers have games remaining at Atlanta, at the New England Patriots, and with the Giants, before closing with the Bears), and, like Chicago, the Packers have exactly two wins of any consequence.
Basically, the Packers will need more wins against tougher competition if they want to make the playoffs at all. If they do, it will be as a wild card contender at best. Of course, that's the best of things. It's possible that this team tops out at nine wins and misses the playoffs altogether.
Finally…
3. The winner of this game was really the Chicago Bears.
The Packers thorough destruction of the Vikings will have one consequence that works in the Bears' favor: it'll force Brett Favre into early retirement. This is the best of all possible scenarios for Chicago, because, even though they've already beaten the Favre-led Vikings once, this is still Brett Favre we are talking about. It's possible that he might have been able to summon one final burst of brilliance against the Bears. However, the truth is that Favre is done, past done, and whoever is mistakenly lining up behind left guard for the Vikings won't represent a threat to the pillaging Bears defense.
Looking ahead, both the Bears and the Packers have tough games ahead outside the division. If the Bears have any advantage at all, it is that all three of their extra-divisional games are at home. They could still lose all three, but that is no longer as likely as it seemed before their bye week. The Bears are simply better than grudging punditry will allow. Lovie Smith has done something that no coach since perhaps **** Vermeil has done: he has successfully yanked the reins on Mike Martz and the result has been a much more balanced offense that is running the ball effectively and now converting third downs at a better than 50% rate.
The Packers, meanwhile, with games remaining at Atlanta and at New England, are still playing catch-up, and there just isn't enough time left in the schedule for them to overtake Chicago. The fact is that Green Bay had their chance to run away and hide from Chicago weeks ago, but, while the Bears were struggling through some horrid losses, the Packers were struggling as well. Both teams dropped three out of four at one point this season, and both teams have put together nice winning streaks since. The only difference between them is that Chicago won back on Sept. 27, a victory that looms larger and larger as the season progresses.
Super Bowl contender? The Packers might find themselves on the outside looking in when the playoffs start
Fan reaction: Green Bay crushes Minnesota, but what does it mean? - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
By Van Walker, Yahoo! Contributor Network 6 hours, 45 minutes ago
This article was produced by a Yahoo! Sports user. Submit a story
(Disclaimer: the following article was written by a life-long Chicago Bears fan, thus the following commentary will be tinged orange and blue. Were he given his choice, the author would have preferred that both teams finish in a flat-footed tie, with his second choice being that either team get blown out. His uneven and possibly severely medicated judgments follow.) Having watched my beloved Chicago Bears stomp a mudhole into the Miami Dolphins last Thursday night, your humble scribe took in Sunday's tilt between the (expletive) Green Bay Packers (the author pauses to spit) and the Minnesota Vikings, which the (expletive) Packers (the author pauses to spit) won easily, 35-3
(Note: for the remainder of the article, the author will refrain from his usual expletives and spitting when referring to the Green Bay Packers because, unlike Green Bay's ridiculous uniforms, one can only take a joke so far…)
There are three things that can be taken from Sunday's result in desultory Minnesota.
1. Now we will discover the true depth of Brett Favre's(notes) character.
Jason Whitlock of Fox Sports called before the season began, stating that Favre's not-so-subtle efforts at drawing attention to his many ailments in the preseason were an attempt at ameliorating the results of this season if things went badly. If the Vikings were still in the hunt, then Favre's a hero for playing through injuries that would sit a lesser man. If the Vikings were also-rans, one could hardly blame Favre; after all, look at that laundry list of broken things he's carrying around. With the Vikings now sitting at 3-7, and millions of Zygi Wilf's dollars to cry himself to sleep on, it sez so right here that Favre "succumbs" to his many wounds and shuts it down for the rest of the season.
Thus will end part of the biggest remaining soap opera in the NFC. Everyone involved in this farce should be held accountable, because Brett Favre surely wasn't. Favre knew he had carte blanche when the Vikings were staring down the barrel of a season with Tarvaris Jackson(notes) atop the depth chart…not that they would have fared worse than they actually have, mind you, but whose fault is it that either Jackson or Joe Webb(notes) (who? surely not the Dragnet guy, right?) were the other options at quarterback in Minnesota? Bidding against themselves for a 40+ year old coach killer with bad wheels and an empty cannon (how many of Favre's passes weren't in the neighborhood of Viking receivers on Sunday?), the Vikings deserve to be in this position. The saddest part of the spectacle is that they are wasting the prime years of the division's finest running back since either Walter Payton or Barry Sanders caused sleepless nights for opposing defensive coordinators. Adrian Peterson doesn't deserve this and now can look forward to a complete regime change with a new coach and a new quarterback, and the next QB won't be very good right away for a couple of reasons: he'll be a rookie, he'll be Tarvaris Jackson, or he'll be a middling journeyman (Wilf is through paying big contracts to free agent quarterbacks for a while, methinks).
Maybe Prince can write them another dreadful fight song. Meanwhile…
2. Green Bay is no better than Chicago. No, really.
One will have to forgive Dave Campbell, the AP sportswriter who got a bit caught up in the hype of Green Bay's rather easy victory over Minnesota, because the Packers are not "the Super Bowl contender they were purported to be this summer." Right now, the Packers have the same record as the Chicago Bears: 7-3, but they trail in the division (he Bears are 3-0, and the Packers are 3-1). That one, however, was to Chicago. The Packers find themselves in the unenviable position of hoping that the Bears will lose to either the Detroit Lions or the soon-to-be-without-Favre Vikings; while possible, it's just not likely. Once the Bears reach five wins in the division, the Packers will be unable to win the division by virtue of the tie-breaker belonging to Chicago, which means they will find themselves thrown into the wild card mix…with teams like the Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Giants, the Atlanta Falcons, the New Orleans Saints, or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as the NFC West will only contribute one first-round lamb to the playoff slaughter. Moreover, Green Bay's remaining schedule outside the division is every bit as brutal as Chicago's (the Packers have games remaining at Atlanta, at the New England Patriots, and with the Giants, before closing with the Bears), and, like Chicago, the Packers have exactly two wins of any consequence.
Basically, the Packers will need more wins against tougher competition if they want to make the playoffs at all. If they do, it will be as a wild card contender at best. Of course, that's the best of things. It's possible that this team tops out at nine wins and misses the playoffs altogether.
Finally…
3. The winner of this game was really the Chicago Bears.
The Packers thorough destruction of the Vikings will have one consequence that works in the Bears' favor: it'll force Brett Favre into early retirement. This is the best of all possible scenarios for Chicago, because, even though they've already beaten the Favre-led Vikings once, this is still Brett Favre we are talking about. It's possible that he might have been able to summon one final burst of brilliance against the Bears. However, the truth is that Favre is done, past done, and whoever is mistakenly lining up behind left guard for the Vikings won't represent a threat to the pillaging Bears defense.
Looking ahead, both the Bears and the Packers have tough games ahead outside the division. If the Bears have any advantage at all, it is that all three of their extra-divisional games are at home. They could still lose all three, but that is no longer as likely as it seemed before their bye week. The Bears are simply better than grudging punditry will allow. Lovie Smith has done something that no coach since perhaps **** Vermeil has done: he has successfully yanked the reins on Mike Martz and the result has been a much more balanced offense that is running the ball effectively and now converting third downs at a better than 50% rate.
The Packers, meanwhile, with games remaining at Atlanta and at New England, are still playing catch-up, and there just isn't enough time left in the schedule for them to overtake Chicago. The fact is that Green Bay had their chance to run away and hide from Chicago weeks ago, but, while the Bears were struggling through some horrid losses, the Packers were struggling as well. Both teams dropped three out of four at one point this season, and both teams have put together nice winning streaks since. The only difference between them is that Chicago won back on Sept. 27, a victory that looms larger and larger as the season progresses.
Super Bowl contender? The Packers might find themselves on the outside looking in when the playoffs start
W) CHI: (L)
