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Packerlifer

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Before Chicken Little announces that the sky has fallen let's remember that the season is only at the halfway point. The Packers are 6-2 and tied for first in the NFC North. One year ago at this point they were 5-3, a game behind Detroit in the standings, and just coming off a 44-23 prime time embarrassment in New Orleans. In a first half of the season that saw them get shut down by Seattle and the Lions and just edge by Miami.

We've been here before, were maybe even a little worse and wound up coming within seconds of going to the Super Bowl.

Things need to be fixed, to be sure. But the Pack is in by no means a desperate situation.

Here's the second half schedules of the clubs in competition with the Packers for the division, the playoffs and home field in the playoffs.

Minnesota has to play at Oakland, host the Packers, go to Atlanta, host Seattle, travel to Arizona, play at home vs the Giants and Bears and finish at Lambeau.

Carolina has some potential trap games at Tennessee, Dallas, New Orleans, the Giants, and at Atlanta while finishing their home schedule with Washington, Atlanta and Tampa Bay.

Arizona is, like the Packers, 6-2. They go to Seattle next week, play Cincinnati at home, then have two road games with San Francisco and St. Louis, come home against the Vikings, visit Philly, and host Green Bay and Seattle to close out.

The Vikings don't beat good teams on the road and usually don't beat anybody unless their opponent is foolish enough to give away the game to them; as the Bears and Rams did the past two weeks and the Lions and Chiefs did before that.Their offense struggles to score touchdowns and the only game in which they could conceivably be favored as of now is the home game with the Bears.

After seeing Denver go into Indianapolis and take their first loss of the season and Tennessee beating the Saints in New Orleans, Carolina could face a trap game at Tennessee next week to become 8-1 and they could be vulnerable on the road against Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta and the Giants.

The Cards won't have it easy in their next two at Seattle and with Cincinnati and St. Louis is tough on their divisional opponents, especially at home.

The Packers, of course, must get better and take care of their business ahead of them. Win the next four in the division to move to 10-2 and the final month should see them very much alive and well in the title hunt down the stretch.
 
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Dagger85

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It's like you read my mind. We see this a lot. You're going to get the crowd of "the defense won't get us to the Super Bowl, blah blah" but there is still 8 games left. You don't get to 6-2 without talent and you also continue to improve while the season progresses. Once you get into the playoffs, all bets are off. We are sitting in a better position than we have in awhile at this point in the season. Also, our second half today was like a completely different team. I'm far, far, far from panic mode.

Also, let's see what happens when Rollins, Shields and Montgomery return.
 

adambr2

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Right now, I don't see them winning at Minnesota, Arizona, or even Oakland, and Dallas could give them trouble too if they're at full strength by then.

Of course that could change if they start actually playing better, but there's no doubt the second half of the season is much more difficult overall.

Road games at Minnesota and Arizona will be absolutely crucial if they still plan on earning a first round bye, or even winning the division.
 

Dagger85

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Right now, I don't see them winning at Minnesota, Arizona, or even Oakland, and Dallas could give them trouble too if they're at full strength by then.

Of course that could change if they start actually playing better, but there's no doubt the second half of the season is much more difficult overall.

Road games at Minnesota and Arizona will be absolutely crucial if they still plan on earning a first round bye, or even winning the division.

Actually I think during the broadcast they said we have the 3rd or 4th easiest schedule remaining.
 

adambr2

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Actually I think during the broadcast they said we have the 3rd or 4th easiest schedule remaining.

That seems pretty shocking to me. We get Minnesota twice, and Arizona, there's three 6-2 teams right there, two of them on the road. Oakland is also not a slouch at all and that will be a very difficult road game to win. Dallas' record figured into our remaining SOS has to be taken with an enormous grain of salt as its obviously not a 2-6 team right now if they have Romo and Dez all year, which they will against us. I don't look at the game in Detroit and chalk it up as a sure win.

I feel good about home games vs. Detroit and Chicago. There's not a ton else in the second half that doesn't look like a tough game at this point.
 

Dagger85

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That seems pretty shocking to me. We get Minnesota twice, and Arizona, there's three 6-2 teams right there, two of them on the road. Oakland is also not a slouch at all and that will be a very difficult road game to win. Dallas' record figured into our remaining SOS has to be taken with an enormous grain of salt as its obviously not a 2-6 team right now if they have Romo and Dez all year, which they will against us. I don't look at the game in Detroit and chalk it up as a sure win.

I feel good about home games vs. Detroit and Chicago. There's not a ton else in the second half that doesn't look like a tough game at this point.

I was surprised too. But at the point, just 1 game at a time.
 

adambr2

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Outside of Detroit our remaining SOS is 24-20. That includes a Dallas team that will have Romo back when we face them.

Given that of all 6 teams we've beaten, none currently have a winning record, I wouldn't say that a second half with three current 6-2 opponents will be easy.
 

metallicblaze

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It's not the fact that the team is 6-2. It's the fact the team has looked so lethargic for an extended period of time. They need to swiftly remedy this problem or it could get uglier then it has.
 

adambr2

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It's worth noting though that the Vikings have a brutal 5 game stretch coming up. Hopefully we can get some help. Shame the Rams couldn't pull it off today.
 

adambr2

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Win the next 2 and I'll feel much better. Can't overstate how crucial it is to win in Minnesota.
 

G0P4ckG0

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The Packers' primary goal should now be to win 10 games. I think that will get them in the playoffs as long as they beat Minnesota at least once. Once (IF) they make the playoffs, anything can happen and barring any major injuries I think the Packers will have the majority of their issues shored up by the time January rolls around. I'm a little anxious right now but am nowhere near panic mode, and I think the team feels the same way. R-E-L-A-X.
 

Pokerbrat2000

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One thing to always keep in mind and I am not trying to be pessimistic, but realistic here, is the notion of "wait until this player or that player is healthy". I just don't hitch my wagon to that anymore (unless its AR), since for every starter that goes down and gets healthy, you usually lose one in the process. Fans always seem to cry about injuries to key players, but it is part of the NFL and unless you have depth, which I think the Packers do, it can make or break a season.
 

RRyder

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The Packers' primary goal should now be to win 10 games. I think that will get them in the playoffs as long as they beat Minnesota at least once. Once (IF) they make the playoffs, anything can happen and barring any major injuries I think the Packers will have the majority of their issues shored up by the time January rolls around. I'm a little anxious right now but am nowhere near panic mode, and I think the team feels the same way. R-E-L-A-X.

If your shooting for only 10 wins while the Packers are 6-2 with the second best to record in the NFC I'd definitely say your hitting the panic button
 

Carl

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The Packers have the ability to be much better than they have been the last two weeks.

Almost the same Packers team, including the defense, played well most of the time from the 2nd half of last year through games 1-6. Yes, Jordy is a big loss, but as the 4th quarter yesterday showed, we can pass well on very good defense without him.The offense has way too much talent to go 3 and out so often.

Something has clearly been off recently though. Hopefully, they we've just encountered a rough stretch that looks worse by having really good opponents during it and we get it figured out.
 
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There's no doubt in my mind the Packers will at least win six of their last eight games and win the division, hopefully getting a first-round bye.

While it's true the Cowboys will be a better te with Romo back it's also true that the Vikings aren't as good as their current record might indicate.

I'm worried about the team's chances in the playoffs though. The offense will get back on track in the second half of the season but I expect the defense to struggle the rest of the way. If the team has troubles putting up points in the postseason I'm not convinced the defense will be able to win a game for us.
 
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JBlood

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The offense has way too much talent to go 3 and out so often.
Agreed. Minus Jordy, the 2014 no. 1 offense in the league is intact. Unfortunately, the no. 16 defense is intact as well. (all rankings per DVOA)
 

adambr2

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The goal at this point should be winning the division and securing the #2 seed which will at least get us a bye and HFA until the NFC Championship Game. Win a playoff game at home and get another shot in Carolina, or its entirely possible someone else goes in there and beats them in the divisional round.

12-4 should get it done. Minnesota and Arizona have brutal upcoming schedules.
 
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C-Lee

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Great post. We're in a slump now, it's obvious. Some trials right now, but we have time to figure it out and find our identity in December. We will get our mojo back.
 

Half Empty

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If your shooting for only 10 wins while the Packers are 6-2 with the second best to record in the NFC I'd definitely say your hitting the panic button

Gotta love forums. Relativity, subjectivity, semantics. A person specifically says they're not ready to panic, and because they predict a 4-4 finish, you're ready to say they definitely are.
 

broguy

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Good OP. I also think not having our number 1 cb has killed us on defense the last two games. Opposing receivers have been consistently getting 3 to 5 yard cushions - which just isn't good enough in this league. Manning obviously still has enough to eat you alive for those kind of mistakes, and you just can't make the game that simple for Cam. I don't think getting Shields back is a panacea for the defense, as we still have some major issues, but I think it will make a huge difference and cover a lot of deficiencies (notably by giving our rush more time to get to the QB).

On the offensive side of the ball I was somewhat encouraged by Rodgers finally starting to let it loose in the second half yesterday. In the past we've had enough offensive talent for him to play conservative and pick his spots, but we're not going anywhere this year unless he starts taking some risks and winning games on his own. He may throw a few more picks than in seasons past, but we need him to start throwing people open and winning us games on his own.

All that being said, I'm firmly in the R-E-L-A-X boat. I think we're back in Charlotte in late January and I think we have enough to beat them.
 

broguy

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Oh, and one more thing. Those were two very good defenses we just played (what Indy just did to Denver, aside). I suspect we'll look much better in the next few weeks solely based on the competition level. That obviously doesn't change our true ability, but hopefully we can get into a rhythm and play ourselves into a first round bye.
 
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I agree, good post.
We are relatively inexperienced in our D backfield with Shields out. Getting him back and also Quarless in the Offense brings us more options and experience. I Know, I know we can say Quarless isn't a game changer but when our O is struggling on 3rd downs conversions against an aggressive man to man coverage, I would argue having a big target is paramount.
I don't wanna peak week 8 regular season. I wanna get healthy and peak in January.
 

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