TOPackerFan
Cheesehead
With respect to respect, Pack doesn't get any
Posted: July 20, 2005
Richard Pufall
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Rodney Dangerfield has come back to life. He has taken the form of a professional football team in the NFL's smallest city. He is green and gold and disrespected all over.
Such is life for the Green Bay Dangerfields, er, Packers . . .
The Packers are the three-time defending NFC North champions. And yet, they get no respect. You see, no one cares about division championships. It might sell a few T-shirts, but it's like being fourth runner-up in a beauty contest. You might turn a few heads, but you won't grab a heart. Love comes when you win the big one.
And now - at least in the inexact world of sports prognostication - things seem to have gotten much worse in Titletown. Most of the so-called experts have been saying that today's Packers, vintage 2005, aren't even up to the task of winning a measly division title.
Read any newspaper or magazine, browse any Web site, tune into sports talk radio, or click to any cable channel and what do you hear? What do you see? Vikings, Vikings, Vikings, Vikings, Vikings.
Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper hopes that Nate Burleson and No. 1 draft choice Troy Williamson can fill the void left by Randy Moss.
The kindest thing you might read or hear about Green Bay is something like this: "With Brett Favre at quarterback the Packers always have a chance to win."
The Vikings have been anointed as favorites to win the NFC North for reasons founded in hard, cold fact.
First, there was Exhibit A, that ugly episode at Lambeau Field on Jan. 9. The Packers, for just the second time in their storied history, lost a home playoff game when the Vikings embarrassed them, 31-17. Green Bay had defeated Minnesota twice during the season, but the Vikings - to be sure - won the game that mattered most.
A year ago when the Packers and Vikings looked in a mirror they saw each other. Both teams had great offenses with superb quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers. If the Packers had an edge, it was on the offensive line.
And both teams took the same approach to defense. They played it poorly.
But the Vikings and their fans believe they have added the right pieces to complete their defensive puzzle. Linebackers Sam Cowart and Napoleon Harris have been added to the mix along with defensive tackle Pat Williams, safety Darren Sharper, cornerback Fred Smoot and defensive end Erasmus James, selected from Wisconsin with Minnesota's second first-round draft choice.
That's an impressive haul. And certainly Minnesota's defense will be better. But like Green Bay's, it couldn't get worse.
The addition of Sharper is curious indeed. After the Packers punted Sharper the Vikings were quick to make what they hope is a fair catch. Plagued by injury for much of last season, Sharper was part of the problem in Green Bay. Now he's considered part of the answer in Minnesota. The Vikings, you can bet, are counting on a healthy Sharper to step on the field with a fire in his belly when he faces his old teammates.
But it is odd. The Packers were considered to have one the more anemic defenses in the NFL. And yet, the Vikings came to Green Bay for a transfusion of talent. What's up with that?
Both teams are trying to cope with losses on offense. The Packers lost starting guards Mike Wahle and Marco Rivera. The Vikings are without running back Onterrio Smith, who was suspended for a year for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. And wide receiver Randy Moss was traded to Oakland after repeated violations of Minnesota's unwritten code of good conduct.
If - and that if looms large - wide receiver Javon Walker ends his holdout and returns to the Packers, the Vikings would appear to be the bigger losers on offense.
Without Moss the Vikings will be more presentable at formal dinner parties and the team picture wears a happier face.
But when the chin straps are snapped Mr. Moss will be missed by Minnesota's offense, particularly quarterback Daunte Culpepper. Minnesota's spin doctors are telling us that Nate Burleson is a competent short-term solution while No. 1 draft choice Troy Williamson hones his abundant skills.
But Burleson isn't Moss and Williamson is a rookie. Advantage Packers.
Make no mistake, Green Bay's defense remains a work in progress. It's wonderful to have the high-octane intensity of the new defensive coordinator, Jim Bates. But Bates, like any other coach, needs a little talent to work with. Green Bay's coaches - Bates among them - contend that the talent was always there, but it was misguided and poorly prepared by the past defensive regime.
This we will have to see to believe. Talking never won a football game.
So until Green Bay's defense starts stopping opposing offenses on a consistent basis, few will believe it can. And that's the biggest reason the experts believe that the Packers won't keep step with the Vikings in the NFC North.
When a team loses a first-round playoff game by 14 points at home, the national media turns away. When you lose by two touchdowns at home there's only one explanation. The other team was better.
The "experts" are giving Green Bay no respect so the Packers will have to earn anything they get. Most gurus see the Packers in an irreparable no-can-do dilemma. In this NFC North crop, they say, the Vikings are the cream.
But just for grins, let's go ahead and play the season anyway.
Posted: July 20, 2005
Richard Pufall
E-MAIL | ARCHIVE
Rodney Dangerfield has come back to life. He has taken the form of a professional football team in the NFL's smallest city. He is green and gold and disrespected all over.
Such is life for the Green Bay Dangerfields, er, Packers . . .
The Packers are the three-time defending NFC North champions. And yet, they get no respect. You see, no one cares about division championships. It might sell a few T-shirts, but it's like being fourth runner-up in a beauty contest. You might turn a few heads, but you won't grab a heart. Love comes when you win the big one.
And now - at least in the inexact world of sports prognostication - things seem to have gotten much worse in Titletown. Most of the so-called experts have been saying that today's Packers, vintage 2005, aren't even up to the task of winning a measly division title.
Read any newspaper or magazine, browse any Web site, tune into sports talk radio, or click to any cable channel and what do you hear? What do you see? Vikings, Vikings, Vikings, Vikings, Vikings.
Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper hopes that Nate Burleson and No. 1 draft choice Troy Williamson can fill the void left by Randy Moss.
The kindest thing you might read or hear about Green Bay is something like this: "With Brett Favre at quarterback the Packers always have a chance to win."
The Vikings have been anointed as favorites to win the NFC North for reasons founded in hard, cold fact.
First, there was Exhibit A, that ugly episode at Lambeau Field on Jan. 9. The Packers, for just the second time in their storied history, lost a home playoff game when the Vikings embarrassed them, 31-17. Green Bay had defeated Minnesota twice during the season, but the Vikings - to be sure - won the game that mattered most.
A year ago when the Packers and Vikings looked in a mirror they saw each other. Both teams had great offenses with superb quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers. If the Packers had an edge, it was on the offensive line.
And both teams took the same approach to defense. They played it poorly.
But the Vikings and their fans believe they have added the right pieces to complete their defensive puzzle. Linebackers Sam Cowart and Napoleon Harris have been added to the mix along with defensive tackle Pat Williams, safety Darren Sharper, cornerback Fred Smoot and defensive end Erasmus James, selected from Wisconsin with Minnesota's second first-round draft choice.
That's an impressive haul. And certainly Minnesota's defense will be better. But like Green Bay's, it couldn't get worse.
The addition of Sharper is curious indeed. After the Packers punted Sharper the Vikings were quick to make what they hope is a fair catch. Plagued by injury for much of last season, Sharper was part of the problem in Green Bay. Now he's considered part of the answer in Minnesota. The Vikings, you can bet, are counting on a healthy Sharper to step on the field with a fire in his belly when he faces his old teammates.
But it is odd. The Packers were considered to have one the more anemic defenses in the NFL. And yet, the Vikings came to Green Bay for a transfusion of talent. What's up with that?
Both teams are trying to cope with losses on offense. The Packers lost starting guards Mike Wahle and Marco Rivera. The Vikings are without running back Onterrio Smith, who was suspended for a year for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. And wide receiver Randy Moss was traded to Oakland after repeated violations of Minnesota's unwritten code of good conduct.
If - and that if looms large - wide receiver Javon Walker ends his holdout and returns to the Packers, the Vikings would appear to be the bigger losers on offense.
Without Moss the Vikings will be more presentable at formal dinner parties and the team picture wears a happier face.
But when the chin straps are snapped Mr. Moss will be missed by Minnesota's offense, particularly quarterback Daunte Culpepper. Minnesota's spin doctors are telling us that Nate Burleson is a competent short-term solution while No. 1 draft choice Troy Williamson hones his abundant skills.
But Burleson isn't Moss and Williamson is a rookie. Advantage Packers.
Make no mistake, Green Bay's defense remains a work in progress. It's wonderful to have the high-octane intensity of the new defensive coordinator, Jim Bates. But Bates, like any other coach, needs a little talent to work with. Green Bay's coaches - Bates among them - contend that the talent was always there, but it was misguided and poorly prepared by the past defensive regime.
This we will have to see to believe. Talking never won a football game.
So until Green Bay's defense starts stopping opposing offenses on a consistent basis, few will believe it can. And that's the biggest reason the experts believe that the Packers won't keep step with the Vikings in the NFC North.
When a team loses a first-round playoff game by 14 points at home, the national media turns away. When you lose by two touchdowns at home there's only one explanation. The other team was better.
The "experts" are giving Green Bay no respect so the Packers will have to earn anything they get. Most gurus see the Packers in an irreparable no-can-do dilemma. In this NFC North crop, they say, the Vikings are the cream.
But just for grins, let's go ahead and play the season anyway.
