The Bye Week Thread

[rmontro]

Love the Nebraska coastline, so picturesque.

Lying on the beach, eating some corn. Good times.

 

[Thirteen Below]

Lying on the beach, eating some corn. Good times.

Surfin' those amber waves of grain....

 

[AKCheese]

lol only a fool would do that….

Well from what I’ve seen… there’s your answer. Guys an imp

 

[RicFlairoftheNFL]

Love the Nebraska coastline, so picturesque.

You'll love my property man right int he middle of a cornfield

 

[gopkrs]

I remember some people I knew went to Nebraska and bought like a carload of pot. They brought it back and it was immediately named Nebraska No load.

 

[Heyjoe4]

That 2010 had the #1 defense IIRC measured by points allowed. The young offense struggled at times during the regular season but improved down the line.

Thanks for that information. I still believe that great Ds excel in the playoffs and certainly in championship games. I don't know where this stat comes from, working from memory, but there have been at least 6 SB matchups where the #1 D was pitted against the #1 O. The team with the #1 D prevailed in 5 of the 6 games. The one outlier was one of the Joe Montana/Bill Walsh teams.

 

[Heyjoe4]

An early BYE like this is a great chance to self-scout. LaFleur has talked about self-scouting often but hasn't necessarily applied the lessons learned that fans expected in previous seasons. Let's hope that he has grown as well.

Ordinarily I'm not crazy about getting the first bye. But this year the timing was worth it.

I hope you're right and MLF is participating in some self-scouting. He's been at least as culpable as the players in the poor play against Cleveland and Dallas. They have good source material - the first two wins against Detroit and Washington.

Parsons said he was going to spend time with Hafley as well to look at other ways of using his immense talent. They didn't get a training camp together, so this will be time well spent.

At the risk of looking ahead, the next four games look winnable, staring with the beaten-up Bengals. First things first - get a W with solid play from all three teams. That would be a great way to come out of the bye.

And with both Philly and the Bills losing, the field is open. C'mon Packers, step up!

 

[Heyjoe4]

Love the Nebraska coastline, so picturesque.

We moved to CA in 2000 and drove from SE WI to Nor Cal. Along the way, we drove the length of Nebraska. Talk about an uninspiring landscape. There was a fierce wind out of the north and I remember holding the steering wheel turned sharply to the right just to keep the SUV straight. It took 3 or 4 hours. Ugh.

We did stay in Omaha before making that trek. Seems like a nice city. But Nebraska is just one, big, boring landscape - with apologies to the fine people of Nebraska.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Very good assessment. And as I predicted that youth and inexperience would be an Achilles although it also allows for players to heal faster than 10 year vets. When Rodgers took over the reins he had a more experienced team with him and I think that helped a lot particularly in 2010 when overcoming all those team injuries.

Yeah there are pros and cons to having the youngest team in the NFL for as long as the Packers. The cap makes it impossible to keep all the players a GM would like to keep, and constantly replenishing with rookies keeps the average age, and experience, low.

The WR group and OL, in particular, need to lock down some experience - meaning keeping most of the guys on the roster, and having a rookie or two play very well on a rookie contract.

 

[milani]

Thanks for that information. I still believe that great Ds excel in the playoffs and certainly in championship games. I don't know where this stat comes from, working from memory, but there have been at least 6 SB matchups where the #1 D was pitted against the #1 O. The team with the #1 D prevailed in 5 of the 6 games. The one outlier was one of the Joe Montana/Bill Walsh teams.

That 2010 offense had lost Ryan Grant in the first game. And a few weeks later lost Jermichael Finley. Replacing those two with Brandon Jackson and Andrew Quarless is not going to set your offense on fire.

 

[rmontro]

That 2010 offense had lost Ryan Grant in the first game. And a few weeks later lost Jermichael Finley. Replacing those two with Brandon Jackson and Andrew Quarless is not going to set your offense on fire.

Next man up. We sure had our share of injuries that year, but people kept stepping up.

 

[El Guapo]

Next man up. We sure had our share of injuries that year, but people kept stepping up.

I believe that we led the league in number of players on IR and number of starter-games-missed due to IR. That sportswriter from Texas (Dallas?) used to publish the stats every spring.

In my opinion, the best next-man-up story of that season was Jarrett Bush. He was much maligned for years as being an average to below average CB, even though he was by far our best special teams player. When Charles Woodson went down in the game, Jarrett Bush came in and played elite football. He absolutely should have won the MVP - but of course it had to go to Rodgers. I dare anyone to watch that game from start to finish and not be impressed by everything that Bush did that day to win that Lombardi trophy for Green Bay.

 

[rmontro]

I believe that we led the league in number of players on IR and number of starter-games-missed due to IR.

I bet that doesn't happen often, that the team with the most players on IR wins the Super Bowl.

 

[gopkrs]

That 2010 offense had lost Ryan Grant in the first game. And a few weeks later lost Jermichael Finley. Replacing those two with Brandon Jackson and Andrew Quarless is not going to set your offense on fire.

Brandon Jackson played some good football. But Starks was the man for the moment later in the season and playoffs.

 

[rmontro]

Wow, we have had a lot of memorable running backs over the years.

 

[GBkrzygrl]

Ordinarily I'm not crazy about getting the first bye. But this year the timing was worth it.

I hope you're right and MLF is participating in some self-scouting. He's been at least as culpable as the players in the poor play against Cleveland and Dallas. They have good source material - the first two wins against Detroit and Washington.

Parsons said he was going to spend time with Hafley as well to look at other ways of using his immense talent. They didn't get a training camp together, so this will be time well spent.

At the risk of looking ahead, the next four games look winnable, staring with the beaten-up Bengals. First things first - get a W with solid play from all three teams. That would be a great way to come out of the bye.

And with both Philly and the Bills losing, the field is open. C'mon Packers, step up!

One game at a time.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Brandon Jackson played some good football. But Starks was the man for the moment later in the season and playoffs.

And that 2010-2011 defense stepped it up big time. And I remember the excellent play of Starks when his number got called.

 

[Heyjoe4]

One game at a time.

Yep. As Bill Bellichik once said after repeated questions on a loss - "We're on to Cincinnati."

 

[Thirteen Below]

When Charles Woodson went down in the game, Jarrett Bush came in and played elite football. He absolutely should have won the MVP - but of course it had to go to Rodgers. I dare anyone to watch that game from start to finish and not be impressed by everything that Bush did that day to win that Lombardi trophy for Green Bay

I was sure as hell impressed, and in fact I honestly had a tear in my eye for the guy. I'd always been a fan of the man, despite his awful coverage skills, because he had a reputation for being one of the most decent, likable teammates in the locker room. He worked very hard, was supportive, but he just wasn't very good. It's not like he deliberately decided to suck; he did his best.

I remember that 2009 wild card game against the Cardinals, where Warner threw for 5 touchdowns, and at least 4 of them were on Bush - and I am inclined to believe he was beaten on all 5. Anytime Warner felt like scoring another touchdown, he knew exactly where to find Bush. After that game, some of the media referred to Bush as "the player Packer fans hate the most."

Bush didn't know that, because like a lot of players he avoided social media and didn't read many articles about the team. But in training camp the next year, some ******* reporter asked him in the locker room, "how does it make you feel to know that you're the player fans hate the most?"

He was devastated; stunned. He repeated,"hate??" He couldn't believe it. He knew he wasn't popular with the fans, but it had apparently never occurred to him that people actually hated him personally. Some players said he really took that hard for a while.

So when he bounced back and had that decent playoff run, and terrific Super Bowl, I was really happy for the guy. It felt especially good to see him find validation after all.

 

[Pugger]

I believe John Williams is shutdown for the year....could be wrong.

We don't need a conductor.

 

[El Guapo]

I was sure as hell impressed, and in fact I honestly had a tear in my eye for the guy. I'd always been a fan of the man, despite his awful coverage skills, because he had a reputation for being one of the most decent, likable teammates in the locker room. He worked very hard, was supportive, but he just wasn't very good. It's not like he deliberately decided to suck; he did his best.

I hadn't heard that story. Thanks for sharing.

Sports fans would have hated Rudy Ruettiger too had he gotten onto the field more. He was all heart but little talent. However, since most sports fans know his back story he's an inspiration. More fans need to get to know the players in the NFL. The Packers and the media tend to do a decent job of profiling the players so the information is out there. There are a lot of good stories out there if you open your eyes to them.

 

[DoURant]

My son called me up today and said he wanted to take me out for an early dinner tonight, to celebrate my Birthday which is this Saturday, because he will be out of town. He stopped by a couple hours ago, and gave me a gift.... Last year he bought us tickets to go see our 1st NFL game at Lambeau, this year a new throwback jersey. I know what I'll be wearing watching the game on Sunday.

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[Heyjoe4]

I believe that we led the league in number of players on IR and number of starter-games-missed due to IR. That sportswriter from Texas (Dallas?) used to publish the stats every spring.

In my opinion, the best next-man-up story of that season was Jarrett Bush. He was much maligned for years as being an average to below average CB, even though he was by far our best special teams player. When Charles Woodson went down in the game, Jarrett Bush came in and played elite football. He absolutely should have won the MVP - but of course it had to go to Rodgers. I dare anyone to watch that game from start to finish and not be impressed by everything that Bush did that day to win that Lombardi trophy for Green Bay.

Kinda proves that to win a SB, talent and luck are needed. A good bench helps too.

 

[El Guapo]

Kinda proves that to win a SB, talent and luck are needed. A good bench helps too.

...or just that championship confidence. Frank Zambo, Erik Walden, Jarrett Bush, Marshall Newhouse, Atari Bigby, Charlie Peprah, and Brandon Jackson really were average talent at best but all contributed. That team had the kind of chutzpah that can propel the common man to uncommon outcomes.

 

[tynimiller]

So wait

...or just that championship confidence. Frank Zambo, Erik Walden, Jarrett Bush, Marshall Newhouse, Atari Bigby, Charlie Peprah, and Brandon Jackson really were average talent at best but all contributed. That team had the kind of chutzpah that can propel the common man to uncommon outcomes.

That chutzpah I believe was spelled Kevin Greene miss that man