PACKERwatch

Pro Bowl QB Brett Favre will not play in the 2008 Pro Bowl, due to a risk of aggravating an ankle injury that has nagged at Favre since last season (you might recall Favre undergoing surgery on his ankle in the 2007 offseason).  I might be looking too much into this, but this seems to me to be a sign that Favre is not leaning toward retirement.  If Favre wanted to retire, why wouldn’t he take a vacation to Hawaii and play in the Pro Bowl?  If #4 is staying out of this game because he doesn’t want to cause an injury that would inhibit his ability to play in the future, this leads me to believe that he does in fact plan to play in the future.

I might be overanalyzing this, however, as Favre has sat out of all of his recent Pro Bowl games.  Still, let’s hope Favre will come back for at least one more year.

 Note:  Jeff Garcia will replace Favre.

While the 2008-2009 NFL schedule has not been finalized, we now know which teams we will be playing and whether they will be home or away.  The official dates and times will be announced by the NFL in the spring.

Packers 2008-2009 Home Games:  Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts

Packers 2008-2009 Away Games:  Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans

I think we can expect quite a few primetime games because there are some great (but tough) matchups on our schedule.  The games against Jacksonville, Dallas, Tennessee, and maybe Seattle are pretty attractive matchups for NBC and ESPN to fit into their Sunday Night and Monday Night time slots, respectively.  And of course, I can all but guarantee you the NFL will want Green Bay vs. Indy on primetime.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see that as the NFL’s opening game of the season, especially if Brett Favre returns.  We’re going to have a tough schedule next year, but it will be a great chance to prove that our 13-3 2007 campaign was no fluke.

The Packers and the Giants were in an incredibly hard-fought battle on Sunday night in the NFC Championship game.  Unfortunately, they seemed to be fighting to lose.  Green Bay opened the game with two first downs, then decided they didn’t feel like moving too much further.  So after punting it, I figured that the Packers defensive secondary would shut down Eli Manning.  Thing was, Al Harris didn’t seem to feel like playing defense.  Bump-and-run apparently requires way too much energy to expend in the cold, so Plaxico Burress was allowed to roam free for most of the game.  Oh, but the Giants didn’t want to win much either.  Amani Toomer had some key drops, and on their first two drives the Giants offense conveniently stalled once they got into field goal range.  Favre’s 90-yard TD pass to Donald Driver was the last attempt any Packer would make at winning this miserable game, and the first of many attempts by both team to simply lose and get back to the warmth of the locker rooms.

It took Mike McCarthy three quarters too long to figure out that single coverage against Plaxico Burress wasn’t working.  But even when they shut down Burress, the Packers 0bviously weren’t ready to win yet.  Otherwise, Nick Collins wouldn’t have taken such a late shot at Giants QB Eli Manning way after he had gotten rid of the football.  And Al Harris wouldn’t have shoved Plaxico to the ground before a pass that probably wouldn’t have been caught anyway.  If Green Bay truly wanted to win, then why couldn’t Aaron Kampman have been a little more alert when Brandon Jacobs fumbled and the ball ended up between the defensive end’s legs, only to sit there for at least a second before a Giant picked it up.  Why, if the Packers wanted to win, why would they commit two offside penalties in a row near the Giants goal line, inching the Giants so close to the endzone that they had virtually no choice but to score.  And if the Giants wanted to win, why did they fumble away a Favre interception deep into their own territory?

No, it became obvious that neither team wanted to win after Giants return man Domenik Hixon fumbled on a punt return, and Jarret Bush tried to pick up the frozen ball with his frozen hands and run with it, rather than simply fall on it to give the Pack great field position in the waning minutes of the game.  Of course, the ball clunked off of Bush’s hands and squirted out from beneath numerous Packers and Giants players, who were probably only going to the ground to get closer to the heated surface of Lambeau Field.  Not to be outdone, Giants kicker Laurence Tynes missed not one, but two potential game-winning field goals, one from only 36 yards as time expired in regulation.  In overtime, the Packers won the coin toss, but the way the rest of the game had gone, they might have been better off electing to kick.  Sure enough, Favre threw an interception two plays into overtime.  Laurence Tynes, determined to miss yet another field goal, kicked it to the right of the goalpost, but God must have decided that this atrocious game needed to end, because he sent a last-second gust of wind that redirected the ball’s course straight through the uprights.  The Giants then realized they were going to be playing in the Super Bowl, so they were mildly pleased that they would have a much easier time of losing to the New England Patriots.

 But in all seriousness, this was a difficult game to watch.  I give credit to the Giants (Please beat New England), because when it came down to it, they made fewer mistakes and capitalized on more of ours.  This loss was a tough pill to swallow.  The Packers had better learn to win in the cold, because they play in Green Bay, Wisconsin, which was colder than Moscow and North Pole, Alaska last night.  Homefield advantage doesn’t mean that some powerful, mysterious mystique will win games for you.  You have to outperform the other team, just like you do on the road.  The Giants proved that last night, and the Packers have hopefully learned a lesson.  If Brett Favre returns (which he better, because he can’t go out with his last play of his Hall of Fame career a season-ending interception), then he and the Packers need to learn from this horrifying experience and come back more determined than ever.  Good luck next year Packers, I’ll miss you until September.

3.)  Deal with the cold.  Green Bay did a great job of handling cold weather last week against Seattle.  Unfortunately, they did a terrible job of it in Week 16 against the Bears.  The Packers have been practicing with frozen footballs all week.  Green Bay needs to turn the weather into an advantage.

 Advantages

Run Offense:  Ryan Grant is a much better running back than any one player on the Giants.  The Giants have more depth, however, and can mix things up in the running game with the one-two punch of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw.  So I’ll give a slight edge to the Giants.  ADVANTAGE GIANTS.

Pass Offense:  Brett Favre is at the top of the games, and has superior weapons at his disposal.  Eli Manning has been solid in the playoffs so far, but the cold may throw him off.  He’s not quite as used to it as Favre.  ADVANTAGE PACKERS.

Run Defense:  Both teams have excellent run defenses, with great run-stoppers on the defensive line and fast, aggressive linebackers.  ADVANTAGE EVEN.

Pass Defense:  Both teams have a great pass rush.  In fact, New York’s might be a little bit better.  But Al Harris and Charles Woodson may be the best cornerback tandem in the league, while the Giants’ injury-riddled secondary will have difficulty covering Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, James Jones, and Donald Lee.  ADVANTAGE PACKERS.

Special Teams:  Packers rookie kicker Mason Crosby led the league in points this year, and has great distance.  He hasn’t been quite as good in cold weather, though.  The Giants’ Lawrence Tynes may be more accurate, but he doesn’t have the distance of Crosby.  Both special teams units have good but not great return and coverage units, and punters who can be on or off.  ADVANTAGE EVEN.

Key Players–The following players have the greatest opportunity to help their team this week.

Green Bay:  Ryan Grant, Brett Favre, Atari Bigby, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, Mason Crosby

New York:  Plaxico Burress, Antonio Pierce, Osi Umenyiora, Ahmad Bradshaw, Aaron Ross

Eli Manning and the Giants surprised many by holding off the No. 1 seeded Dallas Cowboys to win 28-24.  By the looks of things, this might be good for the Packers, as the New York win moved the NFC Championship out of Dallas and into Green Bay.  The Giants, however, are on a 9-game road winning streak.  This might be a closer game than Green Bay’s Week 2 35-13 trouncing of the Giants.

The Packers will play next week in the NFC championship game after beating the Seahawks at a snowy Lambeau Field on Saturday.  Despite the high margin of victory, a Green Bay win did not seem likely after the first 2 minutes, when Ryan Grant lost the wet football on 2 of his first 3 touches and the Seahawks quickly converted the turnovers into points.  Trailing by 14, however, the Packers decided to kick things into gear.  Brett Favre and the Packers marched down the field, scoring on a Favre-to-Jennings TD toss that has become very common this season.

From this point on, Seattle would score only 6 more points, in the form of two Josh Brown field goals.  The Packers, meanwhile, would go on to win 42-20.  It was a record-setting day for the Pack, as rookie running back Ryan Grant atoned for his early mistakes by setting a Green Bay postseason record for rushing yards in a game, with 201.  He also had 3 touchdowns.  Favre also extended his record for most consecutive postseason games with a touchdown (Favre would end up with 2 on the day).

Atari Bigby had a monster game, forcing a fumble and laying some absolutely huge hits on any Seahawks receivers who managed to catch the ball.  Bigby definitely showed off his range in Saturday’s game.

Green Bay will play either New York or Dallas in the NFC Championship game, depending on which team wins in Sunday night’s matchup.  The Packers managed to get out of the snowy, physical game without any significant injuries, which means that the Packers should have their whole team healthy for net week’s championship game.  Green Bay is one more win away from returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since their loss to the Broncos in the 1997-1998 season.

With a win over Detroit in the final week of the season, Green Bay regained some needed momentum after their crushing loss to the Bears at Soldier Field.  With a first round bye, the Packers will be able to give some of their banged up players some much needed rest.  The Pack will play the NFC’s highest seeded winning team from wild card weekend.  Therefore, if the Redskins beat the Seahawks, the Packers will play the winner of the Giants/Bucs game because the Redskins, the lowest seed in the NFC, would play Dallas.  If the Seahawks, the highest seed playing in the wild card round, win, then they will face Green Bay the following week and Dallas will play the winner of the Giants/Bucs game.  As for me, I’ll be rooting for a Redskins win because I’d rather play the Giants or the Bucs than the Seahawks.  I’ll update everyone with the Packers’ actual opponent as soon as tonight’s games conclude.

 P.S.  Sorry for the huge delay in postings…family health problems have kept me away from home and busy.