Packers’ season on life support: who to root for next week.

Green Bay’s playoff dreams are hanging by a thread, and the Packers no longer control their own destiny in the playoff race.  After a few brief rants, I will let you know who to root for next week if the Packers are to have a shot at the playoffs.  Mike Stock, the special teams coordinator, needs to be fired.  Not having a man to return the punt is unforgivable, as is the pitiful return coverage.  Derrick Frost should not be wearing a Packers uniform next week.  Aaron Rodgers is no Brett Favre in the final 2 minutes, at least not yet.  McCarthy should have gone for the TD on 4th and goal at the end of the game–and should have been letting Rodgers throw for the touchdown rather than trying to run into the middle of the stout Carolina D-line.  Ok, rant over.  Now, who to root for next week…I will give each game an importance rating of between 1 and 4 *’s.  (**** will be reserved for games that will eliminate Green Bay from the playoff race with the wrong results:)

Obviously, every game is a must-win for us for the rest of the year…so we must win against Houston.

Jaguars over Bears **

Lions over Vikings ***

Giants over Eagles **

Jets over 49ers *

Saints over Falcons *

Bucs over Panthers **

Ravens over Redskins *

Steelers over Cowboys **

Green Bay’s got Houston, Detroit, Jacksonville, and Chicago left on the schedule.  Not one of those teams has a winning record.  So while our season is on life support, it’s not dead yet.

New Rules

New Rule: Anytime Aaron Rodgers throws a pick, the very least he can do is viciously clobber the unlucky defender who caught the football, like he did after Jason David got his first interception of the night.

Aaron Rodgers Destroys Jason David

New Rule: Derrick Frost can’t ever touch a football again.

New Rule: You’re not being a “smart,” “agressive,” “bold,” or “creative” playcaller when you go for 2 when you’re up 22 points in the 4th quarter. You’re just running up the score.

New Rule:  You can’t blame Aaron Rodgers for the loss.  He threw for 248 yards and 2 TD’s.  He ran for 36 yard and another score.  Only one of Rodgers’ 3 interceptions can really be blamed on the young QB.  The first one was a result of Greg Jennings slipping, and the third pick was a desperation throw when Green Bay was already losing big in the 4th quarter and had no choice but to take shots at the endzone.  Admittedly, the second INT was just a horribly inaccurate throw.

New Rule:  29 points from your offense should be more than enough to keep the game competitive.  I’m looking at you, Green Bay defense…

New Rule:  Stop comparing Aaron Rodgers to Brett Favre.  First of all, if you’re an objective observer, you’ll realize that the two have remarkably similar stats, and neither QB is clearly playing better than the other.  Secondly, you miss the main point of the logic behind Ted Thompson’s decision to cut ties with Favre.  He was looking at what he thought was best for the team 2 or 3 years from now, not 2 or 3 months from now.  Regardless of whether you supported Thompson’s decision or were ready to kick him to the curb, stop comparing Aaron Rodgers to Brett Favre.  Please.

New Rule:  Tony Kornheiser can never step foot inside the Monday Night Football broadcasting booth ever again.  Never, ever, ever.  When he was not talking about how “pretty” ESPN’s graphics are or debating whether McCarthy was using pens to make political statements, he was busy violating our previous “No Favre-Rodgers comparisons” rule.  After Kornheiser’s 127th Favre-Rodgers comparison, his exasperated colleagues tried to steer the conversation back to the game, at which point Kornheiser replied:  ”I don’t know why I’m here if not to give that kind of perspective.”  Exactly, Tony.  I don’t know why you’re there either.  Go back to PTI where it’s your job to be loud, obnoxious, and cantankerous.

Packers at .500 halfway through the season

After a close loss to the Tennessee Titans, the Packers are now 4-4 at the halfway point of the season.  The Tennessee loss was infuriating to watch–an exhausting game between two shutdown defenses where neither team was quite able to take advantage of opportunities to pull away.  It also goes to show how stupid the NFL’s overtime rules are.  If that coin had hit the ground at a slightly different angle, if the referee’s arm had been held a little higher or an inch lower, if the air had been slightly denser or thinner, the coin might have landed differently.  It really is a dumb thing to decide the game on.

Looking ahead, the Packers have some hugely important divisional games the next two weeks:  a Week 10 matchup against the Vikings, and a November 16 game against the hated Bears.  These two games will determine the NFC North’s pecking order.  Two wins for Green Bay will put the Packers on top of the division.  Two losses leaves us in bad shape.  A win, preferably against Chicago, keeps us in the hunt.

We saw last week how good our defense can be when healthy.  A little more luck, and a little more consistency will put Green Bay on the road to the playoffs.

On a side note, remember to go vote tomorrow if you haven’t already.