Well, the best continue to prove why, well, they’re the best.  Tom Brady and Bill Belicheck were both on display on the biggest stage and out-shined their opponents in every aspect.  Belicheck held the 2^nd best offense to 3 points, while Brady out-dueled the youngster, Goff, especially in crunch time.  Many will say that Brady is the Luckiest Athlete Ever, however winning 1 Super Bowl takes luck, 2 shows you have a knack of knowing how to win—winning 6?  Yeah, you’re the best ever, it’s not a conversation.  Goff missed a wide open WR (Cooks) in the 4^th quarter for a potential TD, which would’ve tied the game. Then threw just an awful interception on a ball that should’ve never been thrown.  Meanwhile, when needed, Brady delivered a perfect throw to Rob Gronkowski to essentially seal his 6^th Lombardi trophy.

For everyone that hates the Patriots, trust me, it’s much easier (and better) if you just accept their greatness.  It’s likely something we’ll never see again in sports in our lifetime.  In the meantime, how can the Packers become a dynasty (3 rings in 5 years)?  Well, it starts with cutting the fat on the roster (Nick Perry, Randall Cobb, Clay Matthews, etc.) and absolutely killing this draft.

Because the Packers traded back with New Orleans, they now hold 3 draft picks in the first 44 selections.  That’s a great opportunity to have a draft like the Indianapolis Colts did in 2018 (1^st pick G Quinten Nelson, 2^nd pick Darius Leonard, DROY) which propelled them to a 10-6 record, along with a new coach after going 4-12 last year—the Colts got a new head coach, their old QB back, and an influx of young solid talent through the draft.  The year prior, the Saints also had arguably the best draft ever, which catapulted them into the playoffs after three consecutive years of 7-9.  However, the goal is to win 3 super bowls by the end of the 2023 season—in order for that to take place, the defense needs to show improvement and Aaron Rodgers must outplay his counterpart in the postseason, just as he did in each game in the 2010 run.

Have fun watching the Bucks as they’re the best team in the NBA and they just added to their arsenal without giving up much.  I’ll be off until March (combine/draft lookout time), thanks again for keeping along with me throughout these weeks!

The Big Game is upon us—the biggest single world-wide event, The Super Bowl.  This is the 53^rd installment, pitting the team that’s increased their leading appearances (this will be their 11^th), with the Rams appearing in their 4^th appearance.  If you’ve watched any pregame, or have paid attention you’d know this is the matchup of Elder vs. Wunderkind.  While it’s been covered at nausea, it’s accurate.  McVay, since taking over as LA’s Head Coach in 2017, has been the darling of the NFL and has proven to get the most out of his team.  Belichick, as always, has his team playing their best football at the best time.

Why you should root for New England—No one will catch Brady and his 5 (6 if they win today) rings, so what does it really matter if the best adds yet another one?  Nothing, nothing changes.  Also, it would hold the Rams to just 1 Super Bowl title in 4 appearances (3 since 1992).  If the Rams win, they would be yet another team to equal the Packers, furthering many fans’ perspectives of the Packers “great success.”

Why you should root for Los Angeles—the Rams and Packers are built similarly in the essence that they have a young innovative head coach, a true west coast quarterback, decent weapons on offense, and threatening HB, and the defense is built around a great talent at the D-line.  The Rams never really seemed to have all that talent until McVay arrived and they acquired a few pieces (Suh, Peters, and Talib) that are good enough to be 20^th in the NFL in points given up, which the Packers currently show to have a better defense.  So if the Rams can win, it should give hope (legitimate hope with thinking involved not just blind fandom) to Packer nation they can quickly right the ship and return to championship caliber.

Matchup—there was a matchup stat posted on NFL Network that showed McDaniels’ offenses vs. Wade Phillips’ defenses, with McDaniels getting the better of him 7 of 9 times and scoring over 29 points/game.  While I believe that’s a large enough sample size, it shouldn’t be the only indicator for what will happen in this game.

Pats’ Offense vs Rams’ Defense: 4^th (27.2 pts/gm) vs 20^th (24.0 pts/gm).  Edge goes to the Patriots for many reasons.  Mainly Tom Brady, but NE also is the best at attacking an opposing team’s weakness instead of playing to their own strength.  Expect to see many looks, but be surprised by nothing.  The Pats could open the game with 5-wide, no huddle (i.e. see the Packer game) to build a lead, or they could go heavy and establish the run with a ton of their running backs.

Pats’ Defense vs Rams’ Offense: 7^th (20.3 pts/gm) vs 2^nd (32.9 pts/gm).  Advantage Rams, however I believe it’ll be a slighter edge than the amount NE will have over them on the other side of the ball.  Expect a high-scoring game, after feeling each other out a bit, I think it’ll be a well-executed offensive game.  (Take the over).

Patriots 31
Rams 27

With the coaching staff finally taking shape, this is a very interesting time to be a Packers fan, as there has been major change across the organization, essentially conducting a full rebuild- sans quarterback.  As stated earlier in other blogs, LaFleur will bring a fresh look and hopefully get Rodgers to perform to his contract, and ultimately win games and Super Bowls…plural.

He brings in Nathaniel Hackett, former Offensive Coordinator from the Jacksonville Jaguars, with both LaFleur and Hackett bringing a much-needed focus on the run game.  The Packers will need to address the offensive line, and add a solid Tight End- assuming they don’t keep Mercedes Lewis, who called out Aaron Rodgers for changing plays in the huddle, my guess is HE GONE!

Since the Super Bowl isn’t until the following week, and a majority of the week has been taken over by the blown non-PI call in the NFC title game…AND the laughable argument about OT rules for not allowing Mahommes to “get a chance” in OT—let’s dive a little into the State of the Packers.

The major topic for Packer fans should be turned to 4 players currently on the roster with decisions to be made…

Clay Matthews, Nick Perry, Randall Cobb, and Jimmy Graham.  Considering the contracts for each (Cobb’s and Matthews’ are expired) it would make sense to cut ties with all 4, it’d also make sense to bring back Matthews and/or Cobb considering they actually bring SOME value whereas Nick Perry is straight up garbage.  Listening to a podcaster from Cheesehead TV earlier this week, had made mention about how Nick Perry is the worst player on the Packers.  Essentially he contributed nothing on any play, and since his contract year where he registered 12 sacks (including playoffs) in 2016, he’s done nothing…I wish there were another word to use, but that’s it!  Also, those 12 sacks came against $hit Tackles, left alone, or was pushed into the QB…just cut him and save the…oh wait, they can’t, his cap hit is too much, but after 2019 he will be gone and only eat $7ishM.

Randall Cobb—the influx of youth at the WR position last year pretty much forced the hand here, however the position altogether is quite interesting.

• Davante Adams = stud.
• Marquez Valdes-Scantling = promising.
• J’Mon Moore = incomplete (that’s on the coaches, this was the year to find out, b/c the Packers never were winning the Super Bowl anyway).
• Equanimeous St. Brown = high ceiling.
• Trevor Davis = return man, that’s it. He’s also not great at it so he better be gone.
• Geronimo Allison = Rodgers seems to like him, and he’s shown to know the playbook and be where he’s supposed to be, a nice 4^th
• Jake Kumerow = great story, good blood line, likely worth a shot at making the team next year

Does this leave room for Cobb to return?  If it were my call, no. Just save the $, go with youth—isn’t the plan from this new coaching staff to correct the QB?  If the QB is so great shouldn’t it be enough to have these WRs who likely will continue to improve?  Yes is the answer if you’re struggling with those questions.

Clay Matthews—likely have to bring him back, on a much lower contract, but this team has zero depth at Edge Rusher and while he’s not productive (nowhere near his first 5-6 years in the league) he still knows where to be, hustles, sets a great example, and makes some plays from time to time at the line of scrimmage.

Jimmy Graham—C YA!  I can’t think of any reason to bring him back.  Both of Rodgers’ interceptions this year came throwing to Graham over the middle, which is where he should dominate, and since he can’t get open because he’s slower than I am he should be able to outjump guys for the ball—nope.  To borrow one of my cousin’s favorite phrases he’s a true “slug, just straight garbage.”

So there ya have it, something to chew on until next week’s Super Bowl preview.

Entering Championship Sunday, much is made about the makeup of the NFL’s Final Four.  That’s the trend though, every year in every sport.  Everything is Copy-Cat—because that’s what’s worked.  It even made a strong appearance in head coaching hires (Packers included) with the hot trend being a Sean McVay-type, young and innovative.  However, the phrase “Defense wins championships” has always rung true to me with the idea that when looking at champions, it’s usually the defense that wins in the playoffs.  Yet we judge Quarterbacks by championships (at least I do) because they’re the constant as no one team can keep the same 11 defenders for the same stretch as they can 1 QB, although maybe they should.  Let’s look at the make-up of each team, shall we?

Team	Off. Rank	Def. rank
Chiefs	1st	24th
Rams	2nd	20th
Saints	3rd	14th
Patriots	4th	7th

Obviously this shows the top 4 scoring teams in the NFL this year are in the Championship games for their respective conferences.  While that doesn’t jive with the “Defense Wins Championships” slogan, what it does show is offense does win games in the regular season and home field advantage is so paramount in the playoffs.  While defenses “travel” (meaning they don’t get hot at the right time, they’re just good), home field advantage has been the better indicator of whom advances in the postseason, especially those teams that have a 1^st round bye.  Since the 2013 season, every Super Bowl participant will have had a 1^st round bye, and all would have been the 1 seed except for the 2016 Falcons.  While anything can happen, and any team can beat another, of course, recent odds/trends show that the home teams will prevail on Championship Sunday- which would make many fans happy, considering the Patriots actually did not earn the 1 seed this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following that trend, let’s take a look at those Super Bowl Matchups:

Super Bowl		Off	Def
LII	Patriots	2	5
	Eagles	3	4
LI	Patriots	3	1
	Falcons	1	27
50	Broncos	19	4
	Panthers	1	6
XLIX	Patriots	4	8
	Seahawks	10	1
XLVII	Broncos	1	22
	Seahawks	8	1

As you can see by the graph above, the better ranked defense bested the opposition in 4 of the last 5 Super Bowl matchups.  So it’s safe to say, the best way to win the Super Bowl is to have the 1 seed and to have the better ranked defense in the Super Bowl…or Tom Brady, whatever is easier.

For the interest in most of the people reading this (if you still are), where does that leave the Packers?  We’ll take a closer look come Super Bowl week.

In the meantime, hopefully these should be some great games!

The (almost) full rebuild of the Green Bay Packers is complete!  Yes, you read that correctly.  The Packers have essentially gone through a full rebuild in the last 15 months, but have gone about it rather quietly while saying (and fake-showing) they’ve been “going for it.”  They removed Ted Thompson as GM, fired Mike McCarthy from Head Coach, traded players (Haha Clinton-Dix and Ty Montgomery) to ensure draft picks on guys they likely weren’t resigning and have changed their philosophy on building a roster.  The weird part, and why the media keeps asking, is the hierarchy structure in place my President Mark Murphy.

It feels as though the Board of Directors is getting a bit impatient with the Packers and not winning championships, even though they’re printing money, and Murphy seems to be acting out of desperation (usually not a good idea) by taking control of as much as he can, even down to hiring the Head Coach…what’s next, inputting stock on draft picks?  It begs the question, because meddling owners don’t win.  Unless you’re George Steinbrenner and you just pay for talent with blank checks, which even that’s gone by the wayside a bit in baseball.

So here we are, Matt LeFleur, the 15^th head coach in Packer history.  He comes with a fairly impressive resume, and an image that the ladies will like.  However, what does this all mean?  Can the Packers win a Super Bowl with Rodgers still at Quarterback?  Possibly, it’ll take a solid draft (or 2), plus the defense to continue to grow under Mike Pettine—whom I believe will keep his job, which might’ve been part of the requirement for the next head coach.  The fun part, is even for fans like me, realists???, this should be somewhat of an exciting time because it’s change.  Nothing had changed for a while, yet the results were still the same, odd ehh?  If you’d like a deep dive into LeFeur’s history, we can go that route, but that may be better saved for post-draft, which will be absolutely essential (aren’t’ they all?) if the Packers have plans on winning a Super Bowl in the next 2 seasons.

That brings me to the whole Expectations item.  Normally I’m the guy with “If you have Aaron Rodgers, and he’s so good, you should win the Super Bowl.”  While true, if he’s that good, which is a whole other topic…but I believe the goal now, with LeFleur having a 4-year deal (5^th year option) and Rodgers having 5 years left on his contract, what is the new goal for that window?

2 Super Bowl wins?  I’d argue that’s the minimum, let’s not even bring into account trying to make up for lost opportunities…

There should be concern amongst Packer nation that their beloved quarterback has manipulated the organization…again.  The Packers somehow came out roses last time due to Ted Thompson having the wherewithal to draft Aaron Rodgers when 23 other teams decided against it, however he seems to now be the issue—potentially.  Before coming at me (if you have the passion/desire to do so, which would be fun!) let’s take a look at where the Packers sit.

Their tight end, Mercedes Lewis, said last night (or earlier this morning) that Aaron Rodgers would disregard McCarthy’s plays and just run his own, that there was a dysfunction unlike anything he’s ever seen.  And he played for Jacksonville for 12 years…that has me thinking a few things.

Did Rodgers sabotage Mike McCarthy?  Does he think he can run a better offense from the field?  Will the next coach be able to reign him in?  Will the next coach want to?

These are the things swirling through my mind as the Packers continue their search for their 15^th head coach (16^th if you include Philbin, which I don’t think you do).  After going 6-9-1, which Rodgers started all 16 games and while his stats will say he wasn’t the issue, this was a majority of his mess—the Packers will need to find the best possible coach for them, hit on multiple draft picks AND have quite a few players make the jump from rookies to year 2 (*cough cough Josh Jackson).

It’ll be interesting to see, but this whole thing with Rodgers seeming to have sabotaged the Packers doesn’t sit well with me, ‘nor should it you.  Think, honestly tell yourself, if this were any other player on the Packers would you feel the same?

Just a thought.  Thanks for reading.

Finished 43-25…just for score-keeping 🙂

Review—this is the Packers offense many of us have been expecting.  However, it took a coaching change, the season being a complete failure, solid December weather, and an awful Jets team to get it…the sad part is it’s better than being shut down by said team.

Rodgers was productive, but still showed carelessness/laziness at times—all that matters is production, and he produced 44 points.  It’s no doubt that Davante Adams is a stud, no need to elaborate.  The rookie WRs need more snaps.  Been clamoring for this for a while, but J’Mon Moore (#82), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (#83), and Equanimeous St. Brown (#19), along with Jake Kumerow (#16) should get all of the playing time possible with Rodgers.  They each bring something to the table and the Packers need at least 2 of those guys to be solid if they plan on doing anything moving forward.

The defense…well, the top 3 defensive linemen were out (Clark, Daniels, and Wilkerson) and who knows if Wilkerson will return next year, but he could add depth.  To borrow my cousin’s phrase, the safeties are just a bunch of Slugs, and it’s very apparent Josh Jones continues to need snaps as he can only improve while having a ton of physical talent.

Preview—Detroit and Green Bay are locked in their respective positions as far as division goes.  The Lions will finish last (4^th) while the Packers will finish 3^rd.  Which means Green Bay will face the NFC South 3^rd place finisher (Carolina, Atlanta, or Tampa Bay) at home, and the NFC West 3^rd place finisher on the road (San Francisco or Arizona).  Along with that, the Packers are locked into drafting anywhere from 10^th to 17^th.  Keep in mind the Packers hold New Orleans’ 1^st round pick, which is no worse than 26^th, or better if you look at it like that.  So the Packers will have 2 picks, first from 10^th-17^th, and their 2^nd anywhere between 26^th-32^nd in the first round in April’s draft.

As for the Lions, they bring the 26^th ranked offense (19.5 points/game) and the 19^th ranked defense (24.0 points/game).  The Packers matchup fairly well, especially coming off a 44-point performance vs another bad team.  The Packers rank 12^th and 22^nd, respectively and will look to add to those totals and likely increase their offensive output, while likely worsening their defensive rank.

Overall—there will be a season recap later, however for what it’s worth there’s a winner of this game that needs picking, or at least hopefully.

Lions 17
Packers 34

43-24 overall record.  Likely moving to 44-24…interesting offseason, that’s certain.

Review—finally the Packers are officially eliminated from the playoffs and the fans that were holding on to hope, can shift their focus to the draft and next year.  The Bears played an OK game, which proved enough to beat Green Bay’s best shot.  We learned that Matt Nagy (Chicago’s head coach) loves to be the smartest guy in the room, and that will cost the Bears against a good team.  The Packers got away from running Aaron Jones due to not having 3 starting offensive linemen, so needing Jamaal Williams to help with pass protection vs Khalil Mack and the Bears’ pass rush, instead of running the ball with a very effective Halfback….yeah, read that again.

The Bears clinched the division and they celebrated like the Cubs won the World Series, but now Packer fans are left feuding with one another about “who’s a True Fan?” which some people are taking issue with Cheeseheads wanting their beloved Packers to lose their final 2 games.

Green Bay has an opportunity to vastly improve the situation next year by playing as many rookies and young players regular season game action, and if they lose both of their remaining games while getting some help (bad teams “behind” them winning) could move up the draft order from their current spot; 11^th.

Preview—enter one of those teams “ahead” of the Packers, the New York Jets.  The Jets currently sit at 4-10 and the 4^th overall pick.  It would behoove each of these teams to lose, so as you can tell the “hype” for this game should be as low as possible.

The Jets don’t have much talent, none on offense, but feature one of the best young defenders in Jamal Adams.  He’s the 6^th overall pick from last year’s draft (2017) from LSU, wears #33 and a bunch of sweatbands…oh, and he’s also really good.  While watching him, think he’s the type of player that the Packers could draft next year and immediately help, IF they can crack into the top 10 in the draft.

Prediction—these are 2 bad teams, the Jets rank 24^th in points scored and points allowed, whereas the Packers rank 16^th offensively and 17^th defensively.  Green Bay has quite a bit more talent which I believe will be the difference-maker…

Packers 31
Jets 17

42-24

 

Not the result some wanted (yours truly) and now because things keep falling into place, the Packers still have a shot (4% as of Fri, Dec 14^th, up from 0.97% following the Arizona loss) at the playoffs.  I’ll state this, and for many who know me maybe you think a pessimist, or Negative Nancy, but trust me, I’m as objective as a fan can be—which I believe to be realistic.

Let’s say everything falls into place, the Packers somehow get into “the tournament,” they’d likely travel to Chicago for the Wild Card game, which would obviously be very winnable.  Then being the 6^th seed, they’d (as of now) have to travel to New Orleans for a showdown with the best team in the NFL, in a stadium they never play well in, vs a team they can’t stop.  Let’s say for some reason the Rams get home field advantage, then Green Bay would have……….see what happens, there’s a game to be played, along with 5 other scenarios that must happen even in order to think all this through.  Meanwhile the chance of getting to the super bowl (not winning it, just showing up) is still <<<<<1%.  Hence, losing out to get better draft stock, not just in the 1^st round, but each round following, can only help the organization.  Unless you think that winning out, finishing 8-7-1, missing the playoffs or getting bounced in the postseason would somehow benefit this team more than 10+ draft slots because of the confidence gained from winning those games, losing out is the way to go.

The Good—the Packers played a pretty good game vs. a very confusingly-bad Atlanta team and looked like what many thought this Packers team would look like all year.  What I liked is Pettine (Packers’ D coord) had the sensational rookie, Jaire Alexander, follow around arguably the NFL’s best wide receiver (Julio Jones) all game and for the most part, hung in there and did fairly well.  The other promising factor is with the injuries, 2^nd year man (my man) Josh Jones is getting valuable snaps…keep ‘em coming.

Joe Philbin didn’t necessarily call a great game, as far as play calls, formations, schemes, etc.—but what he did do is call with tempo, which allowed Rodgers and the offense to establish a rhythm, which proved to be more important than “good” calls, at least vs. Atlanta.  Mid-season pick up, Breshaud Breeland (CB) had a pick-6 against Matt Ryan, on a poor throw, but ultimately a good play.  Lastly, the 2 challenges on the Julio catches, which the first one, by rule, should’ve been an incompletion, set the tone and seemed to get buy-in from the entire sideline.

Going complete fan here, but this team has talent, and it’s very apparent the firing of Mike McCarthy looks to be their galvanizing moment the QB has been looking for, it may be too little, too late in terms of making a run—however, if they get in, I can’t imagine many teams begging to see a hot team led by Aaron Rodgers…unless it’s the Saints in New Orleans, because the Packers can’t win there.

The Bad—Kenny Clark, arguably the team’s best player, suffered an elbow injury, but later returned.  It’s stuff like that happening, that I hate…I still don’t believe this team can/will win the Super Bowl and injuring your best player could substantially injure your chances next year.

The Ugly—the Vikings fired offensive Coordinator…John DeFilippo.  He looked like he may have been auditioning for a head coaching job with a capable QB with all the pass plays he called during the Vikings’ near shutout in Seattle.  The reason I put this under Ugly, is due to Mark Murphy (meddling owner) not using a search firm to find the next head coach, and may be stuck in his ways as DeFilippo may have been on his radar prior to the fiasco in Seattle, and there’s a real chance he could be hired as next coach…again, many who know me know I love running the ball and playing great defense…DeFilippo shows none of that.

Match-up—the Bears bring one of the most-complete teams (on paper) into this week 15 matchup.  When looking at Points and turnover margin, the Bears rank 7^th on offense, 3^rd on defense, and 1^st in turnover margin (+13).  Until last week, the Bears hadn’t beaten a team with a winning record, and it was obvious neither QB (Rams’ Jared Goff or the Bears’ Mitch Trubisky) wanted to play in the cold.  It’ll be interesting to see how he performs vs a Packers’ defense that has seemed to improve throughout the season, or at least become a bit more consistent as the season has gone on.

The main thing to keep an eye on is if Rodgers and the Packers come out with a quick-hitting passing attack that led to their comeback vs Chicago in the 2^nd half of week 1’s matchup, which may mean less snaps for Aaron Jones (Jamaal Williams is the preferred pass blocking HB).  The other reason this could be essential is Khalil Mack only played on a limited snap count in week 1, but is obviously ready to rock now—the issue, Packers RT Bryan Bulaga is listed as DOUBTFUL (as of 9a Sunday), which could be great tape from Jason Spriggs on how “Not to pass block vs the best defender in football.”  It’s a very intriguing matchup to see if the Packers can utilize the short-passing game to act as the running game.  Green Bay will likely need a solid performance from Rodgers and the defense to get a turnover or 2 to pull this game out.  Also, if you’re all in for the playoff push, which is pointless without a Super Bowl victory, keep an eye on the Miami @ Minnesota game too.

Prediction time—a little different format here, however while I want the Packers to lose, I will attempt to root for it as well, but rooting for the Packers to lose against the Bears just doesn’t sit well in my stomach – even if it’s the best for the team long-term.

Packers 16
Bears 24

41-24: a win-win at this point. If the Packers win they’re still alive for the playoffs, and many fans will enjoy that. If they lose, they improved draft stock (although losing last week would’ve gone much further in that dept.).  Either way, it feels like purgatory and when in doubt, root for a W????

The Good—they actually did it!  The Packers mailed it in and lost to arguably the worst team in the NFL.  The bad news is since firing Mike McCarthy, it seems as though that’s rejuvenated this team and they may come out and actually win.  Since trading the quarterback in the offseason isn’t happening, ‘nor would I want to now since his value is low, the best thing for the franchise is to lose the remaining 4 games, get better draft position in each round and hit a complete reset.  Keep in mind Green Bay holds the Saints’ 1^st round draft pick in this coming draft (trading back so New Orleans could take pass-rusher Marcus Davenport, whom many predicted Green Bay to initially select), but the Saints are looking like they’ll have a very late draft pick, so it’ll be closer to the 30^th or later.  If Green Bay can lose out, that would put them in likely in the top 6 as they’d currently be selecting 10^th.  Many believe with Rodgers at QB and a new head coach, this team could realistically compete next year and if that’s the case, the higher the draft choice the higher the chance that pick will contribute to that “success.”

While many may think losing out isn’t a good idea, regardless of what the team will be trying to do, they obviously have lost quite a few games to bad teams, only have 4 wins through 12 games, and are essentially eliminated from the playoffs—this team is flat out bad and hopefully that continues for the last month of the season for the betterment of the organization.

The Bad—the Packers are in search of a new head coach, and while that’s good (change was needed, and I was a McCarthy backer for years, still don’t mind the guy, but change was needed) Green Bay finds itself in a position of needing to a. Find a really good NFL head coach (difficult already) and b. Find one that will reign in Rodgers and gain his respect.  These seem like difficult tasks all because of the absurd contract extension given to the QB earlier this season which leads to…

The Ugly—the main issue seems to be the structure of the hierarchy of the front office.  President Mark Murphy still has his nose in every single football move and while they believe/say 17 other franchises have a similar structure, I can’t remember any of them actually winning or consistently winning with said structure.  Meddling owners are as bad a situation that can be asked for in sports.  All of this leads me, and possibly some others, to why Rodgers received the highest contract in NFL history.  It’s tough for me to imagine a new General Manager, with all the leverage, giving more $ to a player they already had under control for another 5 seasons.  This screams a move dictated (intentionally used this word) from a meddling owner.  Murphy’s main objective is to make money, however when fans don’t show up and leave empty seats in Lambeau, especially with a ¼ the season left, it’s embarrassing…owners don’t like that, it hurts their pride, regardless if they’re making money because the opportunity looks as though they could’ve made more.

There’s potentially the issue that the Packers won’t get back to winning A Super Bowl, let alone multiple Super Bowls (true objective) until a new President takes over and turns the football operations to someone that should be in control of football operations.  That would mean even more losing before winning, which may be tough to swallow, but this is a probable serious mess that might take some time to clean, but it’s the bed that’s been made.

Atlanta Falcons—here’s another team that has quite a bit of talent and is used to making the playoffs, but has completely underwhelmed as well.  It’s tough to point to why Atlanta has struggled so much this season, then again, who cares?  That’s their problem.  The Packers are favored by about a touchdown, yet it would behoove both teams to lose this game.  I’ve looked up the stats and whatnot, but what’s the point?  These are two bad teams playing for nothing other than a few fringe guys to put good tape for their future employers to view.

There’s an opportunity for Green Bay to get their young kids some meaningful live action snaps/experience, e.g. J’Mon Moore, who’s only played a handful of snaps all season.  There should also not be much frustration viewed from any of the Packers as this is the bottom of the barrel and is the new normal for this season…get the kids some snaps so they can develop and as painful as it is for a Packer fan to say- it’s as obvious to see how important a loss would help in the long-term.

Falcons 24
Packers 27

40-24: glad I was wrong; hopefully it happens again 🙂