My Take -> Week 2

Greetings, G-Force.

1-0. In smiling fashion. It's always a delight to remind ourselves that the Bears Still Suck. But, when it happens in fairy tale fashion as we're staring at the Al Michaels focused spotlight of Sunday Night Football, the victory tastes even grander. Throw in the Khalil Mack story line and the 20-0 deficit and the comeback and well, a grown man, yeah a grown man, well, he can grow far from dry eyed.

See, let me tell y'all a story. We have all been kids. Dreaming of what it was like to be a big star in life. I grew up in the 80's. In Green Bay, WI. People called it Titletown, U.S.A. That didn't make sense to me. The Packers were far from title contenders when I was a tike. We had tailgates and we had family. Those big, bad city boys had the Bears and they felt mean. They were intimidating to a single digit aged lil' boy. They were loud. They were rambunctious. They were scary. They had no commonality for the humanity that lived in my hometown. In some ways, it felt like Green Bay was little pieces settled on their own ways. It was a big reason that I've grown to hold a massive disdain for the Chicago Bears. The Bears would play the Packers and the city boys would be calling around. So, growing up in the small town when all the big stars played in the big city, it felt like all of the beautiful things had to come in big places. That thought seemed far fetched and unfair. The small town that owned an NFL franchise needed to come around and stop spinning. It needed to, once again, feel proud. In 1992, Ron Wolf, Mike Holmgren and Brett Favre woke up the Franchise. They instilled the dreams I'd heard about the old school Packers franchise into the youthful fan base. Being a Packer fan no longer hurt the most. Lambeau field was no longer a pleasant host to the competition. The Wolf, Holmgren, and Favre combination eliminated the ghosts of years past. We found fortune. We found fame. And, with the Wolf, Holmgren, and Favre arrival, the Packers and Bears rivalry took a trapeze-like swing on the pendulum into the Packers favor. After the glorious Packers victory last Sunday, since 1992, the Packers are 39-14 against the hated big-city, annoyingly boisterous rival to the South.

Shine on, Packers fans. The Bears Still Suck!

This week - I received the Grateful Dead 5/19/74 vinyl in the mail. A crystallized copy from Portland's Memorial Coliseum. It's beautiful. Buy it.

Here are my vibes from the last week:

* I kept thinking of the first verse of the Bears Still Suck last night as I watched my text messages from Bears fans flow in during the first half last night:

“How many times must we take this disgrace?
Another Bears fan throwing insults in our face.
The Packers are the greatest team to ever play the game.
Even if from time to time they've been a little lame.”

* The Bears Still Suck. Yes, The Bears Still Suck.

* Rob Demovsky posted this stat and it blew me away: Entering Sunday, the Packers had a record of 0-107 in the regular season -- and 0-4 in postseason -- when entering the fourth quarter facing a deficit of 17 or more points, according to ELIAS. Yes, the Bears Still Suck!

* Aaron Rodgers. A Herculean effort. A heroic performance. Historically profound. He’s supernatural. It's one I'll remember for eternity. And, if there's ever a day in which I don't remember it, I'd prefer to not be alive. I mean, seriously, consider it. The dude was carted off. When is the last time you've seen someone carted off of a football game and re-enter the playing field. Like, never? Yeah, well, Aaron Rodgers came back. He came back down 20-0. To the most hated rival in all of sports. Small town hosting big city. And, Aaron Rodgers showed that he's the biggest pimp in the NFL. Total stallion. Man. I love that dude. What a win. Aaron. Freakin'. Rodgers. Wow.

* Davante Adams. Flash those arms with potency! With 11:20 to play, the Packers trailed 20-10. They faced 2nd and 10. 75 yards from pay dirt. Over the net 2:19, Adams had 3 catches totaling 69 yards and a TD. Suddenly, the Packers were within striking distance. Don't be mistaken, there's more of this to come.

* GERONIMO! His role cannot be understated. None of the magic could've happened without G-Mo. Among the biggest plays - and there were many of them - was when the Packers trailed 20-3 and facing 3rd and 14 from their own 15. Rodgers hit Allison 2 yards short of the 1st down marker, but G-Mo had the wit to lunge forward across the 1st down marker. On the next play, Rodgers hit Allison for 12 against Fuller for another Packers first down. Rodgers hit Allison again on the next play and although the yardage gain was minimal, suddenly, Packers felt the vibe that something good was cookin'. Three plays later, Rodgers found Allison streaking down the field in single coverage against the Bears top CB. Of course, the Packers #3 CB owns TRUMP CARD over the Bears #1 CB. The play resulted in 39 yards and a Packers Touchdown. The TD pass hit all of the beautiful rainbow color spectrums. Suddenly, there was belief.

* Randall Cobb. Let's go outside. Yes, let's go outside and play. Let's be kids against dunce mates. Oh, those poor soul Bear fates. First, it was 4th & 8 from the 48 with 00:38 to clinch the NFC North Crown and then it's 75 yards of blissful grace to culminate a 20-point comeback victory. Blessing, Randall. For now. Forever. Memories arched in commanding fashion.

* David Bakhtiari. All-Pro. He dominates.

* The Packers made great offensive adjustments when Rodgers first got hurt. Yes, the offense got into a rhythm. And, Rodgers was getting rid of the ball quickly. But, from a coaching perspective, the routes also didn’t appear to be as long to develop as initially designed. The no-huddle offense that was utilized in the second half also picked up the pace of the game and appeared to wear down the Bears defensive front. On an individual basis, McCray and Bulaga were manhandled in the first half, but both seemed to really dig in and settle down. Both showed great grit as the game wore on. Big ups to both of them!

* The Rodgers injury is scary. What makes Rodgers so unique is his ability to extend plays with his legs and then throw on the run. His legs make him an incomparable talent. If his mobility is going to be limited and if he’s going to more or less be a statue in the pocket, it severely handicaps the game plan and limits Rodgers’ ability to escape pressure. This injury can't linger or it'll cripple the season.

* Offensively, I thought the game plan adjustments really started when Rodgers went out. Early in the game, there was a high level of predictability. I don’t believe that the Packers showed the Bears defense any respect. Admittedly, I never watched the replay of the first half, but other than the dump off to Montgomery, it looked like the Packers were running slower developing, deep route plays and Rodgers didn’t seem to have any options underneath when the Bears DL was dominating the line of scrimmage. When Kizer came in, we saw the return of the crossing route and in turn, the Packers started to move the football.

* I'm likely along here, but I have not lost confidence in Kizer. Yes, I wish he was the #3 QB with a proven, veteran QB as the back-up. But, what we saw on the opening drive of the Bears game and for most of the preseason is who Kizer is. He was a decent quarterback between the 20’s, but he couldn’t finish drives last year. He was turnover prone and he had poor ball placement. My sense is that Kizer has the desire to be a great QB and with proper coaching, he’ll develop into a QB that will learn to finish drives.

* Defensively, I felt the Packers were fortunate that the Bears went away from the shenanigans, the gimmick style plays. Had the Bears stuck with the trickery, I’m not sure how long it’d have taken the Packers to solve it. But, when the Bears went to a more traditional, somewhat conservative offense, Pettine was able to show his disguised blitzes on defense. I was really impressed how Pettine overloaded the right side of the Bears OL and got in Trubisky’s face. Pettine’s pressure along with the noise from the Lambeau Faithful seemed to make the moment too big for Trubisky over the last 20 minutes of the game.

* I’ll forever wonder what the Packers offered him. He certainly fits the Packers most pressing need. And, I guess it’ll be extremely logical to play the “what if” game surrounding Mack for years to come. Unless, of course, Gutekunst crushes the 1st round next year with a couple of stallion EDGE rushers.

* I really liked the confidence that Jackson and Alexander brought to the secondary. Between Jackson, Alexander and King there was a swagger to the group. It was also nice to see Tramon flying around the field. Alexander really looks like a physical, tough minded tackler. He brings an attitude. A community to the group that can’t be overstated. And, I think the Bears last drive of the game was an indication of what’s to come. We saw Jackson break up a pass over the middle, we saw King blanketing Allen Robinson down the sideline, we saw Alexander breaking up the 4th down pass that Clay was penalized on and we saw a coverage sack on the 4th down sack by Perry to seal the game. A very impressive Week 1 performance for the young secondary.

* Kentrell Brice was phenomenal.

* Kenny Clark is a beast. He's ready to dominate in 2018.

* Mo Wilk was close on a couple of occasions. Trubisky was too elusive for him. Mo Wilk will get home this year.

* 2:59 to play. 2 & 13. Bears ball at the 25. The Packers are grinding to get a stop. The Bears run Jordan Howard. The Packers are lined up perfectly to stop the play. But, HaHa wimps out and doesn't plug the hole. Brotherman Haha, we need you, my man. Belly up. Fill the hole. Seal the deal.

* Clay Matthews. Yikes!

* Macho man Mike Pettine scared me. 3:28 left. Game apparently on the line. Bears ball. 3rd and 7. From the 49. And, Pettine rushed 3? I was gutted. But, Pettine responded. On the last drive of the game, Pettine faced two third downs and on both, he came with heavy pressure. And, on both instances, Trubisky hurried his throw and threw incomplete.

* Props to Antonio Morrison and Jermaine Whitehead for making the special teams tackle at the 18 to ensure that the Bears had a long field on the last drive.

* Mason Crosby. Young soul. Wise old man veins. Cold blooded. Zero fear to that man.

* I’ve decided to add a new segment to the weekly blog. Each week - I’m going to post a 2019 Packers mock draft. Thank you to the Bucs for their win over the Saints. It’ll be fun to cheer against the Saints each week. As always, I only draft players who I’ve studied. I’m going to do a couple of mock drafts over at fanspeak.com and I’ll post my favorite result of the week. If a player is not on the fanspeak draft board, I will draft him at the approximate round that I envision him being selected. I’ll do my best to frequently mix up my picks.

Round 1a Noah Fant, TE, Iowa.
Round 1b Brian Burns, EDGE, FSU.
Round 2 Joe Jackson, EDGE, []__[].
Round 3 Mitch Hyatt, T, Clemson.
Round 4 Nate Hall, ILB, Northwestern.
Round 5 JoJo McIntosh, S, Washington.
Round 6a Darrell Williams, ILB, Auburn.
Round 6b Jonathan Ledbetter, EDGE, Georgia.
Round 7 Kavontae Turpin, WR/KR, TCU.


This week - it's the 'queens from Minnesota. Fresh off a victory over San Francisco in which they played with very little emotion. It almost felt like the 'queens were saving themselves for this weekend. You know that the 'queens circle 2-games a year. They want to beat the Packers.

Against the Bears, we saw the Packers mental fortitude. It had appeared as though the Packers were defeated, but the team showed the mental capacity to overcome deficit. This week, the Packers will be faced with a new set of fortitude challenges. The Packers will have to battle the emotional deficit. While Minnesota coasted to a relatively easy victory, Green Bay had a hard fought prime time battle against their arch-nemesis. Now, one week later, the field will be lit by sun rather than bright lights. Gone is the Week 1 adrenaline rush and the freshness of a new season. It's time to grind. The Packers have to be able to press the refresh button and start anew from an emotional perspective. If not, the chances of victory are bleak. Additionally, the Packers must be ready to perform from the onset.

At 2-0, one would have to feel good about the Packers playoff chances to start the year. Especially in a season in which the Saints, Falcons, Seahawks, Lions, Cowboys, 49ers and Giants all suffered early season losses. Further, the ACF went 3-1 against the NFC in Week 1. Those statistics end up at the end of the year.

Against the 'queens, the Packers will be challenged to see how far we’ve come on the defensive side of the ball. Can we pressure Cousins? The 49ers were able to get in Cousins’ face. The Packers need to do the same. In the past, Thielen and Diggs have been tough to stop. But, the Packers new secondary has to be up to the task. Dalvin Cook will pound at the defensive front, but Daniels, Clark, Mo Wilk and Lowry have to be up to the task. If the 'queens are vulnerable, it's on the offensive line. The Packers DL has to outplay the MN OL.

Defensively, Minnesota will bring the heat. They have talent. In abundance. Anthony Barr, Linval Joseph, Harrison Smith, Danielle Hunter, Shelon Richardson, Eric Kendricks, Andrew Sendejo, Everson Griffen, Trae Waynes and Xavier Rhodes. Studs. All on defense. Scary. Mike Hughes, their first round pick, is someone that I really admired coming out of college. I liked his game. He added a pick-6 in Week 1. Rodgers, assuming he plays, will have to get rid of the ball quickly. He'll need outlets underneath. Rodgers will look to beat Waynes and Hughes on quick passes.

Expect Minnesota's offense to try and grind it out early to slow down the pace of the Packers front. But, the Packers defensive front is up to the task. Mo Wilk and Nick Perry each grab sacks.

Look for the Packers to show some 3-TE sets early to slow down the pace of the MN defense and to slow down the game. Eventually, the Packers will go no-huddle, but not early. McCarthy will want to test the physicality of his team. Williams runs behind Bulaga and Lewis to the right side of the field.

It'll be important for McCarthy to show the versatility of his offense to wear down the Minnesota defense. McCarthy has options. He has to be patient and use those options early.

Minnesota will likely come with a traditional offensive attack. It'll be important for the Packers defense to nut-up and trust Pettine's schemes. The defense will give up yards, but has to prevent TD's.

T-Mon grabs a pick.

Rodgers shows guts. Adams gets nasty. Graham finds pay dirt.

Crosby connects late.

Packers 20.
'queens 19.

Go Pack Go!

Talkin' S-Mac.
talkins-mac.blogspot.com