My Official Green Bay Packers blog

I’m gonna be sick. Not figuratively. I’m really gonna hurl.

For those of you reading this who are Packer fans, if you were talking any smack about this game, it’s time for you to grab a fork and eat it, too. The better team won tonight.

When by the second quarter the Packers looked like they were already having to rely on the big plays to win, it was becoming clear that they weren’t ready for the biggest of all dances. The stout Giants front line weren’t letting any ball carriers past them. But on the other side of the ball, from the point Charles Woodson got laid out backwards, the Packers weren’t stopping any running backs wearing blue. I don’t know why the Giants didn’t run the ball on every play.

Oh yeah, I know why. Burress and Toomer stand about 17″ taller than Harris and Woodson, so why not throw to them again and again. And again.

And then there were the penalties. The Giants had how many? 6 chances from the Packers 1 to score? You can’t give a good team that many chances.

Favre was decent, but he was outplayed by Manning. Yeah, wake up and smell the limburger, cheeseheads. Manning’s throws were where they were supposed to be more often. If it wasn’t for Driver resurrecting several drives with circus catches up the middle (and of course the 90 yard play where he somehow managed to outrun 3 guys who were all faster than him), the Packers might have been shut out.

The good and the bad of it is the Packers are a really young team. They made mistakes that young teams make. Mistakes that Harry Sidney warned about before the Seahawk game; trying to turn every little opportunity into a gamebreak, like trying to scoop up a fumble and take it home instead of just flopping on it. But this team whether with or without Favre in ‘08, won’t have gee-whiz cow eyes next year when on the big stage.

The bikini girls were out again tonight, but somehow that didn’t seem to matter tonight. I guess (Superbowl) berths trump bikinis.

But hell, I had them as a 9-7 team. Many others had them 8-8 or worse. They finished 14-4, second best in the NFC. So I’ll lick my wounds, replace the chunk of carpet that was ruined from my pacing in front of the TV tonight, then reset the clock on the Favre Watch: Decision 2008. And then I’ll wish the Giants good luck against the Pats.

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, NFC Championship, I Am Jack’s Raging Bile Duct

Usually I like my game birds served with gravy over mashed potatoes. The tricky part is removing all the bird shot before you cook ‘em or your teeth will get an unwelcome surprise at mealtime.

For the tasty meal served up on Saturday evening, I have to thank Brett Favre, because I’m pretty sure he was using nothing but slugs and firing head shots all night.

My quick hitters for the game:

1. Remember when I talked about watching Red Wing games? And how you could tell, without knowing the score, who was going to win? The Packers got pimp-slapped with two quick scores after Ryan Grant fumbled twice. Their emotional response was not “Aw, shit. We’re screwed.” It was more like “Oh no you di’int. It’s ON.” It’s a lot of fun watching a team like that.

2. And then, like Clubber Lang was the good guy, we kept telling Seattle “I got a lotta mo for you! Whole lotta mo!“

3. And nobody played more like Clubber Lang (in the first fight) than Ryan Grant. After dribbling two on the ground he ran for over 200 yards.

4. Is it just me, or does Brandon Jackson stuff his pants with nitrous oxide? You know, the stuff in a tank that’s usually found in a trunk, like The Fast and The Furious? Push a button and Zooom? I saw it in the Oakland game and again this weekend - that guy gets to the corner before you and it doesn’t matter how close you are. He’s gonna to blow by you.

5. John Kuhn is a kung fu fire plug. He blocked guys from either side at the Seahawk goal line to give Grant an opening wide enough to squeak through to score.

6. Watch this video, and pretend all the scarers are people yelling the name “Atari Bigby,” and all the scarees are Seahawk wideouts.

7. The Packers are in full stride, and now fate has laid the NFC Championship in the lap of Lambeau. Tiki? We’re coming for your boys.

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, NFL, Playoffs

As we get ready for the Packers playoff game against the Seahawks we’re certainly going to be thumped with the intertwined history of the two franchises and the stats of the two teams leading up to this game. I’ll give you nine quick hitters of my thoughts going into this game.

My tale of the tape.

1. It’s been 10 years since Holmgren was Favre’s coach. While Holmgren probably wants everyone to think he knows all there is to know about Favre and can be his puppet-master-daddy, Favre is ten years older and he and coach McCarthy are on a different page now. Holmgren has no better advantage than any other coach that’s watched Favre for the last 16 years.
2. I was thinking I’d prefer the Packers to face the Seahawks than the Giants because wow, the Giants had Garcia picking dirt from his teeth all game last week. I don’t know if Favre can take that same kind of beating. Then I looked at the stats - the Seahawks are almost as good at sacking the QB as the Giants are.
3. The Packers had the second best offense in yards per game in the regular season, up around 370. The Seahawks were around 340. Either one of those quantities can win you a game, but if Favre doesn’t go Bean because of the bigness of the game, nobody can defend 5 wideouts.
4. The Packers defense was about 10 yards per game better than Seattle in the regular season.
5. I don’t know that Hasselbeck has a tendency to get inside his own head and set up shop, but he has to be thinking about the last team he was in Lambeau in the playoffs. Does he get fired up to right the wrong from last time, or does he get so jacked he overshoots the landing, crashes and burns.
6. Holmgren can be a master motivator. He also sometimes sucks. We arguably had a better team in ‘97 than in ‘96 (I know Santana Dotson feels that way), but Holmgren miscalculated, thinking the pile of 50 large on a table was going to motivate his team to Superbowl duplication.* They make millions, Mike. It’s not about the extra “making it rain” money. It’s about making history. Which talent manager shows up Saturday may determine the outcome.
7. MCarthy seems to always shoot as straight as anyone. It’s too early to say if he’s a master motivator, but from appearances, everyone knows exactly where they stand with coach, and they know where he expects them to go. That can be as much motivation as is needed.
8. Seattle is better at home than on the road. The Packers are pretty damn good wherever they play, so long as they aren’t playing the Bears.
9. And of course, the Packers have bikini girls (more coming on the bikini girls - right now they’re on a trip south to improve their tans, so they can be ready for a deep playoff run). Is that Rich Gannon with the thumbs up?

Oddsmakers are picking the Packers by 7 1/2 - 8.

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Playoffs

*It was reported that as a motivational tool, Holmgren put $50,000 in cash on a table and showed the team, explaining that that was what was up for grabs in the Superbowl.