Packers 20, San Francisco 10. THIS was the best game of the year for the defense, replacing the Tampa Bay game as the previous best game. They held San Francisco to 192 yards and 3 for 12 on 3rd downs. Brett Favre threw 3 interceptions to give San Francisco some hope, but those 3 turnovers only led to 7 points. The score looks like this was a close game, but it was not close.

First Quarter: After the great run defense (they only allowed 73 yards on 21 carries all game) keys a 3 and out, Favre connects to Javon Walker on the first side line bomb I can remember working all season. Favre throws at least one of these passes a game, but this one worked, in large part to the single coverage on Walker. The next San Francisco drive dies in Packer territory in large part to Cletdius Hunt. Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila got the sack, but it was caused by Hunt. Hunt had several big plays in San Francisco's back field, generated a pass rush all game, and easily had his best game of the season. Unfortunately, Favre throws a pass too high for Bubba Franks and Zack Bronson is in the right place at the right time to intercept it. Although they start at the Packers 20 yard line, the drive stalls and Todd Peterson, San Francisco's third kicker of the year, misses a gimme 28 yard field goal. Franks ends the quarter with a holding penalty to call back a first yard run by Ahman Green. Packers 7, San Francisco 0.

Second Quarter: Franks did not have his best game, as another pass intended for him is intercepted. Although San Francisco has great field possession again, this time at the Packers 22 yard line, 2 penalties and 2 incompletions push them out of field goal range and they have to punt. At this point I am thinking the game is over if San Francisco has the ball twice on 1st down at the Packers 20 yard line and they come away with no points. The passing game keeps leading to interceptions, so the Packers run 7 times in a row. What was amazing was that San Francisco knew they were going to run, because backup tackle Kevin Barry and backup fullback Nick Luchey were in as extra blockers on multiple plays, but they just ran it right at them. On the 25 yard run by Najeh Davenport, he had a giant running lane. The two passes Favre attempted were both completions and Robert Ferguson had a fantastic catch on a pass throw behind him and then he spun around after he caught it to cross the plane of the end zone just before falling out of bounds. San Francisco responds with a nice looking 6 minute drive which leads to a gimme field goal that Todd Peterson actually makes. Last week in Tampa Bay, the Packers ran an awful 2 minute drill at the end of the first half, but this week they did everything right. They ran and pass the ball successfully, ran all the time off the clock, and Longwell kicked a short field goal. Packers 17, San Francisco 3.

Third Quarter: More running Packers. Why not when your top two rushers Green and Davenport are averaging over 5 yards per carry, and 3rd string running back Tony Fisher isn't too far behind at 4.2 yards per carry. Longwell has been accurate all season on field goals, but he can't get enough distance for a 45+ yard field goal and his 49 yard attempt falls short. San Francisco answers with a 3 and out series and Antuan Edwards stuffs Terrell Owens (he tackles him around the waist, lifts him up, and slams him to the ground). Edwards is solid in coverage, apart from a poor week 1 vs. Randy Moss, but he hasn't been too good in run support, which is very important for a strong safety. For example, Anthony Thomas ran over and around him a few weeks ago in Chicago. So to see Edwards come up in run support and make a big run stop on 3rd down is a very promising sight. Unfortunately, Darren Sharper got hurt during the series. San Francisco can't get anything going on offense until Favre throws his 3rd interception of the game, when Mike Rumph plays the quick slant perfectly and cuts off Antonio Freeman on the route. Favre should have seen Rumph sitting there, but he probably thought he could squeeze it in. This leads to San Francisco's touchdown drive, when on 4th and short, Marques Anderson, Sharper's replacement, takes a bad angle on deep coverage of Owens and Owens runs past Anderson at the 5 yard line to catch the ball in the end zone. Anderson is great in run support, but his problems in coverage have led to him falling behind Edwards on the depth chart. You could see Al Harris talking at Anderson after the play. The Packers run, literally, out the clock on the quarter. Packers 17, San Francisco 10.

Fourth Quarter: The Packers ran the ball 16 times in the quarter and passed only twice. They had the ball for literally 13 minutes compared to 2 minutes for San Francisco who only had 8 plays (with 4 incompletions and 1 interception). San Francisco couldn't stop them from running the clock out and Edwards (what a great game for him!) jumped a corner route by Tim Rattay to intercept the ball with almost 6 minutes to go. The Packers just ran out the clock for the last 6 minutes, went 3 for 3 on 3rd downs on that last drive, including a great 3rd down run by Favre (of all people) to end the game. Packers 20, San Francisco 10.

Packers 20, Tampa Bay 13. As Darren Sharper commented after the game, they have to figure out why they are winning in Tampa Bay and Minnesota this year, but keep losing close games in Green Bay. If the Packers had won their two close defeats at Green Bay this season to Philadelphia and Kansas City, then it is likely the Packers are being talked about as a favorite for the Super Bowl at 7-3. This doesn't say as much about the Packers as it does about the parity in the NFC this season. Brett Favre had his worst game of the season (although the first half of week 1 vs. Minnesota was his worst half game of the season) but the defense had its best game. With the exception of the two big Thomas Jones runs, the Packers defense dominated Tampa Bay's offense.

First Quarter: After Tampa Bay's first punt, Antonio Chapman had a great punt return to start the drive at the Packers 47. Special teams and defense needed to make more plays, and both units delivered this week, although Tampa Bay is one of the weakest special team units in the NFL. The Packers only had two good looking drives in the game, where they passed and ran the ball effectively, but both drives ended with touchdowns. On their second drive, which led to their first touchdown, Favre completed 4 passes on the drive (he only completed 13 in the entire game) and 3 of them were on 3rd down. Ahman Green is already getting good yards running the ball. The difference between Green this season and past seasons is his production in the first halves of games. Tampa Bay had three drives in the first quarter, didn't convert a single 3rd down, and had one of the more laughable drives of the NFL season when they had three penalties in a row that resulted in only 3 penalty yards because they were pinned back so far against their end zone. Packers 7, Tampa Bay 0.

Second Quarter: Najah Davenport comes in to spell Green a couple times, 3 rushes in the first half, and every time he came in even I knew it was a running play. He gained no yards on his 3 rushes. I thought the Packers were being too obvious with their personnel packages, but in the second half it turned out to be a setup as they start running pass plays with Davenport in the backfield. A turnover! After only 2 turnovers in the last 4 games, a fumble recovery is big news. The Packers forced 3 turnovers in this game alone. Unfortunately the great field position only leads to a field goal. Thomas Jones second run of the game is a 61 yard explosion. Jones ran to Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila's side and the linebacker on that side (Na'il Diggs?) is blocked out of the play. Its bad news, but remember its only one of three big plays for Tampa Bay on offense all game while the rest of the time Green Bay dominated them. And the Packers hold them to a field goal. Great kickoff return by Davenport, of all people, leads to a field goal. With about 7 minutes left in the second quarter, Tampa Bay converts its only 3rd down of the game, and the drive ends in a punt. After Nick Barnett (What the heck is he doing so far down the field in coverage? Well it worked) intercepts Brad Johnson, the Packers spend the rest of the half confused: Are they going to try for one more score? Are they going to run out the clock? The Packers call a time out while Tampa Bay is trying to run out the clock, Mike Sherman is shown on the sidelines shaking his head in disbelief, and after a couple of 3 and outs on offense, Tampa Bay gets great field position on a bad Josh Bidwell punt and two Keyshawn Johnson pass completions later, Tampa Bay gets a gift field goal. Packers 13, Tampa Bay 6.

Third Quarter: Tampa Bay starts the half out with a rerun of Jones's big run over Gbaja-Biamila and Diggs's side which leads to a Keenan McCardell touchdown against Mike McKenzie. It seemed like a good start to the half for Tampa Bay, but their offense didn't do much after that drive. McCardell ran a nice route and Johnson put the ball right where it was needed, and McKenzie couldn't do much about it. Gbaja-Biamila hasn't been an obvious problem against the run this season until these two big Jones runs, and I don't know if its a problem or just well executed plays by Tampa Bay. The rest of the quarter is filled with drive killing penalties and failed 3rd down conversions. Favre threw an interception on a deep pass to Donald Driver on the type of forced pass he hadn't tried to throw in weeks. Everyone was covered on the rollout, but instead of throwing the ball away, he tried to force it into double coverage. Favre does make a great 3rd down completion to Robert Ferguson at the end of the quarter from the end zone which sparks a dominant 98 yard touchdown drive, so all is forgiven. Packers 13, Tampa Bay 13.

Fourth Quarter: Touchdown! Nothing sucks the life out of an opponent like a 98 yard almost 10 minute touchdown drive. Almost all of the plays were runs, and Tampa Bay just couldn't stop the Packers. Favre only threw 4 passes on the drive, all completions, and 3 of them were on 3rd down. This is the best run offense in the entire NFL right now. Favre only attempts 2 more passes on the next 2 drives. Tampa Bay has 3 more chances to get some offense going, but they can only manage 42 yards on the 3 drives and the last drive ends with a Sharper interception on a hail mary pass. Packers 20, Tampa Bay 13.

Packers 14, Philadelphia 17. Ugh. This was a defeat snatched from the jaws of victory type of defeat. The Packers had more yards on offense (307 to 282) and had the ball longer on offense (31:15 to 28:45), but they were killed on return yards (46 to 159) and turnovers (3 to 0). The Packers defense has only generated two turnovers in the last four weeks, and the special teams have been outperformed on kick returns (253 to 424) over the last three weeks. The Packers offense continues to make big plays, but unless the defense and special teams contribute big plays, the Packers will continue to lose close games. Although a 7-9 record might win this division (if Minnesota can't beat San Diego, who can they beat?) and the Packers get a Chris Berman inspired Bay of Pigs matchup next week with equally desperate Tampa Bay.

First Quarter: Fumbles. Its hard to blame Brett Favre with his broken thumb, but he just couldn't grip the ball in the rain with his cast on. Favre shouldn't have been benched, but I found myself considering the possiblity. On a team with no margin for error, Favre's fumbles were as deciding a factor as any in this game. The Packers start the game by running successfully. After watching Ahman Green struggle in the first half of games over the previous 3 years, and now to watch him succeed all game long is exciting. They started with a two fullback set, but the Packers were successful running without that alignment too. Unfortunately Favre's fumble on the first drive effectively kills the it, and Green's fumble on the second drive kills an even more promising drive. Philadelphia can't run or pass the ball, and Donovan McNabb got really lucky when he got hit on a pass and his dying quail wasn't intercepted. These two turnovers lead to punts, but Philadelphia is lucky not to be down by 6 to 14 points at this point. The Packers also got their lone sack when New Orleans castoff Grady Jackson and Jacksonville castoff Larry Smith generate more pass rush than any other high paid defensive lineman for the Packers. John Madden just seemed to ramble at times (e.g. "Philadelphia drafted TE L.J. Smith because they thought he could fill the TE/WR type of receiving position..." duh!), but Madden noticed the slick black elbow pads Green was wearing during Green's two fumbles, and Green didn't fumble the rest of the game once he removed them. Packers 0, Philadelphia 0.

Second Quarter: The Packers had as many critical penalties in the first half as they had all year up to this point. TE David Martin had a rare offensive pass interference call in the first half to call back a first down, and WR Robert Ferguson (I believe) had a holding penalty that called back another one. Favre's second fumble kills the first drive of the quarter. Philadelphia's offense is still comatose. Madden calls it again when Madden says that Nate Wayne, who was in statement game mode to prove the Packers made a mistake with him, has forced a turnover every time he has played on MNF. The second drive of the half in Philadelphia territory ends with a turnover, when Wayne makes the best one handed catch of the night for either team. Al Michaels is explaining how this is a Gold package game for former Milwaukee season ticket holders tonight and I am wondering if the Packers are trying to get their Milwaukee season ticket holders to turn in their tickets. Its hard enough to go to a Monday night game and then to work the next morning, but by the time the Milwaukee area residents fight traffic and get home its probably Tuesday afternoon. Why do the Packers schedule Gold games for Monday night? Luckily the Wayne interception only leads to a missed field goal. Philadelphia gets a chance to run the clock out for the half and let their inept offense regroup, but they can't even do that. The Packers offense finally puts together a drive without a turnover, Favre completes a couple of passes, and Green runs loose on a screen pass for the touchdown. Packers 7, Philadelphia 0.

Third Quarter: Philadelphia gets the ball first and changes the tone of the game. They still can't run (yet) but McNabb completes a few passes for the easy field goal. The Packers have a nice answering drive, but they run it one too many times, and a big negative loss on a 3rd down carry puts it out of Ryan Longwell's range, and he misses his first field goal of the season. This quarter is consumed by the first two long drives. MNF decides to show some great sauercraut footage and lets Madden do commentary about the sauercraut production workers techniques. Plus the ever exciting Turducken reference. I might have missed the thrills, but I didn't see any shots of the horsetrailer tonight. Packers 7, Philadelphia 3.

Fourth Quarter: The Packers first drive this quarter was really wasted. Three passes for 1 yard and punt. The passing game hasn't been working and the running game has been so why three passes? I don't know. Great tackle by Antuan Edwards (I think) stops Todd Pinkston from a first down on the next drive. The Packers respond with a run-run-pass-punt drive and then Philadelphia gets really lucky. McNabb uncorks another dying quail "long" pass but Mike McKenzie isn't playing the ball, he runs past James Thrash and slips, but Thrash is paying attention and goes back to the ball for the big play. If Favre had thrown that pass this season, it would have been intercepted. It is just one of those years. McNabb runs in for the short yardage touchdown. But Green makes up for his two fumbles and rips off his second big play of the game on a 4th down 45 yard touchdown run. The defense comes up big after a big kickoff return by Thrash, but then the Packers do the same thing Philadelphia couldn't do at the end of the first half; get first downs and run out the clock. McNabb dusts off the forgotten Duce Staley and Chad Lewis on four plays that take it down to the Packers 12 yard line. Edwards had Staley wrapped up on the screen pass, but he missed the tackle, and I am left wondering if Marques Anderson was playing safety whether he makes the tackle and changes the outcome of the game. Then Madden has another lucid moment and notices that Bhawon Jue is playing at cornerback for an apparently injured Al Harris. Jue has given up game winning touchdown passes before this season (Kansas City) and he is burned by Pinkston for Pinkston's first touchdown catch of the year and only the second touchdown caught by a wide receiver this season for Philadelphia. Nice. Additionally, Jue was one of the problems in the Arizona loss this season, and I don't think the Packers can afford to rely on him anymore. The Packers almost get back into field goal range again, but the football slips out of Favre's hand on the last chance pass and the game is over. Packers 14, Philadelphia 17.

Mid season review. Although the Packers' record, 4-4, indicates that they are an average team, only the special teams can be considered NFL average.

The offense has been outstanding: 3rd in the NFL with 365.8 yards/game and 3rd in the NFL with 28.8 points/game. The balance between the running game (154.3 yards/game) and the passing game (211.5 yards/game) is outstanding. Stopping Ahman Green from running should be the focus of every opposing defense, but only St. Louis has really shut down the running game all season. I think this is Brett Favre's best season. He doesn't have numbers comparable to his MVP seasons, but ever since the first half disaster in week 1 vs. Minnesota, he has made few mistakes and he has been very consistent. Favre often struggled at certain places in the past; Minnesota, Dallas and Tampa, but this season it hasn't mattered where he has played, and he has spread the ball around and moved the offense down the field.

The defense had a disappointing first half season: 30th in the NFL with 357.9 yards/game and 24th in the NFL with 24.1 points/game. They have had problems in pass coverage, generating a pass rush, creating turnovers, and getting off the field (teams are 46% on 3rd down against the Packers). The pass coverage was good against a great pass offense in Minnesota last week and might have turned a corner with the return of Antuan Edwards from injury and the promotion of Michael Hawthorne to the nickel cornerback. Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and Cletdius Hunt have not played up to their big offseason contracts, but neither of them are hurt and it wouldn't be surprising to see both of them have a big second half season. Nick Barnett has had an outstanding rookie season at middle linebacker, but he appeared hurt at the end of the Minnesota game. The Packers have to find a way to generate a consistant pass rush with a four man rush. The nose tackle position is a concern with Gilbert Brown playing through an injury and backup Rod Walker having problems with a bad knee, but the Packers picked up Grady Jackson this week to provide some depth. Unfortunately Minnesota was 6 for 12 on 3rd down last week and the Packers forced no turnovers.

Special teams had one bright spot, Ryan Longwell, who has not missed a field goal or extra point all season long. The punt return and kickoff return blocking seems to be getting worse as Antonio Chapman has seem less effective on returns in recent weeks. Still they are playing better than last year, but they can't let the special team unit regress.

The next two games are favorable for the Packers. They play Philadelphia at Lambeau and although Philadelphia has won three in a row they are not a dominant team, and the injuries are starting to pile up for them. Then the Packers travel to Tampa, where Favre has often struggled but I don't expect him to struggle in Tampa this year. Tampa has followed each win with a loss every game this season. Last week Tampa lost, this week at Carolina they should win, then they should have the corresponding loss to the Packers in Tampa in the following week. Added bonus: Tampa is 1-3 at home this year.

Packers 30, Minnesota 27. Are there two more evenly matched teams in the NFL this season? They have played twice, each team has won once, while the Packers have scored 55 points to Minnesota's 57. The Packers have the #3 offense and the #30 defense. Minnesota has the #3 offense (both the Packers and Minnesota have so far averaged exactly 365.8 yards/game on offense) and the #29 defense. The biggest difference is in the record; Packers 4-4 and Minnesota 6-2. The Packers score a point more per game but allow almost 4 more points per game, and Minnesota has forced more turnovers and has 18 interceptions to the Packers 9. Both teams offenses seem to be improving each week and both defense seem to be getting worse. This was a very close game.

First Quarter: The first Packers drive was excellent and it was a sign of things to come. Ahman Green ran for 45 yards on the opening drive on the Packers way to running for 261 yards for the game. I thought it was a bad sign that such a great looking drive stalled in the red zone, and the Packers had to settle for a field goal. Minnesota responded with a great drive of their own. The Packers defensive line was stood up and blocked out from making any plays, especially on the touchdown pass to Randy Moss when Daunte Culpepper had enough time in the pocket to wait for the play to develop and to finish reading a novel. The Packers defensive line got better as the game went on. It reminded me of their game vs. Seattle when the Packers defensive line was shoved around in the first half but got better as the game went on. In this game, the Packers pass rush just got better each quarter. The long touchdown catch was the only big play Moss made in the game. Donald Driver got a big play on a reverse and I can't remember the last time the Packers got a big play on a reverse. Driver also caught a touchdown pass on the drive, but Robert Ferguson was flagged for an illegal shift (while in motion he was weaving around like a drunk walking a white line) which negated the touchdown and the Packers settled for a field goal. The rest of the quarter is good defense by both teams, which was quite unusual for this game, and three punts. Packers 6, Minnesota 7.

Second Quarter: Minnesota's run defense continues to break down and Green and Najeh Davenport run for 33 yards on 2 carries. Brett Favre spread the ball to three different receivers on the drive and Green catches the touchdown pass on a quick pass coming out of the backfield and Green beats the defender to the corner of the end zone. Minnesota punts again, and by this point the Packers pass defense is playing very well. After the 43 yard touchdown pass to Moss, Minnesota only has 4 passes for over 10 yards the rest of the game and the longest was a 24 yard pass to Nate Burleson. Minnesota has killed the Packers with big plays in the past so this was an essential part of the win on Sunday, but the Packers defense couldn't stop the run and they couldn't stop Minnesota on 3rd down (Minnesota was 6 for 12 on 3rd downs). The Packers have another great drive but it is stopped by a Favre interception. Minnesota outcoached the Packers on this play; Minnesota blitzed to force Favre into a hot read and Corey Chavous was playing right in the throwing lane. Favre didn't see Chavous, he should have seen Chavous, but Minnesota blitzed to give Favre no time to read the field. Turnovers have killed the Packers this season, but this was the only turnover and it was meaningless. There was 6 minutes left in the half and Minnesota was guaranteed to get the ball back anyway. The Packers have had turnovers on offense kill them on offense, but the offense was almost perfect in this game and the lack of turnovers caused by the defense didn't cost them this game, but this is still a problem for the defense. Minnesota scored the touchdown on the drive, but the way they were successful running the ball, they might have scored on the next possession anyway. Minnesota had a nifty touchdown pass to Jim Kleinsasser when Kleinsasser did a great job of fake blocking and then turn to catch the short pass. Fortunately the Packers had enough time to retake the lead for good before half time with a two big plays by Green and Tony Fisher (all the Packers running backs, Green, Fisher and Davenport, had a great game) and a touchdown pass to Javon Walker wherein Walker made a great move on his namesake, Denard Walker, to run in for the touchdown. Packers 20, Minnesota 14.

Third Quarter: The bend but don't break defense quarter. Even when the Packers had a great defense with Reggie White in the mid-90s, the defense was successful because it didn't allow touchdowns and it forced turnovers, but they had trouble preventing teams from running up and down the field. In this quarter, Minnesota had the ball for about 12 minutes, but only came up with two field goals. The Packers often allowed a good gain on first down, and had trouble stopping Minnesota on 3rd down. Culpepper was 3 for 5 on third down in the quarter, but those two stops were huge. I was worried that these long drives would leave the defense exhausted in the 4th quarter. Packers 20, Minnesota 20.

Fourth Quarter: This touchdown drive started in the third quarter, but was played mostly in the 4th quarter. The Packers converted both of their 3rd downs on the drive, including a rocket pass and great catch by Walker in the end zone for his 2nd TD catch. The first 3rd down conversion was short yardage, but a 1st quarter drive was stopped when Green tried to rush on 3rd and short, so the Packers went to using William Henderson out of the backfield on a pass. The Packers had a key 3rd and short on their next drive too and threw a quick slant to Walker for the first down. On the best day the Packers have had running the ball in almost 20 years, it was interesting that they converted two crucial 3rd and shorts by passing the football. This quarter was the opposite of the 3rd quarter because the Packers had possession for most of it. With over 10 minutes left in the game and Minnesota down by 7 points, Minnesota's first drive in the 4th quarter died when they passed on three consecutive downs and had to punt. The Packers defensive line must have been worn out by this point on run defense, so this play calling might have cost Minnesota the game. The Packers pass rush, keyed by some great effort by backups Larry Smith and Chukie Nwokorie, started generating pressure on Culpepper. The Packers also had to start blitzing and although it forced Culpepper to hurry, it did not force any sacks or turnovers. The Packers last drive of the game used up almost 7 minutes and was 10 rushes to 1 pass, but the Packers run offense was so effective, including one 3rd and short converted on a Green run, that it set up the field goal that put the game out of reach. Ryan Longwell made 3 field goals and he made it look easy. The Packers special teams did not have a great game today, few quality returns and Minnesota had almost double the Packers return yards, but Longwell's 3 for 3 on field goals was a difference in the game. Minnesota scored a late touchdown but the resulting onside kick failed and that was it. On Minnesota's last touchdown drive, Nick Barnett hurt his ankle at a point earlier in the 4th quarter but he was still limping around on this drive. He probably should have been pulled. At one point, both Mike McKenzie and Al Harris blitzed from the corner, but Culpepper stepped up to avoid them and McKenzie and Harris collided with each other. Culpepper almost fumbled Minnesota's week 1 victory away to the Packers, but in this game he had no turnovers. Both quarterbacks had great games and Culpepper avoided his usual turnovers and Favre his usual Metrodome jinx. Packers 30, Minnesota 27.

Hmm...Minnesota lost its first game of the season on Sunday. I didn't watch it but two numbers jumped out at me. 2 - Daunte Culpepper threw his first two interceptions of the year vs. New York and New York was +1 on the turnover margin. It was the first time all year Minnesota had more turnovers than their opponent. 17 - Minnesota was held to 17 points in the game by New York. It was the first time all year Minnesota's offense was held under 20 points. Minnesota's defense has only held three teams under 20 points this season; toothless Chicago, toothless Detroit, and San Francisco. Chicago has the worst offense in the NFL, and Detroit has the third worst offense. San Francisco is the exception (10th best offense in the NFL), but Jeff Garcia did have an awful game. If Minnesota's defense isn't creating turnovers, then they aren't stopping anybody, and their games turn into shootouts.

Minnesota's loss is promising. Coming into this week, Minnesota was 6-0 and the Packers were 3-4. If, big if, the Packers win in Minnesota next week, then their records stand at 6-2 and 4-4, which looks like a legitimate race. The pressure will be on the Packers offense to not turn the ball over and to score a lot of points.

The bye week. I can't imagine the Packers hoped to be 3-4 at the bye week and four games behind Minnesota for the division lead. However, the playoffs are well within sight because the NFC is filled with mediocrity this season. Seattle, Carolina, Dallas, and Minnesota all lead their respective divisions with 5 or 6 wins, but only St. Louis has 4 wins and six teams, including the Packers, are hanging around with 3 wins. The Packers are a long shot to win the division from Minnesota, but their wild card hopes are in their own hands. It reminds me of 2000, when the Packers started out 3-6 but then had a nationally televised game vs. Minnesota that they won in overtime and sparked a 5-1 finish. The first game after the bye is Minnesota in Minneapolis. The Packers obviously won't be favored in that game, but its all up to them whether they win it. The three games after that are against three of their wild card competitors (Philadelphia, San Fransisco, and Tampa Bay), and if they come out of that stretch with 3 out of 4 wins, that knocks down a couple of their wild card competitors and leaves them with a 6-5 record. I love the Packers offense this year; Brett Favre is passing great and Ahman Green is running great (although he is fumbling too much) and I think it can play with anyone. No matter how they get into the playoffs, I would like the Packers chances in it with their offense.

Packers 24, St. Louis 34. The broken thumb edition. This was the first game of the year where the ball literally didn't bounce the Packers way. Each team had three fumbles, and while St. Louis recovered every Packer fumble, the Packers didn't recover a single St. Louis fumble.

First quarter: St. Louis's first drive leads to the one lucky bounce the Packers got all day; the deflected pass into Marques Anderson's arms. I thought it was very omnious that the Packers couldn't convert the turnover into a touchdown and settled for a field goal, but I have to cut Brett Favre some slack since he broke his thumb on the drive. The break is just at the tip of his right thumb, and supposedly not serious. I would think anything broken is serious, but it apparently didn't effect Favre's performance, as Favre had one of his best games in a dome that I can ever recall. Ironically, the first drive which failed to produce a touchdown was the only time all day that Ahman Green was effective running the football. Another great stop by the defense leads to Al Harris touching the ball while punt blocking. Its hard to blame Harris, because he was only 30 yards away from the line of scrimmage and locked up with a St. Louis player to prevent him from reacting to the ball. Antonio Chapman made an effort to alert Harris, but I don't think Harris heard him. That was a bad punt that just landed at the right spot for St. Louis. To make matters worse for Harris, St. Louis got him in single coverage on the hottest receiver in the NFL, Torry Holt, and Holt spun Harris around to get open for a big touchdown catch. It would have been great to have answered back with a touchdown, but it was the first in a series of poor kickoff returns, Marco Rivera had a holding penalty on 1st down, and the Packers couldn't convert. Then Josh Bidwell had a poor punt. This was the worst game of the year for Packers special teams, and it was as much a reason for the defeat as anything. St. Louis scores another quick touchdown, when the secondary looked like it got its coverage crossed up on two straight passes. The next drive is going very well, especially a great 3rd down pass to Wesley Walls while the Packers offensive line picked up an all out St. Louis blitz, but the quarter ends with a Najah Davenport fumble when the ball was ripped out of his hands while he was stood up. Packers 3, St. Louis 14.

Second quarter: Harris makes a great diving interception catch to make up for the Davenport fumble two plays earlier and the Packers only lose 10 yards on the swapping turnovers. The Packers have a quick touchdown drive; Javon Walker muscles a 26 yard completion right in front of the small St. Louis cornerback, and a beautiful screen play to Green for a touchdown. The next St. Louis drive is stopped by the Packers again the Packers record one of their two sacks of the game. I've been putting most of the blame on the Packers poor pass defense on the secondary, and not the pass rush. St. Louis's pass protection was awful in week 1 when Kurt Warner was sacked 6 times, but Marc Bulger has only been sacked 8 times in 5 games. In the previous 3 weeks, only Arizona got a sack of Bulger, and Atlanta and Seattle didn't get a sack. St. Louis always kept a blocker back in this game for any blitz and Bulger has a quick release. Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila looked like a 10 year old kid trying to get around or through the giant Orlando Pace, but he still put more pressure on the quarterback then I have seen him create in recent weeks. The pass rush isn't creating many big sacks this year or getting enough hits on the quarterback, but I think it still has all the components for a good pass rush and it played a quality pass blocking team in St. Louis. The next Packer drive is the second drive of the game stopped by a fumble. Green was almost down, but the ball came loose and a St. Louis player was in the right place at the right time again. I hadn't talked more about Green's lack of success running the ball, but St. Louis's defensive line was constantly in the backfield, and I hadn't seen Green tripped up at the line so many times in one game as he tripped up by St. Louis. Hopefully it was just a one game fluke and not a long term problem. Green's fumbles are a problem that he knows he has to address. Still he is far too valuable to bench just because of his fumble problems. This fumble is not turned back over by St. Louis and Bulger hooks up three times with Issac Bruce who has always killed the Packers (I am thinking of a game in 95 or 96 where St. Louis came to Green Bay and St. Louis upset the Packers on a kick blocked by Bruce). Mike McKenzie was playing soft on Bruce, which led to a number of completions, but he didn't give up any long pass plays either. That is just the game you have to play against St. Louis; play soft and risk the short passes or play tight and risk the long pass plays. The touchdown to Holt was a simple 10 yard slant and unfortunately the Packers ran the wrong defense. Ed Donatell blitzed Anderson from the secondary, Anderson was picked up on the blitz, and Holt caught the pass right in the area vacated by Anderson. This is Exhibit A why I don't want the Packers to blitz all the time just to create pass pressure; although they have extra pass pressure, if the blitzer is picked up, there is a hole in the pass defense. Donatell doesn't blitz too much, and when the Packers do blitz they are often successful with it, but this wasn't one of those times. The Packers try to answer back with just a minute left in the half, but they have one of their worst 2 minute drills in recent memory including a false start penalty and a juggled snap that caused Favre and Davenport to run into each other. Packers 10, St. Louis 21.

Third Quarter: Mike Holmgren used to defer a lot of kickoffs to the second half because Favre's first drive of the game was rarely productive during the Super Bowl years. Favre was too excited and needed a couple of drives to calm down and get into the flow of the game. Favre doesn't play like that anymore, but I still prefer it when the Packers get the ball to start the 2nd half. This game is a little flashback as the first drive of the 2nd half is productive, although not with the running game, as Favre spreads the ball out to 4 different receivers and William Henderson catches a touchdown. The Packers are only down by 4 again. The Packers and St. Louis each exchange a punt before St. Louis gets rolling again. Arlen Harris fumbles the ball with 3 or 4 Packers around him, but the ball bounces right back into his hands; its just one of those games. A catch by Bruce, again, and a dancing touchdown catch and run by Dane Looker leads to a St. Louis touchdown. Anderson and one other Packer both missed Looker on the sidelines, so Looker danced around both of them for the touchdown. At this point, the Packers are down by 11 with 20 minutes remaining in the game, and although Favre has had a great game up to this point, he only throws for 44 yards in the last 20 minutes. It was very surprising how little success the Packers had at this point against an entirely backup secondary for St. Louis. The Packers next drive stalls, but a gift 1st down on an offsides on the punt by St. Louis fails to breathe life into the drive. Packers 17, St. Louis 28.

Fourth Quarter: The next St. Louis drive has two fumbles, another one by Harris and one by receiver Shaun McDonald, that bounce right back to Harris and that bounces out of bounds. A quick turnover for the Packers here might have changed everything, although St. Louis failed to score, they burned 4 minutes off the clock. The next Packer drive fails because the Packers can't run on first down and Favre can't find any receivers open down field. St. Louis has another drive that doesn't do much, but consumes another 4 minutes and leads to a field goal. Gilbert Brown didn't play in the game today, but I think the Packers run defense really suffers without Brown. Brown takes up space and keeps blockers off the Packer linebackers better then anyone else on the roster. The yards allowed rushing per game isn't much different without Brown, but the leading tackler is usually from the secondary instead of a linebacker. I think the Packers keep their safeties closer to the line of scrimmage and sacrifice some pass coverage for more run support when Brown is out. In the 6 games Brown started this year, a linebacker has led the team in tackles 5 times. Brown didn't play vs. St. Louis and Darren Sharper led the team in tackles. I am hoping Brown can come back sooner rather than later. The Packers need to score on the next drive, but instead its a back breaker when Favre has his one interception of the game on a botched screen pass intercepted by Leonard Little. In some ways this is the Packers season in a nutshell. The Packers have played all its games tough this season, but there has been few big plays on either side of the ball or on special teams, so the Packers can't afford any mistakes. On this screen, Favre had to make a perfect throw, which he didn't, and only if Mark Tauscher had kept his hands engaged on Leonard Little for a second longer, Little probably couldn't have reacted quick enough to intercept it. Favre and Tauscher both had great games, but this one not quite so perfect play by both of them ended any chance for the Packers to come back in this game. However, St. Louis's offense isn't clicking either and they have to settle for a field goal. The next Packer drive was ironic, because although the Packers couldn't run the ball all game, Davenport rips a 76 yard touchdown run to give the Packers some hope and to make their rushing numbers look respectible. When the onside kick fails, although it was close to being caught by a Packer, the game is essentially over. Packers 24, St. Louis 34.

Antaun Edwards will play and start at strong safety on Sunday vs. St. Louis, and I am assuming Marques Anderson will be coming in as the sixth defensive back. Edwards is better in coverage, which is needed against St. Louis, but I think Anderson has played better this season. Both of them are good players who have had bad moments this season, so I hope starting Edwards over Anderson is the better decision.

Rod Walker is probably going to start at defensive end, which is an odd decision. Walker has played well this season, and is the most deserving lineman to get the first chance to replace Joe Johnson. But Walker is truly a nose tackle, so the Packers are playing a true nose tackle at defensive end, which should make for one of the biggest defensive lines in the NFL. The defensive line played well against the run vs. Kansas City, when Walker played much of the game at end. The defensive line didn't get much pass rush, however, Kansas City has a strong offensive line so it might have just been a one game struggle and not a long term problem. It will be interesting to watch how the unit performs this Sunday.

I have been reading web articles on jsonline.com and packersnews.com and I'm really worried about Sunday's game vs. St. Louis. The big news this week is that Joe Johnson is done for the season, although he hadn't made an impact this season so at this point it is only a loss of depth on a thin defensive line. Both web sites had very similar articles on how Bhawon Jue is going to be a-ok although he was torched on Sunday by Kansas City's receivers. Darren Sharper even went over to Jue's house on Sunday to see how he was doing. All the right words are being said; Brett Favre and Sharper gave words of support for Jue, no one player loses a game, Jue says he has put it all behind him, but a cornerback known for giving up big plays is a marked man in the NFL. Jue's confidence could be shattered if St. Louis abuses him just like Kansas City did, and the poor state of the Packers pass rush is not likely to give Jue much assistance. I don't know if Sharper is still feeling the effects of the injuries he has suffered since and during the last regular season game of 2002, and if Marques Anderson is playing, who is not as good in coverage as Antaun Edwards, Sharper might not be able to help Jue in coverage. This is a big game for Jue, and he has the talent to rebound from last week and have a solid game against St. Louis's great pass offense. The Packers defense has to improve their pass rush, pass defense, and create turnovers better than they did against Kansas City. The offense is likely to struggle against St. Louis because Favre struggles when he plays on turf and in a dome, and the last game he played in St. Louis during the 2001 playoffs was a disaster. If the defense doesn't step up on Sunday, this could be a blowout by a hot St. Louis team.

Kansas City 40, Packers 34. Wow, what a collapse. I can't remember the Packers under Brett Favre ever losing such a big lead so late in the game. When the Packers allow a lot of points, it usually means the Packers have had a lot of turnovers, for example allowing 30 points to Minnesota in week 1. The Packers only had two turnovers, but each turnover was huge and both led to a Kansas City touchdown. Usually one or two plays doesn't make the game against the Packers, but both teams were evenly matched (lots of offense, little defense) and those two plays were the difference. And Kansas City never led until the final play.

First Quarter: Two kickoffs by Ryan Longwell lead to two penalties. Dierdorf thought it was the Packers fear of Dante Hall which lead to both kicks, but Longwell has historically not been good on kickoffs and appearently isn't too good when trying to directionally kick. But both drives were stopped by a temporarily stout defense. In between the Packers had a great drive. Favre spread the ball to a number of receivers, and threw and easy touchdown pass to Bubba Franks. The Packers second drive led to another touchdown, and the Packers were able to run and pass successfully against Kansas City. Then the Packers stout defense abandons them as Kansas City finds out that Al Harris can't keep up with Johnnie Morton, and Marcus Anderson can't cover receivers as Tony Gonzalez blows by him for a touchdown. Ironically, I saw Keyshawn Johnson blow by former Packer safety Matt Bowen on a similar touchdown pass on Sunday, so the Packers didn't make a mistake by letting Bowen go, because he has trouble covering receivers too. Anderson seems superior to Antaun Edwards in run support, but Edwards is better in coverage (although Edwards got torched by Randy Moss in week 1, but who hasn't been torched by Moss this season). Packers 14, Kansas City 7.

Second Quarter: Dierdorf got all excited when ratings-magnet Hall almost broke a punt return for a touchdown, but a nice play by Josh Bidwell broke it up. Unfortunately, Kansas City had a nice drive anyway with Morton abusing Harris and Hall abusing Bhawon Jue (I think). The Packers respond with another excellent drive, but the memories of it get mixed in with a few of the excellent drives the Packers had this game. However, this one prevents Kansas City from retaking the lead in the first half and Ahman Green has a nifty touchdown on a screen pass. Screen passes haven't worked well this year for the Packers, nor in the entire NFL. The league seems to have caught on to them, except for Kansas City. Kansas City's defense did not look too good and Dierdorf correctly comments that Green Bay's offensive line pretty much handled Kansas City's defensive line all game. This would be a problem for most teams, but it hasn't hurt Kansas City yet. Dierdorf and Enberg compare this Kansas City team to the 1999 St. Louis team, but it isn't that good. St. Louis' offense in 1999 was one of the best ever, and while Kansas City's offense is very good, it isn't that good. Packers 21, Kansas City 14.

Third Quarter: The Packers start off the quarter with their last touchdown drive. Favre continues to spread out the ball and Green and Najah Davenport run right through Kansas City's run defense, with Davenport getting the touchdown run. Kansas City's defense continues to look more and more tired as the game goes on, but they don't allow anymore touchdowns. Kansas City's offense stalls in this quarter, because they had some big drops by Eddie Kennison, Gonzalez and Morton. Morton's drop was even challenged. Just as the Packers had worn down the Kansas City defense, however, Kansas City has worn down the Packers defense and it doesn't hold up as well. However, Nick Barnett had an awesome game. Dierdorf compared him to Brian Urlacher, and the comparison isn't far off. On one play, Priest Holmes broke through the right side on a run, but Barnett flew in from the middle of the field to trip him up and stop a big play. As the season goes on, the Packers defense will get better as Barnett improves. The Packers drive but settle for a field goal when Favre is incomplete on a rare, up to this point of the game, 3rd down incompletion. The rest of the quarter is just competing punts. Packers 31, Kansas City 14.

Fourth quarter: Hall has a successful punt return into Packers territory almost immediately, and Kansas City's offense stops dropping passes. Kansas City scores on a quick touchdown drive. Kansas City's defense looks spent as Davenport runs at will against the middle of their defense. Unfortunately, Favre makes his one mistake that cost the Packers and the pass to Donald Driver is tipped to Jerome Woods for a touchdown the other way. Favre threw the pass too high, into too much coverage, and bad things happened. Trent Green had thrown a couple passes like that this game, notably one to a receiver in the red zone that Marcus Anderson jumped in front of, but Anderson missed the interception and Green ended the game with no interceptions. Maybe Green just got lucky and Favre didn't, but there was no room for error in this game. Then the Packers offense stalls and I believe it was Jue again who gets burned on a long pass to Gonzalez, but the defense holds Kansas City to just a field goal. The Packers continue to hand the ball off and it works for most of the drive, until down at Kansas City's 23 yard line, where Kansas City stuffs Davenport and Favre throws two incompletions. Longwell kicks and still hasn't missed a kick this season. But there is too much time left (almost 3 minutes) and Kansas City has their third good drive in a row, which leads to a game tying field goal. Packers 34, Kansas City 34.

Overtime: Kansas City's offense owns the Packers defense at this point and they get the ball to start the period. Holmes has his first string of quality runs in a row, but Kansas City doesn't mix in any passes. Finally, the Packers stop Holmes, and force an incompletion which leads to a missed field goal. Darren Sharper jumped another Green pass to the sideline and if Sharper had intercepted it instead of deflecting it, it would have been returned for a touchdown. Where Favre got intercepted, Green got lucky. The Packers offense has looked good, and so does Green on his first run until he fumbles it. If the Packers got one turnover this game...anyway. Then Jue gets beat AGAIN for a long touchdown pass to Kennison. Michael Hawthorne was the fourth corner in this game and he looked good in it. I would be shocked if Jue keeps his nickel position after this game. In a game the Packers should have won...Packers 34, Kansas City 40.

Packers 35, Seattle 13. I was thinking this game would be the game that tells me if the Packers are going to compete this year in the NFC, or if it was time to start looking forward to next year. The Packers had some holes, but by the end of the game they were clearly the better team on the field.

First Quarter: The Packers first drive might have had Brett Favre's worst play of the game where he tried to force something downfield on 3rd down that wasn't there. If that is Favre's worst, I will take it every Sunday. Shawn Alexander comes out running and proves that he can run off left tackle anytime he wants. Alexander is one of the best backs in the NFL and LT Walter Jones and LG Steve Hutchinson are two of the best linemen in the NFL too, so Seattle can run off left tackle against any team. The Packers defense can't stop quality running teams, unless they turn the ball over and the Packers are very good at forcing turnovers, and Alexander has his first fumble of the year. It leads to Donald Driver's first touchdown of the year. Seattle answers with its own touchdown drive and the Packers linemen are getting stood up and no one is shedding their blockers. On Maurice Morris's 18 yard run, the left side of the defensive line is blown wide open and Na'il Diggs gets knocked over by a Seattle wideout. Then Alexander runs untouched into the end zone for the touchdown. The only good news is that the Packers run defense improves over the course of the game, although their pass rush never gets on track without blitzing and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila is being outplayed by some right tackle for Seattle named Matt Hill. On the Packers next drive, Seattle shows the Packers how to play run defense by fighting through their blocks and not allowing Ahman Green a run longer than 5 yards. Packers 7, Seattle 7.

Second Quarter: Fortunately, Seattle can't stop Favre from making completions (all the while Fox's announcers rattle on about a changing of the guard, how Green is the main man and Favre is complementary, right, uh-huh...). Favre's last completion on the drive sets up a 1 yard TD run by Green. Seattle tries to answer right back, but the Packers have figured out how to play run defense. In the first quarter, Seattle rushed for 70 yards, but Seattle will only run for another 58 yards all game. Matt Hasselback responds by connecting up with Koren Robenson and Bobby Ingram to drive to the Packers 10 yard line, but they have to settle for a field goal. By rediscovering their run defense, the Packers changed the tempo of the game from a shoot out to a blow out. On the next drive, the Packers finally start running against Seattle and Green rips off one run of 9 yards and another of 11 yards. Meanwhile, "complementary" Favre keeps completing passes, and now the offense can run and pass when it wants to. Touchdown. Seattle comes back with a mini-drive but they run out of time in the half. Packers defensive coordinator, Ed Donatell, finally gets fed up with the complete absense of a pass rush in the first half, rushes about 8 guys on second down, and DB Michael Hawthorne sacks Hasselbeck to take Seattle out of field goal range. But Seattle's kicker nails a 58 yard field goal anyway. Packers 21, Seattle 13.

Third Quarter: Seattle goes three and out to start the half on three Hasselbeck incompletions and Tom Rouen's lone punt of the game. Then the Packers come out with a balanced attack (run, pass, pass, run, pass, run, pass, run) where Favre completes three passes to three different receivers, and Tony Fisher makes a great touchdown run, jumps into the stands, and gets a beer dumped on him. The rout is on. Seattle responds with a nice drive, mixing up the pass and run and they are successful with both, but all the passes are short and Darren Sharper starts camping in the middle of the field, reading Hasselbeck's eyes, and jumps a short route for an interception. The next Packers' drive is where Seattle's defense gets frustrated. Ken Hamlin gets in Favre's face, Ken Lucas commits a pass interference penalty, and Seattle allows the fifth Packer touchdown on a pass to William Henderson. Packers 35, Seattle 13.

Fourth Quarter: Seattle gets another good drive going but again its all on short plays and takes almost 4 minutes. It would probably have led to another field goal, but Seattle went for it on fourth down at the Packers 9 yard line and Darrell Jackson dropped a touchdown pass (although a declined penalty would have called it back anyway). Then the announcers have to go and announce that Favre has only been sacked once this year, so on the next play he is sacked by his old buddy John Randle. On the final drive, the Packers have the ball for over 5 minutes, Seattle can't stop the run anymore, and Mike Holmgren doesn't use any timeouts and just gets this game over with for Seattle. Packers 35, Seattle 13.

First Quarter review. How excited can you get about a 2-2 team? There is reason to be optimistic about the Packers because their offense has played better than a 2-2 team although their defense hasn't. The special teams got a blocked punt against Chicago, but otherwise hasn't been a difference maker.

Offense: The Packers are scoring 26.8 points/game (6th in the league) but on only 331.8 yards/game (12th). But points are more important than yards any day and Dallas with 388.7 yards/game (1st) would probably swap offensive stats with the Packers because they only score 21.7 points/game (14th). The five teams ahead of the Packers in points/game (Kansas City, Indianapolis, Seattle, Denver, and Minnesota) are all unbeaten, so the Packers are keeping good company. Carolina is the only unbeaten team without a top offense, but don't give all the credit to their great defense, because their offense is rushing for 162 yards/game (3rd) and deserves credit too. The Packers are running the ball effectively for 128.8 yards/game (12th). Football Outsiders.com thinks the Packers offense is only the 11th best offense so far and Brett Favre's league leading 7 interceptions is probably the biggest negative in their ranking. Favre's interceptions have been very costly (game ending interception in the end zone vs. Arizona) but despite all the turnovers, the offense has remained very productive. The Packers came into this season with three linemen coming back from major injuries (Chad Clifton, Marco Rivera, and Mark Tauscher) and Rivera is the only player to miss any time this season. All the members of the offensive line have played great this season and have allowed a league low one sack this season. My first quarter MVP is the Packers' offensive line.

Defense: It has played like a 2-2 defense, allowing 19.8 points/game (15th) and 336.3 yards/game (24th). They have created some turnovers by catching 7 interceptions (tied for 6th) and forcing 3 fumbles (tied with many teams for 10th). Football Outsiders.com has this defense ranked at 18th. They are not very good against the run allowing 118 yards/game (23rd) and below average on passes allowing 218.3 yards/game (18th). This is better than the 124.9 yards/game allowed on the ground in 2002, but a drop off from the 186.7 yards/game allowed against the pass in 2002. I had expected the pass defense to improve this year with the addition of Al Harris, but this unit has regressed. The only consistant pressure generated by the pass rush was during the game with Chicago and that was done by constant blitzing. Cledius Hunt and Joe Johnson have pass rushing ability and past performance, but they need to improve in 2003. The defense is healthy, with the exception of Gilbert Brown playing through his torn muscle injury, and should improve as players such as Hannibal Navies, Nick Barnett and Antuan Edwards become more confident in their new positions. Ed Donatell's defense got better last year until injuries depleted it, so I would expect it to continue to improve as long as they remain healthy in 2003.

Special teams: Josh Bidwell has an unremarkable punting average of 40.6 (21st), but the Packers only allow 5.2 yards/return (6th). Ryan Longwell's kickoffs average a lowly 61.1 yards/kick (28th), but he hasn't missed a field goal or extra point all year (ask Tampa Bay how important it is to make all your field goals and extra points). Antoino Chapman is averaging 23.4 yards/kick off return (16th) and 9.4 yards/punt return (15th), but he has shown great speed and has seemed near to breaking threw on more than one occasion. The blocked punt against Chicago and Longwell's perfection make this unit a positive one that hasn't lost them any games, but hasn't won them any games either.

Packers 38, Chicago 23. The Packers went up 17-0 by the end of the first quarter and the second half just felt like garbage time because of the big early lead. But the fact that a mediocre Chicago offense was still able to score 23 points, on a number of scoring drives because Chicago has trouble scoring touchdowns against anybody, is an ongoing concern.

First Quarter: Boom! On the Packers second drive, Ahman Green rips off his 60 yard run and freezes Jerry Azumah on one of the best moves by a running back I have seen this season. Javon Walker had a key block on the play which is great to see because the best rushing teams have solid blocking from their receivers. Chicago's offense plays like they are always in the red zone; nothing is drawn up more than 10 yards from the line of scrimmage. Chicago has quality receivers and Kordell Stewart can throw it down the field. They need to open up this offense if they want to succeed. Watching the Packers drive for a field goal, it seems like Chicago plays with only 9 men on defense. Their outside linebackers, Warrick Holdman (coming back from a serious injury) and Brian Knight (first year starter), are not involved unless Knight is committing a penalty. Brian Urlacher has great range but he can't cover the entire middle of the field by himself. Paris Hilton is at the game wearing an Urlacher jersey? Would someone please remind Urlacher that hanging out in the Playboy mansion did not do Cade McNown's career any favors. Has a celebrity relationship with an NFL star ever been successful? Blocked punt! Special teams was MIA last season; keep it up! Green shows his power game by running through a Chicago player and into the end zone. Great way to end the quarter. Packers 17, Chicago 0.

Second Quarter: Brett Favre throws an interception. I don't know if Favre's throw was too weak or if Walker ran his route too long, or maybe a bit of both, but its the only turnover and its not critical. I'll bring it up again about Walker; he has obvious talent but he just isn't running great routes yet. He is still a work in progress. Chicago starts running Stewart, which is a good idea because he is successful at it, but they are an Stewart rushing injury and Chris Chandler concussion from seeing if Rex Grossman is ready (probably not) so Chicago should be frugal with running Stewart. Great run by Anthony Thomas (fortunately called back by David Terrell's tackle of Antuan Edwards) and makes me question why Chicago isn't playing this guy full time? He looks like a big back, and he ran away from the supposedly fast Nick Barnett on the long run. Antonio Chapman is so much better than any return man the Packers had in 2002. Chapman had a couple of returns in the game that seemed like he was one tackler away from a touchdown. I don't know why the Packers picked up Reggie Swinton from Dallas on Tuesday, because Chapman is the guy I want to see returning kicks until he runs himself out of the job. I love seeing William Henderson catch passes (including the touchdown) because it shows how the Packers are spreading the ball around, keeping players involved, and making the defense respect all of the ball carriers and receivers. Chicago drives for another field goal, but you need touchdowns to come back when you were outscored 17-0 in the first quarter. Packers 24, Chicago 6.

Third Quarter: Nice opening drive by Chicago stopped by a Na'il Diggs interception. The Packers defense isn't a great defense, but they are very good at creating turnovers, and that is how this defense is going to stop good offensive drives. Nifty fake field goal attempt, too bad it didn't work, but it was as good as a punt. Stewart's running gets Chicago another field goal, but they still need touchdowns. Three long drives take up most of this quarter. Chicago has to stop nickel and diming the Packers if they want to get back in this game. Packers 24, Chicago 9.

Fourth Quarter: Boom! Thomas does a replay of his touchdown run called back earlier in the game, this time running away from Darren Sharper. Thomas should be starting full time in the NFL. On both of Thomas's long touchdown runs, Edwards was the key because after Thomas got past Edwards, he was gone. This is Edwards fourth start of the season at strong safety, and maybe he started at the position one or two other times in 2002. He still has to learn the position and make those touchdown saving tackles. Sharper blitzed to the wrong gap on the line, but Edwards has to hold those long runs to ten to twenty yard runs. Chicago's defense is tired (and not very good) and Green runs right at them and Favre does a nifty bootleg with a nice move by Walker to ditch his defender for a wide open touchdown. Walker showed his inconsistancy by looking like a rookie on the earlier interception, and a quarter later he looks like a veteran on a touchdown catch. Nice answering touchdown. Stupid clipping block by Olin Kreutz ends any Chicago hope of another touchdown drive, and the Packers unleash Bubba Franks (who should be more involved in this offense) and get an iffy pass interference call to score again. A three man backfield (a rare Nick Luchey sighting) fakes the power run so Franks can find himself open in the back of the end zone. Chicago comes up with another touchdown drive, but it takes too long. This is the concern of the defense, because an offense like Chicago's can actually make plays against it. I don't know how this happened on the onside kick but a guy who is banged up (Robert Ferguson) ended up being the guy trying to make the play, which was probably not the best strategy. But Diggs comes up with his second interception to end any Chicago dreams of comeback. Packers 38, Chicago 23.

In hindsight I was too critical of the play of the Packers' secondary on Sunday vs. Arizona because I failed to critique the Packers weak pass rush. It wasn't great on Sunday, no sacks were recorded, and its inefficiency did not help the secondary. I still think the secondary was more at fault because they gave too much cushion, were not able to cover the crossing routes, and had trouble defending at the first down marker. Arizona has a big offensive line and seemed to me in maximum protection (running back and tight end pass blocking on the play) on passing downs, which is hard to pass rush against. The running backs and tight ends were not thrown at, except for the last touchdown drive when Arizona realized the Packers were not picking up Arizona's fullback James Hodgins and called two pass plays for him, because Arizona's wide receivers were getting open, which allowed Arizona to play a max protection. The moral of this story was that no one on the Packers defense had a great game, and it allowed Arizona's offense to succeed and to protect Jeff Blake.

Packers 13, Arizona 20. The Packers and Arizona were two evenly matched teams on Sunday and it was decided on the last play of the game. It would be a hard fought battle on an opponent's field, if Arizona wasn't the worst team in the NFL. This doesn't make the Packers the worst team in the NFL when there are a number of other disappointing teams (Eagles, Jets, 49ers, Browns) struggling to return to the playoffs this year, but losing to the worst (alright, maybe Cincinnati is the worst, but Arizona is second worst) begs the question. Brett Favre threw the game deciding interception in the end zone, but he was not one of the three reasons the Packers lost the game.

First reason: Ahman Green's fumbling woes. Mike Holmgren did a big "I told you so" watching Green cough up the ball on consecutive first quarter possessions. The second fumble was recovered by Arizona and led to their first touchdown. Usually the Packers offense has enough chances to come back from a turnover like this, but not today due to the second and third reasons.

Second reason: Time of possession. The Packers had the ball almost 27 minutes to Arizona's 33 minutes, which isn't too bad except the way in which Arizona had the ball. Arizona had two drives of over seven minutes (7:29 and 7:09) in the second half, leading to 10 points, and led to Arizona controlling the half. Add in the record Arizona heat (its saying something when Arizona has a record heat day) and the defense could not get off the field. Reason three is the reason why Arizona was able to control the second half.

Third reason: Awful secondary. I thought Arizona was having success running, but the Packers held Arizona to under 100 yards rushing even with 20 carries by Emmitt Smith. Al Harris had a costly phantom pass interference call when the referee saw a mirage in the desert, but that wasn't the problem. Arizona's ROOKIE wide receivers were running successful crossing routes, even on 3rd down, as if the Packers secondary had never seen a crossing route before. Bhawon Jue is the nickel corner responsible for covering the slot receiver but he couldn't keep up with them. Darren Sharper had a poor second half, he had no passes defensed credited to him, and he seemed out of position in coverage. Arizona did a great job of picking on a soft middle in the Packers secondary and was very successful throwing on 3rd down to keep their long drives alive. The Packers must have been playing a lot of man-to-man because the linebackers rarely dropped back in the passing lanes and were not a factor in the second half pass defense. Jue and Sharper are both coming back from injuries and playing on a very very hot field, so I don't know if this is a long term problem or just a one game mirage. Either way, the Packers pass defense looked outcoached by Arizona's pass offense. Jeff Blake had a solid game for Arizona which was a major advantage for them because he is a very streaky quarterback and he had to have a turnover free day for them to win. But Blake's passes were flying to open receivers and given that Arizona has the worst receiver group in the NFL bar none, that shouldn't be happening.

Although it is terrible to lose to an awful Arizona team, it is far from the end of the season. Minnesota has a great start to the season, winning its first three games against its division, although they should have some concern with Daunte Culpepper's injury. Recent Minnesota teams have been streaky so hopefully this is the end of their winning streak and they struggle once they play teams outside of the NFC North. The Packers and San Francisco are the only two teams with losing records that have outscored their opponents, so the Packers aren't getting blown out. Hopefully these close loses can start becoming close wins.

Packers 31, Lions 6. Due to Direct TV technically difficulties, I missed almost all of the game on Sunday (I did get to see Ahman Green's great 1st quarter touchdown run). I also got to see Joe Johnson tackle Olandis Gary behind the line on Detroit's first run play which showed that Johnson might contribute for the Packers in 2003 and Detroit can't run the ball.

I did manage to watch some of the Minnesota vs. Chicago game on ESPN Sunday night. I was critical last week of Daunte Culpepper focusing too much on Randy Moss vs. the Packers, but after watching this game it is apparent that Minnesota doesn't have another receiver capable of starting in the NFL besides Moss. Kelly Campbell can contribute one or two big plays a game (ala Corey Bradford), but D'Wayne Bates isn't more than a number four WR. Jimmy Kleinsasser caught a couple of touchdowns but he isn't a runner after the catch, and Minnesota put the franchise tag on him only because he such a great blocker. Byron Chamberlain is coming back in week 5, but he wasn't much of a factor last year anyway. Minnesota' offensive line is BIG and should have no trouble creating running room for any of their running backs, although their left tackle, Bryant McKinnie, is suspectible to speed rushers and allowed KGB in week 1 and Alex Brown in week 2 to put pressure on Culpepper and force fumbles.

Chicago is just what I expected. Kordell Stewart shows signs of talent, but this offense needs more time to play together before it is effective. Chicago's offensive line has been completely reassembled, with former Badger Aaron Gibson playing at right tackle, and only center Olin Kruetz remains from their 13-3 offensive line of 2001. David Terrell had a great touchdown catch, but also dropped a key 3rd down pass that was Chicago's last offensive play for nearly 10 minutes as Minnesota ran off a game ending touchdown drive. Marty Booker has done nothing so far, and Stewart and Booker need to get comfortable with each other. Chicago's defense surprised me in how bad its linebackers played. Brian Urlacher was running around making tackles, but it seemed like he was the only linebacker in the game. Once a Minnesota running back got past the defensive line, he was tackled by Urlacher in pursuit or one of the defensive backs, giving the running back a two or three yard cushion to make a move. Warrick Holdman is coming back from a major injury and just needs some time, but second year man Bryant Knight didn't seem to be a factor. Chicago's defensive line is solid, but unspectacular. Chicago's offensive line alone makes them look better than last year's 4-12 team, but as they showed against San Francisco, if Stewart turns the ball over a couple times, they will get blown out.

Packers 25, Vikes 30. An absolutely awful game because the first half was so poorly played and the second half was a MASH unit.

First Quarter: The Vikings open the season with an excellent touchdown drive. Daunte Culpepper is spreading the field; Randy Moss catches a pass, Kelly Campbell reverses and catches a pass, a little Moe Williams running, and a touchdown pass to John Avery. The drive takes over five minutes. This is how offenses excel, when they involve their stars (well in this case only Moss) in the touches, but also get it to the guys with single coverage who can exploit it. It is a staple of the West Coast Offense and it was a reason why Minnesota looked so good on their first drive. And I mention it because Culpepper spends the rest of the game with his eyes glued on Moss, however the Packers can never exploit it in part due to the injury by Moss' shadow, Darren Sharper on the drive. It didn't hurt Minnesota today, but other defensive coordinators will exploit it. Brett Favre almost throws an interception (overturned on review). Punt. A short field only provides a field goal because Minnesota starts becoming a three man offense (Culpepper, Moss, Williams). They want the Packers to get back into the game, but...a Brett Favre interception on a lucky richochet and later an Ahman Green fumble. Packers 0, Vikings 10.

Second Quarter: Culpepper first of two fumbles, so I guess his fumblitis of 2002 is still lingering. Denard Walker's first big play as a Viking is a long pass interference call that leads to a field goal. Another Minnesota drive of Culpepper, Moss and Williams is successful due to a D'Wayne Bates sighting in the end zone, due in large part to a mixup in the Packers secondary wherein Mike McKenzie got stuck trying to cover Moss and Bates. Favre interception when tight end David Martin trips over the 15 yard line. David Martin has become the new Tyrone Davis at tight end; showed some early promise but hasn't shown anything since. Minnesota tries to run out the clock, but can't get a first down and the Packers drive down to the 10 yard line when Favre throws one of the worst interceptions I have ever seen him throw. It was the type of pass a confused and pressured rookie QB would throw. I don't know if Donald Driver ran the wrong pattern (he froze in his route right after he passed the goal line which indicates to me that he did) or Favre just saw a phantom Packer. The long return sets up a Minnesota field goal. Many Packers missed playing time, or just sat out games as a precaution, during the preseason, and it seemed like the Packers played with a lot of rust while Minnesota had just spent 5 preseason games tuning up. It was an ugly half for the Packers, especially Favre with 6 completions and 3 interceptions. Packers 3, Vikings 20.

Third Quarter: The Packers start the half with an unimpressive drive and punt. Then Minnesota has its last good drive, and they dare McKenzie to stop Moss. McKenzie is left in single coverage, or Antuan Edwards was far too late in coming over to help, and Moss scores easily. It is now time for the Packers offense to finally wake up and start getting first downs. They do it by getting the ball to Green. Green is an effective running back, but his best play on the drive was one of those short throws to Green five yards out in the middle of the field and letting him run. The Packers are starting to mix up the play calling too. In the first quarter each drive was all Favre passing or all Green running and the results were turnovers. It is a simple philosophy but the Packers are finally starting to do it. It ends with a Green touchdown run and a wide open 2 point conversion to Bubba Franks who still had to jump high to get it on a high throw. Packers 11, Vikings 27.

Fourth Quarter: Minnesota has a nice drive running the football and killing time (time is the Packers enemy at this point) which leads to a field goal. The defense could have turned the game around 180 with a turnover, but you can't scheme turnovers on demand, but they needed to force a quicker change of possession at that point. Then the awful drive; Driver comes crashing down hard and Robert Ferguson twists his right leg around. The Driver injury reminded me of Robert Brooks; I love these guys but being a Packer wide receiver is very hard on your body. Favre leaves them hanging some times or leads receivers across the middle right into a safety. It is part of the job description and it happens. The good part is that Green runs for another touchdown, and Walker looked good. Walker looked much much better in this game then he did in the first preseason game, which he has to since he is the number one guy for a little while, although apparently an encore of the Antonio Freeman era might be in the works. The onside kick works on a beautifully designed and well executed play by the special teams. If this game was last year, it would have arguably had been the best special teams game of the season. Then the gunslinger reappears and Favre rifles a long interception. That one was inexcusable, not the first time Favre has done that in his career, and in hindsight ended the comeback. I would have hoped at the nearing the end of his career he has gotten that mentality out of his system on the field, but he hasn't. Minnesota tries to kill time but Culpepper fumbles again. The timeout before the fumble Mike Tice goes insane, comes onto the field, and screams at the refs. But they were coming out of a time out? Tice is the new Mike Ditka, screaming almost for the sake of screaming. Would Culpepper not have fumbled if he hadn't so much time to stand and watch his coach go insane? I don't know. Then the Packers execute a quick touchdown drive and exploit Minnesota secondary just like I expected them to do all game. The next onside kick doesn't work and the clock runs out. Packers 25, Vikings 30.

I didn't hear Nick Barnett's named called much this game, but I don't why Minnesota wasn't trying to run it more on a suspect Packers run defense either. Minnesota's newish linebackers, Greg Biekert and Chris Claiborne, didn't seem to make much of an impact either. Better luck next week against a first place(?) Detroit team.

I just read that the Packers cut Larry Smith in order to pick up Curtis Fuller. Smith is the defensive lineman the Packers picked up from Jacksonville after the former second round pick wore out his welcome with Jacksonville and probably didn't help his case by suffering from heat stroke in the first week of camp. But with his departure and Steve Martin's and Steve Warren's releases in the last week, the Packers are down to Gilbert Brown and Rod Walker at nose tackle. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with that, but I expect Brown to miss substantial time this year (he usually misses time and he already is playing with a torn muscle) so essentially there is no depth at the position. I understand the desire to pick up a backup safety in Fuller knowing that Darren Sharper hasn't played much this preseason and if Sharper can't go the next backup would be 3rd cornerback Bhawon Jue. As of today, I expect Sharper to play in many more games then Brown, so it seems to me that the depth is being sacrificed where it is needed in order to provide depth in a place that it is not. Although I have only read this once this preseason, Kenny Peterson might be used at nose tackle by the Packers and if he is that would solve that problem with depth. The one area where I feel depth should be its strongest is on the defensive line and it looks to me like that unit is being left short.

Packers at Titans. Brett Favre sat out. Ahman Green sat out. What is it with the Packers and lighting storms this preseason? Is this a good or bad omen? I missed the game but so did most of the Packers starters. The biggest weakness in the game was the two long touchdown passes allowed, but one of them was thrown by Neil O'Donnell and it so impressed the Titans management that they cut him this weekend.

The roster was worked down to where I expected it and there were not any surprising cuts. I wasn't expecting William Henderson to be cut. I always liked Tool Box, but Frank Winters time with the team was up. Bill Ferrario hasn't done much in his three years with the team, and his refusal to play last year in NFL Europe signaled his end with the team. I didn't expect Lamar Smith or Herbert Goodman to stick either. I am surprised the Packers gave up on Scott McGarrahan so fast, but his contract might be too big, and I wonder if he might be resigned later at the veteran minimum. I am glad to read the Packers are keeping Carl Ford on IR this year while he recovers from a not-too-serious MCL tear so the Donald Driver comparisons can continue with Ford for the next year or so.

The Packers signed LB Armegis Spearman to an offer sheet and Cincinnati matched it last spring, but now Cincinnati cut him? The Packers could get him for minimum wage now, so if Spearman can play special teams I wouldn't be surprised if he is signed. All the interest I have read about in MarTay Jenkins is disappointing in that it means the Packers haven't found an adequate return man. I am not happy about that, and I am not happy with comments by Atlanta regarding all the interest the Packers showed in trading for Allen Rossum who they let leave in free agency two years ago. The Packers have tried to filled the kick returner position on the cheap and its not working. Hopefully Antonio Chapman can perform better than last year's cast of kick return characters and this problem with solve itself.