Wade Phillips has failed twice before as a head coach, but Dallas feels he is the best man for the job. Phillips is a good coach and he prefers to use a 3-4 defense, the scheme already in place in Dallas, which was probably why he was chosen over someone like Chicago defensive coordinator Ron Rivera who uses a 4-3 defense and cover-2 defensive system. Unfortunately Phillips is known for coaching good regular season teams that fail in the playoffs, exhibited by 14-2 San Diego's 1st round playoff loss this season. Plus at age 59, he fails Bill Simmons's Speed Limit Coaching Corollary. Simmons says that any team that has a head coach over age 55 should be worried because the success rate for these coaches doesn't seem high. "Maybe coaching isn't a young man's game, but it's definitely a younger man's game" says Simmons.

I was thinking about the ideal coach because I was recently re-reading Rob Reischel's book Packers Essential. He discusses Vince Lombardi who was 46 in 1959 when the Packers hired him. Lombardi was a top NFL assistant with the New York Giants who believed he never would have a head coaching opportunity after getting passed over in New York. "He had prepared for that job for a long time," said former Packer Norm Masters. He was young, experienced, and knew exactly what he would do if he ever became a head coach.

While an NFL team is unlikely to find the next Lombardi, teams should be looking for someone with experience and past success, but who has never had a head coaching opportunity. Looking around the NFL at the top offenses, why doesn't Tom Moore's name ever get mentioned as a possible head coach? Maybe he is happy in Indianapolis and he does flunk the Speed Limit Coaching Corollary, but as the offensive coordinator of one of the best offenses in NFL history over the last 9 seasons, wouldn't you at least want to talk with him? How about Bob Bratkowski in Cincinnati? He has built Cincinnati's offense from the ground up and every important offensive player has been drafted since Bratkowski was hired in 2001. Cam Cameron was hired in Miami after a great season coordinating San Diego's offense, but both him and Marty Mornhinweg in Philadelphia have had previously unspectacular results as head coaches. If you ignore coaches that have failed in previous head coaching tries then you would miss some pretty good coaches like Bill Belichick and Tony Dungy. However, for every Belichick and Dungy, there are many retread coaches that never again succeed. I would look for the assistant coach with NFL experience, but first time head coach, and leave the retreads behind.

Yahoo! Sports writer John Murphy tried his hand at a mock draft and it was funny. Alan Branch and Jamaal Anderson in the top 5? It is debatable whether either player was the best defensive lineman on his own college team last season. They are both middle of the 1st round draft choices and either would be a good selection for the Packers at pick number 16. It would be wonderful if RB Adrian Peterson falls to the Packers at number 16, but there is no way Peterson should slip out of the top 5.

This is a non-Packer related post because it is signing day for college football teams. Watching the ticker on ESPN, it did not list the Wisconsin Badgers as one of the top 20 signing classes. Of course, trying to project how high school players to college has to be just as hard, if not harder, than projecting college players to the NFL. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has a short bio on each of the players signed by the Badgers. It is a good sign is that Bret Bielema has a player at every position and is providing depth to his entire roster. That is a good draft strategy for NFL teams too. For instance, when the Packers offensive line was great between 2001 and 2004, the Packers didn't draft an offensive lineman on the first day of the draft. When Gs Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle left in 2005, they had no quality depth to replace them and signed two veteran free agents who quickly flamed out. Last year, GM Ted Thompson did well to draft Gs Daryn Colledge and Jason Spitz on the first day and improved the line, but he was lucky that both of them were able to step right in and contribute. WR Nick Toon caught my attention, since he is the son of former Pro Bowl and Badger great WR Al Toon. The only position where the Badgers didn't add much depth was at offensive lineman, but the single OT signed, Josh Oglesby, is arguably the best in the high school offensive lineman in the country.

The headline says the Packers are not going on a free agent spending spree, but it is misleading. GM Ted Thompson isn't going to throw big money at a free agent or two as quid pro quo for QB Brett Favre's return. Since Thompson's first draft choice was QB Aaron Rodgers, I wondered last season if Thompson wasn't trying to encourage Favre's retirement by blowing up the team and letting Rodgers take over. However, it is unlikely that Thompson could survive long if Favre does retire in a way that makes it seem like Thompson is pushing Favre out.

Thompson will be active in free agency if 2006 is any guide. Last season he made one good signing that worked out as well as was expected with NT Ryan Pickett. One signing that seemed bad and turned out bad with S Marquand Manuel. Finally he made one big signing that looked like a disaster, but turned out to be one of the best free agent signings by any team with CB Charles Woodson. He made a good non-signing by letting K Ryan Longwell go to Minnesota. There aren't as many holes this offseason, but there are still are some free agents that should be targeted.

There is a need for depth at wide receiver. WRs Greg Jennings and Ruvell Martin might be good next season, but for the most part neither was good enough to start last season. Although Tennessee will probably overpay to keep him, WR Drew Bennett could be the most likely target from this list of wide receivers. Not that Bennett is any good, Football Outsiders has him ranked as the 56th best WR last season, but Bennett is 6'5" and Mike McCarthy prefers tall receivers based on reports I read last offseason. Bennett's biggest problem is the awful 47% of intended passes that he caught last season. You can't blame QB Vince Young either, because Bennett caught an awful 53% in 2005. On the 2005 list, you can see WR Robert Ferguson's awful 47% catch percentage in 2005 and understand why I am not considering Ferguson has a legitimate option in 2007. Based on the Football Outsiders list from 2006, the Packers should seriously consider making an offer to restricted free agent WRs D.J. Hackett and Patrick Crayton or unrestricted free agent WRs Kevin Curtis and Keenan McCardell. McCardell is one of the few players left in the NFL that is almost as old as Favre, but McCardell still caught 71% of the passes intended for him.

Maybe the player most likely to be signed is TE Jerramy Stevens. Just like Manuel last season, he has that connection to Seattle from when Thompson was in their front office. It would seem impossible that Stevens will stay in Seattle after becoming a notorious pass dropping machine ever since the Super Bowl. Although Stevens has concerns, he is no Manuel, and he was one of the best TEs in the NFL in 2005. There is a major need to upgrade at tight end to find someone who can catch the ball. Stevens was one of the top 10 worst regular tight ends in 2006 when he managed to stay healthy, but he was still three times better than TE Bubba Franks who is parked dead last on that list. Stevens is still young, needs a change of scenery, and could return to his 2005 form. For a contract that limits the long term cap damage if he doesn't work out, he could be a good signing.

Could WR Randy Moss become a Packer? I couldn't find the Chris Mortenson report on espn.com to confirm that rumor, but it would not be a surprise me to find Oakland shopping Moss around for a 3rd round pick plus a veteran receiver. After the disaster 2006 season Moss had as a clubhouse disruption and his obvious slacking off on the field, it would seem optimistic that they could find someone willing to surrender anything higher than a 4th round (second day) pick for Moss and even then it might be conditional on Moss not being cut. It was widely felt that Seattle overpaid by trading a 1st round pick for WR Deion Branch, and the Packers only received a 2nd round pick for WR Javon Walker. Usually the team trading away the big salary takes the salary cap hit, so if the pick is conditional it might be a low risk trade for another team, as far as the salary cap goes, and the possibility of release might even get Moss's attention.

The Packers desperately need a veteran wide receiver to either push WRs Greg Jennings and Ruvell Martin or start alongside WR Donald Driver. The Packers probably have the salary cap room to make the trade. Supposedly Chris Mortenson reported that QB Brett Favre asked the team to consider it, which seems possible since Favre has to remember how good Moss can be. If Favre was a strong locker room presence, then he could probably keep Moss in check, but from everything I have read, Favre doesn't have a lot of friends on the team anymore. That probably has something to do with the fact that most of the team is closer in age to his eldest daughter than to him. A talent like Moss has to be considered, but it would be better to play it safe and see what the free agent market would offer instead.

Do players make the Pro Bowl after a good season, or do Pro Bowl players make it a good season? After having no Pro Bowl players in 2005, the Packers have two in 2006; WR Donald Driver and DE Aaron Kampman. If you look at the list of past Pro Bowl selections from the Packers, there are some players that probably made it because the Packers had a good season. TE Bubba Franks made it in 2003 because he had made it the previous two seasons and the NFC was not loaded with great tight ends. G Marco Rivera had some struggles in 2004, but still was selected to the Pro Bowl. However, both Driver and Kampman really earned their spots in 2006. Driver should have been shut down by opposing defenses by mid-season once it was obvious that QB Brett Favre didn't have any other receiving threat on the team. Meanwhile Kampman continues to improve each season. In 2004 and 2005, he was usually solid and had a big game two or three times per season. But in 2006, he had a big game every week, except for two or three times when he didn't make an impact.

QB Brett Favre's return is great news. It was understandable that Favre would not return after the 2005 season because it was his first losing season, head coach Mike Sherman was fired, and there were going to be a lot of new faces in 2006. I wondered if Favre was risking his life playing behind an offensive line likely to feature at least two rookie starters in a new zone blocking scheme. Instead Favre survived the season, the offensive line played much better than expected, and the running game came back to life. Still the offense was below average last season. Commentators like the Sports Guy through Favre was done, but Favre didn't have an above average receiver other than WR Donald Driver. Maybe RB Ahman Green was above average, but Green was used only as the checkdown receiver. WR Greg Jennings had a big start, but was hurt or ineffective for the last three quarters of the season. TE Bubba Franks was a disaster. Welcome Favre back and hope GM Ted Thompson finds a quality receiver or tight end in the draft, or more likely in free agency, that can help Favre in 2007.

I hate all the stuff leading up to the Super Bowl. All the pregame analysis is generally a bunch of hot air. If ESPN had Ron Jaworski breaking down film everynight, I would probably watch that show, but unfortunately they usually have the embarrasing Sean Salisbury talking loudly at the camera. The advertising tie-ins are everywhere, QB Drew Brees couldn't go onto Dan Patrick's radio show without making sure he was allowed to pitch that he is Visa's NFL spokesman in Miami this week. However, when I read that the Navy is inviting a few Packers onto an aircraft carrier to watch the Super Bowl with the sailors onboard, well that is cool.

The Packers resigned long snapper Rob Davis. He only plays on special teams during punting and field goal opportunities, but I can't remember a blown long snap since Davis took over in 1996 and when the Packers kick coverage struggled during the middle of the season, it seemed like Davis was always the first guy down the field. Plus it is cool that he will turn 40 next season and is still playing well.

The Packers are drafting 16th overall in the upcoming April draft. Last April, Miami drafted CB Jason Allen who didn't start, but looking at his game log had a very good game when Miami upset Chicago. In 2005, Houston drafted DE Travis Johnson, who everyone might have forgotten about because he only has one sack in two seasons, and appears on his way to becoming a bust. However, in 2004 Philadelphia drafted a pretty good G Shawn Andrews who has started every game the last two seasons. It is even better in 2003 when Pittsburgh drafted Pro Bowl S Troy Polamalu, but not in 2002 when Cleveland drafted RB William Green. Before that was WR Santana Moss by the NY Jets and LB Julian Peterson by San Francisco. Excluding Allen at this point, one thing that stands out is that teams that frequently make the playoffs (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, NY Jets, and San Francisco back in 2000) selected quality players at number 16, while perennially bad Houston and Cleveland picked poorly. It is a lot to hang on one draft selection, but if GM Ted Thompson selects a quality player in the first round, it might be a very telling sign whether he is going to build a perennial playoff team or doormat.

Oops. I blew it and forgot to comment on the Packers 2007 schedule when it was posted at the beginning of January. The Packers eight wins in 2006 was due in large part to the weak schedule they played. Excluding the annual conference games, in 2006 they played all the NFC West, AFC East, plus New Orleans and Philadelphia. In 2007, they will play the tougher NFC East and AFC West, plus Carolina and St. Louis. At first glance that 2007 schedule looks harder than the 2006 one. However, they will still play the same NFC North schedule that provided 5 of their 8 wins in 2006. With both Detroit and Minnesota unlikely to show much improvement in 2007, it would seem likely that the Packers would be favored to win those 4 games again. Then the Packers would have to go 4-8 against their remaining schedule to match 2006's 8-8 record. However, all the 2007 opponents except Chicago, Philadelphia and San Diego have major issues or a coaching transition to address next season (San Diego has a major issue, but it concerns how to win a playoff game with Marty Schottenheimer) and it wouldn't be surprising to expect the Packers to instead go 6-6 against those opponents. That would project a 2007 record of 10-6 and that usually is good enough to make the playoffs, as it was in 2006. Assuming the QB and RB positions have stability next season, or at least they do not become a problem, then there should be a lot of optimism looking forward to next season.

It was announced that former Packers WR Robert Brooks and S LeRoy Butler will be inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. The HOF inducts some players that might not strike you as HOF material, such as the 2005 induction of RB Edgar Bennett. Although Bennett might be a great guy, he only averaged 3.6 yards per carry for his career and only reached 4.0 yards per carry once in his career. As great as the mid-90s Packer teams were, they had some serious lack of depth at running back during Favre's MVP seasons. RB Dorsey Levens had his moments, but he really was only good during 1996 while outstanding in 1997. Brooks suffers from the same problem as Levens because he only had two good seasons, 1995 and 1998, plus one outstanding season in 1996, before injuries cut his career short. Actually Levens had the same problem when his 1998 injury basically ended the productive part of his career. Maybe Levens should have been inducted at the same time as Brooks. However, Butler is a slam dunk HOF inductee. He was probably the 2nd best player on the outstanding 1996 season defense after DE Reggie White. Butler's best seasons were outstanding plus he had a long and productive 11 season career. Maybe he should be inducted just for starting the Lambeau Leap.

One coach left the NFC North when Pittsburgh hired Minnesota's defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin as their new head coach. The first thing mentioned on ESPN during the Tomlin story was that Minnesota had the number 1 ranked run defense in the NFL last season. If that is why Tomlin got the job, he owes DT Pat Williams. Williams destroyed C Scott Wells in both meetings and destroyed the Packers run offense. This is not to trash Wells, who played very well in the other 14 games when he didn't have to face Williams. How DT Kevin Williams made it to the Pro Bowl over Pat Williams is a complete mystery. I wasn't too impressed that Tomlin couldn't figure out a way to cover WR Donald Driver with someone other than a linebacker when Driver killed them in the slot at Minnesota. Hopefully Tomlin will offer the defensive coordinator's job in Pittsburgh to Pat Williams so the Packers will have a chance to run against Minnesota in 2007.

The Packers were one of the youngest NFL teams last season. They ended up leading the league in games played by rookies with 66. LB A.J. Hawk and OL Daryn Colledge got deserved NFL all-rookie team honors, but WR Greg Jennings didn't deserve it. Jennings was one of the worst receivers in the NFL last season, ending with his last game vs. Minnesota when he only caught 1 of 13 passes thrown his way. His first few games, prior to his injury, were very good, but he never played well after his return. It would have been very surprising if Jennings was a strong player in his rookie season, but he really has a lot of room for improvement in 2007.

The Packers front office might get a little thinner if Reggie McKenzie is hired as Tennessee's new GM. McKenzie has been a hold over since the days of GM Ron Wolf. Apparently McKenzie got along with Ted Thompson during Thompson's days in Green Bay in the 1990s because and McKenzie has remained and is the highly ranked Director of Pro Personnel. It isn't obvious that McKenzie's departure would hurt the Packers. Tennessee decided to let long time GM Floyd Reese resign earlier this month. It would seem like a challenging GM position since Jeff Fisher just received a contract extension and he would be saddled with the decision to bet the franchise on the talents of QB Vince Young for the near future. Young made some spectacular plays in 2006, but overall he did not play that well.

This news is a bit stale by now, but the Packers new offensive coordinator is Joe Philbin. Since Mike McCarthy is calling the plays, Philbin's hiring shouldn't have much effect on the offense in 2007. It is interesting that Philbin is left over from the Mike Sherman era. Another interesting bit of news is that Winston Moss was named assistant head coach, usually a label slapped on a coach to prevent him from leaving to a coordinator's position with another team. For example, Andy Reid was given the assistant head coach title in the 1990s. Reid only left because he was offered Philadelphia's head coaching position. I wasn't too excited about Moss's hiring last spring since he was leaving New Orleans which had one of the worst groups of linebackers in the NFL. Although LB A.J. Hawk had a solid rookie season, it would have been a major disappointment if he didn't. LB Nick Barnett had another solid season, but also developed more of a tendency to overpursue. LB Brady Poppinga got better as the season went on after playing very poorly in pass coverage early in the season. Rookie LB Abdul Hodge never showed enough to beat out Poppinga, although he returned an INT for a TD during his only start at Seattle while Barnett was out with a broken hand. Those four linebackers combined for 24 pass defenses in 2006 which was a major improvement on the pathetic 9 pass defenses recorded by the top 2005 LBs Barnett, Na'il Diggs, Robert Thomas, and Paris Lenon. Barnett alone went from 2 to 8, while Poppinga went from zero to 5. Maybe the Packers knew teams were interested in Moss as defensive coordinator after a solid season for a group of mostly inexperienced linebackers.

While you can look at it for free, you have to look at the Football Outsiders Premium Stat Database. Aaron Schatz had been discussing these stats all season long on his weekly Fox Sports DVOA analysis column.

Football Outsiders ranked the Packers offense at 20th overall - below average and with a negative ranking. The only offense worse on 1st down than the Packers was Oakland, but unlike Oakland which was negative at every conceivable down and distance, the Packers were positive (above average) at every other conceivable down and distance other than 2nd and short. It seems likely that the Packers would revert to the mean on 1st down next season and there offense should improve. If WR Greg Jennings can improve and TE Bubba Franks can be replaced, then the offense can easily improve in 2007. However, if neither QB Brett Favre and RB Ahman Green, then it is time to start over on offense. QB Aaron Rodgers would at best play inconsistent although RB Vernand Morency might play just as well as Green, although Morency hasn't shown that he is much of a receiver yet.

The Packers defense was ranked 6th overall, and they were negative (above average) at every conceivable down and distance except 1st and 10. At first it seemed the late season improvement by the defense was due to the very weak competition they faced during the last four games, but DVOA takes strength of schedule into account. One major improvement over the last four games that cannot receive enough recognition is the great interior pass rush provided by DTs Cullen Jenkins and Corey Williams during that stretch. Where were they during the first twelve games? Jenkins missed some games with injury, but Williams was active for all 16 games. Despite the duos great play, the Packers should still try and improve the depth at defensive line in the draft and maybe Michigan's DT Alan Branch will fall into the middle of the first round.

The biggest challenge GM Ted Thompson faces this offseason is whether he can admit he made a mistake last offseason with S Marquand Manuel. The Packers defense played very well during the last four games of the season, as Tom Silverstein points out, the Packers didn't play any good offenses during that stretch except Chicago, and QB Rex Grossman admitted that he phoned that game in (better luck with your next NFL team Rex). Silverstein brings back the memories of the twenty-three explosive plays surrendered in the first twelve games. The pass defense ranged between solid with occasional lapses (see Buffalo game) to complete confusion and collapse (see Philadelphia). I was very wrong regarding the release of CB Ahmad Carroll and his subtraction was a major addition to the secondary. It seemed obvious that the main cause of the problem this season was the play of the safeties. FS Nick Collins deserves another chance after playing only his second season above Division I-AA (now called the subdivision), recovering from a preseason injury, and finishing the season with an outstanding game at Chicago. However, Manuel was torched from the beginning, his only preseason game against Cincinnati was a three TD disaster, until the end when he let WR Mark Bradley run by him for Chicago's only TD in week 17. The only player on the roster who has a chance to start ahead of Manuel is S Marviel Underwood, but in a seperate article, Tom Silverstein does not sound too optimistic about him coming back strong after major knee surgery. Thompson should address the position in free agency in March, but will he admit he made a mistake with Manuel or instead give him a second chance?

Assuming QB Brett Favre returns in 2007, the other and equally important task for Thompson is to give Favre more weapons. For all the talk about Favre being old and done, there has been no talk about how WR Greg Jennings was one of the worst WRs in the league and TE Bubba Franks was the worst TE. Jennings caught only one of the thirteen passes thrown his way in week 16 and was mercifully shown the bench in week 17. Franks was a pass dropping machine in 2006, when he wasn't fumbling at the goal line. Jennings struggles began after his mid-season injury and there are many reasons to expect him to bounce back. Expecting Franks to bounce back is a fantasy; he just finished his seventh season and he has never shown very good hands during his career. Excluding the WR Koren Robinson saga, the next depth behind Jennings are two little used wide receivers and the injury prone WR Robert Ferguson. Behind Franks is the ever injured TE David Martin. None of these players should be ignored, but none of them can be counted on either. It is shaping up to be a weak free agent class and better receivers might only be found in the draft.

How will the Packers play in 2007? Mostly it depends on QB Brett Favre's return. He didn't have a very good season, but it really hurt that he played with a new head coach, mostly rookie offensive line all learning a new blocking scheme, and the Packers started one of the 5 worst WRs and the worst receiving TE. TE Bubba Franks's days as a receiving TE are over, but WR Greg Jennings was a rookie, played through an injury, and appeared to hit the rookie wall. Jennings shouldn't have played that well in his first NFL season after coming from a small school. Hopefully he bounces back in 2007. Favre appears to have confidence in WRs Ruvell Martin and Carlyle Holliday, and he threw the ball a lot better when they were in the game. TE David Martin played well, when he was healthy, but as it has gone during his entire career, Martin was again often injured. Peter King wrote last Monday that the Packers could really use TE Tony Gonzalez. That won't happen because Kansas City will use their franchise tag on him, but they need to find a quality free agent WR or pass receiving TE to help Favre. It seems that Favre needs receivers he can trust, he defintely didn't trust Jennings during the last Minnesota game. He could have really used WR Javon Walker this season; how much better would Favre had been if he had Walker and Driver? The Packers used Denver's draft choice to select LG Daryn Colledge, who had an excellent rookie season, but they would be better off with Walker.

If Favre leaves, then we will see if QB Aaron Rodgers is as awful as awful has he has looked during his limited appearances. Rodgers hasn't played under the best circumstances and he has never played an entire game are legitimate defenses for Rodgers, but he still hasn't shown anything yet.

The defense played very well during the four game winning streak to end the season, but they played against a number of bad offenses. Chicago was the first quality offense they played during the winning streak, and while Chicago could run the ball, their pass offense was awful. CBs Al Harris and Charles Woodson are a solid foundation, and FS Nick Collins struggled at times, but ended the season very well with a monster game at Chicago. 20, 17, 14, 3. The number of pass defenses during 2006 for Harris, Woodson, Collins, and finally S Marquand Manuel. Manuel is obviously the weakest link in the secondary and he has to be replaced. The Packers were very high on S Marviel Underwood until he blew out his knee in the preseason, so that is one in-house candidate to replace Manuel. S Tyrone Culver is on the roster, but the Packers showed no sign of replacing Manuel with him. This is another area the Packers have to improve in free agency this offseason.

The Packers started the same linebackers for all 16 games, except when LB Abdul Hodge started in place of injured LB Nick Barnett. LB Brady Poppinga struggled early but seemed to improve along with LB A.J. Hawk as the season goes on. It seems likely that all three starters will return next season, and that is not bad despite their struggles, because this is the best group of linebackers in the last few seasons.

The Packers need to address the defensive line in the 2007 draft. If the Packers could draft high enough to take RB Adrian Peterson, that would be a different story. The Packers could draft a WR too, but at the middle of the 1st round, defensive line seems like the safe pick. They could draft an end to replace DE KGB on 1st and 2nd down, who then could slide over to DT on passing downs. DTs Corey Williams and Cullen Jenkins have been solid over the last four games, but drafting a starting DT would essentially replace DT Colin Cole, who has made no impact during the four game winning streak, in the rotation at tackle and end. Ryan Pickett is a solid nose tackle, so a pass rushing DT, like ex-Packer DT Santana Dotson, would seem to make the most sense. Maybe someone like Michigan's DT Alan Branch.

The special teams were one of the worst in the NFL this season and need to be upgraded. Hopefully with a different coaching staff and another a full season of experience for many first year players will make a big difference on the kick coverage and returns.

This will be a quiet playoff season for the Packers. No playoff games, no new coaches, and probably no decision from Favre. They have a lot of planning to do for the draft and in free agency, maybe as much as $30 million available under the salary cap this offseason. GM Ted Thompson has proven that he can draft good players, made one good move in free agency signing Pickett and one great move signing Woodson when everyone thought he couldn't play cornerback anymore. Unfortunately he signed the awful Manuel and blew it by trading away Walker when they had plenty of cap room to make him happy. Hopefully he avoids the awful decisions this offseason.

Packers 26, Chicago 7. Maybe QB Brett Favre was crying because he was playing his last game. On Monday, Peter King wrote that Favre said the same thing at the end of last season too. No one knows, probably not even Favre. Anyway they played a game too. It wasn't surprising that the Packers won, but it was surprising that they won despite Chicago playing their first team offense and defense for the entire game. The Packers missed the playoffs, but at least they beat one team this season that had a winning record.

First Quarter: TD pass on a slant to WR Donald Driver where he has been killing pass defenses all season long; between the hash marks. QB Rex Grossman looked awful in this game because the Packers put pressure on him. DTs Corey Williams and Cullen Jenkins have been excellent inside pass rushers over the four game winning streak, while DE KGB consistently beat LT John Tait and DE Aaron Kampman had a typical, excellent game. Grossman looked awful back in week 1 when he was pressured too. FS Nick Collins struggled this season, but was a monster in this game, jumping on the pass intended for TE Desmond Clark.

Second Quarter: RB Cedric Benson was the only part of their offense that was working. He ran through an arm tackle by LB Brady Poppinga, who was partial blocked on the play, for a big gain, but then Grossman fumbled the ball a couple plays later. K Dave Rayner had his worst game of the season with a missed PT and missed 32 yard FG. CB Al Harris had another great game, shutting down Muhammad who had his only catch in this quarter. CB Charles Woodson had another interception and another good punt return. The Packers move the ball best with three WRs in the game and Favre seems to be comfortable throwing to WRs Ruvell Martin and Carlyle Holliday. CB Patrick Dendy had an INT and a return for a TD? Dendy has been a pleasant surprise this season, but Grossman is bad.

Third Quarter: It is time to run the ball and kill the clock, but the Packers throw the ball for most of the quarter. This game is dragging along at a snail's pace. A fake punt completely fools the special teams and P Brad Maynard proves he is the best passer on Chicago's roster. Luckily QB Brian Griese is allowed to come back in and throws an awful interception to ruin the fake punt. Nice play by LB A.J. Hawk to go up and snag the INT. Griese makes up for it with a great TD pass to WR Mark Bradley. He blew by Dendy on the coverage, but SS Marquand Manuel let him run right by him. What coverage scheme calls for the safety to let a receiver run right by him down the middle of the field? That had to be Manuel's fault.

Fourth Quarter: At first the Packers are still throwing the ball and Benson is still running right over the Packers. Then Griese throws another INT (great game Collins!) and the Packers finally start running the ball. They run on the first 9 of 12 plays on the over 8 minute drive and end the game.