Week 4: Packers 23, Vikings 30
I stayed up until the very end to watch the game, and am paying the price today. I’m zonked. (My blog posts should be really fabulous today.) Still, how could I go to bed, knowing that there might have been a chance for the Packers to come back and win? (She said with snark.)
The score looks close, but as every news source today is pointing out, it wasn’t. Not by a mile. The Vikings had control of this game from beginning to end and we struggled throughout. A couple of things really irritated me:
Aaron Rodgers Eye Rolling
Is it necessary to roll your eyes because Brett Favre came to play and actually did? He drew first blood, professionally and calmly went back to the sidelines. In fact, this was the most calm I’ve ever seen Favre. Aaron was sloppy with the ball and struggled. He didn’t look like the “experienced quarterback” he personally has claimed he is. Now he needs to settle down and play. Just play. Quit talking about how you’re “probowl material” and quit making faces. Let your records be your voice for now. What’s that, you say? You don’t have any records? Well then, just shaddup and play. Please.
The Offensive Line
One of the things Favre got slammed about when he was in Green Bay was complaining about the offensive line. He wanted Ted Thompson to draft some guys who could protect him. He also wanted a star receiver and/or running back. He was trying to make plays himself, which never works in team sports.
It’s clear that this offensive line has issues. The same people that called Favre out for being a diva are griping that Aaron needs protection. I hear a lot of “ifs” when it comes to Rodgers, and one of them is “if Aaron Rodgers could just get some time to throw…..” Oh, the if is mighty stiff, as my grandma used to say. The point is, Favre still went to the playoffs with that crappy offensive line. The very same one that is still not protecting our quarterback. Why didn’t we notice then? Because Favre made things happen. Aaron is too green for that right now, and he needs protection. Forget revenge or “showing the Packers” that he could play. Favre was right on one point, Thompson has to get a decent offensive line or Aaron Rodgers will not make it through the entire season.
We Need Some Veterans
When Ted Thompson took over as GM in 2005, the first thing he did was get rid of veterans Marco Rivera, Mike Wahle, and Darren (“there ain’t nobody” Sharper. He kept slicing “oldies” out of the line, including Ryan Longwell and our all-time sack leader, KGB. He sliced the heck out of Seattle’s team before he came here, too. That’s his M.O. It didn’t work in Seattle, and it’s not working with the Packers. We need some veterans, especially on that defense that used to be so very stellar. Sharper, for example, is still kicking butt in New Orleans now. (And I don’t think I need to tell you that Ryan Longwell is still a leading point scorer with the Vikings.)
This attitude of Thompson’s would be fine if he actually delivered the guys to replace the veterans. The problem is, all we get as Packer fans are talk of “promise” with these young guys. Meanwhile we sat through a losing season last year and are now only one game ahead of the awful Lions. While players like B.J. Raji and A.J. Hawk (and yes, even Aaron) definitely have promise, is it wise to place the entire load on their shoulders? Why not mix these new players with the veterans. We have too many stupid penalties and rookie mistakes for an NFL team, and the reason is because we’re too young.
Get Over the Favre Thing
I blogged earlier on EveryJoe that I just plain don’t have the energy to hate Favre. I think most fans are like me in that the issue wasn’t so much that Thompson wanted to get rid of Favre. We all knew he was getting older and would need to say goodbye. The issue of it was timing. Was that the best decision at the time? We were one game out of the Superbowl, so we follow it up with cutting our veteran QB and calling him a diva because he wanted protection? And someone to hand it off to? These are still the same issues we have with Rodgers, and now Favre is long gone. But instead of a veteran to help lead this team which was so good, we cut the “old guys” because “one day” we’ll be better for it.
“One day” didn’t need to happen. Why not put Rodgers in more while Favre was still here to give him solid playing time? I’ve even heard a few folks talk about Favre “keeping himself in” the game as if it’s his choice. Do any of the people saying this know a thing about football? The coach takes the player in and out of the game. As Mangini admitted a few weeks ago, he’s the one that chose to play Favre when he was with the Jets despite his knowledge that Favre had an arm injury. In other words, no people, Favre doesn’t keep himself in to keep a streak alive. The coach (or in our case, the GM) is in charge. McCarthy listens to Thompson in this case. And Thompson didn’t want to put Rodgers in unless he could give him an entire game to play. Clearly Aaron wasn’t ready. But why put this on his shoulders the very year after we made the playoffs? Why not ease him in? It’s poor managing.
Questionable Play Calling
For the last two games, we’ve been down by ten points going into the fourth quarter, or what usually amounts to a field goal and touchdown. While some have applauded McCarthy’s decision to get the field goal first in these situations, I don’t quite understand the logic. After all, getting the field goal “first” makes the assumption that the field goal will be unanswered by the opposing team. Which is never the case! When we go down the field and score a field goal in these situations, our opponent has the option to score a touchdown, therefore putting us behind by two touchdowns. Wouldn’t it better to go for it all?
Anyway, a couple of you pointed out last week that I didn’t mention what we had to eat during the game. (Remember my promise to come up with a new soup recipe each week?) Last week I made Ina Garten’s Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup. It was FABULOUS.
This week I made an old favorite: beer cheese soup and beer bread. My husband requested these dishes to give us “the beer advantage.” (It obviously didn’t work!) But the dishes were good nonetheless. The beer cheese soup recipe is a great one because in an hour you can have soup that tastes like it was sitting there working up it’s cheesy goodness all day. The beer bread is an old recipe that I tweaked years ago. I’m happy to share:
Beer Bread
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 can of beer
4 tablespoons melted butter.
Heat the oven to 400 and mix the dry ingredients. Add the soup and blend gently with a spatula until just combined. Put in greased and floured bread loaf pan. Pour melted butter over the top. Bake for 35-45 minutes (depending on how crisp you want the edges of the bread.)
