Dave Begel had a great column today on OnMilwaukee.com about the Packer game, and more specifically, the play of Aaron Rodgers. I enjoy his take if only for the fact that it has more truth in it that most fans are willing to admit. The media has had a real love-in with Rodgers, almost to the point of making him out to be the second coming. I made a case on EveryJoe a few weeks ago that the stats are very misleading this year for both the Packers as a team and for Rodgers. I even predicted (shock!) that the Packers would come out jittery and end up losing. I got ripped apart for this assessment. Someone emailed me and told me I should never be allowed to predict another game ever, while another fan left a comment that told me I knew nothing about football, and that “Sorry the stats show Packers winning and not Arizona.”

Too bad, folks. I was right. The Packers might have been ranked as the second defense but they gave up 51 points. The sad part is, the loss isn’t on the defense alone. The whole team didn’t play up to the level needed to win. Stats don’t tell the story on everything, especially when it comes to the Packers. Interestingly enough, I made this same argument when Jay Cutler joined the Bears. I said the stats showed him as the player you want in your fantasy league, but on a real team he’s a wildcard and a gun slinger. (I got ripped for that too…. but my, how quiet people are now about it.)

Back to the Pack, however, it isn’t that I wanted them to lose. I was very nervous watching the game on Sunday because while I was cheering on my team, I had a feeling that they would fall short of winning. When Rodgers threw that pass that could have won the game, I didn’t even hold my breathe to see if Jennings would catch it. I already saw that Rodgers was keyed up and would overthrow it. He could have won the game right there but didn’t.

Does that mean that Rodgers is a bad quarterback? Nope. He’s a good one, but not the great, second coming, type quarterback that many in the media (and fandom) seem to believe. Time will tell with him. One thing is sure, having the experience of this game will help him down the road. It all adds to maturity and experience, and I have to believe Rodgers will take every lesson he can from playing in this game against one of the greatest (and my favorite) quarterbacks of all time. Speaking of which, can you believe Kurt Warner threw more touchdowns than he did missed passes? I can!

To sum it up, Packer fans, don’t be sad about this year. We’ve got a lot to look forward to and next year the team will be better able to handle the tougher schedule that they will now receive. In the meantime, I’m still having a hard time taking down the Packer tree. Sniff! Think it’d be okay if I left it up until after the Super Bowl at least?

In case you’ve been out of the loop, I’ve been making a soup or stew recipe every week for the Packer game. This week it was the mulligatawny soup, and it was so good! Inexpensive to make and delicious besides. Also, it made TONS of leftovers. The soup was a hit, the game was a win, but the injuries of Al Harris and Aaron Kampman have left me very sad.

They’re both out for the season. This week we’ve got the Lions (on Thanksgiving – YES!) and to be honest, I’m not sure how this one will go. Thanksgiving games tend to be somewhat unpredictable anyways, and then with our two key injuries and the Lions performance from last week… I think it could go either way. I’m going to edge toward the Packers only because Matt Stafford could possibly miss the game with his shoulder injury.

Speaking of which, have you seen the very funny video about Stafford now? Someone is spoofing his newly found he-man status after toughing it out with that shoulder only to go back in and throw the game winning hail mary touchdown. Check it out:

Oh… silly sports fans! (And yes, I count myself in that mix.)

Which reminds me, I went to see Packer legend Forrest Gregg at one of our local bookstores last week. What a story this has turned out to be! I wrote about it on my EveryJoe column, but let me tell you that this visit is truly one of my favorites in terms of Packer memories. And not for the reason you’d think.) Gregg spoke about his new book, and we all politely listened, asked questions, and laughed. You know how it is with a bookstore appearance – you want to be polite and accommodating. Gregg, now in his 70s, talked about the Lombardi years, days of old, Brett Favre, and the kinds of things players used to do that now get called for a penalty.

Before and after his appearance, he was gracious about posing with the guys in the audience. As he came to the table to sign copies, I asked if I could have a picture with him as well. He looked me in the eye and said, “Let me tell you a sad story.” Since he had been standing for an hour, I thought he was going to tell me that he needed to sit down, that he was an old football player and his knees were bad, or that he has to draw the line on pictures somewhere. Anything would have been better than what he said.

Instead he told me about Bart Starr getting sued by some woman who had a picture of them together. The only thing I remember about Starr was that an 80-some year old woman tried to extort money from him a couple years ago and had written threatening letters to him. She pleaded guilty and we haven’t heard a word about it, but at the time the woman was claiming that she had a relationship with Starr.

I’m not sure if this is what he was talking about or not. But Gregg said ever since this happened to Starr, he doesn’t pose with women. We all laughed and he sat down. Our laughs were the kind that happen when someone says something stupid and you don’t know what to say in return. The bookstore lady looked a bit taken back, and even said, “Well what if she poses with you and her husband?” Of course by this time Gregg was seated. Discussion over.

He then asked me who he should sign the book to, and I was going to be a smarty pants and say, “Well you better sign it to my husband or else I’d probably try and sue you” but I didn’t. Why bother at this point? He’s an old football player that obviously thinks he’s charming enough to pull off a sexist comment and not have anyone think better of it.

On our way home, of course, my husband and I laughed our heads off. What a dippy thing to say! I still think perhaps Gregg really did have to sit down and was just tired of taking pictures. But whatever. This story is a way better Packer memento than actually having the picture. We’re taking the picture we did snap of Gregg alone while he was giving his speech, and are making it into an ornament for our Packer tree. I’m going to write “I don’t pose with girls” underneath Gregg’s photo.

The life of a Packer fan. You never know what’s going to happen next.

But remember, the word for today is not Forrest or Packers or even chauvinist but mulligatawny!

Not only did we lose, but we lost SOLIDLY. We lost to a quarterback who started for the first time EVER today. We lost to a team that averaged 13 points a game, but today managed to get 38. As NFL Fanhouse said:

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw three interceptions and completed less than half of his passes. The combination of his penchant for holding the ball too long and Green Bay’s lackluster offensive line just proved to be too much…

Too much indeed. This was a game we were supposed to have WON, people! You know those teams that remained winless for a year or more? You’re supposed to beat those.

I don’t know what else to say, except that it was nice to hear the old “Battle of the Bays” line that I remember so well from my youth, and the Bucs have an exciting young quarterback that I’ll keep my eye on. He showed an incredible level of maturity for someone 21 who was starting for the first time ever.

The game ended with an interception, which seemed fitting given how the rest of the game was. The commentators have taken to putting a timer next to Rodgers to show how he hangs on to the ball too long, and it is nice to see Ahman Green again, even though he now wears a different number (and thus my Ahman Green action figure is no longer accurate!)

We had bean and sausage soup from a very old Campbell’s soup recipe book I have. Every once in a while I like to make a recipe that is straight out of the 1950s. For some reason, this makes me extremely happy. (And on a day when my Packers lose like they did today, a little bit of happiness is definitely appreciated!)

Why are you so easy on Favre? [Expletive removed] him! He has a huge ego and should have never gone to the Vikings!

My, what big eyes you have, Favre Hater. What exactly did you think I should write about him? He’s on another team. We didn’t want him anymore, and since it’s a free country, he had the choice to do that. The fact that a grown adult is seething with this “Favre has a big ego” hatred is laughable to me. Do you have a life? Seriously.

You may think Favre has a big ego, but guess what? He really is that good. More than that, if you were one of the classless buffoons who booed him, I’ve got some new thoughts for you.

Here’s what I say to all these folks who have their undies in a knot because our former quarterback, the one we didn’t want anymore, actually went somewhere else: focus on your team. Give Favre his due. He’s a mature quarterback and played extremely well. Yay for him. But again, focus on your own team. There are many things wrong with the Packers right now. Focus on those issues. Favre (I hate to inform you) really isn’t our big problem right now. There are a ton of others. Let’s work on those.

As far as the scuttlebutt over his leaving, I’ve heard rumors from the beginning that we don’t know the whole picture. Rumors like Thompson wanted Favre out and even went so far as to yell and scream in the locker room in front of the team that he wanted him to retire. He wanted his newly drafted boy Rodgers in, and he didn’t want the fan backlash of having to cut or trade Favre. One of the announcers even alluded to this during the game. Part of making Favre “the enemy” is done by media to help get the fans riled up for their team. I’m confident that in time the truth will come out little by little. But in the meantime? Seriously – let it go. It’s done now. It’s like breaking up with a boyfriend. Wish him the best, mean it, and move on. You’ll be so much happier if you did.

As a side note, thanks so much to the folks at Female Shopper.com for listing my EveryJoe sports column one of the top female blogs on the Internet.

It was a lovely day except for the Packer loss today. I actually had some hope that we might pull it out, but that was foolish fan logic and nothing more. Still, it’s nice to know that Brett Favre not only comes back to Lambeau and kicks our butts but also ties yet another NFL record (that of the most games throwing four or more touchdowns. He tied Dan Marino today.)

Not surprisingly there were a smattering of both boos and cheers for Favre. Also not surprising was the overconfidence of the Packers. Didn’t I just mention this last week? Johnny Jolly costs us deeply with his first quarter illegal headbutt, and Rodgers was on the ground more than he was upright.

Favre was emotional in the end, and no kidding. Personally, I don’t have it in me to hate him. I don’t have it in me to spend too much time thinking about him. He’s a great player, on a great team, and is fun to watch. But what I’d really hoped today was that we would just shut up and play and beat ‘em. Sigh…

Even when we hold Adrian Peterson to low yardage the Vikings still have some major weapons. Speaking of Peterson, did I tell you what my favorite commercial is these days? You’ll understand why in about five seconds. Behold:

Yeah. Nice.

Anywho, I looked over the rest of our schedule. The Vikings have the toughest second half schedule (in my opinion) in our league. We have a very easy schedule and I’m hoping that means we can at least have more wins than losses. That’s what it’s come to people!

Our hamburger soup turned out fabulous and we’ve even got leftovers for the week! Bonus. It’s on to Tampa Bay next week. They are currently 0-7. I’m thinking we should be able to win that one, what do you think?

I don’t think the Packers are as terrible as they are playing. But there definitely is a component missing, and I’ll be darned if I can put my finger on it. Could it be that Aaron Rodgers is still too young to really lead the team? Is the play calling soft when it needs to be more aggressive? Is the 3/4 defense not such a great idea after all? Has B.J. Raji gotten too much hype with little to show for it?

Maybe.

Could we be looking ahead to the much anticipated game a week from tonite? Possibly. But it’s more than that. At the very least, however, the upcoming game against he Vikings will help put this clunker out of our memory quickly. Drew Olson aptly said that the “Favre-a-palooza” will help us forget quickly about the Rams. Thank goodness for that. It was an ugly and passionless game.

One thing that struck me about the game this week was that every aspect of our team played poorly. Special teams, the defense, all the dropped passes from receivers, and Aaron Rodgers’ inability to actually let go of the ball. To make matters worse, we’ve lost ground in the NFC North, because both the Vikings and Bears won this past week. The Vikings won against another division rival, which puts us behind them at .500. Here are some highlights in case you missed the game:

The score of this one makes you think it was a close game. But it wasn’t. The Packers were never really in it. One thing we got used to with Brett Favre was not sweating it when we were behind. He’d come on the field like Cool Hand Luke and lead the team into the end zone. You got used to seeing that as a fan. But with this team, you can’t relax and think you’re going to make up the points at the last minute.

The thing is, Aaron Rodgers is a good quarterback. We could have so much worse. But the other problem is that by focusing on Rodgers, Ted Thompson has neglected the veterans of the team. He’s traded many of our best players so that after four years we are still the youngest team in the league. And that just can’t keep happening. When you have a young team you are going to have sloppy play and mental errors. Eleven penalties? Heck, it could have been worse.

Also, we have to be more careful with our second half timeouts. We blow them at the drop of a hat, and they are too precious for that. So what if the play clock is running down? Take a five-yard penalty instead. This game might have been a little different had we not frittered away those timeouts.

I talked earlier in the week about Ochocinco’s claim that he would do the Lambeau Leap if he got into the end zone. I loved the fact that he was turned away at first. But of course, Green Bay fans are just too darn nice. I knew he’d eventually get in. Although I did love the fact that one fan gave the camera the finger and thus showing a replay of his Ochocinco’s leap was virtually impossible. (I’m not a fan of the finger, but in this case it worked quite well.)

I know I’ve talked about our Packer tree and whatnot, but I forgot to mention that this year we also have our dog decked out with a Packer collar, which is supposed to bring the team luck. (But obviously didn’t this week.)

But let’s not forget the food. For the game this week we served my famous white chicken chili. It was a hit all around, and helped soften the blow of the loss.

Luckily (I’ll say it again) the Packers have a pathetically easy schedule this year. Of course, I thought that meant for sure we’d win this week. That’s the beauty of the NFL, you never know. Still, next week we play the 0-2 Rams. I’m still putting my money on the Pack. How about you?

It shouldn’t have been that close. It shouldn’t have had to come down to a 50-yard pass with a minute and a half to go. In case you missed the game, here are a few highlights:

As the Chicago Tribune said (as only they can), “The Bears lost a game. They lost ground in the NFC North. They may have lost some key players. They lost their officiating challenges. And they lost an air of confidence, if not a slice of hope.”

The Packers undoubtedly benefited from Brian Urlacher’s wrist injury and from some head-scratching play calling by Chicago. (That bone-headed fake punt was so ridiculous most sports outlets aren’t even talking about it today.) The Packers certainly benefited from Cutler’s four interceptions. Cutler is one of those guys that people speculate about. Some folks think he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, and that he “just needed the right team” to become a great quarterback. Is Chicago it? It’s doubtful. You can have a great QB, but you also need someone to throw to. (Wasn’t this the argument with Favre?)

Speaking of Favre, Cutler is also known as a “gunslinger.” Unlike Favre, however, Cutler will never be a great quarterback. He would have showed that promise by now. He will be a good quarterback for Chicago. I believe it. I have a soft spot for him. But he will never be a great quarterback.

Neither will Aaron Rodgers. He also is a very good quarterback. But a great quarterback doesn’t stop short when you’re trying to slide for a first down. (If you’re going to go for it, Aaron, don’t wimp out a yard shy.)

Part of what made Marino, Elway, and yes, even Favre great was that they were willing to do what it took to get the job done. In the preseason, all Rodgers could talk about was that he felt that he was going to be a pro-bowl quarterback this year. He didn’t mention that he also wanted to lead his team to win, however. This is the difference at times between good and great.

But let’s not dwell on the negative points. It’s the first game of the season and at the very least Rodgers showed he could put points on the board when it counted. With a minute left, however, the Bears still had a very good chance of winning. It wasn’t Cutler’s night. Or Lovie’s, for that matter. Some of the play calling just plain stunk and it wasn’t because our defense was so very fantastic. The Bears now move on to the Steelers next week. (Heh – well, good for them.) We play the Bengals. (We can at least benefit from last year’s poor record with an easy schedule this year.)

As an aside, what did you think of Cris Collinsworth in place of John Madden? I can’t say I missed Madden, but to put two play-by-play guys in the booth was a little much for me. I need just a tad of color, for pete’s sake. I’ve never been a fan of Collinsworth, and listening to him yak about the Bengals or his “insights” into the game really leave a lot to be desired. Collinsworth is also trying to live down an incredibly embarrassing video that has surfaced from 1984. In the video, he’s being interviewed during Monday Night Football. It’s all very 1980s, with the big hair and shoulder pads. A reporter asks Cris how he gets the ladies and he says he throws his money around and likes his chicks stupid. Here’s the video in case you haven’t seen it:

Did you cringe as you watched it? While I’m no fan of Collinsworth, I think this is much ado about nothing. It was 25 years ago when Collinsworth was younger and more goofy than he is now. Can you imagine if we all had to have stuff we said 25 years ago resurface so we could explain it? He was a young football star and thought he was cool. I think he will be the first one to admit that “cool” wasn’t his thing. Let’s give the guy some slack (on this point at least!)

Kennedy played Senior Right End while at Harvard, and was flattered that Green Bay was interested in him. However, he told Coach Blackbourn that “he had plans to attend law school and to ‘go into another contact sport, politics’.” (Very well said, of course!)

The Packers could have used Kennedy. They went 4-8 in their 1956 season and were outscored by their opponents 264-342

Winning in Preseason Does Not a Playoff Team Make
Do I need to bring up the 4-0 preseason Detroit Lions last year? They won in preseason and never again for the entire year. Never when it counted. Does losing a game or two in preseason make me superstitious? Perhaps. But it wouldn’t be the first time superstition played a part in sports.

Winning in Preseason May Mean You Showed Too Much of Your Game
Let’s face it. If you pull out all (or even most) of your best stuff during preseason, it gives every team in the league a chance to view your surprise plays and therefore coach against it. If you let a few touchdowns slide past you or drop a few passes, it makes teams think you’re not very good. And that can work to your advantage in the regular season.

Winning in Preseason May Give Your Team False Confidence
Every player says they look toward the next game and they don’t get ahead of themselves. But when you’re winning, you might get a little cocky. If you think you’re going to probably win, human nature makes you play less hard than a scrappy team that knows it needs to pull out all the stops.

Winning in Preseason Doesn’t Get You to the Superbowl
The Superbowl is what really counts in this league. If you play great but can’t win the big game, you haven’t accomplished much. (Like the Patriots who went undefeated in the regular season but lost to the Giants in the big game.) So Mike McCarthy, Aaron Rodgers, and the rest of the Green Bay Packers team and organization – lose one for the fans next week!