December 2008 - Posts

• Goodbye, 2008

  Posted Dec 29 2008, 08:46 AM by Dennis Krause

  The Packers avoided the humiliation of losing to the winless Lions. That's all I'm going to say about the final game of 2008 because that's all it's worth.

  The 2008 Packers season is over and I'm more than ready to move on. It was a collapse from 13-3 to 6-10 and a season marred by the lingering cloud of the Brett Favre mess. The season will be remembered for seven losses by four or less ponts. Aaron Rodgers had a very good season with points subtracted for the win-loss record and the inability to pull at least one game out of those series of close misses. I have confidence in him for the future and he did better than most could have hoped for.

  The defense needs a major overhaul and it will be fascinating to see if Mike McCarthy allows Bob Sanders to be a part of it. Injuries certainly played a role and you can't ignore that Ted Thompson's two big draft picks on defense, A.J. Hawk and Justin Harrell, have not had the desired impact. In Harrell's case, he hasn't had any impact.

  When you watch Miami, Atlanta and Baltimore make great and quick turnarounds, you realize that the Packers could very well be back in the playoffs in 2009. But nothing is guaranteed. Except that another losing season would be very uncomfortable for Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy. Nothing less than their Packers legacy will depend on it. If they don't want to be remembered only as the guys who ran off Brett Favre, they'll need to win next year.

  Thanks for reading this season!

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• Beyond Frustration

  Posted Dec 23 2008, 08:41 AM by Dennis Krause

  I guess with the mammoth salary that I get from Sports Bubbler, I should have plenty of comments to make about the Monday night overtime loss to the Bears. But what is left to say? The Packers lost another close game in frustrating fashion. They're 5-10. Maybe because it's Christmas week, I'm just not up to pointing out all of the blame and why this season has been so exasperating. If you're reading this, you're interested enough in the Packers to know all of that. Why should I rub it in?

  But I will say this. The 5-10 record of 2008 is just as real as the 13-3 year of 2007. If Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy were able to ride the wave of an appearance in the NFC Championship game to lucrative contract extensions, they should aslo be held accountable for the franchise-record one year freefall. I'm not suggesting their jobs are in jeopardy because they are not, nor should they be--right now. But 2009 had better be a strong bounce-back season. President Mark Murphy will have to actually have to earn his salary and become more visible next year to let Thompson and McCarthy know that a repeat of this season will not be acceptable.

  So what does that mean for right now? It means that coaching staff changes should be made. Tough personnel decisions will have to be made. If a young guy is never going to blossom into a star, the Packers may actually have to dip into their salary cap cash and spend some money in free agency to fill those holes. The good news is that Aaron Rodgers has shown enough to warrant belief in his future.

  So Merry Christmas to all...And brace for a 2009 season that will be a pivotal one for the future of the Packers.

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• Fitting End To Packers Hopes

  Posted Dec 15 2008, 08:51 AM by Dennis Krause
   What a steep and graceless fall. In just one year, the Packers have gone from nearly making the Super Bowl to being eliminated from playoff contention with two weeks remaining in the season. It was fitting that the slim hopes of the 2008 Packers were snuffed out in Jacksonville by a bad team in the same kind of loss that has haunted Green Bay all season long.The recipe is familiar. Take a defense that can’t get a stop, mix in a running offense that can’t pick up a yard when it absolutely has to and add a dash of a quarterback who has yet to pull out a close game. The finished product is a 5-9 team. It doesn’t taste very good. When the arguments between players and the hollow cries of “miscommunication” fade, the Packers will face a reality as cold and clear as a winter morning in Green Bay. Everyone from the top down in the organization needs to be held accountable for this season. The defensive shortcomings, some caused by injuries, were glaring. Ted Thompson needs to address the defensive line in particular. The offensive line cannot dominate games. Aaron Rodgers needs to clear the mental hurdle of performing under the pressure of a late-game situation. I don’t care about the relatively low number of interceptions. I don’t care about quarterback ratings. I care about winning. If anyone thinks that Brett Favre wouldn’t have made a difference in at least a few of those close losses, they’re kidding themselves. Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy were rewarded with lucrative contract extensions for the charmed season of 2007. Now it’s up to them to get this team back on track for 2009.
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• Surprised and Disappointed

  Posted Dec 08 2008, 02:35 PM by Dennis Krause
   I never thought the Packers would be great this year. I was astonished that everything fell into place last year for them to go 13-3 and come so close to the Super Bowl. I picked the Packers to go 9-7 this season and likely miss the playoffs. But I never thought they would plummet to earth like they have since the bye week. It is one thing to lose. They have lost five out of six and have dropped to 5-8 overall and to below .500 at Lambeau Field. It is another for your defense to be incapable of coming up with the big stop at the right time. When the mediocre (at best) Houston Texans come into Lambeau Field and beat you in December, you’ve got more serious issues than most probably realize. I’m not sure that defensive coordinator Bob Sanders can survive this, even if you point to personnel moves and injuries as contributing factors. Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy have the luxury of those fat contract extensions based on last season. But they’d better react and make some bold changes in the off-season. Brett Favre wouldn’t have helped the defense but he’s also been missed. Aaron Rodgers has had several chances to help pull out a close game with a clutch play and he hasn’t done it. Not once. He’s done a good job but not a great job. He’s the long-term quarterback of the future and should be. But don’t overlook the fact that winning quarterbacks make that big play that lifts a team. He’s not to blame for 5-8 but he’s not to be excused either. Things change quickly in the NFL. The Packers could be flying high again in 2009. But there’s no guarantee that the NFC North will be as weak as it is this season. The division was there for the Packers and they failed.  Maybe that’s why several usually talkative veteran players didn’t talk in the locker room after the loss to the Texans. Maybe they didn’t think there was much to say without getting themselves in trouble. It’s never a good sign when “leaders” don’t face the music after a tough loss. It’s usually a symptom of a deeper problem.
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• A Familiar Refrain

  Posted Dec 01 2008, 02:44 PM by Dennis Krause
  Sunday’s 35-31 loss to Carolina at Lambeau Field was a story the Packers and their fans have seen too many times this season. A close game with some good moments ends in a loss. The Packers have now lost four games by four points or less this season. The Packers locker room was extremely quiet and the mood was realistic. Whatever the reasons, the Packers are 5-7 and their playoff hopes are now hanging by a fragile thread. Even if you want to think positive and believe the Packers can go 4-0 in December—which I think is possible---they’re still going to need to get some help. Green Bay is now two games behind the Vikings and a game behind the Bears. Minnesota has the tougher schedule but they’re playing well. The Packers have another game with the Bears, which could prove huge in possible tiebreakers. Still, as Aaron Kampman told me after the game, the Packers can’t be thinking about playoffs. They need to be thinking about winning a game Sunday against Houston at Lambeau Field. How did they get here? Despite the fashionable scapegoat in Derrick Frost, this team’s problems run a lot deeper than a poor punter. The defense has given up 86 points over two weeks. The kickoff coverage unit was horrid against Carolina. The offense can’t get in from the 1-yard line and can’t pull out a game late when given chances. That pretty much covers every aspect. Coaching. Personnel. Performance. Execution. It’s not a bad team, but it’s a 5-7 team. The next four games will help define this season. If the Packers can get hot against a soft schedule, 9-7 would at least make them a winning team and give them a chance to win the NFC North. After all, the Vikings and Bears are not juggernauts either. But if the Packers lose even one more game, I think they’re dead. If the Packers collapse down the stretch and finish with a losing record, it will be a dramatic fall from grace for a team that was an overtime away from the Super Bowl last season. That would be an organizational tumble with plenty of responsibility to go around.
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