Brett Favre extracted a smile this evening as the Vikings beat the Packers 30-23 but more importantly, Favre was brilliant. Revenge against Ted Thompson, according to Favre, it’s not about revenge but I’m sure Brett’s giggling inside at the thought of Ted and Mike McCarthy’s misery and the ire of the fans that they’re about to face.
The Vikings QB dissected a pathetic excuse for a defense as the Packers didn’t present a real threat to #4 all night long (24 for 31, 271 yards and 3 TDs). Favre was allowed to sit in the pocket as if he were already retired and resting comfortably in a rocking chair at his home in Mississippi. Dom Capers opted for drop back coverage rather than blitzes and pressure (not that it would have done any good) not realizing that he doesn’t have the personnel to play either.
While the defense was a couple of turnovers away from being considered completely awful, the offensive line didn’t have that luxury. Aaron Rodgers ran for his life tonight and that’s putting it mildly.
Rodgers, to his own fault, took 2 sacks when he should have gotten rid of the football but the rest…the sacks, the pressures, the inability to run the ball at all…that falls squarely on the head of Ted Thompson. Why Ted Thompson, I’ll tell you.
For the last few years I’ve listened to fans complain about Favre or Thompson, MacCarthy or Murphy or all of the above, picking up or not picking up Randy Moss, getting Brett or Aaron Rodgers more weapons, ect. ect. Where Thompson has remained steadfast is to his commitment to the draft….to a fault. Since 2005, Thompson has drafted 9 offensive linemen. Out of those 9 only 1 (Daryn Colledge) has proven to be sufficient. Colledge is a decent guard but not an adequate tackle. Meanwhile, Thompson's gotten rid of Mike Wahle, Marco Rivera, Mike Flannigan and Mark Tauscher. Rivera I understand and even Flannigan to a certain extent but Wahle and Tauscher….mistakes replaced by no one of quality. From what I understand, Tauscher is sitting in his home in Sun Prairie and no one from the Packers organization has called him regarding his health. Tauscher's between 80 and 90 percent ready to go. Why not call or send someone down there to at the very least wtiness a workout? Spitz, Barbre, Sitton, Giacomini are all works in progress at best. Barbre has shown a progression and Sitton might be stable one day but to have each one out there, at the same time, is a learning curve that’s killing Aaron Rodgers. Remember the likes of Junius Coston and William Whitticker? Awful and gone! The point is, Ted chose Rodgers over Favre and I can live with that, Rodgers is a quality quarterback but when the Packers GM protects his franchise guy with inadequate players, those obstinacies will ultimately be his downfall. Sitting on a pile of capital while your quarterback gets his body wrecked in only his second year of full-time play is beyond ignorance. There has been a bevy of quality lineman in free agency whom Thompson has refused to go after or went after in a half-hearted manner.
Take a look across the field Ted, those guys in purple were built via the draft and their quality leaders were put into place with creative trades and free-agency. That’s what a winning team looks like. You can have all of the quality weaponry stockpiled in your arsenal but if there’s no one to block up front it’s like having a Ferrari with no wheels, you’re all show and no go. I feel for Rodgers, Jennings, Finley, Driver and the rest. They’re superstars in the making but no one will ever know it.
But hey, at least the Packers are well under the salary cap.