It was a huge move to say this team was ready to move on without Favre, and coming off a 13-3 season has a way of doing that for you. Winning a bunch of awards tends to convince you that you are doing so well that you can dispose of a guy like Favre and continue to do well.

I think what you see is a team that doesn’t have any glue holding it together. A lot of great individual performances (Rodgers, Woodson, etc.) that aren’t adding up to wins. Is MM the same coach he was last year? Is the talent around Rodgers what it should be for a QB of his style and abilities? Did Favre’s intangibles mean more to this team than what was thought?

No matter what it is, I don’t know if we want to fall into a Sherman-esque one-and-done in the playoffs. Good teams find a way to beat the Packers this year, and that’s all we’d see in the playoffs.

As for who I’d like to see – I think DDD made a good point in his forum post – there will likely be a number of quality defensive minds available this offseason after coaches are fired. My dream scenario would be Reid getting let go from Philly and Jim Johnson coming on board with the Pack. But that’s not going to happen…

Who would you like to see at DC? I think we can all say a change could be a good thing but I am curious who you would like to see?

One name that intrigues me but I have no idea if we could actually get is Marty Schottenhiemer. MM can coach offense and Schottenhiemer’s teams always played good D. I wouldn’t mind seeing him coaching our D, I really think he could change the attitude and the guy has a TON of experience that could really help this coaching staff IMO.

Maybe I’m the optimist, but I think this team is a good deal more talented than it has played. Certainly there’s a good deal of talent on offense in the so-called “skill” positions. Yes, I even like Grant. And I don’t think that the talent is too bad on the line, although both Tauscher and Clifton are showing their age. I think some of the younger guys on the line have some potential, though they’re still too inconsistent.

More disappointing is the defense. The line is a real cypher; guys who played pretty well last year (Cole, Jolly) have done nothing this year. Kampman isn’t what he was either. I don’t know if it’s a lack of talent, or simply a lack of depth. And I’m beginning to agree with those who have been calling Harrell a bust; by this time, he ought to be producing something, yet I can’t remember ever hearing his name during a broadcast. The line has been ok against the run about 75% of the time (of course, the remaining 25% seem to be 30+ yard dashes), but hasn’t put any pressure on the QB all season.

I think equally disappointing have been the LBs. Poppinga has always been useless; he’s a practice stud, a high energy guy who looks great when he knows the plays being run, but he makes the wrong read more than 90% of the time when he’s playing against a different offense. Barnett was ok, though not as good as last year. Most disappointing is Hawk, who started to look like the real deal last season; now he’s just a guy.

The secondary is still solid, though neither Al Harris nor Charles Woodson is getting any younger. They’d look a lot better if opposing QBs wouldn’t have time to cook Thanksgiving dinner back there.

I don’t know how much is the coaching, although that’s got to have something to do with it. The team still gets a lot of penalties, and guys still are missing assignments way too often (don’t even get me started on special teams). That suggests some coaching issues.

I think McCarthy is going to have some tough decisions to make the next few weeks, and then going into next season.

Speaking of special teams – Thompson REALLY screwed up when he cut both Jon Ryan and then later Tracy White. You would think the fact that they cut White to keep Lansanah would mean that Lansanah could get on the goaline defense team ahead of Desmond Bishop – who was terrible again today. The fact that he can’t just makes me think Thompson really, really fucked up.

Me, I tend to be a hardline realist. My hopes died at NO. That was a must win game and not only did they lose, they were destroyed. A playoff team doesn’t collapse at this time of the year. That was the final indicator to me that this team was not very good. It was this game that took any control of the playoffs out of the Packers hands and left them to rely on others for any chance of success they have.

Can anyone point to a four game winning streak this year? How well have they done at home? How good have they been on the road? In order for the playoffs to happen – GB = 4-0, Bears = 3-1, and Vikes = 2-2.

Right now, I’ll spend more time hoping that TT will do something to improve the lines for next year.

Interesting sidebar, since Tracy White was cut the ST KO coverage performance has dropped to last in the NFL. And for whom? Lansahna? Hasn’t been activated yet (Unless I missed him sitting on the bench). Great job, TT. As it turns out, Favre may have been the best decision TT made this year. Everything else, not too good.

Only the most deluded are thinking about a deep playoff run or even a win in the playoffs. Let’s just hope, even mathematically, that the Bears game means something. It just more fun that way. We’ll be all over the moves TT makes in the spring. Until then let’s hope to make it interesting

Let that wash over you.