I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not but the Packers are going to the Super Bowl. Yes. That’s right. The Super Bowl. I’ve been waiting since Sunday night to let this feeling sink in; to somehow wrap my brain around beating the Bears and winning the Halas Trophy and start, once again, to form coherent thoughts. But as Sunday night and my High Life haze faded into Monday there was no wiping the huge smirk off of my face. So, after re-watching the game Monday night, I woke up Tuesday ready to be straight faced and “back to work” and then Alex had to go and ruin it again by making me smile. If you haven’t heard, The Lounge is going to Dallas. Alex is hitching a ride with Brian Carriveau and I’m meeting them both in Dallas for what will obviously be the best week of our lives. While Brian is off being important and a member of the press, Alex and I will be wandering around, trying to take in as much of the Super Bowl experience as possible (and possibly find CM3 so I can touch his hair). If anyone has any tips, events, great idea of a place to watch the game, or will be in Dallas and wants to meet up, hit us up! I do have some Packers related news though. Thankfully I remembered to DVR the game and was able to watch it back, watching plays over and over and over again and while I’m not a person who’s a pro at breaking down film here’s a couple of things that I noticed. Rookie tight ends. All season we’ve missed Jermichael Finley. He was supposed to be our “secret” weapon. While his absence has opened up the passing game with the wide receivers, the Packers still lack a reliable catching tight end. It was hoped throughout the season that either Tom Crabtree or Andrew Quarless would step up. And while they both have had some good catches, they have also had some awful drops. But there was something spectacular that I noticed in the NFCC game. Blocking. Both Crabtree and Quarless lined up in the back field at different times to be lead blockers in the running game, and to pick up blitzes to protect Aaron Rodgers. They both also excelled at blocking down field in the short passing game. Their performances this year have both solidified the Packers need for Finley, but have also, I argue, are the reason that the Packers could possibly afford to let Donald Lee go. Both Crabtree and Quarless have shown their ability to grow within the offense and handle responsibility. A.J. Hawk. I will whole heartedly admit that I didn’t think the Lynch for Hawk trade talk back from earlier in the year was the worst idea. I was wrong. Hawk has definitely under-performed based on where he was drafted, and I think we all would like Hawk to play more like Matthews. With more hustle, more tackles behind the line of scrimmage, more passes broken up. But one thing that has flown somewhat under the radar this season, is that with all the injuries on the defense, Hawk has stepped into the leadership role. He receives the play calls from the coaches and calls out the plays on the field. One of the keys to the Packers defense is its “crazy” schemes and ability to adjust and keep the offense guessing. Watching Hawk pre-snap, the small hand movements, the eyes for the game, and the knowledge of the defense, I was impressed. He might not be Matthews, but after watching Hawk’s development in the leadership role, I am now more afraid of losing Hawk than I was before. Special Teams. Tim Masthay has been a hero this year. So has the emergence of Jarrett Bush’s ability to run quickly down the field, alluding gunners and down punts. While the punting game has had its gaffes this year, the growth of the unit is something I appreciate. I loved watching in the Bears game, a high deep punt by Masthay, and Bush almost right in the place where the ball would drop – either to down the ball or tackle the returner. But what was also great, is that if at that exact moment, you froze the screen and looked up the field, there was a Packers special teamer in each lane. If Bush missed the tackle, the Packers were ready in coverage. Little things like that make my heart sing. They almost make me want to smile at Slocum. But then I watch the Packers when returning a punt, and these same guys seem to lack structure or scheme, and while yes, the Packers most definitely have a returner issue (as in, who is it?) both on kick returns and punt returns, the same people who are starting to get better at coverage are staying the course when it comes to returning. It hasn’t been a huge issue since the Packers D often holds the opponents to bad field position so the Packers don’t have to field deep kicks, and the Packers offense can drive as far as they need. And while I do not think that Slocum will be fired in the off-season, return coverage and blocking will need to be addressed. Okay, enough “business” talk, I’m going to back to smiling and watching Packers videos on YouTube now.