Green Bay 28 - 26 Detroit: More mistakes

The Packers won this game but they sure seemed lucky to do so. Detroit kicked four field goals in the second half, several of which could easily have been touchdowns. Shaun Freaking Hill just tore through the Packers secondary, which also found itself without the services of SS Morgan Burnett (who is currently filling in for the injured Atari Bigby), further depleting the secondary. The Packers front 7 is still getting plenty of pressure on opposing QBs but Charles Woodson can't cover the entire field by himself, no matter what the t-shirts say. This is especially noticeable in the Lions third down numbers - they converted 10 of 17 third downs in the game and seemed to be able to move the ball at will through the air. It's especially worrying considering the string of decent to good teams the Packers play in the next 4 weeks: @WAS, MIA, MIN, @NYJ

Rodgers and the offense looked great in the first three series but couldn't get anything going after that. Rodgers made two uncharacteristically poor throws for his two picks.

Luckily the Packers penalty virus seemed to transfer to the Lions this week, who were flagged thirteen times to the Packers three. Still, special teams continue to hamstring the Packers. This time the goat was Packers return man Jordy Nelson, who fumbled twice in the second half leading to Lions field goals. Nelson isn't a great returner, but paradoxically enough he seems like a guy who is good at reeling off, say, 20 yard returns but is not someone you expect to take it to the house.

Game ball: Charles Woodson, trying to do it all in the secondary with 11 tackles, 3 pass deflections, and a pick-6.

Other games:
I'm even more upset about Monday night's result after watching that awful, awful, AWFUL Bears performance last night. Cutler was sacked 11 times in the first half and was knocked out with a concussion, and backup Todd Collins was knocked out after 11 more attempts. The Packers had that kind of penetration too but Cutler was able to wriggle out of it. Wonder how much the home crowd + monday night adrenaline helped them. I'm licking my chops for the rematch at Lambeau.

Preview: Packers (2-0) at Bears (2-0)

Too much work to do today, so this will be short. What's with so many Bears fans drinking this team's Kool-aid? They barely beat the lowly Lions *at home* and only on the strength of a bizarre mistake/rules wrinkle. Then they beat the overrated and asleep-seeming Cowboys in Dallas, which was more impressive. But honestly though - this was 2 games. All the problems that you complained about last season (Lovie, the offensive line) are still in place, though at least Urlacher is back. Cutler was a bit unlucky (and erratic) in general last season, and still does not have a great line in front of him. He's been better in the past 2 games, but, By DeRosa's Stubble, it's only 2 games. I'll be interested to see how their line handles Clay Matthews.

Most of the focus going into this game is on the quarterbacks, and for good reason. Both these teams (the Bears especially) don't really have great rushing games. I'm willing to give Forte a bit of the benefit of the doubt as the Bears O-line is not that good, but he seems like he's more of an outside runner/screen pass kind of guy anyway. The same applies to an even greater extent for Brandon Jackson, who's a great 3rd down kind of back but it not the guy you can count on for 3 yards when you need it. On top of that, the Bears have Urlacher back to shut down the middle of the field. Basically, we're going to see a lot of passing in this game, and I'll take Rodgers over Cutler. But if the Packers get absolutely *nothing* out of their running backs they could be in trouble.

Another reason to worry is that the Packers are still missing half their secondary with Bigby and Harris still recovering from surgery. Tramon Williams looks okay in the second CB spot but he's not all that special. Luckily neither are the Bears WRs. I don't really get the love for Devin Hester, Wide Receiver. They should be giving Aromashadu more touches. In fact, he should be matched up against shaky nickel back Sam Shields tonight.

On the other aspect of passing defense, I think Green Bay has the clear advantage. Clay Matthews and the Packers D, which is rated as the best pass rushing defense in the league according to FO. Clay Matthews has been an absolute terror, totaling 6 sacks.

Predictions
Aaron Rodgers: 2 TD, 1 INT
Jermichael Finley: 1 TD
Donald Driver: 1 TD
Packers D: 5 sacks (2 by Matthews)
Culter: 2 TD, 2 INT

Final Score: GB 23 - 17 CHI

Packers win 27-20

This was a snoozer early on, then got tense in the 4th quarter when the opposing offense suddenly woke up in the hands of a notorious dog murder. The Packers o-line looked shaky early but managed to adjust to the opponent's (admittedly, good) pass rush as the game went on. There were many injuries in this game, most notably opposing QB Kevin Kolb. For the Packers, the casualties inclued:

• DE Justin Harrell (knee)- could be out for the season
• RB Ryan Grant (ankle) - was in a walking cast and unable to return. I would not expect him back next week
• DE Cullen Jenkins (hand) - he broke his hand but isn't likely to miss any time. He'll just wear a club cast for the rest of the season
• FS Nick Collins was banged up late in the game but seems to be okay. Losing him would be a big blow since the Packers are already down half their starting defensive backfield with Bigby and Harris out

I would worry a bit about the defensive meltdown in the second half, but I think a big part of it was the fact that the team prepped for Kolb and not the notorious dog killer, who is a completely different QB. It seemed like Capers was asleep at the switch, not leaving anyone to keep an eye him on those big runs.

Despite their impressive comeback, the opponents managed to shoot themselves in the foot several times. They had 10 penalties for 80 yards, and the NDK threw and incomplete pass late in the 4th quarter when he had enough open field to run in for the game-tying TD. I'll take the win on the road.

Game MVP: Clay Matthews. He was all over the field today, terrorizing the opposing QBs (he's the one who knocked out Kolb). Woodson had a great game too, just missing out on a pick and being a big part of a fumble recovery.
Game LVP: Rodgers didn't have a great game, and I have no clue who the hell his second pick was supposed to go to. He threw a near-certain Pick 6 that the defender somehow dropped.

Next week, the Packers play LEEEEEEE Evans and the lowly Bills at Lambeau.

Preview: Green Bay (0-0) at Team that Shall Not be Acknowledged (0-0)

Editor-in-viceroy's note: don't take me for any sort of objective analyst or football insider at all (i.e. I can't read a defense, for one).

Green Bay takes on another football team (who disappeared off my radar as long as they have a certain someone on the roster) today. I don't know what to make of them. They have a new QB that everyone seems to be falling over to hype (Kolb), and I don't know anything about McCoy, their starting RB. Kolb could be good, I don't know, but I don't really trust a rookie QB in his first season. Even Aaron Rodgers, who is easily one of the top 5 QBs in the league right now, struggled in his first year. That said, Kolb probably still is an upgrade on the Shadow of Donovan McNabb (aside: sorry Redskins fans. He's not McNabb anymore). Though for what it's worth Kolb did put up decent numbers last year when McNabb was injured (300+ yards, 2 TDs in each of his 2 starts).

Kolb will test a passing defense that was pretty good last season, but is missing Atari Bigby and the overrated Al Harris. Tramon Williams grew on me last year, up until the Cards playoff game when he was burned approximately 572 times by the Cardsd receivers. I like Nick Collins but he and Woodson aren't enough to lock the passing game down.

Speaking of Woodson...


Packers players to watch:

Jermichael Finley, TE
He emerged as Rodgers favorite target late last year and generates a TON of mismatches. I think he's going to have a huge year, and it won't be a fluke.

Brandon Jackson, RB
I've never been a fan of Ryan Grant - I was floored in one of my fantasy drafts today when Grant was a high-round pick (avg on Yahoo is pick 23). He doesn't exactly suck, but he's about as forgettable as it gets. Jackson seems to be getting an increased role this year as the third-down back and I hope he impresses enough to get more playing time. He was fairly disappointing after the Packers drafted him but to his credit has been slowly improving since then.

UPDATE: I forgot to include a prediction.

27-21 Green Bay

TDs by Driver, Finley, and Grant.