THE RUNNING GAME

The running game in Green Bay has been a difficult one to try to dissect over the past 2 seasons. The 2007 season started off with absolutely no rushing attack. Short slants and screen passes essentially filled the void that the lack of a ground game had left. Then Ryan Grant came along, and was the savior of the Packers' run offense. In the ten games he saw significant carries (week 8 on), he was second in rushing yards and touchdowns only to San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson. That says a lot about the success Grant had. But still, the Packers finished 21st in the league in rush offense at just under 100 yards per game (1,597 yards - 956 of which were Grant).

In 2008, very big things were expected of the 25-year-old Notre Dame product. It began with a contract hold-out, however, and then when he was finally on the field, he was slowed by nagging injuries (hamstring and thumb). While his per carry average fell from 5.1 to 3.9, he finished the season ranked 6th in the NFC with 1,203 yards on the ground. The Packers moved up from 21st to 17th in the league (112.8 ypg and 1,805 yards), but we may have to look elsewhere besides Grant for the reason behind this progression.

Brandon Jackson, the Packers 2nd round pick in 2007, was a solid contributor in 2008. The plan for Green Bay from the beginning was for this guy to have a shot at being the number one back, but a few injuries in 2007 paved the way for Ryan Grant to take that spot. Jackson finished the 2008 season averaging 5.5 yards a carry (however only on 45 carries), and showed some very bright moments when given the opportunity. Don't forget, Aaron Rodgers was sacked 34 times this season, 14th most in the league, showing that the green and gold's front five struggled this season, primarily due to injuries.

Looking forward, if both the backs and line can stay healthy in 2009, the Packers should continue to leap-frog up the league rushing leaders. And with the season Aaron Rodgers had in 2008, that can only lead to more success.

MUSIC TO MY EARS... OR EYES...

On Monday, Pete Prisco, a writer for CBSSports.com, wrote an article arguing an idea that seems to be lost in today's football media: The Packers are STILL the greatest football franchise of all time. After winning Super Bowl XLIII, he agrees with many that the Steelers are the best of the Super Bowl era. How can anyone argue, however, against 12 championships? One in the 20's, four in the 30's, one in the 40's, five in the 50's, and one in the 90's. That's double what the Steelers have won, and Pittsburgh's franchise has been around since 1933 (the Pack joined the NFL in 1921). The Bears are a "close" second at 9 championships, and that "close" is still only 75% of what Green Bay has won. So, all hail the Green Bay Packers... And fellow Long Islander Pete Prisco for knowing the best franchise in the history of American football.

WHILE ON THE DEFENSE

Another hiring that I'm personally very excited about is Kevin Greene as the outside linebackers' coach. I was relatively young for most of his playing career, but I remember being scared for my life of that guy. He played outside linebacker in the 3-4 for most of his career, so he should know inside and out the position he is coaching. Not to mention he had 160 career sacks, most ever for a linebacker. He says he has "high hopes" for Aaron Kampman's transition to his new position, and he should be able to give him a lot of help. Kampman is also known for his pass rushing, and Greene should be able to aid him in learning any changes needed to do it at the new position. If Greene brings half of the passion and intensity he brought the field as a player in his new job as a coach, his presence should ease the transition for the outside linebackers of Dom Capers 3-4. When being introduced to reporters Tuesday, the Greene Machine was quoted as saying, "You know what, I feel like head-butting someone right now, and you're the closest to me." I love it.

THE 3-4 DEFENSE AND THE DRAFT

I'm excited. The hiring of Dom Capers means that the 3-4 defense is coming to Green Bay. If my research is correct, that's the 3-4 defense that has been used by 6 of the last 9 super bowl champions; and everyone wants the Lombardi trophy back in Titletown USA. However, the Packers will face big challenges ahead in order to make the transition. The people over at PackerChatters did a size breakdown of the front seven (defensive tackles, defensive ends, inside linebackers, and outside linebackers) of the teams who currently emplore the 3-4. Aaron Kampman, arguably the Packers best front seven player, will not be able to play his traditional position in this defense. The lightest end on any team running this defense is 285 pounds, a full 20 pounds heavier than Kampman is listed on the Packers website. This means he will have to transition to a pass rushing outside linebacker in Capers' scheme, where according to PackerChatters he has the size of a starting strong side backer. Cullen Jenkins seems to be set in stone with a definite position already, as a defensive end. At 305, he is barely above average in size for defensive ends in the new system. Ryan Pickett weighs 322 pounds and that is average size for nose tackles. At the other end, it appears Johnny Jolly will have the best shot at the job, although it is being said there will be a competition. Justin Harrell, who the Packers invested so much in with their number one pick in 2007, is undersized for his position at tackle so he will have to put on some weight and begin to show why we put so much stock in him from the beginning. Nick Barnett, coming off of his ACL surgery, will start as one of the inside linebackers. One challenge he will face is having to learn the defense on the sideline because he is not expected to be ready physically for OTAs. The other inside spot is a question mark. AJ Hawk is a possibility, although if they cannot fill the outside spot opposite Kampman, he may have to make a move as well. This would open up the inside spot for Desmond Bishop, who the Journal Sentinel rumored will have a legitimate shot at starting next to Barnett.

Tom Silverstein, of the JS, spoke with Steelers linebackers coach Keith Butler down in Tampa about what the Packers need to do in order to successfully transition into a 3-4 defense. It's in two parts. Part 1. Part 2. Butler thinks that the Packers offseason priorities need to be first in outside linebackers, then nose tackles, then safeties. Silverstein also believes that Al Harris may have trouble in the 3-4, because he likes to play man-to-man bump and run, while the 3-4 requires a lot of zone and run supports from its corners, two things that Harris is not known for. These issues lead into April's draft.

Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN has the Packers taking Ohio State CB Malcolm Jenkins on his mock draft. This also seems to be a good idea because both Harris and Charles Woodson are beginning to age, and Woodson began to play safety at the end of the 2008 season. Pro Football Weekly also agrees with Kiper on Jenkins: "What better environment for a cornerback to be groomed than under the wing of a future Hall of Famer such as Woodson?" Sports Illustrated suggests the Pack take Georgia Tech defensive end Michael Johnson. This, however, I'm not too sure of. While Johnson is a great end, and a great prospect at that, he would be very undersized for an end in a 3-4 at 260 pounds. That's 5 pounds lighter than Kampman. So, unless they can use him as an outside linebacker, while I have not heard much talk about his cover skills, this pick doesn't make much sense to me. Same thing applies for me with a suggestion I heard of Florida State defensive end Everette Brown. He's even smaller, at 252 pounds, but if the Packers have scouted his cover abilities (I have heard no word of this), his pass rushing ability definitely has potential. The latter two possibilities at the number 9 pick can make even more sense if their pass covering abilities are sufficient, because Aaron Kampman is a free agent at the end of '09, and with the switch to the 3-4, there is no guarantee he returns in 2010.

The 3-4 defense is something to be excited about. Very excited about. Mike McCarthy even admitted he hates having to plan against it. ''From an offensive standpoint, it creates targeting problems." It is a good run defense, it creates a good pass rush; there are so many upsides to it. It does take a legitimate transitioning, however, and that means the ball is in Ted Thompson's hands now. He needs to make the moves necessary in order to put the defense in the best possible situation to succeed.

TECHNOLOGY IS AWESOME

Ryan Corazza and my good friends over at MouthpieceSports had a very interesting post today, and they interviewed Aaron Rodgers while he was down in Tampa for it. It's about a product called Coach ID. Check out the link to the story and video. You know those wristbands that quarterbacks wear? The ones that have like 8 million plays on them and help the QB's understand all those crazy hand signals from the coaches on the sideline so they can actually make the calls? Apparently we're not very far from wristbands with LCD screens and the art of hand signals becoming ancient.

RODGERS AND FAVRE HAVEN'T SPOKEN

So I guess there was I reason that I started today with the Rodgers vs Favre situation... Because even the Green Bay Press Gazette is reporting on it this morning. And wow do they have a great picture to go along with it... A-Rod STILL can't escape the questions about Brett, and Michael Irvin and his Dallas based ESPN Radio show apparently barraged him with relationship questions as if they were TMZ or one of those stupid entertainment shows. However, they dug up an interesting fact that I did not previously know: The two haven't spoken since the 2008 NFC Championship game. Not at all. Rodgers claims he has tried to get in touch with Brett, but Favre has still to this day yet to respond. A-Rod even says, "It's disappointing" on Irvin's program. He sounds genuinely upset if you listen to the podcast, and that hurts to hear as a Packers fan, and also a Favre fan. Irvin's co-host Kevin Kiley even says he can "see Aaron struggling with this." And I could imagine. He learned under Favre for three seasons, in 2007 they were the only quarterbacks on the team; they had to have some sort of a relationship. And now Brett just won't talk to him. C'mon Brett. This is bigger than football.

RODGERS VS FAVRE

First off, how cool is that picture? Yeah, I took it. Anyways, now that I've let you know a little bit about myself, it's time to actually start blogging! Sweeeet! A lot has happened in Green Bay over the past year and a half, but I should lose all credibility right from the get go if I don't start by stating my case in the Rodgers vs Favre saga. Especially since I basically just professed my love for Brett Favre to all readers. So here it is, my take on the messy situation.

First off, I wish Brett would have taken longer to make his decision. This whole situation could have been avoided if he didn't jump to a conclusion and think he didn't want to play anymore. Dammit Brett I love you, but this could have been spared. It did seem quite clear, however, that even though he had done so much during the 2007 season, a rejuvenated MVP type season if it weren't for Tom Brady and his stupid antics out in New England (yes I loathe the Patriots for their cheating ways), that the Packers were ready to move on from Brett. A-Rod had been waiting in the wing for long enough and the organization believed that it was time for him to step in. Blah, blah, blah, on and on. And this thing got ugly. But that is besides the point, for this argument at least. Did the Packers make the right decision? Rodgers vs Favre.

First, we will look at the basic numbers from the 2008 season.

Rodgers: 63.6 Completion %, 4038 yards, 28 TD, 13 INT, 93.8 QB rating
Favre: 65.7 Completion %, 3472 yards, 22 TD, 22 INT, 81.0 QB rating

Step 1 - Completion percentage is nearly equal. And there isn't much distortion there; Rodgers attempted only 14 more passes than Favre, so we will go with push here. Step 2 - Rodgers clearly outdoes Favre in yards. At the pace Brett threw for (217 YPG) in 2008, he would have needed more than two and a half more games just to tie Rogers. Edge to A-Rod. Step 3 - Rodgers gets the clear edge in touchdowns and interceptions as well. If you take away Favre's 6 TD performance against the Cardinals in week 4, and add back in what his average says he would have had in the game, he gets knocked from 22 all the way down to 17 (22-6=16. 16 TD/15 games = 1.066 TDs per game. Add that to 16). Step 4 - QB rating to Rodgers as well. Almost 13 points higher than Brett, and if we factor out the Cardinals game again it could have been a few points difference. So, in measuring 2008 seasons in terms of basic statistics, Rodgers would seem like the right decision.

Next, we will look at Rodgers in 2008 vs Favre in 2007.

Rodgers (2008): 63.6 Completion %, 4038 yards, 28 TD, 13 INT, 93.8 QB rating
Favre (2007): 66.5 Completion %, 4155 yards, 28 TD, 15 INT, 95.7 QB Rating

WOW. That's like, mirror image type wow. Their yards per attempt (Favre 7.8 vs Rodgers 7.5) and fumbles (Favre 9 with 3 lost and Rodgers 10 with 3 lost) are both even nearly identical. I will simply say that all of these statistics point to a push between their two years. I don't think I've heard anyone else mention that Rodgers first year under the helm was this statistically close to Favre's miracle run in 2007. Maybe I just missed someone saying it, or maybe I'm the first to point it out, but think about THAT as well. This was Rodgers first year as a starting quarterback in the National Football League. He had attempted 59 passes in his entire career before this season, most of which came vs Dallas in 2007 when Favre had to leave with an injury. Oh, but we are far from over.

Living in New York, I got to see a lot of Brett this year (hooray for that!... finally). And that allows me to make this simple statement: his receivers were not the playmakers that Jennings, Driver, and Jones were for him in 2007. Coles and Cotchery are nearly mirror images of each other split on opposite sides of the field. Jennings could do it all, catch the short slant and make a play, or go deep for Brett to throw it up. Driver did all of the underneath and dirty work. Jones had a stellar season with Brett throwing to him. Not to mention everyone else in the mix for the Pack in 2007. But in New York, Brett had no deep threat. Defenses could press his receivers because they knew that it was very unlikely that they would get beat deep. Neither Coles nor Cotchery were big enough or physical enough to get off the line and put themselves in a position to make plays for him. In fact, if you double Chad Pennington's numbers from an injury shortened 2007 season in New York, they would nearly equate Brett's 2008 season with the team. Yet, both quarterbacks had better seasons with other teams, in other offenses, with other players surrounding them. And yes, this is me stating that I still believe that Brett would have been successful in Green Bay this year if the team would have brought him back.

Ah, but just as I seem to be drifting towards the "they should have never turned their back on a player who has done so much for them" ::cough cough:: man crush ::cough cough:: and avoided such a messy situation, I bring in something new. In 2007, the Packers offensive line only allowed Favre to be sacked 15 times. In 2008, Rodgers fell victim to defenses 34 times. Now, either you can look at it and say "Well, that means Rodgers isn't getting the ball off fast enough," or you could see that the line was suffering from the injury bug during the 2008 season, and say "Imagine what A-Rod's stats would have been like with the type of protection Favre had in 2007."

On ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning on Thursday, Rodgers was quoted as saying, "as a quarterback, you're paid to win games, you're paid to be clutch down the stretch and I wasn't" (Courtesy of the Press-Gazette). And yes, this is where I bring in that statistic. That whole winning thing. I guess it's important in professional sports, since it's a business and all. Actually, it's very important. And while Brett brought the Packers 13 regular season wins in 2007, Rodgers could only muster 6. And that is a BIG difference in the NFL. The green and gold went from one away from the Super Bowl, to third place in the NFC North, behind the Bears (YUCK). But, after looking at some stats, I don't know if you can necessarily claim that A-Rod wasn't clutch. In fourth quarters when the game was within 7, he threw for 8 TDs and 5 INTs. That is compared to Brett's 4 and 4, respectively, in 2007. When behind, at any point in any game, Rodgers threw 14 TD and had 10 INT. In 2007, 10 and 7 for Brett.

Clearly, the numbers are very similar when comparing Favre's 2007 season with Rodgers' in 2008. Injuries really bit the Pack in '08, both on offense and defense (don't forget Al Harris missing some time and then playing injured, while Cullen Jenkins playing in only 4 games, and Nick Barnett needed ACL surgery, just to mention a few). Basically, my claim is this: While it hurt to see Brett go, to see how out of control it got, and to have to see him in another uniform, I give the Packers credit for making the move and sticking with their guy they spent the whole off-season prepping for his chance and molding the team around. And, in my eyes, Aaron Rodgers did not disappoint in 2008. Now, let us move forward in the Rodgers era, and hail the true A-Rod!

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME

Alright well I guess I should start by giving everybody a little bit of a background about myself. I was born and have lived my entire life in the Empire State (New York). This would seem to lead to the simple question, "Why are you writing about the Green Bay Packers?" Lambeau Field is nearly 1100 miles from the house I grew up in, and NFL ticket was non-existent to my family and I. Yet, I have always been in awe of the green and gold, their history, and the city of Green Bay my entire life. My mother was born in Green Bay and grew up in the state of Wisconsin, although closer to Milwaukee. My father grew up on Long Island but was in middle school and high school during the dominant years of Lombardi's Packers, so he always rooted for the them. Season tickets have been in our family for over four decades (I'm not sure of the exact length, but that shouldn't quite matter to you once you hear that my grandparents were at the Ice Bowl). I mean, honestly, how many people can say they knew someone who was at the Ice Bowl? Well I guess maybe in Wisconsin the number of people who can is a bit higher, but I've grown up in New York and have been able to tell people this my entire life; and people have always been amazed, as am I. When I was younger we would take at least one yearly trip to Titletown and stay with family that lived in the suburbs, and I will admit that I developed a "man crush" towards the Pack. My first pair of eyeglasses (in the 2nd grade) was picked out not by my parents, nor did I take much of their opinion in the matter. I picked a pair that resembled nearly exactly those of then Packers head coach Mike Holmgren:
I idolized Brett Favre. I played quarterback in middle school and high school, and basically on every single pass I tried to show how hard I could throw the ball (and nearly every time was throwing off of the wrong foot, much to my coach's chagrin). It didn't always work out so well that way for me but, hey, if he could do it, I would try it. A cousin of mine lived around the corner from Brett's house in Green Bay, and I still to this day am in awe of this fact. It was a basic ranch house on a regular street corner. No gated community, no big mansion, and although it is well known he spends most of his time back near home in Mississippi, living like that in Green Bay reflected very much so the Wrangler Jeans commercial stereotype of Brett. When the Packers lost to the Giants in the 2008 NFC Championship game, I cried myself to sleep. The day he initially announced his retirement, I stayed home all day and wept. I never got to see him play in person until the day he broke John Elway's all-time wins record at Giant Stadium, and boy am I glad I traveled to that game.

In my blog I hope to follow most news stories surrounding the team, and also give some opinion on different ideas and issues. I also hope to include some fun tidbits every now and then, helping fans reminisce through the wonderful history of the Green Bay Packers.