October 04, 2005
STILL NOT GIVING UP HOPE
Monday Night Football... I wrote an "L" on the schedule after the start of the 4th quarter.
And yet... even though the Packers lost 5 or 6 key players in that game, they made an AMAZING 4th quarter rally.
It's been quite a while since I've seen that much fire in Favre's eyes. Even though he had nothing to work with, he took whatever he could get and made some nice drives.
The thing that impressed me most was that - I've seen Favre in this "desperately trying to come from behind" position more times than I care to remember, and almost every time he ends up throwing an interception.
Not this time.
The last 3 games have been VERY close. I think the Packers may make a season out of this yet.
there are three key reasons we lost last night.
A) Penalties, there were a lot of stupid penalties... See Ahmad Carroll.
2) Injuries, on an already softened o-line the loss of Flannigan and Clifton (two key players) did not help at all. The patchwork o-line was never able to open up the run for Green. Plus only have 3 WRs after Murphy was hurt doesn't help
3)Bad Coaching. The play calling was pretty bad and predictable as usual. In the fourth quarter the team was slow to the line and in the huddle for the final scoring drive. If they had been quicker they may have had a lot more time to play with on the last drive so they could have taken more time to communicate the plays.
Contagion - I think A and 2 were properly overcome. As for 3, I have to disagree slightly. Although they could've hurried things up a bit during the 90-yd drive to their last TD, they were still had good clock when they got the ball back (2 full minutes & a short field). That final drive was fine, too. If anything, they should've slowed down so that the receivers could've gotten their shit together. That 4th down play was rushed, which might've been part of the reason it didn't work.
Or maybe they just ran out of luck on that final pass.
Either way, the only chronic weakness I see in the Packers is a lack of pass coverage on the part of the defense (they're fairly decent at stopping the run). Everything else can be managed as long as Favre has his head in the game.
It doesn't hurt that the Packers play in the NFC's Norris division.
I thought Favre rallied the team when he scrambled for the first down. That set an example for the team, I think.
THAT was beautiful. I don't remember the last time he had a decent dash up the middle.
I'm hoping New Orleans saw that play & feels a little less complacent about Favre staying in the pocket.
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