Green Bay Outlook
 

I'm seeing everyone's thoughts on this spread all over so maybe we can centralize them here-

Me-

They have Mike McCarthy as HC! He was Farve's buddy as QB coach in '99. The he was our OC 2000-2004 in the golden era of Fumbles the Clown. Last year OC for dreadfully worst SF. They have Ted Thompson in the FO turning this into a moribund franchise.

you get a good feel from Packer news sites-
Even those capable of seeing clearly when it comes to their favorite team had to be appalled. We figured the offense would struggle, and it did not disappoint. A total of 267 yards, two turnovers, one-for-11 on third down and it never saw what it looked like from inside the Bears' 35. It was as bad as advertised, shut out for the first time in the 15-year Brett Favre era.


But you figured the defense would be improved, especially with the additions of free agents Ryan Pickett, Charles Woodson and Maquand Manuel and fifth overall pick A.J. Hawk. But against an offense that was supposed to be as potent as O'Doul's (allegedly), it saw them yield 361 total yards and, if not for some crummy execution that allowed Bears kicker Robbie Gould to become an instant fantasy league pickup, Chicago would have hit the 40-point plateau.

http://greenbaypressgazette.packersn...609110467/1989

I found this somewhere too-
RANT: The Packers' outside linebackers, A.J. Hawk and Brady Poppinga, make the unit bigger, faster and more physical. But Hawk, a rookie, and Poppinga, a second-year player, were out of position far too much. They were active but overzealous, and linebackers coach Winston Moss needs to find a way to rein them in without cutting them off at the knees. It isn't easy, but it's what needs to happen.

---coach of the worst LB group in the league while here.

and PS
Hawk was the fifth overall pick in last April's draft, but he was barely noticeable on the field. He certainly didn't do anything to make anyone say, "Boy, I'm glad we got this guy in a Packers uniform. He's going to be a star here for years."


Hawk seemed a little slow. He appeared to often be out of position. He didn't blow up running plays headed his direction, but was more overwhelmed at the point of attack.

http://greenbaypressgazette.packersn...609110466/1959

RE: Green Bay Outlook
 

The Pack looked like this in their games preceeding the Saints' visit last year and wound up looking all world. I don't expect the same Packers team as last week, but I don't expect the one from last year either. GB has too many issues to truly be competitive. This will be another game where the Defense has the opportunity to make a statement early and the offense to practice its plays in preparation for the Fal-cons on the 24th. Take Lawrie, who's already a smart guy and the third option and make him backup FB. 6-7 and 270, he should be a formidable road grader, and the one yard plunges that failed against CLE will work against GB and propel a blowout.

from some GB forums-

He did nothing to counter the blitz, and don't tell me the bears D is to fast, you can call counters, LB traps, Draws, Screens, Quick pass plays like five yard slants and quick out patterns. All of these would help take the agressivness out of the D. Every call seemed to be a straight handoff or a dropback pass where Favre would throw an incompleation 20 yards down the field and get hit every time. McCarthy better show he knows what he's doing fast.
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Get used to it. 9er fan here, not trolling, just offering some insight as to what you can expect from McCarthy. At times last year it seemed like he only had 7 plays in his entire playbook, and one of them was a punt. He flat out insists his players play his scheme, even though it doesn't play to their strengths. He stubbornly refuses to make halftime adjustments.

I would assume you guys will lead the league in 3 and outs this year. That seems to be the only thing McCarthy offenses do well. Good luck with your coaching search in the offseason. I can't imagine McCarthy
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I scanned several forums, they are all in despair. Not just cuz of the shutout loss but how bad they looked in team play. Sound familiar? McCarthy might be a one and out with Thompson tagging along if they have any sense. All good signs for us.

It really is great to read other fans having to deal with that ********. I could call the game along with McCarthy when he was here. Looks like the SF fan had the same experience after just one year.

I felt like Payton's playcalls were the polar opposite to Mike's. Nothing predictable.

I am not expecting them to lay down. They are going to be fired up after such a bad performance.

i am more woried about the running game. Granted most of the yardage was in the fourth and they were behind Green was able to slice them up for over 100 yards. The bears do not play prvent when in the lead that much.

then there is this:

Bears | Harris blames injury on dirty play
Mon, 11 Sep 2006 08:00:15 -0700

Brad Biggs, of the Chicago Sun-Times, reports Chicago Bears DL Tommie Harris (leg) suffered a leg injury Week 1 and he blamed it on unethical play by Green Bay Packers OT Mark Tauscher. Harris was cut down from behind after an interception, which happened more than 20 yards downfield, and called Tauscher's hit unnecessary. ''You know it was cheap,'' Harris said. ''Everybody saw it was cheap. You saw that junk. That's the only way they can block me.'' Harris re-entered the game and is not believed to be injured seriously but will be re-evaluated Monday, Sept. 11. ''I'm just hurt,'' he said. ''I'm not telling you what it is.'' The Packers have introduced more cut blocking into their scheme this season under new coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski. Harris said the NFL turns a blind eye to cut blocking because it promotes offense.

Although everything you can possibly look at right now says that the Packers suck worse than ever, I still think next week's game is scary. They're going to come out gunning. Remember what happened last year when they sucked the week before? They blew us up for the most embarrassing loss of the year. I'm a little frightened, but I am definitely happy to see so many positives, especially the tenacity of the defense.

Re: RE: Green Bay Outlook
 

Strangely, McCarthy in his first yeay was pretty unpredictable. I think that he shot his bolt that year. When he fell in love with Fumbles the Clown, he got more predictable than Charles Smith of Jim Mora fame. What you are seeing is how really BAD the Hazbeens were. What is strange is that Haz is doing pretty well as a DC with St. Louis. They looked tough. Maybe he's at the top of his competence as a DC. McCarthy sure looks out of his league right now. I think that we'll squeak by, unless the defence is for real this year. Hope so.

I do think Haz can be a very good DC. HC is just beyond him. But being a decent defensive mind I always wondered how in the hell Venturi could stick around. It really might have been from higher up.

There's a huge change from DC to HC. Also, Venturi was up Benson's poop shoot from the git-go. Venturi is smart, he's got a good mind and a load of experience. BUT, he is a position coach at best. Hazlett was a good DC in Pittburg and seems to be in St. Louis. Although 1 game does not a season make.

I believe the sleeper of the Saints is Fujita. A quality kid, high motor, character, and brains. The one thing that I didn't see in this one game was any linebacker out of position. Shanle, Fujita, and Simineau played heady ball. when Cleveland ran there were 7 hats on the ball. What I like most of all is that this team has football players, not athletes or track stars. Also, they play with purpose. Not like Funbles and the Keystone Kops of last year.