A GB Packer 2007 review (so close but yet so Favre) and 2008 preview (no more Favre!??)

2007

A storybook season with a predictable ending. The Packers went 13-3 despite getting swept by the Bears of all teams. The strange bounces of the oblong football went their way mostly and they won a couple close games at the end (as most teams with 13 wins do). Favre flashed back to the mid 90’s and a franchise that had been through a lot of changes in the last 3 or so years finally started to look like they were really coming together as a team. Unfortunately the defense got manhandled by Eli Manning (I have to keep reminding myself that this really happened) in the conference championship and like a bad sports movie Favre’s magical resurgence came to an end and he threw an utterly inexcusable INT in OT. Seriously, watch it again, I forget who it was but another receiver on the leftish side was coming open and Grant was open for a dump off of at least 5 yards and Favre forced it to a not so open Driver. I haven’t watched it since then so let’s see, Grant wide open and I think it was Lee coming open over the middle breaking to the left:


Offense
Favre put up his best rating since 1996 and really was pretty good. If Tynes could kick at all Favre never would have had chance to throw that pick, so really it’s all his fault. Besides that one pass, the Packers couldn’t have asked for more from Favre. Rodgers had his one big half, which was impressive. I really liked his mobility compared to the aged one.

On the TE front, Bubba Franks played only half the season and still managed to score 3 more TDs than the year before. But basically he wasn’t too helpful with only 18 RECs. Donald Lee had a solid season which makes me even more confused about why they didn’t throw him the ball more in 2006.

Driver was still Favre’s favorite target but his numbers are starting to decline. His RECs, YDs, AVG, and TDs were all down. Greg Jennings picked up a few of those stats despite getting hurt again and missing 3 games. He proved to be extremely dangerous after the catch and scored 12 TDs. James Jones had a huge rookie year and caught only 6 less passes than Jennings, though the rest of his numbers were lower. Ruvell Martin showed some skills in his limited opportunities and managed 4 TDs, possibly putting himself in the mix for further red zone playing time. Koren Robinson had some catches too, but I don’t like him.

The RB receiving game was down from the previous year from 113 RECs to 95 RECs and more surprisingly those 95 catches resulted in 0 TDs! You almost have to try to do that. The running game was much better than recent years once Ryan Grant took over. Team total yards were actually down a bit, but the AVG was more repectable, TDs were up, and fumbles were down. Grant actually had a really good AVG at 5.1 yards per carry. Rookie Brandon Jackson and oft-injured journeyman Morency were somewhat disappointing though. DeShawn Wynn was a nice surprise early on until he unsurprisingly got injured.

The offensive line was still a bunch of big guys. As previously mentioned, the team per carry average improved .2 yards to 4.1 (12th best in the NFL) and the sacks went down 5 to a pretty impressive 19 (3rd best in the NFL). Overall they were an above average group and deserve a lot of credit for the offense’s success.

Defense
The defense was pretty good, but I was maybe expecting more from them. They finished 11th in yardage and 6th in scoring. But sacks, tackles for loss, fumbles forced, and interceptions were all down from the previous year and that NFC Championship game was embarrassing as the Giants held the ball for 40 minutes and 1 second. Granted the Pack was 1 for 10 on 3rd down but Burress lit up the secondary like none other. At any rate, Aaron Kampman had a solid year with 12 sacks, KJB bounced back a bit with 9.5, and Corey Williams played well inside. Nick Barnett proved me wrong a bit and was clearly the #1 LB with AJ Hawk having a decent sophomore season. Charles Woodson and Al Harris both had less pass deflections and INTs than the year before and I think it was mostly Harris who got torched by Burress and also looked bad against some other top WRs when Woodson missed a couple games. Atari Bigby made some big hits and picks.

Special teams
The return teams were a little better and provided 2 scores. It’s unfathomable that they still let Woodson return punts though. Crosby kicked well (most points for a kicker) and was also an improvement. Jon Ryan’s punting improved and I guess he actually had the 9th best net avg.

Summary
After rebuilding the previous couple seasons, 2007 lead to much success but ended with a bitter, bitter defeat. I will probably remember 3 things: Favre’s resurgence, Grant’s emergence, and Eli freaking Manning kicking the Packers collective rear ends.

2008

Other than Favre mania I have paid virtually no attention to the Packers since the draft. And that’s how I like it because summer is for baseball and the Brewers march towards the playoffs. Also sometimes more is less and my predictions went pretty well last year. And I make one of the same predictions this year.

The Green Bay Packers will win the NFC North in 2008.

Obviously the play of one Aaron Rodgers will be a large part in determining the Packers’ success this year. And really, there isn’t a whole lot to go on. He’s a 1st round pick, rode the pine for a while, been a little injury prone, played one good half last year, and hasn’t been too great in the preseason. What I do like is that he has been riding the pine for a while so he should pretty much know what is going on and I also like his mobility. The running game should be able to carry the offense hopefully so Rodgers just has to make some throws and not suck. Seems easy enough right? The offensive line should be even better than last year, hopefully Grant can pick up where he left off, Jackson is supposedly having a solid camp as his backup, Lee is serviceable at TE (not sure about the depth there though), and from top to bottom the receiving corps is one of the best in the NFL (which should help Rodgers too).

The defense is actually a bigger worry for me than Rodgers. I like the line, love the linebackers, but I’m worried that the cornerbacks will give me ulcers, and that worrying is giving me ulcers. Will Harris and Woodson be able to at least sustain their level of play, which already wasn’t good enough at times last year? I suspect that the defense would like to and will try blitzing more with the maturing linebackers but if that leads to the corners getting burnt a few times…

The special teams improved dramatically last year and with all the same key pieces returning there shouldn’t be any letdown

Overall, their balance is what will get them to 10 wins. Some games the defense will be dominant, some games the offense will be dominant, and probably some games both sides will play bad and they’ll lose. But other than Favre (which is a bigger other than) they haven’t lost much. I guess they did lose the long snapper, Rob Davis, so hopefully that doesn’t lead to problems.

Chicago 8-8
They still have a good defense and anyone at RB is better than Benson. Not having a real QB and losing Berrian limits their ceiling though. I will admit that I have an inexplicable liking of former Purdue QBs so I secretly hope that Orton plays decently.

Detroit 6-10
Same as last year, the 1st half of their schedule looks easier than the 2nd half. And they're just not that good.

Minnesota 9-7
Pass defense and pass offense have to be concerns until proven otherwise, but the defense line improvements have to be worth at least 1 more win. Still, they need a real QB. Probably 9 wins won’t get them a wild card unless they win a tie breaker situation.