After two games we find our Packers at 1 and 1, which is not good considering both games were played at home against teams the Packers were favored to beat. The idea that the Cincinnati Bengals, a perennial AFC loser, could come into Lambeau Field and dominate the supposedly much improved Packers the way they did in the second half is sickening. Let's face it folks the Packer offense was done at halftime as displayed by only a desperation 42 yard field goal in the waning seconds to show for 30 minutes of football. It is all too reminiscent of last year when the offense just couldn't get it going when the chips were down. If the Packers can't beat the Bengals at home how are they supposed to beat Dallas, the Vikings or the Ravens when they come to town? Or even worse, how are we to expect our Packers to win at Minnesota, Chicago and Pittsburgh? Yes I know that the Pack beat the Bears on a late game winning drive last week, but let's face it, after losing so many close games last year we were due, we can't lose them all but we sure aren't going to win many more if we can't play better in the second half than the Packers have in the first two weeks.

Last week the Packer defense made Cutler look like a second rate rookie in the first half, but then allowed him to shine like an All-Pro in the second. This week was almost identical except the defense didn't make Palmer look all that bad in the first half. While at times playing with brilliance, reminiscent of the best defenses ever with six interceptions and a fumble recovery in just two games, the Packers have still allowed 44 points in those two games by giving up 671 net yards. That includes allowing 237 rushing yards, with Cedric 'The Discarded Bear' Benson accounting for 141 unstoppable yards today. If, as they say in the NFL, defense wins championships, this is not going to be good enough to win the NFC North.

Meanwhile the Packer offense isn't helping its defense at all. I felt this was a problem last year as well. The offense can't keep going three and out and expect the defense to hold the opposition all day long. Even with a two game takeaway advantage of 7 to 1 in favor of the Packers, their opposition has had possession of the ball for 14 more minutes than the Packer offense. (Six more minutes for the Bears, eight more minutes for the Bengals, resulting in a two game average of six more plays for the opposition.) The Packer offense also cannot count on the defense to keep giving them extra shots with takeaways and great field position only to fail at coming through with some points. A good case in point was the slim 10 to 2 halftime lead against Chicago after three interceptions. The defense had held Chicago scoreless and gave the ball back to the offense on a number of turnovers but the offense did not blow the lid off the game. A good team capitalizes on the other guy's mistakes; so far the Packers are not doing that. Nor can the offense count on the defense for a few extra points in every game. Sooner or later the Packer offense with "all of their weapons" is going to have to live up to it's hype.

For one, the Pack doesn't have a running game no matter how much Mike McCarthy wants us to believe. In just the first two games of this season the Packer offense is running behind the opposition in net yards by the length of almost one and half football fields with only 537 yards. That all-important rushing game that McCarthy keeps talking about has only gained 165 yards, or just 14 more yards in two games than Benson got against the Packers today. What makes it even worse is that QB Rodgers has gained 50 of those rushing yards on plays that were not designed as running plays as he was just scrambling for his ever-loving life when trying to make a pass!

Now most sacks are the result of poor blocking by the offense or good play by the defense. But with what is happening sack wise the last two weeks in Green Bay one must also look at the QB. Last year Rodgers was sacked 34 times in 536 attempts, a ratio of one sack for every 15.7 attempts, or on average of 2.1 sacks per game. In the two games this year he has already been sacked ten times! With just 67 attempts that is the miserable ratio of one sack for every 6.7 attempts! So far he is averaging five sacks a game, which projected over the 16 game season would amount to 80 sacks! That's almost twice the record for a quarterback being sacked in a season! If this sack crazy trend continues the defenses are going to start asking Rodgers if he wants paper or plastic?

Besides all of the actual sacks Rodgers is also getting bounced around like a piñata on a short rope. With such rough treatment, including 34 sacks last year and the 10 already this year, perhaps the Packer management's decision to release the old guy, Favre were humanitarian as after the beating Rodgers has taken in the last 18 games, Brett might be dead by now. But, again, does part of this sack problem belong to Rodgers? Personally I think there are times when Rodgers holds the ball too long. Whether he is taking too long to run through his reads or he just can't make up his mind, he has to get that rush clock ticking in his head and throw that pineapple somewhere. Looking back at his first three years in Green Bay he attempted 16 passes in '05, 15 in '06 and 28 in '07. In each of those years he was sacked 3 times for a total of 9 sacks and a three-year ratio of 1 sack per every 6.5 passes. Sound familiar? It should because so far Rodgers' 2009 ratio is 1 sack for every 6.7 passes.

Now just for a comparison in those three years, and because he was on the same team, Favre attempted 1755 passes while being sacked 61 times for a three-year average ratio of 1 sack for every 29 attempts. Ironically, of those three years Favre's best sack ratio came in 'o7, his last year. In '07 Favre attempted 535 passes and was sacked only 15 times. His ratio was an outstanding 1 sack for every 35 attempts. Now compare that to Rodgers in '08 with a ratio of 1 sack for every 15.7 attempts. Likewise if we look at Rodgers' senior year at California, the Golden Bears' team stats for '04 was 37 sacks in 331 attempts, a ratio of 1 sack for every 9 attempts. While these are team stats Rodgers was the starter and so he would own the majority of these attempts and sacks. So with a history of giving up sacks, do Packer fans think that we might have a problem with Rodgers getting sacked? Meanwhile the defense in St. Louis is anxiously awaiting the Packers, especially those with sack bonuses in their contracts.

As for now I won't get into coaching or management, well with the exception of wondering why in the era of free agency there hasn't been a true blue chip running back signed in Green Bay since Donnie Anderson and Jim Grabowski? So I'll finish with just pleading that somebody, anybody, in Green Bay give those young men the NFL rule book. Being called for 17 penalties for 121 yards in just two games isn't going to win the NFC North either. If this is what its like at home, how many penalties can we expect when the Pack plays on the road, like in the Triple H. Metrodome with its illegally pumped in crowd noise? Yeah, you know it's true.

With all of this I know that it is still early in the season. It is just that so many of us Packer backers had such high hopes going into this season. Let's all hope that our team can get things straightened out before we have another year like the last. What really was embarrassing is that today the Pack was handed two interceptions, a touchdown by the D, 100 yards in Bengals' penalties and the Pack still lost at home. Of course there is nothing to do but to move on. So I'll still be expecting a win every time the Pack plays, just like I have for the last half-century. Yes my son, it has been that long. But still I have to remain grounded in the fact that we are one late scoring pass from being 0-2. We also have a coach who is barely above .5oo at 29-23 with only one winning season. And for right now we have a QB, who as a starter has a record of only 7 and 11, maybe we should just call him Mr. Lucky until he reaches .500. The trouble is that if the Packers don't play any better than they have since Favre was cut loose, Rodgers may not even reach that goal this year.

God Bless America

Go Pack Go

Semper Fi,
Mike

"Copyright 2009.  Michael E. Tank   All rights reserved.  No part of this document may be copied, faxed, electronically transmitted, or in any other manner duplicated without express written permission of the author."