The Packers may well be this year's Cinderella story, and their NFL-best seven-game winning streak dating to last season is a testament to how quickly coach Mike McCarthy has turned Green Bay's program around. But let's not coronate the 3-0 Packers just yet. The Eagles would have beaten Green Bay in the opener at Lambeau if they could have fielded a punt. The Packers' second-half in the Meadowlands was impressive, but the Giants defense isn't the ultimate test.
You had to respect Green Bay's tenacity against San Diego, but the Chargers did lead with a little over two minutes remaining, and then suffered a defensive breakdown when Packers receiver Greg Jennings took a short slant pass 57 yards for the winning score. Great things appear to be happening in Green Bay, and Brett Favre is, as usual, in the middle of it. But let's see a little bit more before we declare the Pack all the way back.
Peter King - SI.com:
1. Favre's under control, Green Bay's won seven in a row, and the Pack is one of five unbeaten teams in football. And there's that record thing. "Wow,'' Favre said an hour or so after the Packers beat the Chargers 31-24. "It's been a long time since we played a big game and we said 'wow' at the end.''
Favre turns 38 in two weeks, and it's like he can see the end of the line from here. He sounds so happy, so appreciative of having one last shot to be really good.
"I'm studying like I've never studied, preparing like I haven't prepared,'' he said. "The video guys have loaded all the tape on my computer, and I'm looking at it at home more than I ever have. This week, I was up 'til 11 o'clock working on the Chargers.''
His coaches told him last spring to be less Favrian, less daring, and he's doing that. Against the physically imposing Chargers, he had two negative plays -- two sacks, no interceptions -- while throwing for 369 yards and three touchdowns.
"There may come a time when I think out of the box, but that time's not now because things are working too well,'' he said. "Now, dumping it off and letting guys run after the catch is working. It's great.''
As for tying Dan Marino's record of 420 touchdown passes, Favre was properly deferential to Marino on Sunday -- "I could throw for 600 and not be in his class," he said -- but he consistently lets it be known the numbers are fairly meaningless to him. He wants one more shot at January footbal
ESPN.com Power Rankings:
6 (12) Packers 3-0-0 Apparently, the Packers have taken over for the Saints as the feel-good story this season. The schedule actually sets up quite nicely the next few weeks. No reason to think the Pack can't be 6-0 going into the Monday nighter at Denver on Oct. 29.
Sportsline Power Rankings:
The top three teams in that elite bracket shouldn't be too much of a surprise. We expected the Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys to be there -- and I thought the Pittsburgh Steelers would be good.
So who's the party crasher, trying to get behind the velvet ropes to join the VIP set? It's the Green Bay Packers, led by an old-man quarterback who plays the game with youthful enthusiasm and a defense keyed by a pair of corners who play in-your-face coverage.
Packers quarterback Brett Favre and his quest for Dan Marino's touchdown record, which he should get this week, might be the highlighted story when it comes to this team, but it shouldn't be the only one.
The offensive line, which started three rookies a year ago, has come together and become a top-notch unit. They kept Favre pretty clean against the San Diego Chargers in their upset victory.
The defensive line, keyed by defensive ends Aaron Kampman and Cullen Jenkins, is a good group and the linebackers, with rising starA.J. Hawk, are active.
In the secondary, Charles Woodson and Al Harris play a fun brand of corner, their ability to match up the reason the Packers can load up to stop the run. Safety Atari Bigby is a rising star.
The Packers are fifth in the latest CBSSports.com Power Rankings. That victory over the Chargers validates them.
It also gives me ammunition to fire back at all my co-workers -- you know who you are -- who laughed at me on our conference call last Friday for picking the Packers to win that game.
Any and all apologies would be accepted.
#5 Packers 8
Surprise, surprise. Who could have imagined this team in the top five? Admit it, there weren't many of you.
Yahoo.com Rankings (these shocked me)
Jason Cole:
1. LW (1) New England Patriots (3-0)
2. LW (2) Indianapolis Colts (3-0)
3. LW (3) Baltimore Ravens (2-1)
4. LW (8) Pittsburgh Steelers (3-0)
5. LW (7) Dallas Cowboys (3-0)
6. LW (9) Green Bay Packers (3-0)
Charles Robinson:
. LW (1) New England Patriots
2. LW (2) Indianapolis Colts
3. LW (3) Dallas Cowboys
4. LW (6) Pittsburgh Steelers
5. LW (8) Baltimore Ravens
6. LW (4) Chicago Bears
7. LW (11) Green Bay Packers
So both have the 2-1 Ravens ahead of Green Bay despite losing to a Cinci team that got rolled by the Browns and lost to Seattle.
Robinson has the 1-2Bears ahead of Green Bay despite the Bears getting killed in Dallas and unable to beat the Chargers, a team Green Bay took care of. They're about to bench their QB, they're without both starting defensive tackles and starting FS. But they're ahead of unbeaten Green Bay. Gotcha.
Fox Sports Power Rankings
5 Packers 10 (+5) 5/22 Green Bay silenced its early-season critics on Sunday, coming from behind and beating San Diego 31-24 in Lambeau. Brett Favre's game-sealing fourth quarter 57-yard touchdown strike to Greg Jennings both put the game on ice and put Favre on top of the career touchdown list with Dan Marino at 420. The rally marked Favre's 38th career fourth-quarter comeback. If I were asked to vote on the 2007 MVP right now, I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone other than No. 4. He looks like the No. 4 of '96, the defense looks terrific, and the fans are in a frenzy. Breakout those foam Cheesehead hats. Green Bay is now 3-0 with a trip to 1-2 Minnesota on Sunday.
And some random thoughts of my own...
- If the Vikes weren't so bad on offense I'd be worried about a trap game in the dome. But Green Bay is 3-1 in their last four there and nothing about their passing defense or offense scares me. I just can't see this team dropping one here.
- If you had to re-do the 2006 NFL draft, how would the top 10 look?
1 - Vince Young
and...
then what?
Matt Leinart was benched on Sunday. Reggie Bush has yet to show he can run the ball in the NFL. AJ Hawk is a good linebacker but far from the Pro Bowl lock that people called him. Vernon Davis is AWOL in San Fran. D'Brickashaw Fergusson is having issues with pass protection and with a guy his size you wonder if that'll always be a problem.
I think only Young, Ernie Simms, Haloti Ngata, Donte Whitner, Kamerion Wimbley, Laurence Maroney, Nick Mangold and Joseph Addai are playing at or above where they were taken.
The only question is where would the underachieving Bush, Williams, Davis and maybe Brick and Hawk go if the draft were done over? You can't deny that the top three on that list are loaded with potential and that Brick and Hawk will likely always be good, maybe great and [i]possibly[i/] elite performers.
Personally, I've always erred on the side of potential. Mario and Reggie are both young and obviously still learning the game. But it's their second seasons and they still don't look like the franchise players they once were thought to be. You also have to take in other factors, such as how good would Addai be if he didn't have the Colts weapons around him. Or Maroney for that matter. How much does Wimbley playing in a 3-4 as a rush linebacker inflate his stats? Sims is a stud, but don't you worry about the concussions he's susceptible to?
If I were redoing the top 15 picks of '06, here's where I would place them:
1 - Houston - Vince Young
2 - New Orleans - Reggie Bush
3 - Tennessee - Marcus McNeill
4 - New York - Mario Williams
5 - Green Bay - Demeco Ryans
6 - San Fransicco - AJ Hawk
7 - Oakland Raiders - D'Brickashaw Fergusson
8 - Buffalo - Ernie Sims
9 - Detroit - Matt Leinart
10 - Arizona Cardinals - Jay Cutler
11 - Denver - Lawrence Maroney
12 - Baltimore - Haloti Ngata
13 - Cleveland - Marques Colston
14 - Philadelphia - Vernon Davis
15 - St. Louis - Nick Mangold
I think?
- The Saints are boned. Bush isn't an every down back. Hell, he hasn't even been a great 3rd down back. They needed to start establishing that run and now Deuce is gone for the year. The lack of a good 2nd WR is killing them and I think they underestimated what Horn provided.
