Lombardi's SB pick: GB vs NE

[Newz]

I still wouldn't say Super Bowl. I predicted 9-7 with a playoff appearance and I'll stick with 9-7.

I really like our team though, so I wouldn't put it past them to get into the SB.

[bucks59]

So I just got done listening to the podcast. Lombardi likes GB a lot. Before him though, SImmons had on someone from football outsiders and they liked the Giants and the Bears a lot to make the Super Bowl.

Lombardi also went on to say that he thought the Bears would be a tough team to play and that they would be pretty good.

His argument for the Packers is that the offense will be really good and that will allow Capers to be more aggressive.

Simmons thought the Bears would have trouble at the end of games on third downs.

[ReasonablySober]

The Bears to me are a clear 3rd in the North. I guess I'm simply not seeing it. Average offensive line, no wide receivers. Solid but not great defense anymore.

That said, any given Sunday. We'll see.

[LUKE23]

The Bears to me are a clear 3rd in the North. I guess I'm simply not seeing it. Average offensive line, no wide receivers. Solid but not great defense anymore.

That said, any given Sunday. We'll see.

Agreed. They are solid everywhere but WR but not great in any area. The defense has declined a pretty good amount since their SB year as well.

I think ranking the offenses and defenses between GB/MIN/CHI, it is:

O:

1. GB
2. MIN
3. CHI

D:

1. MIN
2. GB
3. CHI

[MickeyDavis]

Urlacher is the wildcard for the Bears. He was horrible last year but he was injured. He is suppose to be 100% this year. He also has a chip on his shoulder from Cutler getting all the attention.

Their receivers are a joke. Hester is very fast. He's also very dumb.

[Mags FTW]

Apparently Urlacher was abused by Jacobs quite a bit in their last game.

[Wade-A-Holic]

Apparently Urlacher was abused by Jacobs quite a bit in their last game.

He was.

Urlacher is the wildcard for the Bears. He was horrible last year but he was injured. He is suppose to be 100% this year. He also has a chip on his shoulder from Cutler getting all the attention.

Their receivers are a joke. Hester is very fast. He's also very dumb.

Urlacher's problem was/is stupidity, not injuries. He takes ridiculous risks all the time and "cheats" on plays in hopes of making the big play. It works occasionally and he looks like a genius but nobody points out all the times that the Bears give up big plays because he's getting played like a fiddle. I was at the Packers/Bears game at Lambeau last year and the Packers did all their damage down the middle of the field because Urlacher kept trying to cheat and abandoning his assignments. Yes, he had the one pick, but the Packers made him look foolish the entire rest of the game. Basically, when the rest of the Bears defense is very good, he looks great, and when the rest of the defense isn't very good, he looks horrible.

[xTitan]

An under the radar concern for me is Mason Crosby....his next big game winning FG will be his first, he lost 2 games for this team last year and he does not scream confidence to me.

[Kerb Hohl]

An under the radar concern for me is Mason Crosby....his next big game winning FG will be his first, he lost 2 games for this team last year and he does not scream confidence to me.

He had one in his first regular season game 2 years ago against Philly.

[ReasonablySober]

The Hype Machine Rolls On.

Now watch us lay a gigantic egg tonight.

[MilBucksBackOnTop06]

Yeah they are the sexy pick right now.

As well as they should be. And not just based on preseason. You saw trickles of this last year. If you recall last year they lost 5-6 games drugbust by 5 or fewer points for one of the youngest teams in the NFL! The secondary was awesome last year and we needed to improve the pass rush and the work on special teams and we have.

So this love is not unwarranted or haphazard as your cynical post express. A fool can see this team will be dangerous on both sides of the ball! Players no more have to handle Favre's rocket balls and Rodgers throws a tight, accurate, and easy ball for the recievers to handle. McCarthy also calls a better gameplan at times then Mike Sherman did...

On defense where titles are won in December and January a new proven system brought in by Dom Capers who came from a Super Bowl Champion in Pittsburgh that no one can deny. Then you have a better talent evaluator then many of you have given him credit for in GM Ted Thompson, and one of the top young up and coming coaches in the NFL in Mike McCarthy, along with a budding NFL MVP conntender in Aaron Rodgers who plays for a storied NFL franchise in the taj mahal of Pro venues at Lambeau Field with a great young supporting cast growing together at the same time...

I pick the Eagles as of today, but the Packers catch them if Vick vs McNabb turns into a distraction and Rodgers stays healthy. If Rodgers goes done...we are done just like when Weeks, JJ, Hall and Hart went down the Brewers were done, and when Redd and Bogut went down the Bucks were done and when Dominic James when down Marquette was done...

But the Packers have built a juggarnaut and must get Jermichael Finley locked in, and keep their RBs healthy. Titletown USA baby! The Lombardi Trophy is coming home!

Why not "America's Team!? " Why Not Green Bay!? Go Pack Go, and bring Lombardi back with ya!

[MilBucksBackOnTop06]

The Hype Machine Rolls On.

Now watch us lay a gigantic egg tonight.

The Pack laid a gigantic egg alright tonite...they dropped 44 of them!

How you like that drugbust!? That was at times ....awesome! Yes the 2nd and 3rd string fighting for jobs more then for the win, almost coughed it up taking some chances and Matt Leinhart settled down...and went to work, but the Pack pulled it out admist some of Thompson's detractors and a great many skeptics of which I am not a part...

The Packers and Bucks and Golden Eagles for a large part are doing their part to make this a great winning state, now we need to get the Brew Crew squared away and we are all good.

The Packers will be for real!

[paulpressey25]

Comments from last night made in the context of critiquing a super bowl favorite (i.e. none of this stuff applies if we are shooting for a 9-game winner)

-Agree with Titan that Crosby needs to get settled down back to his rookie year. Bad holds or not, that guys confidence is shaky.

-Whether it was the 1, 2 or 3 defense out there last night, those Cardinal WR's seemed to be wide open in the seam 10-15 yards down field. Maybe Clay gets healthy and stops that or Barnett. In any event, many downs it seemed like a race for the Packers to make a big defensive play versus the Cardinals being able to find that wide open man (who was always open). I realize that is a function of this D. But they've got to sew that up.

-I'm still not convinced we have a good enough running game and one that can power at the goal line. While it was great to watch Tom Brady Jr last night, we've got to be able to run the ball during those cold days of fall. Maybe MM doesn't want to wear down Grant, but I would have liked to have seen a few more runs last night after the team got up so big.

It probably was good the team fell apart in the second half if only to limit overconfidence that might have come from a 45-10 beat-down.

[Ayt]

There is definitely a gap between which ever LB's drops back on the play and the safeties. One of the reasons I've been adamant about keeping Collins is that he's the perfect type of athlete to cover up that gap and sometimes exploit it for picks.

At this point I think its mainly on the LBs. The safeties generally also have deep coverages to worry about, so if the LBs are giving up too many passing lanes there isn't a lot the safety can do except try to make sure the guy is tackled right away. Its very important our LBs are dropping deep enough for the given play and that they are making reads as to where they need to move to in their zone to help block any passing lanes. Barnett is our most experienced player by far in this type of drop so having him back in the middle should help a ton. AK has been surprisingly solid in making the correct drop and staying active in the passing lanes once he's back there.

It will probably be a work in progress all year, which is why pressure is so important. Getting a better athlete than Popp in there is also important, but who knows when Matthews will be ready to do that.

[Mags FTW]

Peter King MONDAY MORNING QB

The Packers and Saints should save some of that dominance for the real games. The Saints' first unit went 225 yards in three drives for three touchdowns at Oakland. Total man-against-boys game in the unseasonable searing heat. Drew Brees might not have broken Dan Marino's single-season passing yardage record last year, but I wouldn't breathe very easy if I were Dano this morning. Brees is ridiculously unflappable and in total command of that offense, and he's going to have the kind of year fantasy owners drool over.

Regarding the Packers, their first unit has had 12 possessions this summer and hasn't punted. Sixty-six points in 12 possessions ... just sick. And the starting defense has forced six turnovers in 12 opposing possessions.

"Three games, no punts, 31 points in this game,'' said Aaron Rodgers, who's looking more like Brett Favre than Favre. "The line was great [Friday against Arizona]. I barely got touched. It was just pitch and catch out there.''

What makes Mike McCarthy happy is that a year after L'Affair Favre, Rodgers seems to have the team in his hands. "It's clearly Aaron's team,'' McCarthy said Sunday.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/w ... mqb/1.html